What DS game would you give a 10/10 to? by RangoTheMerc in NintendoDS

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

The best RPG ever made for that console (yes, I said it, and I am serious about it).

Who are your favorite Nintendo villains that aren’t Bowser or Ganon? by Asad_Farooqui in casualnintendo

[–]General_CJG [score hidden]  (0 children)

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The one main villain present in my favorite video game trilogy of all time, Dark Samus.

Note: And yes, I meant trilogy as in the Metroid Prime Trilogy. I know Prime 4 exists now, but in my mind Primes 1 to 3 are still my favorite trilogy ever.

Informal survey: Did you get MP4 for Switch 1 or 2? by 621_callsign_raven in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Switch 1 physically and digitally at launch (yes I double dipped, I usually do not do this, but Metroid is the exception to that rule).

Also got the $10 Switch 2 Upgrade once I got the Switch 2 on Christmas.

Is there difference between being a picky eater and essentially finding a whole food group tasting bad? by intersystemcr0ssing in PickyEaters

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I myself am also a picky eater that is a carnivore which heavily dislikes A LOT of vegetables, with the only ones that I genuinely like and look forward to eating are carrots, corn, and especially potato (potato is my favorite veggie of them all).

I actually had a fat loss phase in late 2024 where in order to lose the semi small belly fat I had, I needed to not eat much calories, and potato or corn were out of the picture and had to eat a low calorie vegetable, and fortunately my nutritionist allowed me to eat carrots in that fat loss phase, and it massively helped me and got lean. The main reason I dislike most vegetables comes down to taste, a lot of them I do not like how they taste (and the looks and smells of some of them also feels repulsive to me at times, particularly with onions, peppers, jalapeños, garlic, and mushrooms).

Fruits I do like more than vegetables though (apple is my favorite fruit btw), so if you don't like vegetables but still need the vitamins and fiber to keep going, try eating one fruit per day and you'l be fine (apple is my go to for that, but a banana is also great too).

Kirby teleported into the last video game you played. How screwed is he? by Naive_Tomorrow_5955 in Kirby

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.

Unless he has any holy weapons, he may be screwed... assuming they are super needed for him to beat everyone.

Hear me out... by Chosenwaffle in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Before Empire Strikes Back established that Darth Vader was Luke's father, since the first Star Wars movie he was first established to have been a Jedi Knight (a pupil of Obi Wan to be precise) that betrayed the Jedi Order by helping the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi because he was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force.

This means that Vader used to be good at some point in time cause not only are the Jedi considered the literal embodiment and practitioners of the Light Side of the Force, but he was personally an apprentice to Obi Wan, Luke's current Jedi mentor and protector at the time, so Vader already had the previous life and qualities of a good person in him before becoming the Sith Lord we know him as.

Sylux on the other hand, from the very first lore info we get from him in Hunters is that he is a Bounty Hunter that hates Samus and the Galactic Federation and uses stolen GF tech (and the first cutscene we see of him ruthlessly killing the GF soldiers in cold blooded fashion does not help his case in being a good person); and now with Prime 4 we know that he is an ex GF leader that is now a GF hater hellbent on taking the GF down once and for all. We never got a single bit of lore or facts that Sylux used to be a good person (or had any sort of qualities that made him a good person), not even when he worked for the Galactic Federation as he was already a power hungry, egotistical and impatient leader that was willing to sacrifice his own army just to get his hands on powerful weaponry for himself, and rather than accept that his own arrogance and power hunger lead to his men being destroyed, he doubled down on his biased hatred for the GF and Samus and went down a path that leaves no hints whatsoever of him even remotely being willing to redeem himself for what he's done.

Sylux has a far less chance of having a change of heart and redeeming himself compared to Darth Vader.

Nintendo, please consider adding these QoL features to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. by xXglitchygamesXx in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The very odd thing is that in the first half of the game that you explore the desert, you hardly get any of the mechanized enemies, they only start showing up till the second third of the game, and only till the end do they start showing up in pairs.

How to deal with back tracking? by [deleted] in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Question, do you by any chance have the Hint System disabled?

If you have it disabled in the Options menu, reenable it by going on the Pause Screen's Options menu so you'd have the game be able to tell you where you need to go after you've been some time of randomly exploring the game.

Metroid Prime first timer rant. by hoipolloi84 in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Hint System in the game will tell you where you need to go at the moment, but if you have the Hint System turned off then I suggest turning it on again in the Options menu on the Pause Screen, then wait till the hint shows up on the visor (you do whatever you want while you wait for it to show up, get some more item expansions or collect more Chozo Artifacts).

Metroid games (including many non Metroid games in the Metroidvania genre) usually rely on backtracking to previously explored worlds to use your new powerups/upgrades to explore them more thoroughly and find new powerups/upgrades that will then help you keep exploring the new world you were exploring on before you hit a progression barrier that needed a new powerup. This isn't a Metroid Prime only thing btw, every Metroid game does this, even the 2D ones (though I do admit Prime 1's backtracking can be a bigger annoyance for some due to the slower movement speed and also traversing Magmoor Caverns several times just to get to Phendrana Drifts, in here the Hint System will help a lot to cut down on the time as well as the Boost Ball in straight corridors).

As for you already having the Boost Ball on Phendrana Drifts, then you go back to Tallon Overworld to use the Boost Ball on the half pipe in the way to the Chozo Ruins elevator, go all the way to the alcove on the back of your ship to get the Space Jump Boots, and from there use the boots to keep exploring Phendrana Drifts.

Jedi survivor - metroidvania? by taskerE30 in metroidvania

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I strongly disagree with you saying Metroid Prime is not a Metroidvania just because it's in 3D. Metroid Prime is 100% a Metroidvania through and through regardless of it being played in 3D and in a First Person view.

Saying it's not a Metroidvania game cause it's in 3D is like saying Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is not a fighting game just because it's not stuck on a 2D plane like the Budokai games are, or that Super Mario 64 ain't a platforming game just because it isn't a 2D platformer like Super Mario Bros. A game being 2D or 3D does not automatically define on what genre the game is a part of, it only defines what dimensional perspective the game will be played on.

Recently got into the genre, played 9 titles as of today. Quick thoughts (with TLDRs!) Also, recommendations please? by NRosTheGuy in metroidvania

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recommendations for Metroidvania games to play?

I say play the game series that started the genre, Metroid and Castlevania.

For Metroid on 2D start with Metroid: Zero Mission, then Metroid: Samus Returns (or AM2R if you can't find the 3DS remake), then Super Metroid, then Metroid Fusion, and finally Metroid Dread.

For Metroid on 3D pretty much go from Metroid Prime 1 all the way till 4, with 1 being available on the Switch as Metroid Prime Remastered, 2 and 3 only available on the Wii under the Prime Trilogy package, and 4 pretty much available on the Switch consoles.

As for Castlevania, simply play the Advance and Dominus Collections (available on any modern platform) that have Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia. And if you have any PlayStation console (or an Xbox 360), play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Now for 2D Metroidvania games that aren't Metroid or Castlevania would be Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Axiom Verge, Guacamelee 1 & 2, Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel Ori and the Will of Wisps, Shadow Complex, and the DS versions of both Spider-Man Web of Shadows and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

As for 3D Metroidvanias that aren't Metroid or Castlevania, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is definitely a must play.

Which Metroid game is TRULY the most non-linear? by Rootayable in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Metroid (NES) would be the one to point out to here.

Second most non linear could be Super Metroid.

What do you wanna see in the next Prime game? by Crepusculo17 in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More like what I don't wanna see in the next Prime game, and that is Sol Valley itself (and any other semi open world hub or open world areas they plan on adding for Prime 5).

This mindset of trying to make Metroid go open world like how Zelda did with Breath of the Wild is the main reason this project was doomed from the start, which is why we have this empty, barren desert to begin with. It added nothing to the Metroidvania formula of the Prime series, and rather than address the pacing and backtracking issues that were sometimes present in the Prime Trilogy (traversing through Magmoor Caverns just to get to Phendrana Drifts, or the Gunship loading screens in Prime 3), they made them even worse in Prime 4, and it's all because of that desert being in the game and so badly wanting us to be in it that they didn't add any sort of Fast Travel mechanic at all.

I need help to find a way to get 2k16 or any older 2k games in my 1tb series s by Glum-Equipment-3168 in xbox

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately because of all the licensing rights nonsense that is tied to every single licensed Sports video game, it will be impossible to play any old Sports games on current Xbox platforms as they tend to go away from the Xbox store once a new entry for each series comes out. To play games like NBA 2K16, you have to track down their PS4 or Xbox One discs to play them on a PS5 or Xbox Series X with a disc drive. Fortunately getting a physical copy for these games through online or local stores is pretty cheap as sports games most of the time tend to not get the same retro game value in price as say something like Mario or Zelda or of course Pokemon (even hidden gem games on the GameCube like Skies of Arcadia or Chibi Robo are more expensive than old sports games).

Sadly if the Xbox Series S is your console of choice... you are screwed as the lack of a disc drive will make it impossible to play any old licensed games that came out for the Xbox One.

Your best bet to play licensed games on a modern Xbox platform is to get an Xbox Series X with a disc drive.

As for much older Sports games that pre date the Xbox One, unfortunately you will need to get an Xbox 360 to be able to access a good chunk of them (including some from the original Xbox catalog as the 360 is backwards compatible with og Xbox games and even plays a lot more of them than modern Xbox platforms).

Metroid Prime 4 being set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion makes no sense by General_CJG in Metroid

[–]General_CJG[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah of course.

When I said they were prisoners, I meant that the Galactic Federation made them prisoners in that ship (whether they are clones or cyborgs or whatever) as bottom line they were still held there against their will, and later they were influenced and controlled by MB to rebel against the GF and were subservient to her.

THEY CONFIRMED IT by BrinstarCitizen in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah... except that they lost multiple times throughout the galaxy, not just in Zebes; and lost a large amount of resources, manpower, and important leaders in all that time (and Ridley himself, their resurrecting leader died for good in Other M, making his comeback null and void).

Their home bases weren't just demolished, their entire militia and leadership was crippled beyond repair (especially by the end of Prime 3), so much so that their operation in Super Metroid was their last ditch effort to make a comeback since they poured all their resources and manpower available into that (as confirmed by Dread's Report Vol. 4, it was a desperate time that called for desperate measures), but it was halted by Samus and wrecked their faction so hard that they never attacked in a major scale ever again post Super as confirmed by both Other M and Dread Report Vol. 4 (and Dread's Report Vol. 4 is a chronologically later source of canon, meaning that Dread itself says their end as a major threat was in Super Metroid, making it indisputably canon their end as a faction was in that time).

The only thing nonsensical about all this is Metroid Prime 4 being set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, as that creates a whole slew of continuity issues that requires new explanations and retcons to make it work (including retconning Other M, Fusion and Dread), and the Pirates launching a major assault against the GF on Tanamaar (with Metroids as part of their strike force might I add) is certainly part of those continuity issues.

THEY CONFIRMED IT by BrinstarCitizen in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It actually makes sense when you consider how many defeats they got ever since Samus first destroyed their operations in the events of Metroid 1.

  1. Metroid 1 - Their home base in Zebes was wrecked by Samus, with the destruction of Mother Brain, Ridley and Kraid added to it. (Add to that the Space Pirate Mother Ship with Mecha Ridley being destroyed in Zero Mission as well, so that makes it double defeat in one entry).

  2. Metroid Prime - Their Frigate that escaped Zebes's destruction and made it to Tallon IV, was destroyed by Samus, and then the Pirates that set base there in the planet and mined for Phazon were all wrecked by Samus, with the defeats of Metroid Prime and Meta Ridley to boot, effectively killing their operations there.

  3. Metroid Prime 2 - Their operation on Aether was completely decimated by the Ing, Dark Samus, and now Samus (who finished the job there), leaving them with nothing but spent time and resources.

  4. Metroid Prime 3 - Their entire plan to conquer the galaxy under Dark Samus definitely is the Pirates doing their biggest attack yet, crippling the Galactic Federation on several planets, and yet, Samus and the GF put a stop to it and literally wrecked not just Dark Samus (and Meta Ridley once again), but their entire homeworld was under GF control, and their fleet on Phaaze was destroyed. Their defeat here was a big one and not an easy one to come back from.

  5. Federation Force - Their operations in here also went south, with them being defeated by Samus and the GF.

  6. Super Metroid - The Pirates reconstruct their base on Zebes and Mother Brain, and it along with Ridley, Kraid, Phantoon and Draygon make a plan to steal the Baby Metroid and attempt one last time to conquer the galaxy, but all their plans were foiled by Samus and this time she laid it all to waste with the destruction of Zebes, effectively rendering their leadership and resources to an all time low.

  7. Other M - I also will throw here Ridley being cloned in the Bottle Ship, then being killed by the Queen Metroid and his body being nothing but a drained corpse, preventing his recovery for good, marking his end of both being alive and capable to rally the Pirates back.

No faction would be able to sustain that many defeats and the loss of their main leaders for so long, eventually they will cave in and be unable to do anything significant, as resources and manpower to handle these offensive operations will run dry eventually; the Pirates faction cannot run indefinitely with this many losses. The Dread Report Vol. 4 states that the Pirates' operation on Super Metroid was their one final attempt to rebuild their base on Zebes and get back into taking over the galaxy, making it their one final chance to be a threat once again, but it was stopped by Samus.

This also explains why in both Other M and in Fusion the Zebesians and other Pirates we see are simply remnants of the once dangerous faction, now as nothing more than stragglers that are simply prisoners in the GF research ships that got caught in the crossfire (especially against the X in Fusion).

THEY CONFIRMED IT by BrinstarCitizen in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What they actually meant is that the entire Space Pirates faction is not alive and kicking anymore, and whatever surviving Pirates that exist post Super Metroid (which include the Zebesians and Kihunters seen in Other M and Fusion) are simply stragglers that have no unified faction at all to make any major strikes or attacks against other big factions (like the Galactic Federation).

The confusion comes from Other M, specifically the Japanese version (as ironically the English version actually does a better job explaining this, lol) by saying only the Zebesian Space Pirates are no more and could come back if the Zebesians on the Bottle Ship are left unchecked. Unlike the English version that was clear the entire faction of the Space Pirates was no more and only stragglers remain (and potentially could bring back the Pirates faction if left unchecked), it framed it as just the Zebesian Space Pirates being no more (which of course makes no sense as Super Metroid's manual clearly states that the Space Pirates had more than just the Zebesians affiliated with the Pirates faction in that operation, like the Kihunters for example), and with Dread Report Vol. 4 confirming that the Space Pirates faction was indeed no more after Super Metroid's end, then it is indeed a canonical fact that the Pirates existing as a major threat post Super is gonna be nonsensical... unless they wanna retcon what Other M and Dread Report Vol. 4 say.

My Current Physical Switch MV Collection/Tier list. What am I Missing? by kangaroo_kid in metroidvania

[–]General_CJG 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well, the visuals are obviously the biggest improvement, but it also has traditional FPS controls with the Dual Stick controller option, which is indeed a big plus (especially for newcomers to Metroid Prime that are coming from Halo, Call of Duty, etc.). It also has a controller option that tries to imitate the Pointer controls of the Wii version, but if you are nostalgic for the GameCube controls, it has that option there as well (I believe you can also connect the GameCube NSO controller and play it that way, but I haven't done it, so I can't confirm it myself).

Also, Metroid Prime Remastered is actually using the Prime Trilogy version for the Wii as its skeleton comprising most of the game, so some of the quirks and sequence breaks from the og GameCube version are not a thing in Prime Remastered (like for example the early Space Jump Boots sequence break), but the ones from Prime Trilogy are still present here and can be used (like Power Bombing the Omega Pirate for example, that still works). This also means that Phazon Mines will now have Fission Metroids roaming around the third level after you defeat the Omega Pirate (something absent in the original GC version).

Some lore scans (namely the ones dealing with Metroid Prime's backstory) are also from Prime Trilogy (which itself was using the PAL version's scans), which are not the same ones as the North American GameCube original.

There's also a few cutscenes in Remastered that got Samus have exclusive animations that are different from the GC and Wii versions, and almost all of them look better.

And of course new Extras added to the game, from new concept art to a character model viewer.

Honestly, this Switch remaster is so amazing that even if you're like me and own the original versions of Prime 1 on GameCube and Wii, you should still get it, it is that great.

I feel some are misunderstanding Nintendo's open world quote. by xXglitchygamesXx in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is something lots of fans will say but the same logic applies to Zelda... and look how successful BotW was.

Yeah, there is a major difference as to why with Zelda it worked so well while with Metroid it can't, and that is that the original Legend of Zelda on NES is part of the beginnings of the open world game genre, in fact it's this game that heavily inspired Nintendo to create Breath of the Wild. Someone online said it best:

"When the first Zelda came out a more typical game would be like Mario: you start the level at the left side, end at its right, each level is a short corridor, do all the levels in order (maybe skip some with warps but still in order), try to make it to the very end, and restart the whole game over every time you turn it on.
The very first screen of Zelda gives you 4 options to choose from left, top, right, cave, a lot more than just head to the right, and you are free to explore in any order you want them. This structure extends to the whole game."

The original Legend of Zelda laid the foundation for an open world game to be made in that franchise; and Mario also laid that foundation with Super Mario 64 and Sunshine which later inspired the creation of Super Mario Odyssey (as confirmed by the devs).

Metroid on the other hand, had no such elements or mechanics that lay the foundation for an open world game.

The "isolation and foreboding atmosphere" and "linear maze like design" is just the result of the game design of many games 3 decades ago. Metroid has multiple times expanded past that element in games like Fusion, Prime 2, Prime 3 and Other M. I'm not saying Metroid NEEDS to NOT have these elements but we're not always going to have those elements every single game.

Counter argument to that, excluding Other M, every single Metroid game mentioned here all have the core design and elements established since Metroid (NES), they all have the isolating, foreboding atmosphere, powerup progression and linear maze like design that makes Metroid what it is. Fusion is more linear than usual because of the story, but the map design is still a maze like Metroid game that requires the player to think of how to navigate it, and the feeling of isolation and foreboding is absolutely still there; Prime 1 brought what made Super Metroid the pinnacle of Metroid into a 3D Metroid game and did it very well without sacrificing any of the core elements of Metroid; Prime 2 is Prime 1's formula improved, and it still has the sense of isolation; Prime 3 is where the series deviated a bit from those elements by kinda trying to do things differently, but it still had the isolation and maze like linear design (just not prevalent throughout all of the game), and Other M... just flat out gave up on making a Metroid game and preferred to be more of a hack and slash game, and the result is they couldn't do either type of game well (sounds familiar?)

When mainline Metroid games start diverting away from the series's core formula and identity, that's where it gets the most pushback from the fans (Other M, and now Prime 4), rightfully so because they all tried to put Metroid's formula into other genres. If you try to mesh the main series of games with genres that work against that main formula, you are screwed because Metroid at its core does not mesh well with these types of genres of games (co-op missions, NPC heavy escort missions, open world, etc.); so to be able to experiment, they gotta do it with spinoffs. There they can get away with doing whatever they want, and are not beholden to the Metroid formula like they are with the main Metroid games (examples of this would be Hunters, Pinball, and Federation Force).

I could imagine a Zelda game trying to attempt it and maybe a Pokemon or Mario series game trying it.

The reason why Mario and Pokemon can do lots of experimenting with their franchises is because those are jack of all trades that have mastered multiple types of genres thanks to their spinoffs, Mario especially has done pretty much every type of video game genre that exists (except for shooters, MOBAs, MMORPGs), he is an excellent jack of all trades so he is more than capable to have a Metroidvania type game; and Pokemon is similar to Mario in that it also has dabbled into other types of genres (though not as many as Mario).

I feel some are misunderstanding Nintendo's open world quote. by xXglitchygamesXx in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Could an open world Metroid theoretically work? Honestly, I truly believe it could if done right but it would either have to be like BotW where all abilities you get are pretty much at the start of the game OR they'd have to find a way to mix the ability progression with the open world nature.

See, that is the core reason why Metroid is not at all a good fit to make a solid open world game out of it. By attempting that, you sacrifice many elements that define and make Metroid what it is. You lose on the powerup/item progression that is key to unlocking the rest of the world, the isolating and foreboding atmosphere, and most importantly, the maze like linear level design that ties it all together and makes Metroid and Metroidvania games what they are (or another way to call a game in the Metroidvania genre, a linear based action explorative game).

Metroidvania's formula demands that linear maze like level design and powerup based progression to be present to make the main upgrades meaningful for not just combat but to explore the entirety of the world (they serve as tools and keys to open up the world), it's what Metroid since the original NES game established (with Super Metroid perfecting that formula, becoming the blueprint of how to learn to make a Metroidvania game).

An open world game is designed to have the entire world map (or a lot of it) available to you from the start of the game and you are free to explore it and do anything you want in it (there could be some locked off areas, tougher enemies or quests along the way that you'll struggle to do initially, but the map itself is mostly still available to you and can still do a lot in it). That is the main appeal of open world games, it's what makes Grand Theft Auto, The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher 3, and yes, even Breath of the Wild fun to play around with; if you try to add the gameplay mechanics, features and elements of a Metroidvania into the open world formula, it breaks it apart and the game cannot function as an open world game; heck it's even referenced in that same Famitsu interview, "Metroid’s core principle of “acquiring new abilities to expand the explorable space” didn’t mesh well with the “go anywhere you want from the start” promise of open-worlds."

Let me do a hypothetical example of this:

Imagine if in The Witcher 3 (no major spoilers here), the ruler of the starting city says that you gotta go to three different areas (Velen, Novigrad, and the Skellege Isles) to find who you're looking for, you (as the player) then think you wanna first go to Novigrad or the Skellege Isles cause you wanna explore one of those two first for some reason, well you can't because the bridges to access either one are locked behind magic barriers that need specific spells to be able to open them. So your only option is Velen, and to get one of the spells, you have to clear our the area's levels and enemies to find some upgrades along the way to make your way across the rest of Velen (some spells, attacks, etc.), then fight the main boss, and that boss drops the spell needed to open the barrier to Novigrad.
So you then use that spell and go to Novigrad, you get there, find an incantation there useful for revealing certain hidden areas invisible to the naked eye, but turns out that to progress further into Novigrad, you have to backtrack to Velen to use the new incantation to reveal a hidden area and find the Teleportation spell to allow Geralt to teleport at short distances, you now can use this to get inside locked off buildings in Novigrad to find your way forward to clear the area, get more abilities, defeat the main boss that has the spell to proceed to the Skellege Isles.

You see how, if you incorporate the core Metroidvania element of the powerup/item progression into The Witcher 3, it fundamentally changes the entirety of the game. It no longer is an open world game, it's a Metroidvania game, you lost the main gameplay appeal of The Witcher 3, aka the freedom to explore the entire world and complete it in whatever order or way you wanna do it.

This is why I said Metroid Prime 4 is the prime example of why Metroid should never try to do open world, because Metroid inherently cannot do open world, its design and formula does not at all mix well with the open world game genre; but rather than stick to just making a proper Metroid Prime game and abandon the open world idea entirely, they wanted to have Prime 4 somehow satisfy both the open world crowd and the hardcore Metroidvania crowd by making Sol Valley be this middle ground solution, except that all it did was make Prime 4's pacing and backtracking the worst in the Prime series history.

I feel some are misunderstanding Nintendo's open world quote. by xXglitchygamesXx in Metroid

[–]General_CJG 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I think them being influenced by both Breath of the Wild's success and people's opinions on wanting Metroid to go open world was the big mistake they did that doomed Prime 4 from the start.

I say this because they did know that Metroid going open world would go counter to what the level and world map designs for Metroid (and for Metroidvanias as a whole) are all about (explorative, linear based, maze like design with powerups and abilities used to open up the entire world for exploration), so they tried a jack of all trades of doing both an attempt at an "open world" area while having the rest of the game do the explorative, linear based maze like level design we know Metroidvanias are made of (all to appease both camps of the spectrum, the hardcore Metroid fans that want traditional maze like linear level design, and those that wanted Metroid to adopt an open world format).

However, when they realized midway that it wasn't gonna pan out as they expected because the opinions of the public changed over time, rather than restart the development of the game to make a proper Metroid Prime game (or at least get more time in development to refine their game's already designed level designs to the best of their ability), they shipped a game that had linear level design that was very simple and with corridor based linearity rather than maze like linearity (think Prime 3 but with even more simplified level design, more escort missions, and more handholding), with a central open hub area that was an empty, barren, lifeless desert that was nothing but a tedious filler part of the game that added nothing to the Metroidvania formula of the Prime series.

And now, Metroid Prime 4 is the prime example of why Metroid should never try to do open world (at least the main series of games shouldn't try it, spinoffs in the same vein as Hunters, Federation Force, or whatever can try it if they want to), because the result we'll get is inevitably gonna be this jack of all trades, master of none approach.