This review contains spoilers
I'm conflicted.
Out of all of the Mega Man X games, X8 is the one that has so many things that I love about it yet also has some damning aspects that drag the experience down for me.
Let me start with the positives: This game has the best controls out of any X game. The characters feel so smooth and fun to control. I don't really know how to describe it, but it feels so fun to play around with the characters and their abilities more than every other game in the series. Speaking of which, X, Zero, and Axl all feel really balanced in this game and they all have distinct characteristics that make them stand out. X has the charge shot and can equip his set of armors but can only shoot straightforward, Axl can shoot in 8 directions but can’t charge his weapons, and Zero has his collection of swords and double jump but has the shortest dash length. They all have their pros and cons and it doesn't feel like one character has a much bigger advantage or disadvantage over the other. The game also brings back the partner mechanic from X7 and improves upon it, as you can now swap out a character to refill their health whenever they're damaged. It's such a fun mechanic, probably my favorite thing introduced in this game if I'm being honest. It just kinda baffles me that we went from X7, which had the worst controls and mechanics in the series, to X8, which had the best.
I also love the new shop system they implemented into this game. No more heart tanks, sub tanks, or rescuable reploids that may give you items at the end of a stage; now you purchase items and abilities with the metals you earn from the stages. It's a fun system that gives light to a new gameplay idea and gets rid of a formula that became stale by the 6th entry.
The bosses are a lot of fun as well, as they now have invulnerability frames so that you don't kill them so easily and have phases so they don't end up repeating the same mundane patterns over and over again. I'm not saying the bosses in the previous games were bad (aside from X7, of course) but you could kill them easily with their weaknesses, which is a little lame.
Another aspect are the list of quality of life improvements this game provided. First off, there is more than one navigator now; Alia gives usual advice to newcomers about tips on the stages, but now there are two new navigators: Layer and Palette. Layer will give you tips on the bosses, and Palette will provide hints on finding items in the stages. And if you don't want any navigation, you can always go into a stage without a navigator, which is very nice feature. I also love that you can mix and match X's armor sets to however you wish. The two new armors in this game, the Icarus and the Hermes armor, are already fun to use on their own, with the Icarus armor being more offensive oriented while the Hermes armor is more defensive oriented. However, because X is given the neutral armor near the start of the game, you can customize X with whatever parts you want on him. I personally just put the Icarus armor on him throughout most of my playthrough, but to each their own. You can even quit a level even if you haven't finished it yet; such a small change that goes a LONG way.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the characterization. I LOVE the character interactions in this game. I love seeing moments like X being so serious about taking down sigma and stopping the war, or Zero exchanging to Layer about the events of X5, or Axl maturing from the events of X7, or Vile being an evil son of bitch in front of the heroes. X8 just has a lot of great characters moments that made me smile, and, again, coming off of X7, makes me wonder how the team characterized X so poorly in that game.
So, all of this sounds like X8 is an amazing game, right? Well, no. The thing is is that X8 drops the ball on some aspects that drag the game down considerably.
First off, a lot of the level design isn't that great. There are a couple of levels that I did enjoy, namely Bamboo Pandemonium's stage, where you have carry a ride armor around because it will help you reach alternate paths in the level, and Dark Mantis's stage, where you have to sneak around search lights so you don't get caught and be forced into fighting a large array of enemies. However most of them just aren't fun; Earthrock Trilobyte's stage has you being chased by a giant robot that you eventually have to chase yourself through the same level design you just played. Then there's Burn Rooster's stage where you have to go through long vertical autoscrolling sections and also go through a tedious platforming section full of spikes that will instikill you unless you have a prickle barrier equipped. But the worst stage to me was Gigabolt Man-O-War 's stage (which btw, what the fuck are these maverick names? “Bamboo Pandemonium”, “Earthrock Trilobyte”, and now “Gigavolt Man-O-War”; who came up with these?), where you have to go through this shooter section, in which you have to chase the maverick by boosting up and shooting him; this is easier said than done because I have no idea what is happening while playing through the level as there is so much shit to maneuver around and the maverick keeps getting farther away from you every second. And once you finish that portion, you just fight the boss and that's the end of the stage ... cool I love it when a level has no items to collect; it's such a great use of my time.
Speaking of which, that's another problem with X8, the matter of collecting items. So, I did praise the shop system earlier, but it comes at a major price: X8's item game is over complicated. Aside from Gigavolt Man-o-War's stage, every stage has at least one rare metal, which will give you upgrades for you to purchase in the shop. However, they are hidden throughout the stage and require you to have certain weapons from other mavericks to be able to access them. This means that you have to do a LOT of backtracking, which kills the replayability aspect of this game. Yeah sure, I can just not collect some of the rare metals on future playthroughs, but I love collecting all the items in X games; I think it's a satisfying achievement to be able to get every item and beat the game with everything at your disposal. So for X8 to have its item game be such a chore is very disappointing to me. It's one of the reasons why I didn't really care for X5 that much; it's because the backtracking was atrocious. This isn't even factoring in retry chips, which I don't mind the idea of, I think having a limited number of tries per stage is actually a cool idea. The problem is that once you're out of retry chips, you have to go through both the results and menu screens, select the same stage that you were just playing, select your characters and navigator, and start the whole stage all over again. At that point, why not just have a 'retry stage' selection; yeah sure I would have to replay the whole stage again, but at least I wouldn't have to keep doing the same stuff I just mentioned ad nauseam. Top that off with how, as mentioned before, a lot of stages aren't that fun to play on and it just makes X8 feel like a mess.
Lastly, I want to briefly touch upon the story. Basically, a new generation of reploids have inherited the copy chip like Axl, and this new character named Lumine reveals that he wants to use something called the Jakob project to lead a new generation of reploids with this ability, as they are able to go maverick at will, and dispose of the old generation of reploids. However, throughout most of the game, you're tricked into thinking Sigma is behind the whole plan as Lumine gets kidnapped by Vile at the beginning of the game. This is actually a pretty cool idea for a story, but the problem with it is that it's just kinda forgettable, as most of it involves the characters believing Sigma is behind the plan and it doesn't really go anywhere until the Lumine reveal. There isn't much discussion in the game involving the new generation of reploids and when there is it once again has to do with Sigma. I don't know, maybe I'm just not getting this story and it's actually good because I've seen some people like it, but I just don't vibe with it. The way I would personally describe X8's plot is that it involves great characters in a story with little direction.
Overall, X8 is a game that I'm VERY mixed on. I think positives out way the negatives, as the game has tight controls, great mechanics, fun bosses, and refined shop system, but it lets me down with its level design, backtracking oriented item game, and story. And that saddens me because this was the last mainline X game to ever be released (I don't count Maverick Hunter X because that's a remake), and it sucks that I don't enjoy it nearly as much as the first four X games. And watching the cliffhanger of this game ends on makes me want to enjoy this game more than I do because there is so much you can do with this series of games. At the end of the day, I think X8 is a good game, and I would much rather play this again than the last three X games, but man, talk about a disappointing way to end Mega Man X.
With that being said, PLEASE CAPCOM FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE US MEGA MAN X9, I'M BEGGING YOU!!!
Out of all of the Mega Man X games, X8 is the one that has so many things that I love about it yet also has some damning aspects that drag the experience down for me.
Let me start with the positives: This game has the best controls out of any X game. The characters feel so smooth and fun to control. I don't really know how to describe it, but it feels so fun to play around with the characters and their abilities more than every other game in the series. Speaking of which, X, Zero, and Axl all feel really balanced in this game and they all have distinct characteristics that make them stand out. X has the charge shot and can equip his set of armors but can only shoot straightforward, Axl can shoot in 8 directions but can’t charge his weapons, and Zero has his collection of swords and double jump but has the shortest dash length. They all have their pros and cons and it doesn't feel like one character has a much bigger advantage or disadvantage over the other. The game also brings back the partner mechanic from X7 and improves upon it, as you can now swap out a character to refill their health whenever they're damaged. It's such a fun mechanic, probably my favorite thing introduced in this game if I'm being honest. It just kinda baffles me that we went from X7, which had the worst controls and mechanics in the series, to X8, which had the best.
I also love the new shop system they implemented into this game. No more heart tanks, sub tanks, or rescuable reploids that may give you items at the end of a stage; now you purchase items and abilities with the metals you earn from the stages. It's a fun system that gives light to a new gameplay idea and gets rid of a formula that became stale by the 6th entry.
The bosses are a lot of fun as well, as they now have invulnerability frames so that you don't kill them so easily and have phases so they don't end up repeating the same mundane patterns over and over again. I'm not saying the bosses in the previous games were bad (aside from X7, of course) but you could kill them easily with their weaknesses, which is a little lame.
Another aspect are the list of quality of life improvements this game provided. First off, there is more than one navigator now; Alia gives usual advice to newcomers about tips on the stages, but now there are two new navigators: Layer and Palette. Layer will give you tips on the bosses, and Palette will provide hints on finding items in the stages. And if you don't want any navigation, you can always go into a stage without a navigator, which is very nice feature. I also love that you can mix and match X's armor sets to however you wish. The two new armors in this game, the Icarus and the Hermes armor, are already fun to use on their own, with the Icarus armor being more offensive oriented while the Hermes armor is more defensive oriented. However, because X is given the neutral armor near the start of the game, you can customize X with whatever parts you want on him. I personally just put the Icarus armor on him throughout most of my playthrough, but to each their own. You can even quit a level even if you haven't finished it yet; such a small change that goes a LONG way.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the characterization. I LOVE the character interactions in this game. I love seeing moments like X being so serious about taking down sigma and stopping the war, or Zero exchanging to Layer about the events of X5, or Axl maturing from the events of X7, or Vile being an evil son of bitch in front of the heroes. X8 just has a lot of great characters moments that made me smile, and, again, coming off of X7, makes me wonder how the team characterized X so poorly in that game.
So, all of this sounds like X8 is an amazing game, right? Well, no. The thing is is that X8 drops the ball on some aspects that drag the game down considerably.
First off, a lot of the level design isn't that great. There are a couple of levels that I did enjoy, namely Bamboo Pandemonium's stage, where you have carry a ride armor around because it will help you reach alternate paths in the level, and Dark Mantis's stage, where you have to sneak around search lights so you don't get caught and be forced into fighting a large array of enemies. However most of them just aren't fun; Earthrock Trilobyte's stage has you being chased by a giant robot that you eventually have to chase yourself through the same level design you just played. Then there's Burn Rooster's stage where you have to go through long vertical autoscrolling sections and also go through a tedious platforming section full of spikes that will instikill you unless you have a prickle barrier equipped. But the worst stage to me was Gigabolt Man-O-War 's stage (which btw, what the fuck are these maverick names? “Bamboo Pandemonium”, “Earthrock Trilobyte”, and now “Gigavolt Man-O-War”; who came up with these?), where you have to go through this shooter section, in which you have to chase the maverick by boosting up and shooting him; this is easier said than done because I have no idea what is happening while playing through the level as there is so much shit to maneuver around and the maverick keeps getting farther away from you every second. And once you finish that portion, you just fight the boss and that's the end of the stage ... cool I love it when a level has no items to collect; it's such a great use of my time.
Speaking of which, that's another problem with X8, the matter of collecting items. So, I did praise the shop system earlier, but it comes at a major price: X8's item game is over complicated. Aside from Gigavolt Man-o-War's stage, every stage has at least one rare metal, which will give you upgrades for you to purchase in the shop. However, they are hidden throughout the stage and require you to have certain weapons from other mavericks to be able to access them. This means that you have to do a LOT of backtracking, which kills the replayability aspect of this game. Yeah sure, I can just not collect some of the rare metals on future playthroughs, but I love collecting all the items in X games; I think it's a satisfying achievement to be able to get every item and beat the game with everything at your disposal. So for X8 to have its item game be such a chore is very disappointing to me. It's one of the reasons why I didn't really care for X5 that much; it's because the backtracking was atrocious. This isn't even factoring in retry chips, which I don't mind the idea of, I think having a limited number of tries per stage is actually a cool idea. The problem is that once you're out of retry chips, you have to go through both the results and menu screens, select the same stage that you were just playing, select your characters and navigator, and start the whole stage all over again. At that point, why not just have a 'retry stage' selection; yeah sure I would have to replay the whole stage again, but at least I wouldn't have to keep doing the same stuff I just mentioned ad nauseam. Top that off with how, as mentioned before, a lot of stages aren't that fun to play on and it just makes X8 feel like a mess.
Lastly, I want to briefly touch upon the story. Basically, a new generation of reploids have inherited the copy chip like Axl, and this new character named Lumine reveals that he wants to use something called the Jakob project to lead a new generation of reploids with this ability, as they are able to go maverick at will, and dispose of the old generation of reploids. However, throughout most of the game, you're tricked into thinking Sigma is behind the whole plan as Lumine gets kidnapped by Vile at the beginning of the game. This is actually a pretty cool idea for a story, but the problem with it is that it's just kinda forgettable, as most of it involves the characters believing Sigma is behind the plan and it doesn't really go anywhere until the Lumine reveal. There isn't much discussion in the game involving the new generation of reploids and when there is it once again has to do with Sigma. I don't know, maybe I'm just not getting this story and it's actually good because I've seen some people like it, but I just don't vibe with it. The way I would personally describe X8's plot is that it involves great characters in a story with little direction.
Overall, X8 is a game that I'm VERY mixed on. I think positives out way the negatives, as the game has tight controls, great mechanics, fun bosses, and refined shop system, but it lets me down with its level design, backtracking oriented item game, and story. And that saddens me because this was the last mainline X game to ever be released (I don't count Maverick Hunter X because that's a remake), and it sucks that I don't enjoy it nearly as much as the first four X games. And watching the cliffhanger of this game ends on makes me want to enjoy this game more than I do because there is so much you can do with this series of games. At the end of the day, I think X8 is a good game, and I would much rather play this again than the last three X games, but man, talk about a disappointing way to end Mega Man X.
With that being said, PLEASE CAPCOM FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE US MEGA MAN X9, I'M BEGGING YOU!!!