I finished Death Stranding 2 during my holiday break after 66 hours (absolutely loved it, especially that bonkers ending and also, maybe one of my favorite performances from Troy Baker and proof we need him as a villain in more games). Looking ahead to January, I realized I had the rare opportunity to dive into my backlog because the month is so chill for new releases. I whittled my options down to Yakuza 0, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and Metroid Prime Remastered… and Samus Aran’s big round shoulders won.
I’m roughly halfway through it now, and I am enjoying it, but I’m not so sure it works as well for someone who hasn’t played the original. Of course, this game originally launched more than two decades ago and this is not a remake; it’s a remaster. Its visuals hold up well, especially given the remastering work that has upgraded what I’m seeing on screen. I can’t lie, though – the 2002 of it all is making it an annoying experience to interact with. Fortunately, I’m enjoying it more than I am becoming frustrated by it but, man, I would have killed for some quality-of-life updates like auto-save and reworked controls.
I don’t mind visiting save points to save my progress, but sometimes, the sequences I must endure are extensive and packed with enemies, making it easy to die and lose upwards of 45 minutes of progress (looking at you, Thermal Visor runback). It’s also frustrating switching between visors, weapon types, and more using Remastered’s control scheme. I can’t point to a specific aspect I dislike, but it just doesn’t feel great when I’m pressing buttons, doubly so when playing handheld on Switch 2 with Joy-Cons.
Anyway, I’m fresh off losing 45 minutes of progress this morning because of that dang Thermal Visor, so I’m feeling more jaded on it than not, but I do think it’s a great game. It’s nice to revisit a classic and experience where a game that has so clearly inspired countless others began; I’m just not so sure it holds up as well as other classics, especially as a first-time player.