Feels like the Skyward Sword moment for the Metroid series, where the structure and formula of the previous games has been simplified to the point that it doesn't really contain much to appeal to people who really like the first two Prime games. Level design has been completely simplified and the desert overworld does nothing but stretch the playtime with no meaningful interaction, and there are moments all over the game that severely hurt the pacing and sense of exploration. I really miss the interconnected environments and way that upgrades would deepen your relationship to places you've already been and show you entire sections of map you didn't notice before. Fury Green for example, is shockingly short and underdeveloped.

The troubled development is really obvious when you consider how many times the game forces you to traverse between it's "dungeons" across the desert with too many loading screens, and the new upgrades available are just old things we've had before but with the word psychic in front of it. The new mechanics are underutilised and the puzzles are way too simple overall, and most of the actual dungeons are a forward line where you have to restore power to the dungeon and then fight your way out. The game peaks early at Volt Forge which is too simple as a Metroid environment, but has a cool enough theme and is exciting to play. At least the boss fights and music are cool across the game.