Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)

 

A fresh coat of paint.

Had to continue the GameCube remasters for the Switch and had to get the physical version of Metroid Prime (so waited like 2 weeks compared to everyone else) and finished it off in a weekend. The remastered version of Metroid Prime as we await news for the fourth game in the series that have had no news since they showed the original screen with the number 4. Metroid Prime starts with Samus Aran investigating a distress signal around the planet Tallon IV where she finds a derelict space pirate ship and traveling through it learns about how the space pirates investigates the nearby planet and as the ship is beginning to explode she discovers Meta-Ridley traveling towards the planet so she has to follow.

While landing she gets signal from some chozo ruins that tells the history of how the chozo settled on Tallon IV and meet there end as a meteor struck unleashing the poison phazon that mutated the wildlife. Now the space pirates look for a way to unlock the impact crater the chozo locked away with 12 artefacts that lies scattered across the planet (or at least the areas you visit in this game). Travel across the planet getting items to enhance your armour and be able to travel to even more places and find the 12 artefacts and destroy the titular Metroid Prime at the centre of the impact crater. Game is hardest in the beginning when you have no weapons or reserves, but after the first missiles and energy tanks the game is rather easy (if you continue finding the upgrades in decent intervals) until Omega Pirate where the last bosses will be a bit troublesome (that of course until I met him in Hard Mode and learned that Power Bombs are the way to easily trigger the vulnerability phase). Meta-Ridley being the worst after that, the third phase when he goes on a rampage is more about avoiding damage until you can hit him. Metroid Primes first phase become easy when I began using the special beam weapons to deal max damage. 

I got the original back in the days for the GameCube (still got it as well as the Wii version) after getting into Metroid with Fusion as it was released before Prime in Europe. Watched a lot of the previews and got really into it, which makes it even sadder that this yet once again a game I took several years to finish, especially when I finished it in 15 hours this week as the first playthrough, and played through a second time during the same weekend (ended just below 8 hours) and the third run on Hard Mode ended around 8-9 hours. It could be due to the new controls which works fantastic, although some parts like morph ball jump is x while normal jump is b (doesn't help that I learned the ball jump at the end of my first playthrough while trying to get every item and looking at a video) and changing weapon needs to get used to (it was mapped to the c-stick in the original so a bit easier to change in the middle of battle). 

Overall, the game is great and the remaster is definitely worth it and shows what Tales of Symphonia should at least have been. There is something for the atmosphere to walk around on the planet alone, reading the lore of the chozo or the logs of the space pirates, especially when they begin panicking about Samus being on their tail. Taking your time and trying to get around on your own in the first playthrough is amazing. I would recommend though to have a spreadsheet that you can input every item and lore piece so that you can keep track on what you have got if you wanna look up what you missed. I missed two items (I think I know where one is, but the other is a complete mystery and I still checked every area again). I recommend the one I found here.

Hope we get the other two as well, especially since I never finished them, 2 especially since it was really atmospheric but the last boss is tough as nail. One minor nitpick is that they didn't add the fusion suit... or it's still there, you can't just get it. It was in the original and the Wii version, why not keep it? Some speculate it will be added later, maybe with the release of Metroid Fusion for the NSO. There is also a casual mode which I don't remember from the original (and looking at my original save, it was not mentioned there), great for a newcomer. They got rid of a couple of beehives that made it easier to get around and you take less damage and enemies dies easier. Got through Hard Mode as the last mode and got all extras. Just from the beginning I can say I had a lot easier time to fight the Hive Totem on the remastered version than the original in Hard mode. One thing in comparison with the 2D game I missed is the map function to mark where there is power-ups for a more easy time in backtracking.