BenannahRama14

Despite the pre-release controversy, which was vastly unwarranted, Metroid Prime 4 was able to meet and even exceed some of my hopes for the follow up to Corruption. The fact that a game can look THIS good and run at a solid 120fps is absolutely insane to me. Puts the rest of the industry to shame. I was genuinely shocked with how moving the story was. The lead up to the ending has a slow burn, but once the credits rolled, and the secret cutscene played, and I was brought back to the main menu, I just sat with myself. This is one of the most melancholy, lonely endings in any game in the series, and it is without a doubt one of the most Metroid endings ever. It plays great, Vi-O-La feels awesome to drive, it looks unbelievably good, the OST rocks, bosses are very cool, the lore of Viewros is tragically interesting, the troopers are all quite endearing especially with each of their individual arcs, and the exploration is rewarding. The only real complaint I would have with this game is how it’s structured. It doesn’t bother me too much because I think the overall experience lends itself to it rather well, but I would rather future games not take this approach. The fact that 85% of the “psychic” abilities just outright replace staple power-ups is disappointing honestly. Dread has this game beat in SPADES in that department. Felt like for every returning power, there was a new one that was just as hype and exciting. I just felt like they could have taken it further. Regardless, this game was exactly what I was wanting, just more Metroid Prime coming off the heels of 3. And it’s a doozy of a Prime game, that’s for sure.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse has some great ideas, but ultimately feels like an inferior version of Risky's Revenge. Everything aside from the writing feels like a watered down version of what existed in the previous title. Gone is the charming dancing mechanic in favor of... holding a button to gather mist and scents. It's even more situational than the dancing mechanic and is not nearly as charming as Shantae's signature dancing. Aside from one or two themes, the music seems lackluster and rather forgettable compared to the first two games. It sounds like Shantae, but I don't remember any new tunes off the top of my head. Shantae's physics seem very wonky this time around, making platforming feel less natural. The enemies hit way harder this time around, hearts and healing items are almost non-existent, and hearts only fill your health a quarter heart at a time. It is a significant downgrade despite technically having more hit points than in the previous entries. You have more incentive to just make it to the next checkpoint and immediately kill yourself to gain full health again because your healing items are just too scarce and precious, making the game's difficulty feel cheap and unearned. You can buy potions from the shop, but you'll want to be saving your money for the expensive combat upgrades. Now, it's not a particularly hard game, but you will die. Many times. Of course one could argue the whole point of the gameplay is to support what's happened to Shantae in the story. Making her feel significantly weaker and more vulnerable. I will give them credit where it is due, however I think they flew too close to the sun, as it made me less immersed in the story and derailed my focus again and again. It's a tough one to get right, and everyone is different when it comes to the difficulty they enjoy, so I'll leave that up to the individual. Traversal through the overworld has been even more segmented than Risky's Revenge, which has been taken a step too far. It tends to make things feel much more disconnected and makes exploration feel a little less exciting than it use to. Labyrinths are criminally short this time around and are intellectually bankrupt compared to the first two games. The most interesting Labyrinth of the bunch this time around is one of the earlier ones with Risky's hat. As you progress through and restore power to the center room, it changes into an air current, which carries you to the upper levels. Unfortunately, this is about as good as the labyrinths get this time around. On the topic of Risky's items you get in the place of the transformation abilities, they leave a bit to be desired. The two that are great additions to Shantae's kit are Risky's boots (very funny) and her hat. These felt very satisfying and were incorporated very naturally into her moveset. The other are not nearly as exciting and don't get much use. The plummeting shimtar move gets pretty much replaced by the cannon by the end of the game, and the pistol is useless in combat with a slow firing rate and terrible damage, which makes it better suited for activating distant switches for solving puzzles. Overall, a very mediocre kit without the charm and variation of the transformations. Now as for the praise I can give Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, like I said earlier, the writing in the game is top-notch. Every character gets fleshed out in a meaningful way and they all contribute to the overarching story with little moments to shine. Risky is given some much welcomed nuance, and acts as your companion/captain across the seas. The dialogue is very entertaining and it makes as many small but meaningful callbacks to the first game as possible. They even bring back every single old enemy from the first game and update their sprites; this aspect of the game makes a great love letter to the series. It also has a great pay-off to the ending of Risky's Revenge and the story feels very much like a fitting companion piece to it. Everything that was set up in Risky's Revenge has a continuation, no matter how big or small. In conclusion, the story delivers a great follow-up to an amazing game, but the game itself falls short of that. In its own right, it's still a fairly enjoyable experience, and it even comes with a NG+ mode which increases its already lengthier playtime. However, it's subpar overworld and labyrinth structure, inferior control, and lackluster items hold it back from what is otherwise a remarkable experience.

Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a perfect sequel, trimming a lot of the fat from the original to make a more enjoyable, fast-paced, streamlined adventure. Soundtrack is incredible, and labyrinth/overworld design is brilliant. The level of detail in the sprite art and animations is astounding, and environments really pop. Shantae controls like a dream. Platforming is tight and responsive, making exploration a real treat. The only real drawback of the game is the uninspired UI elements that lack the personality of the first game, but every other bit of the game is teeming with it. One of the best Metroidvanias I have played in a while, one of the few where as soon as I was finished, I hopped right back in ready for more.

A truly unique racer unlike any other. Feels great to play, has a great sense of urgency and speed, the trick system is well-implemented, and it feels great to master the tacks. Holds up much better than other experimental racers at the time. The best thing about the game, however, is its unapologetic, sleek style. This game oozes with "cool", and it really sets it apart from the vast majority of racers out there.

Other M is quite the controversial title, and it's very easy to see why. In an attempt to bridge the gap between the classic 2D games and the 3D Prime games, this was Nintendo's result. The game brings a very fresh take on how to control and interact in a third-person, locked-camera setup. You trek through the very detailed and diverse ship the game takes place in, and use first-person to get new perspectives, and target specific enemies, all which is achieved by a single WiiMote. You tilt the remote sideways for the main third-person action, and then point the remote to take on a first-person view, much like the Primes. It would be difficult for any other company to make this transition responsive and snappy, but Nintendo have once again hit it out of the park. The transition is near instantaneous, and there is never a time when you unintentionally switch views. Very impressive. However, as one could imagine, it's quite tricky controlling Samus in a 3D environment with a d-pad. During my play sessions, I'd often have flashbacks of playing the Crash Bandicoot games. It feels similar to that, however having a true d-pad instead of four segmented directional buttons does help. The game leans heavily into the linear side in order to accommodate its more focused narrative. While some might suspect it detracts from the experience, I suggest that it was necessary in order for them to tell the story they were wanting to tell. Samus is the most versatile and flexible she has ever been, with top-notch animation that really sells the impact of her heavy-duty Chozo armor. The spectacle comes to a head when fighting bosses, of which this game absolutely excells at. Each boss makes great use of changing perspectives, Samus new and handy dodge mechanic, and the combination of all of her weapons and gadgets. There is not a single boss fight in this game that feels wasted. Music, while most just providing atmosphere, is very effective. It establishes this sense of dread and eeriness, and it sends chills down my spine when in combination with the visuals. The story gives an in-depth look at Samus Aran's psyche. What makes such an awesome, powerful, galaxy-saving bounty hunter tick? Throughout the game's narrative, we get glimpses of Samus' past. What she was like even before she was a freelance bounty hunter. I was continually invested in learning more about Samus, in part due to Jessica Erin Martin's performance. She had a tough task voicing Samus' more reserved thoughts while also driving the emotion behind certain scenes. Samus harldy ever speaks to other characters, but when she does, Jessica's range truly shines. The story takes some very big risks at the tail-end of the narrative. While I cannot say I thought the risks paid off, I was invested in Samus' character enough to still enjoy it. While I do not think absolutely everyone will enjoy this outing in the Metroid series, I can say with confidence that it absolutely exudes that Nintendo polish throughout the entire playtime. If you don't mind venturing down this more experimental path in the Metroid series, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised, as I was.