# *[[Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes|Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]]* Notes Welcome to the mid-aughts where every major, moody game had light vs dark. One planet is split into two dimensions as Samus navigates the darkness taking hold. Featuring intricate dungeon-like design and an oppressive environment, Samus (and the player) have the planetary deck stacked against them. > [!warning] > Spoilers below! ![[Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes Notes.pdf]] ### Stats - Started Playing: 7/24/24 - Beat: 9/20/24 - Total Playtime: 14 hours 7 minutes ### Legacy - Echoes has a vibe. It’s moody. The game is chunky and not smooth. It has an air of "let’s try something new" about it now that the Prime formula itself proved to be successful. Some of those things are cool and stick. Others are a burden. ### Overall - Dude, what is this 3D menu? Whaaaaaat? - Leaning way into sci-fi horror - Just dawned on me that I cannot save and quit/sleep whenever I want. RIP. - Very of the time with light v dark theming. Pokémon Gale of Darkness. Jak 2 and 3. - Good hook to force into Dark Realm, see Dark Samus and the enemies there. - Feels more Western than Eastern. Retro is in Texas, but the NTSC vibes are stronger than Prime 1. - I don’t think I have ever felt this lost in a Metroid game as in the Sanctuary Fortress ### Story - Missing Federation troopers. Samus hired to find on Aether. - Horrific hanging corpses early on. - Dark Samus appears with her spooky floaty feet. - Cutscenes! - Sort of takes away, no? From pure logs and environmental? - Heavy emphasis on cinematics this go around. - Timespace, portals, interdimensional. Big sci-fi expansion terminology. - Bugs bugs bugs. U-Mos is the big grasshopper. - Cool to morph ball my way through a Space Pirate base and see them run into a portal. Great, natural story telling in gameplay. - Plenty of Space Federation Marine mentions. Definitely a deeper lore tie than Prime 1 - Space Pirates are trying to breed and train metroids, like attack dogs - Dark Samus is stealing Phazon - I like the idea that Samus is hunting Dark Samus because of stolen identity. - Why are there Metroids here? Like, I assume the Space Pirates brought them, but why are they in the game? The threat is the Ing. Seems here because it has to be. - I like the lore of the bug people. I don’t like the bug people’s design. Their lore is very space religion, crusade, fighting light and dark. ### Gameplay - Playing on GameCube. Let’s see how these controls have aged. - Taking some getting used to. I see why the Wii controls became “definitive.” - But not terrible or unplayable. Certainly has aged appropriately. - So the answer to crippling Samus’ power is the dark monsters beat her up and took the gear. Wonder how we get it back? - Possibly boss fights? - There is something tantalizing and engaging about seeing road blocks due to a lacking ability and knowing it is on the horizon. It’s the promise of further exploration and capability. - Camera controls would be nice. Maybe I should have played the Wii version... - But this is for science! - Entering the Dark World, Retro actually breaks emersion and has tutorial text pop up to explain the dangerous atmosphere and the safe zones. The cutscene depicts damage to Samus, so there is an in-world, show-don’t-tell message, but the safe zones still had to be explained. 🤔 - Constant Dark World damage makes maneuvering much more intentional and direct. Curious if I will be able to free roam eventually. Is this the equivalent of Norfair being too hot until you get a Varia Suit? - This adds much tension to exploration and navigation in the Dark World though. - Being in the light safe spaces HEALS you. Good to know. - Slowly - This dark damage air is sort of the antithesis of exploration though. No ability to roam. - This makes Energy Tanks dual purpose. Sure, more health, but also means “more time to explore outside bubbles” in Dark World, especially with Dark Suit. - Light Suit after the three temples makes you impervious to dark world constant damage. Finally. - Light and Dark Beam are back to back. Short succession. Not a fan of limited ammo. - And would you look at that. This is because kills with dark beam make light ammo and vice versa. Very Ikaruga. - There’s that moment in Metroidvanias where you don’t quite know where to go next, so you poke and prod, then find a whole chunk to explore. Feels good. - Translation upgrades are like security keys in MGS. Or any other game. Arbitrary roadblocks. - If this game was made today, you’d be able to tackle the three temples in “any” order. - If you wander around lost long enough, the game tells you where to go. And being stuck, that is very helpful. It didn’t pop too early either. - Seeker Launcher is new to Metroid, I think. But also a new tool to use up 5 missiles at once. - Dark Burst is 5 missiles AND 30 dark ammo? Oh lordy. - Classic Varia suit quest/struggle of trudging through water for probably a smidge too long to make you appreciate finally getting the thing. - Okay. Didn’t except a jetpack (gravity boost) - 10 Keys for Sky Temple??? 🙃 - Were big ol’ key hunts a thing of the time? Feels like padding. Sure, I am “all powerful” at this point. But still, feels like a total pace killer. - Found a soft lock in Sanctuary Fortress. No spider ball, no return. Shocking this would happen. Lost lots of time. Ugh - Turns out, not a dead end. The answer was invisible switches with the dark visor on the other side of a chasm. I do not like like invisible buttons or platforms. Requires you to exhaust all options and just hope the answer was actually invisible. - Hope you like the morph ball - A lot - Power bomb guardian BAD - Everything in Sanctuary is Morph Ball related and I hate it. - The Screw Attack is not transferring well to 3D. - I eventually settled into the intended rhythm. Much slower than the 2D version. - I enjoy the pressure of escape/beat Dark Samus for the final time. That’s a new lair. The Annihilator Beam is true to its name at the end of the game. ### Music/Sound Design - Okay new theme, I hear you. - Wonder if same composer did 2. - I like the bog theme. It’s wee ere wee ooo type electronic sound is very good - Okay. I hear you basement/underground area of bog. I HEAR you! - Final Ing boss theme very good. ### Graphics - Early emphasis on purple. - [The color of corruption](https://youtube.com/watch?v=L51xc6iqeaU) - Menu design is not good. Feels like a “this would be cool!” but has not aged gracefully. - The Dark Suit is ugly. And is basically the main suit ### World - Very red, purple with a big ol’ focus on bugs. - Light Map and Dark Map. Very LttP. - I like this sci-fi take on a dark world. Half in one dimension, half in another. - It sort of screams "rush development" to me. - Love the cracks of lightning in the Agon Wastes. - Since the light and dark worlds share the same map, and dark worlds are limited to linearity, does this negatively impact the light world design and flow? Is the exploration lost? - Really wish I could mark the map. I know that is a more “modern” mechanic, but I forget rooms, since I’ve already explored them, but they still contain secrets. - Torvus Bog is a goopy swamp. Back tracking picks up here. Best music so far. - I like the red blue sci fi tech Sanctuary Fortress. Reminds me of Tron. - There is more verticality than Prime 1. The map doesn’t really handle that verticality well. - I know the light world and its paths fairly well by the end. Not same for Dark. I think that is because it is chunked up.