if you're looking at the store page for volume 2, it's very likely that you've either already played through volume 1 or are wondering if you should buy both volumes together. here's my review of each individual game. spoiler: if you didn't gel with the battle network combat the first 3 times, I don't think there's anything that will convince you to like it, ESPECIALLY battle network 4.
battle network 4: no.
to elaborate: it's the worst numbered Battle Network. it's ok on a first playthough, plot's non consequential and you do a LOT of backtracking, but it's carried by some really good Net Battling and stuff like Soul Unisons. Any more than that in an effort to get 100% and it turns into a torture method that was used by the CIA to interrogate prisoners of war. The game's structure is pretty much 10 minutes of story stretched across an hour followed by a tournament arc rinsed and repeated 3 times, and you won't see all of the different opponents from the tournament arc in your first playthrough. Or your second. At minimum, it will take 3 playthroughs, and even THEN I still didn't get one of the early game scenarios on my third playthrough so if it wasn't for the fact that I was insane enough to play the game 3 MORE times on the second version for all the achievements I straight up would not have seen it. Not like it would have mattered much, any of the opponents who don't give you a Soul Unison are either generic Navis with generic NPC operators or they never show up again in the series. There are some funny moments like when the old lady mob boss hits some goons with a Raging Demon or when you make curry that's so good it causes those who taste it to see their deceased loved ones descend from the heavens and remind them that they will always love them but I don't think I'd like prison time overall even if they put a TV with the Three Stooges in my cell. I'd just have something to laugh at while I'm being systematically oppressed. The NetBattling that's pretty much the only REALLY good part of the game also gets old since most of the chips you get on repeat playthroughs are just the chips you already have with higher damage numbers, and most of them aren't as good as Air Hockey anyway so why bother? The only thing I really think this game does better than Battle Network 5 is Dark Chips, the fact that they only appear when you're at your lowest and have no way to circumvent their permanent HP draining side effects make them feel like a creepypasta mechanic (I mean this IS megaman.exe) but even then they're way more useful in Battle Network 5 since you can circumvent the side effects. I would say I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, but I'm pretty sure my worst enemy has done things way worse than 100%ing battle network 4 so they probably deserve it. If there is any game across both collections to skip, MAKE IT THIS ONE.
battle network 5: after that rant of a review you're probably wondering if battle networks 5 and 6 make up for 33% of the collection being borderline kusoge, and the answer is yeah. Battle Network 5 has a decent story, really fun netbattling that evolves upon Battle Network 4, a fun alternate take on Netbattling in the form of Liberation Missions, and a decent story. I say decent cause both Team Protoman and Team Colonel are plagued with the fact that each version of the game has separate cast members with entirely separate characterization that have to go through the same events. Makes them not as fleshed out as they could be no matter which version you're playing. On top of that, I think a few of Team Colonel's members introduce some plot holes into the narrative. On top of THAT, Colonel is a major character in Battle Network 6, and since he barely appears in Team Protoman the narrative of BN6 is gonna be a lot more confusing when Colonel shows up. Other than that, I had a fun time with BN5, and I'd imagine if you've gotten this far into the series, you will as well.
Battle Network 6: In terms of gameplay, it's the cream of the crop. Unleashing the power of an ancient cyberwolf inside you to literally go beast mode is the coolest thing ever and nothing can convince me otherwise. Plus Soul Unisons have evolved into Crosses which are WAY more powerful and even interact with the aformentioned beast mode to make you even more busted. Mix that in with the chips being more powerful than ever and while this does make this the easiest Battle Network, it's also the most fun with how much you can screw around with different deck builds to absolutely tear into the opposition. In terms of story, that's where this game kinda drops the ball. It starts building up to something really good, introducing characters and themes from the Mega Man X portion of the main timeline, but around halfway through the game the developers were told that BN6 would be the last Battle Network so they had to wrap up the entire story, and unfortunately they didn't stick the landing. At the very least I liked a lot of the characters and settings BN6 introduced, so even if this unfortunately doesn't feel like a proper conclusion to Lan and Mega Man's story to me I at least have Fanny the Elephant Seal and friends.
collection additions: Lot more apparent in here than in Volume 1 of the Legacy Collection (at least if you aren't Japanese) cause there's actually a significant chunk of content that got erased in the original English localizations for one reason or another, now restored and fully playable. The Patch Cards let you customize Mega Man to further, insane levels of power, some Item Cards will give you a boost, a bunch of rooms were readded, but most importantly, an entire postgame boss and sidequest crossing over with the Boktai series was readded to BN6, marking the first time these areas were officially accessible outside of Japan. Far more reasons to buy this if you already played the originals on GBA or Wii U Virtual Console.
Achievements: No. No. Don't. Don't even try. You have to play Battle Network 4 6 times to get all the achievements. And then get all of the battle chips. Look at me. Do I look like I had fun? Do I look like backtracking through the same plot threads, same dungeons, the same poorly translated dialogue, do I look like all that made me a better person? Well you can't see me through this review, so I'll spell it out for you: It didn't. Don't do it. Your time is much better spent. I guess the achievements for BN5 and BN6 are a bit more manageable but DO NOT GO FOR 100%. TRUST ME.
online: Dead, but what's not dead is Tango, the community multiplayer client with rollback netcode. You can use a tool called Game Extraction Toolbox to take the ROMs out and use Tango legally, so if you're at all interested go look it up, since BN6 is the game most NetBattlers play these days, and this is the collection with BN6. Personally speaking I haven't played much of it, but Battle Network 6 PVP is REALLY fun.
overall: Despite Battle Network 4 giving me a brain aneurism BN5 and BN6 were worth my time as someone who enjoyed the first 3 games. Like I said earlier, I don't think you'll be convinced if you didn't enjoy Volume 1, but you'll have a good time if you're a fan.
