Topic: Metroid Dread

@MrDinosaur Given around 5 energy tanks were tied to shinesparking and I beat the final boss at 100% items with less than 1 energy tank remaining, it kind of was.

It's probably my Game of the Year. I beat it 100 % and am now speeding through the game on a new file. Crushing bosses that took me multiple attempts on my first run is definitely satisfying. I don't mind the shinesparking all that much, once you look up a possible solution it's usually easy to replicate that solution yourself. I'd say the bigger issue with the shinsparking is that a lot of the stuff involving it is not properly explained by the game. Like how you can bounce off walls while retaining the spark or being able to store the spark during a spark to create a chain.
It took me multiple tries to beat the final boss but after my successful clear I'm pretty sure I was almost full health. Having additional energy as a safety net is nice but definitely not a must.

@Grumblevolcano This was probably the biggest difference I noticed with past 2D Metroids. In the past, I never really found myself scrambling for health in past boss encounters. If you picked up a for number of health tanks for that point in the game you usually could take quite a beating and still have enough health to learn attack patterns and counterattack. In this game, by the time you figured it out you barely had any health left and a single screw up or change in attack patterns and it was game over. I mean that single triple slash by Raven Beak once took off nearly 3 energy tanks.

@Grumblevolcano @FX102A Ugh, it's pattern recognition. All those attacks are easily avoidable and with each repetition you learn how to avoid them with more and more confidence. Pretty much all attacks by RB are very visibly telegraphed and people on youtube are already beating the guy with the default one energy tank and no damage taken. I'm pretty sure on your next try you would end with 4 energy tanks left and on the try after that he would hardly harm you.

I found the difficulty very refreshing as nearly every boss killed me at least once (usually more) and many encounters were very clutch. Now I'm playing on hard difficulty and I only die to poor decision-making in EMMI areas, because for everything else (including bosses) I just know the patterns. I agree the triple slash is super punishing tho. Also I don't carry the nostalgia with me. I played only SM before Dread release and it is... fine, so no comparison with The Good Old Times™

@MS7000 I guess that makes sense...? Tbh I am probably not that invested in the game to try to unravel it

Re: the whole closed off vs backtracking debate, the difference is this:

In Fusion, you were constantly railroaded, with backtracking and exploration options rarely available

Dread limits it's railroading to when you get close enough to a certain power-up, to keep people from getting lost and giving up. After the first area, you basically always have the option to either fully backtrack or press forward and start the next semi-linear section after every major power-up. But if you sequence break at all... Well, the railroads pretty much all fall apart and you can explore freely.

Is it more railroady than Super? Oh definitely. But its far easier for new players, while still offering huge amounts of flexibility on replays.

EDIT: Also worth mentioning? A good chunk of the 'railroading' in this game has ways around it if you investigate closely. Hidden tunnels that let you back past one way block, long ways around dropped rocks, etc. It's designed more as a strong suggestion then a total force.

I love the fluidity and speed of the controls. Up until Fusion (which added ledge climbing at least) Samus felt a little bit like a robocop in a mech suit. Now, with a sleak slide, a counter that makes meatballs out of enemies (and bosses), an easy walljump, twinstick aim + Grapple Hook, Flash Shift, Speed Booster combos + Shinespark, Samus is now a real space ninja.
Even though the world is much bigger than in previous mainline games, Samus speed and skills make it so that the game feels short. The well-designed interconnections and hidden shortcuts open up little by little, and only small and relatively unimportant portions are temporarily closed behind you (that is if you don't sequence break), and in the endgame you can even teleport to every teleporter to quickly collect missing items using the best map ever.

I completed Metroid Dread 100%, opened up every space on the map in 15h15m in my first playthrough.
I think it's up there with the best Metroid games. The gameplay is amazing. And so is the soundtrack.
But the intro sequence was not on par with stuff like the cinematic CGI in Other M. The drawn stills in Dread made the intro almost feel indie!

The only other nitpick I have is the Shinespark. In some circumstances this thing wouldn't work properly for me. I think I miss something?! I managed to get 100% items, but the Shinespark sections were my biggest time sink and that's sadly keeping me from doing a 100% speedrun. Any strategies about using Shinespark efficiently/instantly is welcome.

Now I'm about halfway through Hard Mode at 2h45m. It feels much easier than the first time on normal mode. Such a neat learning curve.

@Bolt_Strike It seems to me you missed most of the sequence breaks, as most people shouldn't find them in their first playthrough. The game is designed around it. Sequence breaks are just not as obvious and often need some real thinking and strategic use of skills. @JaxonH listed a few that you seem to dismiss and I'm sure there are more.
People might not yet have found ways to break the game like Metroid and Super Metroid, but Dread's closer to them than the extremely linear Fusion.

@SKTTR
GameXplain also noted the save file doesn't record time spent viewing the map (which is a LOT of time in a Metroid game), time spent in the menu, or even time spent between your last save room and death. It just discards that entire segment and reverts back to tracking your time as of reaching the save room. So it's probably about 33% longer than recorded, per the data they provided.

I do wish they'd offered more than stills for the intro but it seems to be just a quick catch me up, so I get it. The cutscenes are so gorgeous though it really makes you crave them.

BTW, you mentioned twin stick aim. Is the right analog used in some cases? I've just been using the left analog as I'm much better with it. But, asking out of curiosity.

@JaxonH Sorry, I need to reword that bit.
I meant free aim. It almost feels like twin stick controls, since the L button is now so ingrained in my brain. The instant switch between being locked in place and running around while having free aim, brings it very close to a twinstick shooter feel. It's neat it has found a beneficial middle way.

And yeah, I noticed that. Minus approx. 50 deaths and the hour I spent on the map I got only 15 hours on my timer, but the real time spent with the game is probably 5 hours longer.

@SKTTR
Ah, gotchya. I've also got that L ingrained in my brain. Being one with the controller is a must for any Metroid game.

I really love Ori and respect Hollow Knight, but I would take Dread any day. I spent a lot of time examining the backgrounds and environment, and the details are really striking.

And I forgot*: Gaucamelee. I really enjoyed those games too and they deserve mention in this pantheon.

I think Dread stands tall above those others, though. It’s a great genre and the Indy spins on it have been welcome; they kept it alive.

I whole heartedly agree with all of this. Guacamelee is rarely in the 'best of' metroidvania conversation. I know NL has covered it and it reviewed well, but as soon as you mention indies and the genre, people immediately point to HK and ori. Guac needs to be up there with those mentions.

But yea, dread may be the best of the best, at least for me. I did like bloodstained though, as well.

@BlueMonk
For sure. Ori especially. Hollow Knight is good, but it's very clearly a small budget indie. Ori actually looks closer to a AAA 2D title, and imo is a game worth owning an Xbox for if you don't have PC (or at least, it was, before it came to Switch- now its a game worth owning a Switch for). But Dread definitely stands tall above them all. Not just in production values with full 3D rendering and seemless in-game cutscenes panning in from your standard 2D view, but also in design. It takes a lot of talent to make this many areas so closely interconnected and intertwined, with sequence breaks available to the player if their exploration and mechanical skill is up to scratch.

I've hated waiting so long for a new Metroid, but at the same time, necessity is the mother of invention. And Metroid's absence necessitated indies stepping up their game and filling that void, and perfecting the approach over the years. So now, not only is the queen back on her throne, we also have amazing games like Ori and the Blind Forest, and Ori Will of the Wisps. We're eatin' fat, pudging up like Hansel and Gretel.

@Grumblevolcano Is this your first 2D Metroid (or at least the first one that has the Speed Booster)? It's pretty typical to have a bunch of Shinespark puzzles to get all of the expansions. Honestly I've seen worse Shinespark puzzles in other games. If you don't like these, don't bother touching Fusion or Zero Mission, they go completely off the deep end with Shinespark puzzles.

@MrDinosaur Your spoiler tags aren't working.

@MS7000 Wouldn't it make more sense for QR-X to not help her and just let her die on ZDR? If Samus survives, she can still hunt any further X-parasites that might happen to be elsewhere. Sure she's less of a threat if she's not an uncontrollable Metroid, but she's not a threat at all if she's dead.

@Bolt_Strike That would make more sense, but as far as I can recall, the X can access memories, abilities and DNA of the infected host, but ultimately in terms of higher brain function, they have nothing beyond the will to survive. I doubt it occurred to them that the planet was exploding, hence being a good way to kill Samus.

Did you know
The story arc is all about Samus eliminating all Metroids and being infused with Metroid DNA just so when folk refer to her as 'Metroid' they are technically correct and the game's title makes sense!

@MS7000

Still doesn't explain y cAn't MetRoID CRaWl

@Tendo64 lol