Brando and Chrizz take a deep dive into Metroid Dread an incredible game with lots to offer. But is it reaching its true potential? How does it stack up in the genre it created? Should you play it? All this and more are discussed when you join us for this episode, of Void Arcade, where you WILL become a 70% better gamer just for listening to it.
Shout outs:
Show Outline
Story/World
Is is a good continuation of Fusion?
Is it a good end to this narrative arc?
Is it a good “Metroid” story?
Favorite areas
Character/basic enemy thoughts(?)
Gameplay
% of completion for each of us
I imagine this leading right into “did they make exploration worth it?”
Difficulty thoughts
Normal Mode, Hard Mode thoughts
places we died frequently
Was this due to player skill or the game being dumb?
The Boss’s
Favorite Boss Fight(?)
“Upgrades”
Favorite upgrades?
Spoiler Territory
Reveal of the X parasites
Final boss talk
Final suit transformation talk
conclusion/ramifications/etc.
Overall thoughts
How does Dread stack up in its own genre?
vs. Hollow Knight, Ori and the Will of the Wisp (x2), Steamworld Dig games, Dead Cells(?)
What we didn’t like about Dread
What we Loved about Dread
Recommend the game?
Closing Remarks & Shout-outs
Brandon’s Unfiltered & Unsorted Thoughts
I loved Dread as a Metroid game (with the world, and Samus, and the X-Parasite and the Lore) but I do not think it is an evolution in the “Metroid Genre” (aka metroidvania) game. My main comparison is going to be Hollow Knight because Hollow Knight is probably the best Metroidvania ever made
My reason for this is because the game gives you upgrades almost too fast to appreciate them, in a “Metroidvania” sense. In this way, it feels magically linear, even though I know I can go wherever I want. Legit mad appreciation for the devs being genius’ of game design where they are able to do this.
Hollow Knight: 7 Major Abilities for traversal and stuff (over 30+ hours), Dread: 26 items and abilities (over 6+ hours)
After getting any of these upgrades, you can go on the mini-map, and pretty easily find the next place to use the ability, clear those rooms, up until the next item where you do the same thing. This was made especially apparent in my second “Hard” playthrough.
Compare this to Hollow Knight, where they give you subtle nuances to areas you can ALLLLmost reach, so when you finally get that ability you go “YES! I know EXACTLY where to use that.”
My fav boss is either kraid or the octopus guy idk corrupted bird knight dudes
The X parasite chozo were pretty fun too
Most difficult boss for me both times was that electric beetle X parasite dude, and killing the mech chozo in the forest (for some reason) and of course the final boss
