Metroid Dread (Switch)

Tell us about games you are currently playing. "Quick hit" reviews.
User avatar
Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Matchstick » November 28th, 2021, 1:57 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Is there even a health meter in this game?

To be fair, bosses in the 2D Metroid games have never had health bars. They may change colors or change shape as they take damage, but they have never had a typical health meter. That didn’t come along until the Prime games.

(Still, that didn’t stop you from giving several past 2D Metroid titles an A :P )

User avatar
MSR1701
Posts: 1509
Joined: April 29th, 2019, 7:53 am

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby MSR1701 » November 28th, 2021, 2:02 pm

Matchstick wrote:
VideoGameCritic wrote:Is there even a health meter in this game?

To be fair, bosses in the 2D Metroid games have never had health bars. They may change colors or change shape as they take damage, but they have never had a typical health meter. That didn’t come along until the Prime games.

(Still, that didn’t stop you from giving several past 2D Metroid titles an A :P )

Though the color changes in Super Metroid/Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission were able to be registered as you fought. Against Dread Kraid, only Cutscenes were noticable indications that I was inflicting enough damage.

Amusingly, for as much as I played Metroid II, it was a LONG time until I learned that firing missiles into the back of Omegas did significantly more damage than the front.

User avatar
Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Matchstick » November 28th, 2021, 3:02 pm

NES Kraid showed absolutely no signs of damage as you fought him. There was audio feedback (you got the little "RAWR" noise every time one of your shots connected) but that was it.

Maybe Dread's Kraid fight is meant as some sort of homage? (Probably not...)

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby VideoGameCritic » December 5th, 2021, 7:24 pm

Still going. Probably around halfway through.

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Voor » December 5th, 2021, 10:54 pm

Enjoying it any more?

VicViper
Posts: 124
Joined: October 22nd, 2015, 2:36 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby VicViper » December 6th, 2021, 5:47 am

In terms of difficulty, it's a logical step up from both Fusion and Samus Returns without being too much.

In Fusion, the enemies were already hitting rather hard, and here not only they still do, but a bunch of them are rather agile and react fast.

The controls can be rather overwhelming (almost every button is as vital as the other), but every time I died, it always felt like it was my fault (although some of the EMMIs are annoying). There's a lot of control you have over Samus' movement and aiming, so it's never unfair.

If we were given Super Metroid, Metroid 1, or Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon types of controls in Metroid Dread however, we'd get massively screwed. Hell, even Super Metroid & Circle Of The Moon controls within their own games were occasionally very annoying.

That said, Hard Mode's damage values are absolutely bonkers. Even those seemingly harmless droids in EMMI rooms that just fly around deal about 40-50 damage to my recollection, and the spear armored Chozo mini-boss when the first area is frozen dealt at least 255 damage to me when I entered in contact with his body (not his spear, his body). I say "at least", because I had 255 HPs when it happened and died from it. >.>

User avatar
MSR1701
Posts: 1509
Joined: April 29th, 2019, 7:53 am

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby MSR1701 » December 15th, 2021, 8:42 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Still going. Probably around halfway through.


How goes the run?

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Voor » October 22nd, 2023, 8:13 pm

About to FINALLY pick this up. Glad there’s an easy mode lol.

Herschie
Posts: 1183
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:44 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Herschie » October 22nd, 2023, 8:25 pm

I wanna give this game another whirl. Maybe once the baby goes to sleep.

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Metroid Dread (Switch)

Postby Voor » October 26th, 2023, 7:29 am

Waited to post my first impressions until after the first boss:

—love it, it’s great!
—control is amazing, maybe the best I’ve ever played. SUPER responsive, reminds me of mega man 2 on NES, with the degree of responsiveness. I was worried it would be too many buttons for me, but so far that hasn’t been a problem.
—Metroid I’d all about atmosphere, and I think Dread does a great job of it, exploring the world while feeling isolated is a blast.
—but…..I would say the EMMI areas are the least fun part by far. While it’s incredibly effective at raising the tension, it’s very difficult (for me) to figure out where to go and what to do while constantly being on the lookout for them. I almost feel like they’re too aggressive and smart for this.
—the whole mechanic of killing them while in 3D mode is interesting for sure, but an awkward shift.
—speaking of awkward, the QTE with the first boss really threw me off….makes me worried that I’m going to miss cues that trigger them, since prior to that, it’s just a traditional boss fight. Another thing you have to unexpectedly be looking for.
—map system is really good. I’m checking it almost every 30-60 seconds. I like that it’s very snappy to go back and forth. Very minor detail, but those things matter. The game does a lot of “you can’t go through this door until you get X”, and the map is good at showing you those doors.
—while the music doesn’t have super strong themes, I really like it. Kind of brooding with a sense of urgency at the same time.
—thank goodness there’s a rookie mode.
—i imagine that it’s a game I’ll end up speedrunning, but possibly exclusively in rookie mode. The control is soooo satisfying, I can see myself replaying it and enjoying learning the route by memory.


Return to “Now Playing”