(No spoilers, but two abilities are mentioned, so read as you will)
Metroid Dread is fantastic and is probably now my favorite Metroid. I have enjoyed the environment and atmosphere of the game, it's probably going to give some chills at first even if it wears off with time.
Overall, I found the game to be increasingly hard with some little difficulty spikes at some moments, especially at bosses. But with some attempts, I found myself getting used to the bosses' patterns fast enough for my liking, which made it enjoyable and rewarding.
As weaknesses, first, I wish the game had two, maybe three more hours of gameplay. I personally finished it with 11 hours which felt a bit short, but I prefer that instead of feeling eternally long. Just a wish.
Second, some collectibles are hard to obtain because of tricky uses of the Speed Boost/Shinespark ability. While the way of getting them is indeed challenging, I found that most of the time, what annoyed me in them is that the distance you have to run to activate the ability is way too short, sometimes requiring almost perfect inputs. In short, the challenges took time not because it was hard, but because I couldn't even start running properly. It was especially annoying when the enemies respawn once you're far enough, instead of a respawn when you cross two, three rooms.
And third, I wish the controls were a little improved. I felt like sometimes there wasn't enough buttons on the controller for all the abilities and items you could use. And I also hated the fact that to use the scan, I had to hold down the button and not just press it to activate. It didn't felt comfortable or efficient when you want to explore at a normal/fast pace, instead of having to stop to activate it.
Nonetheless, these three weaknesses are very light, and it's pretty much nothing compared to the myriad of qualities this game has. As a final note, I really liked the designs of the enemies.
Metroid Dread is fantastic and is probably now my favorite Metroid. I have enjoyed the environment and atmosphere of the game, it's probably going to give some chills at first even if it wears off with time.
Overall, I found the game to be increasingly hard with some little difficulty spikes at some moments, especially at bosses. But with some attempts, I found myself getting used to the bosses' patterns fast enough for my liking, which made it enjoyable and rewarding.
As weaknesses, first, I wish the game had two, maybe three more hours of gameplay. I personally finished it with 11 hours which felt a bit short, but I prefer that instead of feeling eternally long. Just a wish.
Second, some collectibles are hard to obtain because of tricky uses of the Speed Boost/Shinespark ability. While the way of getting them is indeed challenging, I found that most of the time, what annoyed me in them is that the distance you have to run to activate the ability is way too short, sometimes requiring almost perfect inputs. In short, the challenges took time not because it was hard, but because I couldn't even start running properly. It was especially annoying when the enemies respawn once you're far enough, instead of a respawn when you cross two, three rooms.
And third, I wish the controls were a little improved. I felt like sometimes there wasn't enough buttons on the controller for all the abilities and items you could use. And I also hated the fact that to use the scan, I had to hold down the button and not just press it to activate. It didn't felt comfortable or efficient when you want to explore at a normal/fast pace, instead of having to stop to activate it.
Nonetheless, these three weaknesses are very light, and it's pretty much nothing compared to the myriad of qualities this game has. As a final note, I really liked the designs of the enemies.