Mega Man X8

Mega Man X8
Yes, this is happening! There's a reason for them to go on! That's what they're figthing for!
Protagonist(s): X Zero Axl Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): PlayStation 2 Microsoft Windows Release Date: PlayStation 2 NA: December 7, 2004 EU: February 11, 2005 JP: March 10, 2005 Microsoft Windows KOR: January 1, 2005 JP: March 10, 2005 EU: September 21, 2005 NA: March 8, 2006 PlayStation Network JP: December 16, 2015 Developer(s): Capcom Production Studio 1 Publisher(s): Capcom Country: Japan Series: Mega Man X Predecessor: Mega Man X7(chronologically) Mega Man X: Command Mission(by release date) Successor: Mega Man Zero(chronologically) Rockman X DiVE(by release date)

Mega Man X8, or Rockman X8 is a video game developed by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 in 2004 and PC in 2005. It is the sequel to Mega Man X7 and is overall the eighth and (so far) final game in the Mega Man X series (not counting the Xtreme games, Command Mission, and the Maverick Hunter X reboot).

Why It Rocks

1. The game is made in a traditional 2D platformer style and corrects the mistakes made by Mega Man X7.
2. Mega Man X (as in the character) is back to his old self.
3. Awesome 3D graphics on a 2.5D perspective and are much better than Mega Man X7.
4. Solid controls, even by Mega Man X standards.
5. Lots of secrets and collectibles to be found per stage which is a nice touch and a great addition to the game.
6. All three characters feel great to play as. X’s charged shots feel satisfying, Zero’s techniques are cool, and Axl has massively improved from X7 and he has interesting weapons and abilities beyond just being a reskin of X minus the charged shots.
7. X’s armors are neat and you can mix and match parts of the Icarus and Hermes armor. Zero has some cool unlockable weapons such as T-Hammer, D-Glaive, B-fan, Sigma Blade, and the K-Knuckle.
8. You can fight Cut Man from the first Mega Man which is a nice touch even if it's feel a bit out of place.
9. The Double Attack mecanic.
10. Black Zero and Ultimate Armor X return, with the addition of White Axl. You can even unlock the three navigators though they are just weaker versions of the hunters
11. Cooperative gameplay between two characters (a mainstay of the franchise as of Xtreme 2), which can be chosen before any mission.
12. X and Zero´s nemesis Vile, who appeared in the first Mega Man X and Mega Man X3, returns.
13. Nicely written story, which makes this game a satisfying final chapter of the Mega Man X series (although an unofficial one since X5 was supposed to end the series until Capcom decided to capitalize more on the success of the X series by producing X6, X7 and this).
14. Balanced difficulty, especially by Mega Man and Mega Man X standards.
15. Unexpected Twist at the end.
16. Heavy and moody soundtrack. In fact, the PC port allows the player to apply a custom soundtrack.
17. The English voices sound way better than those of Mega Man X4 and X7. You can also switch to Japanese voices on the PC port or record their own fandubs in any language they wish and replace either the English or Japanese voice files with them.
18. Incredible roster of bosses.
19. The PC port is even better than the original PS2 version, not only adds higher screen resolutions, but also a multilanguage system (English and Japanese audio and text plus additional text in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish) and controller support, apart from the aforementioned custom soundtrack and fandub feature. Besides those two, it is very mod-friendly, with even higher resolutions being possible, as well as a widescreen mod.
20. The Japanese opening.

Bad Qualities

1. In Easy mode, you are locked at Sigma as the final battle. Which is a big death sentence and a punishment to Capcom and first-time players.
2. The after credits ending feels like a set up for Mega Man X9, but so far there is no conforms of there being a ninth installment.
3. Axl is very overpowered, given that he played like a joke in the last game.
   1. However, his new play style isn't too original either: he mostly plays like Bass from Mega Man & Bass and Mega Man 10, but has X's hover feature from the Fourth and Ultimate Armors from X4 through X6.
4. Optic Sunflower's stage is the worst since you have to go through all the patterns and this can take very long.
5. The game can be very backtracking heavy.
6. The Retry chips (introduced in Megaman Zero 1) can throw players off since in the previous games you basically had infinite lives.
7. The accessibility options from X5 to X7 plus the Xtreme duology - Auto Charge and Rapid Fire - are no longer available for X, which is a disservice to players with motor disabilities (however, Axl's rapid fire can fill in for the latter).

Reception

Mega Man X8 received a generally mixed to positive reception. It was generally praised for returning to a more classic style of Mega Man gameplay and removing the criticized gameplay elements of Mega Man X7. According to Famitsu, Mega Man X8 was the tenth best-selling game in Japan during its week of release at 14,927 units. A total of 35,546 units were sold in the region by the end of 2005.

Tricks & Secrets

1. To fight Cut Man, you need a Command Mission save file on your PS2, or perfectly complete all trials in Optic Sunflower's stage on PC.

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