(I played the game on the X Legacy Collection for Switch)
This game. This f*cking game. It seems that the goal of the X series after X5 was not entertainment anymore, oh no, it became to punish the people who convinced Capcom to make more games after the intended finale.
There isn't a single thing in this game I can say I actually like out of it being good, the best thing this game has is how stupid it is in voice acting and writing because at least that makes me laugh, it makes me feel good.
Most of the time, you are going to be walking around with the stiff controls mashing the fire button (or holding it if you're playing as X) in bland stages with bad setpieces. It's hard to accurately describe my exact problems, but dashing feels slow and bad and Axl has a useless roll ability which you will accidentally be using a lot if you choose to play as him. The most infuriating part of the controls is characters falling down whenever they're hit hard, which only serves to either cheaply shove you into a put or build your rage.
The level design itself is... ok enough for most of the 2d sections but in 3d you either just ignore the level or you're forced into a maze (Vanishing Gungaroo or Snipe Anteator). I appreciate the lack of completely gimmick stages which X8 reeked of, only 2 levels here substantially change how you play and one is using ride armor which could be worse.
I don't really want to get into the story because who actually cares, but the story does have the direct consequence of you not being able to play as X until about half of the main 8 stages. I don't absolutely hate this decision like most people (aside from the contrived in game reason) but it does come off as forcing the player to use Axl which I'm not a fan of, it feels like it devalues the partner switching idea since you're forced into one setup for a large part of the game.
I don't really have much more to say since it has admittedly been a while since I finished this, the only time I could ever recommend this game to anyone is if you want to be able to accurately voice your opinion on it. This game isn't good even for hardcore X series fans, do not waste your time with it.
This game. This f*cking game. It seems that the goal of the X series after X5 was not entertainment anymore, oh no, it became to punish the people who convinced Capcom to make more games after the intended finale.
There isn't a single thing in this game I can say I actually like out of it being good, the best thing this game has is how stupid it is in voice acting and writing because at least that makes me laugh, it makes me feel good.
Most of the time, you are going to be walking around with the stiff controls mashing the fire button (or holding it if you're playing as X) in bland stages with bad setpieces. It's hard to accurately describe my exact problems, but dashing feels slow and bad and Axl has a useless roll ability which you will accidentally be using a lot if you choose to play as him. The most infuriating part of the controls is characters falling down whenever they're hit hard, which only serves to either cheaply shove you into a put or build your rage.
The level design itself is... ok enough for most of the 2d sections but in 3d you either just ignore the level or you're forced into a maze (Vanishing Gungaroo or Snipe Anteator). I appreciate the lack of completely gimmick stages which X8 reeked of, only 2 levels here substantially change how you play and one is using ride armor which could be worse.
I don't really want to get into the story because who actually cares, but the story does have the direct consequence of you not being able to play as X until about half of the main 8 stages. I don't absolutely hate this decision like most people (aside from the contrived in game reason) but it does come off as forcing the player to use Axl which I'm not a fan of, it feels like it devalues the partner switching idea since you're forced into one setup for a large part of the game.
I don't really have much more to say since it has admittedly been a while since I finished this, the only time I could ever recommend this game to anyone is if you want to be able to accurately voice your opinion on it. This game isn't good even for hardcore X series fans, do not waste your time with it.