09-29-2011, 10:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-29-2011, 10:53 PM by PrettyNier.)
yes and no. had it been better tuned or more focused, it could have helped to enhance the feeling of the game, even if only in certain segments; i'm not suggesting difficulty was the point in any sense, it obviously was not; i am suggesting that, contrary to what you're saying, not focusing on difficulty isn't the same thing as focusing on exploration. suggesting difficulty could have been better tuned doesn't equal suggesting that combat was the point. a balance has to be struck, and overall super metroid struck it well - the issue is that there were moments where any sense of tension was lost simply because that tension wasn't remotely believable.
and there is kind of a reason for this: in metroid, specifically super metroid but this is also evident in some of the other titles, enemies and combat dont exist as arbitrary asides, or as something different, they exist as extensions of the world in which you're inhabiting, as parts of the overarching architecture. in this way, how much of a threat that these enemies pose, how they adjust the flow of the game, ultimately impact the exploration, the feeling and the atmosphere. they are existing denizens, not things put in your path for you to kill. as such, how they react with you thus becomes a means for you to explore the world.
the thing with super metroid eris' difficulty is that its difficulty enhances its atmosphere, its feeling; it portrays the world it takes place on as dark, hostile, alien, hard to understand; enemies are more sparse, but they do much more damage. it lends the world with this cautious kind of solitude and it is utterly fantastic.
and there is kind of a reason for this: in metroid, specifically super metroid but this is also evident in some of the other titles, enemies and combat dont exist as arbitrary asides, or as something different, they exist as extensions of the world in which you're inhabiting, as parts of the overarching architecture. in this way, how much of a threat that these enemies pose, how they adjust the flow of the game, ultimately impact the exploration, the feeling and the atmosphere. they are existing denizens, not things put in your path for you to kill. as such, how they react with you thus becomes a means for you to explore the world.
the thing with super metroid eris' difficulty is that its difficulty enhances its atmosphere, its feeling; it portrays the world it takes place on as dark, hostile, alien, hard to understand; enemies are more sparse, but they do much more damage. it lends the world with this cautious kind of solitude and it is utterly fantastic.