3.5/5 ★ – BlueSorcerer's review of Mega Man X5.

Mega Man X5 feels like a contentious entry in the series for a plethora of reasons. The biggest reason is that it was originally meant to be the swan song for the X series to transition into the Mega Man Zero series but very quickly became a non-factor to Capcom. However, the game is also arguably of questionable quality with the elements that it implements. I personally don’t dislike X5, but it’s a game that I only regard so much especially in the context of what it meant and did not mean for the series overall. Presentation-wise, Mega Man X5 looks perfectly fine but I feel like it’s a step down from X4. Whether or not that’s a hot take is unbeknownst to me, but as cheesy as the animated cutscenes were in X4 they were still enjoyable to watch—especially the cutscene where Zero and Sigma clashed. Now, all of the cutscenes are just images with some effects and lots of text, especially in… later, Blue, later. It would have been cool to see Capcom try—or try better—with another attempt at animated cutscenes with more defined voice acting and animation. But I guess what we got was fine but nothing else. I will say that the opening, despite no longer being an animated intro, is very nostalgic for me especially with its visuals and the background effects as Zero is opening and closing his eyes with all of the coding in the background. I also have a soft spot for the callbacks to past games and the music accompanying the opening. I can’t recall if it was X4 or X5 that first exposed me to the X series, but I remember X5’s opening really resonating with me. I don’t know why, but something about the opening really made me want to try out the game. And when I first played it on an emulator years ago, I kind of just played it to play it and not really consider what I thought about it. A few years later after my first true experience playing the game on the Legacy Collection, my feelings towards it have soured a bit. X5 is still a decent game and serviceable as a once-defined finale to the series, but there’s more for me to pick at here compared to an overpopulated game like X3. The story is set up a little differently this time around, and I stress “a little differently”. Several months have passed since the events of X4 and an era of peace has been ushered in. However, in comes Dynamo, a selfish mercenary who is hired to scatter a virus inside of the Eurasia colony, an abandoned space colony that is the only one to exist years later, and have it set on a collision course towards Earth. In the midst of that, X and Zero are sent into action as they sense that Sigma has returned but can not pick up on his location. And Sigma does show up but is easily beaten by the two Maverick Hunters. Although, this was all a ruse for Sigma to infect the planet with a deadly toxin that the Maverick Hunters dub the Zero Virus. So not only is there a deadly virus spreading across the planet, but the Eurasia colony is also inching closer towards the planet and will collide with it in roughly 16 hours. To combat this threat, X and Zero race to collect four necessary parts to upgrade the Enigma, a large particle cannon, and use it to destroy the Eurasia colony. And time is further of the essence as the four parts are being protected by Mavericks who are slowly becoming infected by the Zero Virus. Like X4, X and Zero are both playable characters but this time can be chosen between levels which means there is only one overall campaign. But the game still gives you the option to select either X or Zero at the start. To all newcomers unfamiliar with X5, pick X as your starting character. Because if you pick Zero, X will take battle damage before the fight with Sigma and lose his Fourth Armor, which means you will have to play the Maverick stages as base X. But if you pick X, he keeps his Fourth Armor and instead Zero takes battle damage but only loses his ability to use his Z-Buster which is massively inferior by comparison. And for this game in particular, I personally feel that you are better off with X anyway. Why? We’ll get there. Of the four Mavericks housing the parts for the Enigma, there are Crescent Grizzly, Squid Adler, Izzy Glow, and Duff McWhalen. Yep those are Guns n’ Roses references that were applied to the Maverick names when the game was localized due to the English translator’s husband being a big fan of the band and making the request to have the Maverick names be changed in reference to the band. It’s a cool piece of gaming history and these Maverick names are also the ones I’m more familiar with, so that’s how I’m going to refer to them. Crescent Grizzly is always where I start because it’s a pretty straightforward stage that doesn’t have too much going on. And the boss against Crescent Grizzly is also the easiest for me among the four Mavericks. But the other three Maverick stages are a no for me. Squid Adler’s stage opens with a vehicle segment that while shorter than Jet Stingray’s in X4 is a little tighter in design. It also contains these orbs that you have to collect in order to destroy this wall with a Dr. Light capsule behind it. And the rest of the level is just very gimmicky honestly. Izzy Glow’s stage is long and littered with tight platforming sections, while Duff McWhalen’s stage—I love the name for sure—is even longer with how many times you have to avoid and fight this giant underwater craft in auto-scrolling sequences. The boss against Duff McWhalen is thankfully less stressful, but Crescent Grizzly’s stage is really the only one of the four that I’m perfectly fine with. But here’s where things with the game get iffy. So you know how the four parts that you collect are meant to increase the chances of success with the Enigma cannon? Well guess what, this can backfire. Because for some bizarre reason, the developers decided that the success rate of the Enigma would be based entirely on RNG. I’m sorry but seriously? Shouldn’t all that effort mean something? Heck, if the Enigma cannon wasn’t going to be 100% successful from the beginning, have it be able to only wipe out a decent portion of the Enigma but just barely enough to stop its collision course. Don’t randomize the outcome just to make things more interesting. If the Enigma does succeed when fired, then that’s a shortcut to the final stages. But if it fails, and it most likely will, the Maverick Hunters assume a backup plan to ram a space shuttle into the Eurasia colony to wipe out what remains. And the parts needed to help increase the shuttle’s success rate are housed by the remaining four Mavericks. And yeah, the shuttle can also fail and this can tear your experience with the game completely in half. Because as a consequence of the shuttle failing, Zero is lost and becomes a Maverick because he decides to pilot the shuttle into the colony. In both of my complete playthroughs, the Enigma failed but the shuttle succeeded. Perhaps these are the most likely results to occur via RNG, but still it’s a weird mechanic. But when the shuttle does fail, Zero turning into a Maverick makes him unplayable for the remainder of the game. And if you were playing Zero for most of your playthrough and getting collectables for him specifically, then X is likely stuck in his base form without any upgrades whatsoever at the end of the game. I stick with X overall not only because I prefer playing as him, but also because I don’t want to risk putting so much time into playing as Zero only to possibly lose the ability to play as him due to a randomizer that I can not predict. I will never understand why the outcomes were implemented in this way, but it’s something that I consider less when I just stick to X for most—if not all—of my full playthrough. What I also try to consider less is Alia, a new addition to the Maverick Hunters who is essentially in charge of mission control. But in this game, it’s very much player control as well. Now Alia can be helpful with stage information in a couple moments, but more times than not she highlights the most obvious things and the action is completely locked while this is happening. And these exchanges aren’t always just two or three text boxes; they are often well beyond ten text boxes. I don’t hate Alia as a character and I’ll have more interesting things to say about her in the next game, but I think they could have implemented this exchange system better. At least enough to not halt the player from playing the game and disrupting their flow. Well to get back into the actual gameplay, in the event that the Enigma fails, the other four parts for the space shuttle need to be collected and reside in the remaining Maverick stages: The Skiver, Axle the Red, Dark Dizzy, and Mattrex. And these are also a mixed bag for me. I do like the stages for Axle the Red and Mattrex, but I'm not that into those of The Skiver and Dark Dizzy. The latter Maverick's stage is really cool aesthetically though. So of the eight Mavericks, I only like all of Crescent Grizzly and Axle the Red, while I only like Duff McWhalen and Dark Dizzy just for the end bosses against them. The special weapons are another mixed bag for me since I found them to be uninteresting. So regardless of what happens with the space shuttle, the final stages become accessible and are filled with a number of references such as Quickman's instant-death lasers from Mega Man 2, the Rangda Bangda boss from Mega Man X1, and the Classic series’ staple of the Yellow Devil in the form of the Shadow Devil. And what a drag the latter is. It does so much damage on contact that I can mostly avoid by wall-jumping the top corner of the boss room but better be ready to contend with the likes of Sonic Rush button mashing when choosing to do so. I do like the backgrounds of the final stages, especially the one of the third stage. The muted red color palette looks so cool with the background effects. But it's also the third stage where X and Zero battle each other for one of two reasons: conflicting ideologies or Zero becoming a Maverick. Since I've never fought this boss against Maverick Zero, I'm only able to judge the fight in the case of the former scenario. And it's alright but damn do I love its music track; such an iconic theme. X5's soundtrack isn’t something that I would put above X4, but there's some good tracks in here. My favorites include the opening theme (obviously), the character select theme, both intro level themes, Sigma's 1st Encounter, the stage select themes, Squid Adler, Duff McWhalen (which is uniquely a Bubble Crab remix from X2), Axle the Red, Dynamo's theme (forgot about that guy), Zero Stage 2, X vs Zero, the Demo theme, and the ending theme. But now, all that's left is to take the fight to Sigma for what could have been the last hurrah. And it’s an alright final boss. The first phase is somewhat of a callback to Sigma’s first phase in X1, while the second phase is a static model of Sigma that has rocket-propelled fists with spikes and lasers. It’s cool but doesn’t really look like much from a visual standpoint. That and if you were to find the secret Light capsule in Zero Stage 3 as normal X beforehand, you can unlock his Ultimate Armor which was a cheat code in X4. And this armor allows you to spam the Nova Strike with unlimited use, which with the final boss against Sigma is a strat. But when all’s said and done, X defeats Sigma and finds Zero with nothing but his torso and an arm remaining. But in a last ditch effort, Sigma blasts a hole through both X and Zero that now causes X to be on death’s door. But Zero is able to take out Sigma for good with his Z-Buster; guess death actually gave his Buster meaning. X survives the aftermath thanks to Dr. Light and is seen back in action after a timeskip, carrying Zero’s Z-Saber in hand ready to tackle the threats that come his way—and hopefully not Sigma again—thus ending Mega Man X5. Well that was a game. As unique as some of the ideas are in this game in addition to how climactic it feels, I think it’s the weakest game in the series up to this point. For me, as rough and overpopulated as X3 is, it’s a game that I can breeze through and have a perfectly fine time with. X5 is double that length and arguably throws more at the player than X3, which is understandable as an initial swan song for the series but also something that didn’t feel envisioned as effectively. I can appreciate X5 for what it tries to represent and I still like a number of the concepts that it introduces despite what this means for ambition versus execution. But all in all, Mega Man X5 really is a game that I can only regard so much with everything that it did and did not have going for it.