Nintendo Aware Of Crash Error "Near The End" Of Metroid Dread, Says It's Working On A Fix

At least it's not a game/data breaking glitch.

Maybe they can become aware that the game maybe too hard and work on a fix.

@sixrings At least they should tone down the emmi’s, those things are just there to waste player time.

Having fully customizable controls would be great, too!

A fix at the end of October?! You'd think this would be simple to address.

@BloodNinja they are my main gripe other then me thinking the control scheme is convoluted. Which shoulder button is it again? I feel like I’m at piano lessons and my teacher can’t understand why my brain isn’t getting all the notes on time.

I got 100% on normal mode (and start a second playthrough on hard mode) and for me it's flawless

Very glad to hear they're patching out that bug; I fell victim to it in my playthrough and ended up having to beat the final boss 3 times back-to-back before I was able to figure out how to avoid the issue.

@thekingofmoo I would imagine it will take longer because they are probably rolling out fixes for multiple issues all at once.

@sixrings EXACTLY MY PROBLEM. Plus I would have REALLY liked to have used the D-Pad instead of the stick for movement. 3D games are perfect with sticks, but 2D/2.5D platformers? Uh uh.

No problem. These things happen, good to see it being fixed

Won't be a problem for me since I don't use the map markers. Good on Nintendo for addressing it and promising a fix regardless.

@BloodNinja didn’t you say a few hours ago that you were glad you didn’t buy the game?

@BloodNinja
The counter attack QTE to not die nonsense should have never made it out of testing, the timing window to reflect a guardian laser in BOTW is worlds better and that game runs at half the frame rate. The majority of the difficulty in this game comes from enemies launching very low startup rushing attacks that the player has to read while dealing with their other other attacks which typically consist of projectile spam and even different low startup rushing attacks that aren’t counterable because “reasons”.

@BloodNinja Hugely disagree in regards to controlling Samus here with the stick. It's smooth and feels great in a way where you can tell all of her movement was very much designed with this in mind. It really isn't a problem.

@SalvorHardin I found the counter attack QTE really good. Sometimes I could do it three times consecutively and it felt so good everytime I pulled it off. And when I didn’t I just laughed at how close I was.
The EMMI areas aren’t even that big to get you frustrated because you didn’t accomplish the counter.
It’s a great system because it feels like you failed but there’s a slim chance of surviving, it’s not that punishing at all.

It would have been terribly frustrating just to instantly die because they touched/caught you

@fafonio You missed the part about me borrowing it from my friend for about two hours, then returning it to him. He wasn't too much into it, either, but decided to at least finish it since he paid for it. If you're gonna stalk my posts, at least do it accurately.

@Tailesque You are welcome to disagree, since I don't utilize your physical being to play. We will obviously have different outcomes.

@SalvorHardin Exactly my gripe. They made the timing window unnecessarily tight so that the player will die frequently. It's padding to justify a $60 game. Without it, people will complain that it's too short. These encounters are pretty much the worst thing to ever be utilized in a Metroid game. Be weary of the Metroid Dread Defense Force, btw! Hahaha...

@BloodNinja I'm... plenty aware that I'm welcome to disagree. That's why I went ahead and disagreed. Not sure why you bothered to respond like that but, okay.

@Tailesque Sorry, it's a defense mechanism I seem to have built up. Almost every time I voice something I dislike about MD, I get dozens of fanboys trying to drown out any criticism I have. It's tiring, and it makes me flinchy and want to end any conversation about the topic abruptly. Sorry if you had different intent, I just assume the worst is about to come my way whenever I talk about this game

@BloodNinja in regard to the control scheme, the d pad would not work because of the precision aiming mechanic. D pad wouldn't work as well.

As for the timing of those QTE situations, I don't feel they were that difficult or problematic. Difficulty reminded me of dark souls or the ninja garden collection. Sure, not all of have cat like reflexes or that much foresight or planning but when you get game over , at least the checkpoints are there so that you can get right back into it.

Aa for the bots, I enjoyed the cat and mouse game. Running around blindly as you mapped the corridors gave me that Ridley Scott alien trapped in a corner feeling. I get it if it's a waste of time because you're playing for the plot and want to push forward. Not a dig at you or anything like that. Different strokes for different folks.

I read about the timing thing with the E.M.M.I.s, and it's mainly because they REALLY don't want you to exploit stunning them. They make it a point to tell you that stunning them is a last resort, and they intentionally throw off the timing so you don't get too complacent and try stunning them as a strategy. Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but it works to emphasize that you need to run from these things instead of engage. Some of the later ones got annoying, but they do give you multiple routes to escape. Personally I enjoyed the thrill of running from those things; made it more satisfying when I got to blast them with the Omega Beams.

Just beat the game, theres also a bug where the final boss glitches out and does nothing and is also unkillable. Forced me to retry.

@xPH03N1Xx86: Ew, I'm sorry you ran into that. I felt that fight was a piece of work to begin with, but that kind of glitch is just plain cruel.

@Dethmunk Yeah I quite like the EMMIs as well. Although I loved Mr X in Resi 2 as well. The checkpoints massively reduce the tedium too.

@BloodNinja - "They made the timing window unnecessarily tight so that the player will die frequently. It's padding to justify a $60 game"
I had a reply typed out, but @Dethmunk and @UnseatingKDawg pretty much said what I wanted to say, so I'll simply refer to their comments.

Responding to the actual article, if the glitch only happens if map markers are used, then I guess I don't have much to worry about, as I've not really seen much use for them so far.

@MegaMari0 I dunno, I play Metal Gear Revengeance and all the Souls series all the time, and those parry mechanics were understandable as to the timing window for each attack. Those games are definitely looser in comparison. I understand about the precision aiming thing, but the compromise is that the main controls felt mushy to me, so I made a lot of errors in navigation. All in all, the game frustrated me more than it entertained me, so it failed to do what it was initially made for so I gladly returned it to the friend I borrowed it from. Disappointing for me, since I've played nearly every Metroid release and wanted to give Dread a good chance. If there are ever patches and a significant price drop I could see myself trying it again, down the line. For now, I'm happy with what I already have, and don't need a game that's just going to frustrate me.

Poor metroid goes on a 2d hiatus for nearly 20 years only to come back and have people complaining about it left and right. The game is flawless imo. Aside from the bug fix, they shouldn't do a thing with it.

@UnseatingKDawg Luckily for me I didnt find him as frustrating as some earlier bosses. Loved the game, but the boss fights were really tough, and getting all the items was kinda infuriating at some points. Whoever designed those speed block puzzles, I just want to talk.

Huh. Didn't know so many people had issues with this game. I think it's a really awesome game. Only gripe is that I don't really like the EMMI QTE timing window changing to artificially pad out the death count which is annoying but that's not too bad since if you continue, you're never too far off from where you died anyway. Unless you quit and then pick up later I guess.

@NintendoByNature

I literally just beat it (took just over 12 hours with around 85% items), and it is an awesome game. My gripes are these:

the emmi things go too far, by the final emmi I was just tired of them. The music, while atmospheric and haunting, was mostly forgettable. And while most bosses were fun, the recurring warrior fights were annoying. There wasn't much to differentiate them other than colors or that one with a shield you can grapple.

Other than that, the game was a blast. Even the most tedious sections left me feeling satisfied once I figured out the trick. Can't wait to dive into my second playthrough

@MegaMari0 @BloodNinja I would have also liked D-Pad controls in Dread. It's probably due to the fact that Joycons still dont have a D-Pad. Perhaps it is a misguided response to the complaints people made about Other M's use of D-Pad? I get the 360 aim uses a stick but there should be an option for D-Pad movement/walking. Options are good.

I’m a big fan of Metroid and metroidvanias and have really enjoyed what they’ve done with this game. MercurySteam really took it and added some new elements to it- which really adds to it. Granted- their post game credit policy is junk- but this is an industry wide issue that needs to be standardized.

Anyway, as an old I was able to show my kids that their old man still has it- and after 5 attempts at Kraid (I know, my response time is low) they seemed mildly impressed. As impressed as 13 year old sons will allow themselves to be.

Genuinely never found any use for the map markers since the games map is already so obsessed with being as detailed as it can.
I mean, it automatically records uncovered special blocks on its own...

Blut glad they're working on it

I don't understand the idea that parrying the EMMI attacks being harder makes it bad.

That's the whole point? It's not supposed to be something you can pull off with ease consistently. The first attack, you CAN consistently parry. It's hard as hell, but possible. The second attack in particular literally has random timing. You're given 2 slim chances to fight back, because at this point you've already been caught.

It's just like the "Last stand" feature in Punch-Out for Wii. It's a failure state. You normally lose. But, sometimes, you get an extra chance.

Calling it padding is just ridiculous. Like, what? You'd rather just die there 100%? Or did you not want the EMMIS to be a threat at all?

You're allowed to dislike a game but frankly when you say a core element like the EMMI, an element that is designed to pressure you into moving fast, into running from them - is "there to waste player time" you only reveal you're fishing for reasons to dislike a game.

@BloodNinja I have seen simple colour swaps on enemies as being away of padding out the diversity of enemies and game duration since the very first videogames. It's standard practice, so it cannot be denied, that games are padded out in this way. The EMMI are clearly the same model in different colours, with the occasional new ability. In my opinion, I liked the EMMI, and I was OK with their reuse in each zone. I would have liked to see more effort in making the later EMMI look different though. There were cool alternative concepts in the art book that were unused, which is a shame. Same goes for the central brain units, all the same, I was really hoping for one to have a body rise out of the ground-but no, just repetition. There were too many encounters with the same soldier or robot, which felt like dull padding too. As for $60, I don't think any game on Switch is worth that, beyond BOTW. I love Metroid and would pay anything to get another game. In terms of coding, dev time, scope of the game or the size of the team making the game, labor, it is clearly a smaller game than many open world AAA PS4 games. In terms of content, it is also smaller. It is fair to say, because it is a subjective opinion, that for many $60 was too much. Nintendo charged $60 for old ports, overcharging is what they do. So I am agreeing with you BloodNinja, on many things. BUT I do enjoy Metroid Dread, I like the game and rate it at about 90% I also paid about $35 for it at retail, which I think was worth it. It is not a perfect game but I am so happy to play a follow up to my favorite franchise and I think Mercurysteam did quite a good job. Not absolutely perfect, but very very good. Dread is the most fun I have had out of my Switch since BOTW, which is quite a few years ago now.

100% the game on normal the other day at 15 hours 23mins with no issues. I didnt know these bugs existed. Personally i can kinda get behind the EMMI being a tad frustrating. The blue one being the worst. I did die quite a bit but it didnt take long to learn what to do and where to go to avoid detection. It would have been alot worse if you were put back to a save room after every encounter. You never need to be in an EMMI room for more than a couple of minutes. The EMMI counter wasnt really an issue for me either. Sometimes i would nail 2 counters in a row, sometimes none. Sometimes frustrating but they arnt supposed to be easy. They are supposed to be absolute killing machines that you have little to no hope of survival against and i dont see that as cheap or padding and had a great sence of achievement once i took one down and could freely explore. Boss wise i found the 2 guardians together the hardest part of the game by far. Having to avoid 2 enemy attack at the same time did see me die a good few times but the lack of having to retread old ground upon dying helped alot. Id like to see a boss rush mode introduced to freely battle some of the better ones and hone my skills. After reloading my save i can now beat the final boss taking 0 damage. Overall as its the 2nd Metroid ive ever completed (zero missions back in the day being the first) and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

@Tailesque @bloodninja
I must say here, one of the first things I did when the game started was see if I can control using the d-pad. I agree 100% that analog stick control is not ideal for side-scrollers, HOWEVER!!!!! Samus Returns, Metroid Dread, and Shadow Complex are the ONLY side scrollers I’ve ever played where I felt the analog stick benefited over the d pad.
So I must say: even if d-pad was an option, I personally still would not use it. Analog stick all the way for Dread!

@PortuGuy Don't you worry about 5 being too much. Took me 10 at least! It got easy once I figured out I could break the claws though.

It's always interesting when Nintendo has to write down instructions to avoid bugs in their stuff, this one's my favorite: https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/memorycard1019.jsp because it's really all on Nintendo for providing specs that would not be honored in the future.

Good thing I'm taking my sweet time with this game, not rushing it AT ALL. Hopefully, they'll get this fixed before I have to get to that particular part.

ALso, EMMI encounters are the best part of the game. PERIOD.

@PortuGuy as i said above, id love to see a boss rush mode. I enjoyed facing Kraid and like you i died a bit. Would be awsome to be able to replay bosses as you like. The only one ive fought multiple times is the end boss due to the game saving just before the battle. I can now beat him untouched which is kinda cool. Id like to be able to do the same with the others.

@SalvorHardin
I haven't played the game yet, but if you talk about the E.M.M.I. counter attack, I am pretty sure, you're not supposed to counter it easily (if at all). Of what I heard and saw, it's more or less luck if you counter an E.M.M.I. attack.

People who say Metroid Dread is bad are like the ‘flat earth’ brigade. They don’t really believe what they’re saying, they just want to be part of something different. It’s basically adult attention seeking.

Is this marker on the map there from the beginning or do I have to put it there by myself?

@HamatoYoshi I agree. It’s pretty pathetic to go to EVERY SINGLE Metroid article to complain about the game and tell us how much you hate it. We all know which user keeps posting and posting like he’s throwing a tantrum.

@fafonio yes, the particular user in question often posts a deliberately negative view on many topics just to get a response. It’s all a bit silly and to be blunt, embarrassing. I can only assume they are very immature.

Good thing markers were pretty much useless to me due to how linear this game was. (which is not a bad thing)

@Quarth it will me something you have to manually add to the map. I added a few map markers in my time spent with the game but obvioustly not the one mentioned in the post. I had 0 issues in my 15 hour play through.

@themightyant just remove the marker and carry on as normal. It doesnt cripple the game or affect the save. Unfortunately for people who havnt readcthis they wont know the marker is whats triggering the crash.

@sixrings Baby Metroid mode, an Easy mode where the Baby Metroid from Samus Returns holds the players hand by defeating enemies for them. XD

@Kidfunkadelic83 Thanks! Good to hear. I haven't used any markers at all, I think the map explains things on its own.

Just beat the what I believe was the seventh boss (it's hard to tell, as some bosses more feel like mini bosses, and I'm not counting the E.M.M.I.'s).

I’m stuck with very low life without having the possibility to get any life, i die instantly at first enemy. This sound like a big bug, if they autosaved in a place where i can’t move forward.

It’s right after i switched the lights in dairon, the game auto saved with only 20 at life.

Also, i couldn’t get more things from previous ‘worlds’ because in cataris, after i found how to move to dairon, the game blocked my access to cataris, and the only way was to move to dairon. Why is the game so restrictive?

@Tailesque it would be nice to have the d-pad for some of the shine spark puzzles. Hitting the down on the stick needs to be more exact. Otherwise I agree with you.

@clianvXAi I think if you hit the - you can go into system and revert to a prior save.

I didn't have any issues with the game crashing, so if anyone's on the fence about trying to beat it then I hope that helps.

As a side note, I noticed some people complaining about the difficulty. I don't consider myself a 'hardcore' or 'pro' gamer, but the game wasn't 'that' difficult. It had its moments where I had to stop, and think about what I was doing (and why), but overall the experience was enjoyable.

So if you haven't played it and are worried about the difficulty--it's fine. It also helps if you take a small break when you're stuck on anything, and reengage with fresh eyes.

@sixrings the game is perfect, the difficulty is only present in the bosses, but you die and try again... and then you learn.

@Classic603 yea for sure. I can understand those issues. The emmis can be a little frustrating. The mini boss fights can be tough as well. But overall, it's a rock solid experience from start to finish.

I also started the game trying to use the dpad for movement and groaned when I couldn’t. Within an hour I was all aboard the analogue stick and never looking back.

I’m not sure if the emmi were really necessary for the game. That’s probably the worst thing I can say about them, I don’t know what they added. Before I could kill them I sprinted through their zones, once I could kill them I, ya know, killed them. I wasn’t into the pulsing light and film grain in their areas.

Boss fights could go on a bit but were fun overall. I never had much trouble with them, but I’m not sure I could handle the bullet sponginess on hard mode.

Playing as Samus fully powered up, with such smooth action is joyous. I’ll replay it a few times this month before going to something else.

My main complaint is the BONKBONKBONK whenever I was in ball mode.

This is giving me flashbacks to the other m game breaking bug

@BloodNinja You'd be shooting yourself in the foot, so to speak, to use 8-direction controls for aiming in this game. You really need the stick for shooting at angles between the 45s. I do agree that we should be able to customize the rest of the controls, though. I'd love for L and ZL to be swapped and same for R and ZR, as aiming and missile mode are used way more than slide and (spoiler ability). Triggers are more comfortable to hold down than bumpers.

Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that this game is flawless. The difficulty here reminds me of oldschool NES/SNES games before everything got so damn easy. (Regenerative health?)

Haven't had sore thumbs from spamming the shoot and aim buttons in a long time, and it feels good.

The EMMI's remind me of ALien Isolation - you really have to get good at stealth, and if you die - you start right over pretty much 1 minute from where you died, and you get to learn from your mistakes. It's not annoying really unless you have absolutely no patience.

I think a lot of the frustration with this game may be the younger generation being faced with a game that feels very retro in its difficulty, albeit with modern QOL improvements.

Well... I gotta say, I got pretty good at beating the final boss before finding the hot fix for this glitch online 😬

Ok I finished the game yesterday and despite some boss frustrations which made me nearly break my switch lite I did enjoy. Went for 100 percent and gave up, a lot of those speed booster shine park whatever are far too annoying and fiddly and gave up. Even thinking about one I couldn’t do now is frustrating me. I do like some hard games but for me I’m out xxx back to harmony or aria xxxx

I didn't use markers at all so no chance for error screen. I'm so glad this game doesn't underestimate players skills. Check points are plentiful and the game pushes you to do better.

@clianvXAi
The game only restricts your movement in certain places. You visit previous areas a lot and there would be an overwhelming amount of places you could go to when progressing in the story. Of course you can gather a lot of optional upgrades along the way and the game really opens up once you have all the abilities.

@BloodNinja

"Without it, people will complain that it's too short."

I still beat the game in just over 12 hours, and that doesn't count my many, many attempts at avoiding and fighting the E.M.M.I.s.

Everyone has a different view on value, but that was definitely worth the price of admission, and I am very excited to start another playthrough. It may not be a 120 hour rpg, but I had a ton of fun

@Angelic_Lapras_King That is actually a clever idea for an easy mode! Maybe it can distract the E.M.M.I. for a few seconds as well? Too bad that particular Metroid is no longer with us... Story wise it wouldn't make much sense to bring baby Metroid back.

@Rayla It's an Easy mode, doesn't have to make sense. Like why would Bowser leave all those Easy Mode Blocks that make Mario invincible in Mario games for example.

Maybe the ghost of the Baby Metroid then. XD

2. Once the October 2021 software update is available, update the game.
Other words I won't break the game seal and update until that date passes.

@BloodNinja

Please don't take this as a personal attack, because it isn't meant to be.

I think you should give the game more than 2 hours. It took me awhile to get a hand on the controls, probably 5 hours at least before I was comfortable. I can break out of the E.M.M.I.'s attack occasionally, but I normally just try to avoid them with the Phantom Cloak. Hope you get another chance to play at some point. Cheers!

@LinktotheFuture I read your intent loud and clear, thanks for the heads up! I would have tried longer but it belonged to a friend. I supposed I could ask him again but he seems hell-bent on beating it. If there are some patches to the game to add custom controls I might try it again, because it DID do a lot of things that I did like.

@Classic603 As a huge Metroid fan, I’m super bummed that I didn’t have fun when I tried it! Glad you enjoyed it though!

@BloodNinja Custom controls would be nice. Maybe your friend will let you borrow it again after he beats it.

@SalvorHardin The EMMI counter is only a last ditch move so that you don't die every single time you get caught. It's supposed to be extremely difficult to pull off (and with variable timing, to boot). You're supposed to focus on not getting caught in the first place, and that stealth gameplay would become mostly pointless if you could just use the counter reliably. You should be glad that they provided a counter opportunity at all.

As for the normal counter attack, if it's similar to how it works in "Samus Returns," then it should be just fine. It makes no sense to be able to counter projectiles in the first place, and when you do get the opportunity to counter, the timing window is perfectly adequate. Dealing with multiple enemy types simultaneously is just part of a normal difficulty curve as the game goes on. Just dodge and shoot properly while keeping an eye on a good time to occasionally counter, and the combat should still be significantly easier than a standard Mega Man game. Once again, be glad you have the counter ability at all, as it's even harder to play through the basic combat (other than the EMMI zones) in the original game / "Zero Mission," "Super," and "Fusion" without such a move in your arsenal.

Now the whole idea of the EMMIs overall, that's where I'll agree that the game is too difficult and frustrating. Really, why would I ever want stupid stealth sections with mostly unbeatable enemies in a "Metroid" game in the first place?! It sucked in "Fusion," and it's several times worse in "Dread."

@BloodNinja @sixrings @Bret You do recall that you can customize controls in the Switch menu, don't you? It won't allow you to play with the D-Pad (although, there is a reason for that with the free aim mechanic), but at least you can fix the issues you have with the shoulder buttons and the like.

@BulbasaurusRex Unfortunately, I did not recall that during my time with the game LOL

@LinktotheFuture I might be able to even buy it off him, since he is a "play once and move on," type of guy. I prefer replaying, personally, but to each their own.

I was at the ending sequence and the game crashed, now I have to fight Raven beak again. Why