Can't get past Mina rocket launch section

[helldweller]

Is there some strategy I'm missing or is this just a Ninja Gaiden/Mega Man level of difficulty section of the game that I simply don't have the dexterity or hand/eye coordination to get past? If it's the latter, then what a shame. It feels like the game has completely changed. Up to this point, every challenge has required thought; learning a bosses patterns and weaknesses or trial and error to solve environmental puzzles.

This just feels like the challenge is "get gud" at the kludgey aim-then-shoot mechanics of a character you've barely used in order to progress. Really bummed that my age and subsesquent lack of dexterity is preventing me from finishing a game that I loved up to this point. Any tips, or just an honest "give up, you will never finish this game because you can't play Mega Man anymore" answer would be appreciated.

[MegaFayeX]

Thats the section where you're on a track that moves slowly as you have to take down robots that swing around like pendulums? Yeah, that part is basically just brutal. A couple tips: The shots pierce through enemies, and keep going, so you can save time by lining up shots to take down multiple enemies. Mina has a slide she can do with down+jump that can speed things up a little. Just before the final section with the electrical fields, unload the shotgun several times to the right to get rid of the enemies before you have to dodge the first robot..

[helldweller]

Well at least I know now that I'll never finish this game. Really dissapointing that they thought it made sense to include a manadory, progress halting mini-game, with a level of difficulty and required skillset that is completely out of line with what came before it, especially at such a late stage of the game.

It comes across as if they just ran out of ideas that were in line with the core style of gameplay, but had to finish the game and said "let's just do an utra-hard Mega Man style level, those don't require a lot of creativity or effort". Even that might have been forgivable if they had at least stuck with the Robin character but apparently they realized that the Mina character was completely trow-away up to this point and were too stubborn to admit it so they tried to shoehorn her in.

Her mechanics are simply awful and up to this point, the player was only required to use her once (Ash can be beaten without doing anything with Mina other than hiding her at the beginning). Bad mechanics that the player has had virtually no opportunity or reason to use coupled with a lazyily designed level that gets its challenge solely from precision movements and timing, equates to the gaming equivalent of a train wreck.

Only thing left to do is decide whether or not to leave a negative review and warn other potential buyers that they may hit a brick wall near the end of the game. I got more than 20 hours of playtime out of it so perhaps it's fair just to let it go and move on.

[x-calibar]

It didn't seem that bad... but if you're in a pickle with a single player game and lost all hope, download cheat engine. (Make sure to not install partner software if you don't want it.) Should be the first result that shows up when you google. Install that, start with admin. Then start up Iconoclasts. Once you're in the game, alt tab to cheat engine and go to File -> Open Process ... look for Iconoclasts. Load it. Then on the right side, click Enable Speedhack. Choose 0.5 or something. Hit apply. Now Iconoclasts should give you plenty of time to slowly dodge things.

(You can pretend Robin gave Mina a last resort tweak...)

It should be safe to do since I just tested it, but you know, use at your own risk~
When you are done, just set Speedhack to 1.0 or uncheck it. Or close cheat engine.

[helldweller]

Originally posted by x-calibar:

It didn't seem that bad... but if you're in a pickle with a single player game and lost hope, download cheat engine. Should be the first result that shows up when you google. Install that, start with admin. Then start up Iconoclasts. Once you're in the game, alt tab to cheat engine and go to File -> Open Process ... look for Iconoclasts. Load it. Then on the right side, click Enable Speedhack. Choose 0.5 or something. Hit apply. Now Iconoclasts should give you plenty of time to slowly dodge things.

It should be safe to do since I just tested it, but you know, use at your own risk~
When you are done, just set Speedhack to 1.0 or uncheck it. Or close cheat engine.

I really appreciate the constructive and helpful reply. So refreshing when "haha git gud" is the standard reponse. I may give it a shot, though I feel dirty even considering using a program named "Cheat Engine"! I just wish that game developers would consider that there are different ways to make a game challenging and that they aren't all interchangable for some gamers.

[<:)]

You can damage boost through half the stage. If there are any spots in particular post them here.
What i found useful was:
Jump to stationary blocks early where you can so that yu can kill the chain and ball enemies early.
In the parts where you have to crouch to pass through a space, stand on the front edge of the platform so that you can jump up and start killing as soon as it passes you underneath.
remember that the hit box for your projectile is massive, so for instance on the long platform that has 3 enemies dropping fire below them, you can kill all 3 with 2 shots by aiming for the lower side of the first enemy whilst standing on the left of that platform. Alternatively, you can stand next to the fire of the first enemy, shoot a charge shot left, recoiling you into the fire, since you're facing left you will be knocked to the right, then use your i-frames to run through the other 2.
Abusing i-frames is very useful in this game.
For the enemies that move, line up the shot where you know they will move into, and wait for them to move into your crosshair. Trying to aim as Mina is garbage.
And when you make it to the end part with electricity you have to dodge, shoot the enemies when they are off screen / as soon as you see them, and make sure you're moving past the electricity as soon as you can so that you have the full space of the platform to time the next one.
Personally i wouldn't use Cheat Engine since it just feels dirty and you will always know you didn'treally beat the game.

[helldweller]

Wow, so much helpful feedback. Thank you! I'll give it another go. I've really enjoyed this game up to this point. I'd love to finish it.

[SPD3]

I found Mina's aiming to be a bit annoying to use until I realized that just using Up/Down on the dpad was easier to aim than trying to actually aim with the analog stick/dpad.

For example: I originally thought I had to point the analog stick in the direction I wanted to shoot, and it always messed up and I just hated playing Mina. But if you just tap up and down on the dpad or analog stick it makes more sense as this is how the controls seem to be meant to work.

[Weezerfan420]

I'd recommend getting a controller. The part in shockwood where you control Mina inspired me to get a gamepad. Mina's keyboard controls are so unweildy and borderline unplayable.

Also if you hate the Mina section just wait until you get to the Elro section.