Yeah, I just put it down after an hour so I could finish some work and go to bed.
It’s really fun so far! I did remember that I’m extremely bad at free aiming which made some parts difficult, but otherwise the game has done a good job of explaining things.
Though the beginning did make me want to track down a copy of Fusions and play that again (I doubt my actual copy still exists) because the game directly follows the events of that one. I’m fact I’m kinda shocked they didn’t rerelease a port of the game to capitalize before Dread released.
Finished Prime 3. It got a little better and then it got worse again. Overall 5/10.
Thoughts:
Lacks the atmosphere of loneliness and uncertainty that Metroid typically sports. Visual details are good but the level design is terrible so everything looks tacked on. Visor visuals are actually just awful looking. The cutscenes and writing were bad throughout. The slight characterization applied to Samus is cartoonish. I'm reminded of the moments in Prime 2 where Samus confronts Dark Samus and it's just a stare down before they both start blasting. Samus oozes confidence and just catching a glimpse of Dark Samus makes you hesitate to enter the next room. Somehow they actually made both characters pretty lame.
Gameplay is really uninteresting. Hypermode should be a risky resource management metagame but instead you just turn it on to kill whatever you need to in 2 seconds and turn it off, then collect the health drops and it's like you never even used it.
Backtracking is a hallmark of metroidvanias but here it's just a chore. "Hey go to this wrecked ship. Oh you can't actually do anything there. Ok go to this place. Oops you need a thing. Go get it here. Ok now go back to that other thing. Cool now you can confront the final area. Oh wait no go back to that wrecked ship again. By the way I hope you found those things that have never once been mentioned. No? Well I hope you scanned those few things scattered about at the beginning of the game to give you clues."
The backtracking is wrapped so neatly into the world in the first two Primes. The areas are distinct and memorable so you end up learning the different routes really well. The individual levels in this are so uninteresting that they become disorienting.
Re-rating Prime 1 and 2, I put them both 9/10. 2 is a little worse in the gameplay due to the fetch quests (although the Sky Temple clues are cleverly implemented) but holy cow it's a visual masterpiece. 1 has better connectivity of the world and it looks great but it doesn't pop quite as much.
I'm not sure how Prime 3 draws so much heat from you for the end game artifact hunt, when all three games literally do the exact same thing. That seems wildly unfair, "It was cool when 1 and 2 did it for reasons, but 3 is bad imo, so now this artifact hunt is OUTRAGEOUS!"
I'm not sure how Prime 3 draws so much heat from you for the end game artifact hunt, when all three games literally do the exact same thing. That seems wildly unfair, "It was cool when 1 and 2 did it for reasons, but 3 is bad imo, so now this artifact hunt is OUTRAGEOUS!"
It's not really the hunt itself but how it's presented. 1 and 2 are up front about having to collect some stuff scattered to the winds. You know exactly how many you need too. This one made no mention of it. You don't even need all of them. I will say that I did have exactly as many as I needed to finish the game but if I had gone down a different path I would have used one on an expansion and then had to go back out for more. And if that was the first time the game had specifically told me to go somewhere that I can't actually access then maybe I wouldn't have minded, but it was like the 5th or 6th time. If the other games tell you to go to a specific location, you get an upgrade for it. Not so much here.
Edit: to be clear, I don't think the fetch quests in 1 and 2 are good. In fact, they're the only reason I don't rate those games perfectly (plus the exposition dumps in 2).
amazon just now posted the special edition via their treasure truck whatever thing so I was able to get it for retail and now must sell my standard edition copy i havent opened yet lol
I'm not sure how Prime 3 draws so much heat from you for the end game artifact hunt, when all three games literally do the exact same thing. That seems wildly unfair, "It was cool when 1 and 2 did it for reasons, but 3 is bad imo, so now this artifact hunt is OUTRAGEOUS!"
It's not really the hunt itself but how it's presented. 1 and 2 are up front about having to collect some stuff scattered to the winds. You know exactly how many you need too. This one made no mention of it. You don't even need all of them. I will say that I did have exactly as many as I needed to finish the game but if I had gone down a different path I would have used one on an expansion and then had to go back out for more. And if that was the first time the game had specifically told me to go somewhere that I can't actually access then maybe I wouldn't have minded, but it was like the 5th or 6th time. If the other games tell you to go to a specific location, you get an upgrade for it. Not so much here.
There being more out there than you need is clearly an attempt to respond to the criticism that that part is a pain, without outright deleting it because clearly Retro sees some value in including it. I would definitely see that as a positive?
Called it for the day just after I got to the third map area. Verdict so far is that Dread is somehow exactly like the old 2D Metroids and way better in every conceivable way. God knows how they did it but they did.
Based on my very early impressions of an hour or so in the first area, I think they MIGHT have found the right balance with the counter mechanic in terms of toning down the counter-relevant enemy density and power creeping them with weapon upgrades so you don't need to keep doing the counter forever, but we shall see as I play further.
Also the EMMIs are shitheads.
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amazon just now posted the special edition via their treasure truck whatever thing so I was able to get it for retail and now must sell my standard edition copy i havent opened yet lol
I forget if samus returns was the same way, but I like that getting kills with the counter gives you more energy/missile drops, so it's nice if you need to refill your stuff
amazon just now posted the special edition via their treasure truck whatever thing so I was able to get it for retail and now must sell my standard edition copy i havent opened yet lol
If it's not open, can't you return it?
yeah this process was much easier than i expected, ive never actually had to return anything to them so i assumed it was a nuisance but its already handled
would've been nice if they let me order it before today in the first place i suppose
So far the only issue I have is that I keep mixing up what different buttons do. Especially as I start to unlock more upgrades so now more buttons do stuff and I have to hold them in different combinations and my fingers aren't this smart.
It's manageable, but I often find myself having to pause and actively think about what buttons I need to press which can sometimes be an issue if I'm being chased by an E.M.M.I or in a boss fight.
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Garlic Breadi'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm aRegistered User, Disagreeableregular
unbookmarking this thread until i have a chance to play metroid dread
There being more out there than you need is clearly an attempt to respond to the criticism that that part is a pain, without outright deleting it because clearly Retro sees some value in including it. I would definitely see that as a positive?
So far the only issue I have is that I keep mixing up what different buttons do. Especially as I start to unlock more upgrades so now more buttons do stuff and I have to hold them in different combinations and my fingers aren't this smart.
It's manageable, but I often find myself having to pause and actively think about what buttons I need to press which can sometimes be an issue if I'm being chased by an E.M.M.I or in a boss fight.
I was hoping I could swap jump and shoot but alas. I'll get used to it.
The movement is super crisp though. Also I'm not a huge fan of QTEs when they're a sub for actual gameplay but the counter in the boss fight where it first comes up is so badass. Plus you actually have to fight well enough to even get the opportunity.
For most of the items behind speed blocks I could see what to do, but it took me multiple tries to actually do it. This one I just don't see how to do. I can get near the blocks with a shinespark ready, but I don't see where to use it from. There's a platform below and if I stand all the way on the right and shinespark diagonally up-left I hit my head just below the speed blocks.
EDIT: I managed to get it and I think the solution was kind of dumb.
I thought you could only do shinesparks from a standing position. Turns out that's not the case. But to do so you have to be in morph ball and press ZL + B (morphball + jump) in mid-air.
Ok, I finally found one part of the movement that I don't like.
The double jump, and later space jump, feel like complete ass. Like easily one of the worst double jumps I've ever seen in games. It feels like you can only double jump on certain frames of your spin jump so there's tons of times I'm missing jumps or getting hit by attacks because Samus refuses to jump again. I'm on a boss right now where I keep getting hit by real dumb stuff that I know I can avoid because randomly my double jump just doesn't go off.
the old metroid amiibos will probably do something, usually they do it like that with nintendo first party releases I think?
Anyway here's my take I feel pretty confident won't change unless the game just shits the bed in the back half:
Metroid Dread is good, the EMMIs are frustrating but not in a "this doesn't feel like metroid" bad game design kind of way, I might have tuned them a little easier if I had my way though.
They definitely learned from and improved on Samus Returns, it's still very much this studio's take on Metroid and not the version of Metroid from the GBA era that I pine for, but it's a good game taken on its own terms. I like it a lot even through my nostalgia goggles. Perhaps if I had more of a wealth of choices of actual real-deal Metroid games in recent years I might be more picky about it, but it just feels good to have a proper Fusion sequel that isn't garbage and cares about capturing the Metroid feeling even while doing new things.
FUCK this Chozo warrior bot. Am I supposed to have more than 3 energy tanks? This guy is annihilating me.
I did it with three but it took me a few tries. Mostly just stay away and unload missiles. It has a counterable attack but it can mix it up a bit? The key though is the red charge it builds up first,then it's a dashing slash. The blue one you can counter it'll come up to you first? I think?
FUCK this Chozo warrior bot. Am I supposed to have more than 3 energy tanks? This guy is annihilating me.
I did it with three but it took me a few tries. Mostly just stay away and unload missiles. It has a counterable attack but it can mix it up a bit? The key though is the red charge it builds up first,then it's a dashing slash. The blue one you can counter it'll come up to you first? I think?
Yeah I think it's just that I suck at reacting to things so I couldn't tell when the counter opening was coming and would just avoid the big hit.
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Those robot dudes from the trailers that chase you can fucking move. Getting spotted by one of them is tense as hell.
Very excited to play more later.
It’s really fun so far! I did remember that I’m extremely bad at free aiming which made some parts difficult, but otherwise the game has done a good job of explaining things.
Though the beginning did make me want to track down a copy of Fusions and play that again (I doubt my actual copy still exists) because the game directly follows the events of that one. I’m fact I’m kinda shocked they didn’t rerelease a port of the game to capitalize before Dread released.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
Thoughts:
Gameplay is really uninteresting. Hypermode should be a risky resource management metagame but instead you just turn it on to kill whatever you need to in 2 seconds and turn it off, then collect the health drops and it's like you never even used it.
Backtracking is a hallmark of metroidvanias but here it's just a chore. "Hey go to this wrecked ship. Oh you can't actually do anything there. Ok go to this place. Oops you need a thing. Go get it here. Ok now go back to that other thing. Cool now you can confront the final area. Oh wait no go back to that wrecked ship again. By the way I hope you found those things that have never once been mentioned. No? Well I hope you scanned those few things scattered about at the beginning of the game to give you clues."
The backtracking is wrapped so neatly into the world in the first two Primes. The areas are distinct and memorable so you end up learning the different routes really well. The individual levels in this are so uninteresting that they become disorienting.
Re-rating Prime 1 and 2, I put them both 9/10. 2 is a little worse in the gameplay due to the fetch quests (although the Sky Temple clues are cleverly implemented) but holy cow it's a visual masterpiece. 1 has better connectivity of the world and it looks great but it doesn't pop quite as much.
they finally discovered samus' weakness
ball
That's annoying for a 2D game.
guess i dont want the art book that bad, rip
It's not really the hunt itself but how it's presented. 1 and 2 are up front about having to collect some stuff scattered to the winds. You know exactly how many you need too. This one made no mention of it. You don't even need all of them. I will say that I did have exactly as many as I needed to finish the game but if I had gone down a different path I would have used one on an expansion and then had to go back out for more. And if that was the first time the game had specifically told me to go somewhere that I can't actually access then maybe I wouldn't have minded, but it was like the 5th or 6th time. If the other games tell you to go to a specific location, you get an upgrade for it. Not so much here.
Edit: to be clear, I don't think the fetch quests in 1 and 2 are good. In fact, they're the only reason I don't rate those games perfectly (plus the exposition dumps in 2).
There being more out there than you need is clearly an attempt to respond to the criticism that that part is a pain, without outright deleting it because clearly Retro sees some value in including it. I would definitely see that as a positive?
Same with the boss battles. You can die real quick if you don't dodge everything.
Also the EMMIs are shitheads.
If it's not open, can't you return it?
yeah this process was much easier than i expected, ive never actually had to return anything to them so i assumed it was a nuisance but its already handled
would've been nice if they let me order it before today in the first place i suppose
It's manageable, but I often find myself having to pause and actively think about what buttons I need to press which can sometimes be an issue if I'm being chased by an E.M.M.I or in a boss fight.
@Raijin Quickfoot tell me of any new metroidvanias discussed here
That's a fair point!
I was hoping I could swap jump and shoot but alas. I'll get used to it.
The movement is super crisp though. Also I'm not a huge fan of QTEs when they're a sub for actual gameplay but the counter in the boss fight where it first comes up is so badass. Plus you actually have to fight well enough to even get the opportunity.
Samus one gives you an energy tank and you can use it once a day to refill your health
The EMMI one does the same but with missiles.
Also curse them for making the map fill in visited rooms on a pixel by pixel basis holy shit this is activating some OCD tendencies lol
Yeah I was surprised by that as well. Now I have it and don't know where to go!
For most of the items behind speed blocks I could see what to do, but it took me multiple tries to actually do it. This one I just don't see how to do. I can get near the blocks with a shinespark ready, but I don't see where to use it from. There's a platform below and if I stand all the way on the right and shinespark diagonally up-left I hit my head just below the speed blocks.
EDIT: I managed to get it and I think the solution was kind of dumb.
I guess I'll get to see if the literal only two amiibos I own, Samus in the Metroid 2 pose and the squishy Metroid, do anything
I only bought them because I wanted a squishy Metroid
Anyway here's my take I feel pretty confident won't change unless the game just shits the bed in the back half:
Metroid Dread is good, the EMMIs are frustrating but not in a "this doesn't feel like metroid" bad game design kind of way, I might have tuned them a little easier if I had my way though.
They definitely learned from and improved on Samus Returns, it's still very much this studio's take on Metroid and not the version of Metroid from the GBA era that I pine for, but it's a good game taken on its own terms. I like it a lot even through my nostalgia goggles. Perhaps if I had more of a wealth of choices of actual real-deal Metroid games in recent years I might be more picky about it, but it just feels good to have a proper Fusion sequel that isn't garbage and cares about capturing the Metroid feeling even while doing new things.
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Yeah I think it's just that I suck at reacting to things so I couldn't tell when the counter opening was coming and would just avoid the big hit.