picking pikmin

because i have no attention span, i took a break from the still pretty awesome metroid prime and went back to pikmin, another game that i’d started months ago and abandoned not b/c it was boring but just b/c there was something else i wanted to play just a bit more. part of the reason i dropped pikmin and came back to it is b/c for whatever reason i was incredibly slow and knew i wasn’t going to get all the parts within 30 days. maybe it just took me a while to get used to the controls, or maybe it was b/c of my usual habit of refusing to read the instruction book until after i’ve finished the game b/c i’d rather find things out on my own. in any case, i got to the end of 30 days and lost. i’ve set a pretty good pace the second time through and haven’t been compelled to save bad days, so i think this time through i’ll finish in fairly good time.

i wasn’t quite done w/ pikmin but i’d started repeating things i’d done recently the first time through, so i have to admit i started pikmin 2 out of curiosity. i got fairly well into it and my first reaction was that though the 30 day time limit of the first game can be frustrating, it makes the game much more tense and thus fun. the caves in pikmin 2, in which you’re restricted to the pikmin you take in with you, aren’t that much of a challenge (so far). and collecting treasure for cash just inherently isn’t as exciting as the life-and-death task of collecting parts to your space ship. pikmin 2 has had more of a connect-the-dots feel than the first, although i guess i’ll have to reserve my final judgement until i finish both.

anyway, back to metroid prime, i’m past 1/3 of the way through. maybe it’s just that i’m still not that used to first person adventures, but i’ve been surprised at how much i suck at this game. maybe it’s just that most other modern games are so easy that i’ve never really had to conserve energy and be cautious at any point, but i’ve had to redo quite a few sections b/c i’ve gotten samus killed off. a bit frustrating, but otherwise the pace of the game has been pretty good, with new items acquired leading to new areas opening up and shorter paths between areas. so far there’s been a tad bit too much travelling the same paths between areas to get to the new sections, but the graphics and smooth gameplay keep it entertaining. it’s kind of amazing to me how claustrophobic some of the areas feel and how nice it is to get back into open areas. looking forward to getting the next items and opening up the rest of the game.

Advertisement