History YMMV / MegaManX8

** Sigma's not the FinalBoss for once! He got old and repetitive after 7 games, especially in VideoGame/MegaManX6, so this is a nice change of pace.

** Bamboo Pandemonium's DesperationAttack is a Long-reaching lunge that deals a ton of damage and will destroy any Ride Armor you are using. Also, he'll keep the lunge in place until you move out of the way, so it may deal additional damage over time.
** Earthrock Trilobyte's desperation attack erects several crystal walls and turns the arena into a DeathCourse[=/=]AdvancingWallOfDoom. Unfortunately it is easily navigated, killing the tension and wasting a lot of time, the bane of speedrunners everywhere. And worse, the FinalExamBoss has this as his ''regular'' attack, i.e. the one he uses the most.
** Optic Sunflower's desperation attack involves DeathFromAbove via KillSat that requires ''extremely'' precise timing to get out of the way in time, especially for Zero due to his shortened dashing distance. It's even worse if Optic Sunflower initiates the attack when he gives you little room to move around in without dashing into him.

** Burn Rooster's stage starts out with a slow fall down some tricky platforms (where if you fall too quickly it's instant death), than a descent down a shaft full of SpikesOfDoom, then ''another'' slow fall down some tricky platforms, then the boss, and then ''the level keeps going'' as you need to flee back up the platforms you came in on while being chased by rising lava. Thankfully, the last part isn't repeated on subsequent visits if Burn Rooster has been defeated.
** Avalanche Yeti's level has multitudes of enemies and traditional AutoScrollingLevel obstacles (walls and BottomlessPits), culminating with a MiniBoss fight in two parts, the second of which can easily become a GoddamnedBoss due to [[MarathonBoss how long it takes to actually destroy it]], especially if you didn't bring X for his charge shots.

* CommonKnowledge: Lumine is commonly misinterpreted as TheManBehindTheMan to Sigma, in control from the very start. It'd be more accurate to say Lumine's plan was HijackingCthulhu, taking advantage of Sigma's leadership and ambition to hasten the supremacy of the New Generation Reploids. Who better to lead a rebellion than him, right? Of course, then there's the fact that Lumine is technically one of Sigma's children, so he's basically just OverlordJr taking over for daddy.

** In ''X7'', LazyBackup ensues if the player lost the current character, they lose a life regardless of their partner's condition. Here, if one character loses all of their hit-points and your other character is fine, they will switch places with the fallen teammate (except when falling into an instant-death trap) and they can be brought back if the player can fill the AT Gauge to full.
** In ''X7'' Axl only had three unique firearms, while the rest of his Special Weapons were no different from X once you unlock the latter. Now Axl will obtain special firearms (vastly different from X and Zero's Special Weapons) with unlimited ammo from the 8 Bosses, greatly expanding on the interesting yet underused concept.
** Sigma's not the FinalBoss for once! Considering he got old and repetitive after 7 games, especially in VideoGame/MegaManX6, this is a nice change of pace.

* ContestedSequel: Is ''X8'' a good game in its own right? Or does it only look good after coming off the [[PolygonCeiling complete disaster]] that was ''VideoGame/MegaManX7''[[labelnote:*]]and arguably ''VideoGame/MegaManX6''[[/labelnote]]? Pros include more solid level design, return to 2D gameplay, ''vastly'' improved voice acting, having a FinalBoss[=/=]BigBad that ISN'T Sigma and giving all the characters distinct playstyles without none of them feeling redundant. Cons include overuse of gimmick levels[[labelnote:*]]Which, depending on what you count as a gimmick, could mean there's only ''two'' levels that play like actual ''Mega Man X'' levels[[/labelnote]], an extremely [[GuideDangit frustrating 100% completion]], [[MoneyGrinding Metal Grinding]] that drags the game to a crawl even with the [[DiscountCard Metal Discount]] chip[[labelnote:*]](unless you're either content with the upgrades on-hand or use a glitch found only in the North American [=PlayStation=] 2 release to take grinding out the equation)[[/labelnote]], a rather [[ExcusePlot aimless]] and [[AmbiguousSituation confusing]] plot and the [[ScrappyMechanic retry chip system]][[labelnote:*]](unlike in the previous installments where players are given VideoGameLives, the Retry Chips function similarly to lives in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' where they act more like mid-mission continues, and not having any Retry Chips at all means you'll be forced to start over a stage every time you lose)[[/labelnote]].

* ContestedSequel: Is ''X8'' a good game in its own right? Or does it only look good after coming off the [[PolygonCeiling complete disaster]] that was ''VideoGame/MegaManX7''[[labelnote:*]]and arguably ''VideoGame/MegaManX6''[[/labelnote]]? Pros include more solid level design, return to 2D gameplay, ''vastly'' improved voice acting, having a FinalBoss[=/=]BigBad that ISN'T Sigma and giving all the characters distinct playstyles without none of them feeling redundant. Cons include overuse of gimmick levels[[labelnote:*]]Which, depending on what you count as a gimmick, could mean there's only ''two'' levels that play like actual ''Mega Man X'' levels[[/labelnote]], an extremely [[GuideDangit frustrating 100% completion]], [[MoneyGrinding Metal Grinding]] that drags the game to a crawl even with the [[DiscountCard Metal Discount]] chip[[labelnote:*]](unless you're either content with the upgrades on-hand or use a glitch found only in the North American [=PlayStation=] 2 release to take grinding out the equation)[[/labelnote]], a rather [[ExcusePlot aimless plot]] and the [[ScrappyMechanic retry chip system]][[labelnote:*]](unlike in the previous installments where players are given VideoGameLives, the Retry Chips function similarly to lives in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' where they act more like mid-mission continues, and not having any Retry Chips at all means you'll be forced to start over a stage every time you lose)[[/labelnote]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The new generation Reploids are allegedly unique because of their Copy Chips. However, none of the eight Maverick bosses actually seem to use their Copy Chips to control their DNA for battle purposes, and thus they seem like regular old Mavericks. It would've been impressive to see bosses morph their bodies to attack or copy moves from previous enemies, but this is completely glossed over.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** The entire plot hinges on the fact that no one bothered to check that there was Sigma's viral DNA inside of the New-Gen chips. Even if Sigma was secretly behind the Jakob Project all along, you'd think someone would delete it anyway since immunity to the virus was one of the entire points of the project.
** X willingly lowering his weapon to Lumine after his BreakingSpeech knowing he and the other older-gen Reploids will eventually become obsolete, which feels out of character for X to do against a villain who's no better than Sigma, while Axl, who's a new-gen prototype at that, is the only who one puts [[ShutUpHannibal Lumine]] [[TalkToTheFist in his in place]] and reminds X and Zero who they're up against.
** A text epilogue at the ending says that despite the New-Gen Reploids being extremely dangerous due to having Sigma's viral DNA inside of them, the human government demanded that production of them be resumed anyway. Gee, do you ''want'' Sigma to come back or something?

* AssPull: Some may feel that the twist of Lumine being EvilAllAlong is boring and contrived, having little to no {{Foreshadowing}} besides the ham-fisted opening cutscene, and that it came out of nowhere for no reason other than to have a final boss that wasn't Sigma.

** Unlike ''X7's'' [[PortingDisaster disastrous]] Korean-only PC port, the ''X8'' PC port was developed in-house and programmed far better. On top of being playable on modern operating systems, it supports higher resolutions than the [=PlayStation=] 2 version (up to 1280×1024, although hacks can make it higher but comes with some side-effects) with the visuals intact, support for 3D positional audio, mouse support for the menus, gamepad support, and rebindable keys. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking It also changes the mouse cursor to look like X from the SNES games.]]
** The version of the game included in ''X Legacy Collection 2'' cleans the game's visuals up to HD standards, giving the game much crisper and sharper look than ever before (although the 2D assets haven't been updated), and drastically cuts down on the loading times as well.

** X willingly lowering his weapon to Lumine after his BreakingSpeech knowing he and the other older-gen Reploids will eventually become obsolete, which feels out of character for X to do against a villain who's no better than Sigma and while Axl, a new-gen prototype at that, is the only who one puts Lumine [[TalkToTheFist in his in place]] and reminds X and Zero who they're up against.

** X willingly lowering his weapon to Lumine after his BreakingSpeech knowing he and the other older-gen Reploids will eventually become obsolete, which feels out of character for X to do against a villain who's no better than Sigma and while Axl, a new-gen prototype at that, is the only one reminds X and Zero who they're up against and puts Lumine [[TalkToTheFist in his in place]].

** X willingly surrenders to Lumine after his BreakingSpeech knowing he and the other older-gen Reploids will eventually become obsolete, which feels out of character for X to do against a villain who's no better than Sigma and while Axl, a new-gen prototype at that, is the only one who puts Lumine [[TalkToTheFist in his in place]].

* ContestedSequel: Is ''X8'' a good game in its own right? Or does it only look good after coming off the [[PolygonCeiling complete disaster]] that was ''VideoGame/MegaManX7''[[labelnote:*]]and arguably ''VideoGame/MegaManX6''[[/labelnote]]? Pros include more solid level design, return to 2D gameplay, ''vastly'' improved voice acting, having a FinalBoss[=/=]BigBad that ISN'T Sigma and giving all the characters distinct playstyles without none of them feeling redundant. Cons include overuse of gimmick levels[[labelnote:*]]Which, depending on what you count as a gimmick, could mean there's only ''two''levels that play like "true" Mega Man X levels[[/labelnote]], extremely [[GuideDangit frustrating 100% completion]], [[MoneyGrinding Metal Grinding]] that drags the game to a crawl even with the [[DiscountCard Metal Discount]] chip[[labelnote:*]](unless you're either content with the upgrades on-hand or use a glitch found only in the North American [=PlayStation=] 2 release to take grinding out the equation)[[/labelnote]], a rather [[ExcusePlot aimless plot]] and the [[ScrappyMechanic retry chip system]][[labelnote:*]](unlike in the previous installments where players are given VideoGameLives, the Retry Chips function similarly to lives in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' where they act more like mid-mission continues, and not having any Retry Chips at all means you'll be forced to start over a stage every time you lose)[[/labelnote]].

* {{Fanon}}: The name's of Zero's weapons have been expanded by fans. The T Breaker is called the Titan Breaker, the K Knuckle is called the Kaiser Knucke, and the B Fan is called the Bashou Fan.

* CommonKnowledge: Lumine is commonly misinterpreted as TheManBehindTheMan to Sigma, in control from the very start. It'd be more accurate to say Lumine's plan was HijackingCthulhu, taking advantage of his leadership and ambition to hasten the supremacy of the New Generation Reploids. He believes that the reign of the New Generation Reploids is the inevitable future of the world, and is merely using Sigma's rebellious nature to accelerate the process. Of course, then there's the fact that Lumine is technically one of Sigma's children, so he's basically just OverlordJr taking over for daddy.

* FanNickname: Sigma's broken-down devil form has gotten the name "Belial Sigma" despite never being referred to as such in official material. This is likely because someone put it on the Sigma page on the Mega Man Knowledge Base wiki, and it stayed up there for years before anyone fact-checked it.

** Bamboo Pandemonium's DesperationAttack is a screen filling lunge that deals a ton of damage and will destroy any Ride Armor you are using. Also, he'll keep the lunge in place until you move out of the way, so it may deal additional damage over time.

** Avalanche Yeti, his level has multitudes of enemies and traditional AutoScrollingLevel obstacles (walls and BottomlessPits), culminating with a MiniBoss fight in two parts, the second of which can easily become a GoddamnedBoss due to [[MarathonBoss how long it takes to actually destroy it]], especially if you didn't bring X for his charge shots.
** Gigavolt Man-o-War's stage is easily the most reviled in the game, due to the UnexpectedGameplayChange to a 3D RailShooter where you need to give chase after the boss in a Ride Chaser and shoot them down before you get killed by some arbitrary timer. It doesn't help that it's deceptively hard to actually hit the boss on any difficulty level above Easy unless you've managed to boost until you're 5 feet away from them, and boosting for some reason expends Weapon Energy, forcing you to collect Weapon Energy pick-ups strewn about the stage along the way just to keep up (as opposed to Avalanche Yeti's Ride Chaser level where you can boost whenever you want), especially if you haven't been upgrading your characters' maximum Weapon Energy and developed the Super Recover Chip. And throughout all this frustration, the boss is yammering non-stop, and has a particularly annoying voice. With ''X8'' being a return to form and even Avalance Yeti's Ride Chaser level being divisive at worst, Gigavolt Man-o-War's stage feels like a backslide into everything fans hated about ''X7''.

** Gigavolt Man-O-War's stage is easily the most reviled in the game, due to the UnexpectedGameplayChange to a 3D RailShooter where you need to give chase after the boss in a Ride Chaser and shoot them down before you get killed by some arbitrary timer. It doesn't help that it's deceptively hard to actually hit the boss unless you've managed to boost until you're 5 feet away from them, and boosting for some reason expends weapon energy, forcing you to collect weapon energy pick-ups along the way just to keep up (as opposed to Avalanche Yeti's Ride Chaser level where you can boost whenever you want). And throughout all this frustration, the boss is yammering non-stop, and has a particularly annoying voice. With ''X8'' being a return to form and even Avalance Yeti's Ride Chaser level being divisive at worst, Man-O-War's stage feels like a backslide into everything fans hated about ''X7''.
** On the topic of Avalanche Yeti, his level has multitudes of enemies and traditional AutoScrollingLevel obstacles (walls and BottomlessPits), culminating with a MiniBoss fight in two parts, the second of which can easily become a GoddamnedBoss due to [[MarathonBoss how long it takes to actually destroy it]], especially if you didn't bring X for his charge shots.

* ContestedSequel: Is ''X8'' a good game in its own right? Or does it only look good after coming off the [[PolygonCeiling complete disaster]] that was ''VideoGame/MegaManX7''[[labelnote:*]]and arguably ''VideoGame/MegaManX6''[[/labelnote]]? Pros include more solid level design, return to 2D gameplay, ''vastly'' improved voice acting, having a FinalBoss[=/=]BigBad that ISN'T Sigma and giving all the characters distinct playstyles without none of them feeling redundant. Cons include overuse of gimmick levels[[labelnote:*]]Which, depending on what you count as a gimmick, could mean there's only ''two''levels that play like "true" Mega Man X levels[[/labelnote]], extremely [[GuideDangit frustrating 100% completion]], [[MoneyGrinding Metal Grinding]] that drags on even with the [[DiscountCard Metal Discount]] chip[[labelnote:*]](unless you're either content with the upgrades on-hand or use a glitch found only in the North American [=PlayStation=] 2 release to take grinding out the equation)[[/labelnote]], a rather [[ExcusePlot aimless plot]] and the [[ScrappyMechanic retry chip system]][[labelnote:*]](unlike in the previous installments where players are given VideoGameLives, the Retry Chips function similarly to lives in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' where they act more like mid-mission continues, and not having any Retry Chips at all means you'll be forced to start over a stage every time you lose)[[/labelnote]].

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Burn Rooster's RageAgainstTheLegalSystem is actually pretty well-justified, as he has watched hundreds of his Reploid brethren be incinerated at the Inferno plant. The casual disregard for the life of Mavericks really is a bit disturbing -- no attempts to rehabilitate or reprogram them, just throw them in the junk heap to be immolated with the rest.

** Burn Rooster's stage starts out with a slow fall down some tricky platforms (where if you fall too quickly it's instant death,) than another descent down a shaft full of SpikesOfDoom, then ''another'' slow fall down some tricky platforms, then the boss, and then ''the level keeps going'' as you need to flee back up the platforms you came in on while being chased by rising lava.

** On the topic of Avalanche Yeti, his level has multitudes of enemies and traditional AutoScrollingLevel obstacles (walls and BottomlessPits), culminating with a MiniBoss fight in two parts, the second of which can easily become a GoddamnedBoss due to [[MarathonBoss how long it takes to actually destroy it]].

* ContestedSequel: Is ''X8'' a good game in its own right? Or does it only look good after coming off the [[PolygonCeiling complete disaster]] that was ''VideoGame/MegaManX7''[[labelnote:*]]and arguably ''VideoGame/MegaManX6''[[/labelnote]]? Pros include more solid level design, return to 2D gameplay, ''vastly'' improved voice acting, having a FinalBoss[=/=]BigBad that ISN'T Sigma and giving all the characters distinct playstyles without none of them feeling redundant. Cons include overuse of gimmick levels[[labelnote:*]]Which, depending on what you count as a gimmick, could mean there's only ''two''levels that play like "true" Mega Man X levels[[/labelnote]], extremely [[GuideDangit frustrating 100% completion]], a rather [[ExcusePlot aimless plot]] and the [[ScrappyMechanic retry chip system]][[labelnote:*]]Unlike in the previous installments where players are given VideoGameLives, the Retry Chips function similarly to lives in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' where they act more like mid-mission continues, and not having any Retry Chips at all means you'll be forced to start over a stage every time you lose.[[/labelnote]].

** In the Japanese [=PlayStation=] 2 version and some releases of the 2005 PC version, the game's AnimeThemeSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykhPSqnJfqs WILD FANG]]" by Janne Da Arc undeniably puts the "rock" into "Rockman". [[https://www.animelyrics.com/game/rockmanx8/wildfang.htm The song's lyrics]] are just as badass as its name implies.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Burn Rooster's RageAgainstTheLegalSystem is actually pretty well-justified, as he has watched hundreds of his Reploid brethren be incinerated at the Inferno plant. The casual disregard for the life of Mavericks really is a bit disturbing - no attempts to rehabilitate or reprogram them, just throw them in the junk heap to be immolated with the rest.

** Optic Sunflower's desperation attack involves DeathFromAbove via KillSat that requires ''extremely'' precise timing to get out of the way in time, especially for Zero due to his shortened dashing distance.

** Gigavolt Man-O-War's stage is easily the most reviled in the game, due to the UnexpectedGameplayChange to a 3D RailShooter where you need to give chase after the boss in a Ride Chaser and shoot them down before you get killed by some arbitrary timer. It doesn't help that it's deceptively hard to actually hit the boss unless you've managed to boost until you're 5 feet away from them, and boosting for some reason expends weapon energy, forcing you to collect weapon energy pick-ups along the way just to keep up (as opposed to Avalanche Yeti's Ride Chaser level where you can boost whenever you want). And throughout all this frustration, the boss is yammering non-stop, and they have a particularly annoying voice. With ''X8'' being a return to form and even Avalance Yeti's Ride Chaser level being divisive at worst, Man-O-War's stage feels like a backslide into everything fans hated about ''X7''.

* ShockingSwerve: The twist that Sigma ''isn't'' the BigBad this time, but an unwitting pawn of Lumine. While its an interesting change of pace for the series, there is almost no foreshadowing to this aside from Lumine's rather dissonant introduction while talking about how the New-Gen Reploids have Sigma's DNA while they're surrounded by fire, and that could easily be seen as pointing to Lumine just being another pawn or servant of Sigma rather than the other way around. It also creates some FridgeLogic because Sigma is said to be the creator of the New-Gen Reploids, but the way Lumine describes everything makes it sound like he himself had been behind everything.