With all this talk of X9 and what it should be like, yadda yadda yadda, I look at X8, and I see that in the end, I didnt really like it.
I posted this in the Capcom unity forums, and figured Id put it here too.
Megaman X8. the X series triumphant return after X7, which was an all around rushed unfinished product.
However, I felth that it really just didnt cut it for me... X8 was good mind you, i enjoyed playing it, like any other X game... I enjoyed X7 too. but I didnt really "like" it.
X8 just felt lacking... SERIOUSLY lacking... It just doesnt feel right. The music feels hollow and just doesnt fit.. like they tried too hard and said "Yeah, lets put rock in it! that makes it a megaman game! Megaman games all have rock right?" Which isnt true... its not supposed to be all rock. Its supposed to be slightly varied. All the rock in X8 just sounded all the same to me... there were not too many memorable tunes. They were bland.
The gameplay was not that great either. While the basic running and shooting things up to bits was just as it should be, there were very little enemies, and not strategiclly placed to give you a hard time. Mostly just big bulky ones to take up space, and then moving ones to give the impression of more. The rest were small. The intro stage had those missile launchers, but the rest was bees, and crabs. then a few mets and those shovel things, along with a fw Bladys to run into you. they were all widely placed. Then Trillobytes stage made an impression of a long level by simply giving you the same area twice, and then a few short battles thrown in with an easily defeated giant robot. The city level. That was all just one big annoying loop. Whatever happened to bike stages the likes of X4and the short bit in X5? Yeti's level was better than that. it was among one of the better ones. the bike stage there was pretty well done. Then theres Pitch black, which is just one big wannabe stealth op. with almost NO enemies, and when you trip a light, THEN security guards come out. which are easily dispatched by killing the leader. then once you turn on the light, Zero might as well drop his saber and use his hands, as there are very few enemies, and small ones, at that. The fact that you could break sheilds so easily was also pretty broken. It reduced the challenge by a bit.
Then there were the NewGens in the stages. they just stood there and shot at you, when they could have I dunno, maybe transformed and chased you or something? The ones in Sigma's palace were pitiful... as was the rest of the stage. Almost NO enemies. they were all bunched up in the entrance to the palace. It was worse than X3 with its empty corridors. The whole stage was almost empty aside from a few Sigma clones here and there, and a small crab shooting at me from the ceiling.
Then, I didnt quite like the "shop" system they had set up. there are much better ways to do it, and I prefer having to FIND things in the stages. It ads replay value to them. Instead, there was very little exploration and thinking involved, as you simply picked up Metals and then bought an item once they had it. the only things that you had to find, were Rare metals and Light's Capsules. Both of which were very badly hidden. All the things that are usually the hard to find or get items that make you stronger and make the game easier, were just buyable. Heart tanks, Sub tanks, ability chips. they even had WE ups. All buyable. which means I really dont even haveto visit any of the stages once Ive beaten it. which means little replay value. especially by abusing the Subtank/Metals glitch.
The Bosses were alright I guess. The only reason theyre challenging is because until you level yours up, they have a much longer health bar than you. just like all recent X games.
Many of the weapons were useless outside of bossfights too. With how powerful you could make the buster and Saber, you didnt need them. Axl is the only one who gets milage out of his weapons, as some of them are more practical depending on the situation.
Then there are minor qualms that while they have little impact on the experience, should to be noted anyway.
The redesigns. While I have no problem with giving redesigns, these in particular just did not look good in game. The in game models looked very weird and too long, in comparison with the artwork. In fact, the only place they looked great, was the cover and the cutscenes.
Zero's helmet. I dont even need to talk about this one. I mean, seriously? His helmet is his most striking feature! and they go and dumb down his prongs. As a matter of fact, Maverick Hunter X didnt get them right either.
The armors. They were all just recolors... Dont be lazy... Seriously. with the excuse of neutral armor, every X armor in the game is just a recolor. and the mugshot was lazy too. Its neutral armor. no other colors corresponding to the others. And the design was rather strange. but maybe that ws the mouth guard collar that X had.
Ultimate armor. Alright, Im happy that it was put in, but was it absolutely NESSECARY to make it just another recolor of Neutral? Ever since X7 was announced, I have wondered what a 3D ultimate armor would look like, and how awesome it would be. I still have not seen a 3D ultimate armor. The closes to it being X Command mission's X-Fire hyper mode, which slightly looks like the Ultimate Armor. Its abilities were slightly changed as well. The hover function was removed. Not that its that big a deal, but still.
Zero's Dash. What the hell happened here?
And thats pretty much it...