I don't know what happened, I went form feeling miserable while playing this game, to actually quite liking it towards the end. It may have been some form of Stockholm syndrome, but either way, it sure took a while for it to click with me. It doesn't live up to X1 or X4, but I still ended up with a deep appreciation for X8, even if it's quite flawed.
X8 has some die-hard fans, but it's hardly the incredible return to form that some make it out to be. It doesn't control nearly as well as the PS1 entries, and it's level design is easily some of the weakest in the entire series, filled with crappy gimmicks that greatly de-emphasise the movement based gameplay the X series is so well known for. No stage sinks as low as some of the worst in X6 and X7, but 90% of them are just mediocre. The interesting thing here is that X8 exhibits much more polish than those two. I can imagine how X6 could have been a great game had it not been so rushed, X8 seems to be as good as it could have been. It's simply had a good execution for poor concepts.
There are a lot of positives to X8, however. All three characters are very distinct and fun to use. There are also a ton of secret items scattered in all stages, and they all require you to use a specific character. The navigators help a great deal too, and give much needed personality to the cast.
Overall, it packs more variety than any other X game, and it has quite a bit of meat to sink your teeth into (I've heard some complain about Mega Man games being too short, so there you go). The combo system is kind of bare bones, but at least it makes stages more interesting when you try to go for a high score.
I will say, the game feels very lacking at the beginning. It takes a few upgrades and weapons for the game to get good, so I suspect that X8 is the kind of game that benefits from a New Game+, I'll have to find out some other time.
Above all I said, the most important thing about X8 is that it feels like it had a purpose of being made, the passion and love behind it shines bright beneath its flaws. It's easily the most unique X game for sure, and although it's quite divisive, anyone who likes the series would do good to check it out.
X8 has some die-hard fans, but it's hardly the incredible return to form that some make it out to be. It doesn't control nearly as well as the PS1 entries, and it's level design is easily some of the weakest in the entire series, filled with crappy gimmicks that greatly de-emphasise the movement based gameplay the X series is so well known for. No stage sinks as low as some of the worst in X6 and X7, but 90% of them are just mediocre. The interesting thing here is that X8 exhibits much more polish than those two. I can imagine how X6 could have been a great game had it not been so rushed, X8 seems to be as good as it could have been. It's simply had a good execution for poor concepts.
There are a lot of positives to X8, however. All three characters are very distinct and fun to use. There are also a ton of secret items scattered in all stages, and they all require you to use a specific character. The navigators help a great deal too, and give much needed personality to the cast.
Overall, it packs more variety than any other X game, and it has quite a bit of meat to sink your teeth into (I've heard some complain about Mega Man games being too short, so there you go). The combo system is kind of bare bones, but at least it makes stages more interesting when you try to go for a high score.
I will say, the game feels very lacking at the beginning. It takes a few upgrades and weapons for the game to get good, so I suspect that X8 is the kind of game that benefits from a New Game+, I'll have to find out some other time.
Above all I said, the most important thing about X8 is that it feels like it had a purpose of being made, the passion and love behind it shines bright beneath its flaws. It's easily the most unique X game for sure, and although it's quite divisive, anyone who likes the series would do good to check it out.