Mega Man X8

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes. Excluding a screenshot.
• Time Played: ~15 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's good. It has what feels like more reason to return to levels and there is enough variety it doesn't get old.
• Did I cry: Almost.
• Soundtrack: X8 has one of the better soundtracks. I don't know if it's the best, but it does have what might be one of my favorite tracks; Jakob Stage.
• Why I played: To finish up the final mainline game in the Mega Man X marathon, with this I've played all X1-X8
• Jank: X8 I feel like is pretty refined. It might not be perfect, but it's pretty jankfree. There are a couple little bugs in the original version that I think they fixed for Legacy collection, but that's about it.
• Difficulty: X8 varies a little more in this. I think sometimes it's one of the most challenging games in the series and sometimes it's not. It could be how much better I got as I went on, or how many upgrades I got that carried me along, but even with everything, the final bosses are pretty tough. Maybe not the toughest, but I think there is a pretty good balance of difficulty and challenge where maybe at times it's frustrating, but never so much it makes me mad.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm extremely please. I think X8 is maybe the best game in the series, and I think it's unfortunate that so many people haven't or don't give it a fair shot.
• Recommend to others: I definitely would. It's kind of weird to say I would recommend it over the others, but I reaffirmed any defense I had of X8. Going in I was a bit worried that maybe I was being generous with my memory of having enjoyed X8 - after all, I also liked X5 and X6 which SOME people say are worse than X7(and are wrong). But yeah, if you have never played X8 and weren't sure if it held up or were worried about the direction of the X games after 4, definitely give 8 a shot.
  

I loved Mega Man X8, and I think until Mega Man ZX/Advent came out it might have been my favorite Mega Man game, but I can't remember, and that's only really a two year window 20 years ago. I might have to replay ZX/Advent sometime soon. I definitely remember years ago having to defend X8 a lot because people lumped it in with X7. I'm sure some people just still didn't like the move to 3d graphics instead of the sprites they've come to love, and honestly visually, X8 is nothing special. At the time I thought it looked pretty good, but at the time was 22 years ago. They should have kept the cel shading they used in X7, just maybe... different character models and better animated, there are aspects of X7's visuals which hold up better and I think most people now realize cel shading in any of the first couple generations of 3D platforms aged way better. It also just fits the style of Mega Man way better. Shoot, the fmv cutscenes in the game look like they're just cel shaded renders.

Mega Man X8 starts out pretty tough. I feel like initially I even struggled with the intro stage, and definitely the first stage, to the point I bounced around a couple before committing. Maybe part of it was just it controlling differently enough. The fact they fall so fast. I heard someone describe an aspect of one of the previous games... maybe the first? as X having cement shoes. That fully returns but overall the movement is much snappier too. The controls are really tight, and obviously that's something very important in this type of game. One reason I don't get why this game gets any hate, because if anything it controls the best. When I failed it was due to my own lack of skill or my own mistake. I didn't always feel like that in nearly every other Mega Man X game at some point, in some more than others, of course.

This is definitely Sigma. He said he is.

There are also no permanently missable unlocks, something I usually find extremely frustrating and definitely would have detracted from a game that takes a bit longer to finish. There are some unlocks that require... a lot of effort. A frustrating gauntlet that a slight failure means starting over from the beginning. But nothing is permanently missed. You can always try again... and get better... and get better... and finally do it with ease. The UI and other aspects of the game design is just generally better too. There are no menus that are frustrating to navigate, restarting levels and such and getting back into the action is quick and snappy. It helps a lot when it comes to enjoying these games. The others don't need to be as perfect in those regards because they're shorter overall.

X8 is also pretty great when it comes to stage gimmicks. Each stage has something, and each stage feels unique and intentionally designed. Not just a new layout of obstacles + enemies, and in different orders with maybe some spikes or something. One thing it might be missing that other games have is the cause an effect, beating one maverick effects something in another's stage, so maybe it's more "linear" in that aspect, but the fact each stage has equipment that can only be obtained by a certain character, means you'll likely be playing each stage a couple times, and in some cases it might feel different enough to feel worth it. Also many stages that feel difficult at first, just seem so much simpler upon returning. Some might say this level has a couple bad stages, but I would argue it's only 1 and even then. I don't hate it, it just wasn't as good as it could have been in practice.

Otherwise, the games great and tons of fun, each character feels unique and fun to play as, even Axl, while the weakest link in the trio, is still much more bearable, and fun to play as, in X8. Which reminds me, the voice acting has vastly improved for X8, it's still not like the best, especially by modern standards but it's just like, it sounds like an older game's voice acting, but not excruciating. Same goes for other aspects, I really feel like X8 nails most things. I do feel like maybe this feels a little bit more of what X7 should have been, the more natural evolution of the series instead of what X7 was, and X8 could have been the ultra-refined version improved in every aspect and then maybe the series would have gone on...