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Metroid: Samus Returns Review Thread

Damn, I "hate" good reviews right now. I know I wouldn't and couldn't play it at the moment, because there are so many great games out. Even unemployed, there is not enough time! Destiny 2 is super addictive, Yakuza Kiwami is still sealed, but i have to pay respect very soon. Motherfucking Ys 8 is coming soon and absolutely can't be ignored. How will I be able to squeeze the new and apperantly great new Metroid game in this, until October is killing it again?!

First world problems are worst and best problems at the same time.
 

Jazzem

Member
Has a 3DS game ever run a 60fps?

Mario Kart 7
New Super Mario Bros 2
Smash Bros
Zelda: Link Between Worlds + Triforce Heroes
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Kirby Triple Deluxe + Robobot
Fire Emblems (in map)
Yoshi's Wooly World (on n3DS)
Pushmo/Crashmo

Off the top of my head, there's quite a few. But aye many are 30
 
9/10 from gamecentral.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/12/metroid-samus-returns-review-return-of-the-queen-6921472/

In Short: A superb remake of Metroid II and the best 2D entry since Super Metroid, that doesn’t compromise at all in terms of challenge, complexity, or atmosphere.

Pros: Excellent level design that’s filled with secrets, and just the right level of difficultly for new players and old. Huge range of abilities and some great set pieces. Thankfully little storytelling.

Cons: Metroid encounters can get a little repetitive. Few new ideas for the series or the genre in general.
 
My main concerns for the game, it being MercurySteam and having strongly disliked MOF, were how the game performs and the controls.

I've not gone through a lot of reviews (only like 5 or 6, so far) but I'm not seeing anyone comment on these items aside from Eurogamer saying the controls are "sloppy" which they didn't expand upon why.

Seeing positive reviews is, well, positive, but I'm still cautiously optimistic about it, because the things that matter to me in Metroid and indeed action/exploration platformers in general, nobody seems to really be commenting on. Everyone just seems happy to have a 2D Metroid again without truly explaining why it's "sogood.gif".

Hell, can the damned game be controlled with the dpad or does it require the analog disc/nub/thing?
 

nynt9

Member
Mark Brown reviewed the game for Pocket Gamer

Not a huge though he still enjoyed it. He prefers AM2R though

"It’s cool - the first few times. It feels great, like returning a serve in a tennis match. And in bosses, you’re treated to a fancy cutscene of Samus lunging in for a stylish kill. But after a while the thrill starts to fade. The cutscenes become repetitive, and you stop playing aggressively and begin to fight defensively. You‘ll spend much of this game waiting."

"I’m going to say yes. Though with the caveat that it’s far from the best Metroid game - Nintendo’s obsession with turning Samus into some action hero goes against the exploratory point of the series,"

I trust Mark Brown almost implicitly (love his video series and am a backer on patreon) and him saying this is pretty important to me. Like I said earlier, I already had concerns about combat, and I was worried that other reviewers would probably not pick up on these nuances that bother me. I'm glad that Mark did, as it helps me temper my expectations. Like I said earlier, exploration and platforming wise the game will probably be totally fine, but I don't understand Nintendo's obsession with focusing these games more and more on combat. It's the same situation with Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The previous entry didn't have great combat, but combat wasn't the point anyway, so double down on combat? No one was a fan of Metroid (or ME) because of the combat. People want exploration, atmosphere, tension, platforming. I don't doubt that they nailed those, but why the focus on combat?
 

Kysen

Member
Sucks there isn't a switch version, IGNs review basically confirms this is a no go for me. (painful controls)
 
People want exploration, atmosphere, tension, platforming. I don't doubt that they nailed those, but why the focus on combat?

Because it was a greater focus of the original metroid 2 compared to the original metroid as the USgamer review correctly points out. Actually having mostly aggressive enemies for once in a 2D Metroid game is pretty distinguishing if you ask me.
 

Astral Dog

Member
9/10 from gamecentral.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/12/metroid-samus-returns-review-return-of-the-queen-6921472/

In Short: A superb remake of Metroid II and the best 2D entry since Super Metroid, that doesn’t compromise at all in terms of challenge, complexity, or atmosphere.

Pros: Excellent level design that’s filled with secrets, and just the right level of difficultly for new players and old. Huge range of abilities and some great set pieces. Thankfully little storytelling.

Cons: Metroid encounters can get a little repetitive. Few new ideas for the series or the genre in general.
I think thats what it is. As a REMAKE the game succeds in almost every way, as a new entry for the series it mightbe a little outdated/not fresh, critics and fans are treating Samus Returns as the first new entry in many years and not as a remaster of an archaic GameBoy wich it is
 

BiggNife

Member
Uhhhhh it takes longer than that to make a game

The Samus Returns team didn't know AM2R was in development until after the game was far along. The idea that Samus Returns was reactionary to AM2R is just silly.

And yes, I know AM2R was in development for 7 years but it didn't become well known until it was released.
 

Maxim726X

Member
Sucks there isn't a switch version, IGNs review basically confirms this is a no go for me. (painful controls)

Seriously, I can imagine the pain I'll be in if I play this for extended periods of time...

I'm glad we got a new Metroid. Just wish it was also released on consoles.
 
I'm going to be playing it on my recently-purchased non-XL New 3DS. Games look a little sharper on this screen.

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
I dont understand the point of even complaining about this.

They specifically C&D'ed AM2R to make their own remake. People will thus compare the two games.

Yeah, they got rid of AM2R and developed Samus Returns little over a year
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Sucks there isn't a switch version, IGNs review basically confirms this is a no go for me. (painful controls)

Buy a grip. A generic one is only a couple of dollars/euros and helps comfort a lot. I bought this generic one for €4. This is New 3DS, but they exist for XL as well.

7L576Rn.jpg
 

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
"It’s cool - the first few times. It feels great, like returning a serve in a tennis match. And in bosses, you’re treated to a fancy cutscene of Samus lunging in for a stylish kill. But after a while the thrill starts to fade. The cutscenes become repetitive, and you stop playing aggressively and begin to fight defensively. You‘ll spend much of this game waiting."

"I’m going to say yes. Though with the caveat that it’s far from the best Metroid game - Nintendo’s obsession with turning Samus into some action hero goes against the exploratory point of the series,"

I trust Mark Brown almost implicitly (love his video series and am a backer on patreon) and him saying this is pretty important to me. Like I said earlier, I already had concerns about combat, and I was worried that other reviewers would probably not pick up on these nuances that bother me. I'm glad that Mark did, as it helps me temper my expectations. Like I said earlier, exploration and platforming wise the game will probably be totally fine, but I don't understand Nintendo's obsession with focusing these games more and more on combat. It's the same situation with Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The previous entry didn't have great combat, but combat wasn't the point anyway, so double down on combat? No one was a fan of Metroid (or ME) because of the combat. People want exploration, atmosphere, tension, platforming. I don't doubt that they nailed those, but why the focus on combat?

Yeah I really respect his opinion, and I can see having some of the same issues he had. Hmm.. might have to skip this.
 

Maridia

Member
"It’s cool - the first few times. It feels great, like returning a serve in a tennis match. And in bosses, you’re treated to a fancy cutscene of Samus lunging in for a stylish kill. But after a while the thrill starts to fade. The cutscenes become repetitive, and you stop playing aggressively and begin to fight defensively. You‘ll spend much of this game waiting."

"I’m going to say yes. Though with the caveat that it’s far from the best Metroid game - Nintendo’s obsession with turning Samus into some action hero goes against the exploratory point of the series,"

I trust Mark Brown almost implicitly (love his video series and am a backer on patreon) and him saying this is pretty important to me. Like I said earlier, I already had concerns about combat, and I was worried that other reviewers would probably not pick up on these nuances that bother me. I'm glad that Mark did, as it helps me temper my expectations. Like I said earlier, exploration and platforming wise the game will probably be totally fine, but I don't understand Nintendo's obsession with focusing these games more and more on combat. It's the same situation with Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The previous entry didn't have great combat, but combat wasn't the point anyway, so double down on combat? No one was a fan of Metroid (or ME) because of the combat. People want exploration, atmosphere, tension, platforming. I don't doubt that they nailed those, but why the focus on combat?

The comparison to Mirror's Edge strikes me as absurd. Boss battles have always been among the most notable and talked about facets of the Metroid series.
 
Yeah I really respect his opinion, and I can see having some of the same issues he had. Hmm.. might have to skip this.

I mean, you can reverse the Paradigm by using the Beam Burst, Missiles and
Ice Beam -> Melee
. Playing aggressively seems viable, it just demands more of your toolset.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
The comparison to Mirror's Edge strikes me as absurd. Boss battles have always been among the most notable and talked about facets of the Metroid series.

Bosses have always been memorable, but I don't think there was ever a heavy focus on them until perhaps Fusion. And either way, combat encapsulates far more than just bosses, Mark talks about the moment to moment gameplay being particularly combat heavy, which is not Metroid-like at all and one of the things that concerned me as soon as I learned of the melee counter.
 
More action is great if true. Metroid II is a linear and rigid experience so moment to moment gameplay needs to be spruced up to make up for the lack of varied exploration that say Super or Prime had.

Besides Mark and Jeremy are the outliers and I only half agree with them most times.
 
Because it would have been a well received gesture?
It's completely unnecessary. You're saying they should remake the whole fangame's engine just to include it for free inside their OWN remake. You wouldn't see the game until 2018 and it can undermine the work done for the official game ala "they don't have enough confidence in their version so they gotta add AM2R in there."
 

Ridley327

Member
Bosses have always been memorable, but I don't think there was ever a heavy focus on them until perhaps Fusion. And either way, combat encapsulates far more than just bosses, Mark talks about the moment to moment gameplay being particularly combat heavy, which is not Metroid-like at all and one of the things that concerned me as soon as I learned of the melee counter.

I can't imagine anyone making the claim that Super wasn't action-packed from beginning to end. Even without the main bosses themselves, you've a lot of different miniboss encounters and tons of set piece moments.
 

Metroxed

Member
I dont understand the point of even complaining about this.

They specifically C&D'ed AM2R to make their own remake. People will thus compare the two games.

That's not true. MercurySteam has said that they game was in development from long before they sent the C&D to AM2R and Sakamoto himself said he had no idea a fan remake even existed or was in development until fairly recently.
 

Gsnap

Member
I mean, you can reverse the Paradigm by using the Beam Burst, Missiles and
Ice Beam -> Melee
. Playing aggressively seems viable, it just demands more of your toolset.

Yeah, that's the question. Is the counter truly so essential? Or is it merely perceived as such? Is this a Zelda situation, where people complain about "Waiting" to do the counter, while ignoring the full range of the toolset that would speed up the pace of battles, keeping the player aggressive, and the fights engaging?

Given that it's Mark Brown saying these things, that does lend more credence to it to me than if it were coming from somebody else, but still. It's well known that Samus always has a lot of tools at her disposal, and it's also well known that, outside of bosses, you rarely have to actually take the time to defeat enemies, as much as you simply need to circumvent them.

Guess I'll just have to see how I feel when I play it.

I can't imagine anyone making the claim that Super wasn't action-packed from beginning to end. Even without the main bosses themselves, you've a lot of different miniboss encounters and tons of set piece moments.

Yeah, this too. Metroid is no stranger to high action.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
I can't imagine anyone making the claim that Super wasn't action-packed from beginning to end. Even without the main bosses themselves, you've a lot of different miniboss encounters and tons of set piece moments.

I don't necessarily agree, I've always seen Metroid and particularly Super as 90% exploration and 10% action, but even if it were like that, this is still different. We're talking about a game where every enemy encounter is a small, combat focused event, not just bosses. Something like that fundamentally changes the entire formula.

Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but doesn't sound very appealing to me as it's not what I look for in 2D Metroid... I could be wrong and still enjoy it a lot, though.
 
Bosses have always been memorable, but I don't think there was ever a heavy focus on them until perhaps Fusion. And either way, combat encapsulates far more than just bosses, Mark talks about the moment to moment gameplay being particularly combat heavy, which is not Metroid-like at all and one of the things that concerned me as soon as I learned of the melee counter.

Metroid was an action based series that aimed to take the 2D arcade action games of the time and connect the levels. It was steeped in combat based games. The original Metroid 2 aimed to take that aspect a bit further than the first with the aggressive metroid encounters. Combat was always a key component of the series even if it was a bit simple and most enemies were nonaggressive (including AM2R) unlike Samus Returns.
 

Toxi

Banned
My favorite Metroid game at the moment, Prime 2, is hella combat-focused, so I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

Plus, this is a remake of one of the most combat-focused 2D Metroids. It wouldn't be true to the original without that focus.
 

Ennosuke

Member
I have to be honest here with you. I always liked the design of Metroid and I like the hype around the franchise, but I did not play any of the 2D games, this is why I am excited to actually play it on the 3DS.
 
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