Your thoughts on the Mega Man X series?

[NemZ]

You know what I'd like to see from this series?  A proper metroidvania, not just the mission-based stuff of zero and zx but just a big exploration romp through a mysterious huge ruin (the fallen eurasia colony reckage, maybe?) that is built entirely on using weapons and armor upgrades as keys to new challenges.  These features are already present in the X series so it would be a more natural fit to such a gameplay style than classic.

[Threxx]

Figured I'd go into more detail about my thoughts on each game.

X1: Brilliant. A great upgrade from the classic series gameplay, with tight controls, AMAZING music, fun stages, and challenging boss fights. My only qualms are the precedent of mandatory backtracking, and lack of exposition. Who is Sigma? Is X the same as Mega Man? Who is the gender-confused person who saves me from the mean purple guy? With a story this intricate, the lack of in-game exposition is a glaring issue.

X2: A mixed entry for a lot of people, but I enjoy X2 almost as much as the first game. The controls have been perfected to an even greater degree, and the level design and bosses only continue to be balanced. The music continues to be kick-ass, and there is actual exposition in this game, as well as a decent story, even if it nullifies any effect a certain scene in X1 had.

X3: Meh. To me, this is a serious drop in quality from the first two games. The levels are filled with the same generic enemies, they focus more on cheap gimmicks such as blind falls and more spike placement rather than interesting level gimmicks like the first two games, and the bosses are all pathetic, despite the fact that they hit like tanks. Even the music has dampened, taking a generic rock route rather than cementing it's own identity. Other than a couple songs, most of X3's OST is forgettable. The story seems to advance the overall X story arc no further, and what does is tacked on quickly at the end. Overall, not my favorite game, not by a long shot.

X4: Well, isn't this a welcome surprise. The jump to the PSX serves X and Zero well, with a return to the great gameplay that made the first two games what they were. A great story supported by inadvertently hilarious (but decently animated) cutscenes, good gameplay, much better boss fights, and a better OST. While it doesn't live up to the music in X1 and X2, I certainly enjoy X4's music more than X3's, and this OST has it's moments as well. (Intro stage themes come to mind).

X5: This is a mixed bag for me. A great story supported by an equally great soundtrack. The gameplay however, falls flat. The level design becomes increasingly generic, with an greater focus on instant death gimmicks rather than challenging, complex ones, and Alia is downright obnoxious. The throwbacks to previous games in the classic and X series are a welcome addition, and if it came to be, I would be satisfied with this game as the ending to the X series.

X6: Why does this exist? Terrible story with a piss-poor translation, it shoehorns Zero back into the story with no proper explanation, the level design is atrocious with no attention to detail or proper balancing, the bosses flip between being piss easy and impossibly hard, and the FUCKING NIGHTMARE EFFECTS! The one redeemable thing about this game is it's exceptional OST, which was no doubt composed by people who never played this putrid excuse for a Mega Man game. (If it wasn't clear, I hate this game.)

X7: Haven't played it, but from what I've seen, it's shit like X6. Next.

X8: A breath of fresh air. A return to what made the X series good: fast paced 2D platforming. X controls just like he should, and his armors turn him into a serious powerhouse, Zero is back with a whole arsenal of great new weapons, and Axl is actually useful! The level design has some questionable points, and the ride chaser stages are less than optimal, but when the game shines, it shines brightly. A decent story, good OST with some real standout songs, and a slew of extras make this a game that you'd be bound to return to more than once.

[Extremmefan]

Never played any of them (except, somehow because of M.U.G.E.N, Mega Man X1 first stage) so I'll comment on :
- Character design
- Plots
- Japanese opening songs

X1: cliché, both characters and plots are cliché with too much references (such as X origins being SO obvious, Zero's origins being really REALLY cliché, Sigma's symbol referencing Wily, Sigma trying to take over the world...). The Mavericks design was, however, pretty good.
X2: Want my opinion? The Mavericks sucked in terms of appearance, none of them made their entrance into M.U.G.E.N.
X3: Megaman 4 all over again! Except for that Doppler City. Technically, Blizzard Buffalo was the "better looking" Maverick for me. (The opening song was... dull).
X4: Interesting plot and characters (such as Iris, Colonel and General). A great opening song that comes with the Japanese version.
X5: An interesting character (Alia) and many boring ones appeared (Signas, Lifesavers...). The Mavericks weren't as bad looking as X2, they were as good as X1, X3 and X4.
X6: Gate sucked, the Nightmare virus was too similar to the T-Veronica virus from Resident Evil and the plot was... badly thought.
X7: Axl is my favorite Maverick Hunter: I love the idea of the Copy Shot. The Mavericks weren't bad and Sigma looked normal. Also, Code Crush is my favorite video game music with vocals.
X8: The plot of the "replaced villain" has been done before (and after), besides, the Mavericks sucked in terms of design. I also dislike the fact that they put X between 2D and 3D, it makes no sense. The Japanese opening song sucked... a lot.

[*Alice]

X2: Want my opinion? The Mavericks sucked in terms of appearance, none of them made their entrance into M.U.G.E.N.

Yeah um no.
MMX2's bosses were - in my eyes- better designed than MMX1's and MMX3's.
They are pretty much the best thing about the game, because they are fun to fight, albeit on the easy side.
You can easy buster-only Wheel Gator, Overdrive Ostrich and Flame Stag which already unlocks the most important weapons and all Dr. Light capsules for you, making the rest of the bosses almost trivial.
But pretty much all of MMX2's bosses have interesting fights, especially Magna Centipede who, along with his stage, is pretty much the best thing about MMX2.
And I liked their designs. Not to forget, the unique animations some of them get under certain circumstances. You can slice Wire Sponge in half, destroy Magna Centipede's tail, set Morph Moth on fire and Flame Stag's flames turn blue when he starts using a more aggressive pattern. And there's even more than that.
That's more detail than X1 and X3 had combined!
And I enjoy the Counter Hunter fights, too, even though Serges' first and Agile's second fight are annoyingly hard/ridiculously easy.

tl,dr: MMX2 has great bosses.

[Ivory]

X2: Want my opinion? The Mavericks sucked in terms of appearance, none of them made their entrance into M.U.G.E.N.

Why is appearing in a terrible fighting game relevant to anything?

[Threxx]

Never played any of them (except, somehow because of M.U.G.E.N, Mega Man X1 first stage) so I'll comment on :
- Character design
- Plots
- Japanese opening songs

X1: cliché, both characters and plots are cliché with too much references (such as X origins being SO obvious, Zero's origins being really REALLY cliché, Sigma's symbol referencing Wily, Sigma trying to take over the world...). The Mavericks design was, however, pretty good.
X2: Want my opinion? The Mavericks sucked in terms of appearance, none of them made their entrance into M.U.G.E.N.
X3: Megaman 4 all over again! Except for that Doppler City. Technically, Blizzard Buffalo was the "better looking" Maverick for me. (The opening song was... dull).
X4: Interesting plot and characters (such as Iris, Colonel and General). A great opening song that comes with the Japanese version.
X5: An interesting character (Alia) and many boring ones appeared (Signas, Lifesavers...). The Mavericks weren't as bad looking as X2, they were as good as X1, X3 and X4.
X6: Gate sucked, the Nightmare virus was too similar to the T-Veronica virus from Resident Evil and the plot was... badly thought.
X7: Axl is my favorite Maverick Hunter: I love the idea of the Copy Shot. The Mavericks weren't bad and Sigma looked normal. Also, Code Crush is my favorite video game music with vocals.
X8: The plot of the "replaced villain" has been done before (and after), besides, the Mavericks sucked in terms of design. I also dislike the fact that they put X between 2D and 3D, it makes no sense. The Japanese opening song sucked... a lot.

In bold are why your opinions have no merit in this thread. If you haven't played them, you shouldn't have a significant opinion, especially if your basing off of something that has nothing to do with the series in the first place.

[-FiniteZero-]

Been playing some MMX6 (with the Ultimate Armor enabled). I don't really like this game still, the level design REALLY bugs me.

Also, Infinity Mijiniu... Mijini... Infinity Dude is really kewl. I like his theme and design.

[BiscuitSlash]

The flaws with X6 really don't stop me from enjoying the game. I find it to be easily one of the most fun games in the series. I fail to see why it's X6 getting all the hate and not X5. To me, X6 is better in nearly every aspect.

One common complaint about X6 is it's story. Honestly, I don't understand this. Unlike the games before it, X6's story was something a bit more fresh and original. Before it was either "Sigma is being a prick and wants to take over or destroy the world" or "same as that but getting someone else to help out". X6 had a new character who makes excellent creations yet gets them sabotaged due to the jealousy of others, and gets hold of Zero's DNA to corrupt this character and give him more power for future creations. It also gave us more of an insight in how dangerous Zero's DNA/virus is, because it made Gate think that bringing back Sigma, of all things, was a good idea.

Someone please inform me (in a non-aggressive way) on why they think X6 had a bad story. I really don't see how it falls short.

[Extremmefan]

Someone please inform me (in a non-aggressive way) on why they think X6 had a bad story. I really don't see how it falls short.

Maybe its because there was already too much scientists in the Mega Man series (or something else, I don't know since I haven't even played the game).

[NemZ]

x6 has nightmare effects, which are just plain horrible.  It continues with the 'rescue' nonsense (but worse) and armor upgrades are still all or nothing.  The sprite animation is generally very poor.  The translation is crap and they didn't redub the voice acting.  Ducking and rope sliding are both lame alterations to a previously solid control scheme.  The level design is often simply pathetic.  Literally the only thing x6 did better than x5 is making Alia ignorable, and that's just fixing a new problem rather than addressing how much worse x5 already was compared to x4.  

Story wise, it's just retarded that zero "hid himself while he fixed himself" since in x5 he intended to remove himself from the equation thinking that would end the fighting.  Gate is okay I guess, but it's dumb they never spell out what Isoc's deal was, and Alia's little blurbs on the mavericks after you kill them make no sense at all.

[BiscuitSlash]

It continues with the 'rescue' nonsense (but worse)

Sorry...worse? It was an improvement. Those reploids in X5 would reappear needing help again when respawning/revisiting. X6 gave them amusing names and more of a purpose for needing help since they wouldn't reappear. They also tie in with the new and improved parts system which sucked in X5. Yes, if a reploid dies, you can never get any part they had, but in very rare cases will this not be the players's fault.

The sprite animation is generally very poor.

I've never noticed any issue here.

they didn't redub the voice acting

GOOD.

Seriously, if they dubbed it, it would have been shit like in X4 and X7. X8 onwards had good voice acting because they actually recorded the voices outside of Japan, where there would be more english speaking people.

The level design is often simply pathetic.

Still better than that piss-poor level design that X5 had. Believe me when I say that I would take Gate's Fortress over the Virus Stages any day.

Literally the only thing x6 did better than x5 is making Alia ignorable

Alia herself got heavily improved. She no longer treats the player/protagonist like a complete dumbfuck, and X/Zero actually responding to her made it feel less like she was senselessly talking at the player/protagonist.

[-FiniteZero-]

Actually, I would much rather have bad English voice acting or no voice acting over Japanese voice acting.

It's not that I dislike the Japanese language, it's that, when I'm playing a game in English, it's very distracting.

[Max]

Not sure why Biscuit is attacking X5 so much. It's one of my favourite games in the series. Playing X6 straight after really highlights all the weaknesses in level design like Commander Yammark's stage and every single Gate stage, there is no way that the Cyber Maze levels are anywhere near that bad.

[-FiniteZero-]

...I still prefer X4 over X5 and X6.

[Threxx]

It continues with the 'rescue' nonsense (but worse)

Sorry...worse? It was an improvement. Those reploids in X5 would reappear needing help again when respawning/revisiting. X6 gave them amusing names and more of a purpose for needing help since they wouldn't reappear. They also tie in with the new and improved parts system which sucked in X5. Yes, if a reploid dies, you can never get any part they had, but in very rare cases will this not be the players's fault.

How is this an improvement? Reploids were placed in cheap locations that make some of them near impossible to rescue without taking damage from a nightmare, and the parts than some of them have are REQUIRED to beat the game if you fail to get X's armors or have Zero return. It's a stupid system, it's broken, and it should have never been implemented.

That alone makes X5 infinitely better than X6. I could point out all it's other flaws, but that is enough.