Mega Man X8 (PlayStation 2) review "This time, they know what they’re about."

If there was ever an exercise in contrast, the differences between Mega Man X 7 and this title is certainly one of those. Unfortunately, what distinguishes MMX8 are the improvements made from the sequel to an already flagging franchise. Comparing this to the best of its historical releases is an exercise that threw in the towel and called it a day. Literally.

But let’s focus on what they did, not what they didn’t.

MMX8 has a strong, well directed story, and opens with a cinematic introduction to a world with depth and consequences. Previous titles had a suitably narrow focus on scenes of destruction, whereas this one tells the tale of a civilization that reached for the moon and succeeded. Then something goes wrong, as it must, and the writers take the time to subvert our expectations, tossing in a red herring while they’re at it.

This time, they know what they’re about. This is good news for us, because we’re left with all sorts of questions that need answering. As for the cast, the crew from MMX7 are all present and accounted for: X, the conscience of the Maverick Hunters and long range jack of all trades; Zero the hard boiled saber weapons master for close to medium range combat; Axl, our ability stealing smart mouthed kid with more talent than good sense.

The tried and true formula of this game isn’t tweaked so much as it is refined. You’ll collect weapons from level bosses that will serve as weak points against other bosses. You’ll collect an adaptable suit of armour for X that has more capability than its plain design will tell. You’ll also confront a different type of challenge in each level that will push your platforming reflexes and skills to their limit.

When you start MMX8, you’re presented with a difficulty setting. Choose wisely, because they matter! Absolutely everything is affected by this selection, and you might choose to restart your file on a different setting, depending on your penchant for challenging gameplay.

The introduction level gets everything right in exactly the way that MMX7 stumbled every step of the way. Platforms are easy to negotiate, your characters are nimble and responsive. You have a chance to try each of the three leads and discover their strengths and weaknesses in a way supported by the story. Alia delivers choice input that doesn’t overstay its dialogue.

Just wait until you meet her friends. Mind you, that's a point of contention among some players, though most of the "male gazers" don't complain about the direction their designs took. Though, they're as functional as they are attractive, and as navigators they provide different useful information. There's more to them than looks, if you dig deep enough into the game's extra content as well. A nice touch, but a missed opportunity, perhaps.

A year after the release of Capcom’s greatest fumble we get the one that not only knew the assignment, but remembered an apple for the teacher and a smile for the rest of the class. This one has style, panache and doesn’t make anyone feel jealous while being an absolute pleasure to play. Maybe it’s early in the review to say this, but if you haven’t tried this one, what are you waiting for?

Now that you’ve had your fun in the introduction level and met one new foe and another old, whilst another is teased—three for three—it’s time to take a gander at the other components of this finely tuned virtual machine. The PlayStation 2 is running on all cylinders here, with graphics that are crisp, sharp and running at a smooth 60fps per second. Unless you count that one level where it takes a hit if you’re playing on the PS2 Slim, but that’s not the fault of optimization. The PS2 Slim was downclocked from its chunkier cousin.

The music is a mixed bag. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well composed and some of the themes are quite memorable. They’re quite energetic, and strive to serve the action. Maybe they’re trying too hard, but I think it’s the soundfont they chose. The audio isn’t redbook, or otherwise streamed. I gather that its played in realtime with a soundfont that muddies the guitarwork. Those chords just aren’t distinct enough to pick out what is being played, especially against the carefully designed effects that sit outside of its range. A lot of effort was put in to ensure that the music and audio effects don’t clash, and the effort pays off in spades. That said, the MMX5 soundtrack was more distinctive, and even MMX7 had a more robust identity. The music is solid, but it’s the weakest part of this package.

MMX8 has done a lot to streamline gameplay, which is good because things are more complex this time. Instead of upgrading individual characters in a piecemeal way and leaving everyone else in the dust, especially those who join the party late, we have a new system. Instead of depending on saps to rescue, we collect force metals, which can be developed into a range of items and upgrades for each of the three hunters.

This is where your skills play a role. In some levels you’ll be put through a challenge that will provide plenty of metals if you perform well, less if you don’t. Perhaps the difficulty setting is a sort of crutch for the uncertainty of the developers and player accessibility. How do you make a game that scales to everyone’s skill level? That’s not an easy one to answer, and I don’t have a problem with how they approached that question in this case. Dark Souls this is not.

There is a lot to enjoy here. Some might say too much, and that’s something I can relate to. Somehow in the time I’ve spent with it over the years, I’ve dabbled a bit and only completed it once. This is a heaping serving of X action, and quite an investment of time, if you’re up for it. There’s something to be said for the smaller portions of the first few games in the series. For some reason just about an hour, maybe two, is long enough for a complete run through. Not sure why that is.

It’s a little ironic that once they nailed the formula, they made more than anyone had an appetite for. This might be one of the reasons why we didn’t get an MMX9. Game development costs had skyrocketed by this time, and Capcom faced competition on brand new fronts. Mobile games picked up the slack, and kept the fanbase busy enough for some time, once they figured out what the fans wanted. As for me, while this is a top notch quality game, I’ve probably had enough of it for this lifetime.

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Community review by hastypixels (September 05, 2025) Retro, and moreso all the time.