Current Events > C/D: Metroid Prime 1 >>>>>>>>>> 2

(+) Yeah! (+)

Prime one has literally no exposition outside of the scans. You're experiencing this world around you and learning about it organically. Absolutely nothing is spoon-fed to you except for the hints. you're exploring this great interconnected world in ways that make sense and it feels great.

Prime 2 on the other hand is different. Prime 2 treads this weird line where they wanted a more complicated story but also wanted the feel of isolation the first one gave. I don't think that's really a possible balance to hit. What irks me the most is the fact that there are literally points where characters say to you "congratulations you can now open orange doors" just because he gave you the ability to do so. Metroid is at its best when you unlock new areas and are able to traverse to new places simply due to your heightened physical abilities not because of arbitrary story reasons. The game is bogged down by having very boring areas in wastes, bog, and swamps. There's very little interesting landscape relative to 1. the story suffers by having NPC's that tell you what you're doing. it was so much better in 1 being able to figure out your own goals as you proceed.

Don't get me wrong, I do really really enjoy Prime 2. It's quite fun. But it doesn't come anywhere close to how good Prime 1 is.
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I mean yeah, that's basically an established fact.
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The environments in 2 were boring and going back and forth between light and dark world was tedious AF. Also prefer not to have to deal with beam ammo.
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TrevorBlack79 posted...

I mean yeah, that's basically an established fact.

Mega C
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AvlButtslam posted...

The environments in 2 were boring and going back and forth between light and dark world was tedious AF. Also prefer not to have to deal with beam ammo.

Yeah these too. World design in general was pretty confusing too
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Agree

I beat Prime 1 and never finished Prime 2 for what that's worth

It's true
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Agreed. Though it's mostly because the environments and music is better in 1. Only environment I absolutely loved in 2 was the cyberpunk-ish setting of Sanctuary Fortress. The other two were kinda...dull? Unique environments to be sure, but dull.
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Timohtep posted...

AvlButtslam posted...

The environments in 2 were boring and going back and forth between light and dark world was tedious AF. Also prefer not to have to deal with beam ammo.

Yeah these too. World design in general was pretty confusing too

The dark world should have become eventually contiguous.
Nintendo seems to consistently have this problem with any given "dark world".

D

MP1 >>> MP2
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D (at least with fewer >s).

I love Echoes and think it improves on 1 in some respects (e.g. bosses), but still consider 1 the best Prime game.

The main reason is the structure, which you mentioned. 1 has fewer "hard" locks (i.e. where the story rather than your / the character's skills impede progress). Also, 1 lets you find the keys at any point (provided you can get to them), whereas 2 only lets you get them after a certain point in the story.

As for the planets they take place on, Aether feels more alien to me, but I find Tallon IV more interesting for some reason. Maybe I just like the familiarity of having a "green" area, a snowy area, a hot area, etc. It's not really a coincidence that the Phazon Mines are my least favorite area in 1. Aside from the wonky difficulty (particularly the first save point being too far away), I'm not a fan of the aesthetic.

In terms of the puzzles and power-ups, 2 probably is a bit more creative if I'm being honest. The enemies too (including the bosses as I mentioned).

I agree with your topic title, but not your reasoning. I've been trying forever and I still can't figure out why the average gamer seems to prefer wandering in circles for thirty hours before finally giving up and youtubing it to just having something show you where to go.

Fortunately, MP1 was actually better about this since Jarvis tells you your next objective more or less immediately after your last one, compared to 2 where it feels like an hour. I literally set the controller down and did something else at times. And even then the environments were still super confusing to navigate.

I mean I'm all for Super Metroid-style gameplay where you kind of wander in some direction and turn out to be right because of good stage design that funnels you the right way unprompted, but if you can't pull it off you can't pull it off, and if there's no assist, the result is stupid and frustrating and I don't want to play it.

AvlButtslam posted...

The environments in 2 were boring and going back and forth between light and dark world was tedious AF. Also prefer not to have to deal with beam ammo.

Yep. Despite the (light) Sanctuary Fortress being the best environment in the trilogy, it's a special case and in general, these are definitely problems I had with the game. Torvus in particular was annoying af.

Then also directions were misleading (the thing says "explore Dark Agon to find the keys" when it means "leave Dark Agon and look for other entrances") Then a few miscellaneous things like giving no indication that you're supposed to shoot the Quadraxis head when it detatches while making it painfully obvious that you're supposed to jump on it, while also making it totally possible to actually jump on it but making Samus for no reason refuse to Spider Ball to it just because you didn't shoot it first.

I mean, I didn't hate the game but it has a lot of problems with conveyance.
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DevsBro posted...

Then a few miscellaneous things like giving no indication that you're supposed to shoot the Quadraxis head when it detatches while making it painfully obvious that you're supposed to jump on it, while also making it totally possible to actually jump on it but making Samus for no reason refuse to Spider Ball to it just because you didn't shoot it first.

That's just a problem endemic to Nintendo bosses since N64 or so. You can't just violence it to death, but instead have to hunt for the g-spot using that thing you just got, almost always three times.

2 had some great morph ball stuff including the boss fights, and I think it doesn't get enough credit for that. Still, 1 is better.
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Inertia is a property of matter.
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I like 2 better
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Zack_Attackv1 posted...

Inertia is a property of matter.

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!
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Questionmarktarius posted...

DevsBro posted...

Then a few miscellaneous things like giving no indication that you're supposed to shoot the Quadraxis head when it detatches while making it painfully obvious that you're supposed to jump on it, while also making it totally possible to actually jump on it but making Samus for no reason refuse to Spider Ball to it just because you didn't shoot it first.

That's just a problem endemic to Nintendo bosses since N64 or so. You can't just violence it to death, but instead have to hunt for the g-spot using that thing you just got, almost always three times.

This is kind of the opposite of that though, since you're actually supposed to violence it until it gets stunned, and until you do, the super obvious morph ball tracks are still accessible but using them leads to a dead end. Because for whatever reason, not only does stunning the head make it easier to get on top of it, but Samus will not stick to it for no reason until you do.
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I think the two places Prime 2 wins out over 1 is the challenge factor and environments.

Prime 1 was Nintendo doing what Nintendo does - "We need a fire world and an ice world and a desert world, etc." Phazon Mines was the only place that was remotely interesting. Prime 2 at least tried a bit more to make some intriguing environments.

Prime 1 is definitely fun but, even on a first playthrough, it just isn't that difficult. Prime 2 is much more eager to fuck with you, and I liked that.
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I definitely thought 1 was harder than 2.

The first time I died in 2 was the Quadraxis fight, and that was mostly because I tried to fight it wrong.

King Ing and Dark Samus were pretty tough but also definite outliers in difficulty.
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Really? The only part of 1 I found remotely challenging was the Thermal Visor section, and that's only because of how long of a stretch that is to go without a save room.
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2 feels too restrictive with the dark world.
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2 is more tedious than difficult, give or take a few bossfights.

Confirm, for me. I play Metroid for the exploration. Prime 2's levels feel gamey and over-designed. Prime 1 has more organic level design and a more convincing world.
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Polycosm posted...

Confirm, for me. I play Metroid for the exploration. Prime 2's levels feel gamey and over-designed. Prime 1 has more organic level design and a more convincing world.

yeah this is my line of thinking as well
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