Current Events > I think I'm ready to call it - Mega Man X3 is bullshit

(+) Yeah! (+)

I can respect a hard game. I'm not always in the mood for a hard game, but even if it's something I don't really want to play, I can respect a game's difficulty. But there's a difference between being difficult and being bullshit, and I'm starting to think that Mega Man X3 is bullshit.

Here's the scenario. I don't have a full health bar, but I've gotten a few heart containers. That's fine, I didn't find them all in X2 either - no problems there. I have two E-Tanks - again, no big deal, since I finished X2 with two E-Tanks. Both of these are factors I can change, and I'm not begrudging the game for not handing them to me on a silver platter.

But I'm down to my last two bosses, Volt Catfish and Tunnel Rhino. And I still need to beat Byte. Here's where the issues come in.

First of all - Volt Catfish is an easy enough boss fight, but that second stage is a load of horseshit. The issue is that when it charges up and starts giving off sparks, you need to be on the side of the screen that's further away from the boss - which is hard when it jumps towards you before doing its charge attack. You take a bunch of damage trying to escape what's basically a death zone.
Saying all this, I should be able to beat him with my E-Tanks - I just think that second phase is horseshit.

Then there's Byte. I can't fucking nail down a pattern for Byte. With Bit, I memorised his pattern and brought him down without his weakness - Byte is magnetised, so I keep getting drawn towards him when I try to wall-hop. I dunno if I'm meant to dash-leap over him or some shit like that, but the fact is that I can't escape this bastard. And the worst part is that I don't have his weakness, so I'm getting crushed before I can even chip a fourth of his health bar down.

Lastly, the upgrade pods. I don't know how they work. I keep seeing these large technicolor pads on the ground with the letter X, but they don't do anything. I assume they unlock at the end of the game before the final boss stages, but with the way that the game is currently beating my ass, I'm not so sure about that. Am I meant to press up on the D-Pad to activate them? Are they endgame rewards? The other games had those Doctor Light capsules, what's with this bullshit?

X3 already started out exponentially harder than X2. But right now, it's starting to wear on my last nerve. Even with X2 feeling a little bit limp with a handful of technically impressive set pieces (the opening boss fight and the wireframe stuff), I liked it. X is a masterpiece, and I only played through it for the first time last month. X3 feels kind of bullshit - the bosses kick your ass, but with some of them, it feels like a one-sided beatdown rather than an experience to learn from. And I don't know if I'm doing something wrong with these weird new technicolor upgrade pads - if that's even what they are.

I'll check the game manual to see if there's any info I'm missing. So far, the only other boss I want to call out as being explicitly bullshit in the X series is Agile - but even then, he's cheesable. Most of the bosses in X3 feel next to impossible without their weakness. It's a real step up in difficulty, and while I can shoulder my share of the blame, I'm getting sick of turning that blame inwards at myself. At some point, difficulty becomes bullshit - and I think X3 crosses that line.

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It is. Too bad the music is so good.

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...okay, I only just learned that I can summon Zero at will.

What the fuck.

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It's a fun game :D

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MrMallard posted...

...okay, I only just learned that I can summon Zero at will.

What the fuck.

I played MMX3 for over a year before I realized this.

That being said, I was like 5 or 6 when it came out.

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For the love of god don't play X6 lmao.

DeadorDead8 posted...

For the love of god don't play X6 lmao.

for real, x6 makes x3 look like the fairest thing on the planet

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ultimate reaver posted...

for real, x6 makes x3 look like the fairest thing on the planet

I don't remember X3 being hard, but I do remember struggling at X6.

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If you think X3 is bad, you got another thing coming with X6.

Personally I think it is actually worse than X7.

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Whether I get Legacy Collection 2 will probably hinge on how much I like X4, to be honest.

Should I look up a guide for the upgrades? I haven't come across a single one so far.

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MrMallard posted...

...okay, I only just learned that I can summon Zero at will.

What the fuck.

Only once per stage and if Zero dies, then he is out for the rest of the game.

MrMallard posted...

Whether I get Legacy Collection 2 will probably hinge on how much I like X4, to be honest.

Should I look up a guide for the upgrades? I haven't come across a single one so far.

X4 is one of the best in the series, because you actually get a fully playable Zero and he is a lot of fun.

Are you playing on a collection or emulator with save states?

Or are you playing on original hardware?

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The big pads are not Doctor Light upgrades. They are ride armor and you can definitely go through the entire game without accidentally unlocking them.

Yeah, you might try looking up where some of the upgrades are if you haven't found a single one yet.

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KFHEWUI posted...

If you think X3 is bad, you got another thing coming with X6.

Personally I think it is actually worse than X7.

There's a decent argument to be made.

X7 is bad, but it was also new territory with the 3D stuff.

X6 was the culmination of like 14 years of developing a series that at that point had consisted of like 23 games in that style and *that* was what they produced?

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The large pads you see on the ground with an X on them are for Ride Armors. There's 4 different ones each with different functions.

One is like the classic X1 ride armors. One is an amphibious one. One has a glide function, etc.

Edit: got ninja'd

Also, people talking about X6 and I'm like "Wait until Mega Man Zero."

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MrMallard posted...

...okay, I only just learned that I can summon Zero at will.

What the fuck.

Just now?

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Also, people talking about X6 and I'm like "Wait until Mega Man Zero."

i think that's difficulty done right, though. as hard as it is, you have great movement and great tools. it's a robust game.
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Strider102 posted...

The large pads you see on the ground with an X on them are for Ride Armors. There's 4 different ones each with different functions.

One is like the classic X1 ride armors. One is an amphibious one. One has a glide function, etc.

Edit: got ninja'd

Also, people talking about X6 and I'm like "Wait until Mega Man Zero."

Yeah, I hear it's got a clunky save system. I've tried it a couple of times, but I probably won't take to it unless I play the legacy collection.

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MrMallard posted...

...okay, I only just learned that I can summon Zero at will.

What the fuck.

iirc if he dies once you can never use him again

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MrMallard posted...

Yeah, I hear it's got a clunky save system. I've tried it a couple of times, but I probably won't take to it unless I play the legacy collection.

Good thing about getting the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection is you can play with save assist mode which creates checkpoints periodically, plus you can load it at any time. Basically save states. Sadly can only have 1 per game.

Pancake posted...

Also, people talking about X6 and I'm like "Wait until Mega Man Zero."

i think that's difficulty done right, though. as hard as it is, you have great movement and great tools. it's a robust game.

Yeah, I love the Zero games.

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Okay, I beat Tunnel Rhino. I managed to beat Byte, I got past that fucking cock robot and then I beat Tunnel Rhino.

I looked up upgrades, and I read that there's a pod in Doppler's stage that gives you gold armor and every single upgrade as long as you didn't get any upgrades over the course of the game. I'm gonna go for that one.

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MrMallard posted...

Okay, I beat Tunnel Rhino. I managed to beat Byte, I got past that fucking cock robot and then I beat Tunnel Rhino.

I looked up upgrades, and I read that there's a pod in Doppler's stage that gives you gold armor and every single upgrade as long as you didn't get any upgrades over the course of the game. I'm gonna go for that one.

IIRC you have to get every heart tank, W tank, armor upgrade, and ride armor.

Avoid the chips though.

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The biggest problem is how the final buster upgrade is just a hindrance. It makes X pause for a sec longer after blasting making you more vulnerable in a game where you gotta keep moving.

X3 is easy.

X2 was more difficult.

I was playing this for the past week. I made it to the final boss and decided I was done. The last boss has a BS hitbox.

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I beat it. Use the drill on the Catfish.

CM_Ponch posted...

I was playing this for the past week. I made it to the final boss and decided I was done. The last boss has a BS hitbox.

For the 2nd phase of the last boss, aim a little bit higher.

PCgamingIS_Best posted...

X3 is easy.

X2 was more difficult.

X3 is not easy.

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PCgamingIS_Best posted...

X3 is easy.

X2 was more difficult.

You clearly haven't played X2 or X3. X2 is almost too easy and while X3 isn't incredibly difficult it is easily one of the more difficult X games.

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Byte is easier than bit tbh. But you gotta learn how to Time your jump and make that one wall hop count.

after you manage that hes relatively easy to cheese.

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X3 sucks.

Enemy placement tends to be obnoxious and they do crap-tons of damage.

Upgrades are so obnoxious with what's required to get them that the only boss route that gets them all with minimal backtracking requires you to fight half the bosses with no weaknesses.

Zero is a wasted mechanic, you can only summon him once per level, he can't go through boss doors, if he dies he's gone for the whole game, and he needs to live and fight one specific boss in the Sigma stages so that X gets the Z saber. And Sigma is almost impossible to kill without the Saber.

Boss AI has bad tendency to be easily manipulated, rendering them easy to chump.

Honestly, I like X6 better, I acknowledge that it's an objectively worse game, but at least X6 feels like its being honest about being a poorly designed Kaizo hack of X5, X3 feels like its trying to trick me into thinking it's a better game than it is.

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Okay Dugan

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X3 is my favorite in the series and I can reliably defeat every boss without a sub tank. There are patterns and tactics for all of them, but they're sometimes a little harder to anticipate than the previous games. Damage is also high, so it might take several tries to get a good string of dodging in, but it's a rewarding game once you get the rhythm down.

As for Byte, the secret is basically to use the leg upgrade to air dash against the wall until he dashes inward, then you dash over his head, pop a shot into his back, and hop to the opposite wall to repeat. Honestly, Byte is easier than Bit.

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Anyone else hate that squid in X5? He wasn't hard, but like 90% of the time he just tried to float to you to hurt you via contact. I absolutely hate enemies that just try to walk into you, and especially bosses. At the very least try to hit me with a fucking weapon <_<

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Squid Adler sucks lmao. Him and his stupid stage where you have to collect magic balls to get the armor upgrade

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X5 is the first game in the X series that didn't play like a masterpiece, imo, but damn was it a marked drop in quality. I don't know what went wrong, but it felt like it was made by modders instead of the actual Mega Man X crew.

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AlisLandale posted...

Squid Adler sucks lmao. Him and his stupid stage where you have to collect magic balls to get the armor upgrade

Fuck was his the bike stage? God dammit he has my vote for "Boss I want to kick in the balls over and over of all time".

Although I remember one time I got the laser to work when I used it at the very beginning before getting any parts lol

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every game on legacy collection 2 sucks so don't bother with it

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Nightmare_Luna posted...

every game on legacy collection 2 sucks so don't bother with it

hey.

hey hey hey hey.

X5 is great. And X8 is still tons of fun.

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I never really thought about X3 as unfair, but I have played X6 so I think it just sets a bar so high that I can't fairly evaluate X3 anymore.

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AlisLandale posted...

hey.

hey hey hey hey.

X5 is great. And X8 is still tons of fun.

X8 only had about 3 decent stages.

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Dark_SilverX posted...

X8 only had about 3 decent stages.

x8 has best girl



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I'm glad that we can bond over X3 being kinda trash, even if the consensus is that this is a walk in the park compared to X6.

I'm probably going to get Legacy Collection 2 next time it goes on sale. I'm too far into the series. If worst come to worst, I'll play X6 in Rookie Hunter mode.

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Eh, I like MMX3. It's the weakest of the first X legacy collection but I'd take it over any of the games on the second collection.

My biggest gripes with MMX3 were how unnecessary the ride armors were and how you have no clue where to find but and Byte (at least I don't think there is). Also it's BS how you can't get the gold armor in the final level if you collect one of those chip upgrades.

I don't really mind the difficulty of X3 tbh. I've played the a decent amount of times and can get through it relatively well.

I love X3. I've played it enough over the years since it came out that I can beat it up to Sigma without much trouble. I had to use save states with the original x collection to beat him

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Whoever designed the Kaiser Sigma boss fight needs to be fucking shot.

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is X3 the one where Sigma's head keeps spawning right on top you during the final battle?

fuck that shit, I savescummed hard with that one

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HylianFox posted...

is X3 the one where Sigma's head keeps spawning right on top you during the final battle?

fuck that shit, I savescummed hard with that one

That might be X2. X3 has a ridiculously huge suit of armour with a ridiculously small hitbox.

Then again, I had Zero in my game - if he wasn't around, I might have had to beat another wireframe Sigma head.

I beat the game eventually. X had a difficult last boss with a touchy hitbox, but the absolute bullshit of Kaiser Sigma's hitbox is the worst. Jesus fucking Christ.

I'll give X3 this - it has the juiciest ending. To fulfill his purpose, X will have to destroy Zero? That's a wham line if I ever saw one. Granted, I know why - Zero, like Sigma, was built by Dr. Wily - but after the arc the two have had over the last three games, X3 outright tells me that X's mission is to destroy Zero? If I was a kid in the 90's, I would be pretty shaken by that.

I might give the X games a break. I'm gonna start playing Doom 3, and depending on how that goes, I might start on X4 after I beat it.

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HylianFox posted...

is X3 the one where Sigma's head keeps spawning right on top you during the final battle?

fuck that shit, I savescummed hard with that one

That's X2, it shouldn't be that hard so long as you keep moving and have full energy tanks.

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Really? i could've sworn it was X3

it's been too long since I've played these

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HylianFox posted...

Really? i could've sworn it was X3

it's been too long since I've played these

It doesn't help X2 and X3 kinda blend together a little. X2 is by far the better of the two though.

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