Top 10 things I want to see from Metroid Wii U.

[HylianSwordsman]

1. I can go either way really, I just don't want a 2D metroid on my Wii U. Honestly, I want to see another game like Other M, but done right. You know, switching between 1st and 3rd? That was awesome! ...well...except for how clumsy it was in that game. Switching between 1st and 3rd should be as easy as the press of a button, like it was in Prime, except this time 3rd person wouldn't be limited to the morph ball.

2. Open world sounds nice but...it's Metroid. Metroid is supposed to be a Metroidvania. The genre is named after it, after all. Open world and Metroidvania are two elements that don't go well together. I'm not saying it's impossible, but Metroid should always be a Metroidvania first, open world second. Metroidvanias are semi-open to begin with, so I can imagine it'd be doable, but it'd be IMMENSELY difficult to design. Metroidvanias are essentially open worlds that start out with a lot of restrictions but those restrictions decrease as you go on and the character increases their abilities. Thing is, to make that doable, they had to be composed of corridors and rooms. Corridors and rooms that you didn't necessarily traverse in an exact order, so not really a linear game, but still corridors and rooms, so not exactly an open world either. To make Metroid into an open world while still being a Metroidvania, you'd have to do something along the lines of what Zelda U is trying to do by making the entire world a giant open puzzle to traverse. I like open worlds, but as a few people within Nintendo have said, open world is a term that can be applied to a lot of things. There are different kinds of open worlds, and for Metroid to be anything that could truly be called an "open world" while still remaining Metroid, it would take incredible effort and inspiration to pull off.

3. Yeah, it's about time we moved on.

4. HELL YES. Pretty much exactly like you said here. It seems so clear what they need to do, and after the backlash from Other M, I think Nintendo knows what they need to do as well. Perhaps I have too much faith, but I think the next Metroid will have this done right. Jennifer Hale as Samus would be a dream come true.

5. Absolutely. Seems like a natural next step, and I love the idea of AI Adam reading the logs.

6. FUCK YES. The first sentence sums it up. Of course, Metroid has always been about starting underpowered and underequipped and slowly getting everything you need to be an overpowered badass that singlehandedly slays armies, so it wouldn't be horror played straight, but the atmosphere should start like it did in Prime, with a space horror element. That space horror element should persist throughout, but again, Samus always overcomes in maximum badass fashion. The Omega Metroid style enemy works perfectly for Metroid games. And while Samus does overcome the horror eventually as a badass, the final enemy is always still a match for her. SA-X was a match for Samus at her best, as was Metroid Prime, etc. Each time, Samus is faced with some horrifying power, but with perseverance, she slowly gets what she needs to ascend to sci-fi goddesshood, so that the horror is the only thing strong enough to still stand in her way, and she overcomes even that.

7. This is so overdue. It's taken as long as it has because, as you said, it's important to maintain the feeling of isolation. Isolation is a key element of the Metroid series, and of Samus' character. As a result, it's been hard to have cities and colonies that weren't ruins already laid to waste by the horror she's fighting. Here's where being a fugitive comes into play. She just blew up an important research station, against government orders. She's probably at the top of the Galactic Federation's most wanted list. A truly vast city would be just as isolating under these circumstances as deep caverns. And it would give an opportunity to take off the suit! Picture this: A humongous futuristic city. Bustling city streets. Samus knows no one, and has no one to talk to. If seen by anyone that recognizes her, she's sure to be reported to the authorities. But she has to go anyway. She has to make a living afterall, and the only place to find bounties is from civilization. The fugitive colony is a good idea, but there should be multiple colonies, and some require Samus to keep a low profile, so a conspicuous powersuit is a no-no. Honestly, I think making them required wouldn't be a bad idea at all, so long as the atmosphere is kept. Isolation, be it through physical isolation, or emotional isolation. In the caverns, you're physically away from everyone. In the cities, even the fugitive cities, you know nobody and trust nobody. Cities are worse, in a way, because you don't have your suit. You can't go parading around as a badass that everyone knows and no one would mess with. You have to be vulnerable, armed with only your wits, reflexes, and whatever small arms that wouldn't look conspicuous on a normal citizen, enemies all around you, but this time you can't just tell who they are by looking at them and shooting wildly. To me, the idea of this fits Metroid rather well actually. It delivers the same feeling, but in a different way, so it would be a welcome change of pace.

8. Like you said, they have the groundwork for the story, now DON'T FUCK IT UP. Nothing more needs to be said.

9. So much potential. Hunters was a good start, but we need more. Like you said, Samus shouldn't be playable. Or maybe she could be? Here's a thought, in the single player, have a bunch of interesting characters, like there were in Hunters and Prime 3, except even more fleshed out. Every character plays somewhat differently. Perhaps something like Anarchy Reigns? It was by Platinum games, and had a story mode, but also had a multiplayer mode in which you could play as the main characters or an assortment of other characters from the story mode. The game wasn't that great in my opinion, but the multiplayer wasn't even the slightest bit harmed by having the main characters playable. Honestly, if the singleplayer controls well enough, they can just use that for the multiplayer, instead of trying to copy the controls of another shooter, because Metroid isn't a shooter, so not even the multiplayer should copy shooter games.

10. Agreed. I touched on it in 7. The city portions would have her without the suit. And she'd be wearing real clothes, not the Zero Suit, because Zero Suit Samus is just as conspicuous as Power Suit Samus. Zero Suit should still feature, but not in the city portions. Death scenes are one potential time, but perhaps other times as well. Thing is, stealth missions don't make sense for the Zero Suit either. Like you said, it's under armor. It's for when she's not in a civilian zone, but not in active combat or dangerous exploration. So like in a military base, perhaps a rebel base, where going around in civilian clothes would look out of place, but walking around in powered, weaponized armor all the time would also be uncalled for. Also, perhaps when her Power Suit loses power from taking too much damage, she loses it and must make do with her Zero Suit, but now she's more vulnerable of course, though still plenty capable. There's certainly precedent for Samus having times where she loses her power suit due to a malfunction caused by damage, such as in Other M.

The only other thing I'd say is that I do think Other M offered something with regards to action. Perhaps they went a little heavy on the "shake the wiimote when you're being shot at to do acrobatic flip after acrobatic flip to dodge" but I did like the jumping on enemies and blasting them in the face with a charge shot, and the grappling them and slamming them about like a ragdoll. For all of Other M's flaws, I thought the switching between 1st and 3rd person and the action moves were a couple of positive things it contributed to the series.