Metroid Dread Review + Addressing the Controversy

[@BlastMagicianYGO]

I appreciate that you left any names out of your review, not only is it not necessary to stir up drama to attack the points other reviewers make, but naming them might drive traffic over to them, and my biggest concern for the source of one of the controversies is that their name recognition might cause people to take their word over others and will drive people that would otherwise really enjoy the game away without giving it a chance. I'm just getting into the Metroidvania genre properly, I don't want to see it die now.

[@BLACKB0ND]

The game was great.

[@pokesketcherandy]

QUACK! it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this name lmao

[@gamer39985]

The....DEFINITIVE VERSION!

[@kobexxballer]

Lol haven’t heard a positive thing from blackbond about Nintendo in a min

[@TheSsbcandidates]

You were right all along.

[@TheMDZ79]

This game to me was amazing. Replayed it three times. 100% in my first playthrough, second I did speedrun on hard mode, and last speedrun it on normal mode. What I like so far: Level Design, gladly not handholding. Bosses were challenging, but if you know the pattern it rewards you for it. Weapons were great too. Music: As you saided it is not as memorable as Super Metroid, but if you play the game, it is great. Story: As a fan of 2D Metroid lore, the way it ended was amazing. Normally I would say I want more.

[@mrshmuga9]

He’s finally become an anime character. He has a bandage.

[@metareviews]

Finally Shokio's KZbin return

[@dave4054]

The sequence breaking in this game is so fun. On my second play through I got the space jump and screw attack before getting the gravity suit, and I managed to skip experiment Z-57 and the entire frozen artaria segment. I also cheesed the escue fight with the screw attack since you can use it against it. There’s so much left I have yet to discover, that I may just put this above Super Metroid and Fusion as my favorite Metroid game.

[@artisanjames182]

the first 2 times i got stuck was because i forgot i could "slide" under a morphball like crevice.... once in an emmi room in which you need to rise the water and so on...

[@SsbPrime]

Shokio era comin back?

[@ItApproaches]

I feel like the reason Samus doesn't talk much, is simply because she's always travelling alone. She has nobody to talk to. She really only has Adam, who only talks to her at certain points, and they don't have conversations. Samus is a lone wolf bounty hunter, you're just the camera guy following her on her adventure. She doesn't speak Metroid, or Kraid language and even if she did, she wouldn't care to talk with creaturs trying to kill her, she's there to kill an alien threat, not have a debate with it.

[@successanimation]

This is by far the best video about Metroid Dread in my opinion. Finally somebody who says what I was thinking and elaborates it incredibly well.

[@mr_m4613]

The jingle that plays when you get a new power up from a chozo statue alone makes this the best Metroid game ever created.

[@kickitsmooth]

The controls are some of the most satisfying of any game. The animations, visuals, and cinematics are exactly what you want to see from a modern Metroid. Level design was very good. You always felt like you knew where to go with a healthy amount of “well now what” moments. I can only think of one or two instances where I overlooked a destroyable block and felt frustrated. I personally enjoyed the soundtrack even during my initial playthrough. Burenia, Artaria, and every boss theme are the standouts. Its a bit short but only because the game doesn’t waste your time. Its fast paced and efficient.

[@mrshmuga9]

It’s really nice to hear fans are enjoying this. Like you said, doing a “long lost” sequel after nearly 20 years is almost impossible to follow up well, but it sounds like they knocked it out of the park. Haven’t really played Metroid but after some of the trailers it got me interested.

[@TimDespairBear11]

I agree shokio. I bought a switch JUST to play Metroid dread. I haven’t owned a Nintendo system since the wii besides a 3DS. So far I’m loving dread.

[@benchjuice]

Despite being a big focus in the advertisement, I don't think the E.M.M.Is were utilized very well. Most of the time you're not actually doing anything other than running past or jumping over them and restarting to 20 seconds ago if you mess up. It's even more noticeable replaying the game when you know where to go. The different colors have different gimmicks, but it doesn't amount to much when the tactics are the same through the whole game. I think it could be fixed to an extent by having some tasks other than "run to the exit" inside the E.M.M.I zones, like the one early in the game when you stand on a plate to raise the water level. On another note, I think the Chozo mini-bosses were hella overused. Some variety would've been nice, though they might have just been running out of dev time. But these amount to basically just nitpicks, I think it's a great game and I've had a great time playing it.

[@BlastMagicianYGO]

I mean, it's hard to argue that the E.M.M.I.s are poorly implemented because you had to do the thing they were designed to make you do. In terms of my playthrough of the game, there was not a time that I didn't have to hype myself up for entering an active E.M.M.I. zone. Also, considering how active and responsive their AI is, I would imagine that adding extra variables into their zones, such as additional objectives would either bog them down, or cause unnecessary difficulty spikes. Also, if they made dying to the E.M.M.I.s any more punishing, such as by kicking you to the last save point, it would only lead to a bitter feeling for those droves of new players that are obviously picking up the franchise for the first time. While Dread is definitely a skill-based game, and one that expects a minimum of competency and trial and error, if you raise the skill floor too high, it kills enthusiasm for those players that might otherwise want to learn how to reach the high ceiling this game hands you.

[@gokuuzumaki70]

I don't agree with the E.M.M.I point but I agree with the Chozo bosses. Had to fight that spear guy like 5 times

[@thedastardlylizard5944]

I wanted more from the Red E.M.M.I. A hunter with the POWER BOMB?! If that doesn't shout Dread, I don't know what does.

[@AlexMolina93]

One of the best Metroid games ever made! I love it!

[@eddieanderson9399]

Metroid Dread is the perfect game for anyone to pick up and play. It's got just enough instruction for newcomers to learn what to do once they start and not too much where experienced Metroid players can easily pick it up and give it a go.

[@iceloveanime]

I agree wholeheartedly agree with basically 99.9% of everything said in this video. Specifically the level design. My cousin remembered everything to go back to. when he needed a hint it was more up to me as somebody who already beat the game to think as a developer to not straight up give him the answer but it give a HINT. Another thing is that you finally put it into words why i didn't really like metroid dread's music nearly as much compared to other metroid games. Good stuff sir!

[@holyone221]

Nintendrones saying they died hundreds of times to the emmis how sway they easy for me

[@gokuuzumaki70]

The only nitpick I have is getting stuck in morph ball. You can't exit the form by jumping or shooting, you have to tilt up or press zl which you forget when you're in hurry.

[@SeightJam]

Oh hold up, you're the same Shokio from the SSBU Texas community? The Sheik? Loool I just came here to get more perspectives on Dread, had no idea I'd run into another Smash player. I 1000000% agree with your first point that people are mistaking "not hand-holding" for "archaic design."

[@ActionJaxonH]

Speak on it. This game is incredible. I saw Jaffe’s take and just facepalmed. How can that guy be so obtuse

[@tonyp9313]

The guy is 100% right though. A game shouldn't be very hard. If you're doing bosses 50+ times over just to notice a pattern on how to beat them, that is not good. I'm glad youtube exsists so I can see gameplay...Saw it, basically that white Robot chases you all the time & you get killed every 5 min...So $70-$80 stays in my pocket now.

[@Charnutboy]

@@tonyp9313 The whole point of a boss is to be a challenging hurdle for the player to overcome. Messing up, learning from your mistakes, and trying again while applying that knowledge is the name of the game. If you're not a fan of that and prefer to blast through things first or second try, then games like Metroid, Celeste, Cuphead, etc. (all different genres that follow this logic) just aren't for you.

[@tonyp9313]

@@Charnutboy Yeah I get that. However it's not about what I like or don't. It's about sales. Them doing this gets them a lot less sales because the hardcore Metroid fans are a minority. So it would make sense to put options in there to make it easier for people like me and everyone else who thinks the same way and wants to play it on a easy mode etc.

[@Charnutboy]

@@tonyp9313 Dread is already blowing the other games in the series out of the water when it comes to sales. If we were to look at that alone, I'd say that's an indication that they've pleased both newcomers _and_ veterans. Plus, I don't know why having above-average difficulty would indicate less sales in the first place-plenty have done so and achieved critical acclaim and success despite spawning similar controversies to this one at launch (Cuphead and Dark Souls being notable examples). And while this is admittedly just my personal anecdote at the end of the day, I played through Dread as my first Metroid and it was great. Lots of struggling, and again, could definitely see it not being someone's cup of tea. But there's a fine line between "this game isn't for some people" and "this game's design is bad for newcomers," and this one is a far cry away from the latter. Much of it is designed to be hard initially, but once you pick up on a hint during a fight or while exploring the map, it becomes laughably easy-that's why an easy mode wasn't included in the first place.

[@ItApproaches]

The first hour or so I was getting overwhelmed by the map lol, was like which way leads to a power up? Got abit lost but managed. Then by the 3rd power up onwards it's easy to figure out where to go. You get super missiles then you just check the map for doors you passed that you couldn't go through before and then you're like well obviously that way. E.M.M.I rooms were just pick a random path and hope you headed towards the exit lol. Abit of trial and error, but once you beat the game it's easy to zoom through afterwards.

[@NascarFanMel141820]

It cracks me up because David Jaffe said it was horrible level design. 😂 I’m wondering if you saw his video explaining this Shokio? I’m loving Dread though. But people just crazy. Even Adam Sessler complained about this game.

[@felixblue5251]

honestly i dont think any of the controversy surrounding the game has been legit; its just bs stirred up by Kotaku releasing back-to-back stupid articles about the game; everyone i know who's played it (including myself) loves it

[@supaman8304ify]

2:20 when you talk about random chance I completely agree the game actually tells you when there is something within that room that is hidden I 100%'d the game in 2 days there's nothing random its just searching around and being aware about where a specific item was earlier in the game and going back.. also the speed booster block puzzles were hella awesome🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Dzzy123]

I kind of disagree with you when you say that you don't get a good idea of how powerful Samus is in the Prime games. You can see just how powerful she is when she takes out huge enemies like Quadraxis or the Emperor Ing. Hyper mode in Prime 3 is basically OP mode. The few cutscenes in the Prime trilogy also make Samus look like a badass. This was a great review, though. Hope you upload more content.

[@eddieanderson9399]

This game would be the greatest 2D game ever if they just had the music of Metroid Prime in it.

[@spacecoyote6101]

Anybody that has a problem with ambiguous level design in metroid dread is absolutely wrong. If anything, the level design is too hand-holdy and linear. Dread has been my first metroidvania and the level design is so seamless that you almost never have to backtrack. It's basically always possible to keep advancing and the game signposts so well where to go that I only found myself stuck once, maybe twice (there was one instance where there were hidden blocks in one of the emmi zones that I had to look up for how to advance, and I also got stuck after getting the space jump in the underwater part because I sucked at timing my jumps). All you have to do to know how to advance is pay the most basic level of attention to your surroundings and it's obvious where to go.

[@TheMike5125]

People are saying that this game shouldn’t be 60 because it is 2D and has bad graphics when this game is literally so good I can’t put it down. If Metroid Dread could be this good with a possibly potato budget, AAA games with hundreds of millions for their budget have no excuse. Looking at Cyberpunk!

[@doclouis4236]

People be saying that while they're also the one's who probably bought the Link's Awakening remake and the Pokémon let's go games along with the mainline entries, and all those games are either short or very easy. So it's kind of hypocritical of them pointing that out.

[@ChrisMS0815]

Yet I remember nobody saying this stuff when New Super Mario Bros U and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze first came out at their prices back on the Wii U. Or hell even more recent when that trash game Kirby Star Allies came out at 60. It's like all these dudes on twitter saw people were extremely hyped for a new Metroid game and they couldn't fathom why so they decided to rain on everyones parade.

[@guidosaur7506]

Physical games at Walmart are only 50 at most of the US stores. Brand new or not

[@calebproductions1264]

If it was $40 then people wouldn’t be complaining about the prices, but of course Nintendo loves money more than their fat and ugly neckbearded manchildren fanbase.

[@guidosaur7506]

@@calebproductions1264 why is it not worth $60?

[@BrokerCast]

This makes me happy to hear.. I've always been a huge Castlevania fan and I was a fan of Mercury Steam's Castlevania Lords of Shadow 1. Thought that first game was underrated, so it's nice to see Mercury Steam make good Metroid games after Lords of Shadow 2's being disappointing. I'll have to play both Metroid Dread and Samus Returns.

[@Amp1771]

Another thing would be the venus flytrap/Devorah suit that was suppose to look more metroid like.

[@KontryBoy706]

I am shocked to see you. I was like wait... is this for real? LOL welcome bro

[@SuperSavajin]

Would have loved for you to talk about the difficulty as well. People say this game needs an easy mode but I disagree. The game is perfectly designed around learning the enemy patterns. Like you can beat every boss fight without taking a single hit. If the game had an easy mode and you could just tank everything it would take a way a very crucial part of the game.

[@kazenna]

Technically, because hard mode is unlocked after the game, it DOES have an easy mode and it’s the one people are complaining about LMAO

[@MinorCirrus]

@@kazenna No, that's called Normal mode.

[@martinaee]

I think the music is pretty awesome, but maybe not weirdly memorable. I LOVE more ambient music. I was surprised some people don’t like it. A lot of the tracks blend seamlessly too so it’s much more ambient.

[@painuchiha2694]

Dread is absolutely amazing My second favourite switch games 1.botw 2.dread 3.FE three houses I hope Metroid dread will push Nintendo to invest more on their smaller franchise cause having more variety will push gamers to invest on future Nintendo consoles sometimes Mario and smash bros just isn’t at all enough for hardcore gamers to buy a next gen Nintendo

[@retrogamerfan123]

I’m glad we got a new entry finally hopefully it won’t take another decade to release another game

[@MegaDeathRay10]

In Canada, the game is 90 after taxes so I skipped it, but as soon as I can get it discounted I'm in

[@ejiro8061]

90 in CAD

[@MegaDeathRay10]

@@ejiro8061 yeah after taxes

[@calebproductions1264]

Here’s hoping Nintendo will continue making Metroid games.

[@MrEvol94]

Dread seems to be selling well, and I am sure they will release the metroid prime trilogy for the switch as soon as Prime 4 gets a trailer and a release date. So we probably have a lot to look forward to besides prime 4. Hope more 2d metroid as well of course. Dread is an amazing game and don't feel done with it yet despite finishing hard mode. Speed running next I guess.

[@e-scorts7485]

I’m kinda hesitant to say this game is perfect but I don’t care man It’s fucking perfect

[@metroidcypher]

Game was excellent, finished it on my switch and doing a second play through on an emulator at 8k. This game has a a lot of details in the environment that show up out of nowhere when played at higher resolutions.

[@eddieanderson9399]

You know a games great when people are talking about it left and right all over the internet. 😊

[@TakunHiwatari]

I'm glad Metroid fans finally got the game they deserved and not some wack game like Federation Force

[@kevinramirez3134]

In terms of gameplay, yeah FF is bad. Don't call it "wack" because it's not a classic 2D Metroid or real Metroid Prime game that we want. However, in terms of storytelling and what could come next, no not really. Here's why. Sakamoto and Nintendo did say that Dread was the "End of the saga". However, Dread being the end of the whole saga may not be entirely true. In Metroid Prime Hunters, there is a bounty hunter named Sylux who we never saw again until he (In his ship) pursued Samus that the 100% completion ending in Metroid Prime 3. Then in Federation Force's secret ending (Go look at it on KZbin), he breaks into the Federation research base and finds a Metroid Egg and hatches it prematurely and a baby Metroid hatches. To Samus, all the Metroids and X are forever extinct from the galaxy, except for the one that Sylux has which she does not even know about. So who knows if maybe Metroid Prime 4 will take place after Metroid Dread and what becomes of Sylux, his baby Metroid, and Samus herself after the events of Dread.

[@maagic2031]

I feel like for these past few years I've been getting so much vindication for my belief that a long awaited video game sequel doesn't have to be disappointing. Fans can let their imagination go wild and still be satisfied by the time they actual play this game they've been hyping up for potential decades. Doom did it. DMC did it. Kingdom Hearts did and now Metroid had joined the party. Can not wait for prime 4 to continue the trend.

[@MartySince87]

Dread was amazing

Fantastic game, honestly might be my fav 2d metroid outside zero mission

[@justinayala18]

Dread was bomb im happy with how it turned out

[@darknova3529]

I genuinly wanted to turn off the music in some areas. the final boss phase 3 music is hype though.

[@calebproductions1264]

Btw you should redo your SSBU character tier list but with all the dlc characters, obviously minecrap steve belongs in cancer tier.

[@empty9926]

Lmfo I thought id never see you again

[@CricketStyleJ]

Loved the game and enjoyed the review. Good to hear you praising the animation, which is really excellent and hasn't been getting as much attention as some of this game's other strong points. Honestly I think the animation is a big part of why the controls feel as good as they do.

[@itsCbomb]

Great to see you back Shok

[@krishnadoraisamy2042]

Nice to have a new shok video lol

[@JBrandonMercer123]

Metroid Dread is NOT a Metroidvania game any more than a regular lemonade is a strawberry lemonade. It's a Metroid game.

[@Jasonms87]

Metroid Dread is fantastic and worth $60. That is all. :)

[@clockstomper]

I think stuff like the Metal Gear chicken hat and the white Tanuki suit got the 'professional' critics all warped on difficulty.

[@SuperTrainStationH]

Hey it's been a while. For me, my first Metroid was Super Metroid on SNES which I got a few months before Prime/Fusion came out, I played Prime 1 and 2, Fusion, and Zero Mission while they were still on store shelves, then I went back and played through MOST of Metroid 2 on GameBoy but the battery died. I played Other M and was thrilled by its potential and disappointed by its massive shortcomings. I recorded my E3 reaction this year, I was hype as heck for Metroid Dread finally being confirmed, but sadly the more sophisticated combat and controls, the QTE like elements that sometimes come into the fights, and the EXTREME difficulty curve left me pretty much running in circles and getting murdered by everything in sight to the point where I couldn't enjoy the game or get very far. Even in terms of navigation, the first hour of Dread felt as difficult as being many hours deep in my first time through other Metroid games. If I could handle METROID 2 of all things, or beat Zero Mission on Hard, or be able to deal with Super Metroid, there's no way you can say that I'm just a fake gamer or merely never played a challenging or exploration based game before, the fact is just that a lot of the same things that make Metroid Dread a MODERN take on the franchise are the same things that prevent me from enjoying most modern games anyway, I just like things simpler I guess. For me Dread was like doing straight from Link to the Past to a 3D Zelda game that didn't have Z targeting, it's sad, because I can tell just from looking and moving Samus how tight and well put together this is, but I just have to accept I can't keep up with Metroid anymore.

[@doclouis4236]

What are your thoughts on the GTA Trilogy remasters?

[@ShadowMan64572]

He's a Nintendo guy, so I wouldn't imagine he even cares lol

[@doclouis4236]

@@ShadowMan64572 But the remaster is coming to the Nintendo Switch...

[@calebproductions1264]

I think it’s a breath of fresh air that they’re remastering those games, especially to try to make us forget about the last terrible remaster we had which was GTA San Andreas HD, also here’s hoping that they make GTA6 after 8 years have passed since the 5th game.

[@ShadowMan64572]

@@calebproductions1264 Keep in mind though, the devs of these remasters are the same people who made that San Andreas remaster.

[@calebproductions1264]

@@ShadowMan64572 well considering how they kept making *sort of* fun DLC content in GTA Online, I doubt they would fuck up this time around, I mean we're almost close to 2022 anyways.

[@IMZ44]

This was very cool video and lowkey. I kind of miss the brother's insight on video games.

[@FFGAir]

The game is so good. This is my 1st 2D metroid

[@kevinramirez3134]

Metroid Dread Review Scores: NintendoWorldReport- Perfect 10! NintendoLife- Perfect 10! AusGamers- Perfect 10! Trusted Reviews- Perfect 5 Stars! Screen Rant- Perfect 5 Stars! VideoGameChronicle- Perfect 5 Stars! Stuff- Perfect 5 Stars! Daily Star- Perfect 5 Stars! NME- Perfect 5 Stars! GameXplain- Loves It! Player2- Grade A- Atomix- 96% Nintenderos- 9.5 out of 10 Essential IGN- 9 out of 10 Amazing! Game Informer- 9 out of 10 MyNintendoNews- 9.5 out of 10 GameReactor- 9 out of 10 Eurogamer- Essential! Polygon- Recommended! Shacknews- 9 out of 10 OpenCritic- 88% Mighty! Metacritic- 89% Metro GameCentral- 9 out of 10 TheSixthAxis- 9 out of 10 Areajugones- 9 out of 10 God Is A Geek- 9 out of 10 Hobby Consolas- 90% Excellent! Digital Trends- 4.5 Stars out of 5 GameBlog- 9 out of 10 Fantastic! SpazioGames- 9.0 out of 10 CGMagazine- 9 out of 10 Stevivor- 9 out of 10 Awesome! Filmweb- 9 out of 10 TheGamer- 4.5 Stars out of 5 Vandal- 9.1 out of 10 Checkpoint Gaming- 9 out of 10 Amazing! VG247- 4 Stars out of 5 Vooks- 4 Stars out of 5 SA Gamer- 9 out of 10 Amazing! Console Creatures- Recommended! XGN- 9 out of 10 Ars Technica- The Best Switch Exclusive Game of 2021 TechRadar- 4 Stars out of 5 Gaming Bible- 9 out of 10 Exceptional Pocket-Lint- Recommended! MeriStation- 9 out of 10 CNET- One of the Best Action Games of 2021! NintendoLink- 97% Masterpiece! Commonwealth Realm- 90/100 Cubed3- 9 out of 10 Exceptional - Gold Award! AppTrigger- 9.5 out of 10 Hardcore Gamer- 4.5 out of 5 Worth Playing- 9.0 out of 10 The Reformed Gamers- The Best 2D Metroid Yet! Gamepur- 9.5 out of 10 NintendoWire- 9.5 out of 10 The Games Machine- 9.3 out of 10 GameSkinny- 9 out of 10 Nintendo Insider- 9 out of 10 NintendoEnthusiast- 9 out of 10 Forbes- 9 out of 10

[@pokesketcherandy]

We need Shok and BlackBuster more than ever now 😔 Great review!

[@tonyp9313]

Every game should have a difficulty setting from easy to hard. Every game should give you the most options on how you want to play these games. Having Metroid really hard, & having it the only option is not a good thing. Telling you where to go and what to do should be an option in this game that you can choose or not. This is the main problem with new gen games starting since the PS3 era and up. No more game shark or game genie. No more inserting codes in games to make them easier none of that. People like me who work & don't have time to play a lot of games, I should have the option to play a game however I like to play it.

[@spacecoyote6101]

Largely agree with the review, although there are some slight differences of opinion I have, as well as some things to add, especially seeing as this was my first metroidvania. This is SPOILER-FREE except for mentioning some powerups briefly. Level design: Overall, the level design is great and intuitive. Agree with the pitfall block criticism. I wish there was more developer intended sequence breaking though. From everything I've seen, there seems to only be 1 real sequence break in the game, with the others being the result of glitches and jank like clipping your charge beam through walls. 1 or 2 more sequence breaks that are clearly intended would be nice. There's also maybe 1 or 2 instances where some things could be tweaked slightly, such as slightly decreasing the width of a jump here and there, or making some hidden blocks slightly more telegraphed. On a more positive note, there were tonnes of secrets to find, interesting uses of samus' abilities (especially the shine spark) and it was definitely rewarding to explore. 9/10 Enemies: Enemies are solid, but the game probably needed a bit more variety, since a lot of of the enemies feel very much the same, such as the 2 billion variants of flying enemies that charge at you and require a parry. However the bunch we got was pretty good. 7/10 Bosses: A lot of the bosses we got were great, I died multiple times on each, and they all felt pretty rewarding to beat. The final boss in particular was a great gauntlet, that by the time I finally managed to beat it (probably my 20th or 30th attempt), I felt like a complete master of the game, which is exactly the type of feeling that a final boss should evoke. The re-used bosses were pretty weak in terms of gameplay, and there weren't quite enough of the more flashy bosses for me. The bunch with the flashier dedicated parry cutscenes that we got were very solid though. 8/10 Controls: Nice and buttery smooth. Samus felt extremely powerful, and most errors felt entirely due to my own lack of skill, and not the controls. Some stuff was not quite as excellent though. Samus seemed to grab too easily onto ledges at times and felt like she wouldn't grab onto ledges other times. Also sometimes entering and exiting morph ball entrances was less smooth. Getting the spin jump animation as well could be a little finicky, and getting wall jumps after you have the double jump ability seemed more difficult. Getting and using shinesparks was explained a little poorly and a slightly elongated tutorial section on the map for it would've been appreciated. Finally, this is more of a pet peeve and not necessarily a problem, but I personally hate having any movement options bound to L3, it just feels super awkward to click the stick while trying to pull off precise movement, especially with a character as responsive as samus in this game, I would've much preferred it was bound to something like R3. Overall though, these are all minor criticisms for an excellently controlling character, and the core movement and shooting/aiming was impeccable. 9/10 Music: kinda boring. I know they were going for a more ambient style, but I don't think it succeeded. Ambient music is generally meant to set the tone of a given location or situation without being at the forefront. However, the music between locations and areas all felt very similar, so it didn't do anything to accentuate the specific particulars of any part of the map. This meant that every location of the map didn't zone out, and largely felt the same gameplay-wise. It just seemed like the music always struck the same mood, which shouldn't be the case between visually distinct environments. Also the boss music was generally disappointing. When fighting bosses, the music should really come to the forefront and shine, but it just didn't in this game. The e.m.m.i. zone sound was pretty good, but a bit repetitive considering how often you go in and out of e.m.m.i. zones. 4/10 Art/Graphics: Overall, satisfactory. Nothing looked particularly gorgeous or standout, but nothing looked bad either. It also suffered from the same issues as a lot of switch games, where everything looks kinda toy-like. Some cutscenes though were great, and they were really expressive with samus' body language. However, anytime you could see samus' eyes was kinda immersion breaking and goofy looking. Not the best graphics, not the worst. 5/10 Story: Overall pretty solid, however a lot was lost on me since this was my first metroid. Without going into too much detail, one of the big moments at the end definitely was impactful, but would've been moreso had I already been invested in the universe and its lore. Also the shift in the game at around the half way point involving the X parasites was great, and an excellent piece of visual storytelling. Adam did get annoying when talking about the phantom cloak though, it didn't need to be mentioned like 100 times, the first time was enough. 7/10 The E.M.M.I.s: The concept was great and I definitely felt tenser every time going into an emmi zone. However, sometimes the emmi placement felt a bit bullshit and unpredictable. There was also one part of an emmi zone that was underwater that was particularly frustrating. Overall I think they achieved the effect they were going for, but sometimes became more frustrating than exciting. They also slightly overstayed their welcome in the first half, but they definitely hit the sweet spot in the second half of the game. 7/10 The Ending: Everything from the cutscene leading into the final boss, to the end of the game was generally very well done. The final boss music was disappointing, and the environment where you fought it was also a bit bland. If those two things were changed then the ending would've been incredible. The final boss fight was extremely fun and challenging, and was by far the best boss in the entire game. The final sequence after the boss was also excellent. The game definitely ended on a high note. 8/10 Final thoughts: Overall the game was fantastic. There were definitely some flaws, but I was very satisfied with what I got. However, the game was also a bit too far on the short-side, and would've benefited with maybe an extra 1-3 hours of gameplay going through the intended route, with maybe an additional big boss or two. Some additional non-linearity would also have been appreciated, since most of the time, backtracking felt a little less worth it, seeing as you would generally only be rewarded with an increase of 2 missiles or this game's equivalent of a heart piece. It could've been especially cool if there was an entire hidden boss that rewarded you with a power up that made traversal even funner, but is entirely unnecessary. Ultimately, the lack of that didn't break the game by any means, but would've been the cherry on top of an already excellent game. The game falters on some of the more minor points, but generally nails the major ones. I'd give it all up an 8.5/10.

[@gurpreetbhamra9752]

*I only have to defeat the end boss. This game is really cool. Some parts are a bit repetitive though.* #GOTY2021

[@itspikachutime5624]

I enjoyed it a lot it honestly gave me everything I could’ve asked for, and this is the first time I’m ever going out of my way to fully completely a Metroid game which says a lot I feel never felt capable of doing that with other Metroid besides maybe fusion. I did 100% item completion I did a sub 4 hour run on normal I’m hoping next week to do sub 4 hour run on hard and get everything unlocked. Maybe part of it is cus it’s been so long I want to get as much time out of this game as I can, before I feel like there’s nothing left to do but like. Amazing game. Not quite related but since you like metroidvania I need to ask, have you ever played hollow knight?

[@juicedup14]

Shokio's vocab in this vid be like: 👨‍💼

[@romahnae]

0:17… i don’t main samus. Lol, (scratches nose)

[@xxProjectJxx]

My issues with Dread: 1. Long load times. 2. The size of the map can work against the game. Backtracking for powerups can be time consuming, especially in the mid game when you have a lot of the map unlocked, but not a lot of the teleporters. 3. I think they focused too heavily on making Samus a badass. What I like about Samus is that she isn't some Uber badass, she has a compassionate and contemplative side. We see glimpses of that in Dread in like 1 or 2 cutscenes, but it's pretty unbalanced. Still, it's all minor things. Dread is fantastic regardless.

[@Twisted_Logic]

Shok really do be telling it like it is.

[@Jeffbell85]

Welcom back fam very good video

[@Louie92801]

Hey what happened to your brother? Last I saw back in the day he said he was going to the NAVY

[@TheAnimatedGamer]

Hold up shok made a review

[@GamerTalk8]

AGL wants it “free” on game pass lol

[@AWF1000]

My Nephew who is like 12 figured this game out without that much instructions.. kinda embarrassing for the so called adult super hardcore gamers struggling with it. Lol

[@Gokuvsnaruto22]

Shokio back on YT now?

[@nothingnothings2264]

"Authentic individual"

[@jayDee92133]

Nintendo games really aren't my thing but that Metroid does look lit.

[@dezheathen]

Only music I like was the final boss theme

[@Vyse195]

I still don't understand why there was controversy. The game great not perfect, but no game is. Still one of the best games I've played this year.

[@ElvenRaptor]

I think it's revenge for the fanbase basically rejecting "Other M". That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

[@MoneyFolder]

Amazing fucking game. Honestly.

[@romahnae]

(Lifts up rock 🪨) huh, what controversy?

[@marktaylor7052]

Oh yeah!!!! oh yeah!!!

[@guidosaur7506]

Best game in the series 😳😳😳 hot take

[@TheOnlyGBeast]

I am not sure that its a hot take; ive seen a lot of people saying it might be better than super metroid or just straight up is. And i count myself among the latter

[@kamikazilucas]

nah there is defo a part that was completely random

[@cloudair4154]

is this better than hollow knight?

[@666blaziken]

If people think metroid dread is archaic... Oh boy, I dare them to play la muana.

[@calebproductions1264]

Is Blaziken your favorite fire type Pokemon as well?

[@666blaziken]

@@calebproductions1264 you bet! For a while, cinderace stole that spot, but because blaziken got close combat, I like blaziken the most again.

[@maverikbeats]

Left a 'Like!'

[@Tryhardblackguy]

the game was fucking fantastic

[@sommigame]

I would have thought the level design was amazing too if I hadn't played Axiom Verge 2 a month ago. That game has the best designed world I think I've ever seen.

[@ItApproaches]

Metroid is your favorite franchise, yet you didn't get the special edition? Hmmmmmmm....sus...

[@dezheathen]

Who cut you?

[@kcato5879]

The music was definitely one of the weakest parts of Dread. It doesn't compare to Fusion's or Prime's or Super's.

[@LOLcheeseORZ]

Personally, I think this game is better than Super Metroid!

[@TheSsbcandidates]

Shokio did nothing wrong.

[@Antonio-is2cn]

*Sure*

[@downrightsuperb5690]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy but I think Metroid Prime is the most overrated game of all time. I hope Dread sales eclipse the upcoming Prime.

[@AZITHEMLGPRO]

Dead channel?

[@Retro_Fear]

The game is great and worth the 60 bucks, the Sony fanboys talking shit about the length of the games also buy 60 dollar movie games or interactive games with zero gameplay

[@1JAM229]

💯

[@ijustsawthat]

Welcome to Metroid. Functional Brain sold separately.

[@jmcdermid]

Dread is the best original 2D Metroid since Fusion.

[@kazenna]

Homie it’s the only original 2D Metroid since fusion

[@JRPGGUY]

Metro dread has no business being $60. That is all.

[@guidosaur7506]

Soft head mentality

[@TheMike5125]

You are right but the game is sooo good while being 2D most games don’t have the right of being bad while having 100s of millions in development cost!

[@rockingpox2274]

I would rather buy an 8-12 hour 10/10 game than a 40 hour 7/10 game

[@MrEvol94]

100$ premium edition, worth every penny! amazing game. Beaten the game twice (normal and hard mode) now just time to 100% and after that I will try speed running.

[@Shokio]

And why's that exactly? Explain.