![]() Dread is not a weak Metroid, but a new flavor of one.Įven before playing it, the mandate for Metroid: Dread was clear. The parts of the experience that are lost are truly lost, but the replacements are well developed. Fortunately, it exceeded my expectations. These two abilities utterly sabotage the classic style of Metroid’s level design, and signaled to me and other designers a critical misunderstanding of how Metroid’s game design functions. “Free aiming” and countering features were returning, after first appearing in the studio’s remake of Metroid II: Samus Returns. Yet gameplay footage had me very concerned. In marketing Nintendo touted it as the final entry in the “Metroid saga.” There is a great deal to be curious about! Nevertheless, this studio was given the enviable opportunity to realize not only a canonical mainline entry in a hallowed Nintendo franchise, but it was the infamous “Dread” project! This game was originally planned for the DS system two hardware generations ago, but languished in development hell for unknown reasons. However, that pedigree is tempered by the consensus that their games so far have been uneven at best. It is developed by MercurySteam, who could be considered the most qualified people in the world to make “Metroidvania” games they are the only people in the world who have spent the last decade developing both Castlevania games and Metroid games. Here is a 2D game, coming out while everyone is waiting for the in-development 3D Metroid Prime 4. The initial announcement made me skeptical, but curious. This month provided one exception: Metroid: Dread, the first totally new Metroid game since 2010’s lambasted Metroid: Other M. In games, COVID related delays have meant there have been blissfully few new releases this year that have captured my immediate attention. We weren’t going to the beach anyways, but the closure of that possibility still dampens my mood. Subliminally, we all know the beach is now off limits. Even in Los Angeles, a place where time does not move, the weather is different. The year exiting its second act, and the foreboding of an impending climax. ![]() For myself and many others this October has felt like an escalation of stakes. When I think back on this month I remember a couple of weeks ago there was wind so strong that I was unsure whether I could manage the brief walk between my office and home. ![]() Every one of these has been longer than the last, so maybe next year’s resolution should be to have less thoughts? I started this as a New Years resolution back in January, and I guess there are only two more of these left before the end of the year! I haven’t decided yet whether I will continue this in 2022, so let me know what, if anything, you’d like to see from me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |