The next area you get to explore is the Volt Forge, which is mainly a mass production facility for the game's other big gimmick: the motor bike. So, I've proceeded with that part and did some first cruising through the desert of Sol Valley afterwards.
Scans: 44%
Items: 16%
When you first get to the area, MacKenzie does some briefing about what you have to do and where you need to go, giving you objectives like in Metroid Prime 3. This is an evolution of the whole hint system from them first two Metroid Prime games, except that you can't turn it off. Anyway, he goes full Kaepora Gaebora by asking, "Would you like to hear that again?"
No, I wouldn't, thank you. And please stop calling me!
Sometimes in the Metroid Prime games you have these elevators that don't serve as a loading screen, but as an actual elevator that moves you up and down (crazy!), while you are still in control. The one going deeper into the Phazon Mines comes to mind. And whenever that's the case I like to check the map in the upper right screen where the exit will be and already turn in the right direction during the ride. There is something oddly satisfying about doing that and you will have a lot of opportunities in the Volt Forge, which is made out of three giant towers and the floors in two of them are connected by these classic elevators.
At this point it's also interesting how universal the technology within the Metroid universe seems to be, especially when it comes to "interfaces" that require the Morph Ball, like the Spinners. It made sense for the Chozo to have this kind of stuff, but why is it also there for the Luminoth and Lamorn?
On the one hand they do emphasize how the Lamorn have four arms and how this actually makes their technology difficult to use for a human (MacKenzie mentions that), but on the other hand it is oddly convenient how many things Samus can control in her ball form. Best not to question it...
Though, there are these little maintenance robots that can turn into a spinning device as well – maybe they are meant to do all these operations. And there is the whole plot convenience explanation that Samus is their foretold savior, so they have accommodated certain things with her in mind, like that new Vi-O-La Suit.
It's funny how you can try to ride the bike without it and it won't start. And it's standing right there at beginning on a pedestal, setting it up as the big prize of this area. The guys at Retro Studios must have really thought that this is the coolest thing ever, but at least the introduction is quite impressive. After all, they have effectively created the whole Volt Forge area just as an assembly line for this.
If this area reminds me you of the Sanctuary Fortress and Elysia, then you won't be the only one, because there are some clear design inspirations here. You will also run into the Sylux for the first time since the intro, which is reminiscent of how you fought Dark Samus at the Sanctuary Fortress. But there is something odd about him...
You can't really scan him for a logbook addition. He floats and instead of using the Lockjaw (his equivalent to the Morph Ball), he goes into Zant mode in the middle of the battle. But this odd behavior gets explained right away... It's not really Sylux, but one of the Psy-bot Soldiers, which has used some sort of holographic projection to mimic Sylux. But it confirms that Sylux has taken over the Lamorn technology, which explains why it has started acting hostile towards you.
As a longtime Metroid fan, I can't help but feel a bit excited about finally dealing with Sylux after all these years, but this villain must be a literal who for anyone new to the franchise. I don't expect the other hunters from Metroid Prime Hunters to appear in this, but it would be awesome if they also were to reappear in the future in full 4K glory.
If this game didn't already lean into a fire and ice theme with the upcoming areas and weaponry, I would say that this could have been a thing for Metroid Prime 5 with Noxus and Spire as the main antagonists. And I would like to see a successor to Metroid Prime Hunters after this, where I loved the idea of an Arena Shooter in the Metroid universe with different hunters, but not the limited execution on the Nintendo DS. However, if Metroid Prime 4 is any indication, then we probably should expect a "Metroid Prime Racers" instead:
They went full F-Zero with the tutorial for the Vi-O-La. Imagine the outrage if they truly did a Metroid racing game before a new F-Zero... That would be something, but they already have the means to make it happen right here.
I'm not 100% happy with the camera controls during the bike sections, however. It automatically follows the bike eventually, but if you want it to do so right away, you have to press the right stick, which is the least convenient button they could have chosen for this. Otherwise the camera still gets controlled via the motion control pointer, so you can keep holding the A button to accelerate, but that's very awkward.
The boss of this area is named "Xelios" and at first I was certain that this is meant to be the same thing as Helios from Metroid Prime 3, hence the near-identical name, but my memory seems to be playing tricks on me. Well, it is similar to a degree, but I remember a boss fight where you had to shoot off such pentagonal or hexagonal plating, so you could attack the glowing core beneath. And I was certain that this involved Phazon, but it has been seven years since my latest playthrough...
There is also a boss with a similar mechanic in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, called Cyranon, but it looks very different. So, I'm at a loss here, and if anyone can jog my memory, then I will be grateful.
Defeating it gives you the Psychic Boots, which also brings back the Space Jump, but let's you use special platforms in addition, which you need to activate with your Psychic Visor. And at least the double jump is required to finally leave the area with the bike into Sol Valley...
As with MacKenzie, I'm not hating it, but I'm not fully liking it either. It's actually fun to cruise around the desert and Vi-O-La is so much more convenient than anything the Zelda series has ever offered in terms of transportation. Simply press the ⊕ button and off you go!
The visuals with the sands against the purple sky are also fantastic. And you can find things like shrines and stuff left by the Galactic Federation, but for the most part it's very bland and empty, where I'm afraid that this has a lot of wasted potential. And while the Sol Valley acts as a hub world, the whole bike stuff seems somewhat unnecessary.
I originally thought that the bike would act as a playable replacement for the usual loading screens, e.g. when you take an elevator between the areas in Metroid Prime or fly from one landing spot to another with your ship in Metroid Prime 3. Instead you will be driving on your bike through the desert, which will connect everything seamlessly.
But that's not the case. You still get the classic elevator sequences, only that they are not (just) elevators. If you travel from and back to Fury Green, you will be shot via some cargo cannon. And the Ice Belt is reached by a transport lift, like certain parts of Elysia. They could have shrunken this all down to a normal area and say "no" to the empty desert, without losing anything important here.
The Ice Belt is my next destination, by the way, which is the most exciting part. You have three of the "Teleporter Keys" left, which act as your main goal, and your given free choice for your next target. Or so it seems.
It looks like one of the areas, the one to the northeast, requires you to have the Spider Ball to reach it. This is coincidentally also the one area they haven't covered in Nintendo's marketing, so I'm guessing that this is meant for later and the game isn't fully open at this point.
MacKenzie keeps calling you in case you are lost and recommends you to go to the volcano first, so I went to the ice mountain instead out of pure spite. But first I spent some time driving around the desert to collect all these green crystals... which didn't bring a while lot. In fact, it was so little that I didn't get anything out of it. And I just wanted to see what's that all about...
The worst part about the whole desert has to be the amiibo functionality, however. There is no music playing in the Sol Valley, but if you want some, you can unlock a radio for Vi-O-La by scanning the new Samus amiibo. There are only three tracks to listen to at the beginning, but at least the Volt Forge music is badass. And that you need an amiibo for this is absolutely audacious.
The Vi-O-La amiibo on the other side can unlock different skins, where the first one is based on the Varia Suit. It's per mileage, so it wants you to scan the amiibo regularly to unlock the other skins.
The skins are fine, because they don't really affect the gameplay. But ideally it should have worked like in Federation Force, where different Metroid amiibo unlock different skins. Obviously, the Varia Suit should have been unlocked by one of the three different Samus amiibo where she is wearing one. And the Sylux skin should have been given by the new Sylux amiibo. This would have made sense and given all the different Metroid amiibo something of value here.
The Sylux amiibo is completely useless, by the way. It unlocks some gallery stuff that otherwise requires 100% items. Apparently, it also plays some Sylux voice lines, but I haven't tried that yet, because I want to hear him in the game first.
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