Metroid: Samus Returns

[DANGERMAN]

I bought this intending to keep it for my holiday in a couple of weeks, to give me something a bit lighter and more action-y than the various jrpgs I've got to grind in to finish. I booted it up to give it a look the other night, and it turns out Metroid Samus Returns is actually really good, and I've not played anything else since

 

I know it's stating the obvious given that it's based on the original and developed by people with experience of the other original, but it's very much a metroidvania. I'm not sure why this and the various Castlevanias have clicked with my where a million other very similar games haven't but I'm loving it. I feel like I'm halfway through the game, but the clear % when I last loaded a save had me at about 27%. 

 

Anyway, there's a big disc at the start of each area, it lights up with how many metroid DNA you need to get. How the ancients knew that metroids would be on the planet, and that whoever needed the water draining would have the technology to harvest it I don't know, probably best not to think about it. The metroids, so far, have only really taken a couple of forms, and I'm still seeing the first every now and again. You exponentially need more of them to open up each new area, although there are lifts to take you to new sub areas.

 

They've added a counter system and it's pretty vital quite quickly. For one it gives you more yellow orbs that refill your "special" meter, this lets you use a few moves activated by the d-pad, including a scan that reveals some of the map and breakable blocks, and increased armour. Countering enemies staggers them, making them easier to kill, including the metroids

 

Aside from that it's a fairly known quantity. As criticism I'd say trudging around can be a bit of a pain, when isn't it in these kind of games I guess, but it's certainly slower than I'd like, but then, compared to something like Castlevania, you're fighting the environment as much as the enemies. The controls can also be a bit finicky. It's not often that it's the kind of game requires twitch reflexes, but every now and then you'll fumble around trying to get out of a ball or pick the right weapon as an enemy charges you. There's a dexterity required that feels very retro, fitting I guess, but I wouldn't say it was a barrier for the vast majority of people

 

Kind of nice that the 3DS is still getting games good enough to be amongst the games of the year

[illdog]

I'm playing this. I'm not far in to it, I've only beaten three Metroids but from the off it has a 'feel' to it, kind of an air of quality.

 

I agree with Dangerman reference the controls, they don't feel intuitive to me but you get used to them. It's not an easy game, you can lose health quickly in certain areas, especially when fumbling for the counter button and there are sometimes two or three enemies coming at you, one mistake and you can get a hiding. There does often seem to be an enemy waiting behind every door to give you a smack in the face before you have time to think.

 

It is addictive though, the want to explore gets in your bones and so far I've been fed new abilities at a steady rate which of course steadily opens up new areas and expands on old.

 

I'll be playing this on and off I rekon, drag it out a bit. I like having good games to play on my 3DS.

[illdog]

This is really starting to open up now. I've acquired quite a few classic power ups which is making backtracking as interesting a prospect as going forward.

 

It remains pretty tough in my opinion, I've just beat my 9th Metroid and it was a proper bastard, I died a fair few times before victory due to how much energy you lose if hit. On the plus I'm getting good at countering regular enemy attacks and following up with a power cannon blast that the game homes in for you.

 

I have got stuck a few times, its never too tough to find the way forward but it's not always obvious either.

[DANGERMAN]

Something I found useful a couple of times, if you head back to the dna drop off point (I don't think you need any Metroid dna for this), it marks where the next Metroid is on your map 

 

As you've said it can be pretty difficult, or at least hard not to take damage, I've had to keep retriggering enemies so I can get health and yellow back. That's a bit of a chore but there no other way of doing it really 

[DANGERMAN]

Been playing this a lot while I've been away, and before too tbf. I'm glad it's on the 3ds, fuck the people that moan, but I will concede that an action game of this length (getting towards 20 hours) could be better suited to an actual console 

 

Control wise the only thing I consistently have problems with is the double jump thing. Once you get the feel it's easy, spur of the moment in a boss fight its not, I've lost a lot of health from it 

 

I'm near the end. One Metroid left I think, I'm hoping it's not an absolute cunt and I think I'm right outside the door for it 

 

Edit: definitely not on the final boss 

[DANGERMAN]

Just finished this, it's a fantastic game that I think a lot of people missed because it's on the 3DS

 

I was playing it on holiday but got stuck on a boss, I couldn't face redoing it over and over so left it meaning to get back to it once I got home, never did. I made a point of playing to play it today, I was on the penultimate boss, and while I didn't exactly nail it first time, I watched a video a couple of times to see the techniques for it, and picked it up surprisingly quickly considering I'm picking up on the boss. Right after that is the final fight, you can go and explore before ploughing on but at this point I've kind of got all the missiles I'm going to need

 

The final fight is really hard. It's multi part and involves the multi jump a little more than I'd like, I got decent with the multi jump but the window is never 100% reliable. Great game overall though, people shouldn't miss out on it

[illdog]

I've had to do a lot of travelling of late and this has been my go to game. As much as I agree it's a great game it has annoyed the fuck out of me. The respawning enemies I could do without (although i know they are heandy for health and special regen) but the way forward is less than clear a lot of the time, it just stutters progress unnecessarily.

 

The movement is nice and speedy though and at first I thought the controls were a bit of a handful but now,  after a three month gap they feel intuitive. I need to get back on this though, I havent played for a week or so. I think I have 18 Metroids left.

[spatular]

enjoyed dread so thought id give this a go, its very similar really which makes sense. It probably isnt as good as dread but i think i enjoyed it more because i found it easier, not sure if it is actually easier, probably its because i was used to the controls and countering and stuff. Some of the 3d looks cool, but also caused some problems in more frantic moments. The bosses are more inventive in dread, and the last boss in this is a bit of a slog but still found it much easier than dread.