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| author | Christine Dodrill <me@christine.website> | 2021-10-10 14:50:35 -0400 |
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| committer | Christine Dodrill <me@christine.website> | 2021-10-10 14:50:35 -0400 |
| commit | edce90cfa404477b7560a2b39fd8176915286c3d (patch) | |
| tree | 54ef379fb83b36742782c7a59d7d4dc1a92ff25d | |
| parent | 9f45d3026ce34305822013d5fec904d54b8c419d (diff) | |
| download | xesite-edce90cfa404477b7560a2b39fd8176915286c3d.tar.xz xesite-edce90cfa404477b7560a2b39fd8176915286c3d.zip | |
dread
Signed-off-by: Christine Dodrill <me@christine.website>
| -rw-r--r-- | blog/metroid-dread-review-2021-10-10.markdown | 146 |
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diff --git a/blog/metroid-dread-review-2021-10-10.markdown b/blog/metroid-dread-review-2021-10-10.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e8d018 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/metroid-dread-review-2021-10-10.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,146 @@ +--- +title: "Metroid Dread: A Study on Perfection" +date: 2021-10-10 +series: reviews +tags: + - metroid +--- + +[I'm gonna try to avoid spoilers in this article, however I realize that some +people may consider something a spoiler that other people will not. For the +things I'm not sure about, I'm gonna put them in little drop-down things that +look like this: <br /><br /><details><summary>Spoliers here, click to +expand</summary><br />These are some words that I'm just making up to fill space +so you can see what the `<details>` tag looks +like.</details><br />TL;DR though: 10/10 must-play Switch +game. All the screenshots in this article were taken from the beginning of the +game (Artaria and Cataris)](conversation://Cadey/enby) + +This blog is normally about technology, so of course you'd expect me to start +writing about video games that I enjoy. This game hit me a bit different. +Metroid Dread is a name that has been up there with Half-Life 3 and Starcraft +Ghost in the genre of mythical games that have been rumored about for years but +we've heard next to no updates about in a long time. I had given up on the idea +of seeing it happen. I thought that the Metroid series was dead. + + + +Metroid games have always been commercial flops as far as the numbers go. The +games have never really been advertised that well and usually show up on +consoles at the end of their lifespans. However at the same time, those games +end up _defining_ a standard for gamefeel and adventure platforming that have +made a resounding impact on the industry as a whole. Metroid is half of the +reason why the genre is called Metroidvania, and a lot of it has to do with how +it carefully guides the player through the game. Metroid Dread is a masters +level class in how to show the player how to do things without explicitly +telling them how to do them. + + + +This game is dripping with color, detail and brilliance in every room. Samus is +fluid and deadlier than ever. Movement flows from one jump into the next. The +game targets 60 FPS and it consistently hits it at nearly all times. The enemies +will hit you and it will be your fault for not getting out of the way. + +[The following is technically a spoiler, however it's probably better that you +have this information if you get stuck at the entrance to Cataris. Hopefully you +won't get stuck there for 2 hours.](conversation://Cadey/coffee) + +<details> + <summary>Cataris entrance assistance</summary> + + Throughout my 16 hour playthrough, I only ran into one part that you could + really consider "bad". After I got to the entrance to Cataris, I got stuck and + had to run around the small slice of the world I could access for a long time + until I realized you just had to shoot to the left of the elevator. They really + should have made at least one of those blocks obviously breakable. + + + + + + There is a subtle camera movement to telegraph it, but I feel that it's not + obvious enough. That may have been the point though. +</details> + +The EMMI are legitimately scary enemies to "fight". They will hunt you down. +Each EMMI has its own gimmick related to the power you get. + +["fight" may be the wrong word here, it's less of a fight and more of a "run +away and hide" simulator, however yeah I guess technically it's a fight because +you _do_ have a 10 frame window or whatever to escape from the EMMI's grasp. It +feels awesome when you land that hit.](conversation://Cadey/enby) + + + +<details> + <summary>EMMI related spoilers</summary> + + Morph ball is usually one of the first powerups you get in a Metroid game. + Morph ball is a mid-game item in Dread and you have to kill an EMMI to get it. + All the time the game will taunt you with all these neat powerups and places + you could go if you just had morph ball. It's effective. It made me remember + about them. + + The speed booster EMMI comes at you at a speed of a bajillionty miles per hour + and its stun window is probably frame-perfect. I'm not sure. It's really tight + though. You barely have time to react. + + The EMMI are defeated by grabbing a powerup from a "Central Unit", and the + miniboss battles with the "Central Units" scream Mother Brain. Was Mother + Brain a "Central Unit" that went rogue? What on earth were the Chozo _doing_? + + It feels so satisfying to land the final hit on an EMMI with the Omega + Blaster. Sometimes you can land a hit mid-air, which looks swag as all hell. + + The music in EMMI zones calls back to the creepy sounds of Metroid 2. Not the + remake, classic Gameboy Metroid 2. The ambient music from the overworld stops. + There are no enemies in the EMMI zone, only automated patrol robots. One false + move and the patrol robots snitch on you to the EMMI. + + I could go on for a while. It's done really well. +</details> + + + +<details> + <summary>Boss spoilers</summary> + + The boss battles are amazingly done. The Chozo Soilder boss gets reused a bit + much, however it ends up teaching you how to do boss fights damageless. I'm + sure that most if not all of the bosses end up having cheese strats (you can + oneshot flappy bird by shinesparking directly into his face). + + Kraid was such a throwback fight. I don't really know how to go into more + details. + + There were underwater fights and finally a battle in the sky. Everything was + done so perfectly. +</details> + +I have been waiting to play this game since it was rumored in 2005. It became a +meme in the Metroid community for a mythical game like Half Life 3 or Duke Nukem +forever. People had given up hope. There were worries that Dread would end up +like Duke Nukem Forever: a hollow shell of its concept that would never really +live up to the hype. I thought the day that this game would come out would never +happen. Once I saw the words "Metroid 5" on the screen in E3 though, I instantly +preordered it. I didn't need to be convinced. Dread was real. + + + +It is now in my hands. I have played it. I loved almost every moment of it (save +the mishap in Cataris). I can't wait to see how speedruns develop for it. I bet +that speedrunners are going to crack this as wide open as Super Metroid has +been. There's already been some sequence breaking and boss cheeses found. + +If you are on the fence with this game, go for it. It is one of the best games +I've played in years. I have heard that it works perfectly in certain programs +that let you play Switch games on PC. But really, buy this game if you can +afford to. It is easily worth the money. I can't wait to see what's next from +MercurySteam. |