Topic: Metroid Dread

Decided to start playing late to avoid the release hype influencing my experience with the game, and stopped shortly after beating the first major boss. Early on, the controls are more of an adjustment than I was expecting. I found myself mixing up free aim (L) with slide (ZL) on multiple occasions after performing a successful counter. I was sliding right off platforms and going away from the stunned enemies. As I play, I'll get better, so my next session should go really well.

Finally made progress, just didn't see that damn vent... lol.
Anyways, liking it a lot so far, still, could do without EMMIS. Environments and bosses are challenging enough for me old geezer.

A fair bit in, but I am pretty mixed in the EMMIs. If they wanted to create a sense of “dread” they succeeded in that department. Unfortunately, the extremely narrow window of opportunity to counter them when caught practically makes them an instant game over in the majority of cases. Not to mention it being not 1 but two presses.

I think I’ve died more times thus far in this single play through than all previous Metroid games I’ve ever played.

Is there an easy way to fill in the map? Those tiny "unexplored" squares are going to drive me nuts lol.

I've got about 2 hours into the game, and so far the controls feel extremely fluid and responsive, I like how everything feels to play. However, I do kinda find it a little strange that Samus has no "walking" animation when pressing the joystick even the slightest bit, she starts sprinting as fast as she can. It's definitely not a big enough thing to be a negative for the game, just a little odd to me.

Still in the early part, I've played an hour or so, but I can't seen to be able to find my way back. I keep getting further into the map, with no apparent way back. The morph ball would solve all my problems, but I haven't found it yet.

I've encountered a cold area, and I can't seem to progress any further.

Only played about an hour so far, tiredness from Metroid sessions earlier in the week biting me. It seems great, but I couldn't give it a 10 so far, just a 9.

a) I felt some of the writing in the text you read during the intro was pretty ropey and was at odds with the mystique of the traditional Metroid vibe. E.g. the word 'stuff' was used - felt like a mismatch to me.

b) For a game based on suspenseful exploration, Samus is too damn fast. No matter how gentle you are with the stick, she sprints and spins about like a Tasmanian devil. I'd like to be able to walk if I want to. You can't walk in Samus Returns either, but it's less noticeable because Samus wasn't as rapid as she is in Dread.

c) I find the map too detailed. The simpler maps from older games are much easier to read quickly and make sense of. The Dread map feels a bit too busy with different shapes and colours. I'll probably get used to it, but for now I seem to actively avoid looking at it because my eyes/brain aren't immediately making sense of it in the way I'm used to with the older games.

@FX102A I don't think I'll ever really get used to dealing with the EMMIs. I never do very well at dealing with having invincible enemies chasing after me in like any video game.

@Octane I've found myself a bit stuck a few times so far but the answer almost always just seems to be some random breakable bit of wall/floor that I didn't notice.

@BenAV @DomGC I found a recharge station (right above the starting area), but the upper two levels are blocked. The hallway to the right leads to a cavern with a morph ball passage way at the end. And the hallway to the left leads to a cold room. I can pass the first one, and there's a weird block that leads to another morph ball tunnel (judging by how long it is, I can't slide through it), so I assume I need the morph ball bombs to open that block.

But really, there's nowhere left to go lol. There's another couple of cold rooms to the left, but I can't make it through there without a suit upgrade.

Never mind, that was a missile door. Could've sworn I tried that before lol.

@gcunit Oh absolutely! When it said her suit was "made of the strongest stuff" in the universe I literally stopped and stared for a few minutes to see if I was reading that correctly. Lol.

I will say I am REALLY enjoying the music and subtle sound effects. The sound effect when you pick up a missile expansion is satisfying in an odd way. The music at save points and the main menu is also very nice. robo-Adam's voice is not so nice though

4 EMMIs down. 17% Items. 4h:07m playtime yesterday. On to the next session.

And yeah the map is great. It could use better icons, but it has more practicality than any other Metroid map.

Game is gorgeous. Looks great, plays great. Classic 2D Metroid.

My only criticism, and this is highly subjective, is that it can be Nintendo Hard at times. I've only played the game for a few hours, but I'm already so tired of seeing the EMMI death sequence. I've only managed to pull off the last minute save a couple of times, but that provides little relief. At least the developers had the compassion to put checkpoints right outside of the EMMI zones.

But honestly, that's not enough to put me off the game. I'm quite enjoying it otherwise. And to be fair, as you uncover more of an EMMI zone on your map, you're able to plan your route to move through as efficiently as possible, and so it does become easier. It's just a bit of a puzzle at first when you don't know where to go in a new area.

The map is the best I've seen since the Prime games (which had incredible 3D maps, so cool).

But the audio... oh my gosh, the audio. Digital Foundry weren't lying about the 5.1 surround being killer. Playing with my Ambeo soundbar, which reflects sounds off the wall and ceiling to encompass you in a sound bubble, and it's just so immersive. Even Adam's voice just seems to be coming from more central channels than the normal audio, which makes it sound so up close and personal like you're really there listening to him talk.

Ok. Enough gushing for now. Back to Metroid.

It's not that you suck at it, it's that the developers made it deliberately difficult. It pretty much says so in the loading screen help text. You need split second precision, and there are no visual cues to help you out, so it's more a matter of luck than skill.

My son was playing earlier, and every time he threw his hands up in frustration, I knew he had gotten skewered by the EMMI. He he!

Damn EMMIs are wiping the floor with me, my hand/eye co-ordination obviously isn't what it used to be back in the day. Still a really good game though...

Probably half way, maybe a little under, through the game. I love what they did with the EMMI zones, adds a bit of urgency without ruining the flow, and it certainly doesn't take away the exploration I've always loved about 2D Metroid games. Once you're out of those zones, it goes right back to letting you do things at your own pace and I love the contrast of feeling like a bad a** after taking down regular enemies and bosses to having to look over your shoulder as soon as an EMMI is around.

...Yeah there is. lol

Again, you need to react extremely fast compared to countering anything else, though. But not only do you see a quick flash, but you can hear an audio cue. Also you don't have to succeed in both presses, just one, it basically gives you second chance.

Hadn't thought about this yet, but the EMMIs make this game more like Alien than any other Metroid game, with a big humanoid enemy constantly stalking you. Which is interesting, given the fact that the franchise was inspired by Alien.

It's kinda like a 2D Alien: Isolation in that regard.

When I say "there are no visual cues to help you out", I mean that unlike other enemies, there are no animations or anything else to help you time your button press. You're essentially presented with a static screen and need to press the X button simultaneously with the appearance of the flash. If you wait until you see the flash, then it's "Game over, man, game over!"