Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Slightly better than Metroid Prime 2 but still not a pimple on the ass of the masterpiece original. This one brings in a lot of Halo elements in its gameplay and storytelling which isn't really what I want from Metroid.

PrimeHack w/ HD interface texture. Great start. Everything is reworked. Interactable NPCs. Streamlined scanning & map. Everything is more satisfying to destroy. Explicit directions w/ objectives & highlighting points of interest. Everything seems polished with attention to detail. Checkpoints! Elysia environment & music is superb. Hypermode could've been a better mechanic. Missiles hitbox 50% doesn't work. Hate collecting that one energy cell & the late game orb enemy. 91-93. still prefer 2d.

This game sacrifices virtually everything past games did to focus on combat and it is awful. To give the game some credit, it has some solid boss fights and it gets generally better around the end but a lot of Prime's weakness in combat is exasperated by this game and it was genuinely painful for me to finish. The game reuses a lot of the series enemies and does nothing interesting with them, often making them boring bullet sponges and boasting some truly awful setpieces.

Some of the boss fights are way too long, and the hints can't be fully turned off anymore, but overall this is still a fun time. (played in emulator with keyboard and mouse)