Metroid Prime is magnificent, it's everything I always wanted in a Metroid 3D game: atmospheric, immersive, with a world that's really interesting to explore and most importantly, that kept that magic that makes Super Metroid such a unique game even today and one of my favorites.

I'm really glad this more than being a First Person Shooter adapted to be a Metroid game, it's really a Metroid game adapted to the first person view, both sound similar, but they are actually very different. Everything is translated in a perfect way. Varied abilities that allow you to advance through the world, exploration, puzzles, good soundtrack, and a detailed and well built world with a variety of biomes. I just love it.

Metroid Prime makes some changes in the structure of the world to adapt it to the first person view, since now the environments are very closed compared to how they are in 2D games, you may wonder why I mention something like this, I say this because it was a design decision that allows a higher level of detail and therefore, immersion by putting us closer to the environment. It's amazing how much attention to detail there is in the game, things like the UI actually being information from Samus' visor showing data relevant to her, or things like looking up when it rains makes the drops drip onto Samus' visor and cannon. Additionally, something that complements this experience too well and adds an extra layer of depth to the world is that the visor can switch to scanner mode, which allows you to analyze things like elements in the environment or enemies, using the scanner greatly enriches the world we explore by giving us background and information about what surrounds us. The scanner mode is a main mechanic of the game, so be psyched to read. In short, all of the above mentioned helps to build an excellent setting and atmosphere, which although we know it is a fictional world, will certainly make this game more memorable by making us think that what is happening really has a meaning and a purpose beyond being just mechanics and obstacles in a video game.

However, Metroid Prime is not perfect, as there are some things that could have possibly been better. For example, I sometimes felt that the backtracking was excessive at times. Another example of something that could have been better is at the end, where the game asks you to find 12 Chozo Artifacts in order to access the last area. It's an idea that I really like, going through the map that you already explored to try to find hidden objects, the bad thing is that some artifacts are too hidden, so it will probably be wise to resort to a guide to be able to get a couple of these. Another thing is that the map never shows you which places have an unobtained item yet, something that 2D games do by marking a circle on the map when there is a secret item and replacing it with a dot when there is nothing left to get, I would have liked something to indicate that in this game. Lastly, there is a big plot hole regarding the origin of the final boss, which although it doesn't ruin the story at all or anything like that, it's still a small detail that stands out especially since the whole story, backstory and world details were so well thought out, I'm surprised they missed this flaw in the story.

All in all, the aforementioned problems, to me, only amount to a minuscule error in the grand scheme of things, as this game is really very well constructed. Anyway, Metroid Prime is simply a very good game, I won't dwell any further on the details I like about this game, as I think a lot of the magic of these games is discovering them without knowing much about them. Maybe it can be a bit overwhelming at first as the 3D map can be very weird or the button scheme with how you change beam type or visor type can be confusing, but once you get used to it, it's easy to appreciate and enjoy this game.

Conclusion
This game has made me fall in love with the Metroid world all over again, the same way Super Metroid did when I was a kid. One of the best games I have ever played.

Metroid Prime is a fucking phenomenal game


It’s every bit as tense and mysterious as the other metroids, but now in the whole new dimensions of 3D, while overall the action aspect isn’t as commonly seen like it was in most of the 2D games, it’s balanced out with some of the absolute best atmosphere, exploration, and puzzle solving I’ve ever seen in any video game.
The game’s graphics are beautiful, incredible atmosphere in every area, the lush and beautiful rains of the Tallon Overworld, the rough archeological feel of the chozo ruins, the deep cave feel of magmoor, the beautiful snow terrain of phendrana, and the absolute mechanical desolate feel of the Phazon mines, all of it comes together to bring this game to life, and man does it stick with you, it’s all helped by the amazing soundtrack, bringing even more life to these already excellently crafted areas.
The game’s lore and story is also great, it starts off much like Super Metroid did with samus exploring an abandoned ship, encountering a horrifying situation, finding good ol ridley fucking around, and then ridley escapes and Samus follows him to the planet of Tallon IV, she loses Ridley and searches the planet for him, but eventually you get caught up in trying to discover what the hell happened to this planet, and the game doesn’t really tell you much directly, you gotta find out through exploring and scanning any pirate logs you may find, it’s an excellent way of storytelling, and one that can only be done with a video game.
Now while this game does have less action, that doesn’t mean there’s none here, when there is action it’s all excellently done, like the beginning of the game with the parasite Queen and the ship escape sequence, the plant boss thing, the multiple surprise ghost chozo attacks, Thardus, the Omega Pirate, the surprise Ridley attack, and the final boss itself, the titular Metroid Prime, the action is there when it needs to be, and the less of it there is, the more impactful the action moments do hit.
I just gotta say, one of my favorite moments in this game is just the entrance to phendrana, the music and atmosphere swells up, and it kinda has a cozy feel, a feeling that is lost as soon as you see the looming shadow of Ridley flying overhead later on in the area, I just love it.
While it is my favorite Metroid game, and one of my favorite games in general, this game does have a few issues, namely the backtracking which while I can mostly ignore in these games, this game does take it a little too far sometimes, and of course the big complaint, the chozo artifact hunt, it’s basically a less egregious version of the triforce hunt from wind waker, but it is still annoying, not as bad on replays but that first time definitely isn’t gonna be pretty for new players.


Overall though, despite its flaws, it’s a phenomenal adventure with truly breathtaking atmosphere, and it’s just an ultimate vibe.

Now normally I would say something like “now onto Metroid Prime 2” but uh, yeah I have no way to access Metroid Prime 2, now I’d say I would move on to Prime 3, I don’t have Prime 3 yet but I am getting it soon…………however, I did get another game, another Wii Metroid game, a very infamous one, it basically killed the franchise for 7 years after it came out.

Yep………Other M

Metroid Prime has precisely the atmosphere and terror that I want to expect from a Metroid game, this time amplified incredibly by merely being a first person shooter. I loved wandering into new areas and seeing all the new environments behind every elevator, especially Phendrana i fucking love ice worlds
There's something about seeing through the perspective of Samus herself, instead of the usual camera behind the fourth wall, that makes everything feel that much more real, and it gives the player so much more space to maneuver around in during combat as well.

I mighta gotten lost several times, but I would soon realize that a good amount of those times were just me being a dumbass. Phazon Mines were still ridiculous, though. I can live without every room being filled with like 6 space pirates.

Every boss was fun to learn, every area was pretty to look at, kinda shockingly so for the Switch, I liked this one a lot. I didn't really have all too many gripes with the backtracking, weirdly enough. Obviously it can get sorta tedious walking through the same rooms so many times, but it never got to me outside of phazon mines :(

74% completion in 17h 34m, looking forward to the next 2 Prime games but I'm probably still playing Dread next.

The original Metroid Prime was on my radar for quite a while. I played only a little bit of the original game on Gamecube, but I had hoped to return to it one of these days. Low and behold, here comes this remaster out of nowhere so I then decided that was the best time as any to actually play through this game in full. Lemme tell you, I was a little late to finally see what was so spectacular about this game, but I'm glad I got the chance to play the entire game!

It somehow manages to make an already amazing looking Gamecube game from 20 years ago look more amazing, I love the exploration in the game, the atmosphere is off the charts, I had a lot of fun with it. I also appreciate that they give you different control options depending on what you're more comfortable with too. My only dislike of the game: the bosses are kinda weak, but that's it. This is one of my new personal FPS styled games and so far a good contender for my favorite Metroid game. A must play for the Switch!

So a couple of weeks ago I was watching someone on Twitch play Shovel Knight: Dig. To avoid going too deep into it, I'll just say the game didn't look that great to me. But while watching, I couldn't help but be reminded of another misguided, disappointing rogue-lite 2D platformer with great pixel art...

I remember Flinthook having a decent amount of hype behind it as it was coming out. Previews for the game were positive. The game's great pixel art, endearing protagonist design, and pitch of 2D platforming centered around using a grappling hook caught the attention of many people. But when the game came out, pretty much everyone was underwhelmed by what's actually present in this game. I was among them, but it's been long enough that I wondered to myself "maybe that game is good?" I certainly would live in a happier world if this game was good instead of bad, so I decided to try and give it a second chance, and unfortunately, I've only come out more negative than I did back in 2017.

One of Flinthook's biggest problems is that it doesn't take advantage of the strengths of roguelikes/lites (going to say lite from now on sorry if it's wrong). You pick up perks, but they're all very mundane stuff like "increase your HP" or "increase your rate of fire", or trade-offs like "get more XP but at the cost of recovering less health". My favorite roguelites all involve being able to find stuff that will completely turn a run on its head. Something like a completely different weapon that requires a different of gameplay, a passive ability or inflicted curse that makes you reconsider your plan for the run, or something so overpowered that you end up rinsing the first parts of the game. That spontaneity and excitement are why I would ever seek this genre out, and none of that energy is here. You have your pistol, and you can make it do slightly different things, but you still play basically the same way throughout the entire game.

This is another thing the game fumbles: the length, or rather the game's entire structure. Rather than have you try to get as far in one run of the entire game, Flinthook divides itself into distinct "ships", each made up of several stages. The stages must all be finished in one run, but the ships are separate from each other, and beating one unlocks the other. Once one is beaten, you don't have to do it again. This honestly doesn't sound like a bad idea and may allow for a more accessible roguelite. The problem is that these levels feel and look almost exactly alike, the only difference being increased difficulty through adding more shit to hurt you in every room. Sometimes there are new enemies or obstacles, but they just feel like slightly adjusted versions of stuff earlier in the game. So when you beat one stage of mostly similar rooms and repetitive combat scenarios, only to be told you need to go through 3 more just for the chance to fight the boss and proceed to the next ship that will also have the same kinds of rooms and gameplay, it weirdly ends up being even more demoralizing than losing in a regular roguelite, the road ahead ends up seeming longer and not as rewarding.

It doesn't help that leveling up mostly just gets you a new perk, which we've established are all kind of boring, and you often end up getting multiple of the same perk rather than something new. There's an upgrades shop, but it's all stuff like increasing health and the number of perks you can equip. There are sub-weapons to unlock, but, at least from what I've played, they are not weapons you start with in a run. Rather, you find them in a stage, and you can use them exactly once. You can't even carry multiple of the same weapon, so I ended up just carrying this one bomb for the entire ship because I never found a place I wanted to waste it. The game outright refuses to have any actual customization in play or spontaneity, it very much has one specific idea of what it wants to be and works against the structure of a roguelite to do so.

Unfortunately, I forgot where I read this claim or who wrote it but I believe it was from a review on this website. This person, in a review of a game with roguelite mechanics, said that 2D platformers are not compatible with these mechanics and that 2D platformer roguelites are in general bad. I hesitated to agree with this when I read it at the time, but Flinthook provides the perfect example of why this kind of take can exist. I already mentioned how every level looks the same and rooms are so generic in structure that playing through them immediately becomes a slog, but it's not helped by how basic the gameplay itself is. Since there's no spontaneity in mechanics and power-ups, you would hope that good game feel and moment-to-moment gameplay would still hold this game up, but combat and platforming feel unremarkable outside of how off they feel. Combat involves walking up to enemies, shooting them with your gun, and maybe grappling onto them to remove a shield. You have to avoid their attacks at the same time, but the only options to do so are to run away or grapple somewhere, and the grapple more often than not will just throw you into another enemy to take damage from. Despite the entire game being built around a grappling hook, you only really use it to swing by grappling points and open doors, and occasionally take a shield off an enemy. So combat very quickly gets stale, and traversing the ship isn't that rewarding due to how cramped the space is, as well as how repetitive the level design is. Imagine a Wily stage in a Mega Man game that went on forever and also you could only use the standard blaster. The grappling mechanic doesn't allow for very precise movement, so trying to avoid obstacles can become a chore. The game has a slowing down time mechanic that isn't even fun to use and is mostly for making it past obstacles that require it. Also, if you're using a controller, you can only use the analog stick for movement, which just feels worse than moving with a d-pad. This means the strengths of 2D platforming are missing here, and if this isn't a good roguelite or a good 2D platformer then there's nothing here for anyone.

A feel kind of bad ragging on a now 5-year-old indie game most people have forgotten about, but I've weirdly always had this game in the back of my mind as something I should finish one day. I tend to try my best to finish games, even if I don't like them very much, but the really bad structure of this game dissuaded me from trying that, so I'm glad I revisited this just to reassure myself there isn't anything here for me. It's sad though because I do love the character design of the main guy (is his name Flinthook?), I simply wish he was in a better game.