Good Concept + Bad Execution = Mediocre Game
I went through this entire Flash and while it was interesting, it lacked the necessary variety to be considered fun.
The Good: First of all, the idea is actually a good one for a flash game. I'd like to see a Mega Man X style RPGs, even though this game was really a series of turn based Mega Man X style battles. Still, not a bad idea, one better suited to Flash than standard platform action.
I also like how there is the option to spare or kill a certain boss after the battle. I only chose one route and if the game were better, I would definitely go through it again.
While the sound quality was iffy, I like the different themes that are used, even if one has to go through the first 8 bosses to hear them.
And I enjoyed the gameplay idea behind the final boss battle. Using different weapons for different occasions is good. Too bad it wasn't implemented elsewhere.
The Bad: There are two glaring problems with this Flash, the first of which are the visuals. It's hard to mix and match sprites from the SNES and PSX version of games without the result being cheesy. This one does not escape that fate, especially given the lack of frames for the characters. The sounds effects themselves are sub par, some of which don't even belong to the Mavericks who scream.
The second glaring problem is the absolute sluggish pace this entire piece takes. The text is slow. And the battles are long and tedious. This is because the amount of damage taken by either yourself or the enemy is often an utterly pitiful single digit value of HP. This means that all battles are really wars of attrition, where after five minutes of choosing the same weapon over and over again, your character wins simply by cumulatively dealing more damage. Weaknesses should be a little more potent, as to justify them being...weaknesses.
There are other things that bother me. I don't like how weapon energy never wears out, although due to the sheer amount of chipping, infinite energy is necessary. I don't like the absence of defensive options during battle, leaving no way to either mitigate damage or avoid getting hurt. And, of course, I don't like how this supposedly bugless game has a bug in it that renders the final boss darn near impossible unless one beats him in the first try.
From a style perspective, I also don't like the choice of Mavericks used. I know some of these guys have their fans, but Metal Shark Player? Squid Adler? And even the classic Mavericks like Chill Penguin are on the shallow end of the DNA-data pool. Sigma could have revived some of the top tier Mavericks, but then again, given the execution of this piece, I should be glad.
Yet what is worst of all is the story. The characterization is inconsistent and the dialogue is as horrible as the later Mega Man X games, and most of all, Alia's hints are at times nonexistent, creating a huge disincentive to pay attention to the words in the boxes. Although I appreciate this Flash's efforts to tie certain games together...it just doesn't work.
To anyone who has read through this review and is insisting on playing it, I offer this tip. Go to Chill Penguin first and fight him. He's the only one I could beat with the default weapon alone. And remember in this game, water and ice DON'T beat fire...ever...but they do beat electricity, which beats metal, which beats swift sand runners, which beats agile water creatures...which DOES beat fire, but only the non-flying kind. If this doesn't make any sense, don't worry. Part of the fun of Mega Man X is figuring out which bosses are weak to which weapon. Too bad, though, this game isn't fun, despite the concept and all the hard work put into it.