Metroid Prime 4 - What are we waiting 4?

Ha, that wasp in the drone fight scan is something ingrained in me from way back in the day.

I guess I can agree with that point about it not being a remake as it doesn't need to be remade from the ground up. I suppose that point about it feeling like more than a remaster is because it's not just been a cause of the existing models and environments getting a lick of paint but the assets being totally remade in some instances, like Flaahgra for example.

I was obsessed with the design on that thing for ages after playing it back in 2002, lots of plants with scythe arms coming out of my drawings and such. I'm sure it was partly Stockholm Syndrome from spending so long on (and getting to!) that fight, but I got to it again recently and - it still looks really cool!

Balla wrote:

One change I would've liked to see is map markers - instead I'm taking down notes for returning to areas on my 'phone. Laughing Also, a way to avoid missing scans. I failed to realise that the wasps in the Incinerator Drone fight were a different species and that's my 100% attempt gone.

I thought the same about map markers & btw scans don't count towards the true 100% just item pickups. (unless of course you really want that log book at 100%)

Oh I know, this ain't my first playthrough!  But while I managed 100% items back in the day (with the aid of heavy walkthrough abuse), I never got all the scans.  You could unlock concept art and stuff I thought?  

Actually, while we're nitpicking at the remaster: the constant messages about new unlocks in the Extras menu isn't what I'm about.  They break the immersion that little bit more than I'd like, and I just don't care about them. If I'm going to look at them at all it'll be when I'm done with the game and I can browse the full selection.

Anyway, I've invaded the Space Pirate labs in Phendrana.  I remember this also leading up to a super-creepy section, so that'll be fun.

Oh yeah some scans definitely unlock concept art extras (I think) which is almost like an achievement system in a way & you can also turn off those extra alerts from the in game options.

Balla wrote:

Anyway, I've invaded the Space Pirate labs in Phendrana.  I remember this also leading up to a super-creepy section, so that'll be fun.  

I had to give that bit a look on the OLED screen and it was amazing! I'm up to the phazon mines at the minute & of course it's the first place I died because of the real long section without any save rooms.

I just got to the icey place, so this is by the furthest I've ever got in Prime.

After enjoying Dread, and liking this I'm excited about the Metroid GBA games coming to NSO+ also would like to play Samus Returns on 3DS though would have to find that at a good price.

Was Dread your first Metroid game Mas?

The_Jaster wrote:

...you can also turn off those extra alerts from the in game options.

You can as well! Instant improvement.

I've just been immensely confused by a tree. Also the Chozo Ghosts are bloody annoying until you have the X-Ray Visor. Many Missiles lost.

Yeah, Dread was the first I gave a proper go

To anybody who doesn't know, you can use super missiles on chozo ghosts. Regular missiles don't work but super missiles do and they do a lot of damage. Super missile + a charged shot will quickly dispatch them.

I know, and I did, and they were still annoying. Now I've got the X-Ray Visor though... and they're still annoying.

Not lethal though. I'm into the final stretch of the game, got past that bit Jas talked about without dying once. It feels weirdly easy, I've had to check several times that I'm not on casual difficulty. Even the big boss of the mines did a load of damage, them and their minions... but fell apart like wet tissue paper without me getting anywhere near death, despite wandering into the environmental hazards a couple of times. Is this just my past knowledge and muscle memory? Am I actually good at games now!? (No.)

I'm playing on Casual because I'm a big jessie.

I haven't properly played this before - I have the Trilogy on Wii but I only played a few hours of Prime. I'm enjoying it! It's quite exciting because I didn't really have any interest in it when it came out on Gamecube because I really wasn't into the idea of first-person games full stop, and I didn't really know anything about Metroid (I had Fusion but I never got into it first time round - I saw the light a few years later). It feels like I'm playing it with a full understanding of how iconic the series is, and with a memory of how groundbreaking Prime was when it first came out - I remember reading the 97% review in NGC and wishing I was interested but knowing it just wasn't my jam.

I've just beaten the big Sheegoth and gotten the Wave Beam and now I'm going to go... somewhere else. Maybe Magmoor again?

I think I was in a similar situation to you Rum, except I was swayed by the 97% (I thought 96%?) enough to get the game.  Even then, my stop-start play was no doubt partly because I wasn't that into anything that wasn't cartoon plumbers and/or animals at that point, and... well, partly because I was a big jessie.

This game making you do a Triforce Shards hunt at the end is quite funny. Anyway, I've finished it, albeit missing two missile expansions even after going back through the world with a walkthrough. It's still really good, even if some of the flaws are a little bit more visible in the light of the modern day.  The penultimate boss was a lot harder than the final one!

Ending spoilers:

Oh, and of course it's stupid and bad that the original staff weren't in the credits.  The credits themselves are pretty dull and I'm typing this while they play, unskippable.  Moving at twice the pace with twice the names seems absolutely fine to me.


And going back to the main subject of the topic, the one thing I want to see in Prime 4 other than a game that apes what Prime 1 did is a feeling of one contiguous environment.  All the corridors prevent Prime 1 feeling like this.

Finished up my remaster play through last night & yep this is still a classic!  

Balla wrote:

And going back to the main subject of the topic, the one thing I want to see in Prime 4 other than a game that apes what Prime 1 did is a feeling of one contiguous environment.  All the corridors prevent Prime 1 feeling like this.

I'm sure they will be more ambitious with the environment design in 4 but the corridors were placed there like that so bigger areas could actually load in on time.

For me the one thing I'd really like to see in 4 is more offensive options in combat, while I don't hate what Prime offers it can feel a little basic at times especially with the parry stuff in Samus returns/Dread fresh in the mind.

Oh believe me I know, I have fond* memories of waiting by a door in a corridor while nothing happened for the room on the other side to load.

I'm actually pretty happy with what Prime offers in combat, and Samus having to stay further away from foes to be effective. If there's something I'd like to see used more it's the grapple beam. Perhaps you could use it to grab enemies and hurl them into walls, or each other... (drools)

Another way to use the grapple beam is exactly what I was thinking of, so shooting beams can stay as is & then they can maybe lean into secondary uses for some of her other ability upgrades?

I don't know how much more I've got to go as just got the Plasma Beam. Would like to finish this game up, with 6 anniversary of Switch coming up which at least Balla & Myself will talk about, and got other games I'd like to play be it Kirby on Switch or stuff on PSVR2 or Andy's GOTY22 Midnight Suns etc.

On Prime I am enjoying it and as said above look forward to play Zero, Fusion on NSO GBA and Prime 4.

I got a massive wave of nostalgia fighting the Sheegoths for that exact period in 2003; for some reason, the Sheegoths in Prime and the Doom 3 Pinky are very closely associated in my brain as "cool enemies I saw in shooting games in Magazines".

How are you finding it Buska? As ace as back in the day, or a little more aged?

I'm loving it, I just don't get a lot of time to game these days.
I don't think I ever even completed it back in the day; I may already be further than I ever got.

There's actual gameplay! And scanning! And what looks like some more open areas! And... er... that one bloke from Hunters! And a big intergalactic conflict that if I'm honest gives me a minor case of the willies, the fewer NPCs the better here. But everything else looks exciting!

What do we think, lads - BotW-style situation with Switch and Switch 2?

Cross-platform could be a thing. It won't be the same situation as Twilight Princess or BotW, as in both those cases the machines' power was pretty similar.

I'm hopeful that busy section was an action-packed opening which will lead into a more solitary, exploritary main game.

Not only was the guy in Hunters, apparently this was hinted at the end of Federation Force!?!?!?

This is either going to be the last Switch game in like February and be ohh you can play via BC on Switch 2 or going to be like the thousands of cross-gen games we have between 8th & 9th where things such frame rates, resolution, load times, textures etc improved.

Anyway, keen on this and will try some Zero Missions.

Buska wrote:

Not only was the guy in Hunters, apparently this was hinted at the end of Federation Force!?!?!?

Not just that Sylux's ship was following Samus at the end (100% items) of Prime 3.

So the series order should now be:

MP
Hunters
Echoes
Corruption
Federation Force ( )
Beyond

masofdas wrote:

Anyway, keen on this and will try some Zero Mission.

If you liked Fusion you should get on with Zero mission as well.

I'd at Corruption too frankly.  Since Jay hasn't been online in a while it falls to me to post this:



I hope Buska's right!

On a technical level TP was the same on GC/Wii but Botw did have a higher res on Switch and eventually had much better performance after some patches.

I think if it is a cross-gen release it's gonna be a similar case for this game with a higher resolution on Switch 2, and better performance but I imagine Retro have already made sure it's nearly a rock solid 60fps on Switch 1.

I'm not a big fan of Corruption either but in my case it's not that I don't like what they were doing with the whole space opera feel with NPCs you could talk to and whatnot, but that it was pretty half-baked and not done very well. Though I did enjoy it at the time and I still think it's an okay game - just the weakest of the Prime trilogy by far.

I was underwhelmed by the Prime 4 trailer. Just looked too similar to what we've seen before - graphics aside because they are obviously a lot better. I guess this is par for the course for Retro Studios though. They build a solid foundation but their following works are a bit derivative albeit with improvements usually. I just thought that maybe the dev had changed after not having done a Prime game in so long, and that we'd see that reflected in the new game.

Still, I'm looking forward to it. I've re-adjusted my expectations now so I'm ready for another familiar yet hopefully fresh-enough new Prime game. I have played the games many times over and I'm gearing up for another Prime 2 playthrough relatively soon so it's not like I can't still get a lot of enjoyment from games in that mould.