Don't feel right uploading without an image so have a basic bitch shot of my FFXIV character. However this entry will be my impressions of Metroid Dread.

So Metroid Dread, I'm going to preface this by saying I am not good at Metroidvania games so it was only a matter of time before I got to a wall I couldn't overcome. However what surprised me was just how long it took before I hit this wall so I've either gotten better at them (a distinct possibility since the only recent Metroidvania game I've played is Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, the last time I played a Metroid game I was 12) or it's a bit easier than the games journalists suggest (again a distinct possibility since I'm not one and so I'm probably better at most games than them) which is nice. But anyway the game, it's your usual Metroid game Samus arrives on a planet and then loses all her powerups forcing her to start from nothing the twist however is the "Dread" section of the title, there are certain areas of the map that have a robot guarding it (you see it in the trailer for the game) there are 7 of these robots (called E.M.M.I, I forgot what that stands for though) and excluding the first one which is a glorified tutorial these things are effectively indestructible until you progress enough to unlock a temporary powerup that allows you to destroy them, however I don't like this but I'll get into that later on.

As for the gameplay, Metroid was one of the very first Metroidvania games and they've had decades to perfect its gameplay so I have very few complaints (only one or two minor gripes if I'm honest) in regards to it. The game overall is actually pretty hard but not punishing, you get enough health and resources that small mistakes don't cost you but they can pile up, the regular enemies in the various zones aren't too threatening (at least initially) but they can get a bit annoying. As for the bosses they're harsh but fair, they each have their own attack patterns that once you learn them can make the boss a trivial matter (the exception to this being the Chozo warrior robots, mini bosses that are incredibly annoying) and it's incredibly satisfying when you finally learn the patterns after many failures.

The graphics are also pretty good (especially for a switch game) and the backgrounds of the levels have a lot of interesting things going on, from giant squid looking things in the background of the water level to these weird blind deer things getting eaten by a carnivorous plant in the background of the jungle. I also quite like Samus' suit in this one, especially after upgrading to the Varia suit. The combination of the gold and white is really nice. The music however is completely forgettable unfortunately.

I can't comment much on the story as I only have a basic understanding of the Metroid lore, but in short Samus gets lured to this planet by a video of an incredibly deadly parasite that the Metroids used to keep in check (before they went extinct) before being ambushed by a Chozo warrior and rather than being killed is left at the lowest tier of the area with her powerups stripped from her where she has to run from the EMMIs who it is revealed later are after her Metroid DNA and that's as much as I can reveal as I have hit that wall where my skill (or lack thereof) prevents me from continuing.

So my gripes the big one as mentioned before are the EMMI, the Dread part of the title, which I do not like. I do not feel any dread when I enter their zones just a sense of annoyance because they make navigating these areas a chore rather than a challenge. You can melee counter them but this is unreliable as you need to get the timing down to the second so when one grabs you it's pretty much an insta kill. But the other reason I dislike them is that I feel they're the sort of opponent Samus should be taking on without any gimmicks, she shouldn't be running away from ANYTHING and if she isn't taking them head on or is retreating it should be because she's getting into a more advantageous position. Samus is THE badass female character in gaming and these robots run counter to that, it doesn't sit right with me seeing her run away from them until she gets a gimmick weapon to defeat them. This culminates in the final EMMI, in order for the EMMIs to remain a threat throughout the game they themselves undergo several changes, each new one having more upgrades to counter Samus's own powerups but its taken to extremes with the final EMMI which not only has the ability to paralyse Samus its detection range is expanded to the entire fucking area meaning you can't make any meaningful progress through the EMMI zone (this is the wall I've hit) the other EMMIs have a detection range that's plenty large enough already making the entire zone the detection range is just needless on top of the Zone having a large quantity of water and another EMMI with a projectile that can stop Samus from moving, this is the one part of the game that I feel is poorly designed.

As for my other gripes, they're pretty minor one being the aim feels a bit too sensitive both in normal perspective and when you switch to third person perspective when aiming the gimmick weapon. It can make some encounters feel like they're taking longer than they should. As for the other one it's incredibly minor and could just be me, but I find the speed boost when holding a missile or charged shot ready makes firing them off a bit more finnicky than they should be, feels like it rewards you for standing still which runs counter to the rest of the game.

So yeah that's my impressions of Metroid Dread, it could be considered a review but I don't feel confident calling it one.

Anyway lazy shot of my FFXIV character below, I have been playing Skyrim again but I've had no inspiration for shots of my characters with it.