Metroid Prime 2 Echoes Review

[@JayDayX116]

also a really cool bit of lore is that A-kul, the only luminoth to sucessfully retrieve their sky temple key was actually the wielder of the dark suit, dark visor, and the annihilator beam before samus.

[@DissyIV]

Its really nice to see Echoes get the praise it deserves. Its without a doubt my favorite game in the series.

[@nillynush4899]

My fav is Prime 3 for the lore, story, and controls, but Prime 2's art is superb. The beginning is amazing, and Samus' silent body language and character (in the Prime universe) is at its best here. Prime 2's OST is in a three way tie with Prime 1 and 3 for overall quality, each is great and I wouldn't choose between them.

[@ninemugetsu]

Same

[@Araragi298]

Echoes is one of my favorite video games of all times. The tank controls are certainly a relic of the past; they were outdated even when echoes came out. Despite that, the game was designed around them and managed to be an astonishingly good game. Combat is designed around the lock on, so aiming was never a skill you needed anyway. The world, puzzles, lore, enemies, everything is an A+ in game design (except maybe the key hunt at the end)

[@meta9492]

Echoes was my favourite until dread came out, its just so good

[@gunslinger9786]

It's my favorite game of all time

[@jhonj5702]

One often overlooked detail is the juxtaposition of both prime 1 and prime 2 endings. In the first game, samus wipes out the Space Pirates, Ridley and Metroid Prime, but just as she finishes the job, all she can do is watch at the charred remains of the race that raised her. Contrast this with Prime 2, where she manages to make a difference and save the Luminoth, as she turns back and smiles before taking off.

[@coltennial9513]

Metroid Prime was released in 2002, the Manga that states she was raised by the Chozo was released in 2003. I don't think the developers intended it to be that way (not that we can't interpret stuff ourselves). Also in Prime 3 it's stated that the Planet in Prime 1 was saved, so I believe she is just watching the end of her successful adventure.

[@Alakaizer]

Another little detail someone else pointed out. The Dark Suit makes Samus look like a Luminoth warrior. The Light Suit makes her look like a Luminoth work of art.

[@tess8941]

"The Luminoth are sympathetic" One of the things I loved about Echoes is that while the Luminoth are indeed sympathetic via the scan lore and the situation on show, the game doesn't shy away from the fact that the Luminoth are the architects of their own downfall. Keep in mind that early scan logs explain that they over-indulged in technology - going as far as to convert Aether's natural energy resources for their own short-sighted benefit. That same technology was then seized by the Ing and, without Samus' presence, could've been the downfall of their entire species and Aether on top. What I love about Metroid in so far as its more subtler themes, is its focus on the balance/relationship/conflict between science and religion - in the former case, the danger of over-reliance and similarly-zealous indulgence in such. You see it pop up throughout Bryyo in Prime 3 too. Hell, the Chozo even warned that race of the dangers of reliance on technology...and it resulted in a civil war between the use of science and the use of magic. And the best thing about all this: its entirely optional world-building that you can easily ignore/avoid and one the game isn't reliant on to be enjoyable. Of any of the games, Prime 2 really utilized its scan lore/world-building to great effect.

[@julianpeterson4227]

really great take those themes are most noticeable on bryyo but I hadn't noticed it else where

[@PacdemonStudios1]

@@julianpeterson4227 Now that it's been mentioned, you can see the parallels between Bryyo and the Tallon Chozo and Luminoth, almost like if they took the two philosophies and smashed them onto the same planet. It makes the galaxy feel bigger and more real, the allusion that for every powerful ancient celestial civilization we see in the series there are countless others that buckled under their own weight

[@isauldron4337]

Luminoth are simply victims

[@soey98]

I actually disagree with your statement of the Luminoth being the instruments of their own potential demise. Aether's planetary energy was burning far faster than normal. It was aging too quickly. They HAD to create the PEC units to regulate and prolong the planet's lifespan. Are you really going to fault them for slapping on some quality-of-life tech onto the units, like their weather control functions?

[@markanthony5322]

I don't know about the Luminoth being short-sighted with their technology being their downfall. They couldn't have predicted the meteor was going to crash on their planet and birth the Ing. They were nomads looking for a home planet, so when they did, they made the energy controllers to harness the planet's light to power their technologies so that they can prosper. Any advance civilization would do so. As for the Ing using the the energy controllers. We don't know if whether with or without it, that the Ing would have an easier time taking over the planet. Perhaps the controllers stopped the planet from being corrupted and possesed like with what the light module did for samus when she picked it up from Ing. It atleast gave samus as well as any Luminoth before her a clear physical goal to destroy the Ing. I'd argue without the controllers, there's no way to destroy Dark Aether. The Ing would spread around the planet and eventually the universe. The controllers work against Dark Aether as well as Light Aether.

[@charlottearanea7507]

This was one of the most earnest-feeling love letters to a game I've ever seen. You went into great detail on everything that elevates the game in a way that doesn't get covered in contemporary reviews, but you don't waste time obsessing over irrelevant details like many video essays have a bad habit of doing. Fantastic video, really vocalized the feelings I had after my most recent playthrough.

[@Melkac]

That's what I love about people like TGBS and NitroRad. They don't derrail the video in order to complain about minimal nitpicks that may simply not be somebody's cup of tea, such as the light/dark ammo, instead they focus on talking about how that changes the pacing of the game and adds an extra layer of strategy to the combat.

[@isauldron4337]

@@Melkac also TGBS nitpicks other m

[@Melkac]

@@isauldron4337 No, those are legitimate complaints. Those “nitpicks” bring the game down, while the “nitpicks” in Prime 2 are a matter of preference. Not to mention that video is literally a decade old. His content has improved since.

[@isauldron4337]

@@Melkac the heck You mean?

[@isauldron4337]

@@Melkac the video feels very disjointed honestly Begins with the menu music goes to the story then to dark aether then to the text logs .. The text isn't Bad in itself, but this video would benefit from being clearly divided into sections like gameplay, storyline and other sidestuff rather than jumping all around different topics like a kangaroo

[@ExtremeAce]

40:55 "In this moment the Echo Visor is being used for it's ultimate purpose, to track your own echo" That has to be the coolest line I've heard in this review. Thank you so much for giving praise and justice to my favorite game of all time. I'd like to add one more point to this game's master-class design. Your first playthrough is probably gonna be a little hectic as Prime 2 is very confusing at times with the Light/Dark mechanic and it can be hard or sometimes frustrating to figure out a boss' patterns. But once you've gone through all that and you decide to boot up this game again, you will notice that the game rewards you for mastering it. One of the best examples of this is the Emperor Ing fight. Unlike the Metroid Prime, Emperor Ing is a fight where you can use more than just your beams and their combos. You probably used your Missiles or Annihilator the first time you encountered it, but on a replay, you can choose to use Light Beam on the tentacles which takes about 2 hits and saves a lot of ammo compared to the Annihilator Beam (which is itself a very efficient tool to use since it homes and you can spam it), or if you are good with movement and want to save ammo for the final phase, you can use Seekers which require some precise aiming but again, if you're skilled you will get rewarded. It's eye can be destroyed by any weapon but only on replays can you find out what makes the best work. Things like Super Missiles and Sunburst absolutely wreck this thing. This is just one more of several other reasons why I love this game so much.

[@ManleyReviews]

I've been waiting for you to make this video for the literally 9 years.

[@ErroneousNickname]

Please don't get discouraged by these video's low numbers youtube simply isn't recommending them for some reason. That being said both this and your kingdom hearts video, are some of your absolute best work, gushing and showing your appreciation for the artistry behind these games from every level of stimulation, has been absolutely fantastic to hear, and the kind of positivity I've needed. Thank you for your incredible work describing games that you love

[@drmajalis1583]

One more thing about the Metroid the Pirates bring If you scan the non-lore computers in their base, you learn- 1. They are breeding too many and don't have enough tanks to keep them in and the higher ups aren't listening 2. Repeated trips to the dark world are causing brownouts and the higher ups aren't listening 3. Metroids cannot be disciplined and the higher ups aren't listening (noticing a trend?) The Metroids only start breaking out after you and Dark Samus trash their reactor room, they've lost containment power to the tanks You see artificial Metroid cocoons in their breeding room spitting out infant Metroids with no where to go They occupy rooms they originally weren't in After your visit, you only ever see Space Pirates in their command centre in the base, they wont venture anywhere else for fear of the loose Metroids Just another cherry on top of how fucked they are.

[@Christian-gr3gu]

I wonder if the higher ups aren't listening

[@FeixMan]

Didn't read any of this since I'm a Space Pirate higher up.

[@Mortablunt]

@@Christian-gr3gu Sounds like most other incompetent management with eyes on the checklist.

[@courdell7426]

@@FeixMan 😂😂😂😂😎

[@calerandall2654]

This helps paint a picture of how Space Pirate Management is. Despite being… well pirates, I can’t help but feel sorry for the lower pirates. Kinda makes me want to write a work comedy centered around them.

[@alexmercer2743]

Dark Samus effortlessly wasting those Dark Pirate Troopers at 17:45 is always awesome. There was a 4 way cagematch going on on Aether between the Pirates, the Ing, Dark Samus, and OG Samus. That one scene captures it perfectly.

[@Marcelo_DBZ_Music]

I always loved that too. The only thing is, the Space Pirates aren't much of a contender after Aagon Wastes. They're literally only there to get wasted by the Ing. They're basically a joke compared to how fearsome and frightening they are in Prime 1

[@AICW]

@@Marcelo_DBZ_Music It makes sense considering the Pirate detachment on Aether was supposed to be a super stealthy mining operation working with minimal support from headquarters. They were undermanned, outgunned, and working off a shoestring budget even before the Marines shot down their supply ship.

[@craigpegasus]

@@AICW it also demonstrates just how much stronger the ing are than any previous threat Samus has faced.

[@tonystank3091]

Interesting that they're *Dark* Pirate Troopers. As in, they're Ing. She sicced the Ing on you in the beginning. it's actually a bit of interesting worldbuilding. Shows that the alliance between the Ing and Dark Samus has broken down in the time you've been here.

[@shpladau]

I love that the Federation barely even stood a chance as a 5th contender here.

[@FrahdChikun]

One of my favorite touches in the game has to be watching your gunship's progress as it completes its auto-repair cycle. In the beginning the gunship is smoking from the dark lightning strike as you entered the planet's atmosphere. Towards the end of the game the smoke is gone, signaling the ship's almost done repairing itself.

[@lacrodectus2139]

you can scan it, too, showing you the actual percentage. it's awesome how the entire game is essentially samus doing whatever she can to pass the time while her ship is busted. when it's ready, she just packs up and leaves.

[@snackz808]

Echoes was one of the most sublime gaming experiences I've ever had. I remember first playing the demo as a kid on my buddy's copy of Metroid Prime. I remember Echoes as being darker and the music was awesome as was the concept of the dark world. Epic game 11/10

[@RoflMaiWaffel]

This madman really did a review on his favourite Prime game instead of reviewing Prime 1 first!

[@zephyr8072]

Echoes I think established what an incredibly strong person Samus would have to be, even more so than Fusion. I'd argue that the Ing are more horrific than the X. Because the X while being 100% lethal to absolutely everything except Samus by twist of fate is still grounded, whereas the Ing are unsettling pan-dimensional terrors from a realm that actively hurts you just by being there. There's a visceral horror here not present in any other Metroid.

[@SuperSunshine321]

My favorite game in the Prime series. Dark Aether makes the gameplay tougher, the sense of isolation stronger and the overall atmosphere heavier. Finishing Prime 2 feels like breathing a sigh of relief, while the game at the same time makes you feel like a Metroid (lol). Samus walking into the light, casually raising her arm to bid the bowing Luminoth farewell is to me one of the coolest endings ever to a game.

[@kingdomkey2262]

My favorite game in the series, it's crazy how good the graphics still look as well, thanks for covering this.

[@angusbones]

Glad to have you back, doesn’t feel right without you on this platform. I hope you never stop doing your own thing, haven’t come across somebody on here that does it quite like you do.

[@Jose-se9pu]

I understand now the money is on Twitch, but yeah, I miss his content too.

[@iinviz]

💯💯💯

[@JulietStMoon]

He actually makes a lot of other videos, but only for Patreon if you want to check that out. Worth it, imo

[@angusbones]

@@JulietStMoon will do

[@owlitup2225]

i need his no more heroes 3 review

[@itsallenwow]

I love how many smaller details you pointed out that I missed. Even as someone who played this game first time in 2021. I hope 2 is the blueprint they use when making prime 4. If that’s still happening I guess

[@TheSlammurai]

Dread was such a smash hit that it even boosted sales of Fusion on the eshop since it was a sequel to Fusion. They'd be stupid not to capitalize by making Prime 4.

[@itsallenwow]

See that almost makes me more skeptical. Because 2 Metroid style games have become so huge recently I’m sort of worried that Prime gets priority taken off of it. Especially considering that prime 2 and 3 did not sell well. Despite having fans making videos like this one. But hey id obviously love prime so I hope you’re right

[@johnleonard9102]

@@itsallenwow We can't forget that the first Metroid Prime was the best selling in the series before Dread came along, and it's easy to contribute the massive amount of switches compared to the lower amount of GameCubes to affecting those numbers; about 10% of GameCube owners had Metroid Prime, but right now we're looking at only 3% of switch owners have Dread. We'll see how the numbers are at the end of the switch's life cycle.

[@itsallenwow]

Oh interesting. Yeah it feels like Dread was a massive success. I know it got 2 of my friends who had never played Metroid before to buy it and try the series out.

[@maagic2031]

It kinda scares me that I can't predict whether MP4 will be closer to 1/2 or 3. I mean, I enjoy MP3, but the world really deserves to get something as fun, cool, horrifying and unique as MP2.

[@vergilangelo3812]

You also get a good window into Samus's personality from things she does, her body language, and her logbook. She's observant, intelligent, resourceful, and somewhat of a scientist at her core. She exudes confidence in everything she does. She's not a hollow shell or merely a "Badass", she clearly has a lot more texture to her than that. As far as the "Blank Slate" Nintendo characters go, she's very much defined by her actions. She's definitely the most underrated Nintendo character. I love this game to death.

[@BAIGAMING]

Metroid Dread was amazing, I hope we get a Metroid Prime 4 next. The Prime games did such an amazing job of making 3D alien worlds, it genuinely felt eerie and creepy and there was so much to explore. Thanks for making this video, getting a new review every few months is always a nice treat, I've been watching since your R&C 2016 review.

[@craigpegasus]

At this rate, MP4 will be in development as long as Dread was 🤣

[@haukilex]

all the Metroid Prime games have fantastic music and better gameplay. sad people hated motion controls so much

[@genuinesaucy]

That menu theme for Prime 2 still gives me nerd shivers like it did the first time. 2004 was a fucking unbelievable year in gaming.

[@kingdomkey2262]

Halo 2, Half-life 2, Doom 3, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, Jak 3, Ninja Gaiden, Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Omnimusha 3, truly was a legendary year for gamers.

[@2NDFLB-CLERK]

▪️ There was NO word that starts with a Pand, and Ends with a Mic . Please lose the cattIeMask. 🟥

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

Fun fact: that "dull metallic look," you mentioned you liked is actually a bug. A reflective surface should have the reflections "slide around," on the surface for lack of a better term, but Echoes has an error in those calculations that causes the reflection maps to "stick," almost like they're painted on, making them look like dirt. You can see the broken _and_ correct versions in game since some cameras (I think the save cutscenes cameras IIRC) actually have the correct calculations and Samus looks much more shiney.

[@onceyougozach2607]

I looked this up and didn't find anything about it, how do you know this?

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

@@onceyougozach2607 I found this out myself a few months back. I'm a 3D developer and was programming a reflection shader for work when it kept using the wrong camera making the reflection map stick. Coincidentally I was also playing through Echoes with an HD texture pack at the same time, and since the reflection map had more detail I could actually see outlines of buildings and stuff sticking to her (also the stretched out areas are a signature artifact of a botched camera projection). I realized that the game was actually having the same problem I was trying to solve at work! My guess is in scenes where it cuts between multiple cameras, the reflection vector is only being calculated based on a single camera's position, so once it cuts away from that camera the reflections stop moving.

[@onceyougozach2607]

@@ZachHixsonTutorials that's pretty insane, like i said there's literally nothing about that online from what I saw so if that's true then you kind of discovered something new lol. I wonder if it may have been a bug they decided to just leave as is though, rather than something that went through unnoticed. As in, they thought the bug was fine and just decided to make it a feature. I think the game had a rushed development cycle though so who knows.

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

@@onceyougozach2607 yeah, I made a Reddit post in the Metroid sub to make sure it wasn't a glitch with dolphin and others seemed to confirm I wasn't alone (you can even see it in this video). The devs probably knew about it, but considering the GCN's fixed shader pipeline it might have been more effort than it was worth to fix. "screw it, the suits dirty, ship it," lol

[@redielg]

TIL

[@emptysky0039]

I think this game is utterly brilliant. People really dislike dark Aether, but I think it's done almost perfectly. When you first arrive, the atmosphere hurting you at a high rate as well as the limited safe zones give it the claustrophobic feel that you were talking about, and I love how it almost forces the player to cower. You don't have the confidence to tread into the unknown, so you may spend time huddling in a corner to catch your breath before taking every step. The entire world is unknown and hostile, and your ability to conquer it is gated by your own frailty to its environment. The great thing is that this is a factor long enough for it to establish the foreboding atmosphere and threat of the Ing, but you get the Dark Suit decently early which removes it as a gameplay annoyance now that you've gotten comfortable with the residual damage, but it doesn't eliminate it entirely because the threat is still there. This game is beautiful. Absolutely one of my favorites.

[@jaretco6423]

The only thing I kinda wish is that Dark Aether world has some sort of theme variety. For example, Agon Waste is an desert like level in the Light World. But in an Dark World, it can be an Ice theme that hasn't change in forever. Or an swamp in the light side of Torvus Bog that can be an volcanic landscape in the dark side that's forming before I was an swamp. It's an small detail I would've like to see. But I digress.

[@lichlame]

Out of all the Prime games, Echoes best captured the feeling of being alone on a lost and dangerous alien planet.

[@tyrantravealpha]

Totally agree. Aether is such a scary place, especially when you consider the dark dimension on the planet.

[@Pdudi]

Buying it on Wii U and playing it on the Wii Remote like Corruption was a perfect experience for me.

[@RunningShine]

Aside from Torvus Bog being a pain in the ass sometimes, playing through Echoes was one of my favorite experiences with a game and I always felt it was seriously underappreciated compared to the first Prime. I'm happy you went into the presentation and sound a lot because it does so much to heighten the atmosphere.

[@redielg]

I recently replayed prime 1 & 2 on dolphin. I was afraid that my love for the games was rose tinted glasses from a time I didn’t know any better. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. The games are some of GOATS in gaming. I know echoes has its issues, I don’t think it’s a perfect game. But much like chrono cross, they’re masterpieces despite being imperfect. Loved being able to replay my favorite games from my teenage years with updates visuals and widescreen support. I haven’t used primehack yet but it’s great that so many mods exist and are being created this long after release.

[@nillynush4899]

with a wiiU gamecube controller converter you can plug that into your PC and use your old GC controllers in roms.

[@redielg]

@@nillynush4899 yeah I was using a game cube controller. I’ve never played prime 3 tho. If prime hack works with that, I’ll try to use it. I don’t like motion controls. I completely skipped the Wii era.

[@ExtremeAce]

@@redielg PrimeHack rebinds all the motion controls to just a single key on the keyboard. I had a blast with Prime 3 on Primehack and it really maps the controls in a way which seems as if the game was made to be played with Keyboard+Mouse. I definitely recommend you to try it out.

[@tufftim1HD]

@@redielg from what I remember prime 3 is a cool game but don't expect anything close to 1 or 2. It felt a lot like a half tech demo for the Wii, half Metroid game

[@magicjohnson3121]

I found Prime 3 to be better than the first game.

[@IamCanadian3333]

17:50 That's not the pirates trying to broker that deal, that's the Ing (who had possessed the pirates) attacking Dark Samus because to them, anything non-Ing are enemies. This scene itself actually proves that Dark Samus and the Ing are in fact not allies (despite both being birthed because of Phaaze).

[@kingdomkey2262]

But why didn't the ing attack her at the beginning?

[@IamCanadian3333]

@@kingdomkey2262 She got the Energy Transfer Module, which made her immune to Ing possession. Before that though, is anyone's guess. Maybe they wanted to test her (via the Dark Troopers and Dark Splinters) to see what she was capable of before committing to that. I'll point it, the Dark Pirate Commando scan implies that some beings might be incapable of being possessed on a normal level (aka Warrior Ing). We kind of see this with Quadraxis as well (though this might be due to shear size more than anything). Samus might fall in that category too. Though most people would probably say "plot."

[@johnleonard9102]

No game displays Samus' personality better than this one. Dread was cool and all, but there are so many subtle movements she makes in this one that really builds who she is.

[@tgr3423]

Underrated as fuck Metroid game. Best music in the entire series imo. It also showcases Samus's raw power the best in the franchise through context. The Ing have slaughtered pretty much the entire Luminoth race, and slowly pushed them back over the course of decades. Then this woman comes along, and in the span of an afternoon, *single-handedly wins the war for the Luminoth* like it was Tuesday.

[@Tenhys]

I know that it's been a year this post was made but, i'd never the less like to point out that, by the time Samus got to Aether, it was factually total war between the Luminoth and Ings : both races fought the other to a fight to the death ; Winners takes all, losers are annihilated. In other words, when Samus arrives, the Ings, despite being the victors of this conflict, got their forces severly depleted by the Luminoths, which opposed a ferocious resistance to their conquest (down to the last of themselves.) So their numbers weren't what they were used to be to deal with her. Second of all, Samus wasn't the only one coming on Aether as the conflict between the two races got to a close : both the federation and space pirates came in prior to her and, far more important than the rest, *Dark Samus herself* (the Metroid Prime) joining the fray as well. Simply put, the Ings suddensly found themselves confronted to additionnal hosts to parasite (and a very powerful potential ennemy to face) and also contemplating the idea of going into space to extent their parasitic reach to the known universe. Which, considering how hyper hierarchised, opportunistic and competitive the Ings' social structure is, meant that, once Samus arrived (and got it's ass seemingly kicked during the first intrusion on dark Aether's soil), she was treated as a total push over. And that the war was essentially already won, from their point of view. On fact help solidifying that statement : the Ing felt so confident that they already won, they send the one element cornerstone to the entire conflict, the energy collector, to be wielded by the Ings that inflitrate the Splinter Alpha - an oversized grunt life form that made it's nest within the Luminoth's very own last safe place. (Ergo, adding ultimate insult to penultimate injury.) Then Samus killed the creature and got the energy collector. Suddenly, the game was on. What happened afterward is pretty much speculations on my part. But considering how vital said energy collector was, i'd wouldn't be surprised if the Ings DID intend to send pretty much all they had to recuperate it but had to deal with Dark Samus interfering all the way through for reason that were her/his own along. Essentially, we, the players, saw the events playing through Samus' eyes but, from the Ings perspective, they also had to deal with Dark Samus - which was, arguably at the time, far more dangerous for them *because they weren't allies.* That notion that is firmly cemented in my mind because, each time both the Ings and Dark Samus were present in a scene, the Ings always kept their distance to Dark Samus DESPITE their numbers. (For me that means that she got to have killed a noticeable share of them.) It really is a damn badass game to vehiculate so much with barely any dialogue. "Show don't tell" is truly encapsulated in that game. A gem like few others.

[@seantaylor2683]

Atmosphere is often brought up as one of the Metroid series' greatest strength's. Prime 2 exhibits this better than any other Metroid in my opinion

[@iwannaplayssbb6665]

PLEASE, PLEASE! GIVE ECHOES THE REMASTER TREATMENT!

[@joshparsons1485]

The summary toward the end of this video is really what sets it apart from other reviews of this game I have seen. To give us your take on Metroid Prime 2's story that you feel and experience by playing the game was awesome. It really is a story that has to be experienced for anyone who has not played this title. Just like I am enjoying playing older jrpgs like FF10, and Tales of Symphonia right now, you will not regret picking up the Metroid Prime series.

[@BlackWingedSeraphX]

Metroid Prime 2 was Samus at her most badass. The way she left with just that hand wave was strong af!

[@The_Red_Lucario]

Disclaimer: "I wrote this comment before watching the video." Prime 2 for me on my initial playthrough was a cool game, it felt really good to beat the bosses, piling on top of what came before with the gauntlet feeling world to get there felt incredibly satisfying. 6 years later after 15 playthroughs and it feels as good as ever. The Dark Samus encounters, the massive scale bosses, the music?! I'm confident in saying Metroid Prime 2: (Dark) Echoes is my favorite game of all time.

[@SonicKick]

It's crazy to think around 10 years ago I discovered your Metroid Other M review that heavily praised the Prime games, and that inspired me to find a copy of Prime 2 back when I was in High School. One of my friends sold me his copy for $10 and while I never got the chance to get past the 3rd area, everything that you hinted at with it's atmosphere, dark oppressive synergy, and the hidden lore just clicked with me. I remember being entranced by Torvus Bog and just sucking in the environment, the small details of the Visor like Samus' eyes made me feel like Samus' was my persona. It was a captivating experience I'll never forget. To see this vid after so much time has passed really shows how far you've come as a creator, and how much those memories sitting criss cross on my small TV being entranced by this world mattered in the grand scheme of things. Banger vid, as always TGBS.

[@ebonbehelit9763]

"A lot of the reason the tension in the Dark World works is also because of how the save system works here. Save rooms double as checkpoints -- if you die, you go back to the last one you saved at -- and they're scarce enough to make you consider your next move carefully." YES! And on the flipside, you have Dread, which tries so very hard to build tension, but then repeatedly sabotages its own efforts by autosaving before very EMMI encounter and boss room. There is no tension without stakes.

[@rollerskdude]

Listening to this really does sound like a love letter to a favourite and legendary game.

[@TheOscuras]

Man I really hope we get a prime trilogy re-release

[@alanherbethe7338]

Excellent video. Yesterday I completed the game collecting all the items, it's just as good as the first game. I hope Prime 4's gameplay will have some elements from the first 2 games with the Free-Aim Lock-On from Corruption. And Samus' personality from Echoes instead of her personality in Dread.

[@coffee0093]

1:53-2:11 This is exactly what sucked me into the original Quake, and there hasn't really been much like it. I always look forward to your videos Mr GamingBrit! Cheers to the new year!

[@COlimar788]

Really really delightful analysis. I especially love the discussion of the music and how it escalates through the game.

[@StrunDoNhor]

Something that I loved about Echoes was the way it gated some upgrades (missile tanks and the likes) by testing skills you didn't necessarily need anywhere else. The game made great use of Prime 1's lesser-used tools, such as the Grapple Beam and Spider Ball. This was something that the 2D Metroid games made far greater use of, most notably with Shinespark challenges, and I loved seeing the Prime series get the same treatment -- both in Echoes and later, in Corruption.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Unfortunately most of the challenges with getting items in 2D Metroid games are shinespark puzzles(which are fun). What I like about the Prime games is that they put missile and energy upgrades behind mini challenges. Makes getting them more interesting than the lock and key strategy.

[@DarkShadowHawk720]

Imagine the luminoth make a return in metroid prime 4, that’d be really interesting.

[@bradbailey5481]

A big part of Prime 2’s atmosphere is owed to Andrew Jones’ incredible concept art. He doesn’t like video games or the video game industry, so that’s probably why the art was so distinct… that and the drugs he was doing on the weekends. Prime 2 goes so hard

[@Melkac]

Drugs always create the most unique pieces of media.

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

​@@Melkac drugs are great

[@pretzel1313]

At around 17:42, those are Ing corrupted Space Pirates, not normal Space Pirates. I think the Ing were fighting Dark Samus for some reason there, though I'm not sure why.

[@seanbickham1874]

I really wish Nintendo would go back to this model with regards to Samus's character design. She looks incredibly intimidating and her suit truly has a realistic metallic vibe.

[@samquik]

Dread recently dethroned Prime 2 as my favorite Metroid game, but this video reminded me why it held the #1 spot for fifteen years. Still such a masterpiece

[@jake975]

You put my every scattered thought about this game perfectly into words. Glad to see people appreciating Prime 2 :]

[@theCarbonFreeze]

This is the best review of Echoes I've seen. Great content, thanks for posting!

[@SuperGo4]

Echoes is also my favorite prime game, good to see im not the only person

[@Hammudiii]

This review is so good and normally Metroid reviews blow up, but idk what hindered this beautiful retrospective from gaining more views? Maybe the title and thumbnail combined? Maybe that it wasn’t anticipated like when someone reviews each game back to back? Either way, great video! I love Metroid Prime 2 Echoes

[@Hammudiii]

You should’ve played it on PC via PrimeHack, looks and plays so much better.

[@lacrodectus2139]

he includes virtually no fanfare for his titles and thumbnails, so potential views obviously would be lost, but it's an extremely respectable decision. he probably knows that flashy clickbait is unnecessary, and the videos should speak for themselves

[@Mattatat9ty3]

East coast US here. Ending 2021 off right with a review from gamingbrit. And one of my favorite GameCube games. Hell yes!

[@RSlider1]

Excellent breakdown of an all-time classic. I recently replayed Prime 1 & 2 with mouse and keyboard controls using PrimeHack and it works surprisingly well. Got into the series around the time Fusion came out on the GBA, but Prime 2 was definitely the peak of the franchise for me. The dark world has this eerie drowning background noise that almost sounds like something out of a horror game and I love it. It kind of starts off on a low-key compared to Prime 1, but it feels like one of those games you appreciate more once you have seen it all the way to the end.

[@ChakainHD]

Amazing video man. Prime 2 is my favorite of all time, and you really just nailed every reason why and more here. Hopefully Dread has brought in several new fans to the franchise who can soon be introduced to the Prime series. Also props to keeping a good flow throughout a 40+ minute video. I was never not engaged or feeling my attention drifting to something else. Despite me liking the topic, it should still be recognized that that is no easy task. Great work! Thank you for making this

[@cinnamonlaces755]

The amount of times I’ve replayed this master piece for these exact reasons, great review

[@redndead94]

This was the game the introduced me to Metroid and led me to discover your KZbin channel over a decade ago.. this is incredibly nostalgic. Happy new years!!

[@Zeburaman2005]

The acquisition of the Light Suit’s scene would be an excellent fit for the He-Man transformation sound track from the Filmation cartoon.

[@blurredlights5235]

Metroid Prime 2 is hands down one of the greatest games ever made.

[@gustavocantu1794]

I love when Samus waves at the Luminoth at the end like she was saying "Slow Tuesday" or something like that haha epic badass girl.

[@wonderguardstalker]

Prime is my favorite game but every time I do the Trilogy replay this is the best one. Absolutely top shelf game. I could seriously go on about it for hours. Glad people are coming back around to it

[@wonderguardstalker]

Just finished the video, this is exactly the Echoes video I’ve been waiting for, thank you so much for this! Two details I like are the item crates being usually living beings, to contextualize getting ammo from living things. And Dark Samus becoming more calculated/intelligent as she recovers with phazon throughout the game, which reflects in the 3 battles and carries into Corruption

[@stormcutter59]

I remember people calling this game the Black Sheep of the series and while I can understand at a guess as to why that is, I never lost interest in this game. Getting sucked into immersive worlds and stories is my jam and all the Lrime games do that right, this game particularly included. To me the oppressive atmosphere of this game justifies its difficulty. I like to feel like I'm fighting to survive in Metroid and this is an excellent game to showcase that. Thank you for reviewing this much neglected title in the trilogy. It doesn't get enough focus.

[@firstprimehunter]

Finally some appreciation for the best metroid game. I’m glad you touched on the whole “ultimate warrior” thing. I’ve been saying that for ages and when people started cracking “samus is metroid” jokes after dread, I died a little inside

[@isauldron4337]

That's in the metroid fusion manual though

[@PurePari]

My man, I am always amazed at how immaculate your scripts are. You hardly ever waste a word making your points, and the same goes here. Prime 2’s always been my favorite Metroid myself, and I’m glad you put into words just what makes it so special.

[@isauldron4337]

But he did waste a Lot of words though

[@thankfullydaniel4212]

This one is actually one of my favorite games growing up, one of those formative titles close to your gamer heart. I love this review, Echoes is so damn gritty and dark on its tone that it feels like Samus' most daunting mission, it all works great to empower the player with what I feel is the "Prime team" absolute best in the artistic department. My personal all-time favorite is the Light Suit, it looks so badass and it works great to paint Samus as the temporary saviour that she is. I bet those moth guys made statues of Light Suit Samus.

[@garomastervideos]

31:00 I'm glad someone finally said this. I love the victory lap in MP2 because it really makes the player feel the progress they've made between the start and the end. At first, exploring the Dark World is tense and oppressive. By the end, you're just blowing through these familiar sections. It feels very triumphant and rewarding, and it's mainly because you're going through the same places and can contrast these moments from your experience.

[@ShadowWarriorLuke]

There's just something striking about that shot where Samus and Dark Samus raise their arm cannons right before their final fight. Very "One shall stand, one shall fall" moment. Despite being a secondary force, I like how Prime 2 gives the Space Pirates a lot of character. Largely through their logs but also in the smaller in-game moments.

[@AICW]

There are intriguing scans of dead Pirate Commandos in Dark Aether that show how they died. One of them was filled with bullets in the back and the scan says PIrates do not tolerate cowardice. There's another one where two Commandos were killed by Metroids, one of them says his weapon's energy pack is completely full indicating he was ambushed before he got a shot off, the other one says his gun is completely out of ammo meaning he went down fighting to the last breath.

[@jeremy1860]

Back during the Wii days, this trilogy was my brother's favourite thing to play on that console 😊

[@recht_voor_zijn_raap5506]

Unpopular opinion: Metroid Prime 2 was imo the best Metroid game with both Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 1 very close on a 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Don't get me wrong, I love this franchise and especially these 3 games can be considered as some of the best games of all time. But MP2 did one thing the best of all the Metroid Games: ATMOSPHERE. I'm a huge fan of great atmosphere in games and MP2 absolutely nailed it. From the creepy "Aliens" like opening with all the dead space marines all the way to the climatic 3rd battle against Dark Samus while the dark dimension was about to collapse.. The atmosphere was of the charts. You absolutely dreaded to enter the dark dimension and not only because of the great and creepy atmosphere, but because said atmosphere could actually kill you! So it started to invoke the feeling of dread and MP2 at some points almost played and felt like a Sci Fi horror game. Truly a stroke of genius by the developers (although some critics and fans hated the dark dimension) But every part of it was done to perfection.. The eerie music, extremely though enemies at certain points and the constant danger adding to the horror feel of the game. And Light Aether wasn't devoid of great atmosphere either btw. Especially Torvus Bog and Sanctuary Fortress were beautiful and extremely wel made designwise. Imo its one of the best games ever made and sadly criminally underrated.

[@rapeisalwaysthewomansfault946]

God I love Metroid prime 2, the light and dark concept was brilliant

[@Timdeuces]

Your last section about Samus' character and why we connect with her. Those are words I'd be unable to express on my own. You captured exactly the reasons pre-Other M Samus resonates with me, while later depictions simply fall flat. I respect and admire the restraint you've cultivated, where, instead of feeling the need to rip Dread down, which you could easily and justifyably do, you allow your appreciation for the series to possibly show people what we're currently missing as fans of this series.

[@nicoloenricorimoldi7425]

Yes, the fact that he focused entirely on Echoes for the entire 40 minutes of the video really speaks to me about how much TGB likes it and how he’s matured as a content creator. I also agree that Metroid used to have such a consistent tone, lore and characterisation for Samus until Other M. The last few games seem to lack in direction and gameplay-story integration for me, even though I enjoyed Dread as a game in its own.

[@isauldron4337]

​@@nicoloenricorimoldi7425disagree

[@sicparvismagna6526]

I Need an HD trilogy on switch. I've never played these games but I love so much the style and the concept of a first person adventure

[@Bumpomatic603]

3:44 The title doesn't start with a bang, but a crawl, and crawl you will... We all know Metroid can't crawl

[@BRUTALSHANZ1988]

Travelling between the Light Realm and the Dark Realm is a fun part of Metroid Prime 2. I see the loading sequences as a couple of minutes for you to take a break and to regain your composure and to collect your thoughts about what to do next. Kind of like what Capcom did with Resident Evil's Door loading sequences. You thought you were legitimetly safe in Resident Evil 1 when going through doors when in Resident Evil 2 Capcom subverted people's expectations by saying "You are no longer safe with doors" when a bunch of zombies come marching through the door transition. Developers like to keep your attention and to keep you on your toes at all times and speaking of time the whole travelling between realms idea reminded me of Onimusha 3 when you can take control of Samonosuke and Jacques in 2 different time zones and even in Oni 3 what Jacques does in the past affects the World that Samanosuke is in the Present time which was a cool and novel idea. Never the less Metroid Prime 2 is my Favorite out of the Trilogy and what I would give for Nintendo to put the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Nintendo Switch.

[@SuperfieldCrUn]

40:05 Never thought I'd see the day when GamingBrit would be subtle about his love for DMC3.

[@ninemugetsu]

Best metroid game imo and one of my fav games ever, wish it got more recognition

[@TheNonstopHero]

It's always bothered me that Echoes is forever in the shadow of Prime. In a lot of ways. Prime and Echoes remind me a lot of OoT and Majora's Mask. Prime and OoT are beloved because of the cultural impact on gaming they had and people are always quick to dismiss all the game's flaws. Majora's Mask and Echoes are both far more interesting than their prequels imo, but seemed to be written off even at launch in favor for what came before (though both of these games releasing late in the life cycle of their respective consoles didn't help, either.) Thankfully it looks like time has been kind to Majora's Mask and Echoes, since as the years have passed more and more people have started to respect how iterative and avant garde those two titles were.

[@doughnuthead8757]

Prime 1 - revolutionary 3D game with a familiar environment Prime 2 - sophisticated dark installment that dives into the hero's will in a dark scenario Prime 3 - explosive, colorful finale that feels populated

[@DoritoGOD2811]

Prime 3 when?

[@MutantAnomaly]

I remember the first night I tried to play Echoes as a kid, I got so scared to leave the light beacons in the dark world that I just sat there and got stuck for a good while.

[@CyColt]

i have been watching this multiple times. mostly because this is a modern retrospective on one of the two games that introduced me to Metroid as a franchise. but also because as others have said, you go into the little nuances that make fans of this game in particular love it.

[@aperson6505]

Metroid Prime 2 was always my favourite of the Prime games, I don't care what anyone else thinks

[@2NDFLB-CLERK]

▪️ What about me ? 🟥

[@kerseyatwell4475]

This was my favorite game in a very trying time in my life you did this game a justice with your review

[@bickuribox12]

TGBS has dropped a review: The New Year can officially start

[@JayDayX116]

This and fusion are my favorite metroid games. And they rank high on my all time favorite games.

[@Jamic9]

Good review and well done for keeping the video aspect ratio in 4:3.

[@jackiesimplejake]

Haven't even watched the video yet, but from a gameplay perspective it's the best of the three and possibly the best Metroid game.

[@doclouis4236]

Happy New Years, Brit boy 🎉 Also, here's hoping that remaster rumor of Metroid Prime 1 is true.

[@cameronnorton5898]

Echoes really had such good and unique music.

[@SerrantDaFoeII]

What a great piece. Honestly. This is the standard of writing I aspire to. Inspirational, hitting every nail on its head. Fantastic!

[@julianpeterson4227]

this is still my favorite of the three prime games, I haven't played hunters

[@skyartisan8873]

Can hear the passion in your voice for this game. been a pleasure watching you play it live on Twitch recently and gave me more context for this review.

[@Lazypackmule]

During that ending bit about Samus just saving the day with calm determination, I was reminded of the story about how the creators didn't know what "bounty hunter" meant and were shocked when westerners asked them if she was ever going to actually hunt criminals for money Like, they literally thought it just meant a contracted government agent or something

[@isauldron4337]

Things about translation and that

[@StiffAftermath]

I seriously hope the metroid prime 2 re-release for switch has some MAJOR tweaks to the sky temple key hints. I hope they would be like prime 1. Pecise and to the point. To have the whole quest removed would be ideal but too unrealistic of an expectation.

[@shadestrider1033]

I want to hear your thoughts on Dread one of these days.

[@ciligonzalez2897]

I remember the first time I plsyed this Game. I 100% It. Ill never forget being stuck on the swamp for days, until I discovered where to go on. I absolutely Adore this. The música tho...

[@12ealDealOfficial]

Your conclusion here about story and experience being synonymous is outstanding. This made me think about why my favorite games have stories but are mission focused. Dark Souls, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and Contra: Hard Corps all sell their experience through the synergy of mechanics and presentation. The scenario in these games is all the setup necessary in some of my favorite games, with fairly basic overall objectives being central, fluffed up by relatively sparse dialogue. In Dark Souls' case, the lore is a seasoning and not the meal; the gameplay, the player's own experience, and individual narrative of perseverance is what is being seasoned. Younger and more casual players seem to think the presentation, exposition, dialogue. and fluff are most important, when I think this is such a disservice to the medium of gaming. Games are meant to be played, and are considerably less entertaining as eight hour long movies.

[@Melkac]

It's a storytelling device unique to gaming and I'm happy when people celebrate it over simply telling a story in "movie game" format. It's why Hades managed to stand out so much in the same year TLOU2 came out, while TLOU2 was criticized for telling a stereotypical revenge story in the most formulaic way possible (while also being loved by journos), Hades was praised for telling a non-linear story in a way that only a videogame would be able to. You want story? Piece it together, play our game, it's there. Experience it.

[@Biggleboff]

These videos always have the coldest of opens, and I absolutely love it.