Metroid: Dread - October 8th

[moosegrinder]

10 hours ago, Alex W. said:

Like if there was a bit in Dark Souls that told you literally anything whatsoever.

 

 

I'm onto the Blue E.M.M.I. I was making decent progress again. I got that the initial encounters are practically enforced stealth sections (which most people would say "Nah fuck that shit" in most game series) and then I understood that going back with the Omega Beam you have to kite them to a section, barrage them, loop the section, blast them but now the rules of engagement have changed again.

 

How do Blues rules work? Adam says it can see through walls but I  thought that meant its sight cone. It picks me up no matter where I am once I uncloak. And now it's underwater the counter timing has changed and is much slower and escaping is generally much more difficult.

[dumpster]

I liked the bosses, and found myself getting a bit closer to the proper method each time, until eventually I was beating each boss while taking minimal damage.  Then the last boss with the three clear sections just took the piss.  I could do the first section taking no damage but the second just wiped me out every time. So close to the end I thought forget it.  I would have been nice to have a sort of practice room or something, or to have the game drop you back after the first part, or even just ignore the cut scenes but the second part of the boss didn't give you any opportunity to play and learn, so the process became cut scene, complete part one, instantly die without learning anything new, repeat. 

[moosegrinder]

Gone back to this. I'm one step shy of just binning it. The x-ray EMMI coupled with slow water movement is fucking me off no end. As I understand it I need to get through this section to get the Storm Missiles and then I can progress.

 

I can't believe they thought these encounters were fun. They aren't. They add nothing to the game except frustration and fucking woe.

 

Maybe I'm doing it wrong? If you move you ping your last location, right? So you cloak and try to get away. But if you move your bar drains and then it starts leeching your Energy. So you need to decloak, but then it pings and you repeat. Am I missing something?

 

[Kayin Amoh]

Curiously, I started this again as well. I find the map complete trash, and I'm usually totally confused as to where I'm supposed to be going.

 

There must be some subliminal guidance as I usually end up going roughly the right direction, but I've no conscious knowledge of having a firm goal in mind. I do have something like an 80% counter rate on the Emmi's still though, so that's nice.

 

I picked it up and put it down again a few days ago. Kinda feel I should play it through, but... eh, it doesn't seem like a great entry in the genre. 

[scoobysi]

@Kayin Amohany tips for countering EMMI, don’t think I’ve managed one yet, I just run and die lol?
 

Just picked this up again after pre-ordering Prime, thought I should probably play this after it sitting on my shelf for a year after I bounced off it initially. I’m enjoying it this time though.

[Kayin Amoh]

23 minutes ago, scoobysi said:

@Kayin Amohany tips for countering EMMI, don’t think I’ve managed one yet, I just run and die lol?
 

Just picked this up again after pre-ordering Prime, thought I should probably play this after it sitting on my shelf for a year after I bounced off it initially. I’m enjoying it this time though.

 

Ah, not really. Basically when they grab you there's a flash that happens during the kill animation - if you time the parry right to coincide with this flash (usually get two chances) you'll break free of the grab. It's a tight window.

[moosegrinder]

Fuck it. Binned. Uninstalled and on the trade pile. Life's way too short for that shit.

[Count Buffalos]

You’re missing out on a great game.

[moosegrinder]

I'm sure I am, but 6 hours deep and I can't be fucked with it. It's tedious and I'm not enjoying it.

[phresh]

I could easily have done with a bit more Emmi, only one of them presented any annoyance and I don’t remember anything particularly awkward killing them, you just have to find a long enough area.

 

A couple of bosses (including the final one) can eat a dick though.

 

It’s the movement that just feels so good, especially as you get better and can just bounce around the levels like an invincible pinball.

[gizmo1990]

I'm trying to get this completed too before I play prime. I understand the mechanics of the shinespark but im completely baffled about how im supposed to keep it stored longer than 5 secs? As far as I can work out once the shinespark is initiated can't be reinitiated. However I've seen vids of people doing exactly that? I don't get it. If anyone could give me some hints I'd really appreciate it!

[scottcr]

IIRC if you spark into a slope, you’ll keep it 

[Alex W.]

Yeah, hit a slope so you go from Shinesparking back to the Speed Boost, and then the time limit doesn’t apply. That lets you set up another Shinespark further on.

[Ninja Doctor]

The shine spark puzzles was the one bit I binned off. 
 

It’s a shame really as I 100%ed Samus Returns on a 2DS. 
 

They just seemed a bit ridiculous fan servicey to me. 

[scottcr]

6 hours ago, gizmo1990 said:

I'm trying to get this completed too before I play prime. I understand the mechanics of the shinespark but im completely baffled about how im supposed to keep it stored longer than 5 secs? As far as I can work out once the shinespark is initiated can't be reinitiated. However I've seen vids of people doing exactly that? I don't get it. If anyone could give me some hints I'd really appreciate it!

btw - you don’t need to do the shinespark puzzles to complete the game

[scottcr]

Just now, Ninja Doctor said:

The shine spark puzzles was the one bit I binned off. 
 

It’s a shame really as I 100%ed Samus Returns on a 2DS. 
 

They just seemed a bit ridiculous fan servicey to me. 

I thought they were great puzzles - optional and some of them made you feel complete boss when you managed it 

[Alex W.]

If I, a complete ham fisted disaster, can do these anyone can:

 

Spoilers obviously.

[Kevvy Metal]

Shinespark puzzles were the best bit of this -the best 2D Metroid game. 

[Alexlotl]

1 hour ago, Kevvy Metal said:

Shinespark puzzles were the best bit of this -the best 2D Metroid game. 

 

They'd would have been good if the game had actually told you any of the skills you need to solve them:

- Sparking into slopes to get back into the speed boosted state, which then lets you store energy again

- That you can wall-jump while speed boosted without losing your speed

- How to shinespark sideways while jumping (shoot, then activate)

- How to shinespark when in ball form

 

I basically had to watch YouTube videos for the first few to learn those skills, then solved the last few myself.

[Protocol Penguin]

On 15/02/2023 at 19:37, moosegrinder said:

Fuck it. Binned. Uninstalled and on the trade pile. Life's way too short for that shit.

Honestly, I wish I had given up earlier rather than soldiering on to the horrific final boss. Or just hadn’t bought the game in the first place. There’s so much wrong with it all that builds up utterly needless frustrations.

[Marlowe]

1 hour ago, Protocol Penguin said:

Honestly, I wish I had given up earlier rather than soldiering on to the horrific final boss. Or just hadn’t bought the game in the first place. There’s so much wrong with it all that builds up utterly needless frustrations.

 

A game being difficult in parts doesn't mean there's something wrong with it. Dread is never cheap or unfair in its difficulty - every boss battle has clear patterns. What it does mean is the game probably isn't for you, in the same way I recognise the appeal of shmups but don't personally play them because I find them too difficult.

[gizmo1990]

5 hours ago, Alex W. said:

If I, a complete ham fisted disaster, can do these anyone can:

 

Spoilers obviously.

Thanks everyone, I'll try this tonight! Incidentally the last example in the clip above is the one that made me ask the question. I kinda would have liked that ability to have been mentioned somewhere in game. Maybe it has but if so I've missed it.

[Alex W.]

Never is. Tradition I think.

[Alexlotl]

1 hour ago, Alex W. said:

Never is. Tradition I think.

 

Tradition dictates it should be communicated wordlessly by an ostrich with a mohican.

 

[Number 28]

On 15/02/2023 at 17:46, moosegrinder said:

Gone back to this. I'm one step shy of just binning it. The x-ray EMMI coupled with slow water movement is fucking me off no end. As I understand it I need to get through this section to get the Storm Missiles and then I can progress.

 

I can't believe they thought these encounters were fun. They aren't. They add nothing to the game except frustration and fucking woe.

 

Maybe I'm doing it wrong? If you move you ping your last location, right? So you cloak and try to get away. But if you move your bar drains and then it starts leeching your Energy. So you need to decloak, but then it pings and you repeat. Am I missing something?

 

I don't remember pulling any fancy tactics during the EMMI sections. I don't remember cloaking much in the game at all, other than to get through the sensor doors. I just learnt the escape route, dying a bunch of times, but then eventually I'd nail it simply by running as fast as I could. I'm not a fan of these sections, but there's something like 5 in total and all very short? If it's not doing it for you then fair, but not worth throwing in the towel over, imo. I really enjoyed it, even the final boss.

[Popo]

19 minutes ago, Alexlotl said:

 

Tradition dictates it should be communicated wordlessly by an ostrich with a mohican.

 

 

 

[moosegrinder]

3 minutes ago, Number 28 said:

I don't remember pulling any fancy tactics during the EMMI sections. I don't remember cloaking much in the game at all, other than to get through the sensor doors. I just learnt the escape route, dying a bunch of times, but then eventually I'd nail it simply by running as fast as I could. I'm not a fan of these sections, but there's something like 5 in total and all very short? If it's not doing it for you then fair, but not worth throwing in the towel over, imo. I really enjoyed it, even the final boss.

 

Too late, it went weeks ago. Life's too short to smash my face against games I'm not enjoying. It was too much like hard work. I asked if I was missing anything and no-one told me otherwise so I presumed I was just terrible at it. The combination of being able to see through walls and lack of prediction as to where they'd go so I can cloak and hide, plus slowness in the water just made it no fun. I got the next missile upgrade but something else happened I can't quite remember and I spat my dummy out and traded it in.

[Number 28]

Sorry for the late response. I could be wrong anyway, it's been a while since I played it. What I do know is,

Spoiler

like the other games you get to move freely through water eventually with an upgrade. 😬

[scottcr]

I’m shite at games and I beat the final boss without too much difficulty. You can practically do it without losing any life once you know the relatively predictable patterns

[Alexlotl]

17 minutes ago, scottcr said:

I’m shite at games and I beat the final boss without too much difficulty. You can practically do it without losing any life once you know the relatively predictable patterns

 

I agree on the easy-when-you-know-how front for the bosses, but I'm not sure that the learn-die-repeat loop required to gain that knowledge is that much fun. That's the big difference for me between Dread and previous Metroids - I'd guess this is Dark Souls influence, but I've never played a Dark Souls game, so that's anecdotal. For some people, that's probably absolutely their thing, so different strokes and all that.

 

You feel really cool when you've got it all worked out and take down the boss, but for me constantly dying beforehand really breaks the immersion. I think I wrote somewhere (here or on Twitter) that the game feels like the opposite of BOTW in terms of replayability. BOTW will never be as good as that first time, as the mechanics discovery and growth are so elegant and organic. Dread on the other hand is awful at explaining/nudging, preferring to continue the beatings until morale improves, and is probably more fun on a second or third playthrough than it is on the first.

 

I'd exclude the EMMIs from this; they were fine apart from the one where the game tells you to cloak, then fails to communicate how the EMMI can still hear you once you're cloaked, meaning that if you try to do what the game's telling you to, you'll probably get killed over and over again. Ignore it and just leg it, or read online how the noise indicators work, and you'll be fine.