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It appears to me that JXQ doesn't like Metroid Prime. He brought up a few valid things. Yes, it is extremely easy to get lost in the game. It's easier than in Super Metroid because the entire world doesn't rotate every which way in Super Metroid. The first time you enter the world of Metroid Prime, you are lost, plain and simple. It takes a little while to get your bearings, to figure out what's connected to what, etc. I've been there. It's hard to remember what it was like not to know the world once you know the entire game inside-out from every possible angle. I have not encountered an area that was too dark to see in. Perhaps check your TV brightness settings, or increase the brightness in the game itself (I'm pretty sure that's possible). Other issues, issues with control, are somewhat understandable, but something you just need to get used to. I think the controls are simply perfect. These issues aside, it is still a great game, and I don't understand the hate.
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JXQ, Just wanted to stop by and suggest changing the settings on your TV. A reason you might experience this game as very dark could be because your TV's brightness isn't very high. If so, this can be easily changed.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
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Fabian, Just wanted to stop by and suggest that you leave exactly such kind of a sarcastic comment. This particular kind of sarcastic comments is starting to get very predictable. This could be the reason their humorous value isn't very high. If so, it can be easily changed.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
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moozhooh, Didn't you think it was even slightly funny that 4 different guys made the same suggestion? I mean this is rhetorical of course since obviously you didn't, but I did.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
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Your mention of Samus being incapable of turning her head in battle reminds me of this article about Batman. http://iki.fi/warp/grrr/batmanmovies.html -- guess who can't turn his head.
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Oh man I couldn't stop laughing. And the CNN/IM/Todo list, and Super Metroid pics were great. Thanks for the usual top grade entertainment JXQ.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
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Ok guys! It's time for a fun game! A game where you have to help Samus find where she has gotten herself lost by figuring out what room she has manged to get herself in! This is the Norfair version of the game, but I hear there are expansion packs available at the store just in case you aren't satisfied with the starter set! Samus sez: LOLZ WHERE R I??
JXQ
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BoltR wrote:
Samus sez: LOLZ WHERE R I??
Good point. From your pictures of Super Metroid, I can clearly deduce that Metroid Prime is much better than I originally gave it credit for. My altered screenshots were to serve the purpose of some comic relief between by long-winded complaining. No one wants to hear complaint after complaint after complaint about anything without something cheery or funny in between. Obviously, I didn't use my altered screenshots when actually discussing what I didn't like about the game. (I didn't say, "Wow that CNN ticker sure is useless! What was Nintendo thinking?") The difference between my altered screenshots and yours is that you failed to acknowledge (or purposefully ignored?) is that in Super Metroid, you have the rest of the screen to look at - you just removed it for your screenshots. In Metroid Prime, a doorway is your entire view. To familiarize yourself more, you have to turn all around, check out the environment (if light is available), and/or open up your map, rotating it about to get your bearings. This gets old quickly. Your screenshot is also similar to the one at the bottom of my page, asking if Super Metroid would be worth playing if you couldn't see much of anything except what's right in front of you under a huge light source - as is the case with Prime. Obviously you've stated that same point in a different way, thank you! When will silly ol' me learn that this game really is good? I'm so disadvantaged, have pity on me :'(
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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Oh so you closed your eyes and stumped around a room until someone told you were right up against a door so you could open your eyes? No wonder you didn't like the game/thought it was too dark. BUT HEY LOOKT HE DOORS LOOKS THE SAME LOLZ.
JXQ
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Since you didn't read the article too closely, I'll remind you that I touched on the fact that many rooms are very dark, and very similar in environments and/or details so that until you memorize the map extensively (remember, I said this yesterday as well), it's very very easy to get lost and turned around. As I also said yesterday, you may have to put yourself into someone else's shoes if you already extensively know the game, instead of thinking that anyone who doesn't know the game as well as you is an idiot. Keep trying, maybe some day you'll get me to change my opinion via ridicule!
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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And since you didn't read what everyone in the thread has said to closely either: Your TV is way too dark; the rooms actually look very different from each other. The game wouldn't be so dark if your TV wasn't that dark, and then the rooms would look different.
Post subject: OH NOES (483)
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I give this article .
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DAMN I WISH SUPER METROID WAS MORE LIKE DOOM 3, THEN I COULD HAVE A FLASHLIGHT TO SEE WHERE THE FUCK I"M GOING. ALL THE ROOMS LOOK THE SAME. BLACK. LOLZ
JXQ
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BoltR, in case you missed this as well:
JXQ wrote:
And that responses to an editorial like this in the form of "no it's not" to "the game is dark", or "you CAN see" to "you can't see" are meaningless to address.
Watching a few runs on M2K2 a while ago, I don't recall them being any brighter than the game is on my TV. Perhaps everyone else just has better attention to detail than I do? Another thing you ignored:
JXQ wrote:
you may have to put yourself into someone else's shoes if you already extensively know the game, instead of thinking that anyone who doesn't know the game as well as you is an idiot.
I didn't write this article to personally attack the fans of the game, and there's no need to search for insult that isn't there. BoltR, I think your attitude in this thread isn't constructive to whatever argument you're trying to address, which I still haven't pinned down. So far, all I get is "If you do things to Super Metroid that make it more like Metroid Prime, the game gets worse." I agree with this statement.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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My point is: A lot of issues you complain about for no reason. They are either a non issue, or can be fixed through the settings mention (Which you acknowledge later in the article). Saying "the HUD is too big" isn't an issue because you can turn it off. Saying "it's too dark" is a user problem, not a problem with the game. Your problem with having to look at the map is likely because of this too. "Having to go back to places i've been before once I get a new item" is also a terrible complaint. Have you played any of the other Metroids? The first thing you do it go get the morph ball, and then BACKTRACK to get the bombs, because 'HEY I THOUGHT I SAW A LITTLE HOLE NEAR THE START'. That is the game mechanics of a Metroid game (and now Castlevania), i'm not sure how you missed that one. The FOV complaint is probably the only that has any real merit. That is if it actually made a difference to the game play. It's not like the enemies are always dancing in your blind spot. Shit, that is like me complaining that in 2D Metroid games enemies can shoot me from off screen. Why couldn't they have just zoomed out? Give me more viewing angle? Come on, they can see me but I can't see them? That's bullshit. You also missed down the screenshot. If I turn down the brightness which it was to be emulated at, HEY LOOK I CAN'T SEE I'M DOING. Just like if I were to turn down the brightness. Maybe Nintendo should have put one of those gray scale images which PC game makers have been putting in their games. "IF YOU CAN"T SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO BOXES YOUR MONITOR IS TO DARK"
Post subject: YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID BECAUSE I SAY SO. >8( [484]
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BoltR, Shut up. Lovingly, Xkeeper.
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Yeah, that isn't about to happen. I'm entertaining myself. However, I don't think I have put in enough over sized pictures of air horns with sarcasm plastered across it for JXQ's sake.
JXQ
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BoltR wrote:
Saying "the HUD is too big" isn't an issue because you can turn it off.
Except that information that is pretty important to gameplay goes bye bye with it. (Mentioned in the article)
Saying "it's too dark" is a user problem, not a problem with the game. Your problem with having to look at the map is likely because of this too.
All I can give is my experiences playing the game. I can't put myself in someone else's body who has better dark vision and/or attention to detail and/or better memorization of 3D landscaping and say "Well, even though I personally find this game terribly frustrating due to its dark visuals etc., others may not, so I'll ignore this point." Similarly, all you can give is your experience playing the game. So every time you say that the problem is because of the user (me), you are stepping out of the bounds of fair critique. Everyone just assumes I don't memorize maps fast enough, or that my TV is defective, or that I close my eyes until I get to a door, because my playing experience wasn't identical to yours. Get that shit out of here.
"Having to go back to places i've been before once I get a new item" is also a terrible complaint.
Yes, because I haven't clearly stated several times that it's much worse in this game than others (note that this isn't equivalent to saying it's non-existent in others). Wait, yes I did, with the phrase "connect-the-dots".
The FOV complaint is probably the only that has any real merit. That is if it actually made a difference to the game play.
JXQ wrote:
<Upthorn> In fact, the radar is why the small viewing angle is not an issue. This is ridiculous. I still look at the screen and it doesn't look right to me. It affects the entire play, not just fighting enemies.
Seriously, did you just read the titles to my article and look at the pictures?
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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Did you read what I wrote, or just the first sentence of every paragraph. You must realize that things go both ways.
JXQ
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Everything I said applied to your entire post. Do you really need shit hammered into your head? If so, give me a few minutes to compile it all, and I'll edit this post. Edit: Ok, here's your "more to read". Here I go, sentence by sentence.
BoltR wrote:
My point is: A lot of issues you complain about for no reason. They are either a non issue, or can be fixed through the settings mention (Which you acknowledge later in the article).
I complain about them because they make the game play less fun for me. Non-issues are all based on individual user experience. Things that can be fixed (the HUD and helmet) are mentioned in the article. The helmet is said to be a non-issue in the article. The HUD includes information that is needed when playing.
Saying "the HUD is too big" isn't an issue because you can turn it off.
Except that information that is pretty important to gameplay goes bye bye with it. (Mentioned in the article) (Quoted from previous post) (Also mentioned in above sentence)
Saying "it's too dark" is a user problem, not a problem with the game. Your problem with having to look at the map is likely because of this too.
(This response is word-for-word on the previous post. Notice that I addressed the user-problem idea, the darkness, and the map - all three things you questioned.) All I can give is my experiences playing the game. I can't put myself in someone else's body who has better dark vision and/or attention to detail and/or better memorization of 3D landscaping and say "Well, even though I personally find this game terribly frustrating due to its dark visuals etc., others may not, so I'll ignore this point." Similarly, all you can give is your experience playing the game. So every time you say that the problem is because of the user (me), you are stepping out of the bounds of fair critique. Everyone just assumes I don't memorize maps fast enough, or that my TV is defective, or that I close my eyes until I get to a door, because my playing experience wasn't identical to yours. Get that shit out of here.
"Having to go back to places i've been before once I get a new item" is also a terrible complaint. Have you played any of the other Metroids? The first thing you do it go get the morph ball, and then BACKTRACK to get the bombs, because 'HEY I THOUGHT I SAW A LITTLE HOLE NEAR THE START'. That is the game mechanics of a Metroid game (and now Castlevania), i'm not sure how you missed that one.
(From previous post) Yes, because I haven't clearly stated several times that it's much worse in this game than others (note that this isn't equivalent to saying it's non-existent in others). Wait, yes I did, with the phrase "connect-the-dots". ADDITIONAL TEXT: Yes I've played many other Metroids. Yes, backtracking is required, but not to the level that this game is. You literally go back and forth in Prime across the entire game to get a sequence of three or four items (I can't remember, but I think it involves the thermal visor, grapple beam, plasma beam, x-ray visor, maybe the spider ball too? It's been a while) unless you use some crazy sequence breaks - breaks that you need to play the game a long time to understand and perform successfully. Playing this game a long time isn't something I want to do with all the problems it has.
The FOV complaint is probably the only that has any real merit. That is if it actually made a difference to the game play. It's not like the enemies are always dancing in your blind spot. Shit, that is like me complaining that in 2D Metroid games enemies can shoot me from off screen. Why couldn't they have just zoomed out? Give me more viewing angle? Come on, they can see me but I can't see them? That's bullshit.
My previous response noted how there are more things that are annoying than enemies when your view is crippled. Since all you did was discuss problems with enemies, I will explain other things that the view affects that are of a different nature, which will show that I have in fact read your entire post. Let's begin: The main thing is just a feeling that I don't have enough view to process what the hell I'm doing, or where I'm going, or just to actually feel like I have a grip on the game's happenings - enemies or not. Climbing up a room, running around in water, trying to find the door hidden behind some dimly-lit rock formation that looks very similar to all the other dimly-lit rock formations... these are all things that are made more tedious and artifically difficult due to the crippled field of vision.
You also missed down the screenshot. If I turn down the brightness which it was to be emulated at, HEY LOOK I CAN'T SEE I'M DOING. Just like if I were to turn down the brightness. Maybe Nintendo should have put one of those gray scale images which PC game makers have been putting in their games. "IF YOU CAN"T SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO BOXES YOUR MONITOR IS TO DARK"
Maybe they should have. In the mean time, please continue to assume that it is my fault and I forgot to check the brightness on my TV. That idea must never have come to me when the game was too dark. It's just not an intuitive solution, I suppose. Also, giant orange sarcasm flag. If you'd still like more to read, let me know and I can continue to repeat myself, and you can continue to skim over it and incorrectly summarize what I've written. But please, no more "I know you are but what am I" posts. This "discussion" with you is becoming tedious.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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Oh please do, it's been a long day and I could use some more to read.
JXQ wrote:
BoltR wrote:
Saying "the HUD is too big" isn't an issue because you can turn it off.
Except that information that is pretty important to gameplay goes bye bye with it. (Mentioned in the article)
That would be cool if it were really the case. The only really important information you lose from turning it ALL off is your missles. (And I guess your map if your TV is too dark). Your HP is there no matter what, and stuff like visors and weapon you don't really need the HUD for as you would be an idiot if you can't tell which one you are currently using. The need for seeing your missles is debatable too, but just for argument sake i'll say you want to see those too. So: Turning the helmet transparency to 0: No effect on gameplay. You can see everything you could see before. Except it frees up a lot of your view. Turning the hud to 0: you lose missles, minimap, radar, and the other useless shit bars. Luckily however, the gurus at Nintendo up with this new invention called the 'slide bar' which lets you select values between totally off, and totally on. So, if you REALLY need the missles/radar/map then putting it to about 40% will almost get rid of the bars, but you can still see the map radar and missles fine.
JXQ
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BoltR wrote:
Turning the helmet transparency to 0: No effect on gameplay. You can see everything you could see before. Except it frees up a lot of your view.
Yes, I mentioned this in the article, try reading it. Here's a link: http://jxq.skuzz.com/MPSucks/
Turning the hud to 0: you lose missles, minimap, radar, and the other useless shit bars. Luckily however, the gurus at Nintendo up with this new invention called the 'slide bar' which lets you select values between totally off, and totally on. So, if you REALLY need the missles/radar/map then putting it to about 40% will almost get rid of the bars, but you can still see the map radar and missles fine.
I can't. I don't see them both "fine". Maybe everyone else has super vision except me. I always see them both, I can't block the HUD out to look at the terrain behind it. I need to make the HUD opaque enough to be able to read my Missile count (which by the way, I need since when I don't have it, I run out at crappy times). At that level of opaque, now it gets in the way when I'm trying to scan the environment not in my direct line of sight for things like passages, doorways, enemies, items, etc. Also, I didn't quote your first paragraph, but I did read it. It was basically a set up to your other points, so I didn't feel the need to quote it. Please don't respond that I didn't read your post - I think you have zero right to accuse anyone of not reading shit by this point.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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You're... Comparing Metroid Prime with Super Metroid...? Retrostudios didn't make Super Metroid. While comparing to Super Metroid, and having owned that game for several years, or like me for 12 years Metroid Prime might not be the best game ever. When comparing it to many other games made the same year, or maybe other games made in the same year and within the same genre, (I can't say anything about the latter comparison since I can't think of any game like that, except a James Bond game made for the gamecube, I believe 2001 or 2002, but I didn't like that one very much.) it's a really good game. Anyway, I've played both Super Metroid and Metroid Prime too much, going near world record times in both games, which should mean I know both games very well, and I do think I do. I've finished Super Metroid several times the intended way before I even knew about sequence breaking or anything like that. Metroid Prime on the other hand I've only done so once, the first time I ever completed it. To me, non of these games are fun when playing in such manner, but it is the non-intended things that make the games interesting, and Metroid Prime brought this to a whole new level, since many unintentional things would lead to drastic changes in gameplay and how fast you could complete the game. The only reason I love these games are because I can sequence break them, knowing Metroid games are playing them. Playing Metroid Prime without knowing where to go, or where this or that door leads, and having to backtrack because you can't sequence break it really does suck. Then you might not like that Samus puts up her hand after being hit by something directly, but it's not like she steps on a bug and proceeds with covering her face with her left hand. It's only on direct hits, and in other games worse things have happened. Also, about the heat vents causing altered view like that, I do like it, and if you feel you can't see what's happening, maybe you could wait for 5 seconds until it's gone, or start using your glasses even while playing videogames. If nothing happened you'd probably whine about that though. Also, the map is there for a reason, you could use it to not get lost, and it's not like every room of the game is an S-shaped corridor. Also, I don't know if you've heard about this, but you can run past monsters, you don't have to kill them over and over again, it doesn't benfit you. The field of view might be small if you've played quake with a FOV of like 130 degrees or something like that, as I do. Play the game through a couple of times and you'll get used to it. It's not going to change. And you don't have to use the X-ray visor from the point you get it until you complete the game, try up on the D-pad, if you don't like it, use it as little as possible. And the thermal visor sucks, I agree, but the lights go out just so that you can try it on, maybe it was the best idea they had, I don't know. (Get the ice beam before getting the visor and you can exit right through the door to the right) Instead of playing during the day, do what you would've done during the evening on the day, and play Metroid Prime during the evening, and it's not that dark. Try playing survival horror games, you usually can't see shit, and the reason of that is because the makers don't want you to, maybe it's the same here. I would probably have thought that the people at Retrostudios were retarded if they put lights in a lake or in a broken ship that doesn't have any power. I'm not gonna comment on the hud, you've got enough comments on that already. Then maybe the controls just aren't for you, go play another game. Many people love this game, and most other thinks it's an okay game for being what it is. I've not written this in any attempt to counter what you've written, but maybe there's something inside me that still hopes that you can see that the truth is that you don't like this game, for reasons only you know and that the game doesn't suck balls, but your experience with the game does. About the last thing you wrote with this cute little picture: I'm not sure about how serious you were, but it's possible to turn off the hint system, and as you wrote earlier in the same article, the helmet, and the hud is on the sides and on top of the screen not in the middle of it. The last difference is that Super Metroid wasn't a first person adventure. I don't know, stay away from Metroid Prime... It wasn't a game for you. I know the game, and I'm good at it, and that's because I liked it. We're different, there's probably something, or some game you like, but that I don't. But that doesn't make it suck. I might be wrong, who knows?
JXQ
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Graveworm, good to see you back. Please understand that I'm not writing this article to insult fans of the game. This is simply how I feel about it. I know that I am in the minority, and that this is one of the most popular games out there. But to me, it does suck. I don't see the point of phrases like "Well if you don't like it, go play another game." I will, I have been for a long time. I do own the game and I've played through it twice - the first time because I kept thinking I just wasn't used to it, the second time in a serious attempt to try and like it despite its flaws. But talking bad about it isn't automatically a bad thing, and I'm certainly justified in doing so. I'm not telling the fans to go play it and stop posting the good things about it. The game seems to have a quality that people appreciate the more they play it. I'm told to "get used to" the small field of view, or that if I'm getting lost, I can just switch to the map (I addressed this many times, it breaks up the flow of the game), and I can run past monsters instead of fighting them, so I shouldn't complain that they continually respawn. Yeah the game's dark, but the makers intended it that way for atmosphere or whatever, so I should stop complaining. No. Finding workarounds to a game's flaws doesn't eliminate the flaws from the game - it only avoids situations that exploit them, but the game's code has not changed, and the flaws are still there. I also did play Metroid Prime during the evening - I had to! During the day, I could not see well enough to play it at all (except for parts of Phendrana and probably a bit of Magmoor as well). I thought I said this in the article but reading it again, it was stated in a very roundabout way, so meh. About Samus's hand, I wasn't even very bothered by it. I put it in the article as a reference to something that a fan might say adds to the realism of the game, not as a gripe itself. The gripe would be about someone seeing the hand go up after the hit and say "See? What a realistic and therefore awesome game."
If nothing happened you'd probably whine about that though.
This is unnecessary. Like I said, I didn't write this to insult fans of the game. Other points I've already written several times and feel no need to further repeat.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
nesrocks
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This thread sucks balls because i've never played gamecube, but i'll play metroid prime 3 on Wii! weee I won.