My final impressions of Mega Man X6 (and the MM series in general), after finally beating it.... (Don, here are some 'facts' you asked for)
PostPosted:Mon Dec 24, 2001 1:11 pm
<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '><b>The Story</b>
Let's start with the most glaring problem with the game. The story itself is OK, standard fare for a platformer. That is, it's good enough to give you a reason to keep going and give the game more than a level-to-level feel, but not enough reason on it's own to play, unlike, say, Xenogears. What really hurts the story is the translation. It's not just bad, it's absolutely atrocious. Really, I'm hard pressed to think of a game I've played in my life that has a worse translation than this one. No less than one-third of the sentences contain glaring grammatical errors ("Where the humans race and Reploids live in peace, together") and the flow of the sentences, to say the least, suck-ass. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that a 10-year old Japanese kid just learning English translated this. It really is that bad.
Also, for all hoping that MMX5 was just an oversight, there are no anime cut-scenes in this game. Too bad, because I really think this game would have been the best overall Mega Man X game had it had the quality of story that MMX4 did, and the cutscenes were a huge part of that. What we get instead is about half of the Ninja Gaiden-like cutscenes in the game with voice acting. Not horrible, but nothing to write home about, either. You can really tell Capcom is not putting forth the extra effort to enhance the games like it did with MM8 and MMX4, more a sign of the fact that 2D is all but dead and will survive only in bare-bones mode now, with VERY few games ever getting the attention put forth presentation-wise. With the refinement of gameplay seen in games like C:SotN, MMX4, and MMX6, that's a real tragedy IMO.
<b>The Gameplay </b>
As I've repeatedly mentioned in my heated discussions with Don, I feel that the MM series has gone the way of the SF series in that there are small, incremental changes which have lead the series to a very fine refinement in 2D platform gaming. You can't say that SF2 is the same as Marvel vs Capcom 2 without being cruicified by fighting fans, and the same goes for this. The difference between MM1 and MMX6 is astronomical, as it should be for a 15-year old series. You would be hard pressed to find any 2D or quasi-2D platform games that are as refined as the most recent MM games, C:SotN and Super Metroid excluded. That's not to say that there aren't great ones, but very, very few that contain the near-perfect mixture of difficulty, enemy placement, level design, and extra things to do than this one. I've beaten every MM game aside from the handhelds and Legends series (although I've played those enough to recommend them as well) and it took me just under 11 hours to beat this game, which is about as long as it took for both C:SotN and Metal Gear Solid. Not bad for a budget game.
One major thing I've noticed in the MMX games is the increase in the level of intensity from game to game (ie. the amount of enemies and level difficulties you have to contend with at once). If you play MMX, it's basically MM, but you can climb onto sides of walls and the slide was replaced with a dash. In the second one, we saw a few more story elements and more use of the fact you can climb walls utilized in the game deisgn a lot more by instilling more hidden passages as well as a good jump in difficulty and intensity. In the third, we saw the addition of the mulitiple hidden items and enhancements and really saw the series take on a character of its own, with a fairly prominent role for both Vile and Zero, who is playable for the first time. I can't remember if it was the second or the third that added the extra armors. The fourth saw the story elements come to the forefront and another noticible jump in intensity and it was with this game that we see the character and artistic style of the game disown itself from the regular series, mainly by the use of anime cutscenes. Personally, I think the game felt a bit different in the gameplay as well. Yes, it's still basically MM, but different, kinda like the difference between SF2 and the Vs series. The fifth saw the use of multiple armors put to greater use as well as the ducking feature, which might seem like a small thing, but really changes how you battle some enemies. The sixth one saw the rescuing of 128 Reploids and collection of Nightmare Souls, as well as randomization of certain areas of some levels and the changing of levels due to the Nightmare system, not to mention a HUGE jump in intensity. Add to that all the stuff from the first 5 games and you can see how much there really is in this game and how far the series has come from the NES days and MM2.
Can't forget to mention the difficulty level. This game is HARD; aside from the easy bosses. Be prepared to spend a healthy amount of time on some levels before you beat them or master them, particularly the lava level. All levels have multiple paths and lots of hidden stuff, so if you want to get everything, you will be going through these levels multiple times. This game was definetely made with the long-time MM fan in mind, so don't expect a nice introduction to the series with this one, 'cause even seasoned MM players will get a bit of an ass-handing in this game. I can't imagine the frustration level a novice player will endure.
I can't forget about the one gameplay issue I had: the weapons you get. There are not nearly as useful as they should be. We saw some steps where the weapons were used to help reach certain parts of levels or make life a little easier throughout the game, but aside from the Metal Anchor, the weapons in this game are used for bosses only, and even then they're hardly required as it's easier to beat most with a charged X-Buster than the actual weapon.
<b>Replay Value and Graphics</b>
The graphics just about reached their peak with MMX4. You really have to look long and hard to find any increase in graphics since the first PSX installment. That's not necessarily a bad thing, IMO, as the graphics aren't exactly bad, just not breath-taking like we're starting to see a lot of nowadays. They do make up for a bit with the intensity of the game (more stuff on screen at once), but no real noticable improvement otherwise.
This particular MM game probably has the best replay value of any one to date. You have 128 Reploids to rescue, most of which are just around and you have to get them before they become infected by the Nightmare Souls, who you try to collect as well, increasing your rank and the amount of items you can equip. You can either rescue the Reploids or they can go "missing" or even "death", which means you killed one that was infected. Not to mention the standard fare of one armor piece per level, giving us 2 more armors to use (4 pcs per armor) and the 2 energy tanks, the EX tank (start with 5 men instead of 3), and the Weapons tank. Also, you get the changing of the levels due to the Nightmare system, so you have a reason to back to the levels one more time before you beat it (not to mention you get to fight Dynamo on every level). You can also earn an extra mysterious hunter to help you (hint, hint) as well as some story elements you'll have to discover by reaching certain parts of levels. I beleive this also affects the ending, I'm just not sure how. So there is a great deal to do in this game and you get more for your buck than in past installments.
<b> Overall </b>
If you're a MM fan, get this game. Don't think about it, just do it. It's worth the $30. 10 hours I'd say even for the most seasoned MM veteran, which is pretty damned good considering a lot of current gen games don't last that long. It's long, hard, and very well designed. It's the second-best X game (behind X4) and one of the top 4 overall (MM2 and MM7 are pretty kick-ass games). If you're a quasi-MM fan, only get this game if you're prepared to spend a lot of time going through it and enjoy tough games. As Don has mentioned, there are a lot of cheap (instant) deaths and there are parts in this game where you'll want to break your controller, but man is it ever a sense of accomplishment when you beat it. Just don't expect to be blown away by the story or graphics. You have to be a fan of 2D and MM in general to really appreciate and enjoy this one.</div>
Let's start with the most glaring problem with the game. The story itself is OK, standard fare for a platformer. That is, it's good enough to give you a reason to keep going and give the game more than a level-to-level feel, but not enough reason on it's own to play, unlike, say, Xenogears. What really hurts the story is the translation. It's not just bad, it's absolutely atrocious. Really, I'm hard pressed to think of a game I've played in my life that has a worse translation than this one. No less than one-third of the sentences contain glaring grammatical errors ("Where the humans race and Reploids live in peace, together") and the flow of the sentences, to say the least, suck-ass. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that a 10-year old Japanese kid just learning English translated this. It really is that bad.
Also, for all hoping that MMX5 was just an oversight, there are no anime cut-scenes in this game. Too bad, because I really think this game would have been the best overall Mega Man X game had it had the quality of story that MMX4 did, and the cutscenes were a huge part of that. What we get instead is about half of the Ninja Gaiden-like cutscenes in the game with voice acting. Not horrible, but nothing to write home about, either. You can really tell Capcom is not putting forth the extra effort to enhance the games like it did with MM8 and MMX4, more a sign of the fact that 2D is all but dead and will survive only in bare-bones mode now, with VERY few games ever getting the attention put forth presentation-wise. With the refinement of gameplay seen in games like C:SotN, MMX4, and MMX6, that's a real tragedy IMO.
<b>The Gameplay </b>
As I've repeatedly mentioned in my heated discussions with Don, I feel that the MM series has gone the way of the SF series in that there are small, incremental changes which have lead the series to a very fine refinement in 2D platform gaming. You can't say that SF2 is the same as Marvel vs Capcom 2 without being cruicified by fighting fans, and the same goes for this. The difference between MM1 and MMX6 is astronomical, as it should be for a 15-year old series. You would be hard pressed to find any 2D or quasi-2D platform games that are as refined as the most recent MM games, C:SotN and Super Metroid excluded. That's not to say that there aren't great ones, but very, very few that contain the near-perfect mixture of difficulty, enemy placement, level design, and extra things to do than this one. I've beaten every MM game aside from the handhelds and Legends series (although I've played those enough to recommend them as well) and it took me just under 11 hours to beat this game, which is about as long as it took for both C:SotN and Metal Gear Solid. Not bad for a budget game.
One major thing I've noticed in the MMX games is the increase in the level of intensity from game to game (ie. the amount of enemies and level difficulties you have to contend with at once). If you play MMX, it's basically MM, but you can climb onto sides of walls and the slide was replaced with a dash. In the second one, we saw a few more story elements and more use of the fact you can climb walls utilized in the game deisgn a lot more by instilling more hidden passages as well as a good jump in difficulty and intensity. In the third, we saw the addition of the mulitiple hidden items and enhancements and really saw the series take on a character of its own, with a fairly prominent role for both Vile and Zero, who is playable for the first time. I can't remember if it was the second or the third that added the extra armors. The fourth saw the story elements come to the forefront and another noticible jump in intensity and it was with this game that we see the character and artistic style of the game disown itself from the regular series, mainly by the use of anime cutscenes. Personally, I think the game felt a bit different in the gameplay as well. Yes, it's still basically MM, but different, kinda like the difference between SF2 and the Vs series. The fifth saw the use of multiple armors put to greater use as well as the ducking feature, which might seem like a small thing, but really changes how you battle some enemies. The sixth one saw the rescuing of 128 Reploids and collection of Nightmare Souls, as well as randomization of certain areas of some levels and the changing of levels due to the Nightmare system, not to mention a HUGE jump in intensity. Add to that all the stuff from the first 5 games and you can see how much there really is in this game and how far the series has come from the NES days and MM2.
Can't forget to mention the difficulty level. This game is HARD; aside from the easy bosses. Be prepared to spend a healthy amount of time on some levels before you beat them or master them, particularly the lava level. All levels have multiple paths and lots of hidden stuff, so if you want to get everything, you will be going through these levels multiple times. This game was definetely made with the long-time MM fan in mind, so don't expect a nice introduction to the series with this one, 'cause even seasoned MM players will get a bit of an ass-handing in this game. I can't imagine the frustration level a novice player will endure.
I can't forget about the one gameplay issue I had: the weapons you get. There are not nearly as useful as they should be. We saw some steps where the weapons were used to help reach certain parts of levels or make life a little easier throughout the game, but aside from the Metal Anchor, the weapons in this game are used for bosses only, and even then they're hardly required as it's easier to beat most with a charged X-Buster than the actual weapon.
<b>Replay Value and Graphics</b>
The graphics just about reached their peak with MMX4. You really have to look long and hard to find any increase in graphics since the first PSX installment. That's not necessarily a bad thing, IMO, as the graphics aren't exactly bad, just not breath-taking like we're starting to see a lot of nowadays. They do make up for a bit with the intensity of the game (more stuff on screen at once), but no real noticable improvement otherwise.
This particular MM game probably has the best replay value of any one to date. You have 128 Reploids to rescue, most of which are just around and you have to get them before they become infected by the Nightmare Souls, who you try to collect as well, increasing your rank and the amount of items you can equip. You can either rescue the Reploids or they can go "missing" or even "death", which means you killed one that was infected. Not to mention the standard fare of one armor piece per level, giving us 2 more armors to use (4 pcs per armor) and the 2 energy tanks, the EX tank (start with 5 men instead of 3), and the Weapons tank. Also, you get the changing of the levels due to the Nightmare system, so you have a reason to back to the levels one more time before you beat it (not to mention you get to fight Dynamo on every level). You can also earn an extra mysterious hunter to help you (hint, hint) as well as some story elements you'll have to discover by reaching certain parts of levels. I beleive this also affects the ending, I'm just not sure how. So there is a great deal to do in this game and you get more for your buck than in past installments.
<b> Overall </b>
If you're a MM fan, get this game. Don't think about it, just do it. It's worth the $30. 10 hours I'd say even for the most seasoned MM veteran, which is pretty damned good considering a lot of current gen games don't last that long. It's long, hard, and very well designed. It's the second-best X game (behind X4) and one of the top 4 overall (MM2 and MM7 are pretty kick-ass games). If you're a quasi-MM fan, only get this game if you're prepared to spend a lot of time going through it and enjoy tough games. As Don has mentioned, there are a lot of cheap (instant) deaths and there are parts in this game where you'll want to break your controller, but man is it ever a sense of accomplishment when you beat it. Just don't expect to be blown away by the story or graphics. You have to be a fan of 2D and MM in general to really appreciate and enjoy this one.</div>