Metroid Prime: Federation Force Thread

[Aetheri]

I was disappointed upon its initial reveal, like pretty much anybody else...

However, after hearing the latest news on the game, I can say that I am cautiously optimistic about it...I have my skepticisms because of the multiplayer aspect of the game, one of the reasons why I love Metroid is because of the single player experience...not having to worry about finding someone to play with to get the most out of the game, but rather just finding the time for myself (same can be said about Zelda actually, which is why I don't bother with the Four Swords games or Triforce Heroes)

At the very least it looks as if it retains the exploration aspects of Metroid...and if the game's story and world are as in depth as I'm hoping, it could very well be a title I can look forward to...as a Metroid fan, I just want something to look forward to, especially with the 30th anniversary looming closer...

 

[Deleted member]

Just think. While everyone else is being mad.

People like you and I will be enjoying a first person shooter blasting Space Pirates having fun without them.

May I join you ?

 

[Deleted member]

The game's official site is open : http://metroidprime.nintendo.com/

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Nothing of importance seems to be there.

Still neat though.

 

[Aetheri]

The game's set to release within the next few months yet we still have no exact release date...

This actually makes me think we may get another Direct soon...unless Nintendo will just throw it out on Twitter at some point...

 

[LIQUID12A]

https://mynintendonews.com/2016/04/20/us-metroid-prime-federation-force-launches-august-19th/

Metroid Prime: Federation Force arrives on Nintendo #3DS on 02/09 pic.twitter.com/erlPGMXPNe

— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) April 20, 2016

NA and Europe release dates.

Honestly, that's perfectly fine if it means the game is not a rushed job as some deem it.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Do we know when this takes place?

 

[A Distant Demon]

Do we know when this takes place?

Tanabe and I kept talking. We talked about the timeline. The game takes place, as the other Primes did, between Metroid II and Super Metroid, in a sort of sideways expansion of the Prime trilogy’s era.

http://kotaku.com/everything-we-could-find-out-about-that-new-metroid-gam-1712003930

So it seems like it is an undisclosed time within Prime's time period.

 

[Aetheri]

I believe the trailer from the last direct mentioned it takes place directly after corruption...

 

[LIQUID12A]

I stand firm on the theory that Federation Force takes place after Corruption. Here are the facts.

-The timeline, for reference.

-'Samus Aran's solitary war against the Space Pirates terminated their Phazon experiments on Metroids.' This is a key line and the crux of the theory. She was waging a solitary war for the most part against the Phazon-boosted Pirates since Prime 1. Terminating their experiments entirely relies on getting rid of Phazon as a whole. Now how could that happen...

-It was explicitly stated that among other things, Ridley, Dark Samus and Phazon would not feature. And thematically, it makes sense, especially with the above line in context. Ridley was defeated for the billionth time, making it necessary for him to recuperate or whatever(and the fact that he also skips put on Metroid II means lore-wise that he needed quite some time to be in prime condition for the Ceres raid and defense of Zebes), Dark Samus is another key point of this theory, as she was offed on Phaaze, and the circumstances of her death meant that all Phazon in the galaxy was wiped out, thus no more Phazon experiments by Pirates.

-The above renders my original theory of Federation Force taking place before or shortly after Hunters moot, since Phazon was still active around that time despite no mentions of it in Hunters, as the Ultimate Power and Gorea were far more important matters at the moment.

-Samus herself is rendered in the Prime design in what seemingly looks like a pre-PED Varia Suit. Going by Corruption's ending, she somehow managed to discard the PED component of her suit while she escaped Phaaze, since the next time we see Samus, now giving a thumbs up to Admiral Dane from her gunship, she's in her 'regular' Prime design. Even if she hadn't discarded it so quickly, it stands to reason that it would have been removed anyway shortly after her escape, and thus, before the events of Federation Force, whatever they may be.

-And while we're at it, Federation Force seemingly shines light on what the GF does behind closed doors, developing new technology for their own use. Developing a power suit mimicking Samus' Varia Suit(minus an alt mode) is not a foreign concept to them. A difference, however, is that both Sylux's suit and the Shock Coil were prototypes, with the latter being a banned weapons technology. This new GOLEM project is fully authorized, apparently legal and is more distanced from the Varia Suit. You can reasonably tie this into the post-Corruption theory since Sylux was pursuing Samus in the 100% ending. With her appearance in Federation Force, Sylux would likely interfere with her aid to the Federation in some way. And in a meta sense, FF is supposed to setup a future story between both Samus and Sylux, so the scenario would be entirely logical.

And there you have it. My list of reasons as to why this game takes place after Corruption.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Do you think if its good, people will start to like it?

 

[A Distant Demon]

Do you think if its good, people will start to like it?

There will be plenty of people who hate it on principle, but if it winds up being good it will probably do ok.


That, or it will get left in the dust like STEAM did after people were initially not interested in that :/

 

[Guybrush20X6]

The biggest mistake about this game was how Nintendo chose to reveal it. When a series hasn't seen the light of day in five years, and hasn't seen a game the fanbase actually liked in eight years, you don't bring back the series with this. You show the more traditional Metroid game, and then if you want you tack this on afterwards, or wait a bit to reveal it a little whiles later.

Regardless of the game itself, which I'll reserve judgment on (except the art style which I think was a bad decision) Nintendo made a huge misstep in thinking Metroid fans would be thirsty enough that they'd settle for anything.

Basically like them announcing Star Fox Guard instead of Zero.

 

[A Distant Demon]

stolen from Nintenzone

While tackling missions in #FederationForce, tapping one of the two Samus #amiibo provides helpful in-game upgrades. pic.twitter.com/GC8MUuKsew

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 21, 2016

So Fed Force has amiibo use now.

This is for the regular gameplay

Mario and Bowser will change your visor in Blast Ball. Likely only the visor because of necessary team colors. I would link it but mobile sucks.


The two Samus skins look nice though

 

[Aetheri]

the Zero suit colours remind me of Dark Samus actually....


Its like they're taunting me...

 

[Deleted member]

And to quote someone on Twitter:

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[A Distant Demon]

So far seeing positive reception to the Blast Ball demo up on the eshop. No idea if the sentiment will last but it's nice to see

 

[LIQUID12A]

As a stranger to the original Prime's controls I think this is quite a nice control scheme for a handheld like the 3DS. Not using the gyroscope much(since I'm playing on an OG 3DS) but it is entirely functional and had no hiccups from the 4 matches I've played online.

I think the game looks good graphically, if not amazing(though NLG has made great looking games in the past so I'm not surprised). The overhauls made since last year's reveal definitely show on the console itself. Consistent framerate even online with all the action is a plus. Speaking of, Blast Ball itself is okay. Not something you should play for more then 3 matches in one sitting but it's good in small doses, kinda like Splatoon.

As a first impression, I'm definitely sold. Can't wait to try out the full game next month.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Holy Crap Blast Ball is super fun

Goal!

 

[IsmaR]

I am totally down to play space soccer until September.

 

[LancerStaff]

Eh. Blast Ball is kinda meh for me. Kinda feels lacking all around...

 

[LIQUID12A]

If there was still any doubt about the time period, then yes, this is explicitly telling you 'the game takes place after Corruption'.

No signs of Sylux as of yet(Zebei lied like a filthy pirate when saying there was a Sylux skin in Blast Ball :[ ), but I'll wait to see if anything pops up when the game comes out proper. We're at the final stretch.

 

[Deleted member]

Welp, with American and European reviews combined, the game managed to get a lower global score than Other M.

Not to mention some of the issues quoted, like the slow pace and the lack of difficulty-balance for solo players, tend to bother me.


I'm still interested to play it nonetheless, but not until a price drop. :/

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I'm still interested to play it nonetheless, but not until a price drop. :/

That won't happen for quite a while.

I'd recommend either sucking it up and buying it at full price, finding it used or borrowing it instead.


I will say that many reviews were not counted due to not issuing a score and that some reviewers like Haedox, Gamexplain and SomecallmeJonny liked the game.

And that your speed is determined by how much gear you have.

 

[dream1ng]

So apparently this game did outright abysmally in Japan commercially. And before you say that Metroid games never do well there, this one did about an eighth as well as normal performance there. So like... worse that W101 numbers. iirc S&P2 did better.

So... between all this, I have to imagine this is the last we'll see of the FF brand. I just hope Nintendo doesn't see this as a lack of interest for the Metroid brand in general.

 

[Aetheri]

So apparently this game did outright abysmally in Japan commercially. And before you say that Metroid games never do well there, this one did about an eighth as well as normal performance there. So like... worse that W101 numbers. iirc S&P2 did better.

So... between all this, I have to imagine this is the last we'll see of the FF brand. I just hope Nintendo doesn't see this as a lack of interest for the Metroid brand in general.

Well it isn't just because Metroid doesn't do well, but it's definitely a factor...Considering how much of a negative reaction this game got from the fans and generally mixed reviews all round...

Couple that with how niche of a series it is in Japan, and it's no surprise that there won't be much interest for it overall...
I expect it to do better (which I say very loosely) in the west...

At this point, I really hope Nintendo isn't so dense to not realize that this game's performance overall does not reflect the overall interest in a new game for the franchise in general...Especially considering they have (very surprisingly) addressed both the fans reactions to the game as well as acknowledged the petition to cancel the game...which is a lot more than can be said about other negatively received Nintendo titles...

 

[LIQUID12A]

It is worth mentioning that at the very least there is a plan for another game. This was mostly just a one note spinoff designed to fill a small void the producer felt was necessary to fill. Nintendo is aware of the backlash and the intent to make a new title is there when you take into account the secret mission objective dependent post-credits scene in addition to the comments from 2015.

Am I being too optimistic? Maybe, considering the void that most fans have resigned themselves to, saying that FF is a franchise killer(if you want true franchise killers, look at Bubsy 3D, the later Tony Hawk games, all of Konami, and the SimCity reboot causing such a ripple at EA that who knows what will become of it). But I have a feeling that they're listening. They want to turn things around with the NX, and something like a new, proper Metroid [Prime] game would be a very effective trump card if played right.

 

[LancerStaff]

The thing with FF is that it's not a Metroid game... It's a Prime game. It's literally Metroid Prime minus exploration and plus more combat.

If it really did that poorly in America too then I'm pretty sure they'll retire the Prime brand...

 

[Aetheri]

The thing with FF is that it's not a Metroid game... It's a Prime game. It's literally Metroid Prime minus exploration and plus more combat.

If it really did that poorly in America too then I'm pretty sure they'll retire the Prime brand...

I doubt it...Fed Force is a spinoff that fits within the Metroid universe similarly to Hunters...and given the negative backlash Fed Force specifically received along with the demand for Prime 4 (a proper sequel to Corruption) I doubt they'll can the series...

Also speaking as if the Primes themselves are not Metroid games gives the impression that you haven't even played them...they may not be sidescrollers but they are still in fact Metroid games (and the main reason why Metroid isn't a dead franchise)...

 

[finalark]

The thing with FF is that it's not a Metroid game... It's a Prime game. It's literally Metroid Prime minus exploration and plus more combat.

So...

 

[LIQUID12A]

So...

I'll admit Hunters is far less exploration heavy compared to the main trilogy, but it still demands that you look around for collectibles and to progress the plot. It still has the Prime series staples like backtracking and scavenger hunts.

So while it's true that Hunters was more combat based, it's not entirely minus the exploration part.

 

[dream1ng]

There are a few steps between your typical Prime game, or even Hunters, and FF as far as I'm concerned. And most, but not all, of those steps hinder endearing the game to the demo it tried to go for.

 

[LancerStaff]

I've played and beaten every Prime game, including the spinoffs. I distance the Prime series because it's factually distant from the 2D games... They're linear and focus on combat. Fed Force is just more honest about it.

FF still has hidden items, backtracking, the same type of combat... It was publicly stated that it was being used to gauge interest in a new Prime game.

 

[Aetheri]

I've played and beaten every Prime game, including the spinoffs. I distance the Prime series because it's factually distant from the 2D games... They're linear and focus on combat. Fed Force is just more honest about it.

FF still has hidden items, backtracking, the same type of combat... It was publicly stated that it was being used to gauge interest in a new Prime game.

Because the 2D games don't have similar linearity, as we can see in Fusion (though none of the games are nearly as linear as Other M)...Sequence Breaking can allow the player to progress through the game in any way (which the Primes do have as well, at least Prime 1 and 2 on the Gamecube) even though Sequence Breaking was mostly unintentional (aside from Zero Mission) due to the use of glitches...

The 2D games had as much focus on combat as the Primes...the biggest difference between the two in terms of combat was the ability to Lock onto enemies in the Primes, which is something that was mostly required due to the focus on visors (not to mention it's easier in a 3D environment and too broken in a 2D environment)..Perhaps you think this because enemies tend to take longer to kill in the Primes, especially since Samus's arsenal was rather limited in comparison, as we see with Super Missiles and the Space Jump/Screw Attack (which is mostly due to them being way overpowered if they weren't)...

They both follow the same general formula, as you progress through a labyrinthian environment collecting power-ups which allow you to progress through areas you were unable to beforehand as well as opening up alternative routes and shortcuts...Except in the Primes you are in first-person travelling through a 3D environment, which is were the bulk of the differences lie...There's also the emphasis on the use of Samus's visors which, unless you're unfamiliar with Super Metroid, is not required to complete the game at all (except for 100% completion)...

Federation Force had very little of this since you were faced with linear missions that required you to do specific things such as defeating hordes of enemies or solving simple puzzles, with limited exploration and almost no backtracking to advance further...all in a game that's designed for multiplayer...apart from the control set-up, it doesn't share much in common with the Primes...which is the main reason many fans have a problem with this game since it doesn't play like the other Metroid games...especially the one that it shares it's name with...

 

[LancerStaff]

Super was also intentionally breakable like ZM... Infinite bomb jumping was shown off in the title screen demo, and wall jumping and shine sparking exist almost solely to do things out of order.

Prime, not so much. Prime tried it's hardest to remove every trick with every rerelease, Prime 2 wasn't wasn't terribly breakable to begin with, and Prime 3 only has a handful of tricks period. If it were made in modern times they'd all be completely linear...

Prime had more combat and better combat. In the 2D games literally every fight was just spam all your missiles (except in Fusion, where you skip to step two in most fights) and then spam charge shots. Most of the time you can just tank hits and muscle through every boss... Ridley in every 2D game was basically a slightly more interactive missile door. Prime had a dodge mechanic, useful beam/visor switching, an eventual blood knight mechanic, more then two enemies where you need anything besides beams and missile, and bosses/enemies that actually have a chance of killing you. Really, when did a 2D game ever lock you in a room with more then two enemies to kill?

Backtracking and exploration is still very important in FF. You have medals and mods to get, permanent upgrades to get from the story... It still has all the staples of Metroid Prime, just achieved in different ways.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So.

It's been about a mouth since it released. Most of the initial knee jerk reaction has died off.

What are your thoughts on the game now?

 

[Aetheri]

So.

It's been about a mouth since it released. Most of the initial knee jerk reaction has died off.

What are your thoughts on the game now?

My opinion hasn't really changed much...

Controls are pretty solid after a short while...
Wasn't a fan of the style but I can live with it, though it was hard to really take the game seriously though...
Some missions were pretty fun for single player, though others are very obviously designed for multiplayer and were generally pretty awkward for solo...

I feel like the game could've greatly benefitted from having less missions but with longer duration for each...instead of 22 probably closer to 12 or so...as some missions just felt very much like filler and could've worked well if they were simple implemented into other missions...Also wasn't really a fan of missions that were literally just boss battles after following a short path...

Of course longer missions would require checkpoints or safe zones as having to redo half-hour long missions every time would be way too tedious...

Federation Force was still a decent game...only a fraction of what makes a metroid game a metroid game, but as a spin-off title it did its job...

Still think the worst thing about was its timing...