I've been playing almost the entire back catalogue of the 2D Metroid games recently and I'm happy to say that none of this is new for Metroid Dread. The level design throughout the Metroid games...
I've been playing almost the entire back catalogue of the 2D Metroid games recently and I'm happy to say that none of this is new for Metroid Dread. The level design throughout the Metroid games has always been especially well done, with lots of intuitive layouts and signposting throughout. It's a subtle thing many other major Metroidvanias don't necessarily nail well, resulting in players being lost in the world with no idea what to do. I know I had that in my first few attempts of Hollow Knight, for example.
What I find especially interesting about the Metroid games designs so far is how secrets and hidden things are also subtly, but surely, indicated better than most other Metroidvanias. Little bits or holes in the level geometry stand out, or a creative use of enemy placement can either have the player accidentally reveal a secret or allow an observant player to notice that something is awry.
I liked the game, but I did actually get "lost" a couple times when the way forward wasn't very clear. Both were times when you had to shoot a random unmarked wall or floor to break it in order to...
I liked the game, but I did actually get "lost" a couple times when the way forward wasn't very clear.
Both were times when you had to shoot a random unmarked wall or floor to break it in order to open the way forward.
I kind of expected that, however, given past metroid games, so it wasn't that big of a deal for me. A newcomer to the series might have been less happy with it.
I think that's more of an issue with MercurySteam's breadcrumbing approach. Several upgrades require you to venture out to later regions before you've killed the E.M.M.I in your current region. It...
I think that's more of an issue with MercurySteam's breadcrumbing approach.
Several upgrades require you to venture out to later regions before you've killed the E.M.M.I in your current region. It makes you feel like you're doing things out of sequence the first time around. After a while and from MercurySteam's habit of closing off old pathways, it made the game feel far more linear than it should be.
Sometimes the required path is also really obtuse to get to and expects prior knowledge of certain techniques from the player. For example... after you kill the Yellow E.M.M.I and get the speed booster, you need to backtrack to one of the initial rooms in Dairon, shinespark to the top of said room, take a teleporter to Artaria's E.M.M.I Zone which you may or may not have spotted, then dash through said zone, charge up another shinespark to the top of another room, unlock the Grapple Beam, take the elevator back to Dairon, then remember that there was a grapple block at the top of Dairon which will take you to Ferenia.
But wait... the path I described after getting the Grapple Beam doesn't contain a single grapple block from my memory, only points where you can use the beam for its originally intended purpose of grappling to spider walls and swinging to other platforms.
Also, the grapple block leading to the Ferenia elevator is hidden behind a series of destructible blocks you'll need to dash through in Dairon's E.M.M.I zone. All that time being chased around may have made you miss that detail.
I've been playing almost the entire back catalogue of the 2D Metroid games recently and I'm happy to say that none of this is new for Metroid Dread. The level design throughout the Metroid games has always been especially well done, with lots of intuitive layouts and signposting throughout. It's a subtle thing many other major Metroidvanias don't necessarily nail well, resulting in players being lost in the world with no idea what to do. I know I had that in my first few attempts of Hollow Knight, for example.
What I find especially interesting about the Metroid games designs so far is how secrets and hidden things are also subtly, but surely, indicated better than most other Metroidvanias. Little bits or holes in the level geometry stand out, or a creative use of enemy placement can either have the player accidentally reveal a secret or allow an observant player to notice that something is awry.
I liked the game, but I did actually get "lost" a couple times when the way forward wasn't very clear.
Both were times when you had to shoot a random unmarked wall or floor to break it in order to open the way forward.
I kind of expected that, however, given past metroid games, so it wasn't that big of a deal for me. A newcomer to the series might have been less happy with it.
I think that's more of an issue with MercurySteam's breadcrumbing approach.
Several upgrades require you to venture out to later regions before you've killed the E.M.M.I in your current region. It makes you feel like you're doing things out of sequence the first time around. After a while and from MercurySteam's habit of closing off old pathways, it made the game feel far more linear than it should be.
Sometimes the required path is also really obtuse to get to and expects prior knowledge of certain techniques from the player. For example... after you kill the Yellow E.M.M.I and get the speed booster, you need to backtrack to one of the initial rooms in Dairon, shinespark to the top of said room, take a teleporter to Artaria's E.M.M.I Zone which you may or may not have spotted, then dash through said zone, charge up another shinespark to the top of another room, unlock the Grapple Beam, take the elevator back to Dairon, then remember that there was a grapple block at the top of Dairon which will take you to Ferenia.
But wait... the path I described after getting the Grapple Beam doesn't contain a single grapple block from my memory, only points where you can use the beam for its originally intended purpose of grappling to spider walls and swinging to other platforms.
Also, the grapple block leading to the Ferenia elevator is hidden behind a series of destructible blocks you'll need to dash through in Dairon's E.M.M.I zone. All that time being chased around may have made you miss that detail.