Just beat the game tonight! 71% completion in 12:00 hrs. My first time properly playing Metroid Prime, and I really enjoyed it. After Dread (first one I played more than a couple hours) and now Prime Remastered, I think I've become a Metroid fan
Graphics were beautiful, maybe the best looking Switch game I've played. Chozo Ruins stood out to me in particular, I think the lighting really shined there. The Soundtrack was awesome as well, totally deserves the praise it gets. Dual stick controls + gyro worked really well, think I would've struggled with the classic controls.
The atmosphere, puzzles, upgrades and lore were great, can definitely see why this is considered a classic, I can't imagine how I would've felt playing it 20+ years ago! Getting lost in a new area, noticing something small that pays off with a hidden item, or solving a clever puzzle to get an optional upgrade, it was so satisfying!
I do have a few annoyances:
- bosses. Some were fine, but a few really stuck out as frustrating. Omega Pirate. The last part of Meta Ridley. And the last phase of Metroid Prime. Some of the frustration was the bullet spongey-ness, some was it being unclear with what it expects of you, some of it was related to my next point which is...
- The visors! This might be my biggest complaint honestly. The xray and thermal visors look awful and I could barely see anything while using them. They single-handedly made the Metroid Prime second phase artificially difficult and frustrating. Did anyone else have any trouble using these or is it just my brain having issues processing those images? Cos during that fight there were many times I was like "where am I in the room, where's the boss, why can't I see anything. Why am I being damaged?? Oh a Metroid has been sucking on me for the past 10 seconds and I couldn't even tell cos of this damn visor!!" (those Fission Metroids were just the worst...)
- First person platforming. Maybe just a personal thing, but I struggled at times with this. I already generally prefer third person games, but especially if there's any platforming. Difficult for me to judge jumps, what is immediately around me, etc. It was also sometimes an issue while in combat with a bunch of enemies in a small space.
Aside from those few sour notes, I loved my time with it. I even didn't mind the Artifact fetch quest! Can't wait for Prime 4 now, and I would really love for Prime 2 & 3 to get the same treatment, I want to play more of this franchise!
Favourite Area: Phendrana Drifts (Chozo Ruins a close 2nd)
Favourite Boss: Metroid Prime phase 1 (Flaaghra if we're talking full boss fight)
Favourite Enemy: Stone toads. Gotta love em.
Favourite Strat: Freeze + Missile