Mega Man Zero (Or, how to properly close out a series)

Bear with me, 'cause this is going to be a long one.

 Before you even read any further, I want you to think of a few long running game series. Preferably ones with an overarching plot. Finished? Good. Now I'd like you to think of how many of those series received a conclusive ending. It might be a little harder, but I'm sure you can think of a few. Done? Good. Now (and this is the big one), I'd like you to try to come up with a series that got a conclusive ending and actually stayed that way.

Not so easy now, is it?

One of the biggest differences between a classic series, and a stale series is knowing when to quit. Perhaps there might already be a blueprint in place for the series to follow, complete with a grand finale that wraps up loose ends and sees the plot and whatever plot threads that come with it come to it's natural conclusion. Maybe there's an ending in mind, but the person in charge decided to wing it until they found a way to finally lead in to their envisioned ending. When this is done right, it's usually downright amazing. One example that I'm fond of referencing comes in the form of the Mother trilogy, which spanned the NES, SNES, and ended with a spectacular bang with the (regretfully Japan only) Game Boy Advance release of Mother 3. While characters from the series occasionally find their way into other series (Notably the Super Smash Bros. series of crossovers), the series is for all intents and purposes, done.

Unfortunately, the Mother series is an outlier here. Some series have had conclusive endings written for them, only for the series to be dragged on because of popularity and/or executive meddling. One of the most notable examples of this comes in the form of the Mega Man X series. The Mega Man X series (itself a direct continuation of the canon established by the original Mega Man series) very obviously had a framework in place leading up to a big finish. The games slowly built up the mystery of the mysterious creator of the series deuteragonist Zero, and the possible ramifications it could have on the friendship between his Maverick Hunter partner, X. All of this buildup and foreshadowing came to ahead in Mega Man X5, where revelations are made, and X and Zero have their destined battle (although it's not under the circumstances one would initially assume) The ending seemed pretty definite. The series antagonist Sigma had seemingly been killed off permanently, thanks to a heroic sacrifice from Zero. It's a bit somber, but it was definitely an ending worthy of the series.

Then Mega Man X6 came out a little over a year later, brought Zero and Sigma back, and all of the emotional weight behind X5's ending gets pulled from under it's feet. Needless to say, this annoyed a lot of people. It doesn't help that Mega Man X6 wasn't a very good game on top of that.

So when the Mega Man Zero series was announced and promised to wrap up Zero's role in the series, I sarcastically thought to myself: "Oh, this'll be good." I had already witnessed one series run into the ground long after it had run it's course, and knowing how Capcom can be regarding franchise milking (see: Resident Evil), I expected the worst.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Did I mention that this series has some fantastic artwork?

 The Mega Man Zero games take place a little over a hundred years after the events of the Mega Man X series. As a fail safe to keep churning out X games while still making sure that they didn't conflict with the Mega Man Zero games, Capcom put an ending in Mega Man X6 that takes place an unspecified amouont of time after the events of the game in which Zero seals himself away. Well, long story short, he doesn't stay that way, and he (in a new body) and X end up having to fight yet another war. Stuff happens, X ends up sacrificing his physical body, and Zero finds himself sealed away yet again.

Fast forward to the beginning of the first Zero game where he's found, freed, and eventually roped into becoming a part of a resistance movement against the oppressive Neo Arcadia regime. The first game dealt with Zero seemingly finding himself at odds with his old partner X, though it's quickly revealed that this is a mere clone that was created when the original sacrificed his physical being. The second game continued following the exploits of the resistance in their struggle against Neo Arcadia, and foreshadowed the events that would come to pass in Mega Man Zero 3.

Now, before I go any further, it might be worth mentioning that Mega Man Zero 3 was intended to be the conclusion of the series. This is usually the point in which a series starts overstaying it's welcome and starts becoming stale as a result. In this case, however, there were some legitimate loose ends to be tied up, the fans wanted more, and the developers legitimately thought that there was still more potential to be realized for the series. hence Mega Man Zero 4 released.

seriously guys this art is amazing

Mega Man Zero 4's plot involves Dr. Weil, the antagonist of the series attempting to draw people back to live under his Neo Arcadian rule (After the events of Zero 3, many people began leaving Neo Arcadia). His plan? Destroy all remaining places on the planet that humans could settle in so that humans would have to settle for returning to Neo Arcadia. In a nice bit of continuity, Area Zero, one of the last remaining habitable areas on the planet turned out to be the remains of the space colony Eurasia, which fell to the earth at the climax of Mega Man X5, setting the stage for the final turn of events in that game.

- Call backs to major events in previous games? Check.

However, after a last minute betrayal, and the destruction of Neo Arcadia, Dr. Weil takes matters into his own hands and instead of using the huge laser in the space station he crafted to destroy Area Zero, he decides to just crash the entire space station into it, which again, mirrors a similar gambit by Mega Man X series antagonist Sigma during the events of Mega Man X5. Zero makes his way to Weil, and after a rousing little speech from Zero (A speech that would end up personifying his role as a character in both the Mega Man X series and his own series), it becomes clear that Zero has no intentions of coming out of this battle alive, only that going to protect those that he cares for, and that he's going to do it the only way he knows how: Fighting.

- Final speech given by the protagonist that firmly establishes their character and personality? Check.

Zero goes on to defeat Dr. Weil, and destroys the space colony before it gets to the planet. However, Zero doesn't make it out, and goes down with the colony. Although no body is found, it's that sacrifice that signals the start of mending relations between Reploids and humans, and begins the start of a new age for the world, finally realizing the dream of peace Zero and X worked continuously towards from the beginning of the X series. And just to squash any hopes of Zero possibly surviving, players get treated to an image of this:

- Only small traces remaining of the protagonist left where they made their final stand? Check.

What makes this ending even more poignant for players, especially for those who followed the Mega Man series since it's inception is the irony in Zero's sacrifice. Zero was created by Dr. Wily during the classic series to be his greatest masterpiece, with the purpose of terrorizing the world. However, a few twists of fate and several hundred years in the future, it's the same Zero that gives up his life for the sake of the planet, effectively ending several centuries of fighting (Centuries of fighting which was actually indirectly started by Zero's creation, no less), and crafting a brighter future for reploids and humanity.

Even more impressive is the fact that this actually stuck. There's been no talks of a new Mega Man Zero game, Various other Mega Man series have come, gone, and even been cancelled. The developers and producer had a clear vision for how they wanted to close out that chapter of the series, and pulled it off flawlessly, in my eyes. Mega Man ZX, the short lived series to come after this, make numerous references to this series, and Zero even kind of lives on in spirit through Biometal (One of the focal points of the ZX series, but that's a blog post for a later day) but it's done so in a way that respects the conclusion of the Zero series and doesn't dull the impact it had.

I'm not actually sure with where I was going with this post when I started it. But hey, I'll take any excuse to gush about the Zero series. I guess my main point was to highlight a series that for once, knew how it wanted to end, and did so, and did it well, in spite of the company behind it. It hit all of the spots that a great finale is supposed to, and stands as one of the highlights of the entire series.

Well, I think that's enough gushing for one day.