Topic: Metroid Dread

You can only skip cut scenes that you have already watched. Bummer, but at least at some point you can just get on with things.

So far I'm mixed. I like the game parts, the cut scenes are trivial. The emmi moments are just an excuse to pad out a short game with an insta-kill, not a fan. I bet without those the game will lose about 2 hours of time on a first playthrough, just for how much time they waste. Played for about 90 minutes and it seems ok. I'm actually wrestling more with the controls than the game itself. It would be GREAT if we could use the D-Pad instead of the analogue stick for standard controls. Emulating the game just to be able to switch those controls might be a good plan. I'll wait and see if they ever decide to patch this thing, but so far I'm giving it around 6.5/10, as it has more issues that I have patience for, but also brings some good things to the table. It desperately needs customizable controls, as the current setup is kinda hard for me to memorize for some reason. Doesn't feel very intuitive.

I love the Souls games but difficulty should not be conflated with a gratuitous death penalty. Metroid Dread is a difficult game, but it’s checkpoint system let’s you focus on the boss battle and not the penalties; which is what souls is really all about.

I think they nailed it. I haven’t posted or looked at a gaming forum in a long time, but Dread inspired me to look.

It is a challenge but it is fair and you will get better. I got hung up a couple times early on, but by the end I was beating bosses in short order.

Mostly, it’s holding down the left bumper while aiming. There are few instances where that’s tricky and if you let off pressure on the shoulder button at all, you of course move, that leads to taking damage. But it’s precise and after a few days to adapt, not an issue anymore. For me….

@tekoii I agree with pretty much everything you said except maybe the Metroid armor which imho looked dope. As someone who only played Super Metroid few weeks ago to see what Metroid even is I was a bit disappointed by the story. But that's a minor complaint.

....This game shouldn't be THAT hard...it's like this game defaults at hard mode at the beginning or something. I don't know the beginning of this game was fine, but then all of the sudden it's killing you constantly.

Also, that stupid miniboss that I hate so much? Yeah...I'm starting to not like this game as much anymore.

@BlueMonk I wouldn't consider the game very hard. Unless you're playing very poorly it's pretty hard to die by regular enemies. The EMMIs oneshot you which makes them seem hard but they are actually more like a puzzles than a fight. Bosses are usually just pattern recognition and it is expected for you to die few times before you learn to counter every attack. I actually find the hardest part getting 100% as some of the powerups require you to master shinespark to the level I was not able to yet.

@Joeynator3000 Ohhh right, these guys! One of the best fights in the whole game! I enjoyed it so much and it was a freaking close one making it even better!

@MrDinosaur The emmis don't feel like puzzles, they are extremely reflex/speed based. They really shouldn't have been put in the game. I remember back in the PS3/X360 era, any time a game put sections including "stealth portions with instant death as the punishment" the reviews would slam those games very hard. I always avoided the games that had stuff like that, as it doesn't really teach you anything about the game and is just padding to increase game length from repetitive deaths/loading screens. I can see why, after dealing with so many emmi sections why they are so annoying.

The other reason I'm struggling with the controls is due to the number of powers the game is already giving me. I keep pushing down+A to slide like any normal human being, but then I remember it's L2, which is right next to the free aim button. Ducking is a toggle, which is insane and the designers should be slapped for going against normal conventions, there. I never notice the stealth doors soon enough, so that's another annoyance to remember. So far, the stealth has been a pointless mechanic, since the emmi just runs into you anyway (unlike the cut scene) and the doors that are locked by the mechanic don't jump out at me until I try to enter and it denies me. Just so many annoyances that are stifling my enjoyment of what could be a really great game. I'm very happy I'm borrowing this from a friend, 'cause if I paid $60 for this game I would be royally pissed off LOL

First couple of EMMIs or so are fine...but now they're just...infuriating more than anything.

@BloodNinja

They’re precisely puzzles. Especially the later EMMI encounters. If you’re relying on reflex, you’re doing it wrong.

You need to pay attention to the mechanics. Maybe show a modicum of patience? You’re posting about it before you’ve even tried to understand it.

@MrDinosaur

I would say consensus disagrees with you on the subjective matter of how difficult - or not - it is.

I found it a challenging game; the flip side being a very rewarding game to complete. While initially, some controls were unintuitive, after spending time with the game I’ve adapted and find it a very precise, responsive game.

@BlueMonk I only reserve my patience for meaningful things, like training olympic weightlifting/martial arts or dealing with people. Video games are not deserving of patience; they are entertainment. If they fail to do that, they are failing at what they initially set out to do. I would be okay with it if there was an obvious tell for parrying the emmi, but it feels very random. Not sure what I'm missing, there. And I've never had parry problems. Metal Gear Revengeance had a great parry system. Souls series has a great parry system. Even bloodborne's parry was learnable for me. I don't think they have nailed the parry mechanic in this game, not one bit. And I still disagree about them being puzzles, since a puzzle has an obvious solution. These things are just there to obstruct progress with loading screens, to pad an otherwise short experience.

@BloodNinja

Well then, you’ll miss out on a lot in life, not just this master class in game design. This isn’t rocket science. Just take a deep breath and think.

@MrDinosaur The armor does have some nice design features. I like when Samus armor looks high tech, I think it was too animalistic.. which is intended based on the plot but I tend to prefer a cybernetic look. Ahh man you didn't like the subtle way the story was told in Super? I'm glad you're enjoying Metroid

Just fought a major boss, and...yeah...it's mainly the minibosses that are irritating me. The huge bosses are just attack patterns that you have to get used to and are kinda like puzzles when you think about it. But stuff like those stupid robot soldier things, I hate them...

I also fought another Chozo spear guy that was harder and actually killed me a couple of times, but at least it was infuriating like those robots. -.-

@Joeynator3000 Hmmm.. I hear ya on the Chozo Robot and Spear dudes. The best way I really got em at the end was to just stay fast, and use Ice Missles and Storm Missles only when you're for sure not gonna take damage. Also, liberal use of that Flash Shift.

@BloodNinja There's nothing "wrong" with the parrying system on this game... why is it that people have to blame the game instead of understanding that not every game will "feel good" fo everyone? It doesn't matter how universally praised it is, no game will click with everyone but it doesn't mean that it has faulty mechanics. Sometimes one has to say "hey this seems great for many, but it just doesn't seem to work for me". Sure, games sometimes do have flawed mechanics but when it really isn't a general opinion, chances are that it's more the person than the game.

Also... Saying that games shouldn't need patience makes no sense, specially when you are giving examples of games that are known for requiring patience. You have mentioned liking Speedrunnning and that requires a tremendous amount of patience, time and practice... Most games, hell, most activities require a certain amount of it.

It's ok for you to say "this isn't for me" and I'm not expecting only praise, but here you are finding trouble with cutscenes, stealth, too many powers and parrying despite of saying that you would be giving it a fair chance and I saw it from miles away... When a person wants to find fault, they will, simple as that.

@BlueMonk I’m not missing out on life if I skip a bad video game, please don’t die on that hill!

@roy130390 I think I’m clearly conveying myself, I don’t need an editor for my online posts LOL

This is my first ever Metroid game (beyond 5 minutes of dabbling with SM on the SNES app) and I am having an absolute blast! My game of the year so far for sure!

It’s actually impressive that Nintendo (albeit codeveloped) can put out a game that’s so satisfyingly challenging (the only comparable thing I can think of is some of the more difficult moons in Odyssey). Plus it managed to strike the perfect balance of not holding your hand and a constant vague sense of being lost, yet at the same time always being able to sort of work out what to do next.

@BongoBongo YES! Welcome to the Metroid fanbase! That's so true, there aren't actually many Nintendo games or franchises as of late that are on the more difficult side. Enjoy Dread man, and Super Metroid after if so inclined

@BloodNinja Your reply makes no sense and that person wasn't just referring to Dread (it was pretty clear) but hey, I've seen that sometimes you really aren't as accesible and open to dialogue as you pretend to me.