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[TheMoon]

I didn't really have an issue with those bosses -

Spoiler

Ridley in particular

I thought was very well balanced, and with Diggernaut the damage scaling was a bigger issue - for a highly formulaic, three-phase boss; the more trial and error approach it encouraged through multiple restarts felt like a poor fit with the rest of its design; while the amount of hits it took per phase didn't seem like the same kind of obstacle.

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Ridley's heavily telegraphed

but somewhat varying attacks and freedom of movement felt like a setup that complemented that kind of approach, whereas Diggernaut's more static and scripted design was significantly less fun to learn and repeat.

My most significant complaint with the game is still the largely unremarkable music and certain questionable sound design choices - going forward, I hope that the former was a misguided attempt to translate Metroid II's ambience (despite little else about its environments' atmosphere remaining consistent between the games...) rather than being indicative of what we'll be hearing in Prime 4 and any potential 2D Metroids that might come into existence before the series hits its next period of stasis.

I feel similarly. While I enjoyed the fact that the Diggernaut, Metroid Queen,

Spoiler

and Ridley were

unique, they were entirely too spongey. Even after I had cracked their patterns, I still made several attempts at each boss. It started to get a little tedious.

I also felt the difficulty spiked toward the end of the game. I was pretty much cruising through the game thinking, this isn't difficult at all, then the Diggernaut put me in my place. I'm no stranger to difficult boss battles, but the difference in difficulty between standard enemies and mini-bosses compared to the "real" bosses was off-putting.

Overall, I am happy I completed the game. It was good, but not great.

Hi ...the game has been out for barely a month. Could you please use some god damn spoiler tags. Jesus.

Seriously.

 

[Appleman]

Just finished my first play through and got 100% in about 12 hours. Absolutely loved the game, Metroid's been ripe for a 2.5D game for years and I thought this looked particularly great in 3D.

One complaint is that I really thought that lots of the pickups we pretty unnecessary, I feel like basically all power bombs were used for was getting more power bomb expansions, and I wish all of the upgrades had been utilized a little bit better.

Also would have preferred more non-Metroid boss battles and fewer Metroids but it was all still really fun.

Will double-dip on a 720p60 version on the Switch, I really hope it happens.

 

[KooopaKid]

The first 7 hours were quite slow but it's getting better now once you get the plasma beam, screw attack and gravity suit (all in the space of less than one hour, which was weird, the pacing is off in this entry).
Now the movements are more fluid and it's more fun to move around.
But that said, the level design is still off, a bit too linear with sometimes huge rooms and corridors with nothing in them, strange. There isn't a lot of ah-ah moments. Not very Nintendo-like.

 

[The Illiterati]

I'm really tired of these last few Metroid battles. They take me forever. Oh, the last one took 15 super missiles and 5 super bombs, all your Aieon and another 75 missiles? Well this one takes 25 missiles more and is the same exact fight. But you hands are killing you because shooting and aiming missiles is the most awkward hand combo ever, so you suck more and more at each battle.

 

[decoyplatypus]

The first 7 hours were quite slow but it's getting better now once you get the plasma beam, screw attack and gravity suit (all in the space of less than one hour, which was weird, the pacing is off in this entry).
Now the movements are more fluid and it's more fun to move around.
But that said, the level design is still off, a bit too linear with sometimes huge rooms and corridors with nothing in them, strange. There isn't a lot of ah-ah moments. Not very Nintendo-like.

I agree about the pacing being weird. You'll go an hour or so without an upgrade and then find two major ones in practically adjacent rooms.

In terms of overall item progression, I find the (late-game item spoiler)

Spoiler

power bomb

baffling. I don't have much interest in hunting down a new type of expansion this late in the game, and it's just not as exciting an item to get as a screw attack or a new beam or suit -- you know, things with a wide range of uses that generally make you feel more powerful.

 

[Sterok]

I agree about the pacing being weird. You'll go an hour or so without an upgrade and then find two major ones in practically adjacent rooms.

In terms of overall item progression, I find the (late-game item spoiler)

Spoiler

power bomb

baffling. I don't have much interest in hunting down a new type of expansion this late in the game, and it's just not as exciting an item to get as a screw attack or a new beam or suit -- you know, things with a wide range of uses that generally make you feel more powerful.

That item has a lot more uses than is immediately apparent actually.

Spoiler

Obviously you can power bomb a room full of annoying enemies, some of which are otherwise difficult to kill. The bomb spark is useful not just for puzzles, but for traversing across rooms fast and a couple of shortcuts. They trivialize a phase of the Omegas,and interrupt one of the Queen's attacks in addition to blowing her up from the inside. Managing their supply is actually tough, so getting power bomb upgrades is very welcome for once.

Almost all the powerups have more uses than it seems at first, though admittedly the game could certainly telegraph them better.

 

[decoyplatypus]

That item has a lot more uses than is immediately apparent actually.

Spoiler

Obviously you can power bomb a room full of annoying enemies, some of which are otherwise difficult to kill. The bomb spark is useful not just for puzzles, but for traversing across rooms fast and a couple of shortcuts. They trivialize a phase of the Omegas,and interrupt one of the Queen's attacks in addition to blowing her up from the inside. Managing their supply is actually tough, so getting power bomb upgrades is very welcome for once.

Almost all the powerups have more uses than it seems at first, though admittedly the game could certainly telegraph them better.

Thanks for the tips!

Spoiler

I've been using power bombs for puzzles, but I guess I hadn't thought about speed runners just using them for general traversal, and I had not thought to use them during the Omega fights.

 

[blakdeth]

Hi ...the game has been out for barely a month. Could you please use some god damn spoiler tags. Jesus.

Seriously.

I edited my original post to include spoiler tags. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[TheMoon]

I edited my original post to include spoiler tags. Thanks for pointing that out.

Thanks!

 

[Celine]

A bit disappointed by this
I understand the EDGE review.
I'm going through the motions.
Killing 40 metroids is repetitive, the fights are all similar, the abilities are all old (Except for the aeon abilities but they're not fun to use except rapid fire), the enemies are all identical, the exploration kinda useless most of the time as you need a new ability to get the hidden items, so you save exploration for when you have all the power-ups, the music is mostly a rehash, I don't find the areas very distinctive.
The formula needs a good shape up IMO or I won't buy the next one and I'm a huge fan.
Compared to Zelda and Mario, Metroid hasn't evolved enough.

Metroid Prime 4 will be the main dish of the recent Metroid resurgence.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Call the game Myspace cuz Samus Returns made top 8... in September NPD!

Congrats on the success.

 

[PetrCobra]

Metroid Prime 4 will be the main dish of the recent Metroid resurgence.

Also, isn't this game a remake, albeit with some tweaks and additions? Can we really blame a >25 years old game for not evolving the Metroid franchise enough?

 

[AndrewPL]

Also, isn't this game a remake, albeit with some tweaks and additions? Can we really blame a >25 years old game for not evolving the Metroid franchise enough?

One of the reasons that this shouldn't have been a remake and should have been a brand new game. I don't feel motivated to find the next metroid, they aren't fun to find or fight.

I also hate the counter move so I actually feel like skipping all combat in this game. Disappointing since AM2R was one of my favourite games last year.

 

[wild wild rice]

It is taking me forever to get through this because I am so done playing on portables.

All hail the death of portables and being forced to play good games on tiny shitty devices!

Otherwise I’m enjoying the game...

 

[Wolfe]

One of the reasons that this shouldn't have been a remake and should have been a brand new game. I don't feel motivated to find the next metroid, they aren't fun to find or fight.

I also hate the counter move so I actually feel like skipping all combat in this game. Disappointing since AM2R was one of my favourite games last year.

IMO I'm glad they remade M2, it's the one game out of the franchise I've played but never beat. Granted I was a kid at the time but no matter how I tried I just couldn't get far into the game. The limitations of the Gameboy game made it more frustrating than fun at the time as I would constantly get lost and constantly die to the Metroids.

I'm loooving the fact they remade this game and I can now feel like I get to enjoy the whole thing, and presented in a visually pleasing way (I love 3D).

I can't blame anyone for not being thrilled at it being a remake though, to each their own. My only real hope is that this is just the start and that next will come an actual new game (that if I had my way would be as close to the gameplay and atmosphere of Super as can be).

 

[mantidor]

One of the reasons that this shouldn't have been a remake and should have been a brand new game. I don't feel motivated to find the next metroid, they aren't fun to find or fight.

I also hate the counter move so I actually feel like skipping all combat in this game. Disappointing since AM2R was one of my favourite games last year.

But AM2R is a fan project for hardcore Metroid II fans, people have weird expectations with this franchise, specially given how Samus Returns tried it best to capture the core of it without the obtuse, archaic limitations of a ~20 year old game.

 

[KooopaKid]

I know it's only a remake but it doesn't move the franchise forward. It's stale.
I finished it last night in 11h and at 50%.
The last boss and ending were lame. Its three phases were the same and could be cheaped easily. Lacked any impact as a result.
The last 2 sections, as is the whole game, completely linear. It's barely a Metroid game in that sense. It never felt I was accessing new areas by obtaining a new ability but by reaching the next elevator. The game lacks any creative spark, there's barely any puzzles, you never have to think about how to reach your next destination. It never makes you feel clever. The aeons abilities are barely used, they could have come up with some cool puzzles with the slowing time mechanic but no. The counter mechanic was barely used past the first hours.
The sticky morph ball was obtained too early and you could reach most destinations because of that. The overall level and game design is quite weak by Nintendo's standards.
Metroid needs to ditch a lot of conventions and come up with brand new abilities and mechanics.
Free aiming was the only notable gameplay addition.
I rate it 3/5 and I'm selling it. No replay value whatsoever. 100% completion is just a fetch quest with the scan ability.

 

[Gambit]

I've only really got round to playing it now and can't make any sweeping statements about its quality yet (I do like it so far), but what I can say is this is among the very best implementations of 3D ever.

Wow. It's so good it makes me happy it's not on Switch just for the 3D.

The only other games where I loved it as much were 3D Land and Kid Icarus.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

But AM2R is a fan project for hardcore Metroid II fans, people have weird expectations with this franchise, specially given how Samus Returns tried it best to capture the core of it without the obtuse, archaic limitations of a ~20 year old game.

not really, it's the same as Samus Returns, it add a LOT of thing to make the game way more interesting for new players, AM2R is in no way archaic, did you actually play it?

 

[TheMoon]

not really, it's the same as Samus Returns, it add a LOT of thing to make the game way more interesting for new players, AM2R is in no way archaic, did you actually play it?

Did you read the post you're quoting? because it doesn't say that at all. It says Metroid 2 is archaic. Because it is. Unless you thought AM2R was 20 years old.

I mean, the quote itself is weirdly off about "for hardcore MII fans" too because that's not really what either of these remakes are.

 

[KooopaKid]

But glad to definitely end my 3DS life with a Metroid title and happy to exclusively switch to...Switch. 3DS ergonomics weren't ideal for this game.

 

[Kyuur]

Finally got around to finishing, not for lack of interest but time! 100% (I think? it didn't tell me at the end, but the areas were all marked 100% on my map, didn't save before finishing so load tells me 95% or something) in about 10~ hours.

Glad to have more Metroid. I think I liked AM2R better thanks to it being designed for more hardcore fans like me, but this was still great and fresh. Not a fan of the linear backtracking supplemented by teleporters. A big fan of pretty much everything else; they did a great job. I liked the

Spoiler

Spiderball + Power Bomb combo

-- was that new for the series?

Spoiler

Lmao I can't believe they just had to shoe horn Ridley in at the end there.

But glad to definitely end my 3DS life with a Metroid title and happy to exclusively switch to...Switch. 3DS ergonomics weren't ideal for this game.

Seriously. My hands were cramping so bad during the final boss fight I'm sure that added to the difficulty.

 

[Wolfe]

I'm at 12 and a half hours now, and only 24% lol, honestly I wouldn't have it any other way though. I love playing games like this, exploring, finding secrets, hitting roadblocks and having to wait until I have the right tool for that particular job etc etc.

I really doubt my 10+ hours to complete a quarter of the game will hold up though, I can't imagine taking 40+ hours to finish this, but who knows, as long as I keep enjoying it that's all I can ask.

I should bust out Zero Mission and Fusion, see if I have any complete saves still, curious the time I put in on those (but at the same time it likely wouldn't be a first playthrough save anyway).

 

[Klappdrachen]

Just wanted to say that it was really nice talking about Metroid with you guys and I hope we will continue to do that, either here or somewhere else.

 

[yuoke]

So how brutal is fusion mode? I want to try, but I'm not part of soulsgaf. I feel like bosses will actually be okay knowing the patters, but gamma metroids could be annoying since they are random.

 

[GenG3000]

So how brutal is fusion mode? I want to try, but I'm not part of soulsgaf. I feel like bosses will actually be okay knowing the patters, but gamma metroids could be annoying since they are random.

It starts hard and slow, since you die a lot for failing counters and misreading patterns, and becomes easier as you start accumulating upgrades.

It's worth a shot. Once you know the motions of every enemy, they won't graze you. The game allows for feasible no-damage runs unlike other titles in the series.

 

[mantidor]

Finally finished! I laughed out loud

Spoiler

when the fucking *baby* became the last item needed to explore 100% of the map.

Loved everything about it, except the amiibo locks because even though I want them I can't get them where I live without paying exorbitant prices. People complaining about the music should really use headphones, it makes a world of difference, the new tunes are more space ambient and it's freaking perfect and moody and unsettling.

Can't wait for more Metroid, just get rid of those ridiculous heels Nintendo.

 

[jufonuk]

I finally got this game,

so far really enjoying it.

I like how enemies are vicious, yes it does mean you use the parry move but you get more refills if you stun them and attack, risk vs reward and all that.

exploration is great.
seeing as this is taken from the GB game, the game feels very pick up and play and progress. nice use of save points etc.

it looks so much better on the 3ds screen than in youtube videos and putting the 3d effect on really makes the game pop out.

 

[Joei]

Just finished this. It was more enjoyable then I had thoug it would bet. Fairly easy to 100%, the final boss fight was a surprise, and the ending was interesting. I definitely understand the complaint about the controls. The "analog" stick was tricky to use for me at times and I just wasn't a fan of the overall control scheme, it obviously wasn't game breaking, but just an annoyance at times.

I did think it was strange that you seemed to be going underground, but there were a lot of open areas like you were outside when looking at the background. Also the enemy variety was a bit poor. It seemed to be the same 4 or so enemies with harder versions the more you progressed. Negatives aside, I did enjoy myself and at times couldn't put the game down.