Current Events > Metrod Prime is some straight bullshit

(+) Yeah! (+)

Congrats on finding a power up!

Now you can backtrack all the way back to the ass end of the map to explore another area!

Like the new area? Surprise! Another dead end! Now go to the other ass end to get another power up!

Glad you got that power up! Now go right the fuck back where you were to unlock that door.

Oh, and by the way, during each of these unskippable trips around the whole fuckin map, you get to see the same five fuckin rooms of Magmar Cavern.

Fuckin hell this game is amazing but at the same time it can fuck the fuck right fuckin off

KanWan posted...

Idk dont play the game then if youre such a man

You dont understand.

I love this game with every fiber of my worthless being.

But it also sucks and I hate it and I wish the map designers at Retro would stub their toe on a blue lego

Im sorry that happened to you. I hope you feel better

Things were simpler in the early 2000s.

welcome to Metroid! lol

A lot of Metroid games are just traversing the maps relative to you getting the various power ups.

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

welcome to Metroid! lol

Honestly Super was a lot better about this. Iirc the only time they game jerks you around is the distance between beating the fish and getting all the way back to Ridley's lair. Most of the other backtracking are relatively minor detours I think.

But then I can't remember the last time I played Super correctly. Once I mastered the wall jump and shine spark I just play that game however the hell I want. <___<

Echoes does this much better. There are multiple ways to and from each area, so the backtracking isn't as bad (with the exception of a few poorly-placed Dark World portals). Plus Echoes introduces Fast Travel in the Metroid series.

Ah yeah, the Echoes map is like a big circle with a central hub that you pass through. Definitely makes backtracking way better

I thought backtracking was the whole point of Metroid. I dont like it

Lvaneede posted...

I thought backtracking was the whole point of Metroid. I dont like it

What *usually* happens is that exploring new areas unlocks shortcuts, or gives you the tools to take alternate routes to save time.

And in all honesty Metroid Prime is pretty good about this a lot of the time. But it does pull some egregious shit once in a while and Im not sure if Retro was genuinely figuring out how to translate the Metroid design philosophy to 3D or if they were deliberately padding for length.

Like I shit you not you will be balls deep in the ice zone until you hit a dead end. Your next stop is to get the ice beam, which is not actually in the ice zone but the ruins of the first area of the game, then trekking all the way back to the original dead end to continue.

And thats not counting a fakeout path that most players will assume is the correct path, until they're stuck in the ass crack of the sunken ship and the game says "psych bitch! Go back to Freezeezy Peak!"

Kim_Seong-a posted...

Like I shit you not you will be balls deep in the ice zone until you hit a dead end. Your next stop is to get the ice beam, which is not actually in the ice zone but the ruins of the first area of the game, then trekking all the way back to the original dead end to continue.

If I'm not mistaken, that's right after fighting Thardus right? I think the idea is that you just got spider ball, time to go try out all the spider ball tracks you've been seeing, and here's an elevator to get out of Phendrana

Kim_Seong-a posted...

And thats not counting a fakeout path that most players will assume is the correct path, until they're stuck in the ass crack of the sunken ship and the game says "psych b****! Go back to Freezeezy Peak!"

To be fair, the environmental design should be screaming that you can't progress even before you get to the bottom of the reactor chasm.

A smarter environment design would have been to have a jump you can't make with the Varia Suit and need the Gravity Suit before you get to the first large area.

wackyteen posted...

To be fair, the environmental design should be screaming that you can't progress even before you get to the bottom of the reactor chasm.

It should, but the entire way over there is perfectly playable so a lot of people might assume "okay I rough it with the shitty water mechanics and when I get through it Ill be rewarded with something that makes water travel easier."

You do at least get an energy tank for your troue I guess so it's not a complete waste. >_>

Gwynevere posted...

If I'm not mistaken, that's right after fighting Thardus right? I think the idea is that you just got spider ball, time to go try out all the spider ball tracks you've been seeing, and here's an elevator to get out of Phendrana

Man I just wish there was a quicker way to get from one to the other, lol. Theres not even a shortcut back to the lab you just literally go through every room in Phendrana that you did the first time. >_>

The biggest flow-breaker of Metroid Prime is the fact that the only way out of Phendrana Drifts is into Magmoor Caverns, in one of two locations.

And you need to make at least three trips into Phendrana just to pick up an item and leave. First is Boost Ball, second is Spider Ball, third is Gravity Suit.

Gwynevere posted...

If I'm not mistaken, that's right after fighting Thardus right? I think the idea is that you just got spider ball, time to go try out all the spider ball tracks you've been seeing, and here's an elevator to get out of Phendrana

That elevator drops you into a part of Magmoor that's a dead end at the time. Like there's an Energy Tank there, but you can't go very far in any direction before you have to turn around and go right back up.

This is the problem with the Metroidvania genre, not just MP

They suck

I haven't played MP in at least fifteen years, but I definitely remember going through that underwater ship, getting to the end, and being real mad.

pegusus123456 posted...

I haven't played MP in at least fifteen years, but I definitely remember going through that underwater ship, getting to the end, and being real mad.

lol that's an odd series of events.

The underwater ship is at about the three-fifths mark of the story. The Phazon Mines kinda dominate the back half and they're a tough area.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/7/AADPpsAAEMFn.jpg

The problem with MP is the egregiously low travel speed relative to map size and how your weaponry never seems to feel like anything other than a pea shooter.

CyricZ posted...

That elevator drops you into a part of Magmoor that's a dead end at the time.

The elevator after Thardus takes you to the room in Magmoor with the flying pirates, which is right next to the plasma beam room with all the platforms. Keep heading that way and you get to a spider ball track across some lava and an elevator to Tallon Overworld. I think all you need to get through this part is wave beam and spider ball, which you'll have after Thardus

Kim_Seong-a posted...

Honestly Super was a lot better about this. Iirc the only time they game jerks you around is the distance between beating the fish and getting all the way back to Ridley's lair. Most of the other backtracking are relatively minor detours I think.

But then I can't remember the last time I played Super correctly. Once I mastered the wall jump and shine spark I just play that game however the hell I want. <___<

>Go down into Brinstar to get the Morph Ball
>Go aaaaalll the way back up that long-ass shaft and back into Crateria for the Bombs
>Detour into Norfair for the Hi-Jump Boots so you can get to Kraid
>Go to one end of Norfair for the Speed Boost
>Go to the other end of Norfair for the Ice Beam
>Go halfway back up into Brinstar for the Power Bombs
>Go back down to the ass-end of Norfair for the Grapple Beam
>Go back to the opposite side of Norfair for the Wave Beam
>Go all the way back to Crateria to get to the Wrecked Ship

The Wrecked Ship and Maridia (and Tourian, obviously) are the only areas of the game that don't require significant backtracking to stay on the critical path.

warlock7735 posted...

The problem with MP is the egregiously low travel speed relative to map size and how your weaponry never seems to feel like anything other than a pea shooter.

The dual stick control on switch smooths out movement enough to where it feels quicker. Also ice beam is very strong

masterpug53 posted...

>Go down into Brinstar to get the Morph Ball
>Go aaaaalll the way back up that long-ass shaft and back into Crateria for the Bombs
>Detour into Norfair for the Hi-Jump Boots so you can get to Kraid
>Go to one end of Norfair for the Speed Boost
>Go to the other end of Norfair for the Ice Beam
>Go halfway back up into Brinstar for the Power Bombs
>Go back down to the ass-end of Norfair for the Grapple Beam
>Go back to the opposite side of Norfair for the Wave Beam
>Go all the way back to Crateria to get to the Wrecked Ship

The Wrecked Ship and Maridia (and Tourian, obviously) are the only areas of the game that don't require significant backtracking to stay on the critical path.

Yeah but most of those never feel all that long.

Going back across Norfair is like a 2 minute trip if that

The only thing I don't like about Prime is hunting for the artefacts at the end. I just stopped my recent playthrough because I didn't feel like doing that. Yeah you can find some during the game but I just don't feel like crisscrossing throughout the map to find the rest at this point

Gwynevere posted...

The elevator after Thardus takes you to the room in Magmoor with the flying pirates, which is right next to the plasma beam room with all the platforms. Keep heading that way and you get to a spider ball track across some lava and an elevator to Tallon Overworld. I think all you need to get through this part is wave beam and spider ball, which you'll have after Thardus

Dammit you're right. For some reason I thought that connecting room was a Grapple Beam room.

Prime one only has a couple major back tracks (getting space jump from boost ball), but the trip back is much faster.

prime 2 I think had a couple as well, but they didnt focus you more into a zone there. that just part of the game though, exploration is theme.

warlock7735 posted...

The problem with MP is the egregiously low travel speed relative to map size and how your weaponry never seems to feel like anything other than a pea shooter.

It's been a very long time since I played MP1, but IIRC the plasma beam felt really strong up until the Metroids in the Crater (which it's usually better to try to ignore them and run past them). Granted that is pretty late game, but still.