I still want to try this game out. Hopefully, I can borrow it from the library and give it a whirl. If I enjoy it, I'll pick it up.

Well I beat the game earlier today. All of the game (most of it really) was played with at least two players on my team so I made sure to take advantage of that co-op. But yeah, I walk away very satisfied with this experiment in the Metroid franchise. My expectations definitely weren't as low as most people's but they were easily surpassed anyway. It fits the series nicely to have a different view point and definitely a more action focused one from the Galactic Federation side of things so not having Samus be playable actually makes sense in this case I think. I can see why some would be pissed off but it's not fair to not give it a chance because of this. There's a quality game in there, that's for sure. Looking forward to going back to get the rest of the medals now!

@VofEscaflowne
Do you feel like the reviews were fair?

@Anand

I actually didn't even look at the reviews simply for the fact that many people were so childish back during the game's reveal. I wasn't gonna pass on a Metroid title so I just went in really not knowing anything about the reviews until I had already played it. But hey, I had a ton of fun and I want to keep playing it so that's what matters, right? Maybe I'll check a few out now just to see what people criticized the most.

@VofEscaflowne
Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that you should've read the reviews first, or anything. I was just curious whether you agreed with the general criticisms.

In general, I really do believe that gaming is a lot more fun when you don't let yourself get affected by the toxicity of the internet.

@Anand

Oh no, I didn't read it that way. I actually rarely read review nowadays anyway so I was even less interested in checking out reviews for this one. I did check one out this morning where it scored an 8/10 and the Metroid "fans" getting angry in the comments was just ridiculous. It's not like they had played it either. It's one of those things that I never understand where people will express hate towards others for enjoying something that they themselves can't. Grow up.

@VofEscaflowne
That's my main issue, as well. It's fine to criticize a game when you've given it a fair shake, but it's another thing to spew venom at it without even having tried it. That's a real credibility-killer for me.

I also honestly believe that seeing people talk shit about something almost always negatively impacts your opinion of it, no matter how much of an independent thinker you think you are.

@Anand
I disagree sorta, I think it's fine to criticize a game based on the trailer or other information, and in the case of this game much of the criticism leveled against it was valid, IMO, namely that it's not a substitute for a "real" Metroid game (aka an atmospheric, lonely, single player exploration game).

That said, I think this game is pretty well made, it's not amazing but it's not awful, it probably wouldn't have gotten so much hate if it was released along side a proper Metroid, or if it was simply called something else. It really does seem to be a totally different kind of game with a thin superficial coating of Metroid on the surface. It kind of reminds me of Star Fox Adventures in that way, another "okay" game that could have stood on it's own and simply didn't need to have an arbitrary license slapped on to it (accept at least Star Fox Adventures has Star Fox in it).

@deathly_hallows

But then to criticize a game for not being a Metroid game when it's not trying to be a Metroid game, is that really fair? Just because it shares similar elements from the series doesn't mean one should discredit the game based on a few minutes of footage. Unless if you're someone that only likes Metroid games

It all comes down to the art style. If you like walking, talking bobble heads, you'll probably give this game a fair shake. If you don't, you're probably going to voice your opinion loudly on the internet.

I personally don't think the art style and the target audience are a fit at all. Doesn't mean this game isn't fun, or good, but it's kind of like food. Most people don't like to eat things that look like vomit, or poop, no matter how good it might be. This is NOT LoZ:tWW all over again. This just a poor decision to take one of the most "mature" Nintendo games, and make it look like Nick Jr show. They could have done so many things that would have looked better AND still had a Metroid vibe.

@deathly_hallows
Sure, you can criticize certain aspects of a game, based on the trailer, but calling it a 'bad game' when you haven't actually played it is poor form, in my book. No matter what our good buddy metacritic has to say.

I can say that I no longer want to try No Man's Sky, but I'm absolutely unqualified to call it a shitty game. Conversely, I am absolutely qualified to call Gran Turismo a shitty game, based on my experience with it, regardless of its aggregated score.

Also, if your opinion of the quality of a game would vary based upon external factors, then is it genuinely your opinion of that game? It's like fashion. How can the same outfit look cool now, but laughable in 10 years?! It's absurd! Hence, shorts and t-shirts.

@VofEscaflowne
Well no it's not fair, just like it wasn't fair that millions of people thought Wii U was an add on for Wii and not a new console, but in both of those cases I feel like it was Nintendo's fault for not handling the marketing correctly. I'm sure they figured the Metroid name alone would be enough to win over the fans but that was obviously a huge misstep. In general Nintendo seems pretty tone deaf to what Metorid fans want in a game, which is a little frustrating from my point of view seeing how they bend over backwards to cater to fans of Smash Bros. No one likes to see an series they care about be treated like a red-headed step child while the other children are put on golden pedestals. Nintendo should have seen the backlash coming a mile away but they were totally dumbfounded by the reaction, which in turn dumbfounded me lol.

@Anand
Yeah I agree, the problem with Federation Force was based on the PR and how it was marketed/positioned, calling it definitely a "bad game" without playing it would be stupid. It's like the millions of people who hate on Call of Duty because it's a generic military shooter, fair enough! But you can't say it's a bad generic military shooter unless you've played it! I loudly criticized Federation Force for being a co-op shooter that doesn't feature Samus, and I stick by that criticism as a poor choice by Nintendo, but I never said it was a bad game, in fact I always assumed it would be pretty good because of the develpers track record.

@cooliocuneo
My problem with the design of the soldiers and mechs is not that they have big heads (although yeah... getting rid of the big heads would be an improvement, Samus especially looks awful in the game), it's that they are utterly devoid of creativity, the mechs could not be more plain and generic looking, which is definitely not par for the course for a Metroid game. People criticize Hunters for multiple reasons, fair enough, but all of the new stuff in that game looked amazing, and the design of the Hunters was spot on, each one looked unique and pretty awesome. Maybe Nintendo should have had Retro at least chip in on designing the mechs, I mean mechs! They should be awesome, but they look like nothing.

The game is good, you should all stop criticizing it because it isn't what you wanted and actually support the dying franchise. I beat it with @VofEscaflowne and it was a lot of fun playing co-op together. Gameplay is polished, missions are fun and varied. I don't care for the chibi style but it works for what the game is. Now, onto collecting those medals!

@Marsh
I honestly don't know which is worse, if this game sells well Nintendo will think "Metroid fans want co-op shooters" and if it flops they'll think "no one likes Metroid", it feels like a no win situation.

But whatever I did my part and bought it, just like I bought Castlevania Judgment hoping it would lead to a proper Castlevania on Wii. If Nintendo is using this as a Capcom-style test to see if there is any interest in Metroid then I'd rather err on the side of "voting with my wallet".

@deathly_hallows

Yeah I know but those are all reasons that as a fan, they think they deserve what they want out of Metroid and just because it's not what everyone wanted, myself included at the time, that it's somehow automatically a bad game. But I remained hopeful that it would be a great game regardless and it was. I don't really recall Nintendo marketing it as a traditional Metroid game.

@VofEscaflowne
I think the fanbase of any major franchise would react the same under similar circumstances. Imagine if EA decided to release Madden Tennis instead of their traditional football game this year, but they still called it Madden, don't you think the were be an outcry on the internet? Of course EA has every right to stop making football games and start making tennis instead, they never specially said the Madden brand would be restricted to football, and they never promised to make a football game every year, so the fans would technically have no right to complain. But complain they would, because even if EA never specifically promised Madden would always be football it's what people expect, and changing it to a different sport would go against those expectations.

I mean to me it just seems logical that people were upset by this game, just like I'd expect people to be upset if Sony stopped making Gran Turismo racing sims and instead made a poker game called Gran Turismo. People would be upset if Sony stopped making Gran Turismo period, because it's a franchise people like, but if they stopped making them and at the same time made an entirely different kind of game and called it Gran Turismo it would just seem cruel, like adding insult to injury or rubbing salt in a wound.

This is why I think this whole thing was a big miscalculation, this game should never have existed, or it should have been called something else, or it should have been released alongside a main-line Metroid games and marketed as a fun spin-off the way Metroid Prime Pinball was. The way it stands now you can't even call this a spin-off, because you can't have a spin-off to a franchise that otherwise doesn't exist. For better of for worse this is the only Metroid game Nintendo has released in the past 5 years, and for all we know it will be the last Metroid game ever made because even though a lot of people assume there will be a new Metroid game on the NX a lot of people also assumed there would be a Metroid game on Wii U, and there wasn't.

@deathly_hallows

So all Mario games carrying the Mario name should instantly be criticized for not being a platformer back when we first started getting the Mario Karts and the Mario sport games? Again, I'm just saying people are unfairly treating the game's quality. I don't care that they're being mad at it. Sure, be mad all you want. But you can't go and say that a game is bad just because it's not what you wanted. That's really all that I mean here which you seemed to agree with up there (kind of I think) so I'm not even sure why this is going on honestly

@deathly_hallows
lol "last Metroid ever made" smacks of short sightedness.

@VofEscaflowne
I totally agree that it's not fair to knock a games quality without playing it, but I also think it's fair to criticize a game's art direction (for example) based on trailers etc.

I also just think it's okay to criticize this game based on it's place in the Metroid universe, but of course that's totally subjective, like anything else. The fans who were mad this was a co-op shooter not featuring Samus had a right to voice their complaints, but at the same time the fans who like the direction this game was taking and maybe even preferred it to a standard Metroid game have every right to their opinion as well. I respect both sides the argument, especially since the game is pretty good (even if not really my bag, I'm not a huge fan of co-op shooters especially when the single-player aspect is comprised for making it play better in co-op (similar reasons I don't like Destiny)).

@carlosrox
It's not like there isn't precedent for Nintendo abandoning franchises indefinitely. Remember that game back on GCN called F-Zero GX? That was 13 years ago... 13 years is a long time. Sure you can say it's technically not dead because "what if they made a new one?" but that's a little bit like saying Friends is still a current continuing TV show because "what if?" they decided to do another season?

It all boils down to semantics, if you choose to decide that a franchise is never dead based on the idea that it's possible they could eventually make another one, then more power to you! I'm much more pessimistic, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised if and when Nintendo makes another Metroid game than to expect they will for sure and be disappointed year after year if they continue to give the F-Zero treatment.

Is anyone actually still playing this? Closing in on getting all the medals but there's a mission where having more than two people might help. Some tough challenges in there!