In the context of X5's world, why does she feel the need to warn X and Zero about so much obvious shit? Aren't they supposed to be highly-ranked Hunters that are very experienced with dealing with these things?
I mean X is still a B class hunter even after all of that. So I can't tell if they are really smart or really dumb, since X (as himself) fought entire wars as a one man army. You really expect them to give him a higher ranking.
@@flareonblaze3628 But this ranking/classes of Hunters weren't well explained In X2 the leader of the Maverick Hunters is X because Sigma turned into a Maverick, Zero died and X proved himself in X1 But when Zero is resurrected in the end of X2, it's not told if X still the leader or Zero took it back And now Signas is the new leader in X5, despite never showing up in the last games
@@ayrtonjoga Isn't X STILL a B class hunter even after X8? At that point in time, he had fought over 8 wars and destroyed Sigma 10 times. If X is skilled enough to be the leader of The Maverick Hunters, why is he a B class hunter, if he is really at the level of a B class hunter, how did he win all those wars?
@@flareonblaze3628 Now that you mentioned it, when you choose which character to play as in X8, X's description tells he's still a B Class Hunter So I honestly don't know why he didn't ranked up over the years, like I said, how Hunters are ranked or how they become a leader isn't well fleshed out in the series, so it's just confusing
27:06 "or you can injure your thumb with the non-dev intended strats" lol i'm glad someone pointed this out thought this was only me, love the review J and i'm excited for more mega man content!
While I personally like X5, I'd be lying if I said it didn't have some "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?" moments that bog down the experience a lot, with the absolute lowest points in the game being the zero stages. Although I personally still think it's fun. Besides Duff MC Whalen's level I really enjoy all the levels, although again, I definitely don't think this game doesn't have some BS that needs to be pointed out. But I'd play it before X6 and X7 any day tbh.
I decided to do the same thing when playing the game for the first time a few months ago. It really makes the fight feel like the titanic struggle it represents.
It's been awhile since I last worked on this, and it's actually moving to still get such kind and detailed reviews of the project. Thanks for the shout-out. (And it's always amusing to hear new english pronunciations for my screen name, yours is my favorite so far)
Yes, I am really thankful for your work. I used to never play X5 because of how tedious it was, but with your romhack which I find as the definitive edition, I can now play it from time to time. It is thanks to projects like yours and others in the community that we can enjoy many games. I do have a question though, is there any way to replace the ROMs in the Legacy collection with your romhack?
@acediez Is it possible to do the same with the PC version of X6?By that i mean the PC version for windows that was released around 2002 for south korea only,not the re-release that is part of the legacy collection 2.
This review really fails to see the bigger picture of Capcom's cost-cutting attitude towards this game. X5 was handled by one of Capcom's internal studios responsible mostly of doing ports and on a small budget. The result is the downgraded presentation (no anime), almost no new enemies (or recycled from X4) which results in empty stages, and the new art assets are either pre-rendered or have less frames of animation than X4. The game progressively falls apart on presentation even at the end when you fight Sigma.jpeg
Yeah, already noticed the dip of quality when X5 and X6 started to blend obvious 3d rendered backgrounds to their 2d sprites, unfortunately even the sprites had a lot of issues; several new sprites for enemies, obstacles and boss mavericks does not blend well to the background and even so to the sprite work of X and Zero. A lot of small to medium Mavericks sprites looks highly saturated, smudged and washed as if they were heavily colored in large canvas, then was heavily scaled down to sprite sized level, hence why the colors, details and outlines looked odd
This pre-rendered background style also seemed to be part of the trend in graphics during the 32-bit error. It almost feels like we've recognized pixel art as a style now, but back then they thought pre-rendered was some kind of upgrade because it was "more realistic". Obviously these two styles seem to clash, but it definitely was a trend at this time on the Saturn and PS1, and it works a little better in 240p on a CRT through composite than it does with all it's flaws under a microscope on our HD displays.
Yes but no. Capcom is capcom, and this game isn't bad because of technical shortcomings, although they do exist. This game sucks because of fundamentally bad design decisions like locking off zero, instakilling you in Adler, and locking off Zero from half the heart tanks
X5 is so bad. My brother and I LOVED it as kids, it was OUR WORLD. But we can’t even fucking replay a single playthrough now because it’s so insufferable and BORING to play… so many cool ideas cut short by 0 effort and horrendous execution.
I was in the constant tests that Acediez did in the X5 Tweak, they were weeks of seeing how the teasters helped looking for the bugs, without a doubt it is worth using the patch that this guy made. X5 may be the game with a lot of design flaws, but when the fans come in it gives us a different experience that makes it hard to go back to the original game.
The funny thing for me is that, in terms of the X series, X5 is my favorite game. I liked the story and it would've been an excellent conclusion to the X series (even though they made more sequels after this). It also brought the best parts of X4 for its gameplay and the few poor decisions that they made here (The armor parts and a few stages in how you get them) doesn't really bother me that much.
I personally think the story in X5 is a step up from X4 but the gameplay is a step down. I also think X5 has the best music (I like the music in all the X games tho)
X5 introduced a feature some would say made it eazy but I realy liked. In x1 to 4 I had to hold the buster/charge while trying to jump' dash and wall jump. Sigma especially was a pain cause oneley a full charge ( or armadillo shield) could damage him so I'm trying to hold that charge and hit uther butons as I get into attack position but one hit makes me drop the charge and I have to try again. With atoucharge I can focus on dash and jump buttons and the charge is ready for me. That made the game better for me.
@@TheOmegazerox X5 is not a game. It’s a walking simulator with no punishments. More often than not, you are being helped when you encounter problems or die. No real Game Overs, you don’t have to kill a single stage enemy on a normal run through and overall the game makes no effort to challenge the player. You are constantly being interrupted by text boxes with meaningless tips. Mavericks would be alright if the core game was well made.
Is nobody going to talk about the elephant in the room. There was one megaman X5 change nobody has talked about. Buster shots now collide with walls. Repeat buster shots collide with walls. In every megaman game before it buster shots would with very few exceptions would completely ignore walls like it was air and kill enemies.
I unironically love this game, despite its flaws. For me, the X Saga ends with X5. The build up through the previous 4 games to the final battle between two friends who were built to be enemies...it's just too good. Not to mention the original localization and boss names will forever make this one of my favorite Mega Man X games. Yes, this is my real name. Yes, The Skiver is my favorite maverick.
Oh my god, it's been that long since the original X5 review? I remember watching the X reviews as they came out, and that shit got me thru most of my high school classes. I can't believe I've been watching this channel for that long, and it's nice to see how your opinion on things like this changed.
I love X5. It might even be my second favorite game in the series, after X4. I thought it would have served as a great ending to the series, seeing as it was originally intended as the final Mega Man X game.
@@trogg3rdmmxplaya467 I mean, I get what J is saying in the review, but most of these issues he brings up are very minor to me, and do not ruin my enjoyment of the game.
I love X4, but X5 is the game I keep coming back, maybe it is because of the OST that is IMO the best in the PSX series. The flaws pointed in the video are quite true, but I really enjoy the game nonetheless.
X5 is the first game where they actually tried with the story, finally using the incredible premise that had just been wasted for so many games. For that It will always have its place in the series, unlike 6 and 7. (8 also tried, but not as hard)
I felt like it was a good attempt but it fell into many rookie mistakes considering that the people who make these games are not writers, there are many plotholes and underutilized characters in X5 that it feels more like a waste than a cohesive story, Wily is teased but never gets developed, Dynamo is teased to have found purpose with Sigma but that also goes nowhere after the intro, and there are a lot of details missing such as why there's only one Enygma cannon, why after a space weapon destroyed in X4 our heroes did not make countermeasures against orbittal weapons and have to rely on 20XX relics.
I remember when X5 used to be commonly accepted as one of the best games in the X series, but especially after having played literally every X game, I'm left wondering if it truly would've been a good finale. Dynamo is practically forgotten about once both fights against him are done, the cutscene presentation is honestly the weakest of the PS1 trilogy, especially with the pings for every single character in the text boxes that get grating fast, the X VS Zero fight having a flimsy justification in all but the bad ending that many will avoid in addition to it being one of the easiest fights in the game, the Parts system requiring repeated Game Overs to take full advantage of, and in general, the RNG that can very likely screw over a player who prefers Zero. For all of X6's faults, I feel it does a great deal of things better than X5.
Yeah I used to love X5 but I think the more times you play through it the more monotonous it feels. Like it’s essentially a combination of the weakest elements of X4 and X6 and the constant scrolling through dialogue in and out of levels legitimately hurts it. X6 on the other hand is one that I got when it released on PSX and thought the difficulty was cheap. Never really liked it. But now having played it recently I actually think it’s got it’s own identity and enjoy it more than X4 and X5.
What are these great things X6 did better than 5? Cause it probably only did music better. But level design, difficulty, mechanics, story presentation, ALLL REALLY BAD. Just ask the Great Clement.
@@UnifiedEntity I have nothing to say about the Level Design since it was very flawed since it catered to Zero instead of X (especially the nightmare effect). HOWEVER, the item games, the part system, the story presentation, and the mechanics? I can vouch for that. The item games: It's now possible to get everything with both characters. Not just X or Zero anymore. Granted, Heart tanks are still not shared. Zero, however, can help collecting for X for the most part. The backtrack is still just as bad though (especially with the Museum) The part system: A HUGE UPGRADE from X5. Now, it was tied to hostage instead and no longer you have to deal with the stupid convoluted system that X5. It came with a flaw of permanent dying but it was far between than what you have to deal with in X5 (Need I remind you about committing suicide in the first stage for the part? and the RNG of Zero dying and TOOK ALL OF YOUR UPGRADE WITH HIM TO THE GRAVE?) Difficulty: Yeah, no reason to defend it since it was inconsistent. Sometime it was very hard sometime it was pissed off easy. Though the moment you got all of the upgrade, even Nigthmare Mother or Gate falls like a stack of domino. Story Presentation: HUGE UPGRADE because it got VAs with the JP dub and can be skippable. That count for even in game conversation as well. Alia was fixed and only mandatory talk in a few occasion. Most of the time, you can ignore her notice and it was not even annoying since you didn't even know it happen either. The Mechanics: Zero got major overhaul with faster saber swing and his Z Buster buffed tremendously. Dash cancel combo is back (In X5, beating the Skiver basically disable your dash combo) X sadly got left behind until you discover his saber trick.
The two big issues I have with X5 is the boring explanation by Alia and the story randomness. What you explained about Zero going Maverick by random happened to me exactly and I felt bad not being able to continue the story with him.
My worst experience is losing Zero (and this was a pure Zero run) and being left with X who had no upgrades at all. It was an aboslute nightmare trying to go through Duff McWhalen's stage with unarmored X.
About the music, I'm absolutely baffled that anyone could consider X4's soundtrack better than X5. X5 definitely has the best soundtrack out of the Playstation games, regardless of it being a worse game. I couldn't even be mad if someone said X5's soundtrack was better than X1 or X2, because the entire soundtrack is top notch, with essentially not a single bad track to speak of. Also about the Armor mechanics, they probably made it so where you have to collect them fully because they didn't properly implement a system so you could mix and match parts. That or the game design didn't take that into consideration, so they just made it to where you needed the full armor. Too bad, really. In X6's case, it's probably a combination of design, and the fact that the game was rushed so they didn't bother, so just reused the system they made for X5.
Same. I think people are blinded by the superb gameplay and controls into thinking X4’s music is stellar front to back. While it absolutely does have some bangers for sure, it’s not a solid OST. There are a few too many forgettable tracks. X5’s music on the other hand is just flat out fantastic like the SNES X trilogy.
Same, X4 is my favorite game from the X series but I prefer much more the OST from X1, X3, X5 and X6 over it The only songs I love are X and Zero intro themes, Magma Dragoon and Split Mushroom, the rest is alright but not very memorable imo
If I'm being honest, I really like the idea of a luck based plot system because it leads to a lot of surprising experiences and interesting stories, especially for first playthroughs. The fact that the Enigma cannon actually has a chance of working is fascinating and can really catch you off guard when it happens
I fucking hate this game, feels like an X4 rom hack that delivered an unsatisfying conclusion so Inafune could go make Zero games, shafting X as a character
As a kid I always thought X5 was in the same camp as X3 to me for some reason but as I got older and learned more words I figured out that it's because they both had unique aspect that separate them from the A B C style of the previous games but didn't handle them in the most gracious manner. Just kinda threw them all in there because the devs were like "Hey I just had an idea !"
When I was younger I thought X5 was the best megaman game ever. But looking back that was just because of the many references to other games and the fight between X and Zero. My favorites now are X1 and X4, but I’d be lying if this game didn’t have a special place in my heart
3:42 - Actually, the crouching does return after X7 in a limited sense in Mega Man ZX and ZX: Advent. Vent, Aile, Grey, and Ashe are all able to crouch - and crawl - while they are not "MegaMerged" with a Biometal.
Unpopular(?) opinion: X5 was actually pretty good but the GnR-inspired boss names was one of the lowest points. Up to now I still refuse to call the bosses by those names and would rather use the proper names (Crescent Grizzly, Tidal Whale, Volt Kraken, Shining Firefly, Dark Necrobat, Spiral Pegasus, Burn Dinorex, Spike Rosered). Have to admit that Duff McWhalen was a funny as heck name though.
It's funny how the two choices in characters at the beginning is really one choice, runining the whole point of having a choice since one is clearly superior to the other.
It's really neat to see you revisit these reviews that boosted your channel so much. I remember, I kept up with the original videos as they came out while at a really rough spot in my life back in 11th grade. Fast forward to me watching this as it comes out today. Since watching the original retrospective series, I've- 1. Finished high school 2. Graduated college 3. Moved out of my parents house and now live on my own 4. Worked at a store long enough that I'm now in a managerial position And through all that, here you are, revisiting that series that helped me out so much through the hell year that was my 11th grade. UA-cam is a funny thing. Thanks, J. Keep on that grind.
Thanks for watching man. I have obviously been through a transformation in the last five years myself. I mean, I was in 10th grade when I did the X reviews. Five years can change a lot of things.
23:59 dude really? The Guns n roses names are amazing! At least I prefer them whether for how hilarious it is that they did what they did with them or because they just go hard. I was a bit let down that the Legacy Collection removed them.
The game's got some very strong concepts in its armor system, potential in the RNG/Ending system, and the level design for most stages...but that's the thing that strikes me: the CONCEPTS are good, but the fact that the game flubs up on these honestly just makes the game a bit tedious to do repeat runs for. Overall, yeah. Game's hella flawed, but even then, it's no X6 or X7...
I think the “best soundtrack” poll was slightly biased/skewed because there’s a chance more people played X4 and not as many played X5, or even not as many replayed it as much as X4.
One issue with X5 is a massive one: if you're playing as X with the X4 armour, the enemies do such little damage that there's no real challenge. Add in the fact that Alia constantly interrupts you, and you have no real game. No challenge = no game.
In X5, I think they were trying to expand more "branch" stories, how they did midway in X3 and entirely in X4. In X5, they offer 2 solutions to destroy the colony. If you gather the shuttle parts first and then the laser, they will skip the shuttle scene and the laser will destroy the colony completely.
23:57 Seriously? I thought everyone loved the GnR names? It help give them more a personality, imo. X5 on in the whole is just too tedious for me. I honestly would take playing X6 over playing X5 any day, just for the fact that Aila doesn't stop you constantly; collecting parts doesn't feel random, and the armors are better.
Kinda ironic that I also found X4's soundtrack to be my least favorite of the PS1 lineup. Is it biased or am I weird? I know music is subjective, but I didn't find it to be that memorable aside from some songs (It's mostly high-synthetized noises like Iris' theme being a major guilty). X6's is a banger with its guitar and melancholic tunes while X5 finds the perfect balance between X4 and X6's instruments. And as for the game, Alia and the slow pacing bothers me but not the item collection (because I don't need all the upgrades to stand a chance at the endgame) and the Enigma Cannon (because I always get the same outcome). So yeah... I like X5 but it's one of those games that you can either love or hate. Also, the Improvement Project is amazing! Once again, the fans saved the day (or in this case, the game).
No you’re not weird at all. X4’s music is easily the weakest aspect of the game with a few too many forgettable tracks. It’s still good just not start to finish like the older games.
X4 felt like a weird transition with the music where they all of a sudden had redbook audio but wanted to keep the synth sound. The Saturn version of X3 is similarly kind of off.
Yeah, I don't get why some people love X4's soundtrack so much. I won't say they should change their opinion (as opinions are subjective), but I just can't think of any good songs from X4, except maybe some of the boss themes and both intro stages. They're just not _catchy,_ which is a very important aspect for me. X5 is better in that regard, although partially because they re-used so many songs, like the English intro, Light Capsule, the first two Zero Stage bosses, etc. Still, it's got some good originals like Dynamo, Izzy Glow, Zero Stage 4, X vs Zero... even the scrapped songs were pretty good, like X vs Zero, McWhalen or Armageddon. X6 meanwhile is just chock-full of bangers. I'm not even gonna list any, because you can quite literally pick any song and it'll sound great or at least be catchy. And don't even get me started on the Japanese credits song!
I feel like we've been here before, so why are we still here? Just to suffer? I can feel the good game design we lost, Alia's voice ringing in my ears every night. All the good ideas botched by awful execution, the X9 we deserve. We're gonna bitch about it until they give it back. Not gonna lie, I forgot you were revisiting the series and assumed you simply had achieved a new level of hate for X5, leading to an unprompted revisit.
gotta admit, the art on the character select screen felt like the quality of the likes of street fighter ex+a with its hand drawn art drawn on paper then scanned with a cheap scanner and imported to photoshop. whereas x4 character select art are digitally sprite drawn like in street fighter alpha 1 and 2, which i prefer.
X5 was actually my first interaction with the entire X series and will always hold a special place in my heart. From it i went backwards into X4 and then forwards into X6. Down the line i went all the way back and did X1-X3 to 100%. Growing up on the entire OG Megaman series it was a complete mind blow to see all the cool new characters (Zero from start to finish all day every day), the new graphics, the killer soundtracks, and just how much the series had changed in my absence. With all that said, screw those F Laser paths. I hated those as a kid and i still hate them as an adult. Such a pain to navigate and one little oopsie and gotta try again and if you run outta ammo oh well! Literally the only part of the game that ever gave me trouble besides the Devil fight.
@@sukmykrok3388 You cannot honestly tell me Blizzard Buffalo, Neon Tiger or Drill Rhino are good. The only decent themes are the intro stage, Blast Hornets stage and Gravity Beetle. The rest is incredibly forgettable, or are one of the 3 stages mentioned above
@@hayato1886 oh, but I can. In fact, so much, that I'm willing to say get really stoned and play blizzard Buffalo's theme in the background for good, somber ambiance. Of course, that's my jam so I don't expect anyone else to like it. I like x3's ost more than x4 and 5 because it translates to heavy music easily. Not that techno/ synthesized bullshit 4 and 5 are.
X5 has the typical X formula of being mechanically fun but absolutely horrific game design. X and Zero control like an absolute dream. Incredible speed, mobility, and weapon control, but at the cost of a game that puts your balls in your mouth. This game literally has a random chance of permanently taking away one of your characters and you can do nothing about it. I have played this game for over 8 years, and I have had the Eclipse Cannon succeed *4 times across 30+ playthroughs*
I don't know what people were smoking when they voted for the "best PS1 X game soundtrack" - X6 is literally banger after banger after banger after [repeat until the Sun dies]. I don't think there's a single song in X6 that isn't memorable.
I've never seen anyone mention it and I've just had the thought, maybe Alia existed as a tool for devs to inform the player exactly what dangers await so that they can beat it in as few attempts as possible? Although it ends up making the overall product worse lol
At one point X5 was my favorite Mega Man game. I looked past most of it's flaws because I loved the story of it so much and I thought it was cool to defend one of the less popular games. Nowadays I still like it, but I find it the second worst game to replay (X7 being the worst in terms of replay value). Now that I've played the Zero games I can't say X5 has the best story. and although it's my least favorite game I think I would replay X6 before I replay X5. X5 still has the best soundtrack and I will stand by that.
There is one positive to the randomness tho. To me happened exactly what you described. I played as zero, the shuttle fails and i was forced to play as X without any upgrades etc. I made it to the final stage and thx to that i discovered that you can get Ultimate Armor without cheat code.
I like this game but I know that it's not very good and every time that I try to analyze I always think of more and more small things that it does wrong. But it's not enough to outright ruin it for me on a personal level, I personally find Megaman X's core gameplay and controls so fun that any game that has that nails that can never be something that I truly hate (I even like X6 if I'm honest). I can't necessarily give X5 too much credit for that given that it's literally just reusing X4's gameplay, engine, and assets but the fact is that it still manages to activate the dopamine sensors in my dumb lizard brain better than a lot of actually good games do. Although I wouldn't exactly call it a guilty pleasure because, well, X6 occupies that place for me. So X5 just occupies this really weird place in my opinion of megaman games where it's too flawed to be a good game but I don't think it's outright horrible like X6 or X7 either.
The Gaea Armor seemed to be designed for raw power and high defense while losing out on speed. If I had to give the head part a function, I would tweak how boss weapons work with the armor. Rather than not having access to them at all, I would've given X the ability to fire them at fully charged capacity at any time. But he wouldn't be able to normal-fire them or restore their energy. Have Dr. Light mention that it was an experimental workaround to fix the glaring flaw with the buster part. You can use the weapons now, but it's in a constantly over-charged state, without the benefit of reloading in the field. To balance it more, it could have weapons drain from a single energy pool or the Giga Attack energy pool to reduce their usefulness even further. I love theory-crafting on functionality like this.
I always thought X5 was just ok and disappointing by the fact it was supposed to be the finale of the X series, I love the OST and the story, but some design decisions were weird, to say the least, and the slower pace made the game overall very boring My opinions on X5 changed the least over the years compared to the other X games But I'm so excited to see your Re-Review for X6 soon, go check out the X6 Tweaker and we'll se you there
I wanna comment on how much I love playing as Zero, and Megaman X5's stage design really hates Zero. So in order to get Zero's chip parts, you have to choose Weapon & Energy+. I mean, Zero doesn't even need that many Energy+. Not to mention he can't obtain half the HP upgrade in the stages. So wtf.... It's like the game is designed for X, and you just get to play Zero in the stages not meant for him
Definitely my favorite soundtracks in the MMX series is X4 X1 and X6. I absolutely hate everything about X6 but its soundtrack is killer. Well I did like X's new armor designs too but the rest is totally crap
If you haven’t already played it, please do. It is a genuine game changer and turned X5 from a game I don’t really like to one I can actually enjoy. It’s still got some pretty big faults and some stages are still pretty slow and dull regardless but being able to skip cutscenes; use armor pieces without collecting all 4 and knowing that I’m not going to be locked out of an ending because of random RNG bullshit is a godsend
Ooh, I didn't know there was an Improvement Project patch of this game until now. But I do know the Uncut Dub project for Mega Man 8 & X4 and the Tweaked project for Mega Man X6.
This was the last Mega Man X game I truly enjoyed playing and for me is the real finale of the series leading into Z. That said it's not a great game and was a sign of things to come with its cut budget and pointless additions that just detracted from the overall experience. That's kind of the issue with a lot of the X sequels, they change things for the sake of change and often it's not usually for the better.
The reason why I don't want to speedrun this game because of the RNG canon/shuttle thing. We can manipulate that so canon works all the time, but you need the ps1 version because it has a demo when you are in the menu. We need the demo so we can manipulate the canon/shuttle rng.
I'll be honest, I felt like the X5 Review before this one felt like you were jaded over minor details, but I think this one feels a lot more fleshed out and thorough, and you even talked about the Improvement project, not something I'd think you'd touch upon! I agree that the Improvement project has done wonders for the game and just made the package feel a lot more concise and focused as a result. Nice video and look forward to the X6 review.
The best part about X5 is how there's more then one armor set allowing some degree of prep or puzzle solvinG. The negative side is the levels, the bosses, not to mention all the RNG.
The RNG, at least, I got rid of by creating a new exploit for the Enigma. It's the newest video on my channel, and works even for the Legacy Collection.
Simply the best review for X5. I love all X games (except x7 which I’m playing these days, what a nightmare) and it’s really true that the pace and the backtrack is a flaw.
My biggest issue with x5 is that x and zero doesnt have too many differences like in x4,the only differences are the start,the battle and the end,theres not even additcional things like extra cutscenes like in x4,but still,x5 is still good
X5 was like stumbling drunk on sake to the bathroom at the staff party for the success of X4. I loved because I loved GnR growin up. No other reason really, nice sound and graphics.
The Gaia Armor is awesome and I like to use it for the rest of the game from the moment I unlock it. Yes, that includes the flash beams. Yes, I hate the shadow devil that much.
How dose the rope Mechanic work. I keep dying to The part in grizzly slashs stage where you need to grab the rope because its not grabbing for some reason. Is their a tip or way to get a guaranteed grab.
Was this game made by a different team or something? I feel like they just took the previous game's mechanics and gameplay, updated the graphics a little, then added a bunch of unnecessary timewasting bullshit because they didn't know how to make good games
Wth, X5 is my favorite mega man Edit: I see your points, I think it's my favorite because X4 and X5 are the best uses of Zero, which I just love the gameplay of. X6 and 7 are obnoxiously bad for me, X8 is actually pretty good and comes close to the feeling I had with Zero on X4 and X5.
It’s astonishing to me that the X game with the best music on the PlayStation is perhaps the most flawed. . . . Or at least AS flawed as X6 but for different reasons. Great video!
28:13 about the bit of dialogue you're referencing- I always figured what X meant in that situation was that he trusts Zero will always tell him what he believes is the truth. When Zero says the situation he's in is no cause for concern, he truly believes it, and that makes X more worried for him, since Zero literally put himself right in the middle of an extremely high concentration of the virus. He _does_ trust Zero, and that's exactly why he'll get him out of there at any cost. As well as my thoughts on that specific line of dialogue, I just like the buildup for X vs Zero in X's good ending route a lot more than in Zero's. The pressure X and Zero are both under contributes to their actions, and X's fear for losing Zero is very apparent; the whole interaction feels much more genuine and personal. Aside from that, I feel much the same way you do about the reasons X and Zero fought. Even liking X's version, it does feel slightly lacking, and Zero's version feels rather contrived, especially compared to how much sense battling Awakened Zero makes. Anyway, sorry for the late and awfully long-winded comment! I like X5's story but not so much the gameplay, and this review did a great job of pointing out just where the game fell short!
I gotta ask, since you're clearly into the MegaMan series, is there a chance of you ever reviewing the Gunvolt/Luminous Avenger iX games? I mean, I've already bought them all and really like them, but I always wanna hear other people's opinions too, and no one I follow has covered them.
I hate how this game's English script ends up losing context for the bosses. For example, Launch Octopus's name somehow gets translated into "Octopardo", and Repliforce somehow became "Reploid Air Force". Since we as fans we're meant to get these references, it just ends up causing confusion when they end up getting screwed up like this.
I have a lot of nostalgia for X5, particularly that english opening but let's face it, the game has A LOT of issues that prevent it from being actually good.
Things got more interesting since The Item Game part, in my opinion :D 19:13 - Thank you for this, I never knew how to get the items, really sad for that bruh. 21:58 - True, right to my thoughts...
Maybe X4 might not have the superior soundtrack on its own, it DOES (in my opinion) have some of the best thematically fitting music, Web Spider's stage having an upbeat jungle vibe with some nice drums, Slash Beast's being extremely quick and sounding like there's a rush to get at the end of the train. I feel like in a lot of X games the music isn't as thematically fitting, there are a couple examples i can think of like Flame Stag's level being about perfection with the music and stage, but X4's tracks just seem very solid in context of environment and game. love the reviews, that's my take on why i prefer X4's soundtrack over the others even though Blaze Heatnix is such a baller track good God
I like x5 but it has so many stupid issues in it that take away the fun to me. At least it's music rocks and in a lot of areas it truly feels like a ceremonial game just wish more effort could be put into it.
Personally, the Aila stuff doesn't bother me much. From what I've seen, she only stops you before you actually do something, ik in Metarix, she stops you twice but she doesn't stop you mid-way during any platforming. Yea, it gets annoying when she stops you on repeat playthroughs. But me personally, I never had a problem. I don't hate the beginning of Squid Adler/Volt Kraken stage that much. Only thing I don't like is that the ending has a chance of taking away Zero. The game is still fun to play, I think I play it more often than X4 but Idk cause I have most of the Mega Man games and I play them a unhealthy amount.
I don't normally leave UA-cam comments, but I've watched every single one of your DCAU videos in the last week and I'm slowly going through all your other content. You have an amazing voice and a great way of writing. It's very conversational. It feels like you're taking part in a conversation rather than lecturing like many other essayist and it makes watching and listening to your content so relaxing and enjoyable. Thank you for your work
I remember my brother was playing this game (which he did often) and as always I was watching next to him on the carpet; just for fun he fired the cannon without fighting any bosses, and it successfully destroyed the colony. We laughed so hard at the time. Not until I became an adult who looked this up, did I realize how bonkers the chances were of that.
The tweak projects for x5 and x6 are a must for me, to the point I don't really want to go back to the OG games. Sure, they don't solve everything, but they add a lot of quality of life changes which are very appreciated
Can you help me how to open the files and play them ? I installed the mods for all x4-x6 with winrar but I’m having trouble how to open the games and play them
I had a lot of fun with this one. X & Zero seemed to shred bosses in this at times, especially compared to X4 which I also really enjoyed. The Quick Laser section and Shadow Devil boss is something I feel is nostalgic batting 100. No screenwrap made the entire approach different, and it's a section I feel the average Mega Man fan should go through. X vs Zero is truly great!
I don't mind the boss rush in the rest of the megaman games, but the X5 boss rush is truly atrocious with those ridiculous life bars. Like I get where they were coming from but geeez what a miss.
In the context of X5's world, why does she feel the need to warn X and Zero about so much obvious shit? Aren't they supposed to be highly-ranked Hunters that are very experienced with dealing with these things?
I mean X is still a B class hunter even after all of that. So I can't tell if they are really smart or really dumb, since X (as himself) fought entire wars as a one man army. You really expect them to give him a higher ranking.
@@flareonblaze3628 But this ranking/classes of Hunters weren't well explained
In X2 the leader of the Maverick Hunters is X because Sigma turned into a Maverick, Zero died and X proved himself in X1
But when Zero is resurrected in the end of X2, it's not told if X still the leader or Zero took it back
And now Signas is the new leader in X5, despite never showing up in the last games
@@ayrtonjoga Isn't X STILL a B class hunter even after X8? At that point in time, he had fought over 8 wars and destroyed Sigma 10 times. If X is skilled enough to be the leader of The Maverick Hunters, why is he a B class hunter, if he is really at the level of a B class hunter, how did he win all those wars?
@@flareonblaze3628 Now that you mentioned it, when you choose which character to play as in X8, X's description tells he's still a B Class Hunter
So I honestly don't know why he didn't ranked up over the years, like I said, how Hunters are ranked or how they become a leader isn't well fleshed out in the series, so it's just confusing
I know, Iris was a Navigator before Alia and she doesn’t even bother you at all during the Mega Man X4 stages.
27:06 "or you can injure your thumb with the non-dev intended strats" lol i'm glad someone pointed this out thought this was only me, love the review J and i'm excited for more mega man content!
Well I just learnt it from this video
I'll be even a bigger cheater when I play this game again 😁
And it's a callback to 14:11 "you can use non-dev intended strats"
I avoid X5 solely because I simply don't feel like sitting through the Shadow Devil.
I learned it from SomeCallMeJohnny’s review of the game
While I personally like X5, I'd be lying if I said it didn't have some "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?" moments that bog down the experience a lot, with the absolute lowest points in the game being the zero stages. Although I personally still think it's fun. Besides Duff MC Whalen's level I really enjoy all the levels, although again, I definitely don't think this game doesn't have some BS that needs to be pointed out. But I'd play it before X6 and X7 any day tbh.
Has someone been watching the angry video game nerd?
@@zanmolecules4105 well... Yeah, I'm not gonna hide that.
@@skibot9974 yeah the explosions and dialogue were too much for him
Even J had this moment in his old X5 Review
X6 and 8 were the only 2 games that sucked in the X series.
Seriously, huge major props to the creators of the X5/X6 Improvement projects
It's a huge game changer, literally!
Do you know any links for the X5 improvement project. I'm actually trying to play from my phone.
@@christianrodriguez5366 Have you googled it? Google provided plenty of links to download the patch.
At least there are no comments of fanboys screeching about how, "X5 is not bad design, You just suck! Oh that's it! You suck!!" LOL
One of my favorite accomplishments as a child was defeating the Full-Powered Zero using an unarmored X.
Boy that was a rush.
You mean Awakened Zero?
I decided to do the same thing when playing the game for the first time a few months ago. It really makes the fight feel like the titanic struggle it represents.
if only it wasn’t so easy to cheese
Zero was a fun challenge. Beating Sigma with unarmored X took a good few hours.
If only beating X with Zero was as much a challenge...
It's been awhile since I last worked on this, and it's actually moving to still get such kind and detailed reviews of the project. Thanks for the shout-out. (And it's always amusing to hear new english pronunciations for my screen name, yours is my favorite so far)
Yes, I am really thankful for your work. I used to never play X5 because of how tedious it was, but with your romhack which I find as the definitive edition, I can now play it from time to time. It is thanks to projects like yours and others in the community that we can enjoy many games. I do have a question though, is there any way to replace the ROMs in the Legacy collection with your romhack?
Hey! Thank you for your work on this mod! Could you help out for those who want to play the mod but can't be bothered to install it properly?
@acediez Is it possible to do the same with the PC version of X6?By that i mean the PC version for windows that was released around 2002 for south korea only,not the re-release that is part of the legacy collection 2.
This review really fails to see the bigger picture of Capcom's cost-cutting attitude towards this game. X5 was handled by one of Capcom's internal studios responsible mostly of doing ports and on a small budget. The result is the downgraded presentation (no anime), almost no new enemies (or recycled from X4) which results in empty stages, and the new art assets are either pre-rendered or have less frames of animation than X4. The game progressively falls apart on presentation even at the end when you fight Sigma.jpeg
Yeah, already noticed the dip of quality when X5 and X6 started to blend obvious 3d rendered backgrounds to their 2d sprites, unfortunately even the sprites had a lot of issues; several new sprites for enemies, obstacles and boss mavericks does not blend well to the background and even so to the sprite work of X and Zero. A lot of small to medium Mavericks sprites looks highly saturated, smudged and washed as if they were heavily colored in large canvas, then was heavily scaled down to sprite sized level, hence why the colors, details and outlines looked odd
This pre-rendered background style also seemed to be part of the trend in graphics during the 32-bit error. It almost feels like we've recognized pixel art as a style now, but back then they thought pre-rendered was some kind of upgrade because it was "more realistic". Obviously these two styles seem to clash, but it definitely was a trend at this time on the Saturn and PS1, and it works a little better in 240p on a CRT through composite than it does with all it's flaws under a microscope on our HD displays.
Everything in X5 feels cheap and rushed. A lot of stages look straight up incomplete.
Yes but no. Capcom is capcom, and this game isn't bad because of technical shortcomings, although they do exist. This game sucks because of fundamentally bad design decisions like locking off zero, instakilling you in Adler, and locking off Zero from half the heart tanks
so unfortunate because I remember coming from how awesome X4 was and then playing this
Honestly man, i loved about 90% of this game, the final stages seriously ruin a damn solid game, especially the black devil boss...SCREW THAT BOSS
Yeah seriously, SCREW THAT BOSS. I could never perfectly dodge that damn black b lob pattern of his.
Yeah that's about where I stand. A lot of other quirks I can get over, but oh boy those final stages.
Yes, X5 definitely has flaws, but I like it. Not to mention the OST, which is one of the best in the entire series.
I agreed with J that X4 had an underwhelming soundtrack, so when I played X5 for the first time, I thought “oh yeah now THAT’S a soundtrack!”
Even Monkey and Mizu no Naka?
i agree the OST is great
The OST, like everything else X5, is overrated. But is not as abysmal as the rest of the game.
It has the only good boss theme
X5 is so bad. My brother and I LOVED it as kids, it was OUR WORLD. But we can’t even fucking replay a single playthrough now because it’s so insufferable and BORING to play… so many cool ideas cut short by 0 effort and horrendous execution.
Flawed as X5 is, its music is what's keeping me going during college.
How's college
@@Henryhuggerzmen The comment you're replying to was made three years ago.
I'm still haven't gotten out.
Maybe that says something.
@@iggyminious did something happen?
I still love this game, despite it's flaws.
Also Izzy Glow's theme is low key one of the best Maverick themes of all time.
agreed. I don’t really like any of the other stage tracks except this one
Don't forget Mattrex's theme.
The music in motocycle's phase is pretty cool too!
Don't forget the zero stage 3. That was a tekken level bop
@@Josiah1music I like Squid Adler's stage music in this game, but I don't see how it's better than X4's soundtrack. X4's music was just so memorable.
I was in the constant tests that Acediez did in the X5 Tweak, they were weeks of seeing how the teasters helped looking for the bugs, without a doubt it is worth using the patch that this guy made.
X5 may be the game with a lot of design flaws, but when the fans come in it gives us a different experience that makes it hard to go back to the original game.
From TMNT, to Spider-Man and, back to Mega Man X. This is why I love this channel.
Yep
Same
so you love people that copies other youtubers kids man
@@THEREALGAMEMASTER-gz5xg what are you talking about?
@@IamaPERSON Guess you never heard of Lord Sega X The act man drinking critic because this channel isn't original I wish you guys can wake up
The funny thing for me is that, in terms of the X series, X5 is my favorite game. I liked the story and it would've been an excellent conclusion to the X series (even though they made more sequels after this). It also brought the best parts of X4 for its gameplay and the few poor decisions that they made here (The armor parts and a few stages in how you get them) doesn't really bother me that much.
X5 was intended to be the end of the X series.
I personally think the story in X5 is a step up from X4 but the gameplay is a step down. I also think X5 has the best music (I like the music in all the X games tho)
The blah blah blah tutorial nonsense is a pain in the ass. This game treats the player like he is retarded.
X5 introduced a feature some would say made it eazy but I realy liked. In x1 to 4 I had to hold the buster/charge while trying to jump' dash and wall jump. Sigma especially was a pain cause oneley a full charge ( or armadillo shield) could damage him so I'm trying to hold that charge and hit uther butons as I get into attack position but one hit makes me drop the charge and I have to try again. With atoucharge I can focus on dash and jump buttons and the charge is ready for me. That made the game better for me.
@@TheOmegazerox X5 is not a game. It’s a walking simulator with no punishments. More often than not, you are being helped when you encounter problems or die. No real Game Overs, you don’t have to kill a single stage enemy on a normal run through and overall the game makes no effort to challenge the player. You are constantly being interrupted by text boxes with meaningless tips. Mavericks would be alright if the core game was well made.
Is nobody going to talk about the elephant in the room. There was one megaman X5 change nobody has talked about. Buster shots now collide with walls. Repeat buster shots collide with walls. In every megaman game before it buster shots would with very few exceptions would completely ignore walls like it was air and kill enemies.
I have never noticed :O
Fr I used to abuse the charge shot flying through walls in the previous games to kill enemies
I unironically love this game, despite its flaws. For me, the X Saga ends with X5. The build up through the previous 4 games to the final battle between two friends who were built to be enemies...it's just too good. Not to mention the original localization and boss names will forever make this one of my favorite Mega Man X games.
Yes, this is my real name. Yes, The Skiver is my favorite maverick.
destiny it is then to play this game knowing your name
Oh my god, it's been that long since the original X5 review? I remember watching the X reviews as they came out, and that shit got me thru most of my high school classes. I can't believe I've been watching this channel for that long, and it's nice to see how your opinion on things like this changed.
I love X5. It might even be my second favorite game in the series, after X4. I thought it would have served as a great ending to the series, seeing as it was originally intended as the final Mega Man X game.
Yeah, agreed
@@trogg3rdmmxplaya467 I mean, I get what J is saying in the review, but most of these issues he brings up are very minor to me, and do not ruin my enjoyment of the game.
@@NeoKokoro20 exactly
X5 and X4 are my top two favorites in the series as well.
I love X4, but X5 is the game I keep coming back, maybe it is because of the OST that is IMO the best in the PSX series. The flaws pointed in the video are quite true, but I really enjoy the game nonetheless.
X5 is the first game where they actually tried with the story, finally using the incredible premise that had just been wasted for so many games. For that It will always have its place in the series, unlike 6 and 7. (8 also tried, but not as hard)
I felt like it was a good attempt but it fell into many rookie mistakes considering that the people who make these games are not writers, there are many plotholes and underutilized characters in X5 that it feels more like a waste than a cohesive story, Wily is teased but never gets developed, Dynamo is teased to have found purpose with Sigma but that also goes nowhere after the intro, and there are a lot of details missing such as why there's only one Enygma cannon, why after a space weapon destroyed in X4 our heroes did not make countermeasures against orbittal weapons and have to rely on 20XX relics.
I remember when X5 used to be commonly accepted as one of the best games in the X series, but especially after having played literally every X game, I'm left wondering if it truly would've been a good finale. Dynamo is practically forgotten about once both fights against him are done, the cutscene presentation is honestly the weakest of the PS1 trilogy, especially with the pings for every single character in the text boxes that get grating fast, the X VS Zero fight having a flimsy justification in all but the bad ending that many will avoid in addition to it being one of the easiest fights in the game, the Parts system requiring repeated Game Overs to take full advantage of, and in general, the RNG that can very likely screw over a player who prefers Zero. For all of X6's faults, I feel it does a great deal of things better than X5.
Yeah I used to love X5 but I think the more times you play through it the more monotonous it feels. Like it’s essentially a combination of the weakest elements of X4 and X6 and the constant scrolling through dialogue in and out of levels legitimately hurts it. X6 on the other hand is one that I got when it released on PSX and thought the difficulty was cheap. Never really liked it. But now having played it recently I actually think it’s got it’s own identity and enjoy it more than X4 and X5.
X5 is a game where you can get through most of it without having to kill any enemies. X6 has a similar issue, albeit not as bad.
What are these great things X6 did better than 5? Cause it probably only did music better. But level design, difficulty, mechanics, story presentation, ALLL REALLY BAD.
Just ask the Great Clement.
@@UnifiedEntity I have nothing to say about the Level Design since it was very flawed since it catered to Zero instead of X (especially the nightmare effect). HOWEVER, the item games, the part system, the story presentation, and the mechanics? I can vouch for that.
The item games: It's now possible to get everything with both characters. Not just X or Zero anymore. Granted, Heart tanks are still not shared. Zero, however, can help collecting for X for the most part. The backtrack is still just as bad though (especially with the Museum)
The part system: A HUGE UPGRADE from X5. Now, it was tied to hostage instead and no longer you have to deal with the stupid convoluted system that X5. It came with a flaw of permanent dying but it was far between than what you have to deal with in X5 (Need I remind you about committing suicide in the first stage for the part? and the RNG of Zero dying and TOOK ALL OF YOUR UPGRADE WITH HIM TO THE GRAVE?)
Difficulty: Yeah, no reason to defend it since it was inconsistent. Sometime it was very hard sometime it was pissed off easy. Though the moment you got all of the upgrade, even Nigthmare Mother or Gate falls like a stack of domino.
Story Presentation: HUGE UPGRADE because it got VAs with the JP dub and can be skippable. That count for even in game conversation as well. Alia was fixed and only mandatory talk in a few occasion. Most of the time, you can ignore her notice and it was not even annoying since you didn't even know it happen either.
The Mechanics: Zero got major overhaul with faster saber swing and his Z Buster buffed tremendously. Dash cancel combo is back (In X5, beating the Skiver basically disable your dash combo) X sadly got left behind until you discover his saber trick.
@@UnifiedEntity Clement doesn't speak for everyone
The two big issues I have with X5 is the boring explanation by Alia and the story randomness. What you explained about Zero going Maverick by random happened to me exactly and I felt bad not being able to continue the story with him.
My worst experience is losing Zero (and this was a pure Zero run) and being left with X who had no upgrades at all. It was an aboslute nightmare trying to go through Duff McWhalen's stage with unarmored X.
About the music, I'm absolutely baffled that anyone could consider X4's soundtrack better than X5. X5 definitely has the best soundtrack out of the Playstation games, regardless of it being a worse game. I couldn't even be mad if someone said X5's soundtrack was better than X1 or X2, because the entire soundtrack is top notch, with essentially not a single bad track to speak of.
Also about the Armor mechanics, they probably made it so where you have to collect them fully because they didn't properly implement a system so you could mix and match parts. That or the game design didn't take that into consideration, so they just made it to where you needed the full armor. Too bad, really.
In X6's case, it's probably a combination of design, and the fact that the game was rushed so they didn't bother, so just reused the system they made for X5.
Same. I think people are blinded by the superb gameplay and controls into thinking X4’s music is stellar front to back. While it absolutely does have some bangers for sure, it’s not a solid OST. There are a few too many forgettable tracks. X5’s music on the other hand is just flat out fantastic like the SNES X trilogy.
Same, X4 is my favorite game from the X series but I prefer much more the OST from X1, X3, X5 and X6 over it
The only songs I love are X and Zero intro themes, Magma Dragoon and Split Mushroom, the rest is alright but not very memorable imo
Same. I prefer the gameplay and stages in 4. But, I didn't care for the soundtrack as much. X5's was pretty good.
I love the music for X4. I think that it just comes down to personal taste.
X5 is my second favorite X soundtrack with X6 barely surpassing it 🤏
It’s a shame too because the X vs Zero theme is the most epic part of the series. Too bad that’s also ruined by the wall of text
If I'm being honest, I really like the idea of a luck based plot system because it leads to a lot of surprising experiences and interesting stories, especially for first playthroughs. The fact that the Enigma cannon actually has a chance of working is fascinating and can really catch you off guard when it happens
It just pissed me off because I lost Zero. Very surprising and interesting.
I love that too
I fucking hate this game, feels like an X4 rom hack that delivered an unsatisfying conclusion so Inafune could go make Zero games, shafting X as a character
Okay, wow, I definitely need to set aside time to check out that improvement patch sometime. That looks awesome!
As a kid I always thought X5 was in the same camp as X3 to me for some reason but as I got older and learned more words I figured out that it's because they both had unique aspect that separate them from the A B C style of the previous games but didn't handle them in the most gracious manner. Just kinda threw them all in there because the devs were like "Hey I just had an idea !"
When I was younger I thought X5 was the best megaman game ever. But looking back that was just because of the many references to other games and the fight between X and Zero. My favorites now are X1 and X4, but I’d be lying if this game didn’t have a special place in my heart
19:25 To be honest,X5 should have introduced customisable armors here
3:42 - Actually, the crouching does return after X7 in a limited sense in Mega Man ZX and ZX: Advent. Vent, Aile, Grey, and Ashe are all able to crouch - and crawl - while they are not "MegaMerged" with a Biometal.
Unpopular(?) opinion: X5 was actually pretty good but the GnR-inspired boss names was one of the lowest points. Up to now I still refuse to call the bosses by those names and would rather use the proper names (Crescent Grizzly, Tidal Whale, Volt Kraken, Shining Firefly, Dark Necrobat, Spiral Pegasus, Burn Dinorex, Spike Rosered).
Have to admit that Duff McWhalen was a funny as heck name though.
It's funny how the two choices in characters at the beginning is really one choice, runining the whole point of having a choice since one is clearly superior to the other.
It's really neat to see you revisit these reviews that boosted your channel so much. I remember, I kept up with the original videos as they came out while at a really rough spot in my life back in 11th grade. Fast forward to me watching this as it comes out today. Since watching the original retrospective series, I've-
1. Finished high school
2. Graduated college
3. Moved out of my parents house and now live on my own
4. Worked at a store long enough that I'm now in a managerial position
And through all that, here you are, revisiting that series that helped me out so much through the hell year that was my 11th grade. UA-cam is a funny thing.
Thanks, J. Keep on that grind.
Thanks for watching man. I have obviously been through a transformation in the last five years myself. I mean, I was in 10th grade when I did the X reviews. Five years can change a lot of things.
23:59 dude really? The Guns n roses names are amazing! At least I prefer them whether for how hilarious it is that they did what they did with them or because they just go hard. I was a bit let down that the Legacy Collection removed them.
The virgin tidal whale vs the chad duff mcwhalen
The game's got some very strong concepts in its armor system, potential in the RNG/Ending system, and the level design for most stages...but that's the thing that strikes me: the CONCEPTS are good, but the fact that the game flubs up on these honestly just makes the game a bit tedious to do repeat runs for.
Overall, yeah. Game's hella flawed, but even then, it's no X6 or X7...
I think the “best soundtrack” poll was slightly biased/skewed because there’s a chance more people played X4 and not as many played X5, or even not as many replayed it as much as X4.
FINALLY someone else who figured out you can just hide in the corner in Shadow Devil's fight.
One issue with X5 is a massive one: if you're playing as X with the X4 armour, the enemies do such little damage that there's no real challenge. Add in the fact that Alia constantly interrupts you, and you have no real game.
No challenge = no game.
I'm shocked at how easy it is to do a pacifist run in X5.
In X5, I think they were trying to expand more "branch" stories, how they did midway in X3 and entirely in X4. In X5, they offer 2 solutions to destroy the colony. If you gather the shuttle parts first and then the laser, they will skip the shuttle scene and the laser will destroy the colony completely.
23:57 Seriously? I thought everyone loved the GnR names? It help give them more a personality, imo.
X5 on in the whole is just too tedious for me. I honestly would take playing X6 over playing X5 any day, just for the fact that Aila doesn't stop you constantly; collecting parts doesn't feel random, and the armors are better.
Kinda ironic that I also found X4's soundtrack to be my least favorite of the PS1 lineup. Is it biased or am I weird?
I know music is subjective, but I didn't find it to be that memorable aside from some songs (It's mostly high-synthetized noises like Iris' theme being a major guilty).
X6's is a banger with its guitar and melancholic tunes while X5 finds the perfect balance between X4 and X6's instruments.
And as for the game, Alia and the slow pacing bothers me but not the item collection (because I don't need all the
upgrades to stand a chance at the endgame) and the Enigma Cannon (because I always get the same outcome).
So yeah... I like X5 but it's one of those games that you can either love or hate.
Also, the Improvement Project is amazing! Once again, the fans saved the day (or in this case, the game).
No you’re not weird at all. X4’s music is easily the weakest aspect of the game with a few too many forgettable tracks. It’s still good just not start to finish like the older games.
X4 felt like a weird transition with the music where they all of a sudden had redbook audio but wanted to keep the synth sound. The Saturn version of X3 is similarly kind of off.
Yeah, I don't get why some people love X4's soundtrack so much. I won't say they should change their opinion (as opinions are subjective), but I just can't think of any good songs from X4, except maybe some of the boss themes and both intro stages. They're just not _catchy,_ which is a very important aspect for me.
X5 is better in that regard, although partially because they re-used so many songs, like the English intro, Light Capsule, the first two Zero Stage bosses, etc. Still, it's got some good originals like Dynamo, Izzy Glow, Zero Stage 4, X vs Zero... even the scrapped songs were pretty good, like X vs Zero, McWhalen or Armageddon.
X6 meanwhile is just chock-full of bangers. I'm not even gonna list any, because you can quite literally pick any song and it'll sound great or at least be catchy. And don't even get me started on the Japanese credits song!
I feel like we've been here before, so why are we still here? Just to suffer? I can feel the good game design we lost, Alia's voice ringing in my ears every night. All the good ideas botched by awful execution, the X9 we deserve. We're gonna bitch about it until they give it back.
Not gonna lie, I forgot you were revisiting the series and assumed you simply had achieved a new level of hate for X5, leading to an unprompted revisit.
gotta admit, the art on the character select screen felt like the quality of the likes of street fighter ex+a with its hand drawn art drawn on paper then scanned with a cheap scanner and imported to photoshop. whereas x4 character select art are digitally sprite drawn like in street fighter alpha 1 and 2, which i prefer.
X5 is the one entry that gets less enjoyable with each playthrough. I used to love it, now I’d rank it second to last only above X7.
X5 was actually my first interaction with the entire X series and will always hold a special place in my heart. From it i went backwards into X4 and then forwards into X6. Down the line i went all the way back and did X1-X3 to 100%. Growing up on the entire OG Megaman series it was a complete mind blow to see all the cool new characters (Zero from start to finish all day every day), the new graphics, the killer soundtracks, and just how much the series had changed in my absence. With all that said, screw those F Laser paths. I hated those as a kid and i still hate them as an adult. Such a pain to navigate and one little oopsie and gotta try again and if you run outta ammo oh well! Literally the only part of the game that ever gave me trouble besides the Devil fight.
X1,2,3, and 6 have the absolute BEST soundtracks in the series! The rest are OKAY at best.
5 and 7 have great soundtracks
X3 has only like 3 good tracks, and the rest is awful
@@hayato1886 I'll take that as a hot take
@@sukmykrok3388 You cannot honestly tell me Blizzard Buffalo, Neon Tiger or Drill Rhino are good. The only decent themes are the intro stage, Blast Hornets stage and Gravity Beetle. The rest is incredibly forgettable, or are one of the 3 stages mentioned above
@@hayato1886 oh, but I can. In fact, so much, that I'm willing to say get really stoned and play blizzard Buffalo's theme in the background for good, somber ambiance. Of course, that's my jam so I don't expect anyone else to like it.
I like x3's ost more than x4 and 5 because it translates to heavy music easily. Not that techno/ synthesized bullshit 4 and 5 are.
X5 has the typical X formula of being mechanically fun but absolutely horrific game design. X and Zero control like an absolute dream. Incredible speed, mobility, and weapon control, but at the cost of a game that puts your balls in your mouth. This game literally has a random chance of permanently taking away one of your characters and you can do nothing about it. I have played this game for over 8 years, and I have had the Eclipse Cannon succeed *4 times across 30+ playthroughs*
I don't know what people were smoking when they voted for the "best PS1 X game soundtrack" - X6 is literally banger after banger after banger after [repeat until the Sun dies]. I don't think there's a single song in X6 that isn't memorable.
100%. But x4 had great music too.
I've never seen anyone mention it and I've just had the thought, maybe Alia existed as a tool for devs to inform the player exactly what dangers await so that they can beat it in as few attempts as possible? Although it ends up making the overall product worse lol
"The soundtrack is spectacular". You can say whatever you want about the game now lol
Not being able to use one armor piece at a time is a cardinal sin an ABSOLUTE inexcusable! 😢
At one point X5 was my favorite Mega Man game. I looked past most of it's flaws because I loved the story of it so much and I thought it was cool to defend one of the less popular games. Nowadays I still like it, but I find it the second worst game to replay (X7 being the worst in terms of replay value). Now that I've played the Zero games I can't say X5 has the best story. and although it's my least favorite game I think I would replay X6 before I replay X5. X5 still has the best soundtrack and I will stand by that.
There is one positive to the randomness tho. To me happened exactly what you described. I played as zero, the shuttle fails and i was forced to play as X without any upgrades etc. I made it to the final stage and thx to that i discovered that you can get Ultimate Armor without cheat code.
I like this game but I know that it's not very good and every time that I try to analyze I always think of more and more small things that it does wrong. But it's not enough to outright ruin it for me on a personal level, I personally find Megaman X's core gameplay and controls so fun that any game that has that nails that can never be something that I truly hate (I even like X6 if I'm honest). I can't necessarily give X5 too much credit for that given that it's literally just reusing X4's gameplay, engine, and assets but the fact is that it still manages to activate the dopamine sensors in my dumb lizard brain better than a lot of actually good games do. Although I wouldn't exactly call it a guilty pleasure because, well, X6 occupies that place for me. So X5 just occupies this really weird place in my opinion of megaman games where it's too flawed to be a good game but I don't think it's outright horrible like X6 or X7 either.
The Gaea Armor seemed to be designed for raw power and high defense while losing out on speed. If I had to give the head part a function, I would tweak how boss weapons work with the armor. Rather than not having access to them at all, I would've given X the ability to fire them at fully charged capacity at any time. But he wouldn't be able to normal-fire them or restore their energy. Have Dr. Light mention that it was an experimental workaround to fix the glaring flaw with the buster part. You can use the weapons now, but it's in a constantly over-charged state, without the benefit of reloading in the field. To balance it more, it could have weapons drain from a single energy pool or the Giga Attack energy pool to reduce their usefulness even further.
I love theory-crafting on functionality like this.
I always thought X5 was just ok and disappointing by the fact it was supposed to be the finale of the X series, I love the OST and the story, but some design decisions were weird, to say the least, and the slower pace made the game overall very boring
My opinions on X5 changed the least over the years compared to the other X games
But I'm so excited to see your Re-Review for X6 soon, go check out the X6 Tweaker and we'll se you there
I wanna comment on how much I love playing as Zero, and Megaman X5's stage design really hates Zero. So in order to get Zero's chip parts, you have to choose Weapon & Energy+. I mean, Zero doesn't even need that many Energy+. Not to mention he can't obtain half the HP upgrade in the stages. So wtf.... It's like the game is designed for X, and you just get to play Zero in the stages not meant for him
Definitely my favorite soundtracks in the MMX series is X4 X1 and X6. I absolutely hate everything about X6 but its soundtrack is killer. Well I did like X's new armor designs too but the rest is totally crap
all the sigma stages felt pretty lazy, just colour swapped for each segment.
That X5 improvement project is exciting! Makes me want to replay it. All we need now are some animated cutscenes.
If you haven’t already played it, please do. It is a genuine game changer and turned X5 from a game I don’t really like to one I can actually enjoy. It’s still got some pretty big faults and some stages are still pretty slow and dull regardless but being able to skip cutscenes; use armor pieces without collecting all 4 and knowing that I’m not going to be locked out of an ending because of random RNG bullshit is a godsend
19:05 Actually that depends of your rank, if you have Rank SA or more you can get a part of any level.
Ooh, I didn't know there was an Improvement Project patch of this game until now. But I do know the Uncut Dub project for Mega Man 8 & X4 and the Tweaked project for Mega Man X6.
Correcting myself (don't want to lose the heart by editing my main comment
So there are X5 and X6 improvement projects??
I'm interested in trying them. I wonder if any of the dialogue between them is actually fixed.
The one for X6 I think has re-written dialogue which at least, makes the whole thing readable.
“Honey Wake up, J uploaded megaman”
One thing I don't understand is the logic behind mashing through dialogue on initial playthroughs
This was the last Mega Man X game I truly enjoyed playing and for me is the real finale of the series leading into Z. That said it's not a great game and was a sign of things to come with its cut budget and pointless additions that just detracted from the overall experience. That's kind of the issue with a lot of the X sequels, they change things for the sake of change and often it's not usually for the better.
The reason why I don't want to speedrun this game because of the RNG canon/shuttle thing. We can manipulate that so canon works all the time, but you need the ps1 version because it has a demo when you are in the menu. We need the demo so we can manipulate the canon/shuttle rng.
Not anymore you don't! I made a brand new method that works for Legacy Collection, too! It's the newest video on my channel :)
@@fionordequester6748 Gonna check it later!
@@H1ghscor3 Cool! Lemme know whatcha think when you do!
I'll be honest, I felt like the X5 Review before this one felt like you were jaded over minor details, but I think this one feels a lot more fleshed out and thorough, and you even talked about the Improvement project, not something I'd think you'd touch upon! I agree that the Improvement project has done wonders for the game and just made the package feel a lot more concise and focused as a result. Nice video and look forward to the X6 review.
The best part about X5 is how there's more then one armor set allowing some degree of prep or puzzle solvinG. The negative side is the levels, the bosses, not to mention all the RNG.
The RNG, at least, I got rid of by creating a new exploit for the Enigma. It's the newest video on my channel, and works even for the Legacy Collection.
X5 is my Favorite of the X game along with X4. The gameplay is just amazing to me
Simply the best review for X5. I love all X games (except x7 which I’m playing these days, what a nightmare) and it’s really true that the pace and the backtrack is a flaw.
And the enigma/shuffle rng is….bizarre. And discovered it when I replayed after the psx times was dissapointing.
My biggest issue with x5 is that x and zero doesnt have too many differences like in x4,the only differences are the start,the battle and the end,theres not even additcional things like extra cutscenes like in x4,but still,x5 is still good
X5 was like stumbling drunk on sake to the bathroom at the staff party for the success of X4. I loved because I loved GnR growin up. No other reason really, nice sound and graphics.
The Gaia Armor is awesome and I like to use it for the rest of the game from the moment I unlock it. Yes, that includes the flash beams. Yes, I hate the shadow devil that much.
How dose the rope Mechanic work. I keep dying to The part in grizzly slashs stage where you need to grab the rope because its not grabbing for some reason. Is their a tip or way to get a guaranteed grab.
you hold up in the air.
I like to play on the legacy collection on my Switch, but joy con drift specifically screws up this one up button
Was this game made by a different team or something? I feel like they just took the previous game's mechanics and gameplay, updated the graphics a little, then added a bunch of unnecessary timewasting bullshit because they didn't know how to make good games
Wth, X5 is my favorite mega man
Edit: I see your points, I think it's my favorite because X4 and X5 are the best uses of Zero, which I just love the gameplay of. X6 and 7 are obnoxiously bad for me, X8 is actually pretty good and comes close to the feeling I had with Zero on X4 and X5.
It’s astonishing to me that the X game with the best music on the PlayStation is perhaps the most flawed. . . . Or at least AS flawed as X6 but for different reasons. Great video!
28:13 about the bit of dialogue you're referencing- I always figured what X meant in that situation was that he trusts Zero will always tell him what he believes is the truth. When Zero says the situation he's in is no cause for concern, he truly believes it, and that makes X more worried for him, since Zero literally put himself right in the middle of an extremely high concentration of the virus. He _does_ trust Zero, and that's exactly why he'll get him out of there at any cost. As well as my thoughts on that specific line of dialogue, I just like the buildup for X vs Zero in X's good ending route a lot more than in Zero's. The pressure X and Zero are both under contributes to their actions, and X's fear for losing Zero is very apparent; the whole interaction feels much more genuine and personal.
Aside from that, I feel much the same way you do about the reasons X and Zero fought. Even liking X's version, it does feel slightly lacking, and Zero's version feels rather contrived, especially compared to how much sense battling Awakened Zero makes.
Anyway, sorry for the late and awfully long-winded comment! I like X5's story but not so much the gameplay, and this review did a great job of pointing out just where the game fell short!
I gotta ask, since you're clearly into the MegaMan series, is there a chance of you ever reviewing the Gunvolt/Luminous Avenger iX games? I mean, I've already bought them all and really like them, but I always wanna hear other people's opinions too, and no one I follow has covered them.
Good idea. I always have been curious about them
I hate how this game's English script ends up losing context for the bosses. For example, Launch Octopus's name somehow gets translated into "Octopardo", and Repliforce somehow became "Reploid Air Force". Since we as fans we're meant to get these references, it just ends up causing confusion when they end up getting screwed up like this.
I have a lot of nostalgia for X5, particularly that english opening but let's face it, the game has A LOT of issues that prevent it from being actually good.
Nice review, btw, Duff's heart piece can be obtained by Zero with Squid's weapon, the odd colored segments in the ship can be destroyed by it.
I know this is about X5, but if you decide to skip talking about X6 again, I totally understand.
I get the feeling that he'll have a field day going over that one again. Although he may want to skip it lol
Things got more interesting since The Item Game part, in my opinion :D
19:13 - Thank you for this, I never knew how to get the items, really sad for that bruh.
21:58 - True, right to my thoughts...
Loving these 'remastered' videos! Makes me wanna play x5
Maybe X4 might not have the superior soundtrack on its own, it DOES (in my opinion) have some of the best thematically fitting music, Web Spider's stage having an upbeat jungle vibe with some nice drums, Slash Beast's being extremely quick and sounding like there's a rush to get at the end of the train. I feel like in a lot of X games the music isn't as thematically fitting, there are a couple examples i can think of like Flame Stag's level being about perfection with the music and stage, but X4's tracks just seem very solid in context of environment and game. love the reviews, that's my take on why i prefer X4's soundtrack over the others even though Blaze Heatnix is such a baller track good God
I like x5 but it has so many stupid issues in it that take away the fun to me.
At least it's music rocks and in a lot of areas it truly feels like a ceremonial game just wish more effort could be put into it.
I kinda feel the music of x5 is nice but as a sequel to x4 its missing a lot of dimension, x4 has a lot of instruments that reflect its stage
Personally, the Aila stuff doesn't bother me much. From what I've seen, she only stops you before you actually do something, ik in Metarix, she stops you twice but she doesn't stop you mid-way during any platforming. Yea, it gets annoying when she stops you on repeat playthroughs. But me personally, I never had a problem. I don't hate the beginning of Squid Adler/Volt Kraken stage that much. Only thing I don't like is that the ending has a chance of taking away Zero. The game is still fun to play, I think I play it more often than X4 but Idk cause I have most of the Mega Man games and I play them a unhealthy amount.
I love X5 and everything you mentioned is definitely true.
4:40 yea, x6 for example has the best menu music of any megaman game in my opinion, it really evoke the grimm and desperate times
I don't normally leave UA-cam comments, but I've watched every single one of your DCAU videos in the last week and I'm slowly going through all your other content. You have an amazing voice and a great way of writing. It's very conversational. It feels like you're taking part in a conversation rather than lecturing like many other essayist and it makes watching and listening to your content so relaxing and enjoyable. Thank you for your work
A lot of ppl HATE this game and yes it's flawed to me but...
Let me be honest, I love the story and the *OBVIOUS* Recurring character
Dynamo is the best character
@@bezhfezh 😂 not to be but i can agree with some parts of that lol
DYNAMO IS SO AWESOME
@@bezhfezh AND A MASSIVE TROLL I LOVE IT
@@PrevTsukasaRui YES IT WHY HES PERFECT
I remember my brother was playing this game (which he did often) and as always I was watching next to him on the carpet; just for fun he fired the cannon without fighting any bosses, and it successfully destroyed the colony. We laughed so hard at the time. Not until I became an adult who looked this up, did I realize how bonkers the chances were of that.
X5s soundtrack ABSOLUTELY blows x4s out of the water dont bs me
Absolutely 100% true. X4 has the most overrated soundtrack in the entire series.
@DomzTunes its above mid at best. X4 is the best x game but not the best soundtrack
@@austinperezgk1 Yea I think it's carried by X's Intro Stage Theme. First impressions haha
The tweak projects for x5 and x6 are a must for me, to the point I don't really want to go back to the OG games. Sure, they don't solve everything, but they add a lot of quality of life changes which are very appreciated
Can you help me how to open the files and play them ? I installed the mods for all x4-x6 with winrar but I’m having trouble how to open the games and play them
I had a lot of fun with this one.
X & Zero seemed to shred bosses in this at times, especially compared to X4 which I also really enjoyed.
The Quick Laser section and Shadow Devil boss is something I feel is nostalgic batting 100. No screenwrap made the entire approach different, and it's a section I feel the average Mega Man fan should go through. X vs Zero is truly great!
I don't mind the boss rush in the rest of the megaman games, but the X5 boss rush is truly atrocious with those ridiculous life bars. Like I get where they were coming from but geeez what a miss.
I used to really like this game, after watching this video though, I like it more tenfold
Happy to help!