Metroid Dread is finally real

[SpoonyBard]

In an interview, Sakamoto says that Dread’s
environments “will return to the more open approach of Super Metroid.”

More here.

This makes me even more hopeful. They specifically say Fusion was as linear as it was because it was designed to have shorter play sessions on the GBA, and Samus Returns had the Metroid II map to work off of, (and Other M seems to have been memory holed) so I am glad to see them state outright that it will be closer to Super in terms of openness. But it remains to be seen just HOW open they'll let it be.

Oh and Nintendo would never ever do it, but I'd totally be down to see a proper Cronentroid.

 

[Mogri]

And that's why I don't make any sort of decisions that direct this series.

Among other reasons, presumably.

I'd be down for Body Horror Metroid.

 

[MetManMas]

I don't think they're ever going to go as far as I'd want them to with the Metroid DNA gestalt organism that Samus has nominally become. It's going to be limited to external accoutrements and stylization, at the slightest best some kind of stylish, rarely seen vein pattern on the surface of her skin, but still essentially and practically human... I'd be pushing for a traumatic but life-changing bodily transformation akin to Cronenberg's The Fly; I want the Aran Museum of Natural History and the wistful vestiges of her former existence enshrined or discarded in it. And that's why I don't make any sort of decisions that direct this series.

Yeah, Metroid Fusion's opening made such a huge deal about how the X parasite messed Samus up so bad that scientists had to amputate portions of her power suit...and then visually it did nothing but give her a new look to her armor.

Can't have the story implications getting in the way of the eye candy for speed and percentage runners I guess. =/

 

[chud_666]

I don't think they're ever going to go as far as I'd want them to with the Metroid DNA gestalt organism that Samus has nominally become. It's going to be limited to external accoutrements and stylization, at the slightest best some kind of stylish, rarely seen vein pattern on the surface of her skin, but still essentially and practically human... I'd be pushing for a traumatic but life-changing bodily transformation akin to Cronenberg's The Fly; I want the Aran Museum of Natural History and the wistful vestiges of her former existence enshrined or discarded in it. And that's why I don't make any sort of decisions that direct this series.

Co-sign. I'd love body horror in here.

Side note - read a thing about Dread. i'm super not pumped for robot enemies. I know robots always in series, but I hope there is cthonic forces as well. Cuz robots... meh

 

[muteKi]

I'd be down for Body Horror Metroid.

Apparently Carrion is not as much of a Metroid-like in its level structure as I'd have hoped, otherwise I'd say I have very good news

 

[Mightyblue]

From the close ups I've seen of the game it looks like the new power suit almost looks like its hiding or bound to the techno-organic bits underneath, which might just be the old Fusion suit? The interview bit sounded like Samus is freeing herself from the guts of a Federation research facility, so maybe the suit upgrades are just removing bits of this new suit to restore functionality?

 

[Aleryn]

Hope there is some kind of body horror or Metroid hybrid biology going on. The Fusion suit wasn't really popular at release either, its one of my absolute favorites, so I'd enjoy seeing that new tech-suit bolted or grafted on top of it. Maybe we'll get a glam option for the Fusion look? Also hope you're right, Mightyblue; I'd like to see her fighting and escaping some maligned Federation plot against her. Just the idea of somehow uniting with the Metroids to re-establish their habitat and resolve her empathy with them sounds incredible. Resolved topic: And not to dig it back up but wanted to say I can see Peklo's point on the sexualized suit from that kneeling pic, I can't un-see thong underwear.

 

[Felicia]

It would be interesting if your "reward" for finishing the game quickly isn't Samus with less clothes, but Samus being more human and less hybrid monster.

 

[Zef]

I'd be down for Body Horror Metroid.

ALL HAIL THE NEW *SKREE*

From the close ups I've seen of the game it looks like the new power suit almost looks like its hiding or bound to the techno-organic bits underneath, which might just be the old Fusion suit? The interview bit sounded like Samus is freeing herself from the guts of a Federation research facility, so maybe the suit upgrades are just removing bits of this new suit to restore functionality?

Holy crap yes. The idea that (after some effort) the Feds captured her and then slapped some "armor"-like restraints on her, which she must now divest herself off to unleash her full power, would be a wonderful twist to the old powerup formula.

But OTOH, if she has to take off the restraints, how would this be represented by the boss fights and the actual acquisition of "power ups"? Instead of a big ball with two orbits around it to represent the Varia, she gets a crowbar? Instead of fighting a boss that dashes across the screen, she gets an access code to input into a terminal to deactivate the Speed Booster seals?

 

[Kirin]

A dying boss stumbles and falls on Samus' legs. Her shin armor cracks under the impact and falls away, revealing pulsing organs beneath. Space jump restored!

 

[Mightyblue]

Yeah, I dunno. They skipped all of the story bits in the Treehouse segments, so /shrug?

 

[q 3]

Maybe she can gain more Metroid-like abilities, like draining energy from her foes or transforming into a smaller floating creature. Putting the 'vania back in the genre.

 

[Zef]

Well, I the Treehouse playthrough I watched, they kept using the Mega Man Slide to get into places that would have traditionally used the Morph Ball... which is usually the first powerup if she doesn't start with it altogether. So maybe that transformation is actually a thing that's happening?

 

[lincolnic]

The Morph Ball shows up incidentally in the Development History video Nintendo also posted, so it's definitely in the game. Doesn't mean Samus won't gain Metroid abilities along the way, which frankly I think would be pretty neat, but I'm not really one for speculation.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Honestly I'd like the series to take a look at the Motorcycle Suit and the Lightbulb Suit from Prime 2 and go even further with increasingly weirder, but still thematically appropriate, suits.

This. I've long felt that the more power suits Samus has going forward , the better.

 

[Alixsar]

I hate that I didn't notice this before and I hate that now it's ALL I can see. Even before I "saw" it, I didn't like the look of the suit, so hopefully there's other options later on because, yeah, pretty gross!

 

[nosimpleway]

"What if they really play up the monstrous vibe of being half-Metroid" and "Since Metroids are Good Actually, what if Samus is the new Queen and helps repopulate them" and a bunch of other takes combined in my head into an idea too dumb to convey in text, so you guys get to enjoy another nosimpleway 300 Hours In MSPaint Special! (pat. pending)!

(...at least it's very round.)

Spoiler: Bonus panel

 

[Octopus Prime]

Nintendo, could you hire nosimpleway, please?

Thank you.

 

[Becksworth]

For people who thought Yoshi’s Island was a Babby Game.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I would definitely play Samutroid's Island.

 

[Zef]

And THE BABY's skree-ing would be a lot more tolerable than Baby Mario's crying.

 

[sfried]

Please just give us a demo Nintendo...

With that said, I don't mind if instead of demo, the time was spent refining the layouts, squashing bugs, and making sure this lives up to the pedigree that Zero Mission and Super have instilled. I hope MercurySteam spent the time to study speedruns and how to lay about "secret shortcuts", which is funny considering they are in a closer position to designing maps with sequence-breaking in mind than even Retro Studios (who seem vehemently opposed to it during the Trilogy years, but considering the new staff...I'm hoping they reconsider sequence-breaking).

Edit: Also "garters"? Isn't that sinew? It also runs across her shoulders and arms, and in fact gives of a very muscular appearance a la the NanoSuit from Crysis. They also seem to run down the major muscle groups, even for the legs.
If I recall, the Galactic Federation surgically removed parts of her armor in Fusion, so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do it again considering she blew up their weapons research lab, captured her and run experiments given she is essentially the last Metroid, hence why you find yourself in a sterile, lab-like environment. I would also expect her internal appearance to be somehow altered given her Metroid-hybridization.

Her helmet does look smaller though and she has more neck exposure.

Edit 2: Her Fusion ship is back

 

[Patrick]

Nice catch!

 

[SpoonyBard]

I wonder if that means the Etecoons and Drachora will pop up?

 

[sfried]

I wonder if that means the Etecoons and Drachora will pop up?

Considering she still has the same ship she left with in Fusion, I’d say they’re still with her.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I kind of hope not; proximity to Samus Aran is one of the most dangerous places I can think of. She personally destroyed every biome they’ve been on

 

[sfried]

I kind of hope not; proximity to Samus Aran is one of the most dangerous places I can think of. She personally destroyed every biome they’ve been on

Considering they proved to be able pilots, I think the Electoons and Drachora will stay on-board handling manual operations. Plus, they're safer on the ship.

 

[Purple]

So, stumbling across a substantive chunk of gameplay, which... based on the date was probably already linked in this thread but I somehow missed it.

And... I mean, I'm going to pick this up and play it so it's not like the following is a dealbreaker, but it's really weird to me how the new Metroid game looks like an indie Metroidvania? Like... the white with primary highlights aesthetic to the whole game and how very smooth everything is and the big squishy blob monsters and the... weirdly soft looking mini-map all remind me of like... Outland or something. You know? Which is also a super weird choice if you're trying to go for a more horror sort of vibe. Just compare this to walking around in Super for that.

 

[Peklo]

Yeah. I'm not sure how many others are bothered by this stuff, but Samus Returns had a really charmless and boring interface aesthetic to it, and that is being carried over as is into Dread--it has more to do with Prime as a design touchstone and model than II or Fusion as the ostensibly relevant respective antecedents, but even within that context, it feels underdesigned for what it is and how much map-reading is a part of these games.

Another design factor that feels significant is that this will both be a 2D Metroid presented in a widescreen format and the first one to display in a relatively higher resolution; both contribute to a sense of spatial sprawl and horizontal environmental emphasis in ways that I don't feel like the genre is always equipped to compensate for in the dynamic of where its roots lie and how it's evolved along with changing technology standards. It's again a point toward my favouring the earlier games which had the benefit of 4:3, standard-definition presentations, effectively wielding that "lesser" fidelity and field of view toward the claustrophobia the series can be so good at inducing in the player.

 

[Vega]

I am glad to see them state outright that it will be closer to Super in terms of openness. But it remains to be seen just HOW open they'll let it be.

Nintendo developed and published Breath of the Wild they know how to make a great open world game. I don't know how much of that they can put into a 2D Metroid developed by Mercury Steam, but one can hope.

Another design factor that feels significant is that this will both be a 2D Metroid presented in a widescreen format and the first one to display in a relatively higher resolution; both contribute to a sense of spatial sprawl and horizontal environmental emphasis in ways that I don't feel like the genre is always equipped to compensate for in the dynamic of where its roots lie and how it's evolved along with changing technology standards. It's again a point toward my favouring the earlier games which had the benefit of 4:3, standard-definition presentations, effectively wielding that "lesser" fidelity and field of view toward the claustrophobia the series can be so good at inducing in the player.

Do any 2D platformers use the 16:9 display in portrait orientation?