Board 8 > Metroid 5 Review Zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://opencritic.com/game/11621/metroid-dread/reviews

An 88 (omg an eight point eight) through 36 reviews so far. Dread is a straight up Metroid ass Metroid that doesn't deviate too much from the formula that made games like Super Metroid such a classic. The game seems to be very challenging, which was too much for some reviewers who had difficulties with boss fights and controls while others loved every moment of the game. Also not everyone was a fan of the E.M.M.I. sequences, but they're mostly regarded as a welcome addition.

NintendoLife
100
Metroid Dread is a triumphant return for both Samus Aran and developer MercurySteam. This is a super-slick, hugely entertaining and exquisitely designed entry in the Metroid franchise that plays better than anything we've seen from the series so far. With a bunch of fantastic new abilities, super tense and enjoyable stealth sections, plenty of great big boss fights and a story that fans will definitely enjoy, we can't really see how this one could have been any better. Best Metroid game ever? This could be the one.

Shacknews
90
In so many ways it is a return to what makes Metroid such a fantastic series of games. The EMMI chase segments are a welcome addition and add a new twist to its classic gameplay. The boss fights are more epic than ever, and the story is such a sweet payoff for fans that have invested literal decades in the overall series lore. There are a number of reasons they named the first half of an entire genre of games after this franchise and so many of them are on display here.

IGN
90
Metroid Dread gets so much right after so many years that I almost feel resentful that we didnt get this game and a few sequels in some steady cadence starting in 2005. But instead, Im incredibly happy to play a Metroid that is back at the top of its game. Even though its the latest in a decades old series, Dread has just enough clever innovation to balance its familiarity. The universally recognizable mix of tough puzzles, tougher boss fights, ever-evolving exploration options, and intricate level design that recent games like Hollow Knight and Ori get so right has an origin point: Its Metroid. I love those games, but the Metroid team, a mix of old and new developers now, have shown that they know how to do it best.

MetroGame Central
90
One of the best Metroid games ever made and a thrilling restatement of everything that makes the series, and the genre it inspired, great.

COGconnected
88
Metroid games have always had trace elements of sci-fi horror in them, and Metroid Dread is no different. Rather than inject the series with new levels of fear and tension, Dread seeks to highlight the latent spookiness already present. To that end, it works! That familiar sense of powerlessness and fear is given new life in this game. Suddenly your initial state of weakness has greater narrative weight. Furthermore, the lateral expansion of your move set feels like a natural conclusion. Every victory is one you clawed and fought for with all your might. Each new stage is filled with fresh dangers to keep you moving with an abundance of caution and care. Even the complex controls and the punishing boss fights are in service to this vision. Metroid Dread takes small, but significant, steps to expand and innovate upon the established series formula. Metroid and Metroidvania fans alike won't want to miss this entry.

Gamespot
80
Metroid Dread feels like going back to a place of comfort after a long time away. Though the gameplay is refined and new features have been added to the mix, Dread sticks closely to the formula of its predecessors. In the end, for longtime fans like myself, that's probably for the best. There's nothing to dread here. We're home again.

GamesRadar
70
Frustrating boss battles and cumbersome controls distract from an otherwise fun and isolating adventure

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Also as a Mega Man fan I'll never understand the reviews that are like "this is an excellent game, but it's more of the same and doesn't advance the entire genre so minus 2 points"


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Wow 88 we all know that means its time to riot

Not 8.8

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Year of the 88s.

Calling it now the Keighley nominees will be:

Psychonauts 2
It Takes Two
Ratchet and Clank
Metroid Dread
Deathloop
Resident Evil Village

With Deathloop winning?

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Hooray!

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ninkendo posted...

Also as a Mega Man fan I'll never understand the reviews that are like "this is an excellent game, but it's more of the same and doesn't advance the entire genre so minus 2 points"

Yeah, developers get punished for making the game they know their fans want, and it makes no sense.

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The mentions of complex controls have me worried, the controls were a big part of why I didn't like Samus Returns. If they're closer to that style than ZM/Fusion it's a deal breaker for me.

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So no game gets 90 this year huh?

Shin Megami Tensei V, save us

Only issue i had with Samus Returns gameplay was combat starting off way too reliant on melee counters. I liked the mechanic itself, but when every enemy around you's initiating an attack you gotta counter it gets annoying, and they feel like hp sponges unless you do it.

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Fuck yeah, challenging bosses again. Samus Returns is pretty brutal on harder difficulties and I loved it. 100 from Nintendo Life is pretty awesome because I for sure trust their Metroid opinions.

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I can always trust Gamespot to give a lower score than IGN

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

So no game gets 90 this year huh?

Shin Megami Tensei V, save us

why don't they make good games anymore

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GuessMyUserName posted...

Only issue i had with Samus Returns gameplay was combat starting off way too reliant on melee counters. I liked the mechanic itself, but when every enemy around you's initiating an attack you gotta counter it gets annoying, and they feel like hp sponges unless you do it.

Playing this right now as it's the only Metroid I never finished!

This is completely right. Fights are freaking impossible at first if you don't counter because they strike you so fast. Then the moment you get Screw Attack, you can bounce into almost every other enemy until they die no problem.

Almost done! I'll probably finish it within another day or two.

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Right around where I expected it to land. I didn't see this getting over 90 unless it seriously shook things up with the genre. Still seems a super solid score so I am happy! Not reading reviews as I don't want to be spoiled.

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

So no game gets 90 this year huh?

Shin Megami Tensei V, save us

Endwalker is absolutely going to review over a 90 easy. No doubt that will be the highest reviewed game of the year.

But I don't know what the status of its eligibility will be for the Keighleys.

Preorder release - 11/19
Cutoff date 11/20
Standard retail - 11/22

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Expansions dont count!

However, Forza Horizon 5 will likely get over a 90. I can see it going lower if it doesnt add much to 4 though.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Endwalker is absolutely going to review over a 90 easy. No doubt that will be the highest reviewed game of the year.

But I don't know what the status of its eligibility will be for the Keighleys.

Preorder release - 11/19
Cutoff date 11/20
Standard retail - 11/22

I expect it to be nominated for Best Ongoing Game and then snubbed again for either Destiny 2 (also has an expac in November) or Genshin Impact (had an "expansion" in July and the industry has started to realize it was sleeping on this game)

Though it eating WoW's lunch is a strong narrative that gives it some hope

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

I expect it to be nominated for Best Ongoing Game and then snubbed again for either Destiny 2 (also has an expac in November)

Destinys expansion isnt until February this time.

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

Though it eating WoW's lunch is a strong narrative that gives it some hope

Knowing Keighley he may even push for big Endwalker pops internally as a retaliation towards all the Awful Blizzard news. I'm expecting a musical segment.

On topic though, I expect Dread to do very well there as literally the only Nintendo thing of note for all of 2021.

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ninkendo posted...

Also as a Mega Man fan I'll never understand the reviews that are like "this is an excellent game, but it's more of the same and doesn't advance the entire genre so minus 2 points"

Having played every NES Mega Man I know exactly what you mean.

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paperwarior posted...

Having played every NES Mega Man I know exactly what you mean.

I think it's a valid criticism. The games that make my best games ever list all do something that no other game has done before. OuterWilds for instance I think would look a lot worse if there were a ton of games like it, but the uniqueness of the game is part of what makes it amazing

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Also it's weird as hell to see "Metroid 5" right now. Metroid 1 came out in '86. Slow progress.
As for the scores, I guess that's fine? I'm not at all worried that a Metroid game can't be truly superb just because it doesn't have above a 90 average. And the dev's last Metroid game was pretty solid in most aspects.

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masterplum posted...

I think it's a valid criticism. The games that make my best games ever list all do something that no other game has done before. OuterWilds for instance I think would look a lot worse if there were a ton of games like it, but the uniqueness of the game is part of what makes it amazing

I guess it is a valid criticism. It's hard not to say games that do something brand new and are amazing at it are better. But plenty of great games leave you wanting more of the same when you finish them.

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Its kind of a situation where its fine, but also wanting better is fine. Pokmon is a good example. Its very much the same almost every game, but GameFreak just gets lazier and lazier and doesnt even try when theres a ton of improvements they could keep around instead of them being a generational flavor

I would argue that NES Mega Man was a bit better than that. You got all new weapons and stages as well as new mechanics every game. Gamefreak is known to move backwards for no particularly good reason.

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I think it's pretty common in modern games, too. Nobody should accuse Deltarune thus far of being unoriginal, but people are absolutely drawn to it by "more Undertale" and it even plays on it in Chapter 1 with an area full of familiar characters to talk to. FF7R Yuffie is the same. You get to go to that same world and meet some of the same people you liked. I'm not sure there's any reason for Roche to be hanging around Sector 7 but he's there because people like him. Persona spinoffs are effectively all that idea. Ghost of Tsushima expansion is a little different. It's not really fanservice but there isn't all that much added either in terms of gameplay, maybe just enough. Most of it is built on the main game.

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paperwarior posted...

Also it's weird as hell to see "Metroid 5" right now. Metroid 1 came out in '86. Slow progress.
As for the scores, I guess that's fine? I'm not at all worried that a Metroid game can't be truly superb just because it doesn't have above a 90 average. And the dev's last Metroid game was pretty solid in most aspects.

I kinda agree with this? Encouraging developers to try something new is not really that bad of a thing

and if all that fans need to hear is that it's more of the same, they are getting that as well

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Well, I should really clarify what I'm saying. NES Mega Man games were fine on the NES but there's a reason you don't see that model very often anymore. As I recall 9 and 10 were basically the same, down to the graphics, and it worked because people love NES Mega Man that much, but MM11 went way more modern and may have been more interesting as a result. I don't know, I haven't played these three.

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Yeah, I both think a 9/10 game is great and Ill be excited to play it, but also agree a 10/10 game really needs to blow me away and do something no other game has done before.

I have no issue with Metroid going for the 9/10 route

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It should be noted that the truest modern heir to Mega Man... that's right, Shovel Knight, went drastically different with each of its expansions. And those were just expansions!

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The "more of the same" complaint is fine imo, it's a very fine line between refinement and stagnation, but it's a weird one to apply to Metroid when we've gotten 3 games in a decade. Plus the last one was constrained by being a remake and essentially ended up as a test run for Dread. More of the same of Samus Returns? Uh, no shit. It's only a problem if it doesn't actually stack up to the past games, and I find it hard to believe it'll be worse than Samus Returns.

That's the real problem with Mega Man syndrome, btw. It isn't just that the series was stagnant, it's that the consensus is the series peaked with 2 and 3 despite the refinements.

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Dragonair posted...

I kinda agree with this? Encouraging developers to try something new is not really that bad of a thing

and if all that fans need to hear is that it's more of the same, they are getting that as well

I think Metroid Dread is a bit different than some series that releases annually. There hasn't been a true 2-D Metroid sequel that isn't a remake in nearly two decades. This is a strange instance to dock it for unoriginality.

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I don't necessarily think it's being docked for unoriginality as much as they are clarifying it isn't doing enough to justify a higher score.

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Mega Man is weird example because they just churned those things out. They felt less like "sequels" and more like expansion packs before that was a thing.

To me that's the difference between saying the Zelda games (pre-botw) are too similar to each other and saying the Mario Party games were all too similar too each other. The MP games were basically the exact same game with different maps and minigames. Even when a Zelda game had the same overall design, it still had enough fresh content to make them interesting and worthwhile. I think there IS a line for when a game series becomes too formulaic, and while it might not possible to specifically define, I think most players can tell when a series crosses it.

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CasanovaZelos posted...

I don't necessarily think it's being docked for unoriginality as much as they are clarifying it isn't doing enough to justify a higher score.

It's two different ways of saying the same thing if you're saying it'd have gotten a higher score if it had done something new.

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masterplum posted...

I think it's a valid criticism. The games that make my best games ever list all do something that no other game has done before. OuterWilds for instance I think would look a lot worse if there were a ton of games like it, but the uniqueness of the game is part of what makes it amazing

Man, you must have a boring-ass best games list.
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I mean, do not forget that reviews are not negatively scored. Sometimes a game is just an 8/10 in terms of enjoyment even if it doesnt have any significant flaws.

Somewhat ironically it was Gamespot who started that idea of game review scores being like a checkbox rather than a subjective way of expressing your opinion.

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My press reviews hinge on two things: the parts and their sum. Individual aspects, including noteworthy stuff for good or ill, followed roundly by my thoughts on the overall package. Math isn't necessary; it's a simple 1-10 system. To me, an 8 is great!

The sole exception to that rule is RPGFan. We take five core elements, grade each of them separately, and the cumulative average is the score. My 93 for Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a good example of what happens when Fan still does incremental figures like that.
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Polygons review says Dread is straight up the hardest first party Nintendo game ever made

Quite a feat when I consider some of the others (Majoras Mask, Mario Sunshine and Prime 2)

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Zero Mission 15% Hard Clear is nuts without savescumming

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ninkendo posted...

Also as a Mega Man fan I'll never understand the reviews that are like "this is an excellent game, but it's more of the same and doesn't advance the entire genre so minus 2 points"

Because mentally deficient video game reviewers feel the need to pretend that they are art critics, when the reality is their score gets aggregated into metacritic and some people use that as a guideline for what games to try out. I would say 99% of the video game playing public has no problem playing a sequel to a game they enjoyed that doesn't "innovate" on the formula

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GuessMyUserName posted...

Zero Mission 15% Hard Clear is nuts without savescumming

I assume they're just referring to a normal playthrough when they say these things

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FedEx update!

No Metroid for me until Saturday

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I have no Dread order in because I still want to find a special edition at launch. I will be spending all of tomorrow trying to hunt one down.

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ninkendo posted...

Polygons review says Dread is straight up the hardest first party Nintendo game ever made

Quite a feat when I consider some of the others (Majoras Mask, Mario Sunshine and Prime 2)

what about basically any first party game on the NES

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i took a long time deciding if I'd order a standard copy or deal with scalper prices............. in the end scalpers are just too much I can't pull the trigger as much as I want to.

Delivery says it'll be late but then again every time Amazon's said that so far this year I've actually ended up getting my packages much sooner anyways so *shrug*

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I just beated the Metroid 2 remake.

Definitely not one of my favorite Metroid games by any stretch. I am highly optimistic for Dread though!

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I just beated the Metroid 2 remake.

Definitely not one of my favorite Metroid games by any stretch. I am highly optimistic for Dread though!

Play AM2R! I played it for the first time in hype for this and it's fantastic. I kind of like Samus Returns even more (or probably just equally) but if you're lukewarm on it and love Zero Mission, AM2R will be your jam.

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