I actually love this game. Now if you asked me what I thought while playing it, I would've said its the worst Mega Man I've ever played. But, after beating it, I feel so accomplished. Its like I overcame a huge challenge. Maybe I'm just a masochist, but man that was a lot of fun.
X and Zero both feel incredible to use. X's special weapons are all really good. They're really strong and are all useful one way or another. Rainy Turtloid, Infinity Majinion, and Bizz Wolfang's weapons are the only ones I didn't really use all that much. Commander Yamark's weapon is incredible. Using it for both Zero and X is wonderful. I really like the Blade and Shadow armor as sidegrades for X. Zero's techniques all kind of suck, aside from Commander Yamark's weapon, but its whatever. The animation and sound effects of his moves just make him feel so satisfying.
The stage design is psychotic. I'm a huge fan. I really like rescuable reploids and the upgrades they can provide. Nightmare viruses make them more interesting, but the viruses themselves can also be super annoying. The Nightmare system adds a twist to all the stages when its in full effect. I played Infinity Majinion's stage when it had all the Nightmare effects and it was insane. The best stages are Commander Yamark, Rainy Turtloid, and Blizz Wolfang's stages. I hate Deep Shark Player's stage since its so slow. The remaining stages all have interesting ideas, just done without any real polish. They are all really difficult and arduous to beat, but man, when I beat them, I felt like I was at the top of the world. Maybe I'm just a masochist. Infinity Majinion in particular felt like such an insane stage that when I beat it, I was just in awe. I had a great time. The Mavericks themselves are all really weak. Its a bit anticlimactic going through such hard stages only to fight such weak bosses.
I like how progression is handled. You only need to beat one Maverick to beat the game. The secret exits in the stages are really cool ideas. I like how that's how you unlock Zero and fight High Max. I wish you could do the Gate Stage 1 as X without the Shadow Armor, but that's whatever. The locations of some of the secrets, like Light Capsules and heart tanks are psychotic. Like one is just through a wall that you can just walk through. Its insane. I am a fan though. I like the chip system and the rescuable reploids. It makes exploring the stages feel more rewarding. The music in all the stages is also just drop-dead amazing.
The Gate stages are fun. They throw everything they have at you and you just have to beat them. It feels like a lot, but after I took it all a little bit at a time, I was able to beat it. It did take like a while, but man I felt so accomplished afterwards. The beginning of Gate Stage 2 as Zero in particular was quite the challenge.
I really like the story of this game. Gate and High Max are good villains. I like how Alia has a history with Gate. I don't like how Sigma comes in at the very end, he feels very unnecessary and forced. His fight is really fun though.
I really like this game. It feels like a great challenge to overcome. The game doesn't hold back. When I beat this game, I felt like I earned it. It feels like a first draft of something that could've been the best Mega Man game ever. We didn't get a more refined version, but I love what I played. Its definitely not for everyone, but it is for me.