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Metroid Dread |OT| Prime Hour

Some of these EMMI encounters are so memorable. Just countered one three times in a row, went invisible, jumped on a ceiling pad to fly over him, hid as a ball invisible in a tiny spot with him right in my face then finally still got caught right near the end lol. For such a stressful gameplay element I'm consistently shocked how much I'm enjoying those sections.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
The good reviews took me over the edge and I purchased, despite not being the biggest fan of 2D metroids (haven't really played much of any of them, but I LOVE the Prime series).

Hopefully I will enjoy this as much as others. I was pretty dismissive of it earlier (looking indie, etc) and while I still stand by that statement a bit, obviously hardware limitations come into play and it's not the end of the world. Still not particularly convinced it's a stunning game based on the artwork (I think it could be a lot better), but it's also not terrible either.
 

Dr Bass

Member
Some of these EMMI encounters are so memorable. Just countered one three times in a row, went invisible, jumped on a ceiling pad to fly over him, hid as a ball invisible in a tiny spot with him right in my face then finally still got caught right near the end lol. For such a stressful gameplay element I'm consistently shocked how much I'm enjoying those sections.
They are like mini real time puzzles where you need to outsmart the enemy. I wonder if this is the aspect they had trouble getting right years ago.
 

carlosrox

Banned
I feel like a kid again playing this shit. Pure magic and I just wanna keep playing.

Dread and the Switch OLED can only be described as MYSTIC (Doom 3 quote).

I swear everything on the SOLED looks even better than the LG CX OLED (65 inch).


I've always been more of a console guy over handhelds but my God SOLED makes me wanna play handheld more and more.

Stuff on the SOLED is pure black, almost looks like you're looking at a fucking hologram. Stuff like almost literally jumps out of the screen, it's fucking nuts. Nintendo made the wait for Switch 2 much easier for me.

If wanna see how ridiculously good games can look with OLED screens you cannot go wrong with the SOLED. I connected my account to my old Switch and instantly have 120 games to download on my SOLED and see how fucking ridiculous they all look.

Embarrassment of riches.
 

SpokkX

Member
Game really is amazing

lives up to the legacy and that is saying a LOT

… but man that shitty switch hardware.. framedrops when to many thing explode - 30fps cutscenes and just overall low res

imagine this on series x/ps5…

still WAY better that ratchet and returnal DESPITE the shitty technical side
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Managed to parry an EMMI attack and felt like a champ.
Haven't been able to do it again since....revert to chump mode.

Fantastic game, they have absolutely nailed the feel, everything just flows once you get the hang of the L/R + fire combinations for the different weapn modes.

Up there with Monster Hunter Rise for my own personal GOTY so far.
 

Fredrik

Member
I know Kung Fu Shinespark
Keanu Reeves Matrix GIF

Burenia is just pure love, must look insane on the OLED Switch, looks so so good even on my TV. The game just gets better the more I play, this is crazy.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Just finished it.

I think it's the best Metroid game ever. It's excellent and the best version of samus on any version of the series.
I loved it!
I loved the difficulty, loved the atmosphere and hell it probably had the best story too out of all the games but being honest I never cared about any of that.

I think one of my slight cons was the music while very atmospheric is not that memorable. I'm not going to youtube to listen to any of the songs bar the the games version of the theme of Samus Aran and that familiar chozo piece.
Still the sound design is amazing, everything is so satisfying to play.

Just going through the other candiates for best game in the series:
I would say the Prime games MAY be better but the prime games get a lot of points taken off them for their annoying end-game fetch quests. Metroid Dread does NOT waste your time and for that I gotta say it wins a lot of points with me.

I cannot say Super is better these days because of it's outdated physics and control.

Zero mission comes close but is too short.

Metroid Fusion is one of the weaker entries in the series a little too linear but not bad at all.

And I never played Samus Returns because I didn't like what I saw, and I never cared for the 3DS.

But here is how I would rate the series (That ive played) currently:

Metroid Dread
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 3
Metroid Zero Mission
Super Metroid
Metroid Prime2
Metroid Fusion
Metroid
Metroid II

I know it's not official but AM2R is a big top contender for best game as well.
 

Aldric

Member
Spoiler for a late game boss:



This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while, I love how they took inspiration from the Draygon fight in Super and gave you alternative quick kills against certain bosses. What a good game.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Just finished it.

I think it's the best Metroid game ever. It's excellent and the best version of samus on any version of the series.
I loved it!
I loved the difficulty, loved the atmosphere and hell it probably had the best story too out of all the games but being honest I never cared about any of that.

I think one of my slight cons was the music while very atmospheric is not that memorable. I'm not going to youtube to listen to any of the songs bar the the games version of the theme of Samus Aran and that familiar chozo piece.
Still the sound design is amazing, everything is so satisfying to play.

Just going through the other candiates for best game in the series:
I would say the Prime games MAY be better but the prime games get a lot of points taken off them for their annoying end-game fetch quests. Metroid Dread does NOT waste your time and for that I gotta say it wins a lot of points with me.

I cannot say Super is better these days because of it's outdated physics and control.

Zero mission comes close but is too short.

Metroid Fusion is one of the weaker entries in the series a little too linear but not bad at all.

And I never played Samus Returns because I didn't like what I saw, and I never cared for the 3DS.

But here is how I would rate the series (That ive played) currently:

Metroid Dread
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 3
Metroid Zero Mission
Super Metroid
Metroid Prime2
Metroid Fusion
Metroid
Metroid II

I know it's not official but AM2R is a big top contender for best game as well.
What was your time when you beat it? Please no unmarked spoilers :)
 
Loving the game so far :D my first deaths where learning the mechanics and the control config but now after an hour im starting to felling more confortable. game looks fantastic and i like the little attention to details in samus animations.

Cant get the parry timing right against the EMMI for the moment :(
 
Cant get the parry timing right against the EMMI for the moment :(
Its designed to be "virtually impossible." Its genius. It makes you try and survive and fail over and over to emphasize the helplessness Samus feels. But its actually also a fun QTE and super fun when it lands. Such a great subtle addition. Think of it like a Game Over screen with a 1% chance for survival.
 
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CGiRanger

Banned
Its designed to be "virtually impossible." Its genius. It makes you try and survive and fail over and over to emphasize the helplessness Samus feels. But its actually also a fun QTE and super fun when it lands. Such a great subtle addition. Think of it like a Game Over screen with a 1% chance for survival.
I love how they even emphasize in game at the very start that escaping the EMMI is virtually impossible. Literally 99% chance of death, so being able to do so is definitely a challenge mark for experienced or challenge-seeking gamers.
 

carlosrox

Banned
So playing last night I came this close to getting horribly lost and it straight up scared the shit out of me. It was a huge UH OH moment and I started to go in circles, studying the map, when I ended up reminding myself what I had last done and got back on track.
Felt amazing.

Nintendo returned to the genre they created.
 

carlosrox

Banned
This is really a showpiece game for oled displays huh? It looks so good.

It's probably not even the best looking thing either.

If you have BOTW go to the pitch black Typho Ruins in the forest. It's unbelievable how it looks on this screen.

Doom 64, Street Fighter, and basically anything else looks incredible.

People need to know how amazing the Switch OLED screen is.
 

MetroidDread

Neo Member
I finished Dread yesterday and loved every second of it from exploring the world, the visuals, epic and challenging boss fights, and the E.M.M.I's (some) are amazing.

There are some thing I that bothered me a bit on why they made these decisions though.

I really didn't like how they implemented (if thats the correct word) the power ups.

I found it really odd that they give you the plasma beam in the early/middle of the game, plasma is suppose to be one of your most powerful weapons in your arsenal and is normally the very last beam upgrade you get because of it, yet it feels like its too early like the developers knew what you would encounter would be very difficult to fight without it even with counter.

Heck Wave beam is the final beam upgrade other than plasma, I guess because if they made wave beam too early you could get almost all missile and other expansions too early or make fights easier because you don't have to stand in front of enemy's they are above or below you through a wall

Also interestingly about some of these weapons upgrades is that some of them are treated as ACTUAL weapon upgrades than just getting a new weapon.

Spin Boost - is a double jump and when you get space jump, Spin Boost just disappears in you inventory.

Diffusion Beam - while you still have it at the end, it gets completely taken over by wave beam because Diffusion explodes on impact and can penetrate through terrain, but wave beam can go through any surface leaving Diffusion obsolete.

Missiles - This was something that Metroid Fusion did and I could forgive it in Fusion because it only had 4 buttons making it difficult to map to select different weapons.

I really didn't like how they just stacked you Missiles together than just as separate where Missiles become Super Missiles, and Super Missiles become Ice Missiles, theres no switching or using your weapons in a conserve way, you just get a better weapon.

I think this was a criticism on Samus Returns with you having you to hold a button and then pressing the touch screen to select Super Missiles, but with 8 buttons and a d-pad they couldn't figure a way to select your missiles?

Grapple Beam - I think Samus Returns handled Grapple Beam very well with free aiming to grab a grapple beam spot and I think Dread is very nice with a button for Grapple Beam and I like you you can use it to grab magnetic walls especially with the E.M.M.I chases, although I really didn't like the Grapple Beam doors.

Every time you use the right of beam or missile to unlock the door it becomes a regular door and can be opened with and weapon, Grapple Beam doors however can only be open with Grapple Beam and doesn't become a regular door making it kind of annoying.

Also on doors I really don't like the doors that require you have use Phantom Cloak to walkthrough certain doors other wise it shuts on you, theres very few of these doors, but I still found it annoying that I had to turn on Phantom Cloak and slowly walk though a door.

An interesting choice for the first time a main story Metroid game is that Ice beam and High Jump Boots are not in the game, I guess it makes since that Ice Beam is gone because there are no more Metroid to freeze and that Spin Boost replaces High Jump since it allows you to double jump.

I also didn't like how they dealt with the orange E.M.M.I (power bombs), I know we had to had to see that Samus's Metroid absorbing powers were evolving, but the E.M.M.I's rooms of hiding and running from them were some of the best things in Dread as the E.M.M.I's were the main thing of the game.

Maybe we could have had one more E.M.M.I room where you run from it and explore like you normally do, get to where the Central Unit is (Eyeball Brain enemies you drain for the Omega Cannon), It uses power bomb to destroy the Central Unit, and then the cutscene happens where Samus drains the E.M.M.I, I feel it could have handled a lot better considering the E.M.M.I, again, were the main thing of the game.

There might be others things I might have to say about Dread, but these were the most noticeable that stuck to me after finishing it.

But despite these thing I said I really loved playing Dread, 9/10 for me and gonna start a new playthrough after I get off work tomorrow.

Don't know if you all feel the same as I do with these things I said, but let me know if I'm being nitpicky or if you feel the same as I do.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Everything in my body tells me not to pay 60€ for the game, because similiar indie games with same or even bigger scope cost less like the Hollow Knights of this world etc.


But all the positive reviews and opinions here make me wanna try it out.

WVMITNR.gif
I think it's worth the $60 to be honest, it's an incredibly well crafted game, full of that Nintendo polish you get when they decide they want to give a game their five star treatment. Plus being a Nintendo title it's probably going to hold its value pretty well if you decide to sell it.
 
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James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Just beat the first boss. Enjoying it so far.

question tho - how are you guys going through these levels as you gain abilities? Clearing everything before moving on to the next level (not entirely possible I imagine), or clearing as much as possible….or simply waiting until you gain more abilities in level 2 or whatever?

lots of backtracking which can get tedious since as far as I know there’s not a fast travel system
 

Dr Bass

Member
Just beat the first boss. Enjoying it so far.

question tho - how are you guys going through these levels as you gain abilities? Clearing everything before moving on to the next level (not entirely possible I imagine), or clearing as much as possible….or simply waiting until you gain more abilities in level 2 or whatever?

lots of backtracking which can get tedious since as far as I know there’s not a fast travel system
Just keep going. You’ll see. :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:
 

ssringo

Member
Just finished it with 100% item find in 10 hours (game time). Really good and certainly the best Metroid in a very long time but falls a little short of the best ever. Controls very well for the most part and boss fights range from good to great. However, EMMIS, while bringing some very good tension and chase sequences, are also the weakest part. Setting aside the (effectively) one shot kill if caught.

Spoilers for all EMMI encounters
They do the same thing with each one. Avoid EMMI until you locate and kill the same mini boss for each EMMI. Some easily avoided projectiles (that also don't really hurt) while mindlessly shooting a floating eyeball. Obtain super gun. Lure EMMI to long/straight area. Melt EMMI face off, shoot EMMI in face. Lose super gun. Same thing each time (other than the one killed in cutscene). Would've been okay if there were fewer EMMI. Needed more variety for as many as there were.

This game's portrayal of Samus is very much what I always imagined she was like in older games. Big monster bosses and she doesn't give a fuck. Confident and fearless.
 
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carlosrox

Banned
Only my second (or third if you count the break I took last night) play session with Dread ever is comin' up and I cannot wait.

In bed, in the dark, great headphones, and an OLED screen in my hands.

Got to the beginning of the third region after a couple of hours. I still only have the first two upgrades and can't wait to get more!

It feels like an event playing this game.
 
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Paltheos

Member
Just started area 4. I'm enjoying myself now. I was not at the start lol. Not for some time. I have never felt as blue balled by a Metroid game as I have this one. I just wanted my damn Morph Ball so I could roll around and in almost every room it felt like there was some ledge with a one-square tall hole that I'm meant to roll through that I could not. It messed with my brain. Usually when I see an obstacle in a Metroid game I can leave a reminder of varying weight (memorability of the landmark, believed importance of whatever's on the other side), but the frequency of these occurrences combined with my ingrained belief that Morph Ball is a beginning game item was driving me crazy.

Worst moment for me had to be that obviously suspicious looking dragon/lizard-like stone structure with a huge morph ball tunnel running across it. You reach this thing at the end of a corridor after crossing through a level and going a long time without an item and you think, "Oh, I know this! The path up will lead to some small cave further ahead with a floor you'll fall through into a room with a Chozo statue and the Morph Ball in it. I'll grab it and then use the Morph Ball to roll out of the room through that creature's mouth!" NOPE. The path goes up and does a 180 leading you back the way you came.

The experience has been better now though. Items are spaced out better, and I feel like Samus has skipped from a base line of 'weak' to 'better than competent'. I still have some bones to pick with the game, but it's shaping up to be better than Samus Returns. Not top-tier Metroid, but somewhere in the better half. I plan on playing most of tomorrow. I'll see how it shapes up.

PS: I talked with a friend about all this and later sent him a text, "The best part about morph ball in this game is that you turn into an actual blue ball. All my frustration is realized."
 
Beat it. Best metroid game, bar none.

Only one complaint and that is SPOILERS:
There is no Zero Suit samus or even Samus without her helmet as an ending reward. Honestly disappointing.
Yeah it was disappointing to discover that it's always the same cutscene of Samus post credits. On a minor bright side.

The 100% gallery/speedrun both normal and hard difficulty under 4 hours award is still Zero Suit Samus.
jV44xKQ.png
 

scalman

Member
passed that boss then another emmi killed and then long exploring around collecting all i can until next boss and again i dont even understand what to do with that dragonish boss. but had amazing time exploring rooms , and you really will be runing same rooms 20 times back and forward .
 

scalman

Member
Just beat the first boss. Enjoying it so far.

question tho - how are you guys going through these levels as you gain abilities? Clearing everything before moving on to the next level (not entirely possible I imagine), or clearing as much as possible….or simply waiting until you gain more abilities in level 2 or whatever?

lots of backtracking which can get tedious since as far as I know there’s not a fast travel system
Threre are more then one type of traveling around just they are on fixed positions on map so if you reached those you can travel around
But all that will open only later in game
 
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