Metroid Prime Trilogy Retrospective

[Music] [Music] [Music] from a prototype first-person game engine to revered trilogy Metroid Prime is a name that goes hand-in-hand with Nintendo's legendary repertoire it convinced the world of what Metroid could be capable of in three dimensions and left an astounding impact on game design fans of the series and even those that were new to Metroid it made a name for retro studios a team that is now one of Nintendo's most cherished first-party developers and it brought the franchise back to life I'm not saying anything new here the Metroid Prime games are some of the most important games to be released in the 2000s for many reasons most of them being common knowledge but how did this happen how did a brand new development studio managed to string together a series of fantastic video games how has Metroid Prime influence game design in what ways do the games attempt to captivate the player why are they still so unique to this day and above all else why do we love Metroid Prime these questions have answers both from objective and subjective standpoints and I am well just another creator on this website giving you my opinion but I've tried to throw together a comprehensive video on some of my favorite games of all time in this video we'll be examining the development of the Metroid Prime trilogy its design and adaptations of the franchise's elements its impact and legacy its highs and lows and what was left unfinished or unattempted in the end if you've just signed up for the Federation or you've been a bounty hunter for years this video should have something of interest for you discussion is both how we remember Metroid Prime and how he shape its future so with that said let's jump in I'm Liam Triforce and this is a Metroid Prime trilogy retrospective in 1994 Super Metroid was released and defined an entire sub-genre of action-adventure games despite its limited resources the game is a timeless experience its level design despite being the first established attempt at a Metroidvania is impeccably refined and complements many different approaches to exploration its scripted sequences gave the world an exciting glimpse into the prospect of video games storytelling it could feel desolate intriguing and scary Kenji Yamamoto managed to create some of the best music the super nintendo sound ship could handle and really toyed with the concept of what Metroid music should sound like he brought the game's atmosphere to new heights and combined with everything else it made for a game that felt amazing to explore and fight through a few years later Castlevania Symphony of the Night came out the two of them made damn sure that the sub-genre we now know as Metroidvania would stick around it was a malleable format for a video game you could build almost anything out of something that pushed freedom to explore and memorization of layout so it's curious that a new Metroid game wouldn't be released for another eight years perhaps Super Metroid it was a bit too amazing shortly after super metroids release the world was made aware of nintendos next console the ultra 64 it was to compete with the PlayStation and Sega Saturn and with Super Mario 64 completely mopping the floor with other 3d games thanks to its analog control stick and full freedom of movement it was only natural to expect other Nintendo franchises to join the fray and oh did they ever the Nintendo 64 is held in high esteem for a reason Zelda F 0 & starfox all had series defining games on the system Mario Kart received a complete overhaul there are even some new faces rareware completely dominated the n64 with Banjo Kazooie diddy kong racing goldeneye perfect dark and more the iconic Mario Party series first got its start here Paper Mario Tarak waverace 64 kirby 64 doom 64 I could go on all of these incredible games and yet metroid was a no-show throughout the consoles entire lifespan the thing is Nintendo had every intention of making a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64 why wouldn't they the series had finally received worldwide recognition in the industry for what Super Metroid had accomplished but they ran into some big creative hurdles and conceptualizing a game for the system while they haven't gone into specifics Yoshio Sakamoto the director of Super Metroid did once state that he couldn't imagine how Samus would control with the Nintendo 64 controller at the time 3d video games were only just becoming a reality it would be a long and arduous process for video games to adapt the conventions in design and storytelling into 3d super mario 64 used its analog control to define platforming in a 3d space ocarina of time invented the Z targeting system in order to alleviate frustration when dealing with enemies in 3d etc Metroid would need a complete overhaul in control accommodations in three-dimensional map design some bosses that take advantage of the z-axis essentially buckling down and talking logistics which is something that they didn't have time to seriously brainstorm all of the company's big players were busy with other projects and the Metroid team had drifted apart as a result Sakamoto saan didn't know what to do but what about the others well Satoru Okada one of the key designers for Metroid began overseeing Hardware development at Nintendo aside from pokemon stadium developer makoto Cano only had a hand in a few of Nintendo's projects after the year 2000 there was one person on the original Metroid team who may have been able to solve this dilemma gunpei yokoi was instrumental in Nintendo's early years of game development he created the Game & Watch line of systems as well as the gameboy supervised Donkey Kong in 1981 co-developed Mario Brothers in 1983 as well as Metroid and Kid Icarus a few years later and pioneered the cross-shaped directional pad if there were ever a person to figure out how Samus could function in 3d it'd be him unfortunately he left Nintendo in 1996 after the failure of the Virtual Boy and he was tragically killed in a car accident one year later with the team splitting up and funneling the creativity into other games Metroid was left in limbo Nintendo eventually caved and approached an undisclosed development studio about creating a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64 naturally this would be a huge opportunity for any developer but it also carried a lot of pressure if Nintendo were to let down Metroid fans they could absorb the blow and try again later however for an up-and-coming development studio this was a make-it-or-break-it kind of project rather than taking the risk they declined to develop the game stating that they didn't think they could top super metroid during this lull a new development Studios being formed in the heart of Texas iguana entertainment were killing it on the n64 at the time with the highly acclaimed Tarak series Nintendo remains supportive of the team's efforts and the company's eventually developed a partnership iguana founder Jeff Spangenberg eventually left the company in order to form a new studio and work hand-in-hand with Nintendo enter retro studios a new development team devoted to creating games for a mature audience on nintendos next console in order to mirror Tarak success throughout 1999 the studio worked on multiple projects an RPG called Raven Blade a football simulator called NFL retro football a car combat game akin to twisted metal and an action-adventure game that only had a prototype engine and some concept art lying around none of these projects really impressed Nintendo and things began to fall behind schedule despite their workforce constantly expanding in 2000 Shigeru Miyamoto visited retro studios like the other Nintendo executives he was disappointed in how things were turning out that is until he saw their action-adventure game engine it was a rudimentary first-person engine that could be used for anything really and despite not being fond of the other projects at retro something about that first-person engine gave him an idea sometime later Nintendo and retro were deliberating on what was next for the studio supposedly out of nowhere Miyamoto son said how about Metroid he suggested using the first-person engine to create a Metroid game from there things begin to cohere for retro after receiving some valuable feedback their initial test for a Metroid game in that engine convinced you getto Miyamoto to hand the studio the Metroid license and the clock began to tick this all occurred shortly before space world 2000 where Nintendo would officially reveal the gamecube there were a few demonstrations for games that could potentially appear on the console but of course some of them were just technical showcases with that said Nintendo's eagerness to show anything for Metroid after eight years of silence is bold and it garnered a ton of attention in must have had a great deal of confidence in retro despite their troubled beginnings so much so that Nintendo confirmed a GameCube Metroid game was in development shortly after space world and it was expected to be playable at e3 2001 but public reception from here on out wasn't entirely favorable it soon became public knowledge that the next Metroid game would be a first-person shooter and people were skeptical on how that would fit the series especially after early gameplay was revealed but the truth is retro was going to great lengths to make sure it didn't feel like your average first-person shooter Metroid didn't become famous for its platforming elements it was revered for its exploration and that same philosophy is what drove retro back then here's some insight from retro CEO Michael Calvo on the matter making a first-person shooter would have been a cheap and easy way to go but making sure the themes and concepts in Metroid were kept was something that we wanted to do and translating those things into 3d was a real challenge for example translating the morph ball was one of the hardest things to do the morph ball was a crucial turning point in the game's development in addition to first-person retro also experimented with a third-person perspective but several people including the Emoto son corroborated on the fact that it was too clunky to shoot enemies from this angle the morph ball pulling the camera out of Sam as his body stuck however and retro fleshed out the physics engine as best they could eventually producer Ken skate Kaname found out how the ball was controlled and he saw how it was interacting with the world going through tubes solving mazes boosting and half pipes and ramping up to a new area etc at that moment he knew retro had something special the team continued to grapple with the game's camera blend of perspectives level design and combat it was really tough and they were crunching hard right up to Nintendo's firm deadline of Christmas 2002 mind you they were working this hard against the contempt the Metroid fanbase held for this project it didn't feel like any of this was going to work out from an outsider's perspective even though Nintendo remained supportive of the studio retro studios even went through a few layoffs during the game's development and things were looking grim then the reviews came out [Music] yeah yeah Metroid Prime was released on November 17 2002 in North America to near-unanimous acclaim on the same day as an all-new original 2d Metroid Fusion both games took the world by storm and Metroid fans rejoiced the series was back and it was here to stay now let's take a look at retro studios debut title my name is Samus Aran it's been 10 years since I destroyed mother brain and let the space pirates stronghold in ruins I recently intercepted a distress signal for a remote space pirate frigate upon investigating the source I've discovered what they were researching and how they met their fate a radioactive substance known as Faison has mutated or killed all remaining entities on talent 4 and at the heart of it all is the result of extreme Faison mutation Metroid Prime [Music] [Music] one of Metroid's defining characteristics is the first impression it leaves on the player since the very beginning that has been apparent upon turning on the original Metroid you hear this foreboding melody followed by a descent into hope and intrigue this melody would forever capture the essence of Metroid horror mystery exploration confrontation [Music] something of Metroid's caliber was brand-new to the medium in 1986 so this title screen and its concept alone were enough to leave a lasting impact on the industry Super Metroid expands on this exponentially however you have these grim pans over a dimly lit research lab as Metroid shrieks can be heard over the disturbing music piece then the title screen fades in and you process the dead scientist the baby Metroid and the return of Metroid's most important melody [Music] super metroids first impression doesn't end with the title screen though its first moments take you through the remains of the research station getting used to the controls and navigation until you come face-to-face with ridley perched atop the baby Metroid's container you're then asked to fight hopelessly against this colossal beast before the research station initiates its self-destruct sequence and you need to get the heck out of there the rest of the game has you preparing for the rematch the intro sets up the game's narrative key mechanics and the goal that you'll be working towards as you explore planets eBI's it's an inviting fast-paced way of introducing the player to the world of Super Metroid the series would continue to build upon the strong foundation of super metroids first minutes starting with Metroid Prime the super Nintendos audio capabilities were to be designed for not around and only a handful of composers were able to understand this one of these people was kenji yamamoto the composer for Super Metroid the man understood how to utilize these 16-bit samples to create atmospheric pieces as well as intense battle music and groovy explorative tracks the question now is how is Metroid supposed to sound with CD quality instrumentation a lot of Super Metroid soundtrack came from its subtlety what could Yamamoto saan do that would blow people away and scream Metroid well as soon as the title screen faded in the world was given its answer I know you've heard this theme already but why don't we take another listen [Music] this intimidating glitchyness attempts to overpower the somber echo of the metroid theme and when the percussion kicks in I think a ton of people knew what kind of game they were in for as soon as you hit start you hear the Metroid Prime theme for the first time one of kenji yamamoto finest compositions [Applause] it introduces an inviting yet mysterious melody the instrumentation the game will carry with it and the atmosphere that surrounds it Kenji Yamamoto is instrumentation in the original Metroid Prime doesn't utilize an orchestra it's all synthetic despite the leap in quality from the Super Nintendo he was limited to certain sounds and instruments so what did he do he used instruments that only work when synthesized just like Super Metroid he is designing for the limitations not around them these two pieces sound like science fiction incarnate and they are brilliant invitations for both Metroid fans and fans of video games in general of course the title screen is only a small portion of why metroid primes introduction works so well the first level may not be as iconic as super metroids confrontation with Ridley but it packs so much into its runtime that I prefer it greatly it makes sense that a shift in perspective would cause players to feel a bit overwhelmed so metroid primes tutorial gives players both a hands-on demonstration of its mechanics and a taste of what's to come the tutorial will actually allow me to bridge into my full analysis of the game so that's convenient as soon as you land in here Samus is a rival theme for the first time your first task is to disable this forcefield this is where metroid primes true nature is brought into question as it contains a lock-on button see only in certain situations did Super Metroid ask you to properly aim your shots and that amounted to sending a missile into kraid's mouth or using the shoulder button to take out enemies above you or another scenario along those lines things were a lot simpler when there wasn't a z-axis to worry about however rather than completely shifting the design of Metroid Prime into FPS territory Retro decided to keep things simple the lock-on mechanic means that nothing gets in between you and your enemy and combat can focus on dodging and finding efficient solutions for example freezing an enemy with the ice beam and blasting them away with a missile training a powerful enemies health with the wave buster so you can focus on the others and you'll do this while dodging attacks from enemies by pressing the jump button while moving left or right this is taught most effectively in the battle with the parasite Queen in which you'll need to keep yourself positioned ahead of her shield so you can fire through the opening problem-solving and quick reflexes in combat have always been at the heart of Metroid and retro managed to adapt it beautifully here granted it's hard to ignore the influence of an FPS entirely I mean after all most of these people worked on first-person shooters before coming retro there are still instances where using free m is going to benefit you which is taught in this first moment too there are some enemies in boss fights where free aim is going to be of great use to you like the swarming bugs and such and this applies to puzzle solving scenarios as well but because free aim is utilized so selectively based on situations that call for it or your own ingenuity coming to play or perhaps you're just surveying the world around you it still feels like it adheres to the spirit of Metroid it's another means of dealing with enemies and interacting with your environment metroid primes controls in combat definitely changed people's expectations of how a console shooter can function and gracefully transition the series is combat into 3d something else that becomes vital to metroid primes design is the scan visor here it's used to activate doors elevators what-have-you but you can also scan non-essential orange panels that'll inform you of the frigate situation its backstory and the fates of the space pirates that worked there the scan visor will help you find that missing piece of the puzzle give you clues and more but it's also an example of discovery in an inactive narrative okay so what the heck does that mean well let's fast forward a few years to breath of the wild all of its events took place 100 years before you took control of Link and your discovery of how events unfold come from locating where each memory took place that's a modern well-known example of how it's been implemented in a video game however a breath of the wild is also an entirely nonlinear game so your timeline of events could be all over the place in your context for these cutscenes might not be as strong of course there's far more to it than that but that's a video for another day the point is it's an essential part of Metroid Prime storytelling and it works in the game's favor due to it having straightforward progression you may be going all over the world but there's still only one correct path to take each area tells a story as long as you decide to look into it Shozo ruins tells the tale of the chozo species is final moments on Talyn for eventually succumbing to the catastrophic force of Faison speaking of which Faison minds tells the tale of space pirates mining Faison and Koren taining mutated Metroid's why they've targeted Samus and you can even discover the origins of the game's namesake Faison mines has a few overt narrative devices that go beyond the skin visor like mutated Metroid's attacking you an environmental storytelling along the same lines the scan visor gives you context anyway the point is the scan visor is just as much a part of the game's design as it is integral to its storytelling Pfizer's in general are a mechanic's unique to Metroid Prime and they aim to take advantage of the shift in perspective while mostly situational the thermal and x-ray visors determine how retro was able to introduce concepts that work best in 3d you'll be able to see in the dark and track enemy heat signatures with the thermal visor and you can spot invisible enemies locate invisible platforms and hazards and see through fake walls to net yourself some items generally these accentuate the detail retro has put into the world of Metroid Prime you've got clues and lore everywhere you look thanks to the visor additions and I love that speaking of alternative weapons there are also three beams for you to unlock over the course of the game the wave beam plasma beam and ice beam and you can switch between the three of them at will charged shots from each of these beams will paralyze freeze or burn certain enemies so you can see why you have the ability to switch between your beams an ice blast won't work well in fin drama drifts and good luck using the plasma beam in mag more caverns actually you use the ice beam to grab the plasma beam in mag more caverns so the two areas link-up beautifully in that regard some of my favorite strategies are paralyzing the space pirates with the wave beam and then blasting them away with a barrage of missiles or freezing enemies and then shattering them like I mentioned before and you can grab upgrades for each of your beams that require missiles so there's a huge incentive for exploration beam strategy is a big reason Kombat and Metroid Prime feels so good aside from what we've discussed already enemies will press down on you and circle strafing around them while pouring shots into them will take forever you're always looking for a quick way to deal with the even the toughest enemies and that contributes the consistent engagement I do get sick of getting locked in a room with space pirates or chozo ghosts as they take forever to kill and the ghosts jump all over the place requiring you to constantly switch visors still this game selection of enemies and bosses drive the point home it's great at setting you up for difficult situations did you learn about how to use the thermal visor use that knowledge to kill TARDIS can you strafe around your enemy and focus on a weak point use that skill to kill she Gough speaking of setting you up you're given a taste of what's to come in the tutorial contrary to super metroid primes first level gives you access to a few of the abilities you'll come across later you'll be able to play around with the charge beam missiles the space jump and even the grapple beam when situations call for it and all of these instances are laid out incrementally in this short time frame then after defeating the parasite queen they'll need to track your way through the frigate before it explodes and without the items you had before intriguing introduction mechanical intro boss fight escape sequence a revised and improved version of super metroids tutorial that sets you up for greatness in every way the only thing left to be introduced as you land on talent for as metroid primes atmosphere the atmosphere has always been a huge part of metroid for reasons we've discussed super metroid broke the mold when it came to video game atmosphere and the loss of subtlety when shifting to 3d could have sucked but instead Metroid Prime is often remembered for how captivating its atmosphere is the Tallinn overworld is such a stark contrast to the evil and pulse-pounding frigate the music is a soothing take on the brinstar melody the textures are washed out yet I popping at the same time in the rain hitting your visor as you traverse the environment it's all such a beautiful way to ease the player into the game's explorative aspects and its diverse an immersive atmosphere I just want to lie down in the grass and bask in the serenity of it all the advent of 3d graphics the shift in perspective and the high quality sounds capable of playback on a disc all make for a huge jump for the Metroid series the first level shows our ruins takes you through the mysterious remains of an alien species you might think that sand lying around but due to the place decaying then lying dormant over the years some have theorized that it's actually a buildup of dust which would be an amazing detail if intentional to capture this feeling of intrigue Kenji Yamamoto used some groovy percussion paired with some electronic melodies to drive exploration [Music] [Music] that electronic whistle would become a motif for the Metroid Prime trilogy and it's a nice way to fit a memorable melody into an ambient piece as you delve into the heart of the chozo ruins you'll find an elevator to mag more caverns as opposed to the lush greens in the glowing beige of the previous levels this levels of flaming red it's oppressive claustrophobic and doesn't attempt to make sure versatile easy for you appropriately Kenji Yamamoto recreated the norfair ancient ruins theme from Super Metroid here once you escape the confines of the planets core you'll find fin Tirana drifts the Metroid level that resonates with me the most it's the only level that's completely disconnected from the Tallinn overworld hub and I appreciate that after such a harsh onslaught it's nice to be rewarded by a palate cleanser with some bright white snow and a beautiful background track to accompany it [Music] that piano piece set to those trademark metroid prime space noises you feel right at home yet like you're in another world at the same time after completing the levels first objective and wrapping back around Ridley flies overhead reminding you of what you're working towards and the grim context of those goals speaking of which the phazon mines we've talked about how the narrative unfolds here but this place is sinister as all hell you dive deep into the mines fighting the toughest enemies you've ever faced in claustrophobic rooms with pure anxiety backing it all up courtesy of the game soundtrack [Music] it's here where I think I died the most in Metroid Prime and where I noticed how distressing Samus is death stream sounds it filled me with this sense of guilt as if I was responsible considering how capable Samus actually is fun fact about the Deaf scream it was recorded by a separate actress apparently it was because audio lead Clark when wanted to go for a higher register for the scream and he went with a scream performed by an actress with the initials VM an intriguing mystery that adds to its disturbing nature the game has moments that take my breath away every single time I commit to a playthrough like investigating the chozo temple for the first time as that lovely choir sweeps me off my feet [Music] heading underwater with the gravity suit only to realize you're traversing the frigate you once infiltrated above the planet as this poignant piano piece takes over it never misses a beat and it proved to the world that a jump in technology wouldn't do away with super metroids quaint and unique atmosphere if anything it respects what a Super Nintendo game was able to do and recaptures that while pulling out all the stops it results in a game you just can't help but enjoy getting lost in and I think that's something any Metroidvania should strive for it is in their nature to feel like a giant maze so if there are things the game can do to make your time memorable that's worthy of my praise most levels even have alternate tracks that play when you're far below the surface fendron adrift steps for example have much groovier percussion and synth to emphasize the level shift and pace and challenge [Music] the talent overworld depths feel like an entirely separate level as they take place in this Grove that you gradually ascended with the music barely resembling what you once associated with that area [Music] often I completely forget how close I am to where I started that's something that's awesome about metroid primes level design it reveals several shortcuts to different areas in ways you wouldn't expect while simultaneously introducing new portions of already familiar levels because the game utilizes the z-axis it can branch off and connect in more ways than previously possible doors can be placed at any coordinate they can introduce challenges based around 3d concepts such as anything involving the morph ball 3d platforming rotating tunnels scanning criteria all over the room etc it's both new and exciting for Metroid and yet familiar mind you this was also a very early attempt at creating a three-dimensional Metroidvania so it isn't perfect the game requires you to travel to a completely separate area in order to grab power-ups on occasion and that can be a detriment to pacing in structure its map is very similar to that of a 2d Metroid game meaning that you'll continue climbing down until you reach the bottom with elevators to reach the surface in connecting areas while this structure can work in a game that only wants you to worry about a 2-dimensional plane it can be problematic with 3d map design first let's take a look at how each level connects at first only one elevator will connect you to tell an overworld from chozo ruins but you'll eventually uncover a one-stop shop for talent overworld travel one of the elevators connected to this room takes you to the sunken frigate the other buries you in the depths of the overworld this however connects conveniently to Faison mines so that's nice but let's dig a bit deeper chozo ruins will also hook you up with magma caverns which is a long stretch of land that contains the only two elevators to find' drawn adrift and their place at opposite ends of the level which makes backtracking defender honor drifts a pain in the neck there is at least an elevator in Tallin overworld that cuts your travel time in half these connecting paths seem pretty fair at first glance and progression seems to follow a great rhythm between each area your time in fendron a' is concentrated and you rarely have to return to the area for more items usually shortcuts and optimization through knowledge of an area can carry you through the powerup collecting and backtracking I however cannot say the same for Faison mines there are two elevators here one at the top of the level and one at the bottom in between our multiple floors of Hell spider ball tracks Faison infested rooms enemies that keep locking you in rooms that reset upon leaving and re-entering the area it's a mess I love the atmosphere of phazon mines but it's not a level I enjoy revisiting an initial run of the level will provide you with some intense action fun puzzle solving and a great narrative but the magic quickly fades when you return to grab some items you missed unfortunately travel time is a huge issue with metroid primes level design sometimes no matter how they tried to alleviate the issue with elevators and shortcuts it's an inescapable problem chozo ruins despite its vast amount of paths to take and endless amounts of Secrets to uncover its structure means that a ton of backtracking will take place throughout the game and it's inevitable even small optimizations won't cut it there's a lot of backtracking in Metroid Prime there's no speed booster here due to the disorientation that would ensue and while the morph ball is much faster than trekking on foot you can't use it seamlessly throughout each room you'll have to pop out at some point the point I'm trying to make here is that pathfinding weighs heavily on the player in a Metroidvania finding the route you need to take is rewarding in its own way as it always has been with Metroid and the same goes for finding secrets and upgrades but due to the z-axis multiplying the number of paths to take and due to the structure of some levels being built around your initial run more than anything it can sometimes result in frustration I'm really not a fan of repeatedly trekking through mag more caverns or scaling phazon mines over and over again I'm not against the idea of running into dead ends when exploring in a Metroidvania either dead ends can still convey new information that will come in handy as you attain further upgrades what bugs me is the journey required of you to travel between waypoints and that issue is accentuated when you make a mistake and you have to start all over it also doesn't help that as you expand your arsenal most enemies are barely a challenge at all so you can just blast through rooms mindlessly of course they took note of this and that's why when I'm forced to confront enemies like space pirates and chozo ghosts I'm incredibly annoyed but I am willing to forgive retro for all of these things after all this was one of the earliest attempts at transitioning the genre into 3d so those lingering issues were going to be carried over both 2d and 3d Metroidvania have since figured out ways to diminish backtracking both in connected and segments and maps Metroid Fusion which was released on the same day as Prime had at the top that contained elevators to each sector and those sectors can connect to each other it's seamless engaging and you have an easy method of retreating back to the surface and going somewhere else so the genre was seeing attempts at streamlining exploration and as the Prime trilogy went on it had experiment with new map layouts and mechanics to accompany a three-dimensional plane you'll see what I mean in due time I think a big reason I and a few others tend to bring up metroid primes backtracking problem is because of the end game quest the hunt for the chozo artifacts I often compare its inclusion to something like the Triforce char quest and Wind Waker they both make themselves apparent at the very end of the game although they can both be completed throughout your playthrough with the right items and some ingenuity however whereas Wind Waker requires you to fork over 3000 rupees in order to decipher the dam charts Metroid Prime only requires that you stumble upon the chozo temple which is a whimsical moment in and of itself and then scan the statues to gain clues to the whereabouts of the artifacts you can do this at virtually any point in the game and it allows you to venture off the beaten path whenever you feel like you're in the proximity of one of those pesky things of course not everyone is going to know about these things until the end of the game so that's why it further accentuates the issue and even then some of the chozo artifacts can only be grabbed after obtaining late-game upgrades like the Faison suit so you'll be doing a lot of running around regardless even so I think this quest is a welcome addition to the game there is discussion to be had when analyzing collectibles like heart pieces or energy tanks in a game like Zelda or Metroid if by the end of the game your only objective is to kill the final boss why should you feel obliged to collect all these items because the boss is going to be hard sure but there's no guarantee that you'll acquire that much of a boost only in hindsight will you be able to determine whether or not that extra cleanup was worth it thus we're left with another question is collecting the items fun and rewarding well not every energy tank is a winner and some missile expansions are just right for the taking but I'd say they succeeded in the long run Metroid Prime does a great job of conveying environmental clues to the player and the scan visor can further assist you with recovering information once you find something you think you can investigate later you keep that on the back burner until you find yourself in that area again expend your arsenal and get excited to check out more of each area the spirit of Metroid lives within Prime for sure not only did I have an opportunity to collect everything but it was fun and challenging to do so it's funny really the overall structure of Metroid Prime may have its own problems but the game gives you so many opportunities to dig into its secrets it's a giant confusing maze but it's a maze that I don't ever want to find the exit I just want to keep challenging myself to find everything in it rerouting myself in conjunction with the chozo artifacts and solving puzzles along the way Metroid Prime despite its missteps in being the first of its kind is one of the most engaging intelligent intense and immersive video games I have ever played and by the way yes grabbing every item is worth it the final boss will mop the floor with you first of all you need to fight Ridley focusing his weak point isn't easy and he'll constantly fly away if you can't continuously deal damage to him but if you time your shots just right he'll go down in due time the actual final boss fight with the game's namesake is insane it'll switch between the four beam types and you'll need to deal consistent damage while it viciously assaults you this is why the beam upgrades would come in handy as the wave Buster and flamethrower will melt its health away using these beam upgrades costs missiles so yeah you can probably see how the design of this game works in conjunction with all of its elements the final phase has you avoiding the devastating damage it can deal and killing it's baby Metroid's while you find pools of phazon to utilize spam that a button like your life depends on it because it does you got to switch visors manage multiple hazards it's an insane test of endurance but it feels amazing to finally kill Metroid Prime so thus ends the first game and what eventually became a trilogy I know I already summarized my thoughts because I just couldn't wait but the final boss reaffirms my stance this is an incredible game to this day I still love revisiting it despite 3d Metroidvania is essentially being born from this first step it has this pull this timeless invitation to explore its combat despite being so early on is fleshed out and it feels great his level design despite its missteps translates the heart of Metroid into 3d it's storytelling an environmental clues work best thanks to the shift in perspective and it's something that I continue to admire to this very day I dream of making a game that has even a quarter of the impact that metroid prime had on me as a young child and looking back on it today it holds up pretty damn well it's no wonder it found success as of December 2014 the GameCube version alone has sold just under 3 million units making it the best-selling game in the metroid franchise to this day excluding Virtual Console sales it also remains one of the highest-rated games of Metacritic sitting pretty at a 97 it's one thing for me to say that Prime relaunched the Metroid series but some hard-hitting evidence really puts it in perspective that's why it wasn't a surprise when Nintendo announced the sequel shortly thereafter for Metroid Prime 2 retro had far more creative freedom than before and that meant a few things were on the table for starters they wanted to make the game much harder they wanted to make the player constantly worry about their health and ammo and that would be a natural incentive to scour areas for upgrades they also incorporated cut elements from the previous game like the screwattack for example but perhaps most noteworthy were changes to the game's level design and narrative that of which dramatically altered the way the game is played I alluded to this change a little while back in my analysis of Prime 1 and I've been itching to discuss it here against the strict deadlines Metroid Prime 2 was able to release just two years after the first game on November 15 2004 a day before half-life 2 and a week after halo 2 it was a cramped month for first-person shooters as both games would rock the industry to its core perhaps that would explain prime twos comparatively weak sales but metroid prime 2 wasn't aiming to be like those games retro just wanted to make the best damn metroid game they could and not worry about everything else the gamecube era wasn't the most lucrative generation for nintendo as their partnerships were slipping away while sales dwindled despite everything the quark team at nintendo was made up of people who love video games business came second that's why Nintendo launched a viral marketing campaign that equally satirized and paid respect to the I love bees Arg that Bungie were responsible for various domains went live such as the conspiracy theory forum looming off temple that hosted grainy footage of Prime 2 as if it was footage of aliens there was even a direct call out at the domain I loved beams calm which hosted an image of samus's Weiser and some text that read all your B's are belong to us never send a man to do a woman's job that mean brings back some memories anyway prime to came out and people loved it one of those people was a kid named Liam and after replaying it today as an adult he thinks Metroid Prime 2 is a strong contender for one of the best Metroid games he's ever played I thought I had seen the last of Faison but its destructive forces spread to other worlds the Galactic Federation has sent out a distress signal from the planet aether there I discovered that a phazon meteor has created a dark parallel to the planet and creatures known as ink have possessed both the native luminal species and soldiers of the Federation even worse some unfinished business from Talyn for has come back to haunt me the mirror paradigm - aether and the mirror image that follows me imitate us shadow us echo us [Music] I love that title screen the choir is immediately inviting and then you hear that iconic Metroid Prime whistle play the main theme for prime - and then it pumps you up for some action with that electric guitar riff and some appropriate percussion the percussion symbolizes the ancient Lumina Thrace which is what the plot of this game revolves around they're on the brink of extinction and Samus agreed to help them because it's just what she does that notion is what really made me look up to her as a kid it's a daunting task to essentially save an entire species from being wiped out but she does so anyway I always thought that Samus was a pretty stoic intelligent bounty hunter that was capable of showing compassion but to actually see her take on something like this is pretty cool and in the end when she succeeds in doing this she just gives them a wave and moves on that's how you create a strong vessel for the player - a body creating a blank slate for the player is one thing but having them embody someone with defined characteristics is far more difficult that's why the decision to keep Sam as silent was ideal in the end you can identify with her decision-making and relate to her on some level while also taking on the role of a formidable bounty hunter that can mow through enemies in her way anyway let's back up a bit samus's decision to help the lumen off was the right thing to do yeah but it makes for more sense when you have context for it and oh boy there is no shortage of reasons for her to do this Metroid Prime two's introduction may not be as iconic as that frigate going up in smoke but it's emotional depth and tight design make up for that with but a line of text to go off of you land on the planet aether the opening area that dark cave carries with it a claustrophobic atmosphere there's uncertainty as you approach your objective the lighting is all gloomy there's no sign of fresh air from anywhere and as you approach the research station you realize you were too late so many Federation soldiers have fallen victim to a mysterious toxin infecting their system some of their bodies carry with them their final log entries which tell a disturbing tale apparently the federation was not prepared for what they'd find on ether and the soldiers they sent ended up falling victim to the eng they've been possessed and they're reanimated corpses begin to attack Samus as a concept this is far darker than anything I've seen a Nintendo game tackle we've seen majora's mask and pokemon grapple with death in the process of grieving but an subtler efore everyone manor that's what made the game so clever hell that's what makes writing for kids media such a big challenge with an enormous payoff Metroid is one of Nintendo's only ongoing first party series where they can delve into territory like this without restraint even the lumina go through this kind of thing one of them even committing suicide before the ink possesses them and once again these logs can only be discovered if you use the scan visor this overwhelming burst of grim content is first presented during an organic gameplay tutorial and before your weapons are stripped from you you meet Dark Samus for the first time she completely overpowers you and you'll need to start from scratch in the temple grounds this tutorial is more than I could ask for in a sequel to Metroid Prime I adore what it achieves because of the tutorial I found myself using the scanned visor on things more than I ever did in the first game I remember stumbling upon that Federation ship and seeing everyone die in a flashback and then immediately wanting to learn more about each soldier this area tells a nonlinear narrative and you can piece it together by finding each soldier lying around the first one I found talked about a soldier named Haley I think Haley's losing it he talks to himself all the time and he won't sleep he almost shot me on watch the other night I think he thought I was one of those things I talked to the doc about taking him off the line and he told me we need all the help we can get that's true but if he goes berserk and kills a bunch of us that won't be very helpful after reading this one I scoured the area to find the soldier he was talking about and sure enough his final log entry was interesting they're coming I also remember a couple of soldiers talking about Samus as if she was this unstoppable mythical force that could accomplish anything and that felt empowering this is ridiculous I can outshoot half the men heal and I'm stuck on monitor duty I didn't join up to stare at a hollow screen this wouldn't happen to Samus Aran she'd be out there taking care of business not pushing buttons and sending reports last night at shallowing sister's talking about some bounty hunter and how she blow the plaintiff old space pirates I told her I didn't believe in fairy tales like that and she took it personal I just find it hard to believe that one person took out an entire space pirate base that's all but if she wants to believe in this samus or Bigfoot or Santa Claus she can this isn't a one-time thing by the way as long as you are able to find the corpse of a soldier or illumine off you'll be able to learn something about how that character died or what they were doing before the ink got to them I'm the only one left managed to get her to the hive but when I got to the ship everyone was gone dead I'm heading for that alien building we saw earlier maybe someone can help me there wait something's moving down there hello bruda lost the bet so he switched watch duty with me I figured this section is nice and safe and boring which suits me just fine let those other pugs guard the hot zone I hold on hey wait oh I think about these characters more than I think the developers intended but it's details like this that make an inactive narrative work beautifully what if the soldier you just heard could have made it to the temple what if Aang Seth lived to meet Samus Aran because of this I felt a sense of vengeance and anger towards the inge I was motivated to wipe them out save the lumen off species and power up so I can kill Dark Samus and be home in time for breakfast that's phenomenal writing for a metroid game it's a tradition at this point for events to take place before and after the meat of a Metroid game and retro managed to work within those boundaries to create something brill if there's a word I would use to describe metroid prime 2 it would be oppressive everything about this game feels like it's caving in on you and you have to fight back in every instance and that is what makes it work so well for starters let's talk about prime to s biggest gameplay hook dark ether if you've played linked to the past you probably already know how this is gonna go down surprisingly a light world dark world system hasn't been attempted in Metroid outside of prime - it seems like it would be a natural way to introduce twice the amount of variety a level design right and you'd have puzzles that involve swapping between the two worlds to nab goodies it's a no brainer well apparently retro had to consult with former Link to the Past developers in order to make sure this was executed properly it takes a lot of careful consideration to make something like this work and retro had under two years to finish the game so it's no wonder they needed some help in the end these concepts did end up being utilized as a recall the subterranean complex of torus bog revolved around this method of navigation you'll need to connect through a maze of portals in order to fight alpha blog in a chamber separate from other like world tunnels and the main loop is broken in the dark world so you'll need to transfer between the two worlds in order to reach the grapple beam on another example while some portals are one-way streets there's this mysterious portal and agon wastes that's locked behind a gate upon entering the portal from the dueling range in dark ether you'll be able to continue down the path towards the dark burst weapon upgrade this kind of lateral thinking is in play throughout the entirety of Metroid Prime to the sanctuary fortress has a ton of travelling between worlds for navigation and puzzle solving because although the two are generally seamless the rooms are altered so that they require different items and strategies the elevator to the temple grounds and sanctuary fortress is replaced with a series of ScrewAttack jumps that you have to make some of the portals are spread thin and you'll have to make long journeys through the dark world in order to make some progress and link up with the light world again there's even a room that revolves around rapidly switching between the two worlds it's like a miniature maze within an even bigger maze as you can probably tell the game revolves around this mechanic it's what makes the map of prime to so diverse complex and engaging it also helps that the elevator layout and general map progression is much smoother in this game in contrast to the messy layout of the first game there are elevators that are spread evenly throughout this games four main areas from the Great Temple you can take three elevators which leads you to three of the temple grounds primary sectors each having their own elevator to a gan wastes torva fog and sanctuary fortress you progress through these areas one after the other with rare breaks in which you have to backtrack to another area for a new item but in those instances they find ways to make it work I was miffed about travelling all the way back to the subterranean complex of torus bog just to get the power bomb but when I saw that I could take an elevator do a new portion of the sanctuary fortress and explore with my new upgrade I was happy just everything about this game's level design works so well the game is exceptionally linear due to its straightforward area by area progression but the possibilities for doors to open thanks to your expanded arsenal and the wealth of translator gates to unlock it feels like a much more open-ended game and it strikes a phenomenal balance so that's what makes it work in practice and it sets itself up for some great exploration what makes the level design feel oppressive well every time you're in dark ether your health will steadily drain and you can only replenish it within areas of light this means that fighting tough enemies traversing dangerous terrain or simply walking for too long could spell the end of you this rectifies the issue of being too powerful for enemies in prime one as even if you're able to blast through areas you'll still need to worry about your health without question though this creates a natural incentive for collecting energy tanks and the game doesn't make it terribly easy for you to do so aside from the first few being only a few steps out of the way from your new upgrades like a missile door or a morph ball cannon the energy tanks all require you to memorize the layout of the game's map use critical thinking to deduce how you can interact with it and sometimes it just takes raw skill and knowledge of the game's mechanics it's a bit odd that one of them can only be obtained to the light suit because at that point the dark world won't drain your health anymore but in setting you up for the final boss I suppose I can get behind its inclusion essentially the point I'm trying to make is that the nature of dark ether made me scour for upgrades organically and that is fantastic I can say the same for the beam upgrades too in this game there are three beams for you to use the dark beam the light beam and the Annihilator beam despite the new coats of paint the dark and light beams function identically to the ice and plasma beams respectively what differentiates them from their older siblings at the ammo enforced on you in order to regain ammo for the beam you're using you'll need to kill enemies with the opposite beam so there's more strategy at play here than there was in the first game honestly I only use the ice beam in tandem with missiles and I tended to use the more powerful beams as soon as I'd obtained them there were reasons to switch back to the Power Beam obviously it fires as fast as you can mash the a button after all but critical-thinking was relegated to scenarios like which combination of weapons can I use to kill these enemies quickly by the way that's not a bad thing that's still an example of great design but in Metroid Prime 2 you're thinking about which weapon will be smartest to use to conserve ammo and if you can afford to use your ammo in order to mow through tough enemies on top of thinking about enemy strengths and weakness's damage and weapon combinations it drove me to look for beam ammo capacity upgrades as best I could as well as the charge B upgrades that returned from the previous game the Annihilator beam may use both ammo coins at once but it is incredibly powerful the beam upgrade may drain even more ammo but it's easily one of the most devastating weapons in the Metroid series so you're collecting energy tanks to stay afloat ammo and beam upgrades to have more leeway in your decision-making and the enemies won't let up sure space pirates and now the Inc are still a pain in the ass to deal with as they lock you in a room and won't stop attacking until you either kill them all or they decide they're done but the other enemies in the game are exceptional the underwater portions of torva spy are home to the blog enemies that charge after you at full speed giving you minimal time to dodge and shoot them in their weak point the sanctuary fortress has several enemies that are designed to mess with you or take multiple steps to kill one of the floating enemies can completely crash samus's Power Suit and I remember being genuinely startled when that first happened to me there are also these enemies that turn into terrifying beyblades that can be taken out by either the morph ball or by separating its head from its body and destroying it that way these enemy significantly elevate the challenge from the previous game and I welcome that but perhaps the most significant enemies worth discussing are the bosses Metroid Prime 2 has some incredible bosses great ideas all over the place and some of them are really hard for each powerup Samus gets you'll need to fight one of the Guardians they're named after the power-ups you'll be getting and their abilities only slightly exaggerate what they can do slightly this in and of itself introduces a ton of variety into boss battles being swamped by the inge as the boost Guardian shoots across the room it's one intense fight the grapple Guardian will force you out of your safe zone so you'll need to dodge accordingly and find the right moments to get behind it yeah I should mention that most of these bosses are fought in the open air of dark ether so your health is constantly draining unless you huddle into your radius of light that's what makes these fights feel like you're being choked there are also a few boss fights that revolve around the morph ball and I thoroughly enjoy how clever and tough they are the spider Guardian involves timing your bombs with the boss's trajectory and then rushing to the power stations before it breaks out of its paralysis the power bomb Guardian isn't as tough but it can still knock you down without careful timing and positioning there's also a boss in the sanctuary fortress that involves using the spider ball to avoid the floor and the boost to jump across and dodge an electrical shock this one isn't incredibly difficult or anything but it takes place in between save areas so a first time player needs to stay on their toes and figuring the boss out is part of the challenge each energy controller has a boss for you to take out before you can restore power of the great temple and the three bosses guarding these controllers are on morbus chica and quad Raxus they have multiple extravagant phases to the fight and test you on various concepts a morbus wants you to track a huge enemy as its scurries through the sand and then you need to bomb it with the morph ball after you Whittle its health down not too difficult but you'll need to keep moving through dark ethers hazardous air chika on the other hand may have a lot of room for movement under an area of light but it will destroy you if you're not careful as it swims through the bog you'll have to time your shots and only shoots up for a brief period of time then once it's stunned you can lay into it but that's only the child phase the adult chika can charge up its egg sac and fire babies at you and you won't have your precious area of comfort anymore you'll need to constantly keep moving and destroy the bosses wings while grappling from platform to platform and avoiding its toxic spit Quadra axis has a similar motif in which you need to tear down its legs while avoiding its Annihilator shots and some enemies you've become acquainted with throughout the fortress in fact when car axis is stunned you're supposed to boost straight through its legs to destroy them just like those tiny quads that's essentially what this boss boils down to although the methods you go but destroying it differ drastically the echo visor is a new and mostly situational mechanic in which you can search for connections an area and destroying them will unlock a door kill an enemy etc in this fight certain parts of the box can only be destroyed with the echo visor equipped which is a bit arbitrary but finding the most powerful combination of weapons to diminish its health is something that Metroid Prime has taught you to great effect all of this takes place without any source of light to replenish your health you need to go in raw and hope to gather some pickups these bosses really test you and attempt to get you to crack under pressure and that's what I love about them although the added challenge of prime 2 might not be for everyone I felt it was essential to every aspect of his design perhaps the most oppressive bosses in the game are the final boss Emperor Inge and Dark Samus yeah how appropriate let's talk about the final boss first though in this footage I may have torn through its tentacles with the light beam but that's only because I knew what I was doing if you're not on top of the positioning of the tentacles it will melt your health away and after making it through that phase as well as it's a phase on infested powerbomb phase you'd better hope you have the health and ammo to survive its final form first you'll need to memorize its patterns and blast through the orange ball of energy in its mouth or through the back if it charges into a wall when that happens you'll need to shoot its mouth with the opposite beam but the Annihilator beam works no matter what color appears in its mouth now here's the thing the final boss of prime one could be killed regardless of how many missiles or energy tanks you managed to grab it could be killed without your various beam upgrades it it obviously be much harder that way but you didn't have to use the wave Buster to drain its health or anything that's an option and it's rewarding in the grand scheme of things Metroid Prime two's final boss is an actual test of your resourcefulness throughout the game even if you feel like you're just scraping by finding what you can find the default ammo and missile capacity aren't going to be anywhere near enough it's as if the boss is directly asking you if you've grabbed all the upgrades the boss directly incentivizes upgrading Samus which is perfect for a Metroidvania and it's also the hardest boss in the game which really makes it feel like it's pressing down on you and testing your abilities it also has some incredible music I love how the Prime 2 theme blends into some badass percussion we'll talk more about the music soon just bear with me as much as I thought Emperor Inge was oppressive it didn't make me feel as helpless as Dark Samus did as your mysterious archenemy she'll invade your game convenience you in the worst of ways just for fun she shows up in sanctuary fortress and destroys the bridge so you can't make your way over to the other side without the spider ball she'll fight you over and over again and as you get stronger you can totally annihilate her again and again she'll have some new tricks up her sleeve each time though forcing you to adapt in the moment what strikes me most is how she refuses to give up and she just won't die she's essentially a mysterious blob of evolved phazon why is she so insistent on going after salmon's that's what makes every encounter with her seem helpless and my outlook became bleak and before you can escape the sky temple and flee towards the great temple again you'll have to fight Dark Samus on a time limit on guard and may the best bounty hunter win that's probably my biggest takeaway from Metroid Prime 2's interpretation of phazon having spread to so many different solar systems it's become this unstoppable inevitable force that can't be reasoned with as Samus I feel helpless and overwhelmed as I read about the lumen often Federation succumbing to the ink the level design enemies and bosses all encourage you to seek out some defense amidst this uncontrollable destruction and it does so outstandingly you can only really escape it when you take in the game's atmosphere finding some solace amidst planetary devastation all of these primary levels have distinct atmospheres with fantastic music and their dark ether counterparts carry with them a more abrasive feel the main melody of each song still comes along for the dark counterpart so you're reminded of what you can go back to but let's dive into specifics the temple grounds exists at the summit and connect you to each of the three main levels the music symbolizes the lumen offs pride in their species with that triumphant melody and that funky fresh beat over the industrial clang drove me to explore that rustic backing instrument is carried over to an gone waste s-- which is essentially an underground and more deserted version of the temple grounds things feel lonely in both levels as the entire species has been wiped out and all that remains are well remains egg on waste music reflects the tragedy the luminar facing [Music] in contrast the sanctuary fortress has futuristic instrumentals in some beautiful art direction which captures every detail of the technological advancements the lumen off were able to make on ether unfortunately Ving have made this place their home and it feels truly claustrophobic the only middle ground between desertion and infestation is in torva Spock my favorite level in the game those opening notes combined with the hi-hat in the background are enough to give me chills there's a faint curiosity about its music and I can't help but whistle its main melody [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the level may not be free of phazon infestation and the inge will still try to bring a stop to your adventure but this level channels that serenity of talent over world the rain hitting your visor once again the calm waters the moody lighting it feels like a desolate Metroid level but also the only place in Metroid Prime 2 that feels untouched by the primary narrative techie buildings aside it's the closest you can come to paradise in a game where it's you against the world although there was one moment in this game that really blew me away far more than the other levels were able to and they still impressed me quite a bit there are two parts to this story part one takes us back to 1994 super metroids lower brinstar has one of my favorite songs in the entire franchise it's dark it's moody and aims to unsettle you it was the quintessential Metroid song to me fast forward to Metroid Prime and this beautiful piano piece plays during your trip to the sunken frigate it's a short moment but you learn to savor it as you probably won't be visiting the area ever again now you combine these two elements and you create Metroid Prime 2 s best area the subterranean depths of tortoise bog utilizing metroid primes instruments Kenji Yamamoto managed to create something damn beautiful you're in this deep threatening complex swimming through water at the furthest point away from the Great Temple and you have this music playing as you explore the facility you don't spend too long here much like lower brinstar in the sunken frigate you're meant to hold on to these small moments of serenity amidst the chaos I think that speaks volumes for what I believe is metroid prime to s thesis savor those little moments amidst the claustrophobia in a game where everything feels out of your control [Music] the only thing that would potentially bother me about metroid prime 2 as a whole would be the sky temple keys which is a similar endgame quest of the chozo artifacts I mean it doesn't make sense that they'd only appear after you retrieve the light suit and the light suit itself does take the stress out of dark ether and puts a focus on simply exploring for the rest of the goodies but I suppose prepping for the final boss by planning out your route and grabbing items isn't so bad the sky temple keys are at least fun to retrieve thanks to their unique challenges I suppose some of you were probably expecting me to trash this aspect of the game but I find it to be both disruptive and opportunistic at the same time and even if I were to despise this quest I don't think it was selling my outlook on the game as a whole if it wasn't already obvious enough I think Metroid Prime 2 is genius with its exceptional level design tense mechanics intelligent bosses and impeccable atmosphere and presentation the game creates an atmosphere of claustrophobic oppression and it's something I can't get enough of much like the first game I look forward to revisiting this one for years to come it's not only one of the best Metroid games I've ever played but also one of the best video games I've ever played hands down now I'd like to end it there but there is a substantial part of metroid primes whose story that I haven't talked about yet and that is its multiplayer component this seemed routine for any game that resembled the world's perception of what an FPS was so every game was getting it half-life 2 got a deathmatch client not long after the game's release Call of Duty's game-changing campaign was accompanied by an equally robust multiplayer offering even Return to Castle Wolfenstein had some justification for its multiplayer existing but Nintendo has never adhered to what the industry was doing even in its most traditional eras why would they want retro to give this a shot well in 2004 the Nintendo DS hit the market although the GameCube was technically capable of online multiplayer it was rarely ever attempted a pretty sure only Phantasy Star Online and one Japanese exclusive RPG did it in-house Nintendo was worried that they wouldn't be able to maintain quality control and turn a profit thus they stuck with land for that era Nintendo wanted the DS and in turn the Wii to take advantage of online multiplayer and services in any way they could and make up for lost time one of the launch titles for ad es was a demo called Metroid Prime Hunter's first hunt which contained a deathmatch mode where four players could shoot each other via local wireless multiplayer this would be a prototype for the game's fully fledged online multiplayer suite that pit all of the game's bounty hunters against each other in a deathmatch for up to eight players there are a few game types to choose from and the hunters are differentiated between based on their morph ball forms and special weapon pickups the game cultivated an actual community of players that strategize based on map and mode it wasn't just a novelty it's worth looking into someday on this channel definitely not for this video those videos already long enough as it is okay so what does all of this have to do with Metroid Prime 2 well I believe Nintendo wanted to prepare retro so they could create a fully fledged multiplayer experience in the next mainline Prime game but unfortunately that still hasn't happened and based on the concepts demonstrated within Prime 2 and the genuine community hunters managed to create it's a damn shame they weren't able to go any further each match of prime twos multiplayer boils down to either getting the most kills or collecting the most coins before time runs out and you can collect power-ups as you go combat boils down to shooting each other like crazy and dodging like your life depends on it because well it does you can bust open boxes around the map - grab beans and other power-ups some of them being essential others completely disrupting the flow of a match the deaf ball made devastate players if you get close to them but you move painfully slow and you can't exit from your morph ball until the powerup goes away packer mode and my experience barely does anything worthwhile to other players and you can't leave that one either you're just stuck like that unable to shoot for a bit but aside from those missed steps the multiplayer works surprisingly well shooting other players feels chaotic and fun the maps are all diverse and have their own creative benefits and alterations to a match and it's simply a great time the turret map is a bit broken in a two-player match because as soon as one of the players gets into the turret they have full control over the other players movements you'll need at least one other player to take it down unfortunately that's really all there is to say the multiplayer lacks a ton of basic modes and features and feels incomplete perhaps because it was incomplete I don't doubt that Nintendo's American division will call them NST did a fantastic job fleshing out hunters multiplayer mode but prime twos is more of a proof-of-concept than anything and that's why the lack of a continuation really stinks thankfully the core strengths of this series lies within its single-player routes so it's not a huge deal but I want to believe retro is capable of creating something that surpasses what NST put out multiplayer wise to this day they still haven't attempted anything like that well they've only released five games since they set up shop in 1998 but that's not what we're discussing right now the thing is I think I know why they weren't able to tackle another multiplayer mode simply put they didn't have time by the time Metroid Prime 3 would be released the Gamecube was going to be obsolete retro studios had bigger fish to fry and an entirely new control scheme to develop nintendos next console was going to be all about motion controls and accessibility and they had to completely reinvent the first-person shooter before they could close out the trilogy supposedly the controls from Metroid Prime 3 took a year to develop on their own and that took precedence over the game's original release date resulting in delays it was clear that the focus of development became the utilization of the Wiis motion controls so Metroid Prime 3 released on August 27th 2007 to critical acclaim just like its predecessors does it benefit from its control scheme how does it close out the trilogy what changes have been made to its level design of mechanics and what did it aim to achieve well let's take a look harnessing Faison can prove to be beneficial or deadly and that's the risk the Federation is willing to take this so-called Dark Samus took us down effortlessly on Orianna and my fellow bounty hunters and I have all been infused with Faison the Federation is aiming to take control of it but the elements true nature has quickly become evident one by one the hunters are falling to Faison and Dark Samus is seeping through every crack in the solar system I'm being forced to confront people I once worked so closely with and I can't help but wonder when my time will come to Faison doesn't just mutate it corrupts [Music] ah the final title screen of the trilogy the music symbolizes the eclipse of the trilogy's narrative events and ascends off by the developers we went from easing the players worries and sounding unquestionably like Metroid to having confidence in the game and pumping the player up for something awesome - preparing to say goodbye at least that's what I gather from it and I feel like it's appropriate as you'll have to say goodbye a lot in prime 3 but we'll get to that in due time a lot of Metroid Prime 3 feels like it's designed to be someone's first Metroid game which is ironic considering this is the game that's designed to close the prime trilogy but I get it though we brought it in a ton of people that don't usually play video games thanks to its simple interface and accessible controls so this direction makes sense as such all the Metroid Prime 3 is designed to be accessible this is both beneficial and detrimental to the game but let's start with the strong points first of all what has stayed consistent well the atmosphere visuals and audio design of Prime three are as enveloping as the previous games in the series Samus is trip through the gfs Olympus is set to this foreboding music track you're safe in this moment but that feeling of comfort won't last forever the resemblance to half-life in this tutorial is pretty uncanny actually you get to learn your controls at a leisurely pace and investigate the bits and pieces of the Federation ship that interest you the parallels to half-life become even stronger as everything comes crashing down space pirates invade like the creatures of Xen and a half-life and you scrambled a regroup with your fellow bounty hunters as people are killed and sucked out into space similarly to escaping black mesas the scientists have come to the alien invasion the phazon infested seas within each planet also looked very zen esque sorry I must have half-life on the brain if it wasn't obvious by now prime threes art direction is fantastic there are these beautifully distinct areas that each tell a story Bria was once home to a species that made several technological and scientific advancements after contacting the chozo looming off and the Ilia and you can read about their journey as you explore it has an amazing sense of scale but sky town blows it out of the water in that regard thanks to the jump and RAM from the GameCube levels as big as the ones featured in Metroid Prime 3 are totally possible and to really showcase that extra horsepower sky town was created it's this industrialized steampunk sort of town floating far above Alicia and it feels amazing to zipline from station to station or screwattack over big gaps towards new portions of the level taking him the splendor of it all the RAM upgrade also allowed for higher quality audio samples so the music is only a few steps away from sounding like a live orchestra and choir seriously you can only get so far with synthetic vocals and a soundtrack for a game like Metroid Prime if there were ever a time to utilize them it would be now with those high quality samples Brio and sky town both used vocals to drive the grandiose scale of the levels home Brio is practically soaked in them in contrast to those two levels the pirate homeworld is drenched in this horrible atmosphere it feels hellish and exploring carries with it uncertainty but it's absolutely gorgeous so that's what remained consistently excellent from the last two games what has been improved well the most obvious example is the control scheme after all they spend a lot of the game's development period working on the controls surely they'd have something to show for it right well indeed they did aside from the responsiveness and accuracy of keyboard and mouse metroid prime 3 created one of the best ways to play a first person shooter period although FPS games on the Wii were scarce before Prime 3 rolled around well they were scarce in general they had point and turn controls down pat call of duty 3 and Medal of Honor Vanguard both had their issues but they laid out the groundwork for first-person controls on the week although you could aim your gun and move around with only some minor issues the pacing of these games would often require slow calculated shooting and movement the only game to rectify this on the we would be Metroid Prime 3 although the freeform movement and aiming allows for better accuracy and easy takedowns of flying enemies went on the move the game still primarily focuses on its lock-on mechanic however this means that you can circle strafing enemies and blast them with potshots like the previous games on top of having superior accuracy when necessary this is a godsend and it results in controls that feel fast responsive and ultimately second nature you can snap on enemies while still having full control over your shots you can quickly switch visors by holding the minus button and tilting the Wii Remote it's so good what I love most is that a lot of the game's bosses take advantage of being able to aim while locking on Berserker Lords fire these balls of energy when you have to shoot and deflect and while it's retaliating can then strafe and jump around its attacks while aiming and shooting in its weak point meta Ridley's first fight directly tests your accuracy like this as well as you aim for his weak points while shooting and deflecting his attacks by the way this is an incredible sequence I can gush about so many of Prime 3 set pieces but I'll save that for later I know it seems odd to be raving about utilizing accuracy as a game design concept but it's a big deal for a game on the weak metroid primes core design was all about finding solutions there in combat and aiming it was rarely a part of its design so the fact that they were able to incorporate both into a seamless blend is phenomenal Metroid Prime 3 feels so good to play because of its controls you can refrain from using the lock-on while being attacked by multiple enemies picking them off individually selectively shoot a giant bosses weak points and completely disarm them while staying locked on and avoiding massive attacks by strafing the works if you've never played Metroid Prime with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk it is absolutely something you should experience before you die there's a lot of discussion to be had about immersing the player in a first-person shooter you can do it through scripted sequences clever presentation and a fully interactive world like half-life 2 you can use virtual reality to train the player and the differences and distinctions and weapons functions or you could put the player behind the visor of Samus Aran arm cannon on one side grapple beam and the other I should mention that Prime 3 also allows you to use the grapple beam that yank things this is used in environmental puzzles but it's also great for ripping an enemy's shield off them I got to tell you this makes me feel so badass retro set the player up for projecting themselves onto Samus but physically embodying her with the game's motion controls is a whole other ballgame they finely tuned these controls so that they suit fast-paced gameplay destroying that slow-paced barrier for Wii shooters this is easily the definitive way to play Metroid Prime it's accessible it evolved the game's combat and elevates its depth to new heights and it's fun as hell on the topic of accessibility it's worth talking about the game's level design because this is one of the most accessible Metroidvania I've ever played a lot of its rooms and areas are about puzzle solving the best example I can use to summarize how this works is in Metroid Prime 2 there was a room and sanctuary fortress that you gradually solved while branching off into other rooms he'd fix the circuitry and a new path with open he'd solved that room come back fix the circuitry rinse repeat it was puzzle after puzzle that led towards your primary objective this occurs far more frequently in Prime three and I'm a fan this shift means that resourcefulness is still on the table but it's more about knowledge of your arsenal rather than pathfinding these puzzles carry the game through the first portion which is linear and gradually branches out into path finding as you become accustomed to its design path finding becomes a huge part of the game once it asks you to retrieve three bombs spread throughout sky town and that's a great place to introduce a challenge like that by that point you should be able to find your way around and explore freely without getting terribly lost and I respect that it eases the player into an objective like this and the game paces itself with rooms that focus on combat platforming hazards and the like the pirate homeworld is perhaps the best example of its seamless blend of puzzles exploration and combat the level feels like one big puzzle rather than a giant maze you know where to go and how you're going to get there it's about the practicality throughout this level they impede your progress with ruthless enemies and acid rain you need to work towards that suit upgrade the game is designed for linear progression but it definitely allows you to branch off whenever you feel like it when I first played Metroid Prime 3 I wondered how they would handle the connecting of different areas we went from a rocky start and prime one to a succinct design with prime too what can they do to further improve the map design at prime 3 well because the levels are so huge they just decided to completely segment them you visit the different planets in Prime 3 by activating landing pads for your ship and you can bring your ship to each of them while on the planet as per your want so rather than creating something needlessly complex they decided to circumvent the pathfinding stresses through this method after being frustrated with the backtracking in certain aspects of the previous games this made me genuinely excited to revisit other planets and grab new power-ups it didn't feel like an inconvenience as it may have in the other games it's just part of the fun for example in sky town you come across a landing pad as the game urges you to revisit Brio for a new upgrade sure enough the abilities you've gained will open up an all-new icy section of the level and it's a hop skip and a ship right away of all the things that metroid prime 3 attempts to evolve the narrative is perhaps the most impactful and Metroid Prime to the log entries would have benefited from having voice acting hearing the fear and a soldier's voice in their final moments it's part of the reason I asked some of my friends and members of the community to help participate in this video I wanted to drive home how much that part of the game meant to me thankfully this game has full voice acting for samus's bounty hunter comrades and all of the Federation soldiers this was a necessary step because you don't get to spend a lot of time with them after dark samus attacks the hunters you're all separated and the blasts from her beam infects everyone with Faison Samus is basically on her own throughout the entire game fighting to keep the Faison from corrupting her entirely and when it's true nature comes to light finding the other bounty hunter suddenly seems like a much more difficult task you get a glimpse into their personalities and abilities on Valhalla norian and that's all you have to go off of until you can confront them unfortunately it's already too late for them they've been completely taken over by Faison and you have no choice but to tear them down I think the game is completely aware that you don't really have the time to form a bond with them at first so they instead decide to have you connect with them through their boss fights and I absolutely love that you have to boo grudgingly dodge run das's ice attacks yank him down from his pillars and knock him out of the air as he flies around on ice just like he did on Orion all set to a badass battle theme that combines Prime's unique instrumentals with some electric guitar riffs thrown in there [Music] in the end he kills himself so that Dark Samus can't exert any further control over him and yet she still absorbs his energy this becomes a recurring theme and it really hurts to experience this Dark Samus uses Gore for his energy and Sam is helplessly blasts at her much like prime to this channel the sense of vengeance I wanted to end this Kendra does boss fight is insane the character is known for her shape-shifting antics thanks to her introduction on Valhalla but it's not until the pirate homeworld that we get one of the most memorable moments in the game at first the federation soldier asks for your help in order to reach your objective nothing seems terribly off but then the soldier brandishes his weapon as it turns out it was gandrayda all along she shaped shifts into the other hunters including Samus flips around the arena and is generally difficult to keep track of and shoot at but it's an immensely rewarding fight and that music man so good [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I feel like this is the pinnacle of Metroid Prime 3 is combat I'm strafing around the arena like crazy utilizing my knowledge and reflexes that I've developed and physically shaking off gandrayda when she jumps on me it's not one of the extravagant behemoths that attack you in the planet seeds are across the other planets it's just a fellow bounty hunter that has been corrupted that's why the boss felt so memorable even her death scene foreshadow samus's potential demise as Dark Samus floats away once more I have no idea how Dark Samus was able to achieve this kind of brutal sentience but it really does sting these boss fights really drive the point home that Metroid Prime 3 is about saying goodbye achieving closure on this storyline killing Dark Samus and giving the Federation of thumbs up and all things considered it seems like this is a great place to close out the trilogy so what is wrong with this game I mentioned accessibility harming this game in addition to benefiting it so what do I mean by that well first I know this is a low-hanging fruit but I got to mention it because I find it ridiculous the arbitrary actions you have to perform with the motion controls in this game go from heightening player immersion to annoying the player very quickly they're all over the place and I got sick of them every single switch password screen energy cell socket etc it's so obnoxious and almost transforms the intelligent control scheme of Prime 3 into a gimmick secondly there isn't any beam strategy present in this game each new beam you get replaces the last one your missiles get upgraded into ice missiles at some point so you can still do the free zoom and blast em strategy but that's it it's kind of lame but most egregious is Metroid Prime 3 is blatant hand-holding at the cost of accessibility there's a lot more to this topic than just walking in a straight line so I'd like you to hear me out I know I mentioned the game branching off from time to time but that isn't enough to challenge your pathfinding overall it's not that the game doesn't do it it just doesn't do it enough the vast majority of missile expansions can be found along your main path or when you're backtracking over to a newly accessible area there aren't the very least fun to uncover and retrieve but I can't say the same about the energy tags 10 if this games 14 energy tanks can be found just barely off the beaten path either behind a door or down a morph ball tunnel I am not exaggerating they are that easy to find it's as if they're giving them to you I can kind of understand where they were coming from when designing the game like this however after Samus becomes corrupted with Faison the Federation comes up with a way to harness its power by holding Plus you can activate hyper mode which deals a devastating amount of damage at the cost of an energy tank that's why the energy tanks are pathetically easy to uncover but that doesn't sit right with me if metroid prime 2 taught me anything about something like this it's that you should feel compelled to push yourself out of your comfort zone and seek these upgrades out that's what has me miffed about the utilization of energy tanks in this game because of this you can afford to use hyper mode liberally even on veteran difficulty you can roll around shocking enemies in the morph ball and blasting away bosses without any concern for your health most of the time I feel bad for Gore with hyper mode you can melt him away it's pitiful the wreck to Valhalla ship can be explored later in the game and your progression is entirely based on how many energy cells you were able to retrieve throughout the other levels these energy cells essentially carry nonlinear exploration at prime 3 and if you were able to retrieve them all you could continue to delve into the Valhalla and unearth even more secrets including an energy tanker - but by that point you'll already have more than enough to deal with the game's final boss so it isn't a perfect incentive but it's the best the game has to offer the game at least attempts something pretty cool for its final level that takes advantage of your collective energy tanks upon entering phase your energy tanks are vented and you're permanently put into hyper mode it constantly depletes and you can regenerate health with pickups this is a brilliant way to encourage the player to go back and look for energy tanks in order to increase their chances of survival but when most of the energy tanks in this game can be retrieved by simply opening a door with a new upgrade or rolling your morph ball through a tunnel it kind of defeats the purpose a bit doesn't it it at least feels fantastic to fight the game's final boss Dark Samus splitting into clones of herself strafing around her attacks and dodging her beam good stuff perhaps my favorite iteration of her to fight and it's fitting that this is the last time we'll be seeing her after that all that's left is taking down the corrupted Aurora unit using everything you've learned in combat and freeing the galaxy of phazon once and for all with that the story of Metroid Prime comes to an end i right I hit I honestly don't know how to feel about this being the closing chapter of the trilogy on one hand its new ideas are fantastic and should have been introduced earlier and its level design progression combat and puzzle implementation is some of the best in a game of its kind on the other hand it holds your hand too often it's far too linear and it's energy tank implementation is the game's fatal flaw which in turn destroys the purpose of the final level and exploration as a whole Metroid Prime 3 is a great game don't get me wrong it's an absolutely kick-ass freakin video game but it felt like this game should have been the culmination of everything retro has learned and instead makes compromises at the price of accessibility as a conclusion of the trilogy I'd be lying if I said I was completely satisfied and I want more dear God I want more I missed this series man I missed the prime universe I missed the feeling it gives me to explore and learn about the world and I think retro knew that something of that nature would occur in the secret ending Samus takes a moment to mourn the loss of her fellow bounty hunters as she takes off into space a mysterious ship follows behind her if you played Metroid Prime hunters you might notice that this ship's design and color scheme bear a striking resemblance to that of Silex if you want answers well after nearly 13 years that's all we've been able to hold on to after Metroid Prime 3 the series entered its second Dark Age [Music] with the third games ending the Metroid Prime series was left both concluded and open-ended at the same time retro had released three fantastic triple-a games throughout the 2000s and had gained quite a reputation in that timeframe needless to say it was time for a break and for some it was too stressful to stick around after Metroid Prime 3 was released several key developers left the company most notably mark Puccini director of all three Metroid Prime Games todd keller the trilogy's art director and the principal technology engineer jack matthews the three of them formed ARMA 2 studios and worked together on recore which was released nearly 10 years after Metroid Prime 3 Brian Walker the trilogy's key producer would also leave in 2012 while retro studios wouldn't receive further acclaim with their two Donkey Kong Country installments behind closed doors things weren't all sunshine and rainbows from the very beginning retro studios has been plagued by unhealthy working-hours horrible mismanagement and a general lack of direction which was accentuated in more recent years let's start at the beginning throughout this video I've alluded to conditions at retro being stressful but let's get into specifics why don't we leading up to metroid primes release in November 2002 retro employees were estimated to be working 80 to 100 hour work weeks to this day game developers still haven't been able to unionize and fight this kind of thing and it was an even bigger issue when they didn't have a platform to speak up about it like they do now apparently it took Nintendo six months to approve the first level they created and by the time that happened retro had less than a year to finish the rest of the game it was messy and the stress only increased as time went on with Metroid Prime 2 they only had less than 2 years to put the game out and according to Ken skate on eBay the game was only 30% complete just three months before the November deadline the cycle of crunch and long working hours are going to push anyone off the deep end I for one would never be able to work like that no matter how passionate I am about what I'm creating it's not healthy and it's absolutely unacceptable to be treating your employees like that thankfully Nintendo has changed since then I don't doubt that crunch time still exists within the company but the decision to delay Animal Crossing new horizons in order for developers to maintain a healthy work-life balance is something that I will forever respect them for with that said the horrible stress at retro drove many developers out of the company that's just an unavoidable fact the team went on to develop Donkey Kong Country Returns but that game only began to go here five months before its release according to Annie whatta asks interview thankfully they were able to break the cycle with tropical freeze in which they were given ample time to refine the game and create one of the best 2d platformers I have ever played without working 100 hours per week but since that game's release retro has worked in silence no one really knew what they were working on for years in terms of management retro also has an extremely shaky history there their original CEO Jeff Spangenberg was forced out of his position at retro by Nintendo due to some slimy behavior he was noted to be absent during metroid primes development and he didn't contribute much once Nintendo acquired the rest of his shares over the company he was out the most egregious thing he did while working at retro was running a website off of their servers which showcased the various photos of him having pool parties with scantily clad women the name of the website sinful summer yeah he's kind of a tool Jeff later founded top-heavy studios and created a trivia game called the guy game in which you answer questions correctly and expose women's breasts that's already a pretty stupid concept for a commercial video game but as it turns out one of the women in the game was actually underage at the time the game was being filmed and she didn't know what she was being depicted in so Jeff is probably up to his ears in lawsuits but he's also probably a millionaire thanks to his entrepreneur in the video game industry so I bet he doesn't care since his departure things were going smoothly in terms of management however accusations from anonymous former employees have lobbed complaints at management in recent years since they've been working on something since 2014 and still have nothing to show for it there were rumors of Ken skate on eBay and retro not being on good terms after his departure with tropical freeze apparently some employees likened him to Gordon Ramsay on kitchen and he also wouldn't accept anyone challenging his creative decisions Tanabe sons departure from retro followed by him saying he wasn't sure what retro was working on in 2015 leads me to believe that retro was indeed suffering from a lack of direction so until 2019 that was where retro studio stood but what about the Metroid series as a whole well things were initially looking bright there was a teaser for a DS game called Metroid red in one of prime three's log entries but to this day we still haven't seen anything of it perhaps it was transformed or rebooted into something bigger and we might see it someday but it really sucks that we weren't able to play it considering the hot streak Metroid was on at the time instead metroid other m was released in 2010 I won't go into specifics about why that game is hot garbage today but it launched the series into its second hiatus and Metroid fans liked to pretend it doesn't exist this silence on Metroid's future lasted for five years until III 2015 rolled around Nintendo's conference that year lives in infamy although the puppet skits were cute their lineup was god-awful at the time I was excited about Star Fox zero Triforce heroes and Super Mario maker but Animal Crossing amiibo festival felt like a slap in the face breath of the wild then known as Zelda u was not mentioned at all and perhaps most infuriatingly they had the balls to announce Metroid Prime Federation force a spin-off co-op shooter that had little to do with anything Metroid related after five years of nothing the game ended up being serviceable but it was a commercial failure because well of course it was none of my friends bought it and the game felt completely soulless to me so the Metroid fanbase went back to waiting in 2016 30th anniversary of the series came and went without much acknowledgement from Nintendo so the fans took it upon themselves to celebrate an independent game developer known as dr. M 64 online released a remake of metroid 2 known as a m2r or another Metroid 2 remake incidentally this was one of the best games I played in 2016 it was amazing it felt like something Nintendo could have made and it was made by one person over the course of a decade but of course we can't have nice things Nintendo has since refrained from doing things like this but back then it was perceived as scummy and they did it all the time it was in their legal right to take the game down at any point but they instead waited until the game was released after a decade from the file a DMCA against the project total dick move this conversation is old news at this point as something of this magnitude hasn't happened in ages and they've also lifted restrictions and claims on YouTube content so I'm not gonna bother roasting them for it you can probably find a download link floating around somewhere if you'd like to play ends who are today and I recommend you do so if you haven't already it's one of the best Metroid games I have ever played and it's not even an official game during this absence of support for the Metroid series the Nintendo switch presentation was broadcast in January of 2017 Reggie was once again asked about dormant in Tendo ip's but this time he gave people hope in his words so earlier today I got asked about mother 3 maybe you can ask me about Metroid look again I am proud as an executive with Nintendo to say that we look at all of the boards and all of the comments and we really have a good understanding what our consumers want and believe me we take that to heart as we work to create content so I have nothing to announce here but we are aware that there are some key IP that consumers just can't wait for the next true installment and that franchises legacy suffice it to say we're aware of it and talk to me in a year and let's look back and see what's happened people took it with a grain of salt not thinking much of it then III 2017 came along and our world was turned upside down an hour in space [Music] it's not a lot distance space blast ball oh my [ __ ] god are you Joe no no no no they're not are the action against all odds not only was metroid prime for actually being made but a new 2d Metroid was being released later that year a remake of metroid 2 that both gave context to their DMCA takedown and also introduced concepts that I'm willing to bet roll further evolved the Metroid formula in a new and exciting direction but seriously though that logo was enough to make me scream and excitement because it meant that not only was Nintendo willing to listen but they were also willing to make damn sure that they didn't disappoint they could have just left the return of Metroid with their 3ds remake and called it a day but no they wanted to do something extra special unfortunately retro studios wasn't in charge it was heavily rumored that it was being developed by Bandai Namco Singapore via some sort of experimental ad-hoc development process but in the end this fell through Nintendo wasn't happy with how the game was turning out and they started from scratch after a year and a half of development with this announcement came some good news however retro studios was taking over after years of directionless work on games that may or may not be released retro were gonna make this game and they were gonna do it right in the months that followed they went on a hiring spree looking for experienced developers only time will tell how this game will turn out but since only a few members of the core Metroid Prime team remain at the company the new team will have to study hard for the time being I will remain cautiously optimistic what we have now is a trilogy of games that have their own ups and downs but they demonstrate how retro Studios was able to grow over the years they went from single-handedly defining Metroid in a 3d space to refining that formula and creating something that goes beyond the Metroid moniker it's creating one of the most accessible and streamlined Metroid James ever and I mean well when I say that all three of these games have something to offer they're so good that when I haven't reached a replay Metroid Prime I play all three of them back-to-back I think Nintendo realized this would happen and that's why we have the Metroid Prime trilogy collection on the week with Prime three superior control scheme being used in the other games it feels absolutely seamless it's such a great way to experience the series I don't know how to end this video when I started writing I wanted to tell everyone the complete story of Metroid Prime how it began words defining characteristics came from how retro utilized them and where it ended up but I'm struggling to find the biggest takeaway from all this the games did a lot for the industry and Metroidvania is where the z axis are not in short supply these days Dark Souls and the whole Souls like genre tend to utilize this kind of level design due to its progression structure and I'd say that's a pretty big deal but I think metroid primes lasting impact comes from the way the games made us feel I remember being terrified by the darkness of chozo ruins depths being angry at Dark Samus impeding my progress wanting to avenge the hunters that I was forced to kill watching Ridley fly over Finn Drona drifts and so much more this was on top of everything it did well the design of the games came together beautifully and kept us interested through its atmosphere and storytelling they felt like true adventures and they would have only been possible with the shifted perspective that's why prime feels unique against the rest of the series and that's why I'll keep coming back to them for as long as I live this is also where you come in prime for is coming out eventually and I want to know what do you find most compelling about these games after all what I've discussed in this video is just my opinion I want to know what the world thinks much like half-life or Pikmin or Zelda or whatever I cover on this channel I believe discussion is how retro studios will recover from their downtime and channel that lost Metroid Prime energy discussion really is how we keep the memory of the series alive and with that I believe them Triforce and I'd like to thank you for watching this is Samus Aran signing off [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Liam Triforce

Views: 771,909

Keywords: metroid prime, metroid prime 2, metroid prime 3, metroid prime 4, super metroid, metroid fusion, metroid prime hunters, retrospective, review, analysis, critique, essay, video essay, liam triforce, nintendo, gamecube, wii, nintendo switch, switch, wii u

Id: WBqP3tY3hSw

Length: 102min 58sec (6178 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020