Metroid Prime 4 impressions, part 2
This game, man.
I've played another three hours - things have been busy this week - and while I think I really like Metroid Prime 4 overall, it's the sort of game where I'd kill to be a fly on the wall in the meetings where the creative direction was being nailed down. The combat and the environment are absolutely some of the best the series has ever had, but the pacing of the story - and the story in general, really - that stuff's making my head spin. Maybe it'll come together at the end! Who knows. I'm sure there will be Green Energy and Psychic Motes in attendance, regardless.
After my last session, I made my way through most(?) of the rest of the game's areas, meeting some new characters - Snipers Georg, One Week From Retirement, and Adoring Fan. I want to be clear for the latter that I think she's great and if we're going to be forced into having speaking characters in these games they should definitely be enthusiastic gays who openly pine for Samus.
Anyway.
Combat and Gamefeel
The further I get in, the more I feel that it was a bold (and correct) choice to retain as much of the original trilogy's combat and player controller design as it did. It's gently modernised, but I really do like how familiar it all feels, even if I would prefer to have had the option to play with classic tank controls. The lava monster fight demonstrates this really well - locking onto the main head and flicking the reticle to its weak points is very cool and I appreciate how cohesive and intentional the design feels in moments like that.
More on Scannables
I can't believe they turned scanning into a chore. The design direction here is pretty baffling - surely someone must have said something at some point about how bad it is, which was obviously ignored. More scannables does not make a more interesting game, and just like the shit with Myles, Metroid Prime 4 is at its absolute nadir when it is self-conscious and apologetic about what it's doing.
But, regardless,
Shit is still cash, I think. I'm getting the feeling that I'm getting to the tail end of the game, which doesn't massively spark joy, considering that it's been in development for eight entire years and you would have thought they would've made more videogame in that time.
But one thing I've learned over the last few years is to be grateful for what I have, and even if this game isn't perfect, I would rather be sitting here and playing it than not.
Most of the time.
It's understandable (if disappointing) that Nintendo and Retro Studios have succumbed to the influence of Popular Videogame Writing Bullshit, but the feedback seems to fairly unanimously agree that they shouldn't do that, and maybe that feedback might even get actioned for potential future titles. Wouldn't that be nice.
Playtime: 7.5 hours