Okay, so I'm roughly ten percent in at this point, and I have the spider ball, ice beam, missiles, and ball bombs. I am finding myself dying more than I care to admit, and it almost always springs from not wanting/not thinking to use the counter system. Is the counter system something that must be used extensively throughout the entirety of the game? I don't mind using it necessarily, but I suppose my preconceptions of what Metroid is has caused me to sort of resist it, I guess. The game is beautiful, and the exploration is actually challenging from my perspective, which is causing me to progress at a slower rate than most others seem to be. I love that Nintendo finally allowed another Metroid to come out, and I hope it continues to sell well.