P.N.03



P.N.03 (short for Product Number 03) is a relatively little-known Nintendo GameCube game developed by Capcom as part of Shinji Mikami's Capcom 5. P.N.03 was the only game of the Capcom 5 not later ported to the Playstation2.

The game features cybernetic Action Girl and Third-Person Seductress Vanessa Z. Schneider, who uses palm shots and energy drives combined with acrobatic moves or while standing still gyrating or wiggling her bottom to destroy robots in a range of Apple-chic futuro-minimalist facilities. Impressively, all of her animations were handcrafted.

The game wasn't altogether well-received when it was released in September 9, 2003 in North America, with most critics and players considering it to be mediocre. Sales were remarkably poor, with less than 30,000 sold worldwide. The below-average reception for a Capcom 5 title was due in no small part due to a difficult development process in which project lead Shinji Mikami reportedly had a difficult time caring about it and the team couldn't agree on the 'true' title (its development title was Jaguar, reflected by a trailer where she makes catlike movements). The features ended up being as minimalistic as the architecture, as due to the extended development cycle many features were dropped. The game engine, some music, and some of the mechanics were later used in Resident Evil 4.

Much of the team later split from Capcom to form Platinum Games, developers of Bayonetta, and developed Vanquish, a game which is, to some extent, a Spiritual Successor to P.N.03.

General Tropes

 * A.I. Is a Crapshoot
 * All There in the Manual: Little of the background is mentioned in game, but you play a mercenary hired by the military to investigate an AI defense system gone haywire.
 * Artificial Stupidity: The enemies spawn as predetermined types in predetermined locations. You know immediately on entering a room through prior experience what you are facing. The enemies also attack in predetermined patterns.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Many of the overdrives are super flashy and over the top but do pitiful damage and in some cases can miss the target entirely!
 * Beam Spam: A lot of the bosses and enemies tend towards this. The Final Boss uses a beam spam of Wave Motion Guns when it Turns Red.
 * Boring but Practical: Tengu and the upgraded version, Tengu Pro. Doubles your shot power, but most importantly gives temporary invincibility. The ability to ignore an enemy's attacks and just fire away can come close to a Game Breaker if used correctly.
 * Boss in Mook Clothing: The Seerose and Gardenie robots.
 * Bullet Hell: The bosses tend towards this, but it's subverted in that you can hide behind an obstacle and avoid all incoming fire. The last boss is a pure example, and beating him involves learning the patterns to his attacks.
 * Button Mashing: The early Aegis Suits follow this trope completely, but it eventually becomes averted since later ones can be upgraded to fully automatic fire. Through New Game+ all the suits can be upgraded this way.
 * Check Point: Dying simply dumps you out of the storyline or trial mission you were in - you get to keep the points you accumulated before death.
 * Critical Existence Failure: You're perfectly fine until that last hit that pierces your remaining shields and kills you.
 * Cut and Paste Environments: The trial missions are a bunch of random rooms strung together. Late in the game the randomizer loves to string multiple T-shaped intersections together, making it very easy to get lost unless you've memorized or written down what order you've taken the doors in.
 * Cyberpunk Is Techno: The soundtrack fittingly consists mainly of techno, breakbeat, industrial, and jungle/drum & bass tunes.
 * Dance Battler
 * Do Not Run with a Gun: Strongly enforced, Vanessa has to be standing still to fire. The game's Scrappy Mechanic to some, and the big reason why people have a hard time playing it - ironically, the exact same mechanism so lauded in Resident Evil 4. The strict segregation of movement and attacking define the way the game plays.
 * Worth noting that this only applies to the control stick, not the dodge buttons.
 * Difficulty Levels: You really should play the game on Easy to get the hang of the enemies and controls.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You
 * Exposition Break: Major advances in the plot come through this way.
 * Expy: One of the commonly encountered Goddamned Bats resembles the Sentinels from Halo: Combat Evolved. Vanessa herself is somewhat of a futuristic expy of Jill from the Resident Evil series.
 * Hit and Run Tactics: You cannot shoot and move at the same time. Gameplay is basically dodging out of the way of enemy fire until they're vulnerable, then attacking.
 * Invulnerable Attack: Much like the super bombs of Shoot'Em Ups, Vanessa is completely invulnerable during an Overdrive.
 * Level Grinding: Doing the trial missions over and over for points to upgrade the Aegis Suits makes the game much easier.
 * Multiple Endings: Beating the game on Easy gives the standard ending. Beating the game on Normal or Hard adds an additional cutscene after the ending.
 * Multi Mook Melee: Used for the end-of-level battle in Mission 4, and some of the Reactor Boss battles.
 * New Game+: The Aegis Suits you've bought and upgraded carry over between games.
 * One-Winged Angel: Alraune starts as an easy robotic skull, then turns into a much tougher Humongous Mecha scorpion.
 * One-Hit Kill: The energy cannon turrets are about as close to Wave Motion Gun as it gets. You do not want to be out in the open when they fire.
 * Palette Swap: The basic enemy type, the Pilz, all look the same outside of the color. Their attacks vary depending on what color they are. The Aegis Suits themselves are all different colored versions of the same model, with one exception.
 * Point Build System: The Aegis suits are both buyable and upgradable through the points scored in both the storyline and the side missions.
 * Reactor Boss
 * Respawning Enemies: Averted completely, once a room is clear it stays clear.
 * Scoring Points: You need the best possible scores in all the side missions to unlock both the Blackbird and Papillon.
 * Smart Bomb: All of the Overdrives are variations on this theme.
 * Signature Sound Effect: The enemies all have unique sounds indicating they're about to attack. Listening for this is key when trying to dodge while out in the open.
 * Sorry I Left the BGM On: The level music apparently what she's listening to, thus the toe tapping and gyrations.
 * Spider Tank: Sonnenblume, Alraune, and several of the mooks.
 * Spiritual Successor: Vanquish, as mentioned above.
 * Take Cover: One of the ways to avoid enemy fire. Really skilled players don't need to rely on this so much, though there are certain enemies whose attacks cannot be dodged.
 * Third-Person Shooter: Despite the over the shoulder cam as later used in Resident Evil 4, this is what the game is at heart.
 * Turns Red: The Final Boss uses its Wave Motion Gun Beam Spam when down to a quarter of its HP.
 * Unexpected Shmup Level: Reviewers tended to treat the entire game like this.
 * Wave Motion Gun: Used by several enemies and bosses, especially the death laser turrets sometimes guarding the reactor bosses.

Blackbird Aegis Suit

 * Boring but Practical: It's the first Aegis suit that allows for maximum upgrades in all categories and has access to Tengu Pro, Pegasus Pro and Swan Pro, three of the best overdrives in the game.
 * Theme Naming: It's black, like the name implies.

Papillon Aegis Suit

 * Awesome but Impractical: You have access to every single overdrive in the game, but zero shields.
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Difficult but Awesome: If you can master not getting hit, this Aegis Suit is by far the most useful. Can attract Challenge Gamers.
 * Fan Service: Blatantly so.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder: Due to the lack of shields, and much like the shooters of old, one hit and you die.
 * Shower Scene: Wear the suit through the whole game to completion and you're rewarded with this.
 * Stripperiffic: It's composed of vest, thong, chaps, and long fingerless gloves.
 * Theme Naming: Papillon, French for butterfly. This suit is named so because it exposes the butterfly tattoo on Vanessa's stomach.