Megaman X6 is kind of an odd game and I feel like it tries to do a lot of cool things, even if not entirely successful, but my point in this review is really to illustrate why it is one of my favorite games. I've played through it a lot, often coming back for it on almost a yearly basis to give it another spin, usually playing it on "Xtreme" because I feel the extra difficulty makes the specific parts of the game I like work better than just playing it on normal.
I always viewed this game as an attempt to focus more on the exploration aspect of the franchise, and that is part of why I feel like this game has an almost "metroidvania"-like touch to it, although taking place within the basic established Megaman X structure. Every level has an alternate path to take, aside from just completing it normally, thereby making it clear that they anticipated that players would revisit levels and focus on seeking out what advantages they could. There is one deterrent in particular, but I'll get to that in a bit. The reason it reminds me of a metroidvania is moreso the parts, weapons, life upgrades and armors that you can collect and how they function in a way that enables you to access new things with the tools you have already found, whether this act of accessing is a matter of enabling it outright, or a matter of making it easier to reach. In comparison, the other Megaman X titles don't really require you to pick up anything in most cases, and can basically be beaten just going through the bosses, which is not a bad thing at all, and in some respects even commendable, but that's also why I think this game shines to me. I feel like it gives me way more reasons to use the kit I acquire, whereas in other MMX games I sometimes feel like I am just collecting things for the sake of having 100%, in this game I tend to prioritize stages to obtain specific tools I deem crucial to completing the game. I find this shift in item design is particularly apparent when looking at the first final stage of this game, Gate's Lab. The very first thing the scientist decides to bar your path with is to place a seemingly impossible to conventionally traverse spike wall in your way. And there are multiple solutions to tackling this problem, via different tools or the use of different parts, or armors. I personally really like this, because the final set of levels is also accessible extremely early in the game, thereby not requiring actually completing all the levels and leaving it to the player when they feel ready to engage, or if they are aware of certain tricks or methods to circumvent the barrier of entry.
I think the reploids/parts system helps encourage investigating every stage for tools to aid you in overcoming what the game throws at you, and this manifests especially when a certain section of a level is too tricky to get through (not to say that it isn't possible to for example pick Blaze Heatnix as your first stage). The saveable reploids in X5 seemed to me like an idea that never saw proper execution, but I think in this game they managed to make it pretty fun to try and save as many of them as you can, giving them items to reward you with. The caveat here is that they can permanently die via corruption by the nightmares, and I think this may constitute a grave offense to many. But when you just roll with it, I don't really think it's that bad. In a more arcade-like approach, this kind of thing doesn't seem like an issue, but I guess in the mindset of treating games as a one-and-done kind of activity in which 100% first time around is the expectation, it may be easy to find it annoying. In this regard, I feel like the nature of this game as a console game kind of works against what I think they were potentially aiming for, and that's a recurring problem I have with this franchise's exploration mechanics vs its identity as an action platformer. Many of the game elements seem to be laid out in a way to reward people who like to play through the game repeatedly by inviting to mix things up and try different approaches, while others lend themselves more to a progression-focused approach as is more typical with console games. Personally, I enjoy the extra stakes and have gotten pretty used to the more precariously placed reploids, although I would be lying if I didn't feel on edge when I try to save a couple of them and have ended many a run with less than 100% saved. However, none of the truly crucial reploids are usually at any risk of getting killed. A lot of them do not even have anything of value on them, but they still give the player a potential breather by granting some health and extra lives, the former of which can be particularly nice in Xtreme, as health pickups are otherwise very scarce and do not drop from random enemies. That being said, and this is the aforementioned deterrent, I actually have a bit of an issue with the extra lives, but that's mostly because of the fact that the game does not let you just exit levels anytime unless you have beaten the boss at the end of the stage. I think it would have been better to come up with an alternate method to withdraw from a level to further illustrate the more "finding tools" oriented gameplay the game seems to lend itself to, but there is the very real possibility that it was not really intended to be played like that. However, even then, Game Overs in this game are essentially meaningless, as lives are a commonplace currency and there is no real repercussion. They ultimately just get in the way of exiting levels, assuming you are stuck staring at High Max without the necessary tools to defeat him, which I would also consider a potential oversight. It feels more like a remnant of the franchise rather than something tailored to the game, but is ultimately not enough to deter me from enjoying the game.
Another noticeable evolution/offshoot of something previously found mostly in the first entry of the series, the nightmare system looks to me to be an attempt at introducing more routing variance to the game, trying to discourage players from following the most convenient route and serving as a sort of counterbalance to the player's increasing amount of power, making it a little bit trickier to route out the boss order. The first one or two levels you do will not have any nightmare effects whatsoever (it depends a bit on the sequence, and what nightmare effects you view depend on the levels you visit), therefore permitting you to get your bearings and pick up some stuff to help you weather the system kicking in. I don't really have any issues with the nightmare effects personally, and usually mostly route around the ones I struggle with based on my experiences and preferences, but I do appreciate it in terms of trying to make players alter what levels they may have picked otherwise.
If there is any main gripe I have about X6, it is probably bosses being a bit undertuned considering how strong some of the kit the players have is, with one notable exception being Infinity Mijinion, who I am particularly fond of (he has the cutest sound effects, too.) I think a lot of this is attributable to the rushed/intense development time the game had, and while it would have been nice to see how they would have balanced it given more time, gotta take what you get. There are some pretty cheesy methods and bugs you can employ to quickly delete bosses, but I think even aside from that the bosses could have been tuned up a little. The Xtreme difficulty at least mixes up the difficulty of the stages in that some of the easier stages in normal mode end up being far harder due to the increased damage taken, enemy health, placement and quantity. Having new moves for every boss in this difficulty is nice, too. I think to me, the big hurdle is in many cases the stage itself rather than the boss, and that is fine.
Story-wise, the game's unfortunate translation is in a way a charming reminder that this franchise has seemingly never been a particularly big budget endeavour as far as Capcom games go, and perhaps also kind of a blessing in that it retained the japanese voice acting over some kind of amateurish dub. There are some pretty well-known voice actors on board for X6, such as Norio Wakamoto also known from his role as Chiyo's Dad in Azumanga Daioh. In all honesty, looking at how they localized the previous two entries in the series I hardly blame them for cutting the costs and effort in this regard and do cut them some slack regarding the quality of the translation. I think it is apparent enough what the overall story is like from the cutscenes, even if there are some noticeable errors or strange miswordings that only become clearer when inspecting the japanese original text. For what it's worth, Gate as a villain is a nice departure, and I like the robots' designs having signature details like the head crystals, and I like their backstories. Alia also gets a surprising amount of characterization in her comments on the bosses you have retired, as well as featuring prominently in a bunch of cutscenes.
So, while this game is pretty flawed and a bit all over the place in terms of its balancing, I can't help but enjoy it, it really lends itself well to me as a player in particular and stands out to me from the rest of the X franchise as a result. I think the general reception this game has received from other reviewers and fans makes it pretty evident that it is far from everybody's cup of tea, but it absolutely is mine.
I always viewed this game as an attempt to focus more on the exploration aspect of the franchise, and that is part of why I feel like this game has an almost "metroidvania"-like touch to it, although taking place within the basic established Megaman X structure. Every level has an alternate path to take, aside from just completing it normally, thereby making it clear that they anticipated that players would revisit levels and focus on seeking out what advantages they could. There is one deterrent in particular, but I'll get to that in a bit. The reason it reminds me of a metroidvania is moreso the parts, weapons, life upgrades and armors that you can collect and how they function in a way that enables you to access new things with the tools you have already found, whether this act of accessing is a matter of enabling it outright, or a matter of making it easier to reach. In comparison, the other Megaman X titles don't really require you to pick up anything in most cases, and can basically be beaten just going through the bosses, which is not a bad thing at all, and in some respects even commendable, but that's also why I think this game shines to me. I feel like it gives me way more reasons to use the kit I acquire, whereas in other MMX games I sometimes feel like I am just collecting things for the sake of having 100%, in this game I tend to prioritize stages to obtain specific tools I deem crucial to completing the game. I find this shift in item design is particularly apparent when looking at the first final stage of this game, Gate's Lab. The very first thing the scientist decides to bar your path with is to place a seemingly impossible to conventionally traverse spike wall in your way. And there are multiple solutions to tackling this problem, via different tools or the use of different parts, or armors. I personally really like this, because the final set of levels is also accessible extremely early in the game, thereby not requiring actually completing all the levels and leaving it to the player when they feel ready to engage, or if they are aware of certain tricks or methods to circumvent the barrier of entry.
I think the reploids/parts system helps encourage investigating every stage for tools to aid you in overcoming what the game throws at you, and this manifests especially when a certain section of a level is too tricky to get through (not to say that it isn't possible to for example pick Blaze Heatnix as your first stage). The saveable reploids in X5 seemed to me like an idea that never saw proper execution, but I think in this game they managed to make it pretty fun to try and save as many of them as you can, giving them items to reward you with. The caveat here is that they can permanently die via corruption by the nightmares, and I think this may constitute a grave offense to many. But when you just roll with it, I don't really think it's that bad. In a more arcade-like approach, this kind of thing doesn't seem like an issue, but I guess in the mindset of treating games as a one-and-done kind of activity in which 100% first time around is the expectation, it may be easy to find it annoying. In this regard, I feel like the nature of this game as a console game kind of works against what I think they were potentially aiming for, and that's a recurring problem I have with this franchise's exploration mechanics vs its identity as an action platformer. Many of the game elements seem to be laid out in a way to reward people who like to play through the game repeatedly by inviting to mix things up and try different approaches, while others lend themselves more to a progression-focused approach as is more typical with console games. Personally, I enjoy the extra stakes and have gotten pretty used to the more precariously placed reploids, although I would be lying if I didn't feel on edge when I try to save a couple of them and have ended many a run with less than 100% saved. However, none of the truly crucial reploids are usually at any risk of getting killed. A lot of them do not even have anything of value on them, but they still give the player a potential breather by granting some health and extra lives, the former of which can be particularly nice in Xtreme, as health pickups are otherwise very scarce and do not drop from random enemies. That being said, and this is the aforementioned deterrent, I actually have a bit of an issue with the extra lives, but that's mostly because of the fact that the game does not let you just exit levels anytime unless you have beaten the boss at the end of the stage. I think it would have been better to come up with an alternate method to withdraw from a level to further illustrate the more "finding tools" oriented gameplay the game seems to lend itself to, but there is the very real possibility that it was not really intended to be played like that. However, even then, Game Overs in this game are essentially meaningless, as lives are a commonplace currency and there is no real repercussion. They ultimately just get in the way of exiting levels, assuming you are stuck staring at High Max without the necessary tools to defeat him, which I would also consider a potential oversight. It feels more like a remnant of the franchise rather than something tailored to the game, but is ultimately not enough to deter me from enjoying the game.
Another noticeable evolution/offshoot of something previously found mostly in the first entry of the series, the nightmare system looks to me to be an attempt at introducing more routing variance to the game, trying to discourage players from following the most convenient route and serving as a sort of counterbalance to the player's increasing amount of power, making it a little bit trickier to route out the boss order. The first one or two levels you do will not have any nightmare effects whatsoever (it depends a bit on the sequence, and what nightmare effects you view depend on the levels you visit), therefore permitting you to get your bearings and pick up some stuff to help you weather the system kicking in. I don't really have any issues with the nightmare effects personally, and usually mostly route around the ones I struggle with based on my experiences and preferences, but I do appreciate it in terms of trying to make players alter what levels they may have picked otherwise.
If there is any main gripe I have about X6, it is probably bosses being a bit undertuned considering how strong some of the kit the players have is, with one notable exception being Infinity Mijinion, who I am particularly fond of (he has the cutest sound effects, too.) I think a lot of this is attributable to the rushed/intense development time the game had, and while it would have been nice to see how they would have balanced it given more time, gotta take what you get. There are some pretty cheesy methods and bugs you can employ to quickly delete bosses, but I think even aside from that the bosses could have been tuned up a little. The Xtreme difficulty at least mixes up the difficulty of the stages in that some of the easier stages in normal mode end up being far harder due to the increased damage taken, enemy health, placement and quantity. Having new moves for every boss in this difficulty is nice, too. I think to me, the big hurdle is in many cases the stage itself rather than the boss, and that is fine.
Story-wise, the game's unfortunate translation is in a way a charming reminder that this franchise has seemingly never been a particularly big budget endeavour as far as Capcom games go, and perhaps also kind of a blessing in that it retained the japanese voice acting over some kind of amateurish dub. There are some pretty well-known voice actors on board for X6, such as Norio Wakamoto also known from his role as Chiyo's Dad in Azumanga Daioh. In all honesty, looking at how they localized the previous two entries in the series I hardly blame them for cutting the costs and effort in this regard and do cut them some slack regarding the quality of the translation. I think it is apparent enough what the overall story is like from the cutscenes, even if there are some noticeable errors or strange miswordings that only become clearer when inspecting the japanese original text. For what it's worth, Gate as a villain is a nice departure, and I like the robots' designs having signature details like the head crystals, and I like their backstories. Alia also gets a surprising amount of characterization in her comments on the bosses you have retired, as well as featuring prominently in a bunch of cutscenes.
So, while this game is pretty flawed and a bit all over the place in terms of its balancing, I can't help but enjoy it, it really lends itself well to me as a player in particular and stands out to me from the rest of the X franchise as a result. I think the general reception this game has received from other reviewers and fans makes it pretty evident that it is far from everybody's cup of tea, but it absolutely is mine.
4 Comments
cringe
hehe
Mwah
chandler
1 year ago