Metroid Prime Remastered

[phart010 | 1,707]

I am a 2D Metroid fanboy so naturally did not get overly excited for Metroid Prime Remastered. But I respect the series and am quite surprised that there is still no discussion about this new remaster which has been out for like two weeks now.

Who’s been playing? I wanted to pick up a physical copy, but they are sold out, so I will delay playing it until a restock happens. No biggie, it’s just a Metroid Prime game, I can wait

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Based on the chatter in the VGS Discord, I believe a lot of the lack of conversation on the topic comes from many people still being unable to lay their hands on it, despite preorders in most cases.  There seems to be a lot of excitement about playing it, but not so much that anyone is willing to pay scalpers a bonus for the privilege versus waiting out whatever delay is going on with the preorders, local store stock, etc.  This could be one time that Nintendo's game of deliberately limiting stock of a product in order to guarantee demand bites them square in the ass, lol.

[a3quit4s | 4,103]

I got me a physical copy on launch day and am playing through it. I never played the GC version and so far so good for me. I’m playing on casual as I always do because I’m about the story and not dying every five seconds. Lots of exploring and backtracking as with any Metroid game. I’m playing with a walkthrough as well because I have zero patience. It’s weird playing as Samus in the first person but it really does look like a Switch game and not some shitty port. For $40 it’s a hell yes all day. I don’t think I’d pay a premium to get it sooner. Maybe distract myself with the new Kirby game or something else. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by a3quit4s

[MegaMan52 | 2,450]

I'll get it eventually, as I've gotten a little impatient waiting for Metroid Prime 4.

Still got Prime 1 and 2 for my GameCube (no regrets).

Edited March 5, 2023 by MegaMan52

[Tanooki | 4,936]

I got it the day it came out, I've only touched it 3 days since since out of my control largely things go in the way then it was late tired/too late to care.  I moved through that first chunk of magmoor and wrong turned over to tallon again instead of over to the drifts.  I haven't touched it honestly in probably 20 years anyway so whatever, glimpses of memory but feeling pretty new despite it being anything but.

The original (and as of months ago 2) I own on GC, and I have an HDMI mod for it too.  That said, the game was beautiful then, the beefed up raw digital feed to HDMI made it look WiiU stunning with less polygons.  Yet with the power of the Switch, the changes are largely stark, obviously, and 99% for the better.  What they've done is nothing short of the jaw dropping refresh the already still beautifully detailed Dead Space received, yet in a way, more, going from SD(480p) to 1080/720p and all the added details increased, better detailed, more tweaks and turns, not to leave out the finally fantastic control with the defaulting twin sticks.  The game, it's amazing, amazing then and even more so now, which was a hell of a tall order they filled.  One could easily surmise the engine here is the core that MP2 and maybe 3 remaster will get which in turn likely is the engine MP4 will have us tinkering in another year down the line or so.

I'm loving being lost again in this since I forgot the game largely for detail, it's nearly fresh, and the upgrades made it feel more fresh which is great.  The proper control after so long makes it flow so smoothly it's a real breath of fresh air it needed along with the rest.  I'm shocked and happy they did a $40 price point given they could have easily squeezed people for $50 or $60 too.  Kind of makes up for the +10 dickery to come with Zelda.

[Webhead123 | 679]

I bought it (digitally) the day after release. I won't be bothering with a physical copy. For one, because I made the decision with my Switch that I was going all-digital (makes the most sense for me with a console that's intended to be portable) and for another...I just don't trust Nintendo's supply chain not to become hijacked by fuggin' scalpers (which, as far as I've heard, isn't that already happening and it isn't even out yet?)

While, yeah, 2D Metroid is still my jam, I actually really loved the original Metroid Prime and I hadn't revisited it since about 2004. At first I thought, "Well, I could just play my GC copy again" but the more I looked into the remaster, the more I realized just how much incredible effort went into it. It's not just a slap-job upscale. They've really overhauled quite a significant portion of the technicals. Honestly, if this kind of effort is what we can expect from Retro Studios, I'm sincerely excited for Prime 4.

So yeah, I've been taking the game at a leisurely pace. Wanting to really enjoy it. It feels kinda fresh, since it's been so very long and because it just looks and sounds so good. I've had some distractions from my gaming time at home over the past couple weeks so I haven't put more than 2 hours or so into it yet but I plan to finish it all the way to the end.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Webhead123

[Sumez | 2,967]

It looks like a really really good remaster, and every account of people playing it says it's probably one of the best examples of such out there. I'm actually really really tempted to get it, but it would feel kinda silly for me to replay the first Prime game again, when I've never bothered finishing 2 or 3.

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Well you saw my last post, no need to re-hash that, but what webhead said is on point...other than physical not being out yet, it has been for over a week and is being scalped by garbage people.

The whole aspect of the change but not change, staying true to the source, but cleaning up stuff in such deep ways makes it doubly feel fresh for me not having touched it since then, and for anyone in general who could come at it even who replays it a lot.  It's peak remaster in the best way possible.

[phart010 | 1,707]

7 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

I just don't trust Nintendo's supply chain not to become hijacked by fuggin' scalpers (which, as far as I've heard, isn't that already happening and it isn't even out yet?)

I suspect there may be shenanigans at play.. Nintendo has been know to play games with supply and demand in order to tease customers, ultimately influencing people to buy games at least partially with the element of FOMO. 

The leadtime on manufacturing video games has got to be at least a couple of weeks. Add ocean freight from Japan on top of that and maybe it takes at least a month to bring new shipments of games to the stores. If the stock of this game is already depleted in retail stores and we get more restocks later this week or next week, that tells me that they probably have a ton of stock sitting in a Nintendo warehouse and they are just slow-dripping it out to build hype and to get people to talk about the game.

I am anticipating that this game sells at minimum 5 million copies and maybe up to 10 million and I’m sure Nintendo knows this too

[Nintegageo | 582]

Just waiting on a physical copy, although with Wo Long now that might need to wait to be played. Loved the GC version, waaay better than MP 2 and 3 in my opinion.

[Webhead123 | 679]

6 hours ago, Sumez said:

It looks like a really really good remaster, and every account of people playing it says it's probably one of the best examples of such out there. I'm actually really really tempted to get it, but it would feel kinda silly for me to replay the first Prime game again, when I've never bothered finishing 2 or 3.

To be fair, I've never finished 2 or 3 either. I was really enjoying 2 up until I hit a point where I was unsure as to how to proceed...and the game's light/dark mechanic discourages exploration a little too harshly for my taste, especially since Metroid is supposed to be a series all about exploration.

3 seemed interesting but I never got all that invested in it because (and yes this is very petty, but) the Wii controls were just not pleasant for me. I honestly couldn't get past how awkward it felt (and a little uncomfortable/exhausting).

If they do remaster the others, I'll most definitely pick up 2 and give it another go to actually finish it. 3 I'm not sure about, even with updated controls. Maybe I'd pick it up. Hard to say.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Webhead123

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

What is the original sale price? Looks like ebay has them for about 60$

[Strange | 1,700]

It looks like a great remaster. But me being the defiant jerk that I am I decided to boot up the original and play through it again.

Can’t find my memory card. My only explanation is that the Nintendo Ninjas broke into my place in the middle of the night to sabotage and get me to buy the remaster. Smh.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

13 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

What is the original sale price? Looks like ebay has them for about 60$

$40

[spacepup | 2,405]

I have two pending pre-orders - one at Amazon and one at Gamestop, and both are in-flux really.  Amazon says it will arrive in April but who knows.  I only got the Gamestop pre-order when I realized Amazon would be late, and shipping just says "awaiting product availability."

I'd like a copy eventually, but I'm not gonna overpay as I can just wait and buy one later, or wait till the pre-order eventually ships.  If I happen to get both pre-orders, I will gladly sell an extra at cost to someone here in the community.

[OptOut | 8,889]

I thought I'd pick it up for like 20 bucks to have a shiny new portable version on the Switch, and it HAS been a fair old while since I replayed it.

However, I went to the eshop and it was 40 bucks and really, I'd just rather replay the original than buy the new one at that price. 

I mean, they can charge whatever they want for the game, that's up to them, but they pushed it squarely out of impulse range for me with that price, TBH.

[spacepup | 2,405]

I think $40 isn't too unreasonable tbh, since it isn't just a lazy port.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the game and will happily pay $40.  

In fact, I considered just buying the digital version, and then if the pre-orders come through I could sell those at cost to someone, but I'm still thinking about that.

As for the game itself, it looks great and it has been a while since I played it, so I'm definitely looking forward to trying this one out!

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

1 hour ago, spacepup said:

If I happen to get both pre-orders, I will gladly sell an extra at cost to someone here in the community.

In scanning this too fast the first time, I read that as "I will gladly sell at extra cost to someone here in the community" and was like, "Hey, wait a minute..." and went back for my double-take. 

37 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I think $40 isn't too unreasonable tbh, since it isn't just a lazy port.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the game and will happily pay $40.

It's really not, especially for a first party title.  However, for most, that firmly puts it well outside of the "impulse buy" range.  For most folks, I would say that at $20 they wouldn't think twice, and maybe again at $25, but going up from there more and more thought goes into the purchase, at which point a lot of folks just go, "eh, I'll wait."  For reference, I only started playing Breath of the Wild this past Black Friday, so yeah, I'm one of those folks, lol.  $60?  Nope.  $20 when you remind me years later that the game exists?  Sure!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

1 hour ago, spacepup said:

I think $40 isn't too unreasonable tbh, since it isn't just a lazy port.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the game and will happily pay $40.  

In fact, I considered just buying the digital version, and then if the pre-orders come through I could sell those at cost to someone, but I'm still thinking about that.

As for the game itself, it looks great and it has been a while since I played it, so I'm definitely looking forward to trying this one out!

I'll trade you something or other 

[spacepup | 2,405]

Well, first we'll have to see if the pre-orders ever actually come through hah!  Or maybe by then, it will be easily available for people (hopefully).  Regardless, I'll keep both of them intact for now and assuming they eventually deliver, will commit to at least selling / trading one of them with someone here.  Thanks!

[Strange | 1,700]

I think this is a significant step above the lazy $60 Super Mario 3D All Stars hack-job they did recently. I think $40 is fair, I just don’t want to spend $40 on a remaster right now.

[Sumez | 2,967]

12 hours ago, spacepup said:

I think $40 isn't too unreasonable tbh, since it isn't just a lazy port.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the game and will happily pay $40.  

$40 is fair for this game, but I can get behind the thought that if it's a game you already have, paying full price for another copy of it feels excessive. I'll probably also pick up a second hand copy some time down the road.

[OptOut | 8,889]

14 hours ago, spacepup said:

I think $40 isn't too unreasonable tbh, since it isn't just a lazy port.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the game and will happily pay $40.  

In fact, I considered just buying the digital version, and then if the pre-orders come through I could sell those at cost to someone, but I'm still thinking about that.

As for the game itself, it looks great and it has been a while since I played it, so I'm definitely looking forward to trying this one out!

Yeah, I'm not really saying this game is overpriced PER SAY (although I have heard arguments comparing the value of this to other rereleases such as the Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii). I would imagine 40 dollars is an attractive price-point for many people, especially those who have never played it before or don't own the original.

But, to put you where I was in my headspace, when I first found out about this rerelease I was drunk scrolling Youtube at like 1:30am, and I out of nowhere I saw some review of it and I was pretty HYPE! I immediately ran downstairs to grab my Switch and load up the eshop to download it, like there and then, and that's when I saw the price and I was like... oh.

I figured if I was hype enough to run downstairs to download the game sight unseen for like maybe 20 bucks (which is what I expected), then I could drag my sorry ass UPSTAIRS to just play the GC version again and save 40 bucks in the process... It's just my personal value versus the hype value of playing it on the Switch, somewhere in that equation I ended up on the wrong side to finalise the purchase.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't expect a lot of people to find great value in the game for 40 bucks, I mean that is what I spent on the original all the way back in 2003 after all!

[spacepup | 2,405]

It’s a perfectly fair opinion / decision not to spend $40.  I get it completely, especially if you already have or have played the game. 

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Well I am not one who enjoys the double dip much, and originally thought looks cool but...  Then I saw some completed footage and comparing the changes, then the reveal of real working control for the game and $40 was in my mind, cheap and fair.  I get some would rather not, but it's just not that interesting enough to me to use the Cube release anymore with the way that remaster turned out.  It's like remaster plus, not just a basic upgrade.