After the failed experiment that was X7, Capcom returned to 2D gameplay with Mega Man X8, now featuring X, Zero and Axl as playable characters. The game plays great, with X and Zero having their usual movesets and Axl's moveset being pretty fun. Level design is mostly good but for some reason they insist on adding awful gimmick stages that really ruin the pacing of the game.

Overall, a nice return to form for the series. If you own the X Legacy Collection 2 then this is one of the few games from it I recommend playing.

At last, we arrive at the end of these games. Other than Command Mission or something I might play that.

The thing that strikes me about X8 is that it feels like the video game equivalent of "oh god sorry I'm sorry I'm trying to delete it" regarding the receptions of X6 and X7. The most concise way to describe this is that Vile comes back to just kind of hang around and be a recurring boss. Vile, who had not appeared since X3 and we had no real reason to think was still supposed to be alive. At some point I wonder if Dynamo was meant to fill that role, but it doesn't matter.

Everything also feels a lot brighter. Less oppressive than the last three games. I think this is partly that the visuals are actually brighter, but also they took out the reploids you have to save in the levels and other ways to miss out on anything. Even the plot, for as much as it's still a 'save humanity' thing and apparently the apocalypse is still happening, just doesn't have the sense of urgency. None of this is bad, it's just interesting how the decisions add up.

The plotline where X was a big whiny baby about doing murder is gone, he's being normal now. Axl is still around but is just one of the boys, his personality also flattened. Even so, this is still very much his show, as he has a personal connection to the plot and bosses that is just not explored enough, as is endemic to this series of action games where all the story happens in like three cutscenes. Maybe I'd have gotten more out of it if I'd had him be the one going into more boss fights, but I have my doubts! Ultimately there's not enough meat here to be much more than simething about going Maverick, being a cop etc, but it's at least coherant in a way that the scripts for the previous few games were not.

A lot of gameplay actually did get pulled forward from 7, considering this was released only about a year later. The ill-advised 3D stuff is out and while the animations are still a little floaty and the pickups still kind of blend in with the background sometimes, the production feels a lot more like what you'd expect from a PS2 game made by Capcom, a big time video game company that made such hits as Mega Man and Mega Man 6. You still get to take two characters into a stage, but they added a lot of mechanics to really encourage tagging out often, for example enemies do absurd amounts of damage but you can regenerate some of it back by switching out like your tag fightings games and such. You'll want to use all three this time around to collect every single one of the plentiful doodads hidden in each stage. Like you'll need to use Axel to get some X powerups even if you wanted to focus on X and Zero.

Levels are pretty solid but there are a lot of instant death gimmicks and a very carefully limited number of extra lives. I am maybe not the biggest fan of X series bosses to start with and that doesn't change for X8, it always feels very attrition-y to me. Loose. Difficult to get a feel for actually dodging. I actually missed the lives system of X6, which would have made me feel a bit better about some of the spikier segments. It's only a handful of segments that are actually bad, though, notably Burn Rooster and Gravity Antonion's stages can go to hell.

There are so many collectibles too oh my god. Extra weapons and armors and passive powerups and moves just scattered everywhere, most of which requires some investment of currency to activate once unlocked. There's no way I'm doing a bunch of New Game Plus runs to get all this crap but I like the sheer variety. On the other hand the special weapons you're getting from bosses are really sidelined by the number of options you have at your disposal. Axel having a full 360 degree firing radius makes it less enticing when X obtains a gun that can shoot upwards, you know? You can start a new game on a higher difficulty though, and those add more boss attacks, so if you do like the game a bit more than me I think there's plenty of fun to be had there.

X8 feels like an attempt at getting the series "back on track" so to speak, but nobody really cared by then and 8 is already a very large number to have at the end of your video game title. It's a shame that this one ends up being forgotten despite being pretty good, but I still think it's just pretty good and not amazing. The way these games were stacking up new mechanics on top of each other, and the degree to which they were clearly angling to change up the story a little in the next game, I wish X9 had happened. It would have at least been interesting. Oh well! This rounded out the second legacy collection nicely.

Here we have it the final Megaman X game and let me say I’m glad that this one was actually pretty good!

X8 returns to form being mainly a 2D game with a few 2.5D sections. Level design is pretty good there’s a few frustrating bits on there but at this point every X game has that. Having X, Zero and Axl available form the start is great and I liked that there’s now a money system that you use to buy a lot of your upgrades but you have to find some of those upgrades on the levels before you can buy them so exploration is till there.

Presentation wise it’s still pretty solid I do miss the sprite style of the earlier games but this one still looks good and the voice acting is pretty good too!

Top 3 Maverick Names!
3) Earthrock Trilobyte
2) Avalanche Yeti
1) Gigabolt Man-O-War

Overall playing all these games has been real fun and while some I’d wait awhile before I revisit most I’d love to play again!

The boys are back in town, one last time.

Mega Man X 8 could not exist without the front flip into the dirt that was Mega Man X 7. X8 feels in every way like what X7 should have been. I don’t want to say that it was an apology for X7, but the amount of things they got right here is like they’re overcompensating.

The most important lesson learned from X7 is keeping it 2D. I don’t necessarily think that Mega Man X NEEDS to be a strictly 2D game series, but the way X7 botched it means they weren’t ready for it yet. With X8, they played it safe and stuck with what they knew and for whatever that’s worth, it’s a better game for it.

The biggest reason for this is there is no targeting system to accommodate three dimensional play. You shoot right in front of you, simple as that. This gives Axl, a character I loathed to play as in X7, a more interesting playstyle. To set him apart from X, his weapons have analogue aiming. Due to his stop-and-pop combat and lack of heavy damage, I still don’t find him to be nearly as viable or fun as X or Zero. I find that stop-and-pop style to be pretty antithetical to Mega Man as a whole but hey, he’s got something besides “X but way worse” so I’m happy for him I guess. He’s still a Scrappy Doo ass character though.

X is as reliable and fun to play as ever, and his new Neutral Armor brings back the toyetic nature of the X series in full force. The Neutral Armor is a blank slate (looks pretty cool too, I like the “collar” that comes up high enough to cover his mouth) that you can mix and match parts from the attack-focused Icarus set (the red one) and the mobility-focused Hermes set (the blue one). The customizability of the Neutral Armor is one of my favorite things about this game. The gunpla-ness of the X Armors has reached its endgame, you can literally kitbash the Neutral Armor into something that fits your playstyle. This is of course made pointless by the secret Ultimate Armor having the best of both armors, but if you’re not using a code, you can’t get that armor without beating the game first.

To round up the cast of playable characters, X8’s treatment of Zero is proof of the Mega Man X’s series’ head over heels love for that guy. It’s not misplaced love, he’s a cool guy. This is also the best Zero has been handled in any of the Mega Man X games. Every skill you learn from a boss is naturally incorporated into his moveset, and it isn’t something like adding an air dash or a double jump (Zero starts the game with those things). They sat down and looked at Zero’s kit and asked what could be added to it, rather than taken away and given back. Furthermore, nothing feels clumsily added either, like taking one of X’s weapons and just giving it to Zero. He’s always been a solid character to play as, but X8 gives us the most polished Zero in any game he shows up in. Except maybe Marvel vs. Capcom 3…

Anyways

The toy box nature of Mega Man X does not stop with X’s kitbash armor, no. Not by a long shot. Zero gets himself a whole arsenal of weapons to play with. From a hammer to battle fans, each weapon has a signature move tied to one of the boss skills. The brass knuckles turning most of the skills into a Street Fighter move is very fun and I like it. But the D Glaive. Oh, the D Glaive. What a weapon. Named from the Hindu goddess of motherhood and war, the Durga Glaive is Zero’s best non-New Game+ weapon for its sheer range alone. This weapon turns Zero into a long range fighter. Spamming the jump slash is enough to take out entire rooms of enemies. There are certain parts of the game where optimal play is needed to get a reward and the D Glaive is the tool for the job. Its so satisfying to swing this thing around. It’s too good. I’m glad the D Glaive is there because the hammer is kinda dumb.

The weapons and armor are just a fraction of things to find in the levels of this game, there is a buffet of upgrades and goodies to get your hands on and then buy in the in-game shop. You’ll be backtracking, you’ll be resetting because you missed something, you’ll be farming for cash at Earthrock Trilobite's level. It’s maybe an artificial extension on the game, but it’s a good enough game that I’ll take any excuse to spend more time with it. Doing Avalanche Yeti’s stage more than once is pretty stupid though! It’s not a great level!

To save yourself a bit of time, I recommend getting the D Glaive from Dark Mantis’ stage as soon as you can (you’ll need to beat Gigavolt Man-O-War first, another not great level) and then clear Optic Sunflower’s stage as best as you can to get the Metal Generator for a steady flow of cash as you go through the game.

Alright I’ve waited long enough, I’ve said enough good things about this game. It’s time for my biggest gripe about Mega Man X 8.

I don’t like the visual style. Everyone looks weird. Axl comes out relatively unscathed but good lord X and Zero look extruded and maligned. The classic bell-bottom boots that Mega Man founded are gone. X’s buster is too busy, he has gray on his boots where it wasn’t needed. The “ear” parts of his helmet have the letter “X” incorporated into it, a design move I really don’t agree with. He looks more cylindrical, I hate it. And Zero? Oh, the massacred my boy. You look at him for a second and everything looks fine, but then he turns around and his beautiful flowing hair has been reduced to a thin dangling rat tail. What where they thinking???

It should be said though that this game is solid enough to make me forget about my misgivings with the visual style. The game is rendered well, I just wish there was a mod that made the boys look more Classic.

Speaking of the boys, I think it’s nice that you can eventually play as the girls, your navigators that have been yapping in your ear the whole game. Layer is very good and I like her and it’s insane that they got away with her body-stocking-underboob design.

I have beaten Mega Man X 8 three times and 100%ed it at least one of those times. I thoroughly enjoyed latest playthrough, though I’m willing to admit that was because I had just come off of Mega Man X 7. I’m also willing to admit that X8 has enough merit to be enjoyable without having to put yourself through torture beforehand.

I recommend Mega Man X 8. Take your time with it, because lord knows we won’t get another one any time soon.

A stunning example of what an X series game should be. It steers a little away from being a Megaman game given the level gimmicks and more as an standard action platform shooter, but that's not a problem given the variety and easy to pick-up gameplay. Character flaws have been ironed out from X7, every character is equally as fantastic, plenty of post-game content, unique weapons, six characters total, a great soundtrack, fantastic 2.5D visuals, great bossfights that feel imposing and action-packed, an awesome boss weapon line-up, a great plot and an awesome final boss! Difficulty isn't near hard nor is it boringly easy, with challenging and precise segments. Plenty to explore, unlock, and lots of unique ways to play and replay the game. Awesome stage gimmicks, new armours that can be mixed and matched, and THREE exclusive post-game bonus character alts plus the operators makes Megaman X8 a timeless blast to enjoy and replay.

X8 é bom, sofreu muito ódio desnecessário por conta do seu antecessor que é um dos maiores desastres da indústria, mas é sim divertido especialmente no fator rejogabilidade. a trilha sonora é competente, (não acho melhor que X ou X6, mas é boa) o visual é legal (poderia ser bem melhor especialmente pra 2004), o plot é de longe o mais interessante da série e algumas fases tem bons conceitos (de cabeça lembro a do Anton, a fase do Pandamonium e aquela de noite meio stealth) e algumas nem tanto, ( a do Rooster, do Sunflower a de neve e a da moto voadora) o design de todos personagens são fodas demais (Lumine, Pandamonium, Trylobite, armaduras, etc.) e a gameplay é muito boa - não possui level design nojento que nem X6 e nem é uma desgraça como X7 - e pasmem, é a primeira dublagem na saga X que... PRESTA! - não é uma dublagem magnífica mas é boa!
resumindo : jogo competente e divertido diferente de seu antecessor.