Nintendo Metroid Dread - A Game 15 Years in the Making [10/08/21], update: Patch Ver. 1.0.1 released

[best3444]

2 hours ago, Biggie said:

I’m so hyped for this game @GameDadGrant

 

I'm being serious about Ori. Watch this short review if you haven’t seen or played this game. It's available on Xbox and Switch. Makes Metroid 5 look like a SNES game. I'm currently over 2 hours in and I'm blown away by it's visuals, gameplay, music, and charm.

 

 

[GameDadGrant]

@best3444

 

The visuals for that game are tight, no doubt about it. I have both Ori games on Switch. They are fantastic.

 

Still hyped for Dread.

[Biggie]

Any Metroid game ever > Ori and the Will of the Wisps

 

[best3444]

5 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

@best3444

 

The visuals for that game are tight, no doubt about it. I have both Ori games on Switch. They are fantastic.

 

Still hyped for Dread.

 

Don't get me wrong, Dread will be cool as hell. I'll definitely play it. It's just disappointing that they can't deliver what Ori does on the presentation side of things. 

[Paperclyp]

2 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Metroid Fusion was my first Metroid game. I bought a copy at Walmart on sale and still have it. Game got expensive.

I think the analogue pocket looks cool as hell, but the price of these old games prevents me from pulling the trigger on it. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

26 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I think the analogue pocket looks cool as hell, but the price of these old games prevents me from pulling the trigger on it. 

Yeah, it’s gotten crazy. Glad I did my collecting years ago. 

[Brick]

4 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Metroid Fusion was my first Metroid game. I bought a copy at Walmart on sale and still have it. Game got expensive.

 

Fusion was my first as well. Pretty sure I also picked it out at Walmart as a birthday present. Loved Samus in Smash so I was excited to finally play one of her games. I've loved the series, and the genre since. 

[GameDadGrant]

@CastlevaniaNut18 @Brick

 

Count me in the same club. While Fusion wasn't the *first* Metroid game I've played, it was the first one I actually played to completion. So...basically the same thing? Kinda? 

 

I remember playing it on my GBA SP in the dark, because there was this huge power outage in Michigan at the time (and maybe some surrounding states?). We had no electricity, no A/C, but...my Game Boy still had charge in it! So I could still play this recent release, regardless. (Reason #327 why portable gaming > console gaming) It was an experience for sure. Nothing like sweating from the dire heat in the summer while being hunted down by the SA-X, lol. Good times. 

 

Still own the cart, plus own it digitally on both 3DS and Wii U. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to give it another run.

[Kal-El814]

On 6/20/2021 at 4:15 PM, GameDadGrant said:

What’s crazy is that there is only ONE way to actually play all 4 original 2D Metroid games on a single system (legally, anyway). 
 

The one system that can do that right now is the NEW 3DS. And even then, only if you are a 3DS Ambassador, *AND* you transferred your original 3DS account to your NEW 3DS. 
 

I’ve done that, of course, but even I look at this situation and just...marvel at how bonkers it is, LOL

 

But here’s the silver lining: you wouldn’t have had to actually buy any of them. IIRC, each game was given away free at some point. The original game and Fusion were both part of the Ambassador Program, so those were free. And then Return of Samus and Super were given away at different times via Club Nintendo (RIP). 
 

So there is at least that!  

 

I have done this. Worship me.

[Brick]

[Ghost_MH]

5 hours ago, Brick said:

 

I hope that's an actual storyline and not just set dressing.

[Chris-]

@Bloodporne acting like he isn’t going to get this and play the hell out of it lmao, we know what you’re about son. 

[Brian]

For a game in development for 15 years, it ain’t a looker

 

[Keyser_Soze]

26 minutes ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

For a game in development for 15 years, it ain’t a looker

 

They didn't have the technology 15 years ago to make it look this good!

[AbsolutSurgen]

For a $60 game released in 2021, it ain't a looker.

[Ghost_MH]

55 minutes ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

For a game in development for 15 years, it ain’t a looker

 

 

It hasn't been in development for 15 years. Development began 15 years ago and then the game was put on hold, indefinitely.  This isn't Duke Nukem Forever where development was ongoing and then restarted multiple times. It was begun and then shelved until now.

[Keyser_Soze]

26 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

It hasn't been in development for 15 years. Development began 15 years ago and then the game was put on hold, indefinitely.  This isn't Duke Nukem Forever where development was ongoing and then restarted multiple times. It was begun and then shelved until now.

 

And picked up right where they left off.

[Ghost_MH]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

And picked up right where they left off.

 

I would love to know what exactly Nintendo shared with MercurySteam. I imagine they shared the story and probably some character designs, but I wonder if there was anything more than just concept art. It would be interesting to see how anything developed for the DS was reimagined for the Switch. Then again, we don't even know if this game ever even got very far into development on the DS.

[Joe]

MercurySteam is based in Spain, guys. We aren’t factoring in the fact that my paisanos need to take a nap every couple of hours. Development will inevitably lag as a result.

[Bloodporne]

6 hours ago, Chris- said:

@Bloodporne acting like he isn’t going to get this and play the hell out of it lmao, we know what you’re about son. 

Sure, when the PS5 port hits

[GameDadGrant]

9 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

They didn't have the technology 15 years ago to make it look this good!

I feel Nintendo has said things like this before and...I’m not sure if that’s like a “company line” or if it doesn’t translate from Japanese to English well. But I have a distinct memory of reading an interview with Miyamoto (maybe in Nintendo Power or something) regarding the development of Super Mario World. 

He said something along the lines of “we always wanted to let Mario have a mount, but we didn’t have the technology to introduce Yoshi until we had the power of the SNES to do it.”

 

Meanwhile Master Higgins was riding dinosaurs in the Adventure Island games on NES and Game Boy. 
 

So I dunno where this “we didn’t have the technology” thing comes from. Especially when the Wii U was out for years and the Switch isn’t *that* much more powerful.

 

[GameDadGrant]

4 hours ago, Bloodporne said:

Sure, when the PS5 port hits

Actually, wow. Imagine playing a Metroid game on a PlayStation. 
 

[Ghost_MH]

1 hour ago, GameDadGrant said:

I feel Nintendo has said things like this before and...I’m not sure if that’s like a “company line” or if it doesn’t translate from Japanese to English well. But I have a distinct memory of reading an interview with Miyamoto (maybe in Nintendo Power or something) regarding the development of Super Mario World. 

He said something along the lines of “we always wanted to let Mario have a mount, but we didn’t have the technology to introduce Yoshi until we had the power of the SNES to do it.”

 

Meanwhile Master Higgins was riding dinosaurs in the Adventure Island games on NES and Game Boy. 
 

So I dunno where this “we didn’t have the technology” thing comes from. Especially when the Wii U was out for years and the Switch isn’t *that* much more powerful.

 

I think I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I think Nintendo's problem was that they wanted to save money and not go with a full home console release. Metroid isn't exactly one of Nintendo's best sellers and they likely thought a home console side scroller would exasperate things. They, obviously, missed the DS they were originally targeting, but they did hit the 3DS with Samus Returns as a test for giving Dread to MercurySteam. Outsourcing to MercurySteam is absolutely cheaper for them than developing the game internally.

 

That just winds up being this weird 15 year gap between the start of the DS and then 5 years into the Switch.

 

That's a lot of words to read that the DS couldn't do it, the 3DS was likely possible, but by that time MercurySteam had popped up as a happy test to outsource all the development for less money. Also Nintendo doesn't trust Metroid to sell all that well, and I don't blame them.

 

 

I mean, I love Metroid. I've been playing Metroid games since my first taste in the 80s on the NES. Super Metroid is the second game I ever replayed immediately after beating it on the SNES. The first was Star Fox. But like...they don't sell well. Nintendo should really expand the Metroid universe. Do more stuff like Federation Force, but better. Metroid has Nintendo richest story. It's also, I believe, the longest running story arc in gaming...I can't think of anything that's run longer. Nintendo should lean into it. Metroid should be their Star Wars, but it isn't because they don't care.

[Keyser_Soze]

I think more people like Samus the character than they do the game Metroid.

[Paperclyp]

I think listing the sales of Animal Crossing on the switch isn’t really fair to Metroid in terms of the game’s potential. 
 

Nintendo has always treated the game as a second class citizen and it has had to earn every sale. I would guess Prime vs the GC Animal Crossing sales are pretty comparable. But I dunno, the only good game other than the Prime series was like quietly released in the twilight of the 3DS lifespan. If it had been a switch launch game I have to imagine it would be a pretty big success for Nintendo. 
 

If Dread comes out and flops I’ll entertain the whole “people don’t like metroid” thing. I think it’ll be a huge game for them tho. It’s not gonna outsell AC, but that’s an unfair standard to hold it to. 

[Kal-El814]

2 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

I think I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I think Nintendo's problem was that they wanted to save money and not go with a full home console release. Metroid isn't exactly one of Nintendo's best sellers and they likely thought a home console side scroller would exasperate things. They, obviously, missed the DS they were originally targeting, but they did hit the 3DS with Samus Returns as a test for giving Dread to MercurySteam. Outsourcing to MercurySteam is absolutely cheaper for them than developing the game internally.

 

That just winds up being this weird 15 year gap between the start of the DS and then 5 years into the Switch.

 

That's a lot of words to read that the DS couldn't do it, the 3DS was likely possible, but by that time MercurySteam had popped up as a happy test to outsource all the development for less money. Also Nintendo doesn't trust Metroid to sell all that well, and I don't blame them.

 

 

I mean, I love Metroid. I've been playing Metroid games since my first taste in the 80s on the NES. Super Metroid is the second game I ever replayed immediately after beating it on the SNES. The first was Star Fox. But like...they don't sell well. Nintendo should really expand the Metroid universe. Do more stuff like Federation Force, but better. Metroid has Nintendo richest story. It's also, I believe, the longest running story arc in gaming...I can't think of anything that's run longer. Nintendo should lean into it. Metroid should be their Star Wars, but it isn't because they don't care.

Wolfenstein is longer, I guess? Depending on how you think about it?

 

And I think Zelda has Metroid beat by something like 5 months.   

 

interesting though, I haven’t thought about that before. 

[Ghost_MH]

Another thing to consider is that Metroid is an outlier when it comes to major Nintendo franchises. For some reason, Nintendo thinks every entry in a game has to be changed in some new and unique way. Even Mario Kart needs some unique gimmick added every generation, even if that's just adding a second driver or hover mechanics that don't really change anything but the view. This has been great to keep some franchises like Mario feeling fresh even after so many decades. It's been terrible got some franchises like F-Zero, Wave Race, and 1080 that Nintendo feels they can't really add anything to. You can tell that after Metroid Prime Nintendo thought they figured out the formula and went all out with new types of Metroid games. The following decade have us everything from pinball to a multiplayer FPS to whatever isometric thing Other M was. After that died down the next decade was, what? A remake and a really cheaply thrown together Federation Force?

[Ghost_MH]

4 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Wolfenstein is longer, I guess? Depending on how you think about it?

 

And I think Zelda has Metroid beat by something like 5 months.   

 

interesting though, I haven’t thought about that before. 

 

Didn't they reboot the Wolfenstein story into an alternate timeline at some point? If not then, yeah, Wolfenstein wins.

 

Zelda doesn't count. It's alternating timelines and different people set over thousands of years. Metroid is a straight timeline with no diversions. It's wildly rare to see in any media, let alone games.

 

Just think about how many games would even fall into this category. Elder Scrolls? They started in the early-90s and are still on the same timeline. Resident Evil started in mid-90s.

[Kal-El814]

7 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

Didn't they reboot the Wolfenstein story into an alternate timeline at some point? If not then, yeah, Wolfenstein wins.

 

Zelda doesn't count. It's alternating timelines and different people set over thousands of years. Metroid is a straight timeline with no diversions. It's wildly rare to see in any media, let alone games.

 

Just think about how many games would even fall into this category. Elder Scrolls? They started in the early-90s and are still on the same timeline. Resident Evil started in mid-90s.

 

Yeah I think they did reboot it for the recent games. They get kind of cute with which of the old games they reference vs. incorporates, maybe it goes back to Return to Castle Wolfenstein or something and not the whole way back.

[crispy4000]

10 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

Another thing to consider is that Metroid is an outlier when it comes to major Nintendo franchises. For some reason, Nintendo thinks every entry in a game has to be changed in some new and unique way. Even Mario Kart needs some unique gimmick added every generation, even if that's just adding a second driver or hover mechanics that don't really change anything but the view. This has been great to keep some franchises like Mario feeling fresh even after so many decades. It's been terrible got some franchises like F-Zero, Wave Race, and 1080 that Nintendo feels they can't really add anything to. You can tell that after Metroid Prime Nintendo thought they figured out the formula and went all out with new types of Metroid games. The following decade have us everything from pinball to a multiplayer FPS to whatever isometric thing Other M was. After that died down the next decade was, what? A remake and a really cheaply thrown together Federation Force?

I’ll add that all three of the Metroid Prime games diverged from each other in pretty substantial ways.  Overall, I think it’s a good thing.  Keeps franchises from feeling stale.

 

Nintendo does make exceptions for Kirby though, on occasion.  They should be able to for F-Zero and Wave Race if they really wanted.  It’s probably more of an issue of a team not being available or excited to tackle it.

[GameDadGrant]

On 6/22/2021 at 10:52 PM, Ghost_MH said:

Nintendo should really expand the Metroid universe. Do more stuff like Federation Force, but better. Metroid has Nintendo richest story. It's also, I believe, the longest running story arc in gaming...I can't think of anything that's run longer. Nintendo should lean into it. Metroid should be their Star Wars, but it isn't because the games don't sell as well as Star Wars.

 

FTFY.  

 

But interesting take on how they wanted to put it on the DS and then kinda scrambled for the 3DS release of Samus Returns. Who knows if that's true, but seems at least plausible. 

 

Also, yeah I agree...I wouldn't mind at all if Nintendo did more stuff to flesh out the Metroid universe. I've played a good chunk of Federation Force (still haven't beaten it) but what I played was actually...good? I mean, it was a fun little co-op first-person action game. Best played with others of course, but it was actually a quality product. 

 

Buuuuuuuut...wow. That art direction. WTF. Nintendo, you might be able to get away with making The Legend of Zelda cute, but you can't do that with Metroid. C'mon now.

[Ghost_MH]

This is cool...

 

 

[best3444]

That's the least they could do with such a boring atmosphere the game will offer. Not hating! Just an observation.  

 

I'm still buying this.

[GameDadGrant]

 

 

[Brian]