Eguchi here!

We had a big announcement earlier today. Whether you caught wind of it already or not, it certainly bears repeating, so I’d like to take a moment here to go over what was announced!

First of all, have a look at our trailer! (After the jump)

A number of things have been newly revealed in this trailer. Were you surprised?! And yet, this is (part of) the Mega Man Legends 3 we devs have been working hard to create all along!

It seems to me, this trailer probably left one thing on a lot of you Devroomers’ minds—Barrett. “Who is this new hero-lookin’ guy?!” I hear you wondering. Of course, we’ll also be able to show you Mega Man back in full force somewhere down the road, assuming he ever makes it safely back to Earth.

I suppose I should explain how Barrett came to be, though. When we started this project, we knew that it wouldn’t be able to sustain itself if all it did was replicate the previous games in the series. Things wouldn’t be that simple. We decided to create a new character to appear in a trial version of the game that would serve as a way to show off and explore the Legends series’ untapped potential at company conferences.

We wanted to see how we could create a more liberating, adventurous experience with the 3D open world concept, and the ideas quickly piled up. A buster gun for long-range combat, martial arts moves for close combat, and new special weapons! Wall-climbing and dashing! The ability to whip around through town on flying motorcycles!

Barrett’s character began to fill in as well. Brotherly in some ways, he is dutiful and passionate, sometimes to a fault. At times, he may even go a little berserk. A bit rough around the edges, Barrett is a hero of a slightly different flavor than the straight-laced and soft-spoken Mega Man.

We also wanted to be sure and show off Barrett’s battle with the Bonne Mecha in this trailer! After all, that Mecha is a Devroom original creation! (A detailed run-down of the Bonne Mecha is coming from one of our chief planners, so stay tuned for that)

But I don’t want to just talk about the new stuff. We all realize how important it is for this project to also live up to the expectations of all those who’ve been long awaiting a sequel. And to be sure, this prototype game will pick up where Legends 2 left off, allowing players to reunite with Roll, Data, and other familiar faces.

We took this prototype game, full of potential, and showed it off at the greenlight meeting. As hoped, Barrett’s reception was top-notch. What a response! And yet. . . it’s really difficult to determine just how well-received a sequel to a 10-year-old series will be.

This is where the Mega Man Legends Developer Room comes in. Planned as a place where users could get in on the development process, we knew there was some way we could utilize this to help our project succeed. We ended up reaching an unprecedented agreement. As it happens, it was decided that the prototype version of the game we had submitted within the company would be sold as a downloadable—“Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype Version”. Furthermore, the heat and excitement surrounding this downloadable title would determine whether or not the full game could be greenlit. If hype is strong, the full title will be a go. If not, it’s a no-go. I don’t even want to think about that outcome!

When we’re approved to tell you about the Prototype’s release date and further details, we’ll make another announcement as soon as possible. One thing I know for sure is that it won’t be too long from now. So stay tuned!

Welp, “DASH 3” is really dashing forward now!