Metroid Prime 4 & Metroid: Samus Returns Discussion

[Exhuminator]

Ordered the Samus 3DS from Amazon. Hopefully I get it.

Did you order it from Amazon the company itself, or a third party seller on Amazon?

[Xeogred]

Amazon directly, said they'll be in stock the 28th. But between Amazon delays and Nintendo's low stock on stuff I'm not sure what to expect. I guess I'm not really in a rush but I just hope I have one of these models on lockdown now. Not really in position to dish out a lot at once, but that's when Amazon's 6-12 month no interest comes in handy so I wanted to go through the site for it. I'll probably do that for a Switch too sometime.

[Exhuminator]

Made it to the 6th area tonight (actually called Area 5). I've got a little over 8 hours on the game clock, with 12 metroids left to kill. Took out my first Omega tonight, that was an interesting fight... though easier than I expected. I still very much enjoy Samus Returns, but not without some qualms to address in my upcoming review.

[Xeogred]

Finally took the dive and loving it. I'm not sure what to do with this 4th Metroid in Area 1 haha. Area 1 has always been overwhelming and strange to me, the little I've played of the original Metroid 2, then AM2R, and now this... the Spider Mall makes so many things possible and it's such a strange ability since you don't get it in the other games. But it was pretty easy to navigate this area in this version.

Definitely more action heavy as expected and like others were saying, like Other M. Which is fine I guess. Can't wait to get the Screw Attack.

Not a huge fan of the double tap for Morph Ball on a joystick, but I'll get used to it. The parry auto lock on seems very finicky. Samus seems to lock on after a parry only rarely for me, so that's kind of annoying. Enemies are really beefy too, but it's cool you can easily change beams. Normally in the others you never really have to bother and even sticking with the ice beam everywhere is fine, but seems like it's best to change it up here. Definitely loving the touchpad accessibility and everything that can do here.

Just got the 3DS XL and this joystick isn't comfortable with my big hands after awhile, I'm sure that pad Ex linked will fix this for me though. I also wondered if the game randomly dimming at times was the actual game, but I guess I had auto-brightness on. So I'm going to play more now with that off and brightness maxed.

I don't think I'll ever warm up to the 3D. I have a little myopia and my eyesight seems unequal between both eyes, so it just isn't fun to look at no matter where I position the handheld.

EDIT: Scratch that! Everything looks 10x better with auto-brightness off.

[MrPopo]

If you're holding L after the melee counter it screws up the auto lock. So whenever you hit X make sure you aren't hitting L.

[Xeogred]

Getting a better hang of it. The checkpoints are pretty generous. I'm a chunk into Area 3 now.

The Aeion abilities are cool but I don't love having to manage them on the fly for some situations, like Lightning Armor for those hordes of bee things and stuff. Now I have the rapid fire ability which is pretty cool but drains up energy super fast.

I like how some areas still have the strange beeps and bops "music" from the original.

[Exhuminator]

Can't wait to get the Screw Attack.

Don't get your hopes up, it's not as powerful as in other Metroid games.

Just got the 3DS XL and this joystick isn't comfortable with my big hands after awhile

I couldn't stand playing my 3DS XL without the grip. It hurt my hands fast.

I don't think I'll ever warm up to the 3D.

I find the 3D effect to be easier on my eyes if I use the 3DS XL in a room with moderate lighting. I don't know why that is. It even seems to diminish the noticeable effect of ghosting.

I'm looking forward to your opinions of some of the more challenging bosses.

[Tanooki]

Sounds like you're where I was when I stopped playing it recently because of the SNES classic showing up among other stuff. I haven't quit, just distracted.

Trust me he brought that black rubber grip up to me as well and it is a hand saver. You can handle long sessions without the stick feeling weird or your grip making your hands hurt from that or the heavy L/R usage in whatever game. Once that XL starts feeling more like a Switch/Pro controller/Dual Shock style whatever design it's then you'll get real comfortable playing. I don't blame you on the 3D. I have great eyes, but I kind of tire of it being on because sometimes it just messes up even with the tracking where it can get you hit which I'm not a fan of. I go between using it but I don't miss it when it's off.

[marurun]

Ambient light generally reduces eye strain by reducing contrast. I keep a light right behind my computer monitor that shines right on the wall and it has reduced computer-induced headaches greatly.

[Xeogred]

Up to Area 6, maybe I'll beat it before I get the grip.

47% at 7:15. I'm pretty thorough but I guess a lot of backtracking will be necessary. Backtracking early on hasn't been very rewarding though, so I stopped doing it and will hold off until I'm late game. I think there's three or four more abilities/upgrades I need to get around a few things. Yellow doors, weird spike things, power bombs (I'm guessing), and then maybe some kind of shrine spark ball ability or something...

Not a huge fan of chasing the Metroid's into other rooms. It's always around three big rooms that are right next to each other so it's never hard to figure out where they go, but it just seems totally pointless and extends the fight for no reason.

There is also way too many armored enemies. I'm just not a fan of that. It gets easier to hit things with the Spazer/Plasma Beams, but then there's new enemies that pop up immune to beams. I'm never really running out of missiles now but it's just tiresome to navigate around these kind of enemies... also the respawn rate is pretty high. I guess it's ideal because of how action heavy this one is and you're constantly in need of health/missile/Aeion energy drops, but yeah.