Learning to Love Mega Man X6 

I'm the guy who did (most of) the retranslation used in the Tweaks project, and hearing you talk about how it made the game and the story more enjoyable and comprehensible really gave me a fuzzy warm feeling in my heart. When I decided to write this retranslation it was just a hobby project born from my own thoughts about how a better written text would improve the game, and seeing this being actualized by giving other people the experience I've thought about for a long time is extremely gratifying. X6 might not be the best game around; but it does deserve way more recognition for the stuff it does right, and I think the Tweaks project did a great service to the fanbase by smoothing out the game's rough edges. So I'm really grateful to everyone involved in the project for these improvements and for using my translation as a part of it; and to you, J, for spreading the word about the project and about the good stuff X6 has to offer.

The video title is proof of J completing his character arc.

Learning to love Mega Man X6 I believe we in the industry refer to this as a plot twist.

When I originally played x6, I REALLY REALLY liked the idea of x using a Saber. Now however, I'm on the camp of the music. The game holds itself back.

X6 is too much of a guilty pleasure for me, I love just doing a ton of glitchy things like with Zero's saber, though like some other notable bad games, at least the soundtrack is pretty friggin' good. Infinity Mijinion, Blaze Heatnix, Commander Yammark, Gate Stage 1, there's more but I think those are the cream of the crop.

To me X6 is a very ambitious game made by very talented developers, who just weren't given the time to fully polish the game.

Flipping the dynamic of X6's review for its 5 year aniiversary follow-up was genius.

"Light sends pods to convenient locations" We have different definitions of convenient my friend

Learning to love X6? Never thought I'd hear that

I used to really hate X6.. until I learned how to speedrun it and exploiting all of the bugs makes it one of the most fun X games I've played

I just watched your new X5 review yesterday and this pops up today! Honestly, as much ridiculous hassle X6 was with its level design and difficulty… I still love this game. It has flaws of course, but I’m glad to see you’re coming around to love the aspect of X6 that are good and what makes it stand out from the rest of its entries.

To add to your points about X6’s story Mega Man 11 retroactively added some nuance to X6. We learn in Mega Man 11 that Wily was lead down his dark path due to Dr. Light and the Robot University Commite shutting down Wily’s research in favor of Dr. Lights as they felt the Double Gear system was too dangerous. In the backstory of X6 Gate had his research and creations discarded due to his peers fears and envy. While I’m sure Wily/Isoc’s main reason for partnering with Gate was for world domination, I can imagine Wily/Isoc feeling sympathy for Gate. Also both Light and Alia feel responsible for their former friends turning evil, due to their past treatment of their old friend.

I've said this from the beginning, X6 was my first Megaman game I ever played and to this day still is my favorite and the only I play to 100% every time in a single run

The “tweaked” version is the only way for me to enjoy X6. I now consider it canon over the original lol

Honestly I’m glad I got to watch these Megaman X videos even though I’ve nvr played any of them… yet. It’s just nice to see you’re fair/passionate reviews on them J’Reviews

J's evil persona Q has taken over!! Next time he'll say something outlandish like "Sly 4's shit" instead of "Sly 4 is really shitty."

Well put reflection. I especially respect that you acknowledged and sympathized with the dev team going thru hell putting X6 together. It'd be easy to call them out as lazy or disgracing the X legacy, when in reality they were likely cut for time and heavy on constraints to their genuine creative vision for a new X title.

Again, thanks for the detailed showcase, and for spreading the word! (You got the name just fine! I meant it as an honest compliment)

I just watched the original video today so I got a good grasp at what made X6 bad, so this was a surprise. And shockingly, the changes in the Tweaks project made me appreciate the story it had to tell.

Tolerate? Yes. Love? Blasphemy.

Finding zero the first time was one of the coolest moments I've had playing megaman.

i think the big problem with the parts system this time is if the reploids get corrupted, you lose that part forever. i'd have liked to have been able to replay the stage with another shot at saving the reploid myself.

I've played X6 so much that I've genuinely put it in my top 15 favorite games of all time before, despite agreeing with a lot of the criticisms. The fact that you have to learn how to get around the game design makes it a weirdly immersive experience.

You will definitely love the soundtrack

One day I want to see a Megaman game with him fighting against Dr. Wily and all that man's doppelgangers. Serges, Isoc, the Megaman Legends boatkeeper, Megaman Battlenetwork's Lord Wily, Dr. Weil, etc. etc.

Ngl man coming from your OG X6 vid, despite this being the exact opposite of that, this video is a lot more enjoyable. I think the cool thing about the topic of X6 is that just about everyone hates it, but it has those small spots of conceptual brilliance where people are like "yeah that's pretty neat" and I guess the original felt more like an early "angry gamer" video where it just kinda dogged on the game needlessly, even for X6 standards. This video actually being straight up positively focused is really refreshing and enjoyable

X6 my beloved. Nice to see that X6 is getting more love. Easily my third most favorite game in the series

Regarding Sigma's inclusion in the story: I actually think that if it was handled a just little differently it could've been incredible. Gate going so insane that he attempts to resurrect Sigma is completely in line with his character. As much as I don't care for the mandatory boss rushes in these games, it could've been really cool if the boss rush was instead placed BEFORE Gate, similar to how it was handled in X3. Then give Gate a (fun/cool) 2 phase fight instead, really building up to the idea that he might actually be the final boss. Sigma returns, but only as the zombified form we see in his first phase, with X/Zero quickly dispatching him with little effort, thus ending the game.

The only thing I can say I love about MMX6 is the music. I love the music. So much. As a kid I knew this game was difficult but I didnt internalize how unreasonably hard it freaking was. It's a very love hate relationship.

I love hearing people acknowledge the good and bad of this game. I feel like people always ignore one or the other to make a point, and it's refreshing to see stages like Rainy Turtloid get praise for their actually really good design. I always rush that stage in the first 2 levels so that it doesn't have a nightmare effect.

Got really excited when I saw the title for this video. Megaman X6 is my favorite game in the series, I've seen many reviews critiquing the game. Despite agreeing with these video's points I still think this is the greatest game in the series and it's the one I replay most. My first playthrough of this game was really special. I got into the Megaman X series through the collection on PS2. Beating each game in order for the first time was great, it felt like each one was better than the last. When I got to X6 it was the culmination of everything else I had played. This is what it was all building up to. The opening stage of Megaman X6 is not just my favorite intro stage, but it's my favorite stage in the entire Megaman series including the classics. The score, the visuals, it was all beautiful. It was just a tragic yet amazing way to following up the good ending of X5 (which is the one I had gotten). I really felt for X as a character. With him treading through a post-apocalyptic Earth with his broken Falcon Armor, once a symbol of ultimate power in X5 was now just a means of survival in X6. He wielded Zero's saber which was so cool man. The ending of X5 actually tied into the gameplay of X6, it blew my mind and it was really fun to use. I could write a whole essay about this game but I think I've said enough. Thanks for this video J, and proving that this game isn't the total dumpster fire everyone says it is.

x6 has always been my "guilty love",its one of those games where if you somehow are able to ignore all the negatives you`ll end up experiencing something amazing,something that was THIS CLOSE to being the best x game on the PS1 and perhaps the best in the series but in the end its just wasted potential,one more game in a ever growing pile of mediocre games massacred by release schedules,despite all of that i still love this game and ALWAYS come back to it,it is THE game that made me give give a chance to games other people say are "bad" AND its also THE VERY FIRST GAME EVER that made me realize MOST game companies MOST OF THE TIME are just dog-shit in the way they deal with their franchises to the point where the DIRECTOR OF THE GAME HAS TO APOLOGIZE TO FANS!FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS CONTROL! crazy to see nothing changed through the years heck-it got even worse,but ay,all we can do is apreciate the effort put in games like x6 and forever wonder what it could have been,all i know is that i`m already grateful for it being a thing to begin with

Funny. I just started an Xtreme mode run and just beat it without unlocking Zero. Just found out there's a 3rd ending. Damn.

Good luck with X7. After playing it a while ago on XLC2, I hated it so much. When it's not frustrating, it's dreadfully boring and easily one of the worst games I've ever played. X6 is a bad game, but at the very least it kept my brain firing on all cylinders.

X6 was my introduction to the Mega Man X series. It's still my favorite despite the less than adequite execution of some concepts. I still remember going out of my way to get the Shadow Armor to see if it would allow me to use the powers granted by the investigators, which the results of I was disappointed by.

Loving Megaman X6?!. Are you going mad, J? Is it...liberating?

At this point, I’ve been playing these games for so many years, that all of the obvious design problems are not a issue to me anymore. So it is mostly an enjoyable ride every time i play x6.

Megaman and Sonic are the two franchises that are guaranteed to have a banger soundtrack.

I watched your original Mega Man X retrospective series when I was 15! It got me back into the series after having played X1 in grade school. Hard to believe it has already been half a decade since then. It's great to see how your writing and presentation have improved over time, although even back then I thought it was pretty good :)

J 5 years ago: _"Mega Man X6 | One of the Worst Games I Have Ever Played"_ J today: _"Learning to Love Mega Man X6"_ *Top 10 character developments*

This was a great follow-up. Personally, I've really been loving X6 these days because of some of the glitches and exploits. Also, Zero has never felt better to control. I need to give the full re-translation a shot because I feel like I'm really missing out. Looking forward to the next episode!

Anytime I think of this game all I can remember is the Nightmare Mother. That was the most unpleasant boss fight I had ever played up to that point in my life. It's still top 5.

Makes me wish that the other game were remade like Maverick Hunter X. If they had gotten to X6, so that all the obvious flaws could he remedied.

Every time I see Gate, I just hear Teamfourstar's Mr. Popo voice coming out of him and I legitimately can't fathom why.

The best character arc in the Mega Man X series is J himself Needless to say, great vid!

My main problem with X6 at this point is just the clear shortcuts taken in level design, enemy design, and general game design. A solid half of the stages are practically unfinished, including Gate Stage 2 being impossible to complete with like 2 of X's forms

Funny thing: X6 was my first encounter with PS, I loved it back then, loved it when I played on pc some years later, loved it in the legacy collection, and still love it. All its flaws and issues don’t matter when you’re banging to the music and enjoying an insane playthrough. But, I’ve been playing Megaman games since 1991. 😅 3 years old and suffering with NES. I guess different people like different things though.awesome analysis btw.

I really liked Infinity Mijinions stage, the enemies and hazards are placed in such a way that skillfully dodging and weaving between them is really gratifying.

the modders who made that patch made me painfully endure it to enjoying it like they did with X5. thank you guys for making both X5/X6 an proper PSX X game

In the case of how I felt about X6, it was always a game I loved yet wasn't very fond of at the same time. What irked me about the game was the insane difficulty level (including character select forcing in Gate's stages) and the majority of the maverick bosses (Infinity Mijinion and to as lesser extent Rainy Turtloid being the exceptions) being borderline anti-climactic, bad translation (it was released a few months after the original Japanese release and at the end of the PS1's lifespan) and being worked on without Inafune's knowledge (especially since it resulted in X's original characterization in the Zero series to be rewritten (although some said it was rewritten because it was a tad too depressing seeing him turn into a genocidal maniac.), the difficulty in rescuing all 64 reploids (though saving all them is pretty cathartic...and not as horrendous as X7) and bungling Zero's explanation on his ressurection. On the positive side, the game had some of THE best BGM in the entire MegaMan series, The Shadow/Blade armors were at least cool (though you needed to some stuff to use them effectively), doing a good job at evolving Alia's character from the previous game, Gate being a surprisingly decent villain, boss battle and Sigma's unexpected reappearance notwithstanding (R.I.P. Keiji Fujiwara (Gate's VA), having Japanese VAs was also surprising decent (I still think X5's lack of Japanese VA work was because of the backlash to X4 & MM8's badly directed dub) and some of the weapons on both X & Zero at least were useable (Yanmar Option & Zero's use of Guard Shell, big time. Also I enjoyed spamming Meteor Rain on High Max & the Magma Sword glitch for X), a better parts system than X5 (or rather, more expanded, I guess?) and Zero's ending somewhat leading to the Zero series. And X at the end telling Sigma he'll kill him if he decides to creep back again (too bad X7 screwed that up) In the end, X6 is as the AVGN once put it "A piece of shit I have affection for". X7, on the other hand, can as Markyd123/The Hawk once said, can "Shove it man!" Also J, it's funny that you released this video a bit after MegaMan X Dive just released Gate as a playable character.

It's remarkable how far you've grown regarding your reviewing style, dude; hope to see you keep it up for future videos

This game always have been one of my guilty pleasures. I will definitely gonna try the tweaks hack.

“Love X6” in a J’s Review video? Say it ain’t so. But in all seriousness, X6 is a huge guilty pleasure to me. I’ll admit that the level design is pretty trash, and the nightmare affects can be confusing and unintuitive, but I still like playing through it mostly because the bare gameplay style is still a good foundation. I also really like the weapons in this game since you can get alot of utility using each of them, intentionally designed or not. Maybe in an alternative timeline when X6 wasn’t rushed, it would have came out better and wouldn’t have the reputation it has now.

I'm pumped to look into the tweaks. I have played through base X6 enough to tolerate some of the ridiculousness so I can enjoy the music and aspects of the game I like. I'm curious to see how the game feels after tweaks are applied. Thanks for the video. Definitely keep the old one up too. I think taking the time to reflect on our views and how they evolve over time is interesting!

New best video on the channel IMO, its crazy how much your video production skills have improved over the past 5 years.

This is my favorite one, it’s the first one I played as a kid being born in 95, the soundtrack is PHENOMENAL and I still listen to it on Spotify to this day

Alia in X5: Remember to jump over death pits to not fall into death pits Alia in X6: I killed a man, X. I still see him when I sleep, X. I wash myself but I will never be clean, X.

Calling SMB 2 (US) "just a sprite swap" of Doki Doki Panic is like saying Mega Man 3 is the same game as MM 2 but with different layouts and robot masters. You should really look into the mechanical changes from Doki Doki to SMB 2... Doki Doki was more of an Alpha build and plays vastly different.

My dude, really gotta say you put out the best Megaman X content on youtube, yout balance between discussing gamplay, development history, lore and any other misc. elements is great, never too long or too short in any section and always keeps the video interesting and flowing, weird that even if thus is a sequel to an olrder X6 video thus obviously repeats some points you already discussed, it never felt boring and your ability to stay objective throught the video is also appretiated, really didn't feel like a 34 min video Keep up the great work!

Nothing but respect for how you addressed your older video. Really cool, this made me want to replay all the X games

Its strange that my least favorite x game is x5 but my favorite is x6 Really it's mainly the armors and x5s stage design (for the love of God why do I have to play duff mcwhalens awful stage 3 times) Also I did a weapons only run of x6 a few weeks ago. Obviously, the yanmar option was by far and away the best but I found a ton of good uses for the other weapons. In particular, infinity mijinion is a lot easier to fight with metal shark player's weapon than his real weakness.

I've been watching for 4 years, and this is some crazy development. I'm gonna enjoy this video

Wow this video hit me hard on a personal level, I've been watching your videos for so long and we're basically the same age. Seeing how different things are since the old review, how calm you are now and the way you're addressing some of your past mistakes shows some very real maturity. It's just nice following a youtuber for so long and seeing them grow with you, it made me reflect on myself and how I've grown too. I know this may look creepy coming from a stranger on the internet but it was nice being reminded how the faces on the other side of the screen are people too. Wishing you the best 🤍

Something genius about how Light and Wily made it in the X games: The Battle Network games are an alternate timeline. How does the timeline split? Why, it depends on whose project gets developed: Wily's Robots (which lead into the Classic/X/Zero/ZX Timeline), or Light's AI (which leads into the BN/SF Timeline). How does Light show up, as an AI. How does Wily show up, as a robot.

Fun fact the Japanese opening stage has a slightly different song

Even if people don't like it, it's one of my favourites from the saga, I already complete it more than 30 times probably lol

I was in the romhacking forum and there I mentioned your review of the X5 to Acediez, without a doubt it is great that he is given credit even if it is strange to pronounce his name afterwards, but if you have to see all the work he did taking things from the beta like the use of the armor parts separately as in X1 to X4, improving the text and art, as well as details of remaining crouched by releasing the button on the SharkPlayer stage, without a doubt it makes X6 more enjoyable, I need to mention the disabling of the Browser and Nightmare Effect

There's also the lesser known rom hack called megaman x6 n's edition that makes changes that tweaks never did like giving all enemies weaknesses and resistances plus changing the busters to be stronger and better, also its part of a series of improvement rom hacks witch now includes one for x7.

Ah, the game when Zero went into hiding and fixed himself.....as a torso.

My main problem with X6's story (even after experiencing it with a good translation this time around) is that it doesn't make any interesting use of the cool premise and ideas it has and ultimately just serves as a means to make everything go back to status quo. X5 ended with Zero sacrificing himself in order to kill Sigma off for good, but then both are just uncerimoniously brought back to life even though the story could have worked perfectly fine without them. I can see they tried to have this narrative about coping with past mistakes with X having to deal with the loss Zero, which was kind of his fault in a way, if he had been more careful and checked if Sigma was actually dead or not, he probably would have been able to save Zero, Alia also feeling guilty over sabotaging Gate's creations, and Gate himself being a great villain thematically as him turning evil was partially a consequence of Alia's actions and Zero's body having been destroyed. The fact that Gate's creations weren't inherently bad guys could also lead to something interesting, as now we're not dealing with mavericks who are far beyond the point of being saved and the only choice left is to destroy them, they could have taken this as an opportunity to have some kind of system where you defeat them without destroying them, and managing to spare all of them leads to a good ending while destroying at least one of them already puts you on the bad ending route. Isoc being an AI simulating Dr Wily much like the one simulating Light would also be a great payoff with him being revealed to be manipulating Gate, into working with him to create the Nightmare virus, with this twist leading up to a final confrontation between X and Isoc. It would serve to show how X's character has grown as well, he can fight on his own, he's no longer haunted by Zero's death and in a hypothetical good ending he managed to do what he always wanted to do ever since the first game: He avoided destroying his enemies and saved them instead. It could end with Gate and his creations being saved and Alia reconciling with them, or in the bad ending route Isoc is stopped, but he managed to kill Gate and it's ultimately a hollow victory, X just ended up destroying more reploids and Alia decides to leave the hunters because Gate's death deeply affected her. There wasn't any need for Sigma or Zero to be brought back, Zero's character arc was over in X5 and Sigma's death was a climactic way to end the whole conflict that started with the first X game, if Capcom's writers had more faith in the new characters and in the ones who survived X5 to stand on their own, they could have done something remarkable with X6, but ultimately it just feels like it took all the consequences of X5's ending and threw them off so the series could go back to "Maverick Hunters vs Sigma" as a set-up for every game, regardless of how tired that got even by the time X5 came out.

Your original X6 video was what introduced me to your channel, and I've gotta' say, you've grown and improved so much since then. Keep up the great work, my guy! Your videos are amazing!

The last bit with the story was very eye opening. Nice video.

I always like the idea of taking a hated game, movie or show and try to find what it did right. With games like Mega Man X6 or Sonic 06, what can you say negatively that hasn’t been said a thousand times?

Wow, never thought the day you finally give x6 a proper chance.

I remember playing X6 as a kid and I LOVED every thing about it. I just thought it was so cool lol. But I could never make any progress. I thought I just sucked at games. Fast forward to a few years ago when my love for Mega Man came back, I found out the truth of X6. Replaying it shortly after, I questioned why as a kid I adored this game. Maybe it was because I directly played it after X1 and seeing X animated and in improved sprite form was so amazing. One day I might go back to play X6, but that will be no day soon.

Dude the intro had me hooked. Seriously, what is it with the number 6 and rushed games in the platformer genre??? Hope Crash doesn't get the same fate if you know what I mean!!

I don't get it. X6 was rushed and yet somehow the music still slaps...Like, really hard. If someone said X6 had the best soundtrack out of any MM game period, I wouldn't fault them for it.

I still want so bad for X5 and X6 to be remade into a single epic game. The version of it in my head is awesome.

glad that you did respond to my other commit. TBH. I did try to get into megman with the legacy collection to see why megaman later on to see what people loved about him. Sadly, I didn't play enough of the collection. But I do hope this year start getting to play them and finish all of them to have a better understanding of the series and somehow be a fan of Megaman.

I didn't really think of it until you mentioned it, but Isoc being the final boss for X6 would have been not only new, but actually really good for the plot. I haven't played X6, myself, mostly just Boss Compilations (most playthroughs also try to skip/speed through cutscenes, so I can't really find a good video that actually shows what the story is), so I barely even knew Isoc was even a thing, let alone having such a connection to Wily. So it shows how such a character could be completely skipped over and some fans might not even know about him. But if he had been the Final Boss, it could bring more of his hatred for X in the forefront and make it more memorable to a larger audience. In fact, we could even keep the same ideas X6 had, where maybe Isoc winds up fusing with the Sigma Virus or something and get this half-Sigma, half-Isoc form that is just mindless because Isoc didn't take into consideration how strong Sigma is and the double layer of hatred just makes his zombie mess of a robot. So Isoc could be phase 1, then Sigma/Isoc fusion zombie has phase 2 and then the giant Sigma/Isoc robot as phase 3. Just a thought.

We need a game where all the Mega Mans from different universes and timelines come together Spider-Man no way home style stop a threat. You can have Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man legends, and battle network all come together to fight a threat.

Good thing I don't need to learn to love Megaman X6 because I love it because it was the first Megaman X game I have ever played on a PS2 Slim

I definitely see this game with rose colored glasses. It was my first ever megaman game (aside from legends and X extreme 2 for the gameboy color) I still love this game. I know it’s not popular, but I can’t help just love it even after playing X1 through 5

Ever since the release of the Tweaks Mod, ive been enjoying X6 more and more. I first had the game back in 2005, when i first owned a PSX. I lived in the Philippines at the time (Still do but i lived in the province then whereas now i live in Manila) so getting the latest consoles of that time was difficult. X6 was actually my first dive into the PS1 Megaman Games. Yes it was hard, but i somehow managed to beat the game in 17 hours first try (Over the span of a few hours a day for about a little over a week.), And i always thought that, while diffucult, it certainly isnt too bad, until i saw what folks had to say online, and found out it was just hated. I didnt care though, i loved X6 then, and thanks to the Tweaks Mod, I can enjoy it even more now.

this is how a berated wife looks like.

The flaws X6 has are all valid. But warts in all I can really enjoy the game compared to X5 and X7. X7 still holds the title for the worst in my list. There are things I do like in it but, its so boring and a slog to play through. To me the game got better when X/Ultimate X is unlocked. Game gets better with NG+ but overall. I'd rather play X6/X8 than X5/X7.

Wow what a tone change from your last x6 review. lol sounds like even though you have problems with it, there's still some appreciation for some aspects in it. Nice work.

3:50 I’m realizing now I never got around to watching your SAC Re-review I need to get on that along with the 06 video in full

Your original X6 video is one of my favorite videos on RU-vid. I'm super hyped to watch this as a good contrast to that.

LOVE? X6 IS A MISTAKE XD

Dr. Light: ZERO, I AM GLAD TO SEE AGAIN! Me: "Dr. Light has found his glasses!"

Man next weeks review is something I'm looking forward to. Since you're mentioning fan made updates to these games, maybe you can cover Mega Man X Corrupted

The fact of the matter is... This isn't X6's true story. It just isn't. If freelancers, have to make the game... SOMEWHAT, tolerable? It just, isn't good. Edit: And the cheats and exploits also don't make it any better it, that just means it's just, THAT broken that breaking it is the only way to make it somewhat tolerable.

Y'know I never understood why a lot of widely considered bad games can have such good music, X6 included. But why question it when we can appreciate the music I guess

For those who don’t know, Reploid REVO is one channel that you must visit if you like MegaMan lore. His revision of the story is now my headcannon

So, did the X6 improvement project make the hit boxes on the Nightmare Virus any larger? One of the things that was always painful to me is that the Falcon Armor's charge shot is this thin, dinky thing, and for how big the Nightmare Virus is and how much you see them, only the head and shoulders were active hurt boxes, and seemingly 2/3rds or 3/4ths of the squiggly body was just sprite. Heck, Normal and Blade Armor don't really have all that big of a charge shot either, not compared to the fat boy of the Ultimate Armor that you can't even unlock in game.

Learning to love X6? But yet, you find X5 cringe?! Go play Spice World and Britney's Dance Beat. X6 fans enjoy those two games!

This is my least favorite game in the series for me. I found this game very frustrating and exhausting at the same time when I first played it also I 'd rather fight Red from X7 over Nightmare Mother and Gate

I wish they made the donut spin. It’s just so obvious that it’s supposed to spin. Not only does it look like it’s supposed to spin but the fights literally work better. There are situations where you have to do some really weird platforming to hit its weak spots and that issue wouldn’t be there if it just spun. All I can think is that there was some bug where the spinning would crash the game but they had no time so they were forced to just turn it off.

X6 is brutal to first time players, and I remember being pretty frustrated with it the first time I played it. I wasn't even a teen at the time, so I had to treasure every new game I got instead of moving on to another game since my game library was fairly limited. After finishing it for the first time, I remember thinking that I'd probably never revisit it again. But then some years later, I replayed it and found it wasn't as bad as I remembered, and went on to replay it so often that I made self-imposed challenges, like beating the whole game on X-treme with X without armour, and eventually coming to scoff at the Shadow Armour because it's just ridiculously overpowered. Looking back at both experiences now, I think X6 was a game made by level designers who knew the game intimately and wanted to make it challenging. The same way some puzzle games have obtuse solutions that were the result of the developers thinking that the solution would be too obvious and doing too much to obfuscate it, it feels like the level design in X6 received the same treatment. Unless you already have an idea of what to expect in each level, it's hard to enjoy. But once you DO know what the game is going to throw at you, bringing the correct tools (or manipulating the Nightmare effect so the dark fog doesn't show up) makes the game much more enjoyable. In a nutshell, this game is likely only enjoyable as an acquired taste. An unreasonable time commitment to be sure, but it does actually encroach upon the territory where 'fun' starts to occur if you commit to it. Not saying the game design is GOOD, it would be a lie to say that. Just saying that it has some merits and you'd need a lot more digging than usual to actually find value from it.