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A definite improvement.

Capcom is becoming one of my favorite developers out there. Unlike some companies (see Bungie) they actually listen to the recommendations of their players rather than basing successive titles entirely on their own thoughts. Devil May Cry was great, but fans clamored for wider spaces and angles. Capcom tried it out in Devil May Cry 2, but players complained and said they hated it. Instead of getting upset and saying, "You made us do this!" Capcom listens to the feedback and goes back to the basics for Devil May Cry 3. They're going through a similar series of transitions with the Onimusha line, and I'm happy to say, the Megaman X series as well. Of course, it is ultimately the developer's responsibility to make a game good, it is encouraging to find one that at least considers the opinion of the fan base. Look at Rockstar. Somebody said, "I want to play a game where I can do everything!" and they delivered GTA.

So, Megaman X8. It's better than Megaman X7. By a lot. They ditched the "true 3D" style with six degrees of freedom and went back to the standard four and mere 3D graphics...to great effect. The game looks great, and it finally seems like the series got those experimental kinks out of its system. No more Nightmare System or bad 3D design. This game, story included, is the closest one of the next generation X games to come the closest to the original Megaman X classic.

Megaman X8 Screenshot

So, Vile and Sigma are back - big surprise. More importantly, exploring for those powerups is once again vital. And other than some simply dumb boss names (Optic Sunflower? Gigabolt Man-O-War?), the game delivers. My one grief about the game is not about something like a difficult spike puzzle at the end of the final level (I loved it, actually), it's one of the characters: Axl. I thought he was dumb before, I thought his extra power of transforming into enemies was pointless, and this game has only reinforced those beliefs. The worst is that in order to find a lot of the powerups, you are forced to use him and that ability of his. I found that quite aggravating and frustrating.

Thankfully, things like good level design, boss variety, and the ever suave Zero make up for it. The Burn Rooster stage is particularly exciting: after you beat him down, instead of the level ending, lava starts filling the room - forcing you to quickly improvise jump your way out. When I realized I was on my last life and touching the lava would mean an instant demise then the adrenaline really started pumping.

With the success of Megaman: Anniversary Collection, I was afraid that Capcom might have abandoned making new games for the X series. But, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally sat down to play this game and it was not only new, but for the most part, good.