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StarTopic Metroid Dread |ST| The Chozon One

The pacing in this game is perfect. Nothing outstays its welcome. This is how I love it. I actually think MS didn't do a bad job with the music either. I do expect retro studios to do much better with MP4 tho!
 
100% clear, just a hair over 11 hours. It’s not often I actually go for 100% clear in games. I’m gonna say it, I think this might be my favorite game ever. Just an absolute blast to play and what an amazing experience.
 
The pacing in this game is perfect. Nothing outstays its welcome. This is how I love it. I actually think MS didn't do a bad job with the music either. I do expect retro studios to do much better with MP4 tho!

The composers were from Nintendo. Will be the same (most likely) for Metroid Prime 4 as was the case with Prime 1-3.

It doesn't appear as if the normal Metroid composter (Kenji Yamaoto) was involved with Dread (also not involved with Other M and the other Metroid spin-offs) other than being music director with others performing the compositions. Maybe he is working on Prime. He was the main composer for the Prime games.
 
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Apparently, I took the long way around for my first run. Instead of trying to get boosts that were in my path or just collect them all at the end, I invariably went back and traversed everything looking for unlocks after getting an upgrade. That + getting lost during the process probably made everything O(n^2). Hahahaha!

I’m trying to be more efficient in my hard run now and just go where the game naturally directs me. However, I’ll probably go back to try to finish some of the hard shinespark puzzles. I’m currently at 95% complete due to those.
 
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The composers were from Nintendo. Will be the same (most likely) for Metroid Prime 4 as was the case with Prime 1-3.

It doesn't appear as if the normal Metroid composter (Kenji Yamaoto) was involved with Dread (also not involved with Other M and the other Metroid spin-offs) other than being music director with others performing the compositions. Maybe he is working on Prime. He was the main composer for the Prime games.
If Yamamoto's involvement was minimal, it really, really shows. Wish I didn't have to say that, but yeah, the bar is normally way higher for Metroid's OST. We should also give due credit to Minako Hamano, who has collaborated with Yamamoto across various Metroid games.

I also can't remember a single track from Other M, either, now that you mention it.
 
If Yamamoto's involvement was minimal, it really, really shows. Wish I didn't have to say that, but yeah, the bar is normally way higher for Metroid's OST. We should also give due credit to Minako Hamano, who has collaborated with Yamamoto across various Metroid games.

I also can't remember a single track from Other M, either, now that you mention it.

The only positive I recall of Other M was the Ridley theme's rendition being pretty good. That's about it though.
 
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The composers were from Nintendo. Will be the same (most likely) for Metroid Prime 4 as was the case with Prime 1-3.

It doesn't appear as if the normal Metroid composter (Kenji Yamaoto) was involved with Dread (also not involved with Other M and the other Metroid spin-offs) other than being music director with others performing the compositions. Maybe he is working on Prime. He was the main composer for the Prime games.
Doesn't kenji yamomoto always work together with retro studios? His sound is really recognizable in the donkey kong games.

Edit: looking at his wikipedia there's a difference with his retro studios involvment and others. It says music in those games including donkey kong, and music director with the MS metroids and lots of other projects.
 
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Okay. I’m an hour and 20 into my attempt of under 4 hours and
just took the tram back to Dairon after getting Flash Shift (I already have grapple and bombs because I ACTUALLY pulled off the sequence break).

How am I doing on time? Am I well on my way to make my 4 hour run time?
 
Okay. I’m an hour and 20 into my attempt of under 4 hours and
just took the tram back to Dairon after getting Flash Shift (I already have grapple and bombs because I ACTUALLY pulled off the sequence break).

How am I doing on time? Am I well on my way to make my 4 hour run time?
Should be ok. Maybe pick up the pace a tiny bit, you’ve got a lot to do yet with only two and a half hours to do it!
 
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I’ve beaten it three times, got all the gallery images, and I’m so happy with this game. My GOTY, undeniably.

But now I’m gonna go back to Animal Crossing and try to tidy up my island before the update!
 
One thing I did not fully understand at the end...

Is the implication that Raven Beak was posing as ADAM and guiding you along the whole time? Or was he just doing it at the end?
 
Just finished it. The last revelation was very dumb but oh well.
 
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One thing I did not fully understand at the end...

Is the implication that Raven Beak was posing as ADAM and guiding you along the whole time? Or was he just doing it at the end?
Whole time, except for the intro, and ending (when Adam says "Don't. You'll drain the ship of its energy.")

That's why he only ever calls Samus "Lady" in the intro, and then never again, in addition to the constant remarks about how hopeless it would be to fight Raven Beak ("You are still no match for him", etc.) It's just Raven Beak himself, trying to demoralize Samus and get her to submit.
 
Got all speed-related rewards on normal mode with a 3:30 run.

Really enjoyed playing the game on such a different way from my first run (a 100% items run). It's such a different mode you're on when you know you're on a timer and you're not looking to explore every inch of the world! I found it pretty illuminating in terms of game design as well. What a well made game.

Onto hard mode!
 
Just watched Maximilian Dood play through Metroid Dread, it was so fun.
He loved the game, gave it a 10/10 and said it's better than Super Metroid (I agree).

Oh, and he's officially a "Metroid Weeb" now.
 
I took a bit of a break after having done three playthroughs back to back, but I think I will want to do a sub 4 run on hard relatively soon.
 
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My husband just came into the room when I was playing and was randomly like "this game looks fun". It caught me off guard, he never takes much interest in any game, and when he does it's to compliment the artstyle, never that it "looks fun" like he could maybe want to play it lol I told him we can play Super Metroid together if he wants later, cause I think Dread might be too hard for him.

And people thought Metroid couldn't have casual appeal smh
 
I fought the first major boss (Corpius, I think) and I restarted the game, because I didn't feel like I properly managed to trigger the cutscene-like sequence. Turns out I hadn't saved and had to redo the last part of the EMMI section and the mini-boss, but I... didn't mind at all.

Then I restarted the won boss battle a couple more times just for the sake of redoing it and landing that extremely satisfying sequence, so i guess that is an indication of how much I'm digging it. Not sure I'll do that for the latter, supposedly hard-as-fuck bosses, but yeah.

EMMI sections are pretty neat so far. I can see how it might turn unenjoyable if I overly rely on the cloak thingie and try to handle them like stealth sections, but I think I'll gel with them well enough if I approach them as platforming+navigation avoidance challenges. Can't land any escape parry for the life of me though. I hope I git gud at that.

My only concern is how much the game seems to funnel you so far, but I see plenty of opportunities to re-explore with new powers (I just assume that every elevated gap is a Morphball thing). Will it open up a bit soon or do I only get to comb the map during a victory lap near the end?

But yeah, it plays really, really well.
 
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Will it open up a bit soon or do I only get to comb the map during a victory lap near the end?

It opens up for backtracking after the third area, I just spent a couple hours combing everything for power ups. The progression is still pretty linear though, there's only one path forward so far.

Super was like that too but it hid it very well because it wasn't immediately obvious where you were meant to go, so you had to explore a bunch of places until you find the one way. I'm cool with Dread's more streamlined approach too, and I did get lost a couple times even. The maps feel way more complex than any other Metroid.
 
It opens up for backtracking after the third area, I just spent a couple hours combing everything for power ups. The progression is still pretty linear though, there's only one path forward so far.

Super was like that too but it hid it very well because it wasn't immediately obvious where you were meant to go, so you had to explore a bunch of places until you find the one way. I'm cool with Dread's more streamlined approach too, and I did get lost a couple times even. The maps feel way more complex than any other Metroid.
Well, just combing through for upgrades/any optional abilities is good enough for me, so glad that it becomes less funneled later on.

Maybe the next game could try to have multiple progression paths, but having linear progression isn't bad, especially if I try my hand at sequence-braking on later playthroughs.
 
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Just finished. Wow. GOTY for me. The ending was beautiful and I didn't expect it at all. The gameplay is amazing. I want more. I probably won't do hard mode, but I may go back and try to 100% my current play through. Metroid 6 better be sooner rather than later.
 
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Do you get a checkpoint coming out of EMMI doors?

I’m attempting a certain sequence break, but don’t want to lose a ton of time learning it.

Edit 1: Answered my own question. Answer is yes.

Now this darn WBJ.

Edit 2: Guess I’ll keep updating this. Just under two hours in and I’ve got
early ice missiles, double jump, and I’m back in Berenia to attempt early grab suit.

Edit 3: 2:01 and I’ve got the suit from the spoiler above. I didn’t believe I was capable of any of this.
 
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Still thinking about the ending. They nailed it.

When Samus viciously grabs raven beak, and starts yelling i was hyped af. Something about it felt so raw, yet earned.
 
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Done.

This game is truly special. Second run, 22%, 5 or so sequence breaks (they kinda blend together at a certain point).

For comparison, first run was 100% at 14:20.
 
Still thinking about the ending. They nailed it.

When Samus viciously grabs raven beak, and starts yelling i was hyped af. Something about it felt so raw, yet earned.
Yeah, that part was rad as all heck! After everything Samus had been through because of Raven Beak, seeing her go feral on him was well earned.

Does anyone here watch The Geek Critique? It's this youtube game review channel I really like, and a while back they did an absolutely fantastic retrospective on the Metroid series. I rewatched the whole series in anticipation of Dread's release, and now I can't wait for his video on Dread to eventually come out. Here's a sampling of the retrospective (his video on Super) for anyone interested in some good game talk. Give him a watch!

 
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My only concern is how much the game seems to funnel you so far, but I see plenty of opportunities to re-explore with new powers (I just assume that every elevated gap is a Morphball thing). Will it open up a bit soon or do I only get to comb the map during a victory lap near the end?
Aaaaand I’m lost trying to find Varia (unless I missed something really obvious).

Any concerns I had are alleviated. This is a Metroid-ass Metroid game.
 
Aaaaand I’m lost trying to find Varia (unless I missed something really obvious).

Any concerns I had are alleviated. This is a Metroid-ass Metroid game.
Hint for Varia Suit

it’s somewhere in Artaria. Maybe there’s a place where the morph ball might be useful?
 
I liked the exploration and item upgrades. I didn’t like some of the boss battles. Too hard and I often had to take a break to feel motivated again to pass this boss to get to the next exploration phase. And now I’m at the last fight, don’t have the motivation to finish it since it feels ridiculous difficult.
All in all I don’t think this is appealing to the larger audience. Which is a pitty since the game plays and looks fantastic.
 
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Hint for Varia Suit

it’s somewhere in Artaria. Maybe there’s a place where the morph ball might be useful?
You know I did think about Artaria and even went there, but for some reason I assumed ten minutes into it that Varia wasn't there and all I'd find would be some missiles and tanks and then decided to try my luck with Darion
 
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I just got the gravity suit. How far into the game is this approximately? If I can beat it within 3h or so I might just do it today.
 
I’d say you’re about 75% there. There’s a couple major bosses, mini bosses, and major upgrades for you to get still before taking on the Big Bad.
Sounds good! I'll try to finish it today. Sublime game.
 
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Got access to the final area on the map… I think a little bit ago. I don’t know if this will surpass Super for me, but it’s going to come really really close if it doesn’t. I would also love to see SR in Switch now, just because I feel like if some of the mechanics improvements in here were backported that would be a much stronger release.

Spoiler-y thoughts on the gravity suit in this game
Whoever greenlit the idea of freezing the areas as soon as you get the gravity suit and delaying getting to backtrack through all the water areas is a sick and twisted genius.

Also, there is no sweeter thing in this series than the minute you get the Screw Attack and become death incarnate. It feels so satisfying to not have to deal with 90% of the trash mobs while backtracking.
 
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Just beat Chozo Soldier.

The more I play the game the more I think the difficulty is really overstated. Traversal isn't any more difficult than any of the other Metroids, you just can't sponge that much damage, but the game is very generous with health drops in compensation (as long as you take advantage of the counter, but why wouldn't you, the time windows are very friendly).

So there are the bosses, and so far, I don't think any of them were all that hard tbh. Of course you can't really beat most of them in the first try, you have to die once or twice to learn the patterns, but once you do, they really aren't hard. The game controls so well that as long as you're correctly reading the boss, it's easy to react and maneuver accordingly. That's not to say they aren't extremely fun, because they are, precisely because the game feels so good to control, it's amazing to steamroll the bosses in no hit runs once you have them figured out.

I really love the bosses in this game.
 
Just beat Chozo Soldier.

The more I play the game the more I think the difficulty is really overstated. Traversal isn't any more difficult than any of the other Metroids, you just can't sponge that much damage, but the game is very generous with health drops in compensation (as long as you take advantage of the counter, but why wouldn't you, the time windows are very friendly).

So there are the bosses, and so far, I don't think any of them were all that hard tbh. Of course you can't really beat most of them in the first try, you have to die once or twice to learn the patterns, but once you do, they really aren't hard. The game controls so well that as long as you're correctly reading the boss, it's easy to react and maneuver accordingly. That's not to say they aren't extremely fun, because they are, precisely because the game feels so good to control, it's amazing to steamroll the bosses in no hit runs once you have them figured out.

I really love the bosses in this game.
Yes it's pretty moderate in terms of difficulty. It's like 40% as hard as Hollow Knight.
 
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Just beat Chozo Soldier.

The more I play the game the more I think the difficulty is really overstated. Traversal isn't any more difficult than any of the other Metroids, you just can't sponge that much damage, but the game is very generous with health drops in compensation (as long as you take advantage of the counter, but why wouldn't you, the time windows are very friendly).

So there are the bosses, and so far, I don't think any of them were all that hard tbh. Of course you can't really beat most of them in the first try, you have to die once or twice to learn the patterns, but once you do, they really aren't hard. The game controls so well that as long as you're correctly reading the boss, it's easy to react and maneuver accordingly. That's not to say they aren't extremely fun, because they are, precisely because the game feels so good to control, it's amazing to steamroll the bosses in no hit runs once you have them figured out.

I really love the bosses in this game.
I’d agree here. First play through, every boss felt insurmountable at first.

Second play through, I died to two different bosses a few times (because I had less missiles and had to alternate and teach myself a different strategy). Everything else was one attempt.
 
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My Switch play time says it's been well over 15 hours, eventho the in game says its around 11.

I'm at the purple EMMI location and it's really hard not to get caught by that one!!!

You'd think I'd be over my fear of EMMI's by now, but NOPE. I just wish I can get this part over with asap, it's not good for my heart. :'(
 
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Trying to beat the game under 4h and I must say the Loading Screens get annoying very quickly.

You mean between areas? I really enjoyed them as a breether and for atmohsphere in a regular playthrough, but I can imagine them being annoying if you want to speed through the game.
 
You mean between areas? I really enjoyed them as a breether and for atmohsphere in a regular playthrough, but I can imagine them being annoying if you want to speed through the game.

Yes, those are the worst culprit, but I will say when you are attempting to go as fast as possible, even the "Saving Game" and "Power-Up Acquired" sessions get somewhat annoying. Another minor surprise for me was the fact the Opening of the game is unskippable.
 
Dread was my first Metroid game. I've tried others in the past, but only briefly, so all the mechanics were brand new.

I finished the game in 9 hours and 54 minutes. I'm pretty awful at games in general, so the last boss took me nearly 2.5 hours of nonstop attempts to beat. What a relief it was when the final cutscene happened.

Grabbing Raven Beak and screaming was such a satisfying moment.
 
Yes, those are the worst culprit, but I will say when you are attempting to go as fast as possible, even the "Saving Game" and "Power-Up Acquired" sessions get somewhat annoying. Another minor surprise for me was the fact the Opening of the game is unskippable.
Lol why bother saving? Ample checkpoints combined with sleep mode means I haven’t had to save since my first playthrough.
 
Lol why bother saving? Ample checkpoints combined with sleep mode means I haven’t had to save since my first playthrough.

I had the impression the Adam Exposition/Map ones were mandatory, but yeah, you are right should probably ditch them.
 
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