Sure, present-day me has some qualms over the design and such, but Metroid Prime still stands as one of the AAA game industry's great achievements in pushing the FPS to new and interesting spaces. And it's a successful collaboration between an American studio and Nintendo, which is interesting. I love the relatively short 15-hour length, too, and the way the game's world feels just nonlinear enough that you're surprised when you can go to new depths, and it was always cool how well the scan visor slotted into the whole experience.
As for my design issues... I guess they're fairly minor, the game is strong overall. The musical and art direction are still amazing, over 20 years on!
The combat in MP is fun, when considered as a simple (and accessible!) FPS. And it's really cool when the game slips into a 'survival horror'-esque register - like going for the Thermal Visor or that late-game Phazon Mines gauntlet as you look for the Power Bombs (I think?). I feel like a modern Metroid Prime could look to various shooters like Amid Evil, DOOM mods, etc, for inspiration in enemy layouts in the more combat-intense sections, though. Or to modern metroidvanias in terms of structure inspiration? I always felt MP1 was really on to something.
At times the enemies feel too cut-and-paste - fire 4 missiles, aim a single super missile, etc. I also feel like a sparser experience, upgrade-wise, could be fun? To convey more of a sense of alien planet rather than perfectly laid out loop corridors that power you up. I always did feel the game shifted too much to exploring Space Pirate stuff as the game went on.
As for my design issues... I guess they're fairly minor, the game is strong overall. The musical and art direction are still amazing, over 20 years on!
The combat in MP is fun, when considered as a simple (and accessible!) FPS. And it's really cool when the game slips into a 'survival horror'-esque register - like going for the Thermal Visor or that late-game Phazon Mines gauntlet as you look for the Power Bombs (I think?). I feel like a modern Metroid Prime could look to various shooters like Amid Evil, DOOM mods, etc, for inspiration in enemy layouts in the more combat-intense sections, though. Or to modern metroidvanias in terms of structure inspiration? I always felt MP1 was really on to something.
At times the enemies feel too cut-and-paste - fire 4 missiles, aim a single super missile, etc. I also feel like a sparser experience, upgrade-wise, could be fun? To convey more of a sense of alien planet rather than perfectly laid out loop corridors that power you up. I always did feel the game shifted too much to exploring Space Pirate stuff as the game went on.