Metroid Dread (First Couple Hours)

 I realized that my order off of Amazon was going to take several more days, and I might as well just cancel the order and download the game. I'm a millennial, and I still think of physical media as the default. Oh well.

Anyway, I've now played the first couple hours of Metroid Dread. And so far, it's great! I had, of course, watched the Nintendo Treehouse demonstration from a few months ago a... couple of times, so the first parts of the game were already fairly familiar to me.

Right off the bat, I'll say that if you can get the timing of counterattacks figured out, the game is going to go a lot smoother. While the marketing has suggested that countering out of an EMMI's grab is nearly impossible, I've gotten to the point where I can do it about half the time.

Dread starts you off with a bit of a mystery, figuring out who the antagonistic Chozo that drained your powers is and why the EMMIs have gone murderous on you.

At this point in the game, things have been a bit on the linear side - there are a number of passages that are one-way, at least for now. So far I've visited Artaria (where the game begins,) Cataris (fiery magma land) and Dairon (robot-filled industrial area.) I've taken down two EMMIs, though one of those is the tutorial boss. Taking down an EMMI requires you to find the Central Unit, which is basically a Mother Brain-like giant one-eyed brain, which has turrets and those ring things that it'll shoot at you, just like the OG MB.

Getting comfortable with the aiming system will also make things a lot easier on you. I died once against the first true boss (as seen in the Treehouse demo) in part because I wasn't great at aiming for his head. Figuring out how to read the boss' telegraphs is another important factor in doing well, as you should be able to do some no-hit runs when you get really good.

So far, the items I've gotten are the Charge Beam, Spider Grip, Aeion Cloak, and the Wide Beam (which is basically the Spazer from Super Metroid, but there are now doors and objects that require you to use the Wide Beam to get past them.) It is surprising to play a Metroid game where you don't get the Morph Ball first, as there are many tantalizing gaps that I'd love to roll through, but cannot. You can still slide under some impediments.

As of yet, I've only had two moments in which I've really found myself scratching my head as to where I'm supposed to go next. But, of course, this is part of the appeal of these games - exploration. Naturally I'd want to pick up every item I can, but a lot of these are locked behind other abilities I have yet to find.

It's a great start to the game, and I'm looking forward to playing more, but it's very late at night.