Metroid Prime comprehensive playthrough part 3

Phendrana Drifts - After Research Lab escape

The closest place to use my super missiles is that east door in Ruined Courtyard.

This leads through a short Quarantine Cave.

The Phazon radiation given off by Thardus negates auto-targeting systems, preventing lock-on. It may be possible to acquire alternate targets with a different Visor. The chaotic nature of Phazon irradiation leads to instability in its structural integrity. Thardus can encase targets in ice, and its colossal size and strength make it a formidable opponent.

This boss battle against the phazon rock galem Thardus is easy but very long... Actually the only reason it's easy is because of the very low damage all his attacks do to you, even on Veteran mode... It actually gets kinda hard to track him down later on when his power is causing a huge snowstorm and its too bright to use your thermal visor... and the more pieces of him you destroy, the smaller sized ball he becomes, and it makes it harder for you to hide behind the outer wall croppings...

Got the Spider Ball.

And I see there's another way I can get to now with the spider ball, that's not on the map... and a ledge I can get to later with the Grapple Beam. The path after that boss leads to the South Magmoor Caverns elevator... the top structure here is in runs and there's another spiderball path behind it leading to a white door.

Magmoor Caverns South

Magmoor Workstation

Before I could even explore at all, I had to take care of 3 flying pirates. Again they aren't very hard, just shooting 3 missiles at each of them while jump-strafing left and right and barely ever getting hit... I don't think I can explore the 3-way split morphball tunnels at the bottom of here yet... unless I have enough energy tanks to make it through the lava.

Other than that, there's 2 other doors to the north and south. I guess north would eventually lead up towards the Tallon elevator, so I probably want to try south first...

Nope, that just leads to a glass tunnel that's blocked by Bendezium rubble and then a white door after that. you can see the sky from here, so it's like in between a huge crater in the earth... hmm... I bet this path leads into Phazon Mines... I probably have to find the power bomb somewhere and then return here.

The north door leads to another very easy linear lava platforming path.

Geothermal Core

There's a white door at the top of this room going further north, which I probably need the Grapple Beam to get up to... So that's another place I have to return to later.

I'm stuck on this linear railroaded path leading back to Twin Fires tunnel. There's a thing here that looks just like that pillar in Lava Lake that had an artifact hidden in it.

...And that's pretty much all the new content there is in Magmoor... basically Magmoor Caverns is just a simple passthrough area that lets you more quickly travel between Chozo Ruins, Tallon Overworld, and now both the north and south sides of Phendrana Drifts.

Pretty sure there's no reason to re-explore Tallon Overworld again just yet, but I'll pass through there on my way to Chozo Ruins cuz I know there's at least a couple things there I can do now with the Spider Ball.

Chozo Ruins - After Spider Ball

First thing is the purple door in the Ruined Shrine, that requires the Spider Ball to get to. It leads to the last unexplored blue part of the map.

Tower of Light

There's a small underwater section at the bottom with another purple door leading to some dead end room with a prize, and platforms going all the way to the top, probably with a prize at the top as well.

I had just barely enough missiles to make it to the top, and not enough to try out the Wavebuster item (which seems to be an entirely optional thing, probably useful for taking out a room full of annoying enemies if you're in a hurry)

It's surprisingly dark at the top of this Light Tower. Now to check out the bottom...

Yep like I thought... Space Jump boots alone aren't enough to get up to that purple door in the water, so I'll need to come back here again later anyway... coming here now was a complete waste of time.

So, the Sunchamber is now haunted by phazon-corrupted Chozo Ghosts.

Aberration: Chozo Ghost. Spectral entity. Bioelectric field invulnerable to natural energies.
As these entities phase in and out of existence, the only way to track them accurately is with x-ray scanning. This partially phased nature makes them invulnerable to natural energy types, such as fire, ice, and electricity. Their aggressive and erratic behavior is most likely due to the corrupting effects of Phazon in the Tallon IV environment. They appear to be drawn to Chozo religious sites, where they wreak havoc upon anything that dares enter the area.

These enemies are kinda tough without the X-Ray scanner, but in such a big open room they are still kinda easy. They take an annoyingly long time to kill though.

Got the Artifact of Wild.

Got another missile expansion from that one dead-end room passed the Watery Hall, where I got the charge beam... Oh, and I just noticed there's an underwater section at the bottom of Watery Hall that leads to something later, after getting the Gravity Suit.

There's also that missile expansion I saw way long ago when I first came to Ruined Fountain.

Then there's one more path I remembered needing the spider ball, back at the Furnace room, near where I got the bombs before.

Chozo Ruins East

Then I went back to the Furnace room, near where I got the bombs before... now there's a spider ball path leading to an outer section of the furnace.

I don't know how to get to those upper spider ball paths yet, but I found a lower morph ball path near this new Chozo Lore, leading to a new area that's not on the map.

What is this otherworldly pestilence that infests the land, seeking out life in its blind need for corruption? And where did the meteor that brought it originate? Was it crafted by alien hands, or is it a roving chunk of a planet that suffered a violent end? Our minds quail in horror at the thought that long ago, in some corner of the universe as yet unseen by our eyes, an entire planet was perhaps once coated with this Great Poison . Whatever cataclysm may have ruptured that doomed place must have been mighty, indeed... and if other meteors from it spread throughout space, bearing this evil to the far corners of the universe... We hold fast to the hope that this is not so, that the only surviving remnants of this evil are here, on Tallon IV. Then, at least, there is hope for its eradication.

Woah, some neat lighting here in this little ruins tunnel.

Crossway

It's a big half pipe room... there's 2 doors leading back towards the south; one is a white door (that probably leads to the same place as the white door in the furnace I haven't gotten to yet), and another missile door going south to some other path.

There's also a bunch more Chozo Lore in this room.

None know if our temple, the Cradle, will prove powerful enough to contain this evil forever. For now, it wraps around that abomination, cutting it off from the world above. But how can we Chozo hope for the Cradle to remain intact when that which it guards writhes in the darkness growing always stronger? The fate of this world rests with the gathering of Artifacts we call the Cipher, but even it is not all-powerful. It is strong, yes; an enchanted whole made of twelve links. Still, it is finite in its reach, and we who guard it are slowly succumbing. Will the Entrusted One arrive before our vigilance crumbles away? That time rapidly approaches...

Many Chozo are gifted with the distant sight, and even more begin to learn it as our harmonization with the universe becomes more and more complete. We peer forward, seeing prophecy in the ripples of the water, hearing rumors of coming days on the breath of the wind. Though we celebrate the distant sight, many of these visions are dark - the worst of the prophecies, and the most common, tells of the coming of the Worm. Born from parasites, nurtured in a poisoned womb, the Worm grows, devouring from within, until the world begins to rot. Not all prophecies come to pass, of course, but we cannot help but fear this dark portent.

To the Entrusted One: if you read these words, then our hope has not been in vain. Your path is fraught with danger - monstrosities beyond description lurk in the shadows, starving, hunting for prey, searching for ways to quench the poisonous urges that bloom in their brains. Some of these are shrewd, but they are blinded by their evil designs: believing in the black promise of the Great Poison, they seek to harness it for their own ends. It is these last that are the greatest danger, perhaps an even greater one than the Great Poison itself. When you rid the universe of these creatures, you will be the true Entrusted One.

Found a switch that activates a spider ball rail, leading to another switch that activates another spider ball rail, etc, eventually leading to a missile.

Next is the Hall of Elders... jeez I'm actually getting scared, since I haven't saved in a LONG time...

lol just a stupidly easy fight against a single Chozo Ghost.

Explored the room to find more Chozo Lore, and a chozo statue that comes alive and throws you onto a spider rail that leads to a switch which makes 3 switches requiring fire, ice, and electricity appear... Also there's a missile station here, which isn't that much needed anymore since I've been getting plenty of missiles from the easy shriekbat enemies and stuff.

Things bound to earthly shapes are temporal and frail: existing in a single dimension, they are fragile, vulnerable, and ultimately mortal. However, not all things obey this law - shapeless, they wait beyond the realm of perception, emerging only when one arrives who can feel their presence. Such is the will of the Chozo. Our will to defeat the evil seeping into this planet remains forever, desiring only to see the darkness meet its end. Mindless but strong, our will shall never sleep until the Entrusted One arrives to cleanse this land.

There are 2 white doors I can't get through, and a blue door on a ledge that I can jump up to, but it's blocked by a barrier that probably only unlocks once you have all 3 elemental beams.

Actually, it turns out just shooting the purple switch with the Wave Beam opens up a new path that lets you get behind that blue barrier.

Reflecting Pool

After draining the water, killing the stone toads, and boost balling up to the upper level, there are 2 ways to go... one of the doors leads to a save point, and a path beyond that leading to the Tallon Overworld East elevator.

But first, that other door... oh, look at that, it's the Ice Beam sitting right out in the open. I guess by now, after coming all this way and solving the Hall of Elders puzzle, they figured you've earned a new beam for free here.

And now suddenly there's a ton of new paths opened up, including that white door from Reflecting Pool, which leads to yet ANOTHER Tallon Overworld elevator, this one labeled South.

Wow so many choices suddenly.

Tallon Overworld South

This south elevator leads to a place called Great Tree Hall...

This seems to be a bit south of the Frigate Crash Site. This is a very vertical room, with one door at the bottom and 2 at the top. However the bottom part of this room is blocked off with a barred door, with the lock on the other side. And it seems like the only upper door I can get to is the one that leads to a tunnel that is blocked off by Bendezium rubble. Nothing I can do here I guess...

Okay cool, that reduces my options by quite a bit... Let's try that other Chozo-Tallon elevator next... Okay so that just leads to a shortcut back to the Frigate Crash Site, after going through this cool looking ruins area that has a big tree growing through the ceiling.

lol these flying Space Pirates are like nothing to Samus now with the Ice Beam.

So yeah, it's obvious the next place to go is that one other white door in Tallon Overworld, going toward the crashed Frigate... but first, I'm gonna revisit everything again and see what other artifacts and items I can get with the Ice Beam.

Chozo Ruins - After Ice Beam

Decided to come back here again through the south Tallon Overworld elevator, to clear out all the things I needed the Ice Beam for. It turns out all those white doors in Chozo Ruins I passed earlier, they're just shortcuts making it easier to get back to through the Furnace/Crossway/Hall of Elders area... and also, using the Ice Beam on the white switch in the Hall of Elders gets me my 7th energy tank.

There doesn't seem to be any reason to re-explore Magmoor Caverns. That one white door in there is still inaccessible. However there is still another unexplored area in Phendrana Drifts that I can get to now with the Ice Beam... it's back near the North Magmoor elevator, which I can get back to very quickly by cutting through Tallon Overworld and Magmoor.

Phendrana Drifts North

While I was here, I got a couple more missile expansions from Phendrana Shorelines and Ice Temple East (which now has a grown up Sheegoth that's a lot slower to kill than the baby ones)... then I went back to where I got the Spider Ball and took the Ice Beam door behind the Magmoor North elevator.

Aw, damn... looks like I'll have to come back here again with the Plasma Beam to get an energy tank... I'll basically have to re-explore the entire Phendrana area after getting the Plasma Beam to finish everything off here.

I have a feeling it'll be worth coming here before going to Frigate Crash Site... This path leads to it the top of a big vertical room called Frozen Pike.

From here there are 3 other doors. The first door down just acts as a shortcut leading back into the Research Lab, through that white door near the end... good, that means I have a shortcut to get back to that tower area where I needed the Plasma Beam... and also I'm pretty sure there's an artifact somewhere there I need to get too.

The next door down in Frozen Pike leads to a huge room called Frost Cave.

There's a Hunter Metroid roaming around here, which is really easy to take out now that I have the Ice Beam.

As Metroids develop, they become more efficient predators. An energy-draining tentacle allows them to attack at a distance. Quick to anger, a Hunter Metroid will charge troublesome prey and attempt to ram them into submission. Cold-based attacks are still quite effective against these creatures.

From here there's 2 doors, and I can get to both of them easily by shooting down some stalactites. One of them just leads to a save room with some Space Pirate bulletins.

The other leads to another big vertical area called Phendrana's Edge.

These Flying Pirates seem to have learned to dodge my Ice Beam now, so I have to resort to the 3-missile strategy which is a bit slower (or maybe I just got lucky before with an Ice Beam shot).

I can't explore the upper section of this room yet without the Grapple Beam, so I have to go explore down in the water. These Jelzap enemies are hard to ignore, they suck you in whenever you get close to them... but fortunately you can easily freeze them and then kill them with a single missile.

STILL not the end of this unexplored area... There's a purple door at the bottom of Phendrana Edge. I thought this would just lead straight back to the bottom door of Frozen PIke, but actually, it actually leads to a whole new big cave room called Hunter Cave... branching out into 3 MORE doors.

However, I can only access one of them. It leads to an underwater room called Gravity Chamber... I love how all this underwater exploration was all part of the build up to the Gravity Suit.

Now I can finally see and jump normally underwater... another door through the top of the Gravity Room leads back to the top of Hunter Cave, and from there I can get to the other upper door in Hunter Cave, which leads full circle back to that one bottom door in Frozen Pike that I hadn't checked out yet... perfect. This area couldn't have been more well designed.

I can tell there's a lot of stuff around this Phendrana's Edge area that I'll have to come back for later, with the Grapple Beam and Plasma Beam... fortunately the grapple beam points I saw throughout these rooms will open up a lot of shortcuts and make coming back here a lot quicker.

Now there's a couple of areas I can think of needing the Gravity Suit for... Next I'll search out all of the underwater things I can find, and then stop right before heading into the Crashed Frigate.

Post Gravity Suit backtracking

Back in Magmoor Workstation, I noticed there are Thermal Visor switches here that cool the lava and open up the morph ball tunnel gates, this leads to another energy tank.

I actually could've gotten this one way earlier. As far as I can tell, there's nothing hidden beneath the lava in any of the rooms in Magmoor (and the Gravity Suit still doesn't fully protect against lava, but at least now you can move through it quickly and jump out of it much more easily).

Now, I know there's at least a couple things in Chozo Ruins to check out with the Gravity Suit... Got the Artifact of Lifegiver at the Light Tower, as well as a missile at Watery Hall, through that sneaky underwater passage I saw earlier (it doesn't lead to a new room or anything, that's why it's easy to miss)

There, that's everything that can be done before heading to the Frigate Crash Site.

I'm now at 50% Item Completion, and 74% Log Book Completion.

8 Energy Tanks
120 Missiles (will be 125 after I get the one I saw near the Frigate Crash Site)
All but 2 of the Arm Cannon upgrades
All but 1 of the Morph Ball upgrades
All but 1 of the Visor upgrades
All but 1 of the Secondary Items