Yeah, this is excellent. I'm due to revisit a lot of 2D Metroid, but my impression of the series was informed by Prime 1 - slow, pensive, and thoughtful, interspersed with bigger set pieces. Dread's speed makes for such a striking but not unwelcome contrast. It's the logical endpoint of a lot of 2D Metroid's design - Super's expansive world exploration, Samus Returns' kinetic combat focus, Fusion's fragile hero necessitating a stealth approach - and so much of it feels right.
Having said that, it makes me happy how little the game is relying on "replaying the hits" (so to speak) to work. The core power-up suite from Super's here (but then most Metroids do that), but the way these are implemented within the game world often feels very unique. So much of that comes down to the E.M.M.I. encounters (for which "dread" is a great descriptor - not outright terror, just the certain knowledge that you're confronting something you can't pin down and that you need to overcome), but I even love what the non-E.M.M.I. encounters have to say about the game experience. I'm so very impressed by how much Mercury Steam "gets" Metroid, and I'm so happy they had the chance to really prove themselves.
People who say Samus is emotionless in this game are high. I've always liked Samus as an archetypal hero, but this is easily the most I've appreciated who she is as a character. For a series that's all about ambience and atmosphere, I ended up getting really invested in the actors within this play. Great stuff.
Having said that, it makes me happy how little the game is relying on "replaying the hits" (so to speak) to work. The core power-up suite from Super's here (but then most Metroids do that), but the way these are implemented within the game world often feels very unique. So much of that comes down to the E.M.M.I. encounters (for which "dread" is a great descriptor - not outright terror, just the certain knowledge that you're confronting something you can't pin down and that you need to overcome), but I even love what the non-E.M.M.I. encounters have to say about the game experience. I'm so very impressed by how much Mercury Steam "gets" Metroid, and I'm so happy they had the chance to really prove themselves.
People who say Samus is emotionless in this game are high. I've always liked Samus as an archetypal hero, but this is easily the most I've appreciated who she is as a character. For a series that's all about ambience and atmosphere, I ended up getting really invested in the actors within this play. Great stuff.