Topic: Metroid Prime 1 Remastered

@Cia The German ratings agency, rated the game on 27th July 2021, this is the game listing on their official site:-
https://usk.de/en/?language=&rating=&genre=&platf...

Keen to play Metroid Prime 2 after this, but may be a little deterred if it doesn't have dual stick controls.

Surely by 2004 they'd (Metroid Prime developers) introduced dual stick?

@Tendo64 Yeah at that point they were a thing, but Prime 2 only took 2 years of development with hardly any changes to the engine, so I can see why they didn’t implement it then.

@Tendo64
There were multiple dual stick shooters when the first Prime was released. The original controls are not "dated".

I mean the real dated thing is people pretending in 2023 that dual stick is the best, most modern FPS control scheme on consoles (its pointer controls, with dual stick ft. gyro being a tolerable 2nd answer).

@kkslider5552000
Unfortunately pointer controls aren't offered on any current platform, much less pointer controls with a 2nd analog (because as good as pointer is, it sucks for turning a camera compared to an analog- each tool is good at its job).

Whereas dual analog with gyro is not only available on 3 of the 4 current platforms, it's actually prevalent on 2 of them and standard on Switch. And frankly, it's as good as pointer controls when it's a hybrid approach with dual analog. The one downside to gyro is drift over time and losing its calibration, but with right analog controlling the camera it's constantly resetting which eliminates the issue. So it's definitely more than tolerable- it's the current gold standard being used.

I've been loving re-visiting this game. The graphics are insanely good and the gameplay loop holds up so well 20 years later. However I'm still torn between which control method to use. Dual stick is the obvious choice, and it feels amazing. It's great how it really feels like a natural inclusion to the game. But I can't shake the feeling that it wasn't designed to be played like this. It was designed to be a stop-and-go adventure shooter - everything from the enemy layouts to the incredibly forgiving lock-on system are evidence of this. It almost feels too easy in dual stick or gyro modes with the ability to move while shooting, and aim freely. So that's why I find myself returning to the classic control scheme every now and then. Plus, you can't morph ball jump with the classic control scheme because that wasn't added until Trilogy. And for some reason the D-pad direction for the scan visor is flipped from left to right when you go from classic to any other control mode.

I completely forgot why I disliked Prime so much until I got the little ping about collecting all artifacts to enter the final area...tempted to drop the game because outside of the atmosphere, music and soooorta seeing how this was way ahead of the curve all those years ago I stopped having fun when the game guided me into the third or fourth dead end, forcing me to backtrack through half of Tallon IV for the umpteenth time.

And I think I know why this is so dull in Prime.

Usually Metroid is great about backtracking. You get new weapons to mow down early game enemies, you get upgrades to Samus' movement options, making traversal much more fun the further you get, you WILL find a ton of goodies on your way back and more often than not it's not even particularly time consuming to backtrack in 2D Metroid either.
The games are all masterclasses in that kind of exploration and guiding you through their worlds without making it feel heavy handed and at times there's very obvious shortcuts you may not take because you CAN get further and further into a given area and because they will ultimately end up leading you back to where you're supposed to be anyway.

Prime has NOTHING of that.

Traversal is good, don't get me wrong, but the platforming is finicky. The enemies constantly stay challenging which is admittedly neither good nor bad, inherently, but definitely a double edged sword kind of thing. Upgrades (the charge + missile s***) are kind of meh. And at two or three points the game feels like it's trying to punish you for exploration despite how open-ended it is otherwise. Basically dead ends like I mentioned earlier.

It's impressive for its time. Absolutely, I won't deny retro had a lot of great ideas that inspired others and pushed this type of gameplay forward. But replaying this reminded me why I'm not particularly excited for Prime 4 because I remember all three games doing dumb s*** like the artifact collecting. Don't remember if 2 and 3 waste your time in the same way Prime 1 does tho.
Might try to get the ending again, might not. I'm way past playing games for the sake of it.

@neonpizza
Well of course it's not gonna replicate it exactly. It shouldn't be surprising the best way to experience controls designed for IR pointing is with a console that offers IR pointing. The problem is, I can aim 99% as good with gyro and dual analog, and not have to sacrice all the benefits of the remaster for that extra 1% precision that's not needed anyways. Not to mention any benefit from it is immediately lost due to controlling the camera with pointer controls, which is almost as obtuse as controlling aiming with an analog stick.

The point is, dual analog gyro is the gold standard actually being used. If there was a console that offered IR pointer controls with dual analog, I'd concede that's the gold standard. But it doesn't exist, ergo, gyro dual analog is the current gold standard. And tbh, it's so good I lost all interest in pointer controls, especially since they require a sensor bar that basically borks any attempt at portable play.

The future is gyro + dual analog. Certain technologies might do slightly better in one respect, but come with downsides that outweigh the benefits. Gyro + analog does 99% as good a job, but doesn't have any restrictions or baggage like sensor bars that would make portable play unfeasible.

So ya, the actual aiming part of IR is nice, I always did love it, but there's a reason it's been forsaken and left in the past.

Playing this game with my new Switch controller and it's perfect.

The controller is the first 3rd party one to have linear motor for HD rumble, and also has every feature an official pro controller has (NFC, system wake, gyro, etc) but also has some additional features which makes playing Metroid Prime incredibly slick.

Switches for hair triggers helps me shoot power beam really fast, so that's cool. Then there are rear grip buttons which you can map any other buttons to. I map Y to left grip and X to right grip (after swapping R and X in game so that X is missiles).

I can play the whole game without lifting my thumbs from the analog sticks now. I love it.

Amazon says my copy is now arriving March 13th when previously expected April 3rd 🤦‍♂️

I finished up my 100% file run on this iteration of the game yesterday, and already know to unlock everything in the extras I will have to go through Hard Mode and get 100% scans. I have never done either before with Prime.

If Prime ever allows me the sense of control over Samus that Hunters does, it would be my 2nd favorite game in the series. Sticks + Gyro, Wii Pointer controls...Prime just isn't quite there yet. The Wii Pointer controls are the best controls for Prime, but Prime Remaster's atmosphere and awe make it the definitive iteration to play. Sticks + Gyro isn't that far behind the Wii Pointer scheme either.

I'm very impressed with how this game looks with the Switch out of the dock in table top mode. It is one of the best looking games on the Switch both in and out of the dock. With what else I have to do to fully complete this game, I might just play out of dock while listening to videos and multitask as I've done with Hunters and Federation Force.

@NintendoByNature ain't that good for you tho?

Any place where you can still pre-order a physical copy?

Amazon says they don't have it in stock (& don't know when/if they'll be getting more) & it's not even showing up on Walmart's app.

I clicked pre-purchsse on Nintendo's website, but got no confirmation of whether or not it actually did anything (didn't take me to my cart, didn't have anything in my cart, didn't give me any shipping options, etc.), but I don't want to accidentally order an extra copy if it did go through.

@Dom_31 eh, was supposed to release the 22nd of this month, so not so much.

@RR529 I am not sure if it was a limited release or what. Did you try Gamestop, Bestbuy or Target. If not, you can always just get it digitally.

@Tasuki, maybe I'll try Best Buy. I should have an account with them since I bought a laptop from them a couple years ago.

I'll probably cave & go digitally if that doesn't work though.

@JaxonH
That controller looks pretty slick. What brand is it and where did you find it?

...Okay I swear the Omega Pirate is actually a pain in hard mode in this version, I actually died to him the first time. lol

They like, changed SOMETHING here, and I don't know what? I never had that much trouble before. xD