Late review but as someone who liked the Zero games, this one simply sucks.
It's not even the garbage map system, it's how they managed to add the "X" to "Z" and take it seriously. In the Zero games, the Buster and Saber were pretty well balanced, the Saber was better but that was the focus, in this game it feels like they deal nearly the same damage (outside of bosses), you could either go for Saber and take damage to every single enemy, or the Buster which I don't remember a single enemy surviving a charge shot from it, but you don't need to charge, nah, 99% of the enemies die in 1 to 3 hits, and most of the areas feel like corridors, so you can just walk forward and spam the buster 90% of the time like it's X7 and you will rarely get hit, some spots here and there where the saber is good, but very few. Model H is overrated unless you're a speedrunner, good luck trying to not get hit because you flew too fast, high, or far, ZX is the best one for melee combat because it attacks much quicker than any other Model, H's attacks feel too slow, that combo doesn't matter if every enemy can hit you while you do it or die in the first swing while you do it, and the distance sucks too, I would rather use model L because that one got better attack range, or even better; Model P because it has ranged attacks, and just like the buster, you can watch everything die. The areas in this game do get progressively more challenging and better over time but it just goes from terrible to below average, Area O was the only one I had fun with. What saves this game from being terrible to just bad, are the bosses, most of them are very great (the final boss is not one of them, so don't be excited), though Model ZX is the best Model to use against them because of faster Saber swings, unless you want to use the weakness. But somehow it feels like the people who made the bosses and Minibosses are completely different, the Minibosses gotta be the one of worst I ever seen in a Video Game, you can stay in one spot and slowly but easily kill them, none of them are above terrible, they're all garbage and tedious. The music in this game is quite good and so are the visuals and charm; also that one secret boss (which I don't want to spoil its name) does what secret bosses should do, they wreck your ass until you beat them, except you only get a reward for it after beating the game... Simply stupid... Especially that they think I'll keep playing this game with it

As a successor to the Mega Man Zero series there is a handful of things I like and don't like.

Pros:
- 10/10 Soundtrack
- Using Biometals is a very unique way to use new skills based off reploids who existed in the past
- Fun to move around in when you know what to do
- Being able to pick between a male and female character protag is based

Cons:
- A Mega Man Metroidvania seemed like a very good idea on paper but its not executed very well with its confusing map system and tedious backtracking.
- Almost all the side quests are horrible fetch quests that should not be in a Mega Man game
- Specific boss hitboxes causing damage to biometals is the worst mechanic I've seen in this series especially when trying to go for level 4 victories
- Final boss was disappointing compared to previous Zero games

Overall I thought it was a pretty okay game but without playing the Legacy Collection version I would not have the patience to get through this game at all.

The best of the Mega Man Zero style games, this game gets full marks for having an absolutely banging OST, no longer held back by the GBA's lackluster sound chip. It also suffers less from the screen crunch that the Zero games had. The way this game really shines though is the variability and movement compared to the Zero series. Zero already had great movement - dashing and wall jumping feel as natural as breathing after a while, even more than in the X series. But in this game, you not only have most of Zero's moveset, even with a few EX skills unlocked at the start for you, but get to unlock extra biometals that let you really customize how you want to play the game. Really like speedrunning and want more movement freedom? Model Hx is there. Want a stronger, angleable buster? Fx is there. Each biometal has its own uses but in combat you can use whichever you want any time you want, and it's a real blast. The encounters are tightly designed. That said, navigating the world without a map is like walking into walls. The levels themselves are fun to play and explore, but getting to them can be quite difficult. Were I to change anything, a properly made map for the game would be an immediate fix. ZX Advent mostly fixes that problem, but ZX advent also has its own problems... I'd call this either my favorite or second favorite Mega Man game. Aile is definitely my favorite character, at least. Love her.

This was my favorite x when I was a kid and I can see why. However, now I realize its many faults like the uselessness of the forms that aren't Hx and Zx, the unfairness of the bosses, the horrible save/lives system, the fact they never at all explain what the fuck overdrive is, the inconsistency of the graphics and music, the horrible story in comparison to the last series among other stuff. That said, the core gameplay on this is incredible and the biometal system is super nice in theory at least. The small extra content is amazing, the good part of the soundtrack is more than just good, models Zx and Hx are amazing.
Won't come back to this but I still enjoyed most of it.

Holy kino. If you ignore the story drop off, this plays incredibly. It’s also really fun fanservice. I just mention the story as this is a direct sequel to the Zero games, which have a very good overarching narrative. Wouldn’t mention otherwise; playing a Mega Man platformer for the story is like watching porn for the setpieces. But this game is stellar. I don’t really get the complaints about the minimap, if only for the fact that it’s one of the most straightforward Metroidvanias I’ve played, with 3 warps that serve as central hubs so it’s impossible to get lost. Could the map be labeled better? Yeah, but doors are also kind of loudly screaming zone locations at you, so there’s that.

The Start of a Promising Era

Mega Man ZX is the succesor game to the Zero Saga, from Zero 1 ending in Zero 4. It ditches some of the complexity and inconsistencies of past titles gameplay wise, to a more straightforward experience.

The Biometals are the star of this game and esscencially the evolution of Boss Weapons from past titles. This gives you a whole new weapon and armour. For example if you defeat a boss they'll give you their Biometal which means it's their armor and a weapon. It only applies to 4 of the 8 bosses because the rest gives you the other half of the biometal which is just a new weapon for the base 4 different biometals.

Each Biometal has it's own function, strenghts and weaknesses. For example; HX gives you a big advantage on air and movement in general while lacking in combat. LX is excelent underwater but not as good on ground and so on. Wished they could've been equiped without killing the flow of the game.


I do have to clarify Armours don't work the same as the Mega Man X games where they gave you a pair of overall advantages. ZX only uses, as I said before a specific advantage on a Biometal. So the armour is purely cosmetic and doesn't go beyond being a big indicative of what Biometal you are currently using. Biometals like FX only make use of their special weapons while HX specializes on movement rather than combat.

Believe it or not this game is a Metroidvania. I'm not particullary fond of this genre, just tend to get lost so much and backtracking ain't totally my thing. Navigating the map on this game is a bit of a mess. It separate the areas with letters, in alphabetical order to be exact. Say A-1, and A-2 and that leads to B-1 for example. It's not always the case for latter areas. For example you can only enter Area F through Area B or Area G through D. That seriously messed up with my head. But outside of that the levels are pretty fun to explore because of the movement and level design.
Upgrades like vitality and e-tanks are scattered around the map unlike the Zero Saga, which is a huge plus for exploration.

The story more or less is what you expect. Defeat big bad guy from taking over the world. But it builts from the mainline Mega Man lore. For example, no one knows who Mega Man really is at this point. Everyone with a Biometal calls themselves "Mega Man", introducing it more as a general concept. Zero is barely mentioned here. Still prefer the Zero Saga tone overall, more dark and sinister.

In conclusion, a great Mega Man game that streamlines some mechanics from the Zero Saga. Adding a Metroidvania exploration and elements as a replacement of the linear structure of past title. While not perfect at it's core, it is a great first attempt into a new era.