My first MMX game, and one I played over and over so much I know it from front to back.
I am very aware that this game doesn't get as much love as the previous entries (besides X3 considering how stinky that one is), however my bias towards it is very strong.
This is the game that made me fall in love with the X series, and when I play it nowadays, this definitely feels more like a DLC to X4 than a game itself.
Story-wise, it tries to close off the X series with the X and Zero showdown, and to do that it gives the player 3 paths to follow. Either allow the Colony to crash on the Earth, awakening Zero and leading them to the Bad Ending Route (which some people argued was the canon one, considering the events on MMZ), or stop the Colony with the Laser / Shuttle, which leads to either the player controlling X or Zero and fighting the opposite one.
The fight on the Normal route does not feel as dark as in the Bad route, for obvious reasons, and it feels less like a battle of fate and just... X trying to stop Zero from being infected. A bit underwhelming, all considered, but it fits X's personality completely. On X4 Double mentions how X's naiveté would be the end of him, and to be frank it almost is, so at least it's coherent enough.
As for the Mavericks... I'll be real, I love how dumb the american names are. Just... Guns n' Roses mentions all around. And if you really think "Shining Firefly" is better than "Izzy Glow", there's something wrong with you /jk
But I did play the Improvement Project, so they have their proper names again. It's great to read their dialogues as well. Most of them are either going Maverick slowly due to the Sigma Virus, or they become Mavericks mid-dialogue, and if you're the bat you're just squeaking and longing for the death of everything. Hell, if you for any reason goes to a stage where the boss isn't dead and the colony crashed / was destroyed, most of their dialogues are very depressing. They either became Mavericks or they're so sad they just want to be finished off before going Maverick. It's quite interest how most of them either were Maverick Hunters or they were worker Reploids as well. This game's story is... just very dark. And it really has that sense of "The end is near".
I loved this game as a kid because of the soundtrack, levels, bosses design and.... to be quite frank, what made this game click with me was when I was playing the game as usual, and I destroyed the Eurasia with the Enigma. No RNG manipulation, no shooting it right after the intro stage, just... playing the game as it was.
just being able to check the Zero Stages with no need to clear the other 4 bosses... gosh, what a weird feeling that was.
I think I rambled on too much, though.
This is my personal favorite X game. A Non-Inafune game, made in such short notice that it's quite amazing how it came out. It might not be one of the better game for most people, but this one holds a special place in my heart.
I am very aware that this game doesn't get as much love as the previous entries (besides X3 considering how stinky that one is), however my bias towards it is very strong.
This is the game that made me fall in love with the X series, and when I play it nowadays, this definitely feels more like a DLC to X4 than a game itself.
Story-wise, it tries to close off the X series with the X and Zero showdown, and to do that it gives the player 3 paths to follow. Either allow the Colony to crash on the Earth, awakening Zero and leading them to the Bad Ending Route (which some people argued was the canon one, considering the events on MMZ), or stop the Colony with the Laser / Shuttle, which leads to either the player controlling X or Zero and fighting the opposite one.
The fight on the Normal route does not feel as dark as in the Bad route, for obvious reasons, and it feels less like a battle of fate and just... X trying to stop Zero from being infected. A bit underwhelming, all considered, but it fits X's personality completely. On X4 Double mentions how X's naiveté would be the end of him, and to be frank it almost is, so at least it's coherent enough.
As for the Mavericks... I'll be real, I love how dumb the american names are. Just... Guns n' Roses mentions all around. And if you really think "Shining Firefly" is better than "Izzy Glow", there's something wrong with you /jk
But I did play the Improvement Project, so they have their proper names again. It's great to read their dialogues as well. Most of them are either going Maverick slowly due to the Sigma Virus, or they become Mavericks mid-dialogue, and if you're the bat you're just squeaking and longing for the death of everything. Hell, if you for any reason goes to a stage where the boss isn't dead and the colony crashed / was destroyed, most of their dialogues are very depressing. They either became Mavericks or they're so sad they just want to be finished off before going Maverick. It's quite interest how most of them either were Maverick Hunters or they were worker Reploids as well. This game's story is... just very dark. And it really has that sense of "The end is near".
I loved this game as a kid because of the soundtrack, levels, bosses design and.... to be quite frank, what made this game click with me was when I was playing the game as usual, and I destroyed the Eurasia with the Enigma. No RNG manipulation, no shooting it right after the intro stage, just... playing the game as it was.
just being able to check the Zero Stages with no need to clear the other 4 bosses... gosh, what a weird feeling that was.
I think I rambled on too much, though.
This is my personal favorite X game. A Non-Inafune game, made in such short notice that it's quite amazing how it came out. It might not be one of the better game for most people, but this one holds a special place in my heart.