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Metroid Prime 2: Echos A Year Later

L

Lemurnator

Banned
I know there's already a MP2 thread on the front page... but I thought this was worth it's own thread.

I've noticed a Majora's Mask phenomenon starting to take effect. Where you beat the game, slightly disappointed and look back a year or so later and realize what an awsome and atmospheric experiance it was.

I beat Majora's Mask feeling as though everything ended kind of abruptly and there was more I'd have liked to have seen. It wasn't until a few weeks or a few monthes later I started to appreciate the surreal atmosphere of the game. I get kind of the same feeling from Metroid Prime 2. I was so caught up in the fact that there weren't as many varied locales as there were in Metroid Prime 1 that I didn't appreciate what the game DOES have. A very surreal and spooky, lonely, surreal atmosphere. Much like Majora's Mask.

I guess I just needed to get over the fact that there wasn't an ice level. :P

What do you guys think?
 
Initially... MP1 > MP2

6 Months after release when I came back... MP2 >>>>> MP1

Metroid Prime 2 was art.
 
AniHawk said:
i thought that one part was pretty good
Click to expand...

yeah, it really made the game

So...I played and enjoyed MP1, but was told by a lot of people that MP2 was skippable. Is it worth playing, then? Or what...
 
Lemurnator said:
I know there's already a MP2 thread on the front page... but I thought this was worth it's own thread.

I've noticed a Majora's Mask phenomenon starting to take effect. Where you beat the game, slightly disappointed and look back a year or so later and realize what an awsome and atmospheric experiance it was.

I beat Majora's Mask feeling as though everything ended kind of abruptly and there was more I'd have liked to have seen. It wasn't until a few weeks or a few monthes later I started to appreciate the surreal atmosphere of the game. I get kind of the same feeling from Metroid Prime 2. I was so caught up in the fact that there weren't as many varied locales as there were in Metroid Prime 1 that I didn't appreciate what the game DOES have. A very surreal and spooky, lonely, surreal atmosphere. Much like Majora's Mask.

I guess I just needed to get over the fact that there wasn't an ice level. :P

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

It's not 11/22 yet (think that's when it came out)!

Try doing some kooky stuff; it can be rewarding but also tough/annoying. I haven't played since I last got stuck at the Workstation Access dash over the summer.

MP2 is a fun game yeah, but the first one is more fun to replay personally, due to stuff not being as annoying. Maybe MP3 will be out about a year from now.
 
I think I still need to play it, and for a year old game it's damn hard to get a hold of for a decent price.

C'est la vie. If only buying a game bought the time to play it.
 
AniHawk said:
i thought that one part was pretty good
Click to expand...

JackFrost2012 said:
yeah, it really made the game

So...I played and enjoyed MP1, but was told by a lot of people that MP2 was skippable. Is it worth playing, then? Or what...
Click to expand...

:lol

2 was alright. It depends on what you go for in it; it had some fun puzzles, but some of the restrictions hampered the amount of replayability that the first one has (with some people). I play 1 more than 2, though.

I don't think the game has sold enough (is that the only pre-requisite?) to become a Player's Choice.
 
It is always nice to hear something good about the most underrated Zelda ever: Majora's Mask.

I beated both the "sequels" (Majora and MP2).
Majora is probably the best game i've ever played.
Sadly MP2 was no an amazing experience to me.
Great game, no dubt, but too similar to the first chapter. Maybe I played it too early to appreciate it... :(
 
JackFrost2012 said:
yeah, it really made the game

So...I played and enjoyed MP1, but was told by a lot of people that MP2 was skippable. Is it worth playing, then? Or what...
Click to expand...

MP2 is nowhere near skippable. Whoever told you that.. well.. I have no words.
It's a sublime game, just like the first. And superior in many respects.
 
No. I liked it fairly well...enough to finish it but I doubt I will ever have the desire to play it again.

I hate how you would be stuck in a room fighting a couple bad guys before the doors would open for no apparent reason every time you went into a particular place. Combat against regular enemies was not the game's strong point so forcing you to fight the same battle over and over sucked.

The dark/light world wasn't interesting and is something we've seen in too many games. Going back and forth was just annoying.

The story was boring. I don't care about those aliens and I am sick of game stories that have someone sending you off to 4 different places to get 4 different items to convenietly explain why you need to go to the 4 different levels. It didn't feel like there was any real story being told, just "ok you've got the swamp item, now go to the factory and get the item there!" for every cutscene. I guess there could be more if you read the scanned crap but that's so boring I gave up after a while.

There's way too much switching of items and weapons. You have to switch to scan, for the different visors or for enemies that you freeze first and then switch to something else to shatter them.

and I didn't care much for the atmosphere. That fortress everyone loves didn't do much for me, except that bridge at the beginning. Super Metroid has more creepy atsmophere in it's opening title screen then in all of Prime 2.
 
wow you guys are slow, i realized MP2 was great my first play thru =P

Gameplay wise id have a hard time saying it was better than the first (comeon, the weapon variation sucks!)

However, the atmosphere is great. The level design is the best ive ever seen in a video game. You actually felt like you where alone on this baren planet having to forge your way through the environment as opposed to every path being neatly cut out just for your purposes.
 
I could not agree more with this post!

I year ago I was king of dissapionted in comparision with prime..

I did not like the environments (was no classic metroid) as much and the dark world was really boring..

started up the game again last week and the worlds are actually great!
they are just not like super metroid..cool in their own "majoras mask" wierd kind of way though, very detailed and interesting. the dark world is kind of cool, just don´t really like the concept..

the bosses and puzzles are amazing, puzzles especially are better than prime..

the music was better in prime1 though and I like the worlds a bit more in the end..

verdict on Prime 2

9/10 and one of the best games this generation. Only a tad worse than prime 1 overall.. I like the classic metroid a bit better.. this really is the majora of metroid though
 
MP is my GOTG, but I couldn't even finish Echoes. The light/dark theme got on my nerves, I didn't like the Ing designs, the backtracking started to wear thin, and even the menu/log system weren't as good as Prime IMO. Although after that thread about the sanctuary, I might have to go pick it up again. The one thing I loved about the game were the sweet sweet boss fights.
 
I didn't play MP2, because I watched Dbish play some of it and it just looked like more of the same.

This thread has encouraged me to think about playing it someday.

Mind you, I probably still won't play it. But I'm thinking about it. And it finally sounds like it might be fun.
 
WHY did this game have to come out the same week as Half-Life 2 and Halo 2?

Normally I would have been all over it. But my gaming dollar could only go so far.
It would make no sense to buy it seeing as my three closest friends all own a copy.

Thanks for reminding me though.
 
BorkBork said:
MP is my GOTG, but I couldn't even finish Echoes. The light/dark theme got on my nerves, I didn't like the Ing designs, the backtracking started to wear thin, and even the menu/log system weren't as good as Prime IMO. Although after that thread about the sanctuary, I might have to go pick it up again. The one thing I loved about the game were the sweet sweet boss fights.
Click to expand...
you kidding? I love the Log System of Echoes much more organized and more stuff to find.

I still say it to me MP2>MP1
 
Metroid Prime 2 was game of the year 2004:

- best level design
- best atmosphere
- best game design modification towards console control in an FPS (traditional FPS doesn't work well on consoles -> change the control scheme? but then the FPS gameplay stinks. so change the gameplay too)
- best original/creative art in an environment (sanctuary fortress)
- some of the best boss battles I've ever seen in a game; certainly more innovative than the zelda ripoff ones in MP1


Downsides:
- cutscenes could use better direction
- disappointing music, overall
 
I like Majora's Mask and Echoes much more than Ocarina and MP1. To each their own, I guess.

Echoes has great, tight level design - something you don't see too much these days in the age of free-roaming GTA schlop.
 
I never understood the hate for echoes. Prime and Echoes are neck-to-neck IMHO. I guess its just a matter of whether or not you liked the dark world. I personally found the dark world to be quite enjoyable, you had a sense of urgency there. My only grip was the "keys".

Oh and the art was beautiful.
 
Yeah, MGS3 = GOTY 2004.

Prime 2 was awesome, but more flawed than the first.

It's not even that flawed at all, but still.
 
Zeo said:
Yeah, MGS3 = GOTY 2004.

Prime 2 was awesome, but more flawed than the first.

It's not even that flawed at all, but still.
Click to expand...

I'll still say MGS3 was one of the most amazing gaming expierences of my life and definatley GOTY 2004.

But I'm not going to throw Metroid Prime under the bus and take anything away from it.

MP = MP2, both amazing Metroid expierences that should not be passed up by any means.
 
JackFrost2012 said:
So...I played and enjoyed MP1, but was told by a lot of people that MP2 was skippable. Is it worth playing, then? Or what...
Click to expand...

Skippable isn't quite right; the only issue I really had with it is that in most respects it was still very much like Metroid Prime. I feel like they needed a few more things to differentiate them, or more time apart so I would have appreciated the second one more. It lacked the novelty of the first game. I'd definately recommend everyone play it tho, it's inarguably a triple-A title. I guess it's been just about the right amount of time now - three years since the first one is enough to work up a good jonesin'.
 
Prime 2 was good, for most of the same reasons that Prime 1 was good, but it also had some irritating aspects. The dark/light stuff was just lameo. And the transitions got really tiresome eventually. Go back and forth staring at the map to figure out where to go, often go back and forth just because you couldn't get through a certain area without transitioning. The load times between the worlds were quick at least, but they still got old.

Plus the story (not that I really hold Metroid to some high storytelling standard) was just bleh. There's this race, and they split off, and now they're evil, and the world is dark. Get it? Dark? Because they're evil? It's very clever.
Oh btw, Prime is around, for no particular reason.
Oh, and let's set up another sequel too. That'd be clever. Right? RIGHT?

Not that it was *bad*, the worlds were beautiful, and there was some fun stuff to find and use. It also has a very different feel and atmosphere when you started, very eerie and (haha) dark, even moreso than Metroid usually is.

I'm a bit of a Metroid whore, so I'm still eagerly awaiting the next one. MP1 just blew me away, I really expected it to suck, and they knocked it out of the park.
 
Victrix said:
PI'm a bit of a Metroid whore, so I'm still eagerly awaiting the next one. MP1 just blew me away, I really expected it to suck, and they knocked it out of the park.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree with this more.
 
Metroid Prime 2 was a huge chore for me to play until I got the
Screw Attack
, which made the previously monotonous crossing of large chasms a breeze. I still think Metroid Prime 1 was a much more balanced/fun experience the whole way through, but it's only been a few months since I beat Metroid Prime 2 (w/ 100% ending). Maybe that'll change if I pick it back up in a few months. :\
 
Juice said:
I didn't play MP2, because I watched Dbish play some of it and it just looked like more of the same.

This thread has encouraged me to think about playing it someday.

Mind you, I probably still won't play it. But I'm thinking about it. And it finally sounds like it might be fun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is more of the same, just harder bosses. I liked the harder bosses part, hated the whole light/dark world thing. It just wasn't cool. O, the hint system was more vague than in MP1, which I liked but others may not. Yeah, that's my 2 cents. Anyways, I hope MP3 doesn't come out for a few years, 2 felt rushed.
 
I still feel that Echoes is the better game. It's a more unique experience, is more difficult, and manages to bring back even more classic Metroid elements (colored doors, screw attack).
 
I loved Metroid Prime 1 but really didn't like MP2. Just something about it bored me. The sense of exploration wasn't there, it didn't feel like "hey wait a minute, with this new item I can now get to that area I couldn't before!", its more like "goddamn it when am I gonna get the item tg get through these doors I keep seeing!" I swear I saw 10 power bomb doors before I finally got the power bombs. And backtracking to those spots usually just led to another door I couldn't get through, or a lame 5 missle upgrade.

Oh dear GOD the things you had to do for a fucking missle upgrade :lol
 
I never played MP2, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to praise Majora's Mask. Far and away the best Zelda game. I can't believe I didn't play it until it was released for the Gamecube. Everyone who cried that they wanted a darker Zelda, or a Zelda that changes up the gameplay significantly, or a "true sequal" to OOT when Wind Waker came out must have missed this game as well. It has far fewer dungeons than OOT but to me the game felt even larger due to all of the content outside of the dungeons. And the dnugeons MM did have were the best Zelda games have ever offered. Plus the atmosphere was incredible and it balanced so many interesting game mechanics (the NPC notebook, the masks, the 3 day cycle). Such an ambitious game for its time

I passed on MP2 because it looked like more of the same, and it felt too soon since MP1 had debuted just a few years earlier (the same reasons I passed on Majora's Mask on the N64). I had no desire to go back and try MP2 until this thread compared it to MM. Now I'm going to have to at least give it a rent this winter break
 
Metroid Prime 2 is definitely worth playing through if you liked Prime 1. It's not as good, but it's certainly good enough to play. The bosses are actually harder and better in 2nd.

Some of the music is really good too.

I think some of the problem was that it were overshadowed by so many great games last year.
 
SantaCruZer said:
:lol


I typed one thing and thought of something other :D
Click to expand...

I knew you meant 2 anyhow. We've all made the same typo mistake before :)

Now I'm conflicted. I'm getting positives in this thread, and now negatives. I'm back on the fence again I think. And I keep reading about harder bosses - I definitely don't need that. The majority were fine, but the end of the game was damn near impossible for me to complete.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
I knew you meant 2 anyhow. We've all made the same typo mistake before :)
Click to expand...

indeed :)

Now I'm conflicted. I'm getting positives in this thread, and now negatives. I'm back on the fence again I think. And I keep reading about harder bosses - I definitely don't need that. The majority were fine, but the end of the game was damn near impossible for me to complete.
Click to expand...

well yeah, there are two bosses that were really hard for me, but nothing impossible. died 1-2 times and then completed them.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
I knew you meant 2 anyhow. We've all made the same typo mistake before :)

Now I'm conflicted. I'm getting positives in this thread, and now negatives. I'm back on the fence again I think. And I keep reading about harder bosses - I definitely don't need that. The majority were fine, but the end of the game was damn near impossible for me to complete.
Click to expand...

I'd say if you're big into exploration and atmosphere -- which I guess you have to be if you like the Metroid series -- buy it. If you're looking for improvement or innovation in the combat of Prime 1, then avoid it. However, it truly is one of those love it or hate it type games so you're better off just buying it anyway since its only $20, less than $20 used. http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/242780.asp

As for me, I loved Echoes. I wasn't disappointed at all, even just coming off Prime 1 a year earlier. I hear some people saying that the game's light/dark mechanic didn't make for a eerie atmosphere but I couldn't disagree more. I thought it was one of the most immersive games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.
 
koam said:
I never understood the hate for echoes. Prime and Echoes are neck-to-neck IMHO. I guess its just a matter of whether or not you liked the dark world. I personally found the dark world to be quite enjoyable, you had a sense of urgency there. My only grip was the "keys".
Click to expand...

That's the thing, I hated the dark world. It was annoying more than anything. MP1 > MP2
 
Yeah what really killed the game for me were the enemies with crazy health. I don't want to shoot every random enemy 30 times, space pirates 60 times. Hell they take 6-7 super missle shots to be taken down, and they're just normal random enemies, wtf!
 
I love Echoes and think it's just as good as the first Prime, just not improved enough to be clearly better. But Screw Attack alone puts the game in a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, I didn't get to fully enjoy the pacing of the game the first time I played it, because I had three days to get through it for my review and I had final exams to study for that same weekend. I didn't sleep much, needless to say. By the time I got to the final boss, I was so exhausted that I just didn't have the patience to keep trying it, so I never fully beat the game.

Reading these two current threads, I think I'll replay the game over Thanksgiving week or maybe over Christmas vacation.
 
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