Warpio's gaming log: Metroid Prime comprehensive playthrough part 2

Magmoor Caverns - First Visit

Went down through the Chozo Ruins elevator. Burning Trail, where the save station room is, is the farthest I explored here last time.

Lake Tunnel

Lava Lake

This is where the Magmoor Caverns music actually starts.

This Magmoor enemy is pathetically easy when you are a safe distance away from them.

Magmoors prefer extreme heat zones, and are susceptible to frigid attack forms. Sightless, they navigate the lava currents using their sonar receptors. Magmoors have a keen sense of smell, enabling them to pinpoint targets with startling accuracy.

One of the harder to find artifacts is in this room.

There wasn't even a Chozo hint for it, or any scannable thing on this rock formation to hint toward it. Obviously I wasn't supposed to find it yet, as I can't get to it without the grapple beam.

Looking at the hexagon map, the majority of this region seems very linear compared to Chozo Ruins. Unlike Chozo Ruins which was more puzzley, this area seems much more platforming-focused.

Oh wow I just noticed the hexagon map of Chozo Ruins kinda almost sorta looks like the shape of a Chozo bird.

You have to find a bombable wall to progress further. This is the first time in the game where the path forward isn't immediately clear.

Pit Tunnel

I can't scan this lava tube structure, but I bet this is something related to the Space Pirates' energy program... like they're siphoning phazon out of the lava or something... need to morphball underneath and sneak past the ball-eating enemies to get through the room.

The next big room, Triclops Pit, has a split path.

I'll try going right first since the left requires platforming so it seems more likely to be the progress path.

Oh wait, this is interesting... the right path is actually only accessible by finding a morphball tunnel and going underneath the mesh floor you can see through, which has more Triclops enemies just like the previous room.

Those ball-eating enemies... just noticed it's really easy to kill them by getting them to eat bombs.

This right path leads to Storage Cavern. A dead end room, yep I was right to go here first.

Found a missile expansion at the end of a very scary looking (but completely safe) mesh cage ontop of lava... the bars look so spaced out, it looks like it'd be really easy to fall through, but it's basically a floor in this game's physics.

Coming out of that room, I noticed some cool looking shiny red ore on the walls of the cave. Just another nice atmospheric touch...

Left of Triclops Pit: Monitor Tunnel

Unlike Chozo Ruins and Tallon Overworld, this place seems very light on scannable lore... like Tallon had lots of interesting jungle/plantlife, and other stuff depending on which region's elevator you were close to... Chozo Ruins had all that Chozo lore... Magmoor Caverns is just a big lava cave with not much going on besides rocks and lava.

Passed Monitor Tunnel is Monitor Station, another big room, this time with 4 exits including the one I just came out of, one right, 1 lower left, and 1 upper left.

In the middle there's a metallic platform structure with turrets like what I saw on the Orpheon Frigate. This is really the first major sign of pirate activity you'd see on this planet I think, unless you sidetracked to that Tallon lake place like I did. There's obviously some big pirate operation going on down here.

The lower left is the easiest path, it leads to Shore Tunnel.

It looks like the same kind of transparent bridge as at the Impact Crater... obviously this is Space Pirate construction. This bridge is cracked though... and the scan hints that you'll be able to destroy it with something later on.

Fiery Shores

It eventually goes back to the Tallon Overworld elevator and Twin Fires Tunnel, which it seems there's nothing to do there yet.

So I guess this Tallon elevator is how the pirates got to this area... because of course they can't get here from the Chozo elevator, only Samus and small creatures can go through that path... omg it makes so much sense... that's why that early West Magmoor Caverns area was devoid of almost any threatening enemies... This game design is genius holy shit...

Oh and actually, I COULD have easily come through this way, from the Tallon elevator, if I wanted to. I mostly just would've missed the Triclops pit.

Back to Monitor Station... these turrets are a lot less threatening when you have lots of space to move around. Although they're still kinda tough. These ones take 2 missiles to take down, and when you're fighting like 3 of them at once it can actually get...

welp. First game over of the game... I was just playing really sloppy, I should've taken the turrets out from the other side of the door.

Got back to where I was... There's some scans on the higher level of the Monitor Station structure.

So I was right about those lava tubes, they're going right up through where this pirate building structure is... these pirates don't seem to care about the heat at all, to be able to build this structure deep into the ground and right through the lava....

Local crystal formations possess low Phazon residue. They do have high value to the monks of Grondheim, however. Recommend processing of crystal for that market once Phazon operations cease.

Wow, I'm sure this is referring to the red crystal deposits I saw earlier... but who are these monks of Grondheim people and why do they value these crystals? I am genuinely interested in this. This only makes me want to keep scanning absolutely everything I can.

LOL there's even lore about the pistons I was using as platforms earlier... they discover that this geothermal power from the magma is better than their previous power source, and they shut down their previous energy plant at Central Dynamo... Come to think of it, I did come to a room named "Dynamo" in Chozo Ruins...

Geothermal power routing to this station is complete. Unstable magma flow is a concern. Remove tower from geothermal grid if fluctuations exceed safety levels.

Oh good, so they ARE somewhat vulnerable to the elements. This is good knowledge for Samus to have.

This is really amazing playing a 101% scan playthrough while high (non-logbook scans included)... I really feel like I'm infiltrating and investigating the space pirates' base...

West path next... need double jump to get to upper east path... This leads to Transport Tunnel A, which has an energy tank that's really easy to get with the Trilogy version's "shake wiimote to jump" feature. Normally I would've waited until I found the next save point before coming back here to try it and risk getting killed from the lava traps.

Phendrana Drifts - First Visit

Shoreline Entrance

Wow... this amazing atmosphere... you can see the frost on the walls, and the cold air coming in through the hole in the cave.

Phendrana Shorelines

The building structures around here look native, just like the Chozo Ruins.

Flickerbats are deceptive creatures. The only way to track them reliably is with x-ray imaging. They fly ceaselessly, hunting insects and other small prey that float on the air currents. Flickerbats tend to fly in cyclical hunting patterns, using primitive sonar to navigate.

One lower path straight ahead from where I came out of goes to a Save Station... There's a bunch of space pirate messages in here directed towards newly recruited workers.

The new personnel must report to the South Research Facility. Failure to report will be penalized by a 30% ration cut and extra duty.

Western Temple is in Phase 2 lockdown. All projects are postponed. Under no circumstances are personell to attempt access.

Ballistics support personnel report to Research Lab Hydra. Lockdown containment plan 3A in effect until further notice.

They must be really freaked out about something.

There's a missile blocked by a sheet of ice I need fire to get through.

Found a thing I need the Plasma beam for.

The door to the left is the only path I can get to, and it requires finding a slightly hidden platforming path that isn't obvious. But wait, the door is shielded, need to find a deactivation switch hidden somewhere on this shoreline.

Nothing in the deep part of the water... It took a little but, but eventually I realized that little dead end tunnel in the shorelines that is blocked by a grate made of "Radion" can actually be blasted through that with missiles... yep that's where the switch is.

Scatter Bombu... this variety of these electrical enemies really like tunnels...

Next is Ice Ruins East, a U shaped room that heads back and turns back toward the south shoreline cliff.

Baby Sheegoth... These enemies are like the Plated Beetles, except they aren't as fast, but can freeze you with ice breath.

This ruins area seems to have Chozo scrolls on the walls that are too broken up to read.

I see an obvious spiderball path up near the top of these buildings... and another sheet of ice blocking something in the corner.

Then there's a cave filled with ice burrower enemies. They're easy enough that you can just ignore them and run through if you want. lol I think every region has its own version of this exact same enemy... I like how these ice ones leave ice marks wherever they last jumped out of.

And that leads back out to an upper section of Phendrana Shorelines

And to a south path to Ice Ruins West

This place looks very similar to Ice Ruins East. There's purple door up ontop of some high ledge going further south, and a grey door going west.

Chozo Lore

As the Great Poison reachers ever further into the planet, we Chozo begin to feel the gnawings of despair--before it is too late, we now make our last stand. We have begun to build a temple to contain this darkness: at its heart we will place a Cipher, a mystical lock powered by twelve Artifacts and filled with as much power as we Chozo can harness. We wonder, though--even when we are done, will it be too late? And will the power of the temple, and the Cipher itself, prove strong enouhg to hold back the poisonous tide that even now swells within the ground, threatening all life?

This writing is too good...

Past more Scatter Bombus... a big dead-end area called Phendrana Canyon.

No getting back up until I have a new ability (actually that's not true, you can totally get back up by hopping on the crates if you haven't destroyed them yet)

Another Chozo lore wall along the way.

So many creatures suffer beneath the blight upon the land, and we Chozo are no exception. But for all of our pain, we can at least believe in the promise of the future. We have come to believe that a time may never come when we can once again open the door and banish the darkness we've contained. Even so, our vigilance will forever remain. We believe that on some far-off day, a savior will come and continue what we have begun. For that savior, we will leave our ancient weapons and armor -- the soul who can gather them will be the Entrusted One, the only being who can reverse the evil that grows here.

So... I guess these bombu enemies were placed here by the Chozo, in order to keep out anyone who's not their prophecized savior. Kinda reminds me of the Zelda series and how (Skyward Sword spoilers) Hylia sets up all these puzzles and trials meant for her chosen hero to complete in order to gain new abilities, or (Minish Cap spoilers) how the minish people leave rupees in the grass in order to help out the Hylians...

You also can scan some frozen fish under the ice half-pipe.

Got the Boost Ball.

That scene when you come back out to Phendrana Shorelines... Wow, this is too good for words.

Ridley is heading towards the north, overtop of Magmoor Caverns and going towards Chozo Ruins I think?

Well... I guess that's all there is to see in Phendrana for now... I guess next I'll take the Magmoor elevator back into Chozo Ruins. I know at least one place I can use the Boost Ball.

Tallon Overworld - After Boost Ball

Back through the Root Cave/Magmoor elevator path, I noticed a boost ball half-pipe in Tallon Canyon that I forgot about.

It leads up to a high up "Gully" path that goes out to the upper north part of Landing Site.

And from there you can get to the Alcove where the Space Jump Boots are. There's an epic ray of sunlight shining down on them through a hole in the overgrowth-filled cave.

Chozo Ruins - After Space Jump

This amazing looking area again... I can't get over how amazing this atmosphere is when you play this while high.

Got that half-pipe missile expansion easily within like 5 seconds... This was when I suddenly remembered the strat of not moving the control stick while ball boosting in order to maintain your boosting angle.

Refreshed my memory a bit... the path to the Sunchamber through the top of Arboretum (that room has such cool trippy wall textures in it), is now blocked by plants that I can't destroy... The other path to the Sunchamber, through the Sun Tower, requires the Spider Ball... I remember one of the artifacts being in the Sunchamber somewhere...

I like how this area has a bit of every ability ingrained as its lock+key mechanisms... so you end up coming back to the Chozo Ruins throughout the playthrough very often, maybe even more often than the central Tallon Overworld area.

Chozo Ruins is so much faster to navigate through now, with the Boost Ball and Space Jump... Plus of course the fact that it's no longer full of poison water and you have 4 energy tanks, I'm just ignoring all the bees and other small enemies and just speedrunning these backtrack segments... spending a bit of time in the big rooms looking around for possible secrets but not too much time. I guess that one half-pipe missile pack was the only thing to get here.

Magmoor Caverns - After Space Jump

Double-jumped up to the higher ledge in Monitor Station. Wow I just noticed, from the top view of this monitor station you can see that this place is a hole the space pirates dug into the ground... You can see the sky looking up... and there's a big red crystal or deposit pillar that the turret structure is tied to...