Sunday, July 4, 2021

Unannounced Characters & Artwork From Cancelled "Rockman Online" Revealed

Move over, Rockman X DiVE. The ghost of a much older classic/X series crossover is back on the scene. A big-batch of official concept art from Capcom and NeoWiz's ill-fated Rockman Online has surfaced, bringing us our first look at several unannounced characters, stages, cutscenes and more!

 

The following images were anonymously posted by one of Rockman Online's primary concept artists. The images were "unlisted" up until recently. Although they aren't available in their original resolution, there's still a LOT to appreciate.

 

You've probably seen the images on the top left before. Two of X and Zero's armors and a few boss designs were publicly reveled ten years ago, too. But beyond that, there's a TON that we've never seen before.


There's several unseen armors for X, Zero, Duo and Cinnamon. Three previously unannounced playable avatars -- Axl, Rockman and Roll -- each had their own line of armors, too!

The bottom portion covers different bosses and enemies. We've seen a few of them before... but look! There's Air Man, Dark Necrobat, Dark Man (?), Ballad, Wood Man, Vile... the list goes on! Needless to say, it's great to see Rockman Online's take on these legacy characters after so many years.

There's more...


This image features a slew of unseen weapons, in-game menus and -- perhaps most interesting of all -- cutscenes. The caption under the big group shot is legible. It reads:

"There were heroes who tried to save the world against those who conspired against it; waging great wars long into the night. 

As the sun rose, the heroes emerged stronger than before. Their light shines upon all."


Though vague, this is somewhat analogous to the game's general plot. Rockman Online's story reportedly took place several years after the X series. To thwart a sudden spike in Irregular activity, the United Continent Association (UCA) "revived" the deceased X, Zero and Duo, transfering their DNA Souls into special Copy Bodies. These were avatars that players were expected to inhabit as they did battle with revived, power-up forms of Irregulars and Robot Masters.

The events of the game were depicted in two impressive animated trailers. Beyond that, though, much of the plot remains lost to time. Bummer.

  

 

We're not done yet. Check this out...



The last image comes to us from another dev team member. Stage renders! We had the chance to see a few of these in action before, a whole decade ago. Remember?

 

The above artist started working on Rockman Online in 2007, almost three years before it was officially announced. They complete their work in 2009.

Aaaaand that's all for now! As the years go on and NDAs expire, we may yet have more lost Rockman Online history to consume. I hope.

I, personally, am looking out for the beta keys. These were special invites given to contest winners ten years ago to participate in Rockman Online's closed beta. Myself and a few members of The Mega Man Network were actually in close contact with a winner from South Korea. We lost contact shortly before the game was cancelled. We never did learn if the beta went on as planned.

Amunshen, my old friend, if you're still out there... little help, please?

23 comments:

  1. What could have been and what nay never be…

    Man, look at all those extra-cute Roll variants! There's even one that kind of looks like Plum from Battle & Chase! Ah, I love them all – especially the one with green hair~

    This is a whole lot of "neat", Protodude and Co. Thanks for sharing this!

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    Replies
    1. And the one behind the pink haired variant has a hairstyle similar to Ciels, neat.

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  2. looks like the evil energy robot from MM8 after bit

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  3. Such a waste, all that potential all for not. Maybe one day as we dream on this.

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  4. I grow so tired of hearing the words “Megaman” and “cancelled” in the same sentence.

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  5. Those were really neat to see, I loved those armor and robot designs... it's still such a shame.

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  6. now I know how to write "rockman" in korean. 록맨

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  7. I really wish those designs are used for something in some way, even if just for inspiration in future Mega Man content. Such a waste of pretty nice assets...

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  8. These look awesome! I kind of like how as you look farther right on the armor designs, the characters begin looking less and less recognizable.

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  9. The feelings of nostalgia stirred up as well as the torment experienced due to the longing of something that could never be. As the bald bearded man from Grandma's Boy once said, "Sucks to be you, nerd!" ):

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  10. THIS GAME WAS GOING TO FEATURE PLAYABLE AXL!?

    Why did this game never get a release, I wonder? It could've been much better than X DiVE!

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  11. Man, so many forms, such cool designs. Crazy how this stuff completely vanishes!

    Also, wow does that gameplay look VERY similar to X Dive. Hmm...

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  12. I remember some redesign were pretty meh, like Ballade but i liked the concept, even if i like XDive, i would like a Rockman Online with a classic gameplay style with coop and his own story...
    This update still make me sad about this project...
    Pay your EMs now but at least we have a lot of stuff in RXDive. ^^

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  13. Crazy how this game looked better VISUALLY than X dive

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    1. I think XDive looks better tbh

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  14. It is kinda sad that the armors pic is a bit blurry. But this is a huge discovery anyway. I really wanted this game to exist back in the day.

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  15. Was my comment offended you in some way Protodude or the comment ended up in the spam folder?

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    1. Didn't see a comment from you in this post before. Might not have gone through.

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    2. Speaking of Protodude... Are all posts manually checked? Or is it psuedo automated? Because there is a recurring glitch where posts get multiposted... Twice, three times, maybe more.

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    3. Maybe youtube link is forbidden now? I did put a youtube link after the "my friend, mon ami, watashi no tomodachi" joke as reference. Below is my previous post without the youtube link:

      -----------------------------------

      Protodude: "Amunshen, my old friend, if you're still out there... little help, please?"

      That's riiiiiiiiight! Hey Amunshen! Even though we never knew each other but now you're my best friend! lol

      So, where are you nae chingu, my friend, mon ami, watashi no tomodachi?

      By the way Protodude, any update about that Rockman & Forte WS from "youyama"? Please let him know that the official book contained many artworks and sketches, pretty sure his works counted too. Look at that dedicated page for R&F2 in 25th OCW, it's only half a page, terrible!

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  16. I wish the artwork was in higher resolution. This is such a tease.

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  17. well, since Xdive is still going perhaps they should do an anime intro too! :)

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  18. Trivial Trivia ManJuly 12, 2021 at 12:16 PM

    Text:
    록맨 온라인/캐릭터,몬스터,배경,UI 컨셉디자인,스토리보드
    Translation:
    Rockman Online / Characters, "Monsters" (Enemies), Backgrounds, UI Concept Designs, Storyboards

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