15th September 2004, 2:55 PM
Okay, I just got the demo in the mail today (took a while to get ahold of a 5th PIN, them I realized I had some PIN numbers in the closet in games I bought but didn't realize they had PINs... yeah...).
I've played it, taking time to explore every nook and most of the crannies, actually especially the crannies (nothing hidden in the demo except one missile expansion though...), and by and large it promises to be as good, or better than Prime 1. I also found out it's place in the story thanks to the chronology part of the disk. They could theoretically fit any number of future "midquels" between Zero Mission and Return of Samus... Anyway, the whole idea of a light and dark world is, while "unique" (Sahasrala(sp?) roles in his grave), a very nice concept. Ammo for the different beam weapons is no big deal, considering Super Metroid had about a million different weapons each with ammo (well not the beams, but my point is previous Metroid games have had a lot of ammo to keep track of too). Also, ammo appears everywhere, and it automatically goes to your character (made it hard to scan them :D), whether you are charging or not (health just stands there unless you charge, guess they just want you to be able to recharge as fast as possible).
Anyway, the scan interface is different (just visually though). It does seem a lot more immersive the way it's done now actually, those red icons did sorta remind you this was a game. I like it.
There was one thing. GR made mention of this, but I assumed he meant something else. I thought "hey, you could fall off anything that wasn't a solid wall in Prime!", thinking of the many times I've dived off a massive building to get to the bottom and open a door. I hadn't realized what he meant was there are now bottomless pits... Honestly, this is the one thing I don't like. I noticed the warning, and thought "no way, couldn't be", so I tested it to see. Well, first off the fall was handled poorly. No death, I'm just teleported back up and take a VERY slight amount of damage, almost laughable.
Here's my problem. In all Metroid/Castlevania SOTN style games, no matter WHERE you go, there you are, meaning if you CAN go there, there's sure to be some exploring there. Adding a bottomless pit hurts one's will to explore. Instead of wanting to jump off that new precipice, one might be afraid it'll kill you. If they did that in Metroid 1, a huge number of areas would have been unexplored for a long time because someone would be too afraid to go down there and look around. Enemies, lava, radiation, even taking damage upon landing, all great things. However, the "bottomless pit" sorta kills immersiveness. Something like that jolts you into realizing you can't just go wherever you want, AND that this is just a game. Honestly, I hope they ditch (or already have ditched) this whole concept before the game comes out. It doesn't add anything at all to the game. Keep it in Mario, there it's welcome. Even Zelda by this point can have that. Keep it out of Metroid and SOTN style Castlevania games though. I want to know that no matter where I go, I CAN go there and have something to explore (even if it's ridiculously dangerous).
It's hardly a deal breaker, and I'm aware that going on about it for a paragraph makes it seem like I'm simply AGHAST at it :D. My point was to explain why I think it's a bad addition to the game that actually detracts though, not go on about it out of anger. I still am going to get this game, and even with these bottomless pits I'm sure I'll have a blast. I just think this is one of those additional brush strokes that "ruin" the painting, so to speak, meaning it's totally pointless and hurts more than helps.
I've played it, taking time to explore every nook and most of the crannies, actually especially the crannies (nothing hidden in the demo except one missile expansion though...), and by and large it promises to be as good, or better than Prime 1. I also found out it's place in the story thanks to the chronology part of the disk. They could theoretically fit any number of future "midquels" between Zero Mission and Return of Samus... Anyway, the whole idea of a light and dark world is, while "unique" (Sahasrala(sp?) roles in his grave), a very nice concept. Ammo for the different beam weapons is no big deal, considering Super Metroid had about a million different weapons each with ammo (well not the beams, but my point is previous Metroid games have had a lot of ammo to keep track of too). Also, ammo appears everywhere, and it automatically goes to your character (made it hard to scan them :D), whether you are charging or not (health just stands there unless you charge, guess they just want you to be able to recharge as fast as possible).
Anyway, the scan interface is different (just visually though). It does seem a lot more immersive the way it's done now actually, those red icons did sorta remind you this was a game. I like it.
There was one thing. GR made mention of this, but I assumed he meant something else. I thought "hey, you could fall off anything that wasn't a solid wall in Prime!", thinking of the many times I've dived off a massive building to get to the bottom and open a door. I hadn't realized what he meant was there are now bottomless pits... Honestly, this is the one thing I don't like. I noticed the warning, and thought "no way, couldn't be", so I tested it to see. Well, first off the fall was handled poorly. No death, I'm just teleported back up and take a VERY slight amount of damage, almost laughable.
Here's my problem. In all Metroid/Castlevania SOTN style games, no matter WHERE you go, there you are, meaning if you CAN go there, there's sure to be some exploring there. Adding a bottomless pit hurts one's will to explore. Instead of wanting to jump off that new precipice, one might be afraid it'll kill you. If they did that in Metroid 1, a huge number of areas would have been unexplored for a long time because someone would be too afraid to go down there and look around. Enemies, lava, radiation, even taking damage upon landing, all great things. However, the "bottomless pit" sorta kills immersiveness. Something like that jolts you into realizing you can't just go wherever you want, AND that this is just a game. Honestly, I hope they ditch (or already have ditched) this whole concept before the game comes out. It doesn't add anything at all to the game. Keep it in Mario, there it's welcome. Even Zelda by this point can have that. Keep it out of Metroid and SOTN style Castlevania games though. I want to know that no matter where I go, I CAN go there and have something to explore (even if it's ridiculously dangerous).
It's hardly a deal breaker, and I'm aware that going on about it for a paragraph makes it seem like I'm simply AGHAST at it :D. My point was to explain why I think it's a bad addition to the game that actually detracts though, not go on about it out of anger. I still am going to get this game, and even with these bottomless pits I'm sure I'll have a blast. I just think this is one of those additional brush strokes that "ruin" the painting, so to speak, meaning it's totally pointless and hurts more than helps.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)