So I'm putting the PS5 to the side for a little bit because a good friend of mine let me borrow a game that I am far too stingy to pay $60 for myself in Metroid: Dread.
I have been excited about this game for quite some time because I was there Gandalf, I was there when the original was released, 3000 years ago.
Metroid on NES is one of my fondest memories in gaming. Up to that point I had never played anything like it where it was like an RPG (not that we had much concept of what that was back then) but it was in the future. There was no XP, just upgrades for your arsenal. Revisiting old rooms or areas was part of the game as well because as your arsenal improved, so did your ability to access other areas that previously couldn't be gotten to.
This formula was so good that it spawned an entirely new genre of games which today is known as "Metroid-vania" with of course, Castlevania being the other end of that.
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I was more excited to play Dread specifically because it is a side-scroller because lately, modern games to me seem to be too focused on hyper-realistic graphics without as much consideration as I think they should towards whether or not the game is actually fun to play. While I was a fan of the 3D "Prime" games (I only played one of them on Gamecube) I would always remain a fan of the 2D or enhanced 2D versions of the game because that is how I started gaming.
I was delighted to see that Nintendo decided to forego a super-long cinematic story telling you why Samus (is that still our name?) needs to go to whatever planet to clear out whatever problem and to me this is just fine. It is a Metroid game, we are very aware of the fact that we are going to end up on some planet with most of our powers being stripped of us... just like....every other Metroid game.
I don't mind the repetition in story-line because when you have something this perfect, you are better off NOT changing it.
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You start out not knowing where you are, heading to the right or left until you cant anymore then going back and trying the other way until you eventually get to a place where you can save and communiate back with the ship that dropped you off... simple right?
Well, not necessarily. I had a Metroid game on my 3DS before I gave that away and they had introduced a lot more moves than we had in previous games and this one is not an exception to that. In fact, it basically mirrors the controls of that game almost exactly. I'm fine with it but I am still not a fan of the "parry" mechanics that this one forces you to use but then again, I never cared for parrying that fills basically every single game to the brim these days. What can I say? I'm old-school and just never gitted gud at that. I doubt I ever will.
This all seems stock standard although I do say that they throw the controls at you in rapid succession which could end up being a problem for someone like me that will play a game for half an hour one day, then put the game down for a week or so before playing it again. What can I say? I go through phases of wanting to game a lot and then go through phases of barely wanting to do it at all.
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One thing that has been introduced that I can't say I'm in love with is the introduction of these enemies called EMMI's. These are the robots that your own side sent down to this planet to investigate thing for your people and went rogue. They are significantly more powerful than you and you are advised to just avoid them.
So unfortunately this means that I am going to be pursued on many levels where I won't be able to casually explore and I can't say I am thrilled about this. I'm still going to trundle forward though because I am sure there is a legit reason why it was introduced.
Thus far I have only encountered 2 of them and it is already evident that if you keep getting trapped by one of them, it is because you are likely going about the level the EMMI is hanging out at in a completely incorrect way. I certainly hope so anyway because if this devolves (or evolves, depending on your perspective) into multiple scenarios where pinpoint accuracy and button strikes are just how the game works, I will not be finishing this game, for certain. I just don't roll like that anymore.
I've only played for about an hour and mostly I like it. One of the main things I enjoy is that you are not subjected to constant storyline interruptions and if you know me, you already know that this is something that I really have grown to abhor in modern story-driven games.
One thing I like about these games that focus on gameplay rather than having the bestest best graphics ever seen! is that I feel as though it give the player more opportunity to just casually enjoy a game. We are not bogged down by absurd controls that are also combined with wondering where the hell you are because the environment and enemies are drawn in such a way that they are eating up the entire screen. To some, the platforming might seem basic-bitch level but if that is the case, color me into the basic-bitch category.
I like simplicity because I was alive when we had no choice but to be simplistic due to the limitations of the technology that we had at the time.
This is still heaps and bounds ahead of NES Metroid though, that is for sure.
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It's been nearly 40 years and I still remember how this boss fight was so graphically advanced at the time that slowdown on the NES was guaranteed.
So I guess you could say I am kind of excited to be playing this game now and big thanks to my pal that let me borrow it indefinitely.
Will I complete it? Well, I can basically assure you that I will not. It is quite rare that I complete any game these days. But it should be a good enough way to pass the time before season 9 of Diablo 4 drops.