im going to give my first impressions of the gameplay, more specifically my problems with the combat, because i didnt really spend too much time on the game, only doing a few levels
its a really cool game, but my GOD there are some things that just kill it for me
namely the fact that the dreamcast controller doesnt have a second analog stick and the very jank controls
like first few levels, dealing with default enemies, its fine, but once it starts doing more, you can really feel the games flaws come out and how easily it could have improved, even on a dreamcast controller
its a first person hack n slash with tank controls, ive played fps games with tank controls before, its manageable, and this should be the case with maken x, especially since you can hold r2 to strafe. in a normal 90s console shooter, thats not too much of an issue because you can just alternate between looking and moving... but since you dont really shoot in this game, and its much more enclosed than most shooters with enemies often spawning behind you or outright jumping around you, you need to constantly use the weirdly slow turn. like its REALLY slow, and when you need to turn all the way around constantly in every battle, often on the spot to enemies that run up behind you... youre gonna take some cheap hits. and even then you need to lock on with triangle to really hit most things reliably, which sounds like it should fix the issues, but you cant really lock on to enemies unless you're looking directly at them and are close enough to hit them, and then you can finally dodge enemy attacks and strafe around them. and if you hold r2 and jump towards them, you can jump over them from behind.... why you need to hold strafe instead of just moving forward and jump just baffles me considering nothing happens if you do it without holding the strafe button. also the dodge is borderline useless, it hops you 2 inches to the left or right, not wide enough to really avoid things. you also have to flick the stick back to block.
i really wanna like this game, but once i got to a part that spams suicide drone enemies, and enemies that take a million hits to kill being spammed early on, a boss that can one-shot you in less than a second being put at the end of a level, in a game with no checkpoints in levels at all, and then immediately being followed up by a level that spams suicide bomber dogs that take out half your health once theyre in melee distance and the only way to avoid them is to run past them instead of fighting them or maybe spend a few seconds charging your one projectile attack (which costs health to shoot, so its finite) AND THEN BEING LOCKED IN A TINY ROOM WITH AN ENEMY THAT SPAMS JUMPS AND BREAKS YOUR LOCK-ON
i can just tell this game is gonna be a pain

genuinely when youre sneaking around levels, stealing loot, going full ghost so guards dont even suspect you, using your wits to determine where you need to go and what the best way to get there would be, this game is masterful, a triumph for stealth games of the era. there are things about the stealth that could be improved, but as is, the stealth is great.
but then half the game just decides it wants levels to be in some crappy mazes with zombies and shit making you run in circles trying to find some bullshit and it just ruins the experience. there are points where i thought about just quitting the game entirely.
i pray thief 2 and 3 dont have any of the zombie caverns this game had