Metroid Dread
The best Metroid, but not perfect. It's great at instilling that titular sense of dread, it controls so well, and it does the best job of making you and Samus feel both afraid and powerful. It just feels good to play overall.
Deep thoughts
I listened to a podcast recently, Triple Click, and they had the concept of a canon that they would come back to: ten games that are an example of what they like in games so someone could understand their perspective. I thought this was a fun idea! Another thing I liked was that this was a living document, it was meant for you to come back and update it to show how you've changed.
read →Metroid Dread tells you, right from the title, that it gets it. We're here because we want that feeling of exploring a space station alone. We're frightened and everything has gone to shit but there's no way out but through, and through we'll go. Like Ellen Ripley, Samus is a survivor. She'll find a way. Metroid Dread masterfully dances between making you feel powerful and powerless, flipping between Alien and Aliens effortlessly. That's what makes Metroid Dread the best Metroid game.
read →Along the way
Yep we started this right away.
Already I am getting Good Feelings from it. I started playing this a long long time ago, I'm not sure why I stopped. My progress was like 50% of items.
It feels good and looks sharp and like it has all the best things of Samus Returns. Let's see if it keeps the worst.
I've beaten the first boss, the decision to keep Morph Ball from you seems Very Intentional. Like you get the spider climb first, which is usually a Morph Ball thing.
Also the EMMIs are so fucking creepy and they nailed that. The designers know that the creepiest things are human shaped but act in ways humans don't. They're theoretically bipedal, but move on all fours with ease and contort their bodies in uncomfortable ways.
Got in about 45 minutes of this and it remains great. I think this is a strong frontrunner to be favorite.
Had a cute clever girl moment with an EMMI. Was charging the beam waiting for it to come so I could blow its face off and then it showed up behind me. You little fucker.
I dunno how I feel about super missiles superseding regular missiles! Seems like a skill gap! Also it makes them feel less impactful. Now it's just a "keeping up with the joneses" thing, things will become more powerful to compensate. And obviously they did in the other games, but they probably didn't assume as many missiles.
The X being out seems canonically bad.
Getting the ice missile directly after also makes it seem quite pointless. I actually think I have that issue with a lot of the upgrades. The pulse bomb(?) is nearly immediately outclassed by the power bomb. I know it's not limited but it feels like it supercedes.
The disliked Aeion Pulse returns. It doesn't feel as bad this time. I'm not sure why.
I have reached the point of no return. I'll go find some more stuff before ending.
I really don't know how I feel about this. I felt like maybe it wouldn't hold up, due to the pulse, the item acquisition issues (again, the pacing is weird, changing how they work), and the fact that it feels maybe a bit too hand holdy. It seems like it just directly shuts off other ways to go, it funnels you strongly.
Despite that, it feels really good. It looks good. The fights are great, they feel fair and I can feel myself learning them. Even the repetitive fights (the EMMI, the brain things, the X spear fighters) aren't too often, too clustered together like the metroids in Samus returns and they're kept fresh.
Like the EMMI are fucking annoying and I hate them...which means it feels great to beat them finally. There is a tension and a catharsis to beating them, beating them doesn't feel perfunctory, it feels like a triumph. I feel like an action hero, Ripley or Sarah Connor, having finally defeated this terror by the skin of my teeth, panting and exhausted in victory.
For all the flaws, it feels like this game gets Samus and the tone and atmosphere of what these games should be totally correct.
Did some roaming around to gather some upgrades, now it's on to the final fight.
UGH, that second phase threw me for a loop! At least let me pick up from the midpoint cutscene!
I've been trying to think about why in spite of some of my gripes Dread succeeds in a lot of ways and I think he's a real contender for my favorite of the series. I think it comes down to storytelling. One thing I was mulling over was that I mechanically have issues as a player with how Samus gains her powers. I think the missiles, super missiles, ice missiles thing is the clearest example of how the progression feels weird but in the story Samus's progression feels really satisfying.
I think that's because really this is the most well-shown Metroid. We can feel the power that Samus feels and we can see her face as she gains these powers. I think the most notable example is when she defeats the EMMI and is able to absorb that power directly and then looks at herself with wonder. The advancements in being able to show real cutscenes with great detail help because Samus is so silent and the beats are so subtle.
We beat this. What a really good game. The ending really gets at what I was saying yesterday, it makes Samus feel powerful. That moment when she beats Raven Beak and just has that primal scream is so intense.