I think ZX is SUPPOSED to be the "ultimate power form" on the player's end (storywise, anyway), I just wish they'd given it more varied enhancements instead of just offering one new attack and nerfing the rest of the game's arsenal. The form is basically Z1 Buster/Saber Zero with a superior roll but otherwise crappier saber, no dash roll, damage barrier mechanics tweaked to allow boss raping, and the buster shot tweaked to allow stage-enemy raping.
Complete and utterly disagreed, Flame. ZXA > ZX in all respects.
One cannot deny that ZX > ZXA in arsenal (save for Vent's Rising Fang, anyway). Otherwise, it's a matter of opinion.
For the most part, I found ZXA to have an all-around superior presentation and variety (not to mention LOCALIZATION, you lazy bastards who silenced the first ZX), but it may not have been the best
sequel. Maybe they thought they were doing something clever with the whole lack-of-numbered-game thing, but I think reducing Vent and Aile to NPCs with Model ZX as an A-Trans was uncalled for. They could have at least been unlockables.
And of course, there is no "super form" to take the place of Models X and OX. Evidently unused life gauges suggest they had planned otherwise; they should have stuck to finishing that. Would have went a lot further than GEM BUSTING, that's for sure.
There are of course, numerous improvements that one shouldn't ignore. Perhaps most appreciated is the ability to rematch non-animaloid bosses in the minigame menu (although earning that right through Survival Road is a hell of a time).
Side-quests were a mixed bag. The organization of the quests themselves was improved, but the one-way Trans Servers made completing a lot of them rather tedious. Chip distribution is also horrid as half the game's library isn't even available until after you're on a Clear file. In that manner the game demonstrates as much as the first ZX why New Game Plus shouldn't have been axed.
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