Metroid: Samus Returns Impressions: "I didn't want to stop playing."

It is unfortunate that there are no examples in Metroid history of mediocre developers pulling it together to make a good Metroid game.

If only we had proven developers, preferably Japanese, to make a Metroid game. That would be ideal.

This left a big fat grin on my face. Kudos.
 
It is unfortunate that there are no examples in Metroid history of mediocre developers pulling it together to make a good Metroid game.

If only we had proven developers, preferably Japanese, to make a Metroid game. That would be ideal.

Assuming that's in reference to Retro, that was a remarkable situation. Probably one of the most amazing achievements ever in game development. You can't point to that as a reliable blueprint for future efforts.
 
Assuming that's in reference to Retro, that was a remarkable situation. Probably one of the most amazing achievements ever in game development. You can't point to that as a reliable blueprint for future efforts.
Not to mention that Nintendo (Japan) was fairly involved.

How involved is Nintendo this time? I honestly have no idea, but I'd like to think that they've had a big hand steering the game's design along.

Pacing, exploration and level design are the most important facets of any 2D Metroid game imo. It's what made the series what it is. Finding certain abilities or upgrades or shortcuts, each hidden or isolated in brilliant ways, is what's always given me the most joy. That will be the hardest part to match and I don't think we've seen much yet on that front? Honest question - not sure what we know so far
 
It is unfortunate that there are no examples in Metroid history of mediocre developers pulling it together to make a good Metroid game.

If only we had proven developers, preferably Japanese, to make a Metroid game. That would be ideal.

Oooooooooh. This comment is extremely well put together. Made me think for a second ;)

Kudos. My thoughts exactly.
 
After watching the gameplay, I'm not sure I really like the whole free aim thing. One thing I love about Metroid is the limited aiming and positioning myself for connecting shots. Not a knock on the game, just my own personal dislike. I dig the counter, so long as it's not easy as hell to do, and you should take more damage if you miss. It's only 30fps though, so how hard could they make it without it being unfair due to the framerate? Animations seems nice, and the run in particular is pretty sweet. Eh, I'll have to play it and see. It looks decent, but I'm straddling the fence as to if I personally like it as a Metroid title. I don't like Fusion as a Metroid either, though I liked the game and thought SA-X was genius.

This is the same issue I'm having with the aiming. I actually like the mechanical deliberateness of Samus in Metroid games. I think they're trying to turn Samus Returns into some sort of high-octance action game. That's not what I want from a Metroid game.

I think this game might be decent or good on it's own, but I don't think it's going to be what I want. Of course, a lot of people just like the metroidvania aspect of it, which appears to be somewhat intact. So, they'll be fine.
 
Well, I'm just working from the Treehouse demo, and my analysis may be wrong. But so far, this is what I've discerned:

- The 40-Metroid structure is back, with a progressive series of Metroid-based hard locks between zones
- A teleport system has been introduced to expedite backtracking (implying some degree of open-endedness to make backtracking worthwhile)
- Traversal has added flexibility thanks to reintroduced mechanics like the infinite bomb jump
- We don't know whether the old structure will be embellished with new shortcuts and alternate paths (as in ZM)

I haven't performed any kind of comparison of the map we've seen in SR to Metroid II, but I'm sure somebody else will.

Also we know from the Treehouse demonstration that they've added a lot of new sections that weren't in the original game to accommodate the new gameplay mechanics in the remake. We also know they want to make exploration more 'dynamic and diverse' than the original game. These could mean several things in practice, but I feel it's safe to assume based on all the facts available that the flow of the game will be a bit more open ended in this remake than in the original.
 
Not to mention that Nintendo (Japan) was fairly involved.

How involved is Nintendo this time? I honestly have no idea, but I'd like to think that they've had a big hand steering the game's design along.

Pacing, exploration and level design are the most important facets of any 2D Metroid game imo. It's what made the series what it is. Finding certain abilities or upgrades or shortcuts, each hidden or isolated in brilliant ways, is what's always given me the most joy. That will be the hardest part to match and I don't think we've seen much yet on that front? Honest question - not sure what we know so far

Yoshio Sakamoto, who's always been the big cheese of 2D Metroid games, is producing it. I'd assume he's heavily involved in the project.
 
Something tells me there are a number of people who swallowed the Federation Force tripe now complaining generally about "Metroid fans" as if they're some homogeneous block.
The general response to Metroid: Samus Returns has been positive (in contrast to the reaction to Federation Force), so those people have to focus on a vocal minority on GAF.
 
Guys.

There's a new 2D-style Metroid coming in a few shorts months. After 13 long years.

... How crazy is THAT?!!!!!

metroidreturnsamus_5F00_610.jpg

Still seems surreal.
 
Guys.

There's a new 2D-style Metroid coming in a few shorts months. After 13 long years.

... How crazy is THAT?!!!!!

Still seems surreal.
That screenshot reminds me of how many visual design choices they seem to be taking from the Metroid Prime games. The yellow highlighted arm cannon, the Dark Samus-style visor, the intricate Chozo art and industrial elements...
 
Yeah I mean sure there's a precedent in Retro, but thinking Nintendo can take literally any developer and get them to make a masterpiece is naive. Not to mention Nintendo actually OWNS Retro, so obviously their commitment to the collaboration was different.

Not saying it /won't/ happen here, mind you, what we've seen of the game suggests this may be MS' best effort yet, but pretending there's 0% chance this won't be good is kinda ridiculous.

Guys.

There's a new 2D-style Metroid coming in a few shorts months. After 13 long years.

... How crazy is THAT?!!!!!



Still seems surreal.

She looks so damn good in this game, I love it.
 
Yeah, I'm really glad we can finally most likely move on from the crummy Other M design that's been haunting us for almost a decade. I was getting really sick of Nintendo using that design whenever they bothered to reference Metroid, whether it be in Smash Bros., the avatars in the Switch's OS, or that weird pop singer n3DS commercial.

tumblr_inline_ncnbbzIm3K1rew0e4.jpg


Samus' armor should have some meat and bulk to it as seen in Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Her OM design in comparison is like some dinky action figure. They made it look better in Smash 4, though unfortunately the same could not be said for Ridley...
 
Yeah, I'm really glad we can finally most likely move on from the crummy Other M design that's been haunting us for almost a decade. I was getting really sick of Nintendo using that design whenever they bothered to reference Metroid, whether it be in Smash Bros., the avatars in the Switch's OS, or that weird pop singer 3DS commercial.

tumblr_inline_ncnbbzIm3K1rew0e4.jpg


Samus' armor should have some meat and bulk to it as seen in Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Her OM design in comparison is like some dinky action figure. They made it look better in Smash 4, though unfortunately the same could not be said for Ridley...

Cannot be restated enough. That godawful Other M design has been my bane. It's way too sleek, and doesn't fit Samus's tankiness at all. The lack of ridges on the shoulders is especially criminal. Hopefully they'll get rid of it on the switch OS, I've been using it to rep Samus, but I hate it.

It's so good to see Samus back, this design is honestly fantastic. Very similar to the Prime designs, but with a slightly different flair to it. I think it might be the very prominent lights. Hopefully they do away with Other M (and Smash's) awful Zero suit designs too. No heels needed, and Samus isn't some shrimpy Japanese girl.

Now I'm just torn on whether to get the Special edition or not.

Also, does anyone know if there's a diagonal aiming option without the free aim? I'm okay with the free aim option, but I'm afraid it might slow the gameplay too much without the traditional L/R diagonal aiming.
 
On top of it coming from a shit game, yeah, OM's suit is way too sleek and fragile looking, which isn't a surprise considering how stupid sexist the game it comes from is. I'm telling you, owning the OM figma because I love Samus is pretty bittersweet due to this. Seeing that crap in Smash sucked too.

The only other Samus related thing I hate more than that is the Zero Suit, pretty much.

The new design is so good, though, she looks beefy as hell but stylish too. Also I found it funny that Sakamoto was wearing a t shirt with that old Super Metroid concept art of Samus where she looks all buff out of her armor. How ironic.
 
That screenshot reminds me of how many visual design choices they seem to be taking from the Metroid Prime games. The yellow highlighted arm cannon, the Dark Samus-style visor, the intricate Chozo art and industrial elements...
I think the colors on her cannon change color depending on what beam she has equipped.
 
I only want a new metroid game if it is/has:

60fps
2D
Sprite based
Metroid-vania
no rpg elements
Classic samus design
Bit tune soundtrack
Developed by retro
Few SNES team members involved
Sequel to super metroid
Plays like fusion
30 hour campaign
No DLC
No cameos
No amiibo support
 
I only want a new metroid game if it is/has:

60fps
2D
Sprite based
Metroid-vania
no rpg elements
Classic samus design
Bit tune soundtrack
Developed by retro
Few SNES team members involved
Sequel to super metroid
Plays like fusion
30 hour campaign
No DLC
No cameos
No amiibo support

Gotta be sarcasm.
 
I'll believe it when I see 60fps footage, coming from the dev team at play here. Simple as that, really. You are absolutely right though, there is no concrete evidence. Hopefully Mercury can surprise us.

It's definitely 30fps, based on the Treehouse stream.

I assume this uses the Mirror of Fate engine, which was not designed to hit 60fps on the platform.
 
I only want a new metroid game if it is/has:

60fps
2D
Sprite based
Metroid-vania
no rpg elements
Classic samus design
Bit tune soundtrack
Developed by retro
Few SNES team members involved
Sequel to super metroid
Plays like fusion
30 hour campaign
No DLC
No cameos
No amiibo support

I thought you were serious and was about to go in until I read "Sequel to Super Metroid" and "Plays like Fusion" back to back. You got me. Well done.
 
Depending on N3DS benefits, I may end up playing it on old XL. But in a few months it'll be interesting to see how it looks at higher resolutions on Citra.
 
Is this game not applicable for Amazon's 20% off prime preorder discount?
I tried to preorder it, but I'm not getting the 20% off on it.

I tried another game to see if the deal still works and the new Mordor game showed the discount just fine.
 
Cannot be restated enough. That godawful Other M design has been my bane. It's way too sleek, and doesn't fit Samus's tankiness at all. The lack of ridges on the shoulders is especially criminal. Hopefully they'll get rid of it on the switch OS, I've been using it to rep Samus, but I hate it.

It's so good to see Samus back, this design is honestly fantastic. Very similar to the Prime designs, but with a slightly different flair to it. I think it might be the very prominent lights. Hopefully they do away with Other M (and Smash's) awful Zero suit designs too. No heels needed, and Samus isn't some shrimpy Japanese girl.

Now I'm just torn on whether to get the Special edition or not.

Also, does anyone know if there's a diagonal aiming option without the free aim? I'm okay with the free aim option, but I'm afraid it might slow the gameplay too much without the traditional L/R diagonal aiming.

On top of it coming from a shit game, yeah, OM's suit is way too sleek and fragile looking, which isn't a surprise considering how stupid sexist the game it comes from is. I'm telling you, owning the OM figma because I love Samus is pretty bittersweet due to this. Seeing that crap in Smash sucked too.

The only other Samus related thing I hate more than that is the Zero Suit, pretty much.

The new design is so good, though, she looks beefy as hell but stylish too. Also I found it funny that Sakamoto was wearing a t shirt with that old Super Metroid concept art of Samus where she looks all buff out of her armor. How ironic.

Good to see I wasn't the only one that hated that shitty design.
I actually hold of on the shitty Samus amiibo because of that.
Glad that I'll get to have one with a non shit design.
 
Is this game not applicable for Amazon's 20% off prime preorder discount?
I tried to preorder it, but I'm not getting the 20% off on it.

I tried another game to see if the deal still works and the new Mordor game showed the discount just fine.

I am seeing the same shit. I think we need to contact Amazon to see whats up.

And for that one person who asked for a link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X7V8NR/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 
Amazon link?

For me it says currently unavailable.
Here you go.
I am seeing the same shit. I think we need to contact Amazon to see whats up.

And for that one person who asked for a link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X7V8NR/?tag=neogaf0e-20
It's probably because it just went up or something. Other Nintendo games like Hey Pikmin and stuff are showing the discount just fine.

I doubt this will be a rare game or anything (I'm not getting the collectors edition or anything), so I don't mind waiting a few days until Amazon sorts its stuff out.
 
Not interested in playing a 2D Metroid game that runs at only 30 fps. Sorry Mercury Steam.

Children born after the release of fusion are in junior high and this will be the first 2D Metroid that'll be brand new in their lifetime. You best take what you can get lol. I know I'll be there day 1
 
Here you go.

It's probably because it just went up or something. Other Nintendo games like Hey Pikmin and stuff are showing the discount just fine.

I doubt this will be a rare game or anything (I'm not getting the collectors edition or anything), so I don't mind waiting a few days until Amazon sorts its stuff out.

A few other games don't have the discount yet.

The Switch version of Battle Chasers doesn't have the Prime discount but the PS4 and Xbox One version have it.
 
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