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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is pretty much viewed as the worst entry in the Prime series by many fans. That's a pretty harsh thing to say when you consider how the title is still worthy of a 90%+ review score.
Quite refreshingly, the article below takes a look at Echoes from a positive standpoint, and then transfers some of that game's ideas into elements that will hopefully be retained/removed from Metroid: Other M. It's still very early in the Metroid: Other M game, but at least we can speculate!
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Only Prime I played was 1, here's hoping Other M will take entire different direction. I heard people speculate about God Hand, Ninja Gaiden style game-mechanics, I'm 100% fine with that.
I had no real problems with the dark world aspects but aside from Sanctuary Foretress, the locations were too dull visually. Part of why I loved Prime was going from the overworld to Magmoor Caverns to Phendrana Drifts...it was an awesome change with each new location I'd visit. The same goes for Corruption, each area was so unique when compared to the last and Echoes didn't really pull that off IMO. Also, I have to mention the backtracking. I'm not the best Metroid player so the hint system in Prime was perfectly implemented, it told you where you should be but not how to get there and really helped me out without feeling like I my hand was being held through the game. But Echoes...I don't know, maybe I missed something with the hint system but I had to refer to a guide on several occasions. Again, I suck at Metroids but I got through the others fine without having to use a guide but not Echoes. I'm a wuss, and it's understandable Retro wanted to give people who had played the first one a challenge but they could have kept the hint system for people like me. If you don't want it, turn it off!
I'm definitely not saying Echoes was bad because it was still a masterpiece when everything is factored in. I can see the art style was top notch but the somewhat dull but admittedly atmospheric locales didn't set my world alight quite like Prime did. So I share the same opinion as many: it was brilliant, but not the best Prime.
if it does play like Ninja Gaiden, then we have 4 series that may as well be sequels to each other.
3D-Ninja Gaiden and PS2-Castlevania are similar to Devil May Cry, which is similar to Classic Castlevania, which 2D-Ninja Gaiden is similar to, and Castlevania evolved into the Metroidvania style, which is obviously similar to Metroid. there's a crossover game just waiting to happen there.
Prime 3 is far more linear and hand-holding than the other two, so gets my vote as worst in the trilogy.
But Hunters is by far the worst Prime game.
MP2 I once did hate. To me, Metroid is about one huge environment where you notice areas you can't get to yet, but later on in the game you eventually come back to them...usually, the route you take is natural and criss-crossing the map(or "backtracking") isn't so bad if done right.
But MP2 turned into one giant key-quest, with each world separately quarantined away from one another(with only a few secret passages back to the previous area for one or two quick items), and each area was exactly the same: reach the temple, get the translator(key), grab the three area keys, beat boss, take energy back to light temple, rinse repeat, then find 12 MORE keys, then beat the last boss. It was like the last half hour of MP1, except it was the WHOLE GAME.
And yet...MP3 came around, and although the presentation blows me away every time....it really is the least "Metroid" of the three. It's still there, but come on...an escort mission? They really did bank on the IR controls making it more shooter-oriented, and it kind of bugs me. So now I appreciate MP2 for being a tiny bit more Metroid than MP3 ended up being.
Sooooo unfortunately for me the games sort of go down in descending order: MP1>MP2>MP3, but just barely.
But then again, I seem to be the only one on this site who hates LostWinds, Animal Crossing, You, Me and the Cubes and Little King's Story, but loves Marvel UA, Red Steel and Sonic and the Secret Rings.
So you may disregard that thought.
Anyway, I refuse to get hyped up for a game, even such a title as Other M. Last time, I hyped up for FIFA 10 Wii and Overlord: Dark Legend, and they were both very dissapointing.
So we'll see. Considering legendary Metroid delay, maybe somewhere in 2014.
Imo, the original Prime was the best out of the three (4, if you count the horrible Hunters - I don't).
As far as Other M speculation goes, I think it's still a bit too early for that. We've only had the one trailer and not much info beyond that.
Personally MP2's my favorite in the series. I like it because it has more depth than the original and more of an exploration focus than Prime 3.
It took away from the overall originality of the game. It would've been nicer if the "dark" creatures were twisted into something else entirely than their "parent" creature.
Limiting exploration via the light domes was something I didn't like too much, either. Metroid at its core is about exploration. Prime 1 had plenty of obstacles that you couldn't overcome at first, but they varied.
Prime 2 was a great game. The weapons felt like they had more impact than in prime 1 (although the limited ammo thing was a turn-off). Further, unlike many folks, I loved the dark world. Folks complaining about the light beacons really didn't play the game enough. In fact, it added a sense of urgency in the boss battles and often lead to new strategies for defeating them. In a way, it was brilliant (something that they used in Prime 3 end bosses). I can go on about prime 2, but one thing that I found interesting was that when I went back to Prime 1, I missed the bosses and the weapons of prime 2. I just finished prime 3, by the way and it's tons better the second time around.
Prime2 isn't bad at all but is kid of an oddball between the two.
the whole echoes thing was annoying and the visors were annoying, and the game was glitchy in parts, but it's still a nice offering.
The space pirates for example, they are just plain forgotten about... after several hours. The Luminoth race is on the brink of extinction, yet all the do is go to sleep. The other games are just far more believable, and Prime 3 did cinematics properly.
Another thing is that the dark world is just purple and very BORING. Unlike Twilight Princess for example there is no variety, nothing new to discover (you can''t afford to explore anyway...), the narrative stops dead, the enemies are annoying and just... freaking keys.
I disagree with the articles sentiments that Prime 2 is the most important in the trilogy. The second installment is simply supposed to be the means to an end, and funnily enough (though still awesome) that is exactly what Echoes feels like to me.
As for Metroid: Other M, so far I'm not impressed.
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