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jp's Metroid Prime (GC)
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| [October 17, 2005 01:18:07 AM]
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32% percent. Got the gravity suit...and now I have to backtrack...a lot. I wish this game had more save points and less (skippable?) trekking to do. Sigh. (yes, I wish it was Zelda-ish in this sense).
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| [October 8, 2005 09:13:28 PM]
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I have no idea what my current completion percentage is. I'd have to load up the game...but I've already logged over 7 hours.
Since my last foray I've picked up a new weapon upgrade, the "freeze ray" (cold gun? I can't remember the real name). I think that as far as weapon upgrades go I'm almost done. I think there is only one more to go and I should be done with those. As far as visors, well, I think I'm missing one of those too. I'm also missing the gravity suit (which, if memory serves, should help me move underwater normally).
I had a thought while I was playing. I'm not going to finish this game. I know that at the end I have to fight some giant worm thing (it's been hinted), and I also know I have to find 12 doodads (artifacts?). So far, I've only found 2. You basically find them hidden along the way, and since they are not required to clear an area, it is really easy to miss them and move on. (as opposed to the normal upgrades that are usually required in order to access new places). If I'm right about this I won't be devastated, though a little disappointed. Namely because the EXCELLENT game design will have been flawed a little, in my mind. I could of course be totally wrong about this...maybe the next to last item is a doodad locator that helps you find all the ones you missed...or something like that. Anyways, I'll guess I'll just have to wait and see.
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| [September 19, 2005 08:50:04 PM]
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23% (or a little bit more).
I've recovered a few more powerups and, most interestingly, a thermal-vision visor! When I switch it on, I get to see everything that's warm light up...and of course, I get to use it in a bunch of places where the power has gone out.
The visor/HUD is one of the really cool things about this game. It doesn't really add much in terms of gameplay, but it really adds a lot in terms of immersion.
The designers of the game took their time to think about how the HUD/visor could be well-integrated to the game as much as possible. There are some visual effects that are nice. For example, it fogs up a little around the side (with water droplets and all) when you move through high humidity areas. Also, when you come out from under water, you get a "rippling" effect as water trickles down the front. Additionally, there is (at least?) one monster that freezes you. When this happens, the visor freezes up (like a cars windshield in an icestorm). Also, there are some "electric" monsters that cause the visor to fill up with white static (like when your TV gets interference). I'm pretty sure there are a few more things that I have yet to discover, but for now, I'm pretty impressed.
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| [September 14, 2005 10:01:49 PM]
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19% (maybe a little bit over that)
I've just finished my 2nd boss battle and recovered a few more "powerups". They're the same as in previous games, though not really. Ok, they're pretty close to the same with some minor differences.
Anyways, I wanted to comment on boss battles. So far, they're incredible. Game designers should take note of these and try to find the magic in them because they work perfectly (for me). Here's a list of reasons why:
1) Can't defeat the boss the first time around, in fact, can't win until about the fourth attempt.
2) Each time I lose the boss battle I am filled with dread..(oh man, I've got to do this whole thing again)...yet, each time it is easier to get to the point where I died last!
3) There is an "A-ha!" moment, usually during the 3rd attempt, where I realize what it is I have to do exactly and what the "trick" is. This happens around the 3rd attempt because by this time, I've practiced enough to not die immediately and can't start to apply some brains to the matter. So it is usually a "trick" that requires having practiced certain skills.
4) When (3) happens, it is usually too late for you to beat the boss, though you are able to see what could happen. You are thus energized for the 4th, and hopefully last, attempt.
Each of these steps happened to me during both boss battles. The giant-nasty flowers thing as well as a snow-beast with crystals on its back. Curiously, for the second boss, I did most of my practicing in taking out the monsters that preclude the actual boss meanie and I only discovered how to deal with big-meanie due to a little bit of luck. My "wild" idea turned out to be the right way to go about things.
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| [September 11, 2005 11:54:36 AM]
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12% complete and a little over 3 hours on the saved game.
This game is really great not because it is fresh and original but rather because it turns something I was really familiar and comfortable into something, well, familiar and confortable yet fresh. It's kind of strange to say great things about a game that is not fresh, original and all that stuff, but the truth is that it is. Metroid is in so many ways a remake of all the other Metroid games, but on the other hand it IS fresh and new while keeping all the good stuff comfortable and familiar.
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| [September 6, 2005 12:02:06 AM]
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I wanted to play something with a bit of action in it. I passed over Metal Arms and decided that Viewtiful would be too much and eventually settled on Metroid Prime. So much has been written about this game and all of it good. Would it meet my expectations? Well, yes. But not in the way I though it would.
I thought that Metroid Prime was a Metroid-themes FPS. Sure, it probably had some other cool stuff thrown in, like the scanner and the "ball" mode. But I was expecting a shooter and wondering about how the aiming would work and so on. This game isn't a shooter in the same sense that the GBA Metroid games I've played aren't shooters either. I guess that best way to describe Metroid is to say that it is a Metroid game that happens to be in the first-person perspective.
I am really amazed by how little the perspective changes things. The essential gameplay (and game) is 100% Metroid pure and pure. (I hope that it doesn't get as difficult!). There are some new things, but the heart and soul is Metroid. How can you tell? I guess so far, and I've made some decent progress, it has to do with how you perceive the levels, how you navigate them, how you realize what you need to do next or where you need to go. There is a lot of guiding down the next route, but it feels natural. You want to go to the next place you're supposed to go.
So far my only quibbles would be:
1) It is not as easy to read the 3D map as it was the 2D one.
2) There aren't very many save points
So far I've made my way down to Tallon IV and have recovered the Morph Ball and Missile Launcher!
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jp's Metroid Prime (GC)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got Bored
GameLog started on: Monday 5 September, 2005
GameLog closed on: Friday 20 April, 2007 |
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