I do have the snes mini so maybe i need to fire it up one day
Metroid dread reviews are coming in at 6 a.m. Pacific time, let us have a thread about the game.
- Thread starter Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)
- Start date
Raven Beak stealing Adams Twitter account to brag about his 6 pack is my new favorite bit of Metroid lore
You can also play it on the switch if do you have an online subscription just in case anyone here didn't know
Uh oh.
kotaku.com
Metroid Dread Developers Criticize Studio For Not Crediting Them
MercurySteam reportedly failed to credit everyone who worked on Metroid Dread
kotaku.com
Okay then. I am going to assume you just saw review of the game for the first time. No worries. Enjoy whenever you get the game.
You know, I'm having a great time but I'm just not feeling the Dread.
Like, the environments are too lush and populated, people just can't wait to talk to you, the EMMI are beepy and boppy, the EMMI zones are clearly delineated, every goddamned thing is extensively choreographed and tutorialized (except the weirder shinespark tech)
The EMMI and the X-Parasites would probably be much scarier in a different environment, but I'm just not feeling it. Feeling more excitement and anticipation. Still a good capstone adventure thus far, but the title doesn't fit for me.
Like, the environments are too lush and populated, people just can't wait to talk to you, the EMMI are beepy and boppy, the EMMI zones are clearly delineated, every goddamned thing is extensively choreographed and tutorialized (except the weirder shinespark tech)
The EMMI and the X-Parasites would probably be much scarier in a different environment, but I'm just not feeling it. Feeling more excitement and anticipation. Still a good capstone adventure thus far, but the title doesn't fit for me.
Okay, regarding the whole appearance and Zero Suit thing...what about
Samus looks...like a completely normal human in hella armour there. Swap out the Varia Suit and that appearance/render would fit just fine in Resident Evil 4 or whatever. It all just starts going downhill with the gratuitiously unneccessary cheesecake shot in the Prime 2 100% ending (also jesus fuck, uncanny valley much?).
The biggest thing that annoys me with the Zero Suit look is how much it goes towards the stylized anime look. Like, the Super Metroid cutaway image there is a pretty good match for what you see in the 100% completion ending for the original Metroid Prime:
Samus looks...like a completely normal human in hella armour there. Swap out the Varia Suit and that appearance/render would fit just fine in Resident Evil 4 or whatever. It all just starts going downhill with the gratuitiously unneccessary cheesecake shot in the Prime 2 100% ending (also jesus fuck, uncanny valley much?).
So it's kind of crazy how there are tricks for multiple bosses where you can either bypass entire phases of the fight or just instant kill them.
The amount of possible ways to solve puzzles is also mind boggling. I could spend hours just experimenting with the different tricks you can use.
The amount of possible ways to solve puzzles is also mind boggling. I could spend hours just experimenting with the different tricks you can use.
Enjoying the game more as I've gotten further, but the map is messy, the EMMIs suck to interact with in every way, and those load times... yeeesh.
The score is pretty wicked though, and I can't say I didn't feel a significant tickle when Samus got her anti-heat suit.
The score is pretty wicked though, and I can't say I didn't feel a significant tickle when Samus got her anti-heat suit.
Yeh. It's not even been a week and people have already found so many little tricks and time savers. Speedrunner are having a field day.
The useless twit, David Jaffe, hates Dread, because he sucks at playing.
The second half about Dread starts around the 5 minute mark.
On the one hand, it's very important to recognize that a lot of people don't have the ingrained Metroid habit of "I don't know where to go, time to plaster the walls with missiles"
On the other hand, that's a game feature, not a flaw.
On the other hand, that's a game feature, not a flaw.
It's interesting because there was a video the other day pointing out this was an issue with the earlier games too...and I can see how irritating that is to just randomly blow up walls to advance.
Revisiting the Original Metroid from a Modern Perspective
Behind Schedule: Jesse Galena gives his retro review take on Nintendo's original Metroid 1 on NES, approaching it from a modern perspective.
www.escapistmagazine.com
Chalk me up for thinking 'just shoot the walls' is bad game design, because it's bad game design.
Not only are there no indications of any kind that one wall is shootable and another isn't, it can often get masked by making it look indistinguishable from obstacles that require an ability you don't have yet. Like, when I saw that nooks slightly raised from the ground were impassable to me due to not having the morph ball ability yet (which makes no sense by the way, since Samus can slide but apparently can't just as easily dive), I didn't blink twice when reaching a bunch of similar nooks in the second map and turning the other way, figuring it was a place for later. Except somehow I was supposed to understand that these completely indentical nooks were different and required shooting. How did I discover this? By looking it up, since the game is terrible it telegraphing this.
The worst part about it is that once you miss some of these walls the areas that hide them will likely completely leave your memory as you try other places. And the map is such a mess and so inept at guiding your attention to progress that it feels like you're getting yourself more and more lost in a maze with no way out. It also makes you not trust the game at all, making you unsure of your abilities and when to use them. I mean, I'm seeing a pink squiggly which usually means I can shoot out a portion of the level, but this squiggly is nestled a little deeper; do I shoot a rocket at it, a charge shot, do I shoot some secret destructable part of the wall in another section to reach it, do I have to wait for a new ability, will I even remember where this thing is once I do, is this progress or just a shortcut?
This whole shooting the walls aspect adds nothing, because it's completely random and it doesn't test you skill or senses in anyway. It's just and arbitrary and frustrating means of stiffling progress.
Not only are there no indications of any kind that one wall is shootable and another isn't, it can often get masked by making it look indistinguishable from obstacles that require an ability you don't have yet. Like, when I saw that nooks slightly raised from the ground were impassable to me due to not having the morph ball ability yet (which makes no sense by the way, since Samus can slide but apparently can't just as easily dive), I didn't blink twice when reaching a bunch of similar nooks in the second map and turning the other way, figuring it was a place for later. Except somehow I was supposed to understand that these completely indentical nooks were different and required shooting. How did I discover this? By looking it up, since the game is terrible it telegraphing this.
The worst part about it is that once you miss some of these walls the areas that hide them will likely completely leave your memory as you try other places. And the map is such a mess and so inept at guiding your attention to progress that it feels like you're getting yourself more and more lost in a maze with no way out. It also makes you not trust the game at all, making you unsure of your abilities and when to use them. I mean, I'm seeing a pink squiggly which usually means I can shoot out a portion of the level, but this squiggly is nestled a little deeper; do I shoot a rocket at it, a charge shot, do I shoot some secret destructable part of the wall in another section to reach it, do I have to wait for a new ability, will I even remember where this thing is once I do, is this progress or just a shortcut?
This whole shooting the walls aspect adds nothing, because it's completely random and it doesn't test you skill or senses in anyway. It's just and arbitrary and frustrating means of stiffling progress.
Except there are a lot more similar level lay-outs with enemies on the otherside of walls or ceilings that you CAN'T shoot out. So how is this Jaffe being bad at videogames, since the videogame hasn't bothered to train the player's eye in any consistent way? The video shows some "obvious" difference at 0:57, but seriously what the hell am I supposed to spot (besides the hole and the white-dotted squire that only appears after you've shot the ceiling)?
It's completely random, invisible bullshit.
If you play enough of these games you sort of develop a sense for suspicious dead ends and possible breakable walls, but it's not foolproof either, so I get where you're coming from. While it doesn't fully solve the problem, a general good tip is that when in doubt, use a bomb or rocket. It'll either break the blocks if there are any, or it'll at least reveal what ability you need to break them, including permanently marking it on your map.