But beyond issues like that, I mostly get annoyed with the PSX era for the heavy focus on Zero. I know Inafune created Zero to steal the spotlight, but X4 and 5 were really blatant about it, to the point that Zero skips a(n admittedly laughable) boss fight and generally gets more story in X4 while becoming the primary catalyst of the entire plot of X5. And if the series had ended there, then Zero would've even been the one to finish Sigma for good.
He also died in a boss explosion irrelevant to whether or not he was even on-screen during said explosion.
I'm not stupid enough to try and argue that Zero was not a major focus of the PS1 arc. I'm just saying, while there is the appearance that they set out to sing Zero's praises, there is also the end result that says they really sucked at it.
I will also argue that despite Zero still being the source of conflict in X6, X6 really did bring us some good character development on X's side. Seeing how he reacts to a threat that hits on a personal level (and is not Sigma and therefore doesn't invoke the "you're crazy, I'll kill you" response) was very interesting, and at the same time, he did remain true to his "merciful" side in the end.
IMO only one of the PSX X games was actually good: X4. X5 and X6 are both pretty terrible and as such the PSX era kinda suffers from that.
While I disagree with this particular sentiment, I do understand it.
See, X4 was the only "classic-feeling" game of the PS1 era. It literally was a Super NES game with a new engine, superior tech, and Zero. Unless you're THAT bothered by air-dash momentum, anyone who denounces X4 is I believe doing so mainly out of hardware bias. Yeah, it ain't perfect, but after X3's buster upgrade I don't think it really needed to be. It was damn well awesome and every bit worthy to stand in the light of the first two SNES games.
X5 and X6 both attempted to mix up the formula. X5 was largely unsuccessful in doing so, as besides the multi-armor thing very little of its original elements are remembered fondly, and ALL of them are presented in a horrendously rough state with much-needed fixes applied in later games. X6 did most of that fixing (Navigator assistance, Power-Up Parts, Ranking, a spike-immune armor that doesn't destroy whatever concept of customization that the Power Up Parts are trying to create, starting with an armor that does not completely destroy any sense of progression in collecting X's other crap, having a branch ending that does not present the more difficult boss to the less skilled player and also does not emphasize the anticlimactic nature of the main ending, and making a Zero boss who doesn't suck). However, it also severely ramped up the difficulty in very untraditional methods, catering to people who were willing to explore the ins and outs of how to squeeze every ounce of speed and distance out of the game engine than to people who just wanted to equip Weapon X so that they could destroy Obstructing Block Y. It's a love-letter to gamers like me who maybe enjoy the games just a little too much, but it's not particularly approachable for the general public. It is literally the "Super Mario: The Lost Levels" of Mega Man X, except without the intent of being Japan-only and therefore lacking the any validation to people who would otherwise make it a point to be good at it just so that japanese bunny girls wouldn't laugh at them.