crispy4000

.... that's not how AI upscaling works. Maybe you're thinking of OCR?

I’m still rooting for it to pass Duke.

The remastered version of that game (second contact) has been a freebie a few times before as well. They're making a sequel:

NBA2K21 does more to justify a hardware upgrade than most other cross-gen releases. Especially if your idea of next-gen goes beyond a framerate or resolution bump.

No doubt Metroid Dread will be the best selling game in the franchise. #3 in these NPDs without digital sales accounted.

Gave Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair a shot. I could have started DK Tropical Freeze instead, but this looked more chill and didn't disappoint in that regard. Feels so good to play.

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Fair enough. I think after playing the game it's clear that the boss battles are the real standouts, not the EMMI encounters. But that's a harder pitch. The EMMI sections do the most work to make it distinct from other games. It's a question of how much they really needed to lean into that. I think it's a better game for not going in too hard. I like the balance as is, personally. The real thing to dread in this game are the hardest missile expansions.

Because you made a point to say that the brain bosses call for more of your attention than the EMMIs. I just don't think that's accurate. The projectiles aren't a threat. The environment isn't a factor. You're not searching for an exit, or a long enough stretch to take them out. It's not just the difficulty or failstate comparison, everything about the EMMIs encounters are more involved than that mini-boss. Like Ghost_MH said, the brain might as well be dead when you walk in the room. If I can summarize your position: What makes these sections tedious to you is that you don't like their change of focus from the rest of the game. They also don't live up to the title for you, or feel fun in your opinion. So any minute spent doing them feels too long, even when the challenge and time spent in EMMI zones isn't actually that much. Strictly from a design perspective, I don't think the EMMI should be singled out for not being engaging enough. Not when other parts of the game have greater redundancy faults and respect your time less. I say this as someone who still loves this game. Interesting that it's your first Metroid. The EMMI bits are certainly layered on top of the core structure. So I could see a long time fan appreciating the variety where a first time player wouldn't. A few of the previous Metroids try similar things, but they're not as well integrated into the map design. Think linear hallways being chased, or an entire portion of the map dedicated to stealth.

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EMMI sections are about thinking on your feet, paying attention to the environment, and taking occasional risks. Brain mini-bosses boil down to missile spam and avoiding slow projectiles. There's some room for subjectivity here, neither are hard, really. But objectively speaking, you'll only fail at one if you don't pay attention. I spent much more time killing Metroid after Metroid after Metroid in Samus Returns than dealing with EMMI in Dread. For me, they didn't get in the way long enough to feel like a chore. Maybe the sense of fear could be heightened if they didn't give you so many checkpoints along the way. Unlike the bosses, dying to an EMMI feels trivial. That seems intentional, in where they wanted to scale the difficulty.

Soldiers were varied with a shields variant. I agree on the last one needing something more. Would've been nice at least.

If you think outrunning and gunning down EMMI is boring, why no mention of the brain mini-bosses in between? They're more redundant, and are never a match for your current abilities. To me, it's still splitting hairs for how little time you spend on it. Looking at the game as whole, the most tedious design choice doesn't have anything to do with the EMMI. It's the colored teleport system. I could have shaved a few hours off backtracking for powerups if the warp network let you fast travel to any reached checkpoint, a la Samus Returns. Dread is just short enough to where it doesn't become a real drag.

I actually like how long it takes to melt an EMMI’s face, and the slowdown that accompanies it. Without it, it’d feel more like a cheap shot if you got caught. This way, you have more time to decide if you need to escape. In deciding where to go in an EMMI zone, I stopped looking at my map to plan routes after I realized that it was going to funnel me in the proper directions anyways, and zig zag me in and out of the zones. Later on, you’re presented a certain obstacle that subtly signals you’re on the right path. If it seems like a bad idea … go in, follow the flow.

An hour straight? Maybe I just got lucky, but I never struggled with an EMMI section for more than a few minutes. A death or two was it. Stealth does suck. You’re always quick enough to outrun it. It only gets a little tricky when it’s between you’re point A and point B. Even that gets helped or can be cheated by the RNG. Exploration isn’t the point of these sections. There’s few upgrades In them. You get in and out so you can explore elsewhere.

The EMMI sections get more and more linear as the game goes on though. You just find the next possible exit in the later zones, there’s no other options. Same goes for killing them. By the last EMMI, it’s super obvious that you’re supposed to do it in a very specific spot they funnel you to / trap you in.

Enough's been said about it in the other thread recently, so I'll be general here. It's rare that you see a game in a long running franchise hold up to classic entries in the way Metroid Dread does. I'd go as far to say it's the 2D series' Metroid Prime moment. It does justice to the franchise in a way that respects the roots while simultaneously flipping certain conventions on their head. The story telling is also modernized, but in a way that feels absolutely effortless as opposed to whatever the hell Other M was. This might not be my favorite 'style' of Metroid. Part of me still longs for the isolated, decent-the-depths style of Super, which has better analogs in Samus Returns or Hollow Knight. But Dread is so deftly executed on the whole that it convinced me I can love this too. Drawing analogies to other Nintendo franchises, this is the same impression Galaxy 2 and Breath of the Wild left on me. And like those games, I think Dread can be regarded an instant classic. I'm giving it the same score as Zero Mission, which to me is the entry closest to it in its pacing. But I'd rank Dread higher. 9.5/10 A few words on the difficulty: I think the bosses aren't quite as hard as they've been made out to be. But I finished Samus Returns and got used to the difficulty there. Mercury Steam designs bosses in a way where their attacks feel entirely avoidable, but will pile on if you get caught. So they're both simultaneously easy and hard. But there's also much more BS in Samus Returns' most difficult encounters. Samus Returns isn't made redundant by this game, in spite of what critics are saying. It's meatier and longer, albeit worse paced and less distinctive. But if you liked Dread's bosses, I think SR's ending is almost as epic. 2021 games Hades - 10 FFIX - 9 (8 without speed boosters) Captain Toad - 8.5 Minit - 7.5 Yoku's Island Express - 8 Prince of Persia 2008 - 7.5 Oxenfree - 8 Shadow of the Colossus (remake) - 9 Hat in Time Seal the Deal DLC - 7.5 Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - 7.5 Bad North - 8 Metroid Zero Mission - 9.5/10 Metroid II: Samus Returns - 8.5/10 Metroid Dread: 9.5/10

It won’t. With Psyconauts, I wouldn’t be as concerned about missing the overarching story. It’s more about how crazy each level is and the scenarios you find in them.

It’s the best level of the game, and comes closest to Double Fine’s Lucas Arts adventure roots.

Watch a play through of the milkman conspiracy.

Psyconauts 1 is a good enough game, so as someone who hasn’t played 2 yet, maybe start with the first? It’s not quite as good as most 3D Marios or the first Banjo Kazooie, but it’s really close. A bit wonky in the controls dept. I don’t know if 2 would ruin 1 for you.

@best3444 Forgot to mention there’s a demo now. Go try that.

This is full stop one of the best 2D games I’ve played. It feels bigger budget than you might expect, and has immaculate pacing, if you don’t mind a little linearity at times. The design team knew what they were doing at every beat. The control nitpicking in here is mostly remedied by the fact that everything is introduced to you gradually, so that it doesn’t overwhelm at the start. Either way Samus feels good to control in this game. General movement is the best it’s been in the series, and that’s after the GBA games upped the ante. I wouldn’t say its definitively the best 2D Metroid: that depends on how highly you regard Super. But there’s no part of the game I got bored or exhausted by. Or felt like it retread earlier games (or other Metroidvanias) too much, or without earning it on its own accord. Its just awesome through and through. An instant classic IMO.

I always simply outran the EMMI. I think there was one time near the end when I truly needed to use the cloak, but overall, mad dashing works fine. Using the grapple at times also works, before you get better movement options. Missles feel fine to me, but I got used to it in Samus Returns. The grapple is a bit more confusing admittedly, but you seldom need to use it on the fly. The double jump works as spin jump does in any other Metroid. It’s antiquated, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years. It does factor into some of the boost puzzles for missile expansions. My biggest gripe with the controls by far is making you have to push in the stick to activate a sprint. But there’s nothing in this game that feels unreasonably difficult to control like Wall Jumping was in Super. Or even the hardest missle expansions in Zero Mission. Oh, and phase shift is awesome. Bosses are perfectly tuned to your abilities. I bet hard mode is a real test of skill, it’d be fun if I ever go back. Beat it last night. What a game, definitely a worthy follow up after all these years. Absolutely worth the $60.

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