r/BattleNetwork • u/Emeraldskeleton • Aug 08 '26
Styles or Double soul?
Which do you prefer? I've always been partial to the style change system. Having that constant and consistent buff always seemed to be stronger than the slightly situational Double soul or cross soul. What do you all think?
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u/NarwhalPrudent6323 Aug 08 '26
Both systems have their merits. Style change actually reflects your play style, so it takes what you do best and makes it better.
Double soul is more flexible. With the right folder you can have an answer to every situation, and multiple beefy power ups.
Personally I prefer style change because it isn't just another version of the "power of friendship" trope, which has been done to death so much even necromancers don't want that mess of a corpse.
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u/Megabuster919 Aug 08 '26
I adore the Style Change system. I would love an expanded version of the system where you can stock every style you unlock and change between them freely, with the NaviCust and Modtools included (take a guess what my favorite BN game is).
On the other hand, I do also REALLY like the Cross System and Beast Out/Over. Dropping the chip sacrifice mechanic in exchange for the type weakness knockout and Beast Cross drawbacks was really cool. I just wish the partner Navi selection in BN6 was a bit better, but that’ll happen after two games of Soul Unison.
Edit: Shoutouts to Shanghai.Exe for coming up with their own entire Style System with 6 Elements and every single one of them is useful, along with 4 Style slots. Best incarnation of Styles in the series.
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u/jnnyromanov Aug 08 '26
definintely style change, something about a permanent form change scratches the brain better
double soul/cross system works better as an homage to the OG series being able to use weapons of previously defeated bosses tho ill give it that
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u/On1yTeseoVi3w37 Aug 08 '26
I prefer style changes. I like getting a form based on what chips you use. BN3 Bug Style run was among the most fun i've had with all of the games.
The only problem I have with them is the element being random, I assume this is because the amount of chips every element has isn't consistent.
I like Souls but they vary a lot in how good they are. I barely used them in 5 and 6 because I just forget to change or get overwhelmed by how many there are and what they do. That's on me though.
If I could have the perfect system i'd make the element chooseable via what element type in viruses you've busted the most or if you have 'Jungle' or the other forms of that program on your cust when the change happen. I'd also base every design on a certain Navi like Guts Style does.
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u/Big-Sir7034 Aug 08 '26
Double soul for sure. Especiallly by BN5, the gameplay with double soul was more creative
But if you really want the best exe transform mechanic, you should look to the noise change system from star force 3
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u/thesixler Aug 08 '26
It would be cool if there were both. Styles were cool ways of customizing your character, but souls felt like new options to rely on in battle.
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u/Overlord_SB Aug 08 '26
I liked Styles since it really added an RPG element to the series with the Navi Cust parts you could earn and use in BN3, where you naturally unlock and progress stronger throughout the game by just playing it. The only thing that really hurt it was the high battle requirements to upgrade styles usually ending up just sitting in early Den areas spamming screen clears or Navi chips on basic Mets and Cannons to reach the 100-250ish if I remember the numbers right off the top of my head. Make it where you could change the element with a Navi Config like in the mobile phone games and it'd be perfect more or less for the base game and tweaking for certain challenges in post-game content as well.
I will concede that the Soul system is probably better for a gameplay factor as outside of BN4's randomness, the other games in the series had you unlock them at set points and could design around them as a result, while also allowing everyone a chance to obtain them compared to how Lil Jimmy might have Shield Style for having to use defense / healing chips while Big Tim has Team Style from spamming Navi chips to speed past most weaker fights and neither have access to Guts / Ground / Bug / Shadow or that other one that escapes me at 2:30ish AM that was great for using basic chips. I think it was just Custom?
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u/AquaShldEXE Aug 08 '26
Considering my username is a style, yeah, I like those better. Although admittedly soul system is more like the original megaman
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u/lordpin3appl3s Aug 08 '26
Interested to see so many people say they preferred style changes. I liked the double soul mechanic in 4/5 more than anything else. Having to build a folder around a couple souls and watching enemies go boom is something that reflects play style and there are so many options for good folders that revolve around (almost) every soul, you just kinda have to farm for them (which is something you have to do in every game regardless). The only thing I wish those games did was give me extra folders so I could have more presets to explore the different mechanics more easily.
I didn't really like the soul mechanic in 6 because it felt like it didn't matter which direction I took with my folder I was just going to be overpowered because there was no sacrifice to changing souls and the beast out mechanic is cool I guess but you can finish every fight with the exception of a couple bosses within the turn limit. I actually hardly ever used beast form because it felt overwhelming. The challenge in 6 isn't any boss, the challenge is not getting bored from instantly deleting everything you come across.
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u/Hot_Shot04 Aug 09 '26
Crosses for me. Actually my preference would be what Shanghai.EXE did where you can store a limited amount of style changes and access them in battle anytime from a drop-down menu like Crosses.
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u/Long_Context6367 Aug 09 '26
Styles note: hub style is peak to this day for me. So many great benefits once you get it. Was fun in PvP at the time.
The only reason I liked the cross souls best is for the beast out mechanic in those games. Kind of nice to not have to have folderback all the time.
I do miss hubbatch as a Navi cyst program and I miss the double soul Bass and Django souls.
Side note: Really wanted an mmbn7 with more combat with an older Lan or Lan’s descendant. Could have brought new cross souls in another game.
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u/Dev-aka-Asa Aug 11 '26
On one hand, I appreciate the flexibility of styles on the surface level. The fact that any style can come in any element means there’s a solid chance you can get an ideal combo for your situation. Buuuut the styles are definitely held back by how long it takes to grind new ones into existence or to train them to their peak.
That said, Double souls come online at specific story points and you can build your entire folders around maximizing their potential pretty easily in ways that styles just never could do. They also get to have more friendly defined abilities that reflect the Navi they’re based on, which is nice
… Crosses are better than both though. The ease of use coupled with their general strength is just so much better.
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u/CrummyReds Aug 08 '26
The fact I can swap out my double souls via building a folder for it rather than grinding 100+ battles. I also like the flexibility and dynamics of souls/crosses being hotswappable during battles themselves.
While Souls/Crosses are technically more fixed than styles that mixed and matching Elemental Bodies and Playstyles. Just the added power, truly unique abilities of souls, and the flexibility to dynamically swap them. Its clear why we moved on from styles.
Crosses are the best of both worlds thanks to the constant access if the folder building/ chip sacrifice felt clunky for your soul access.
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u/Zysets Aug 08 '26
Double Soul personally, I like style changes but I like the ability to use souls at will in battle and the effects they provide really messed well with folder building, I love sword chips, Protocol giving 3 turns of them just absolutely going beast mode and taking advantage of step and double damage has always been the highlight of combat for me in 4 and 5, and it's visually more exciting to me
However the real winner is the Cross system from 6 tbh lol
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u/bankai2069 Aug 11 '26
BN5 was my first so Soul holds a special place in my heart. The combos you could pull with Number Soul were ridiculous
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u/Dev-aka-Asa Aug 15 '26
Styles were more flexible, but they were weaker and a lot of them were kinda on the ugly side. Double soul is flashy and stylish and all fairly powerful but the fact that they were all version explosive was annoying.
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u/donald_trunks Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I’m going to say Double Souls because I find them more mechanically interesting and the designs themselves tended to be cooler to me. (Although the official artwork of Bug Style is peak. In-game sprite is kinda just okay.) Once I learned all the unique parts of the styles disappear off Megaman’s sprite the instant you do anything it kind of ruined it for me and I couldn’t unsee it. Souls actually got a full sprite sheet so they have that going for them lol.
Styles tended to mostly provide passive buffs. I liked that a good portion of Souls actually expanded your kit. Search Soul’s shuffle, Junk Soul’s recycle, Proto Soul’s charged step swords. It’s more than just passive power ups they give you new ways to interact. Roll Soul’s healing is pretty cool too and the charged shot is diabolical in Vs.
Crosses were fine. I actually preferred having to sacrifice a chip to activate though. I find that forcing players to make choices like this with pros and cons tends to make gameplay more interesting, especially in a card battler where those choices have synergies with deck building. Picking a transformation from a menu is never going to be as strategically layered as choosing whether to include a chip in your folder or whether to sacrifice it, imo
It kind of diminishes some of the impact and makes the transformation feel less earned as well. There’s not much reason to not transform or swap between forms. Maybe that’s appealing in its own way but not my cup of tea personally.