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Posted

Of course it went live when I had to go to the Doctors... :indeed:

Just as well I got one with GAME the other day and the amiibo from the German version of Amazon at extra cost... :blank:

So it has come to this Nintendo. ::shrug:

Ah well, day one either way so can't complain, plus I got a regular copy for the collection and a T-Shirt. :)

Posted
13 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

Of course it went live when I had to go to the Doctors... :indeed:

Just as well I got one with GAME the other day and the amiibo from the German version of Amazon at extra cost... :blank:

So it has come to this Nintendo. ::shrug:

Ah well, day one either way so can't complain, plus I got a regular copy for the collection and a T-Shirt. :)

I chose not to order the Legacy Edition this afternoon when I saw it go up but was planning to purchase the game with t-shirt when I got home from work.. but I see it's only a large :hmm:

If there isn't a version with a medium t-shirt, I'll probably just hunt around for the best deal on the game itself!

Posted

I am pleased that NINTENDO is trying to put Metroid back alongside Mario and Zelda.

I had always considered NINTENDO's big three legendary series to be Mario, Zelda and Metroid and with this game and a new Prime game on the horizon I hope it will firmly establish this hot blond into the minds of new gamers again.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Fused King said:

I had always considered NINTENDO's big three legendary series to be Mario, Zelda and Metroid and with this game and a new Prime game on the horizon I hope it will firmly establish this hot blond into the minds of new gamers again.

Yeaaahhh, it's nice to be optimistic, huh?

Metroid wishes it was even half as popular as the likes of Pokemon or even Fire Emblem. (10 years ago, I would have been laughed off the internet for suggesting FE would be bigger than Metroid)

Now I've made myself sad...

Edited by Glen-i
  • Like 1
Posted
20 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Yeaaahhh, it's nice to be optimistic, huh?

Metroid wishes it was even half as popular as the likes of Pokemon or even Fire Emblem. (10 years ago, I would have been laughed off the internet for suggesting FE would be bigger than Metroid)

Now I've made myself sad...

Yeah, It's just how I like to see NINTENDO's holy Triforce: The 'stache, the green hat and the hot blonde :laughing:

The Metroid series has a lot of unexplored depths in it, but perhaps its genre hinders it from being a big seller such as Fire Emblem with its 'kyara-moe' focus these days or Pokémon with its......its Pokémon-ness. That reminds me @Glen-i I need help evolving my Magmar :)

Posted
6 hours ago, Fused King said:

Yeah, It's just how I like to see NINTENDO's holy Triforce: The 'stache, the green hat and the hot blonde :laughing:

The Metroid series has a lot of unexplored depths in it, but perhaps its genre hinders it from being a big seller such as Fire Emblem with its 'kyara-moe' focus these days or Pokémon with its......its Pokémon-ness. That reminds me @Glen-i I need help evolving my Magmar :)

Oh yeah, I'd take any Metroid game over FE any day. I love me some Metroid! I'm afraid trading will have to wait until Thursday night though. Sorry about that.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Oh yeah, I'd take any Metroid game over FE any day. I love me some Metroid! I'm afraid trading will have to wait until Thursday night though. Sorry about that.

966dbb89f86f612fcb58a4dde6385c38df88ba63

 

:blank:

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Posted

Yes, it is a sobering thought that Fire Emblem is now more popular than Metroid (both great series though).

 

In my experience, mainstream gamers hate punishment.  The way to make a series popular is not necessarily to make it easy, but to take out the punishment, like Fire Emblem: Awakening achieved.  I've seen gamers get very frustrated by the old Zelda system of each restart point being the last doorway you went through (or the entrance to a dungeon) - a problem solved brilliantly by auto save.

 

What Metroid needs to do, in my opinion, is remove the more frustrating aspects of punishment.  No more long treks from a save room to a boss.  Every restart should give you full health and ammo.  That way, as long as the game is good, Metroid has the best chance of succeeding.

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Posted
On 7/18/2017 at 3:59 PM, Grazza said:

What Metroid needs to do, in my opinion, is remove the more frustrating aspects of punishment.  No more long treks from a save room to a boss.  Every restart should give you full health and ammo.  That way, as long as the game is good, Metroid has the best chance of succeeding.

This is a reasonable theory, but I don't think there's enough recent examples to really prove it. There hasn't been a Metroid game for a long time, and a good one for much longer, so how do we know how it will compete these days? I think Metroid would do fantastically without any real change in the formula, all they really need to do is make it.

Do you really think "mainstream" gamers were won over to Fire Emblem because they made it less punishing? I think realistically the market has just grown, and Awakening got oustanding feedback and was available on a hugely popular system, plus added more social functions. It would've sold well even if it had unavoidable punishments, as long as it got the kind of scores it did.

I never felt that Metroid was particularly hard, punishing or frustrating in the first place, at least since the original NES/GB games. Frustration was alleviated by smoother controls which is what made Zero Mission such a good remake.

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Posted
36 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Do you really think "mainstream" gamers were won over to Fire Emblem because they made it less punishing?

I certainly do, because that's exactly why I tried Awakening after not enjoying Sacred Stones that much.

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Posted
5 hours ago, Shorty said:

This is a reasonable theory, but I don't think there's enough recent examples to really prove it. There hasn't been a Metroid game for a long time, and a good one for much longer, so how do we know how it will compete these days? I think Metroid would do fantastically without any real change in the formula, all they really need to do is make it.

Do you really think "mainstream" gamers were won over to Fire Emblem because they made it less punishing? I think realistically the market has just grown, and Awakening got oustanding feedback and was available on a hugely popular system, plus added more social functions. It would've sold well even if it had unavoidable punishments, as long as it got the kind of scores it did.

I never felt that Metroid was particularly hard, punishing or frustrating in the first place, at least since the original NES/GB games. Frustration was alleviated by smoother controls which is what made Zero Mission such a good remake.

 

There were certainly some long treks in Metroid Prime from save point to save point.  I can't remember exactly where, but there was a particularly bad one somewhere around the Phazon Mines.

 

Also, I don't want to overstate how hard Metroid is, but I do think advancements in autosave (for example) have made games much more friendly.  A better example is Zelda.  Wind Waker is considered an easy game by dedicated gamers, and yet I do know people who were extremely frustrated by the save system.  Perhaps it's true though that Metroid doesn't need much help and it's enough simply to make it.  I don't have a problem with that, and very much hope it's true.

Posted (edited)

I think Metroid's sale issues have very little to do with difficulty. Grazza's example (the "gauntlet" in the Phazon Mines, a series of difficult rooms with a very tricky boss at the end) might just be the most trying challenge in the franchise, and yet Metroid Prime is the best-selling entry. It's also an exception, and not at all representative of the usual level design found in the series (or even in that game, for that matter). In fact, I think Metroid games are pretty strong in save point placement, it's not frustrating at all, and if it were, you'd see a lot of players and reviewers complain about that specific aspect (I'd also argue that auto-save would A.Allow players to brute-force through "soft" obstacles; and B.Severely hamper the sombre ambience that makes the series great. It'd raise more problems than it'd solve).

Rather, I think it's the genre itself that's niche. You might notice that most games in the Metroidvania genre that came out in the last few years are considered "small" games, usually coming from indie developers, and are priced accordingly (even offerings from larger companies tended to stay on handhelds). These labyrinthic environments just don't move enough numbers to be major players, even when critical praise is abundant.

...3D Metroid could be an exception, though, by virtue of looking like an FPS (the likes of Bioshock and Deus Ex are major names that remain exploration-based). A matter of marketing more than anything else, but it is possible.

 

8 hours ago, Shorty said:

Do you really think "mainstream" gamers were won over to Fire Emblem because they made it less punishing? I think realistically the market has just grown, and Awakening got oustanding feedback and was available on a hugely popular system, plus added more social functions. It would've sold well even if it had unavoidable punishments, as long as it got the kind of scores it did.

The social aspects of the series (the support conversations) had been there for about a decade or so before Awakening, so they weren't new. The size of the market also had little to do with it, considering Radiant Dawn was released for the Wii at the height of the system's popularity, and it's got some of the series' weakest sales. Finally, you'd be surprised at how fickle reviewers could be regarding the series' perma-death feature (Radiant Dawn was hit the hardest by this, but even older games would get perma-death labelled as a "negative" in plenty of reviews).

Sure, there was a combination of multiple factors at play, but Casual Mode seems to have had the largest influence. It was entirely new to the west, and it's directly linked to a new player's ability to explore the other aspects of the game. Honestly, considering the shitstorm that the word "Casual" used to cause, the fact that a mode with that name was mostly well received is a testament to how much players needed it.

(Also, "Awakening sold well because of outstanding feedback" a tautology. The good sales were most of the outstanding feedback)

Edited by Jonnas
  • Like 3
Posted
12 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I think Metroid's sale issues have very little to do with difficulty. Grazza's example (the "gauntlet" in the Phazon Mines, a series of difficult rooms with a very tricky boss at the end) might just be the most trying challenge in the franchise, and yet Metroid Prime is the best-selling entry. It's also an exception, and not at all representative of the usual level design found in the series (or even in that game, for that matter). In fact, I think Metroid games are pretty strong in save point placement, it's not frustrating at all, and if it were, you'd see a lot of players and reviewers complain about that specific aspect (I'd also argue that auto-save would A.Allow players to brute-force through "soft" obstacles; and B.Severely hamper the sombre ambience that makes the series great. It'd raise more problems than it'd solve).

 

That's a good point.  I do wonder, though, how many gamers who bought Metroid Prime actually completed it and went on to buy the others.  I have a strong suspicion that the positive reviews and looking like an FPS (as you say) helped both 1 and 3 in particular.  However, I do know people who have bought them and simply found them too baffling.

 

Regarding the design of the 2D games, yes, it's a pretty uncomfortable fact that Metroid Fusion is pretty much perfect (10/10 in my opinion) and yet presumably didn't sell enough to get a direct sequel.

 

12 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Rather, I think it's the genre itself that's niche. You might notice that most games in the Metroidvania genre that came out in the last few years are considered "small" games, usually coming from indie developers, and are priced accordingly (even offerings from larger companies tended to stay on handhelds). These labyrinthic environments just don't move enough numbers to be major players, even when critical praise is abundant.

 

On this matter, I wonder if 2D Metroid would simply be better as a download-only series.  It could keep the 2D graphics and wouldn't feel the pressure to do such big numbers.

 

Good conversation anyway.  I'm prepared to admit I hadn't fully thought it through; rather that it was a general feeling I had about punishment and ease of play.

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Grazza said:

That's a good point.  I do wonder, though, how many gamers who bought Metroid Prime actually completed it and went on to buy the others.  I have a strong suspicion that the positive reviews and looking like an FPS (as you say) helped both 1 and 3 in particular.  However, I do know people who have bought them and simply found them too baffling.

I know I'm being "That weirdo" again. But I just want to point out that I actually played Metroid Prime 2 1st. Nothing to do with your interesting conversation, but just throwing that there.

So, 2 1st, 3 2nd, 1 3rd.

Edited by Glen-i
  • Like 1
Posted
4 hours ago, Grazza said:

 

Regarding the design of the 2D games, yes, it's a pretty uncomfortable fact that Metroid Fusion is pretty much perfect (10/10 in my opinion) and yet presumably didn't sell enough to get a direct sequel.

On this matter, I wonder if 2D Metroid would simply be better as a download-only series.  It could keep the 2D graphics and wouldn't feel the pressure to do such big numbers.

I'd agree with having that. The only issue is whether the fanbase would be satisfied with Metroid being officially treated as a "cult" series (for the lack of a better word), rather than as a major system seller.

Posted
31 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

I'd agree with having that. The only issue is whether the fanbase would be satisfied with Metroid being officially treated as a "cult" series (for the lack of a better word), rather than as a major system seller.

The Metroid fanbase make me a bit embarrassed to be a Metroid fan, to be honest.

The Federation Force bile throwing was incredibly overblown. It was nothing more than a okay spin-off and they were going around declaring the death of the Metroid series. Utterly dumb.

Other M is also loads of fun. The story's stupid, but I've replayed the damn thing 4 times. Game's a gameplay riot from start to finish. Best Ridley Boss fight too, especially on Hard mode.

24162859924_4ec2e928b5_o.gif

Nicked that move from Smash Bros Brawl, yet still cool as hell.

  • Like 4
Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'd agree with having that. The only issue is whether the fanbase would be satisfied with Metroid being officially treated as a "cult" series (for the lack of a better word), rather than as a major system seller.

 

I think it might work for the 2D games, which are a connoisseur's dream anyway.

 

The 3D ones probably do have to remain the big, flashy, Prime-esque affairs.

Edited by Grazza
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