This is the final part of my Buster only 100 point S rank run of Mega Man Zero 3. The final two stages serve as a harsh wake-up call for Reflect Laser addicts such as myself; “difficulty spike” is a comically inadequate descriptor for the troubles I encountered within these domains. Completing these two took roughly the same amount of time as the prior 14 combined, which is equal parts disturbing and impressive. Here are my notes.
Sub Arcadia is the stage that inspired the entire premise of this run, so it's rather appropriate that it takes the crown of most difficult by a light-year; it's exacting to a degree that teeters on the edge of insanity. I expound upon this stage in much greater detail in a post on my community tab, check it out if you're interested in understanding the breadth of the madness imparted upon those who dare dash through its halls.
The architects of Area X-2 get their last laugh by importing their lovely combination of moving blocks and spikes into the opening sector of Weil's Lab, with Gallisni gates littering the intermission between boss rooms. Mercifully, the spike-haven lasts all of 10 seconds and is rather consistent, meaning that I had many chances to tackle the first proper bottleneck, Hellbat. Of the 8, he's by far the hardest to dispatch, for the exact same reason that he was a pain in his own stage: manipulating his behavior is unreliable at best. The movements required to generate a favorable pattern here are even more finicky than in the Weapons Factory. Still, I couldn't in good conscience allow him to teleport around and bore viewers to sleep, especially since Foxtar can stall for eons as well, for which I have no recourse, so I save time where I can.
I find the middle section rather enjoyable, though, that's likely because I equip the spike boots. I've yet to subject myself to ice physics in this section and I'm dreading the day that I do. Reflect Laser shreds through Gallisni like a ravenous carnivore; by slowing down a bit to rid the screen of these nuisances, I effectively engage in a stylish farming session. Even if you happen to miss a few of the oscillating urchins, you'll comfortably meet the enemy requirement for 100 points.
Titanium Nitride Omega is barely an upgrade to his previous paint job; unless you have a sweet tooth and mistake the energy rings for a pack of Lifesavers, you're unlikely to get hit by them despite their increased pace. The giant Xenogears mech isn't too much of a problem despite its intimidating appearance; only two attacks require attention. Dr. Weil must've been playing Snake while programming the God of Destruction as the homing-orbs trail Zero rather well. The snake can be avoided via pure movement but it's a little close for comfort, so I choose to deflect it with the Buster first. The oversized triple plasma buster that the giant X head uses is by far the most dangerous attack; without Double Jump, Shadow Dash or the Recoil Rod, you need to make a very specific jump over the projectiles.
Z3 Omega's difficulty is highly scalable. Approaches range from stunlocking him with combos to shmup-style grazing of his projectiles. For this battle, given that I'm only able to use the Buster, I naturally gravitate toward the latter. My primary goal was to showcase that Reflect Laser can bounce off the edges of the arena despite the lack of walls. I use this odd fact to land some trick shots on Omega, but doing so incurs a far greater deal of risk than just shooting him directly. Omega can recoil in odd ways, leading to contact damage, and the hubris of focusing on bouncing lasers over dodging can very easily be punished.
In spite of the obvious danger, I foolishly prance around Omega, and doing this reveals one very ugly truth: Omega's triple slash is just as much of a monumental pain here as it is in ZX. Anytime Omega recovers from recoil, he can initiate his sweeping swings, and they're beyond aggravating. In particular, getting clipped while facetiously vaulting around Omega ended several attempts, much to my dismay. Of course, this pain is entirely self-inflicted; a more reasonable, judicious plan would bestow victory with much greater ease, but in the absence of Z-Saber combos or the insane difficulty of his ZX variant, I had to make an effort to have some degree of elaborate nonsense within the fight.
While I absolutely dance around in excess, I don't go entirely bonkers; it's possible to intricately weave Zero between Messenkou's and Arc Blade's projectiles, among other things, but that requires phenomenal reflexes and calmness; the adrenaline present at the end of a boss rush is not conducive to such movements. I'll investigate those avenues for dancing with Mr. Messiah Complex in future standalone fights with him.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Sub Arcadia | Phantom | Crea & Prea
03:16 - Weil's Laboratory | Omega
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed this series! Any questions or comments you may have are welcome as always.