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Metroid Dread is finally out, and it is a certified banger.
0:00 Intro
1:52 Planet ZDR
11:44 Dreadfully Action-Packed
19:41 Progression Breaking
27:59 A Narrative Divided
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#KingK #MetroidDread
Metroid Dread Retrospective Review Critique KingK
I thought it was pretty clear that raven beak calling samus his daughter is only there to further demonstrate how conceited he is, not a serious attempt at some sort of mindshattering revelation. He gave this kid some of his dna a long time ago, didn't think much of it, and now that she has become extremely relevant to his plans he suddenly tries to claim ownership because that's the kind of dude he is.
Yeah, even by his own admission he didn't really care who Samus was during their first encounter on ZDS and would have killed her had she not started to awaken her Metroid potential there.
It's basically the same as Aizen telling Ichigo that he's been a part of his plan since before he was born, except that it actually threw off Ichigo. Samus on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about Raven Beak in any way other than a threat. Even if the factual parts of his statement were shocking to her, his claim of being like her dad would be basically irrelevant to her, considering her number of other effective surrogate dads and the amount of DNA from other things she already has.
@@xdragoonzero0 To be fair, everything was a part of Aizen plan.
@@xdragoonzero0 She cared in that it contributed to her being _extremely angry,_ I would argue, but other than that, yeah, no. In fact, I’d go a step further and argue that Raven Beak was talking out of his feathery ass from the very start.
This. I interpreted it this way too as Samus wasn’t just fused with Mawkin DNA, but also Thoha DNA. I can agree that it’s cheezy, but I didn’t see it as Mercury trying to retcon anything and tell me THIS guy is actually Samus’ father or something stupid like that.
I love how Samus’ body language relaxes when she realizes it’s Kraid. “Oh, it’s just you again.”
"Dinner's on me, old pal." *Shoots charge beam*
I love how if you compare the cutscene against Kraid and Experiment, you see this even more clearly. She's on fucking edge against Experiment, but with Kraid she's just like "how many times do I gotta teach you this lesson, old man"
It’s unbelievable. Gun raised at the darkness, other arm steadying, realizes it’s just boring old Kraid - *lowers her weapon* - then just mad dogs him. It’s hilarious, maybe my favorite moment in the game
Realistically, I would think Samus should be a lot more confused and irritated about how Kraid is here. I don't really think this is reason to relax and let down your guard at all, but it's a scene you're not supposed to think about that much.
@@Supahdenning the thing that most people are forgetting to mention is that she isn't letting down her guard because she RECOGNIZES Kraid, but because she sees that he is locked up in chains and thus cannot reach her and actually threaten her.
My interpretation of the "Raven Beak is your dad" thing isn't that it's in any way relevant to the story, but it just serves to give him more personality as a villain. He happened to be the DNA donor when Samus got altered way back when, and has since then somehow constructed his own narrative about being her father and everything being "Destiny". This in my eyes shows us that he's unhinged, obsessive, and has a bit of a god complex, rather than wanting Samus' Metroid DNA being his only defining trait.
And since he's the leader of the warrior tribe, I do find that his methods weren't out of character, since either way he wanted to fight Samus at her best. The illustration were he feeds other Chozo to the sea monster could not only be read as people who were against his rule but also soldiers that weren't fit to fight to the level he wanted.
Great interpretation! Also to add that both the mawkin and thoha genes were used in the gene transplant and yet only the thoha raised SA. It kind of speaks for the behaviour of the whole mawkin tribe - the thoha didn't trust the mawkin to raise a potentially powerful child with a good heart so they raised that child well away from them in a more calm and friendly environment.
Yes! Thank you! This was my take on it too, it wasn’t about the lore or plot significance, it was about characterizing raven beak further as a psychopath
I am your father
Yeah and it appears his dna was only used for her heart and arm cannon so she'd be better compatible with her power suit and its abilities
Quick note about the X parasites being ‘accidentally’ released by Samus during the Elun section: there’s a cutscene that is very deliberate in showing a heavy blast door closing behind Samus, locking her into the area before she encounters the X. Those same blast doors are mysteriously open when Samus returns to the entrance hall and the X begin to swarm out of Elun. It seemed pretty clear on my first play through that getting Samus to encounter the X and then releasing them was a deliberate move by RavenBeak. The moment that happened in game, I became suspicious of Adam as it was clear Samus’ navigation of the planet was being orchestrated according to a plan. Which, of course, comes together at the end. It’s not ground breaking storytelling, but I do appreciate that Dread took the concept of a navigator introduced in Fusion and far better incorporated it into the story and plot twist. Creating a nice mesh between gameplay and narrative with a spike of subversion threading the two together.
Also, Raven Beak (through Adam) says that "maybe releasing the X was a message", which just spells out that RB released the X so that Samus could become even stronger and Metroid-like, doing the thing Metroids were created to do: oppose the X
Not to mention the fact that "Adam" *literally tells Samus it was Raven Beak that did it.*
"Samus' navigation was orchestraed" And there you have it, a story reason why the game's progression is the way it is.
@@GL_099 Exactly! Initially, the stretch about a quarter of the way through - the one that has you teleporting back and forth and throws convenient plot contrivances to railroad the navigation - felt artificial and forced to me. But with the knowledge about Raven Beak’s orchestration, I feel that this presents a case for strong ludo-narrative resonance. The game is setting up a particular feeling via gameplay that pays off through a narrative device. You feel railroaded and the exploration is tightened at particular points - precisely because that is the consequence of backend machinations of the yet-to-be-revealed plot. That being said, this shouldn’t excuse bad gameplay design. But fortunately, in Dread I found the navigational railroading to only really be concentrated at a couple of particular points, like the lead up to the Kraid fight, as pointed out in the video. Plus, I think it’s really neat that once you finish the game and want to break progression over your knee (as anyone does in subsequent play throughs of a Metroidvania), you are now fully aware of narrative twist and how it will play out. Sequence breaking thus ties into breaking the expected narrative. You know Raven Beak is railroading you so it makes sense for the designers to have accounted for possible sequence breaking to escape the tunnel and free up exploration. I might be reading too much into it, but playing through Dread on multiple play throughs it really does seem like a deliberate, masterful yet understated weave between the expected gameplay of a Metroidvania and the navigation-room driven narrative structure of post-Fusion Metroid titles.
@@thestooltoad Interestingly, I actually really LIKED what you call "railroaded"in this game. I thought having the correct path be always in front of you without explicitly telling you where to go was really clever. It was basically a non-intrusive way of preventing the player from getting lost, AND it really supports learning the "most efficient" route for speedrun attempts. I initially dreaded having to complete the game in under 3 hours, but the moment I noticed how the map was designed, I suddenly felt it was way easier to "remember" the fastest route and thus I learned to cut down my time way faster than I had anticipated. And that's _without_ the sequence breaks. Even with them, the map design actually supports efficient routing, like how there are many Grapple Blocks in Burenia specifically to "reward" players who get the grapple beam early. I never even considered putting _obstacles_ on your path to _reward_ players with better progression.
To me, Ferenia is the first time we feel like the Chozo really were an incredibly powerful civilization that is still relatively recent, unlike most of the chozo ruins we saw before that made it feel like they had gone extinct before mankind even started sending bleeping capsules in space.
Chozos are just what If Egyptians were Bird Warriors
@@onewingedren2228 That basically puts it best in a nutshell. Egyptian bird magic using space bird warrior scientists
The bird is the word..
@@onewingedren2228 This oversimplification does a great disservice to the chozo
@Kalaam Nozalys I assume based on that statement you never played Metroid Prime.
I feel like that the revelation that Raven Beak is one of Samus' genetic donors is there more to inform Raven Beak's character rather than Samus. It helps drive to point how possessive he is of Samus, and how he feels he "owns" her because of that thriffling interaction. It also helps set up Samus' moment of incoherent rage at the end of the fight, as this monster has the audacity to call himself her father after doing nothing but help ruin her life.
I would take it a step further and say that the chozo in general, who lost their ability to produce children long ago, came to see samus as their own blood and legacy.
@@countlazuli8753 On one hand, yeah, most of them may have, but the only ones who actually have any reasonable claim to that are the ones who actually raised her, and I doubt they were doing that to extend their legacy.
@@gigas115 Yeah Old Bird and Grey Voice deserve way more credit than Raven Beak. They're also Samus' Thoha DNA doners so Raven Beak doesn't even have THAT going for him alone.
Raven Beak is very self-entitled, so it's natural that he would consider Samus as his. It also subtly references another fake father figure who abused Samus in total discontinuity with the rest of the series...
I kinda got the impression that the reveal of Raven Beak being Samus’s “father” was intentionally kind of unearned. The way Samus immediately ignores the entire speech and continues to view characters like Quiet Robe as more of a true parental figure is kinda neat. It seems to be the classic moral of family being more than just who you’re related to.
Which is something Samus would know, having two sets of parents (biological and Chozo adopted)
I suspect it was included to make Raven Beak a more obvious Darth Vader proxy
My head cannon is that Ravenbeak was just bullshitting to make Samus turn to his side after becoming a Metroid.
I like it because it feels very one sided, you can kind of see Raven Beak as an absentee father who thinks they can just re-enter the child's life and if he's really Adam the whole game then you can imagine him setting unrealistic fantasy expectations for how she'll behave. He believed that he really had gotten through to her. Samus, meanwhile, is the teenager telling him to fuck off and that they didn't need him before and don't need him now.
I honestly thought the Chozo Warrior's and the strongest of them all gifting Samus with his genes was really cool. The Choze designed her suit and arm-cannon to fit a human, and seeing the technology in its full, awesome power was cool. And I agree that it doesn't matter to Samus, Raven Beak's a chump who's causing trouble; it serves to build up Raven Beak as a significant character more than it tries to rewrite Samus
"Why has Raven Beak not sought her out?" uh the game literally explained he was too busy with the x-parasite outbreak to do so
Also the fact that Samus only received Metroid DNA in Fusion, which wasn't that long ago in-universe. He was dealing with the X-Parasite outbreak, then used them to lure Samus in since Raven Beak knew that she was the sole person who could survive the X.
Also, Raven Beak strikes me as something of a multi-plan opportunist. He had two plans for Samus when she arrived on ZDR: Either she roused her inner Metroid powers and swore loyalty to him, or the E.M.M.I would forcefully take the DNA and kill Samus in the process. Injecting young Samus with his Mawkin DNA makes me think this was another additional plan he threw in with his many schemes, not necessarily counting on this adopted human to be his end goal.
I think Raven Beak donated his blood for Samus in anticipation that the Thoha Chozo would soon die out due to their old age, leaving Samus as the last one. He probably thought she would see him as a fellow Chozo and trust him, and then join his tribe as his protege, helping him conquer the galaxy. This all changed after Mother Brain betrayed the Thoha, leading Samus to be a loner seeking revenge on the Space Pirates for continually ruining her life. Raven Beak's plans for her REALLY changed when he wanted Metroids, and therefore wanted her Metroid DNA. In summary, he originally planned on being the Darth Vader to her Luke Skywalker, but that changed when he learned the potential of Metroids.
It seems that for whatever reason he wasn't keeping close track of Samus. Given the Chozo were laying low to the point of already being thought extinct he was probably unable to - the extermination of Metroids on SR388 came as a complete surprise and by the time he was able to get there, they were already gone.
Better question, “why is Ravenbeak not in smash?”
Samus' Chozo DNA has been part of the lore for a long time now, though never stated in the games themselves before Dread I think. SO I'm not surprised you felt like it came out of nowhere. All we knew is that she had DNA from the chozo so she could survive on Zebes' environnement, but when you see all the other chozo we know of all looking very frail and weak, it kind of fit that a chozo from a more warlike clan would be one of the donors for her augmentations. It's 100% retconning stuff and rewriting details, but honestly i'm cool with it.
Yeah, finally having a valid reason for why Samus has superhuman capabilities from her bird-man DNA was a huge pay-off for me.
@Chip Wiseman Another possibility is that it's on purpose to turn Samus into a weapon, considering Mother Brain has her.... hands(?) in the whole deal...
@Chip Wiseman in that way she's kind of the Chozo equivalent of the Genome Soldiers from Metal Gear Solid.
I don't consider unexplored lore to be retconning. Dread just gave a name to the tribes she came from. I think even Other M talked about her chozo genetics being what connects her to her power suit. But I could be just placing that in my memories with more recent knowledge. Her Mawkin DNA is a good twist that makes a lot more sense. The manga stated some Chozo put blocks on their brains yo prevent them from committing violence so she would have needed DNA from a Chozo who built a life around violence so that she could defend the galaxy with ease.
@@MrFRNTIK It isn't exactly a retconning, but there was never any specific reference to a second father/donor after Gray Voice, and the location of Raven Beak in the events of her past are unknown, even though he should have been present for the Ridley fight. It's unlikely that he was part of the original vision for these events, but he's not actively incompatible with how they were presented before. Symbolically, having two donors was probably meant to double down on the idea that she has been given a boost to both brain and brawn, peaceful wise scientist DNA and angry manipulative warrior DNA, to help cover why Samus seems to be getting progressively angrier and less controlled as her Chozo and Metroid augmentations mesh.
You should know that Grey Voice and Old Bird are silhouetted in the background of the scene where it's revealed Samus has Mawkin DNA! It's little, but it helps continuity a bit.
I never noticed that before. Good find!
I love that Gray Voice and Old Bird are 100% canon now.
@@calebplerry9664 they have been since zero mission
@@meta9492 Technically since fusion, though only in the japanese version.
@@lancejburns wait, what?
for me the whole "Raven Beak and Samus have the same DNA" was kinda of the idea of Raven Beak being a twisted version of Samus, since they had similar experiences,both hunt down almost all the metroids,both of then survived a X parasite outbreak, but while Raven Beak was trying to use all his power to take over the universe, Samus was using it to protect the universe
I also like how now matter how powerful Samus gets, she doesn't let all that power corrupt her. I think that the main reason why she gives up all her powers at the start of new missions is because she doesn't always need to as OP all the time. With just some basic powers at the start of dread was more than enough to cause trouble to Raven Beak.
Or at least make a buck.
@@montanarandall3126 Eh, I prefer the argument SomecallmeJohnny made that she's a bounty hunter by trade and it wouldn't make sense for her to just scrap all her upgraded gear before every mission if it makes her job easier. Plus the games have gone out of their way, to the point of it being a running gag, to show she does have her gear at the start for most games but loses them somehow through increasingly contrived reasons.
@@trevorweisberg8470 which is why I like Metroid dread a lot since Samus starts with a pretty good arsenal to start, just Raven beak takes it all away from you. Where in Super Metroid, what happened to all her powers?
The best parallel between Samus Aran and Raven Beak? Samus spared the last Metroid of SR388 because it showed that the Baby cared for her as soon as it hatched out of its egg. Samus realized that if she killed the last Metroid she was just another Ridley at the end of the day. Her act of kindness in SR388 saved her life three times and also the universe from potential threats. Raven Beak spared Samus, the last living Metroid in existence not out of kindness, but of sheer arrogance and conquest for power. He let Samus loose on ZDR and placed her under high risk scenarios in an attempt to fully awaken her Metroid DNA to clone Metroids and use them as bioweapons. This end up costing his life once Samus turned into a Metroid and started to drain his and his ship's life energy. Samus had grown to hate Raven Beak so much during this ordeal that she didn't even absorb his X Parasite after he got infected, instead he blasted him out of existence with the Hyper Beam.
I definitely see your points about the story, how Quiet Robe seems to recontextualize the metroid's extinction and how Samus's "lineage" is a bit contrived, but I kind of like those two aspects of the game's narrative. Like...I think Quiet Robe would feel like wiping out the Metroid was the best option, considering he's a scientist who's forced to work under Raven Beak's command. He doesn't have the context samus has on her trip to SR388, nor does he fully understand how dangerous wiping out the Metroid was. The Thoha's solution for threats were to wipe them out. The X with Metroids and the Metroids with blowing the planet up. As for the Raven Beak Parentage, I always saw that as a character moment for Raven Beak more than for Samus. I interpreted Samus's expression as she's being told as one of disinterest. She doesn't care that this megalomaniac is taking ownership of her power. He's asserting his own strength by admitting ownership to her power and abilities, trying to control it as is his plan with the Metroid's. I do agree with your interpretations of both of these events though, I just felt them differently. Fantastic video! I can't wait for more!
Another point that should be addressed is that Samus still wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the baby Metroid. Like "the baby" saved her life 3 times (4 if you count the ending of Samus returns) so KingK's narrative still works.
I’d like to put in my two cents’ that I felt that Raven Beak’s self-aggrandizing, patronizing tone throughout the game, and the bits about ‘my daughter’ and ‘the strongest Metroid’ _did_ have a profound impact on how Samus was characterized… …in that they help to contextualize her losing her shit and beating his ass into next week in the Metroid suit. Basically, what I’m saying is that Raven Beak was stomping all over her past, her accomplishments, and her internal struggles, and that’s a huge part of why she went feral at the very end of the fight. And it helps to recontextualize the Metroid suit as a whole, as after draining Raven Beak of most of his energy and crashing down to the planet’s surface, Samus _stops acting crazy._ In my opinion, the brief period of Samus having the Metroid suit - her calm destruction of Raven Beak X and its Parasite, her listening immediately to ADAM when he warns her not to go for the ship controls, and her _not_ blowing Quiet Robe X’s head off when he pops up behind her, in contrast to the blinding fury she displayed when the Metroid suit first appeared - what that told me was that Raven Beak was talking out of his _ass_ from the start, and while he was absolutely right that the Metroid DNA had made Samus into ‘the strongest Metroid’, he was absolutely _wrong_ on all other counts, up to and including her control over the Metroid instincts that came with it.
That's my reaction too for Raven Beak calling himself Samus's father. Consider how it contrasts with Samus's relationship with the baby Metroid. Samus doesn't see herself as the Metroid's mother, yet still inadvertently becomes a mother figure to the hatchling due to her compassion and protection. Raven Beak sees himself as Samus's father, yet his refusal to care for his "daughter" means she basically sees him as a glorified blood donor. So it's only appropriate that Samus is saved by the Metroid who sees her as its mother, while Raven Beak is killed by the "daughter" he tried to exploit.
@@latrodectusmactans7592 "Glorified blood donor" is damn right. I could totally imagine Samus internally scoffing at Raven Beak when he calls her his daughter--she's had SEVERAL father figures who actually loved and cared about her as a person, and Raven Beak wasn't one of them. It's no wonder she wasn't swayed by his words whatsoever--Old Bird, Grey Voice, John Aran...hell, even Adam Malkovich could qualify. All of them were literally willing to die to protect her. Raven Beak is basically the equivalent of a sperm donor--sorry, "father" who leaves as soon as he finds out his wife is pregnant and then comes back 20 years later to ask his daughter to pay off his gambling debts. Maybe if he'd actually been there to help her during any of the *many* low points in her life, or at least formed some sort of meaningful relationship with her, she would've reacted differently--but he didn't, and thus Samus gave absolutely zero fucks about his monologues. It's incredible how a character who's so imposing can actually represent a really pathetic type of person when you look below the surface. All in all, the Raven Beak fight was a great character moment for Samus. 10/10, would watch her beat up a deadbeat bird dad again.
@@astracrits4633 I love how when Raven Beak revealed he was her father, she just didn’t give a fuck. Dude is a genocidal maniac and a threat to the Galaxy and needs to be put down immediately.
I actually quite like Samus being 'related' to Raven Beak in retrospect, because it gives context to her surprising killer instinct and fighting prowess, something that always kinda didn't make sense beore to me was the idea of the chozo being this very peaceful tribe, but chozo DNA turning samus into a damn supersoldier. But now it makes a lot of sense. Maybe it coulda been executed better, but I still like it for what it is.
I agree, the link to Raven Beak adds that extra oomf to Samus' tenacity.
I don't know, it kind of takes out of her character though. Like If you couldn't become brave and a badass unless you are related to one. But I do very much like the twist on the chozo that the game introduced, you are right, if they were so peaceful, why did they have so many darn weapons scattered through the whole galaxy? I like the idea of different planets speciallizing in different things, like on might be more about genetics and science and other one about combat prowess. But I don't really think samus needed dna from several different chozo clans. Like... she didn't become a scientist, a genius or a pacifist with the Toha dna... So what would it matter having the warrior dna. Maybe if Raven Beak trained her in combat, that could have been even cooler. The classic student vs master trope.
Her "killer instinct and fighting prowess" already had context. She witnessed space pirates murder her family and was raised and trained for combat by the chozo for literally her entire life. Suddenly now Samus(a human born from two human parents) has a Chozo "father", the details of which are left completely unexplained...
@@diegog1853 Do remember that Samus needed the Chozo DNA since humans are not compatible with the planet Chozos stay around, the same DNA somehow gave her the potential to have superhuman flexibility, kinetic sense, and agility. I'm guessing here, but Thoha might be the more studious type of Chozo and are unable to flip around and fight as well as a Mawkin, Thoha DNA would grant Samus the lungs to stay alive in places where Chozos can, but it would degrade her heart, so to combat this, Mawkin DNA was also used. I'm guessing Raven Beak is either mocking Samus or is trying to get her to his side one last time by calling her his daughter, could also be a boast of power from a toxic masculine war bird basically saying "You're my daughter, you're weaker than me, just do your job and obey me."
@@Space_Australian " and was raised and trained for combat by the chozo for literally her entire life" that's the part OP is pointing out that it doesn't make sense. Why would the Chozo, a peaceful and elightened tribe that is mostly made up of frail and weakened beings (to the point where they are almost thought to be extinct) have a shit ton of weapons and train a human child for combat. The context you claim she already had doesn't make sense in the grand scheme of things. Also, she already had a Chozo father, that part and the DNA thing has been known ever since the manga and Zero Mission, it's just that now we know she recieved DNA from different tribes, explaining some of her abilities and adaptability.
"They have so little faith in the player to make the connection between the varia suit and the kraid room" Well... If you look at all those articles by game journalists, I'd say their doubt in the player's intelligence was somewhat justified.
My first thought exactly. There are tons of people who still can't figure out where to go apparently.
@@jacobmonks3722 Shouldn't that be the point though? I would absolutely love another Metroid game which takes this to the maximum possible on the hardware. A game where there's no concrete direction, no map, and a huge world, with one objective. And also you're really weak at the beginning.
@@charliekahn4205 I agree, the point of Metroid is to explore to find your way around. That's why I like Metroid to be more open ended and less hand-holdy. I think Dread makes a good compromise.
@@jacobmonks3722 Metroid still uses archaic and antiquated game design, apparently.
@@jacobmonks3722 I’m honestly not sure how. You get a very detailed map, I had a few hiccups but always managed to figure out what to do. I’m in fact happy I didn’t need a walkthrough.
The fact that Samus had Mawkin DNA in her blood and that metroids are designed to identify them as enemies just makes her bond with the baby metroid so much more special.
Larva. It's a larva. Do not call it the baby.
@@zephyr8072 The baby
@@zephyr8072 the baby
You're almost as mentally deficient as Sakamoto himself. Congrats.
@@zephyr8072 The baby
i see samus draining raven beak and i'm like: "the last metroid, is choking a bitch."
Shit man. That's how I want to die. By having Samus giving me the Succ.
the galaxy, is at peace
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
"Does Samus Aran have to choke a bitch?!"
samus entering raven beak ship: SMELL LIKE BITCH IN HERE!!
I wish they had at least Adam say at the end something like "Welcome back Samus, glad to see you back after losing contact with you during the mission."
"Don't, you'll drain the ship of it's energy." This shows ADAM knows what the berserk Metroid Suit does,
"Welcome back, Lady."
More like “Welcome back, Lad- WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU!” 😂😂😂
@@ZenoDLC Since we don't know what Quiet Robe-X is like, it's possible that he/it popped into the ship and was like "yo, I assume you're Talmus's ship. She's very likely to come back in full Metroid armor, make sure that if she does, don't let her touch your controls in that state. Let her absorb me first." Adam would probably be distrustful of an X, but the instant that Quiet Robe says "let her absorb me", he'd be fine with the plan. Samus is literally immune to infection, so it'd be fine; the X is sacrificing itself to help her gain control of her new powers.
@@Rot8erConeX What's more with that linee of thinking, it would have been the second time something like that had happened so Adam would have a point of refrence to let it happen. An X letting itself be absorbed saved her once, why not again?
"it's not as if she's an emotionless robot, either" not sure if it was intentional, but nice dig at Kotaku for their clickbait about Dread LMAO
Kotaku’s entire coverage of Metroid Dread (and pretty much everything else) was a complete joke, an utter embarrassment! People give IGN crap, but they would never advocate piracy! I hope Nintendo cuts Kotaku out from any future partnerships. They should at least never receive another game code from Nintendo and at most, they should be sued and taken down by the Nintendo Ninjas😂
@@sethfeldpausch4337 Meh, tbh piracy doesn’t really matter. But yes, Kotaku has always been stupid.
@@sethfeldpausch4337 Kotaku advocated *emulation* which isn’t piracy. You can pirate a game and then emulate it, but you can also legitimately dump your own game’s rom onto your computer to emulate that. The latter doesn’t hurt the industry, since you still purchased the game, but are just playing it on objectively stronger hardware
@@echowhosthis No, they advocated piracy. "All you need is a PC and an emulator." IS. PIRACY. PERIOD. You need MORE TOOLS to rip your own roms. I can't believe people are this foolish to not know basic math.
They literally pulled a “you should smile more” on Samus fucking Aran
Here's the reason why Samus having RB's DNA makes sense: Because the Metroids have been attacking Samus for several games even though the Thoja tribe is supposed to have the power to control the Metroids. So why would they also attack her? Because they detect the Mawkin DNA in her and target her. Which leads to Samus awakening her own Metroid killer instinct and powers when facing RB at the beginning. Without her having both tribe's DNA it would have been a plothole otherwise. It's contrived, but it works.
This is also why I think the X-robe did what it did when it fused with her, because it was in essence another infusion of Thoha DNA, either giving her further control or suppressing her mtetroid abilities
Although the fact that Metroids are programmed to see Mawkin as enemies doesn't make sense on it's own. Why would the Thoha do this? The Mawkin weren't enemies yet, they even worked together to seal the Metroids. It's only when they planned to destroy the planet that the Mawkin betrayed them. Unless the Thoha somehow had their own plans to overthrow the other Chozo and rule the galaxy, but that seems unlikely to me.
@@speedude0164 Maybe Quiet Robe added that little quirk after the betrayal.
@@charliekahn4205 I'm pretty sure he never had access to the Metroids again after that since they were sealed off and he was taken to ZDR where he seems to have spent the rest of his days. I guess he could've used some sort of Thoha magic from the surface to do it in a last resort to stop Raven Beak.
@@speedude0164 I am pretty sure the Thoha did that to all other tribes. They probably knew that the Metroids can be used as Bioweapons and probably had a hunch that other tribes would use them. So they programmed them only to be commanded by the Thoha, as a fail safe so to speak. That Raven Beak would plan a Genocide wasn’t exactly planned, as it seemed that he was a long long time friend with the Thoha. They probably just programmed the Troids ro be tameable if space pirates or a few mawkin captured Metroids for their own purposes
I don't fully understand the hate for the whole "daughter" thing. Seemed reasonable enough. The Thoha tribe was not a war tribe, so the DNA from the Mawkin being where much of her battle prowess is sourced is neat. She was a child in that tube when Ravenbeak was there, and I assume that he was exiled or out of the picture before she came to after whatever that was. Also can we talk about how awesome it is to have fully voiced Chozo? Now we can start breaking it down
Yeah, honestly, I love the Samus = Mawkin plotline, not only for what it did to further establish Raven beak as a conceitful dick, and explaining her having such battle prowess despite living with a bunch of old men who didn't like fighting anymore, but the biggest reason I like it is how it explains why Metroids automatically see Samus as an enemy. The notion that the Thoha were mistrusting enough of the Mawkin to PROGRAM into the Metroids that Mawkin = bad really shows the divide between these two factions, as well as the pure desperation the Thoha must've been in if they ran to the Mawkin for help like they did at the end of SR's memories. Ironically, what I DON'T like, is the other side of the coin. The fact that they decided to establish that Some of Samus's Chozo DNA was THOHAN. There is literally no reason to do this. The entire reason Adam-Beak brought it up is nonsensical and makes the ending thing with QuietRobe-X redundant in the stupidest way possible, it directly contradicts the narrative benefits of her being part Mawkin, And with the timeline of events established in Dread, there even being an alive DNA donor to give Samus her Thohan DNA creates a shit ton of questions and makes everything ridiculously more complicated, if not being OUTRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE.
I think it works perfectly, because while it isn't relevant to the overall story, it is relevant to Samus PERSONALLY. She lost her biological father to Ridley and the space pirates and lost her adoptive father to mother brain and her lust for domination and control. And she lost Adam as well, someone she saw as a father figure. So this random chozo that was never present in her life calling herself ''daughter'' became an all time personal affair for Samus, which is why she was so mad at the end. The problem with this narrative? The player does not know any of this because it didn't talk or show about any of it as a recap or as backtory for Samus as a person. Her metroid DNA and overall DNA composition is important to the story, in fact, very IMPORTANT, yet her blood and lineage is never brought up in detail so when Raven Beak calls her daughter, it seems out of left field just to create drama + tension. If the game would have established where Samus came from and who donated thoha bood to her and how much her parents within her life meant to her, then the revel at the end + the outrage would have been an even bigger payoff than what it ended up being.
@@StarLightShadows I thought it was all but confirmed that her Thohan DNA comes from Grey Voice, who died before the first game in the series.
@@DefinitivNichtSascha How the hell is Grey Voice a Thoha tho? That's gotta fuck up the timeline something feirce.
@@StarLightShadows I mean, we know that Samus had two strands of Chozo DNA (no more). I'm also pretty sure that it's confirmed that Grey Voice donated his DNA to Samus. So if she carries a strand of Thoha and Mawkin DNA each and the Mawkin one comes from Raven Beak, then Grey Voice's DNA must be Thohan.
29:28 There was actually one particular scene in Dread that really tipped me off into thinking that there had to be something amiss with Adam, or at the very least that something had gone wrong at one point; theres a late game conversation where Adam remarks about Samus’ power in relation to her assailant, Raven Beak. Now Adam has never been particularly optimistic when Samus is in a dire situation, but I also believe he’s never been fully pessimistic and doubtful of her abilities- so when a conversation with him goes along the lines of “you are slowly regaining your abilities, but even at your full capacity, it is highly unlikely that you would be able to take on Raven Beak,” something just didn’t feel right. This wasn’t “do your best to survive,” or “focus on getting back to your ship, lady,” this felt like “you are beneath Raven Beak/me.” At the time, I remember thinking how Raven Beak might have hacked Adam by that point, but I never even considered that we were never even in contact with “Adam” in the first place. I mean, I also noticed how he never referred to us as lady, his signature phrase, but I also thought little of it at the time too lol.
The last time Adam refers to Samus as Lady is at the very beginning of the game, on the elevator ride down to the bottom of Artaria. It's a sneaky hint early on that the Adam that speaks throughout the entire game is actually RB. Hence the consistent tone of "Accept your helplessness" that doesn't stop until Samus manifests Metroid powers near the end.
My personal interpretation of the whole corpse quiet robe thing is that his neutralisation of samus' metroid DNA is linked to his ability to control metroids
Yeah the X saw his ability to control metroids and used it to eliminate their predator, Samus
Could be an ability recovery, like the many Ability X in Fusion, this one has the Metroid Control ability
I view it more as a combination of his ability to control her metroid DNA as well as his spiritual power to retain his personality as an X. Unlocking the EMMI can be seen as his realisation that with the X released, she's going to need the remaining EMMI's abilities in order to stop Raven Beak and contain the outbreak, knowing what will happen if they escape the planet. With the rest of the planet's wildlife being consumed by the X, he would face little threat in order to journey to the surface with Samus' ship being the obvious place she would eventually go. Giving himself up to bring her metroid DNA back under control is his final gift to her, sacrificing himself a second time in order to ensure she can escape the planet, now that he can rest knowing both of his woes have been resolved thanks to her.
I also like to think that the X parasites are never truly evil. At least, not by nature. The only times we've seen them act destructively, is when they're breaching a containment or when they're destroying their predators - with one exception. Perhaps, it's not farfetched to assume that their goal is merely to live in a planet as a dominant and free species and to be satisfied with that, and that is why when one dominates Samus or Quiet Robe, they're more than willing to act sacrificial and help Samus along her quest. With that said, yes, there was one exception: When they infiltrated Raven Beak's facility and ruined everything for them. There, they acted as more than mere animals. However, they still get to call self preservation rules in this scenario, after all: Raven Beak was trying to use Metroids as bio weapons. I dunno how the X parasite would have learned of that, but I think it's not unfair nor immoral to fight back in self preservation.
@@QuintaFeira12 the X can gain knowledge of their hosts. Once an X entered a Mawkin, it wouldn't take long to figure out what their plan was for the metroids
I'm pretty sure you forgot that Metroids were dangerous creatures that could be weaponized. The whole plot of Metroid 1 was her going to Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from creating more of them. She was sent to SR388 to eradicate them, so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Even sparing the last Metroid could have been seen as a mistake as the Space Pirates stole it to restart their plans from Metroid 1 in Super. It wasn't until Fusion where it was discovered that Metroids were keeping an even more dangerous creature in check, the X Parasite. However, even in that game, the Federation was secretly trying to grow and hate Metroids "for peaceful purposes." The Metroids never stopped being a threat to the galaxy. They may have been given a purpose for existing, but they never lost the status of being powerful creatures that people want to take advantage of.
He addressed this idea in the video. The objection feels more like having a powerful third party who really really wanted Metroids, who was already essentially en-route to weaponize them, adds too much weight on the idea the massacre* was justified. The ethical question is whether Metroids should need a reason for existing if they aren't harmful on their own- even though relatively trusted operations like the Federation are plenty willing to abuse them given the chance. Adding Ravenbeak to the "yes, it was justified" side makes it heavily outweigh "no, it was immoral and both the player and Samus should feel conflicted." This is in contrast to how (before Dread) the balance of evidence, and the aesthetics of the series, implied the massacre was probably unjustified. Definitely unjustified back when X-Parasites were the scary new bad-guy on the block. Short of somehow finding out Ravenbeak was coming to snatch up the Metroids and thwarting him at the scene, Samus saved the galaxy the right way by "just following orders." The way things happened is now the best way things could have happened, given this previously undisclosed context. Following that logic, Samus shouldn't feel conflicted on her purging the Metroid. Even though the events of Metroid Dread were lucky enough to work out OK, she has no right to exist and should fly her ship into the nearest star to protect the universe from any future risk of Metroid exploitation. That is, unless her Metroid DNA was fully eliminated by bird ghost parasite man, which is still unclear. Ethics be damned! There's a lot of lives to be saved. Of course, Samus isn't required to disregard her wellbeing for this moral conundrum, hypocrisy and moral fluidity are very human traits, "for the good of the universe" is a very distant ideal, etc., but prior to Dread it was much more morally ambiguous to the observer whether Metroids were potentially universe-ending death machines or misunderstood and consistently abused creatures with a potential for good. That dynamic made the events of Metroid II and Samus' presumed emotional turmoil over her rote act of potentially unjustified massacre*, and the consecutive disillusionment due to the betrayal of her trust by the Federation in future games, much more poignant. Now that it's gone, I have to wonder if players starting on the Switch and working their way back would consider those scenes silly or forced.
@@Bingo_Bango_ Weren’t the Metroids created by the Chozo to begin with? It’s less of a misunderstood creature and more of an experimental species that became too powerful after evolving on their own.
@@Bingo_Bango_ Adding Ravenbeak didn't add anything to the "it was justified" side. The whole point of the eradication was because the Metroids themselves were absurdly dangerous. They are desirable because they are very dangerous on their own. The mission was sent when it was only the Space Pirates trying to get their hands on it, so adding Ravenbeak (who makes the third interested party) doesn't change much. Honestly, there isn't really anything on the side of "She shouldn't have killed all the Metroids." Before the X, it was merely "Genocide bad," which isn't a good case considering how dangerous the Metroids are and the potential damage they could cause in the wrong hands. There was no reason to keep such dangerous organisms alive. The appearance of the X only made the act look bad in retrospect... which still means the act was justified as they didn't have info about the X.
@@happythekatt8419 I'm thinking especially in a pre-Fusion context, but the Baby Metroid's entire role is ensuring the player knows that regardless of whatever else they are or how they came about, Metroids are perfectly capable of being benign. Killing something off just because it's "dangerous" when it isn't really dangerous at all left alone is supposed to be a morally ambiguous moment; the X-Parasite reinforced that idea, Raven Beak smashes it entirely. The choice clearly isn't ambiguous for some people, which mystifies me.
@@Bingo_Bango_ The conudrum is easy when you do consider that Metroids are grotesque, nigh indestructible life-draining parasites that have only displayed personality/potential for good in the hatchlings. The characterisation of the Baby Metroid wasn't exactly compelling or heartwrenching. I'm not dismissing the value of the moral dilemma, but I hope you acknowledge the ease of "Alien Monstars Shot Dead = Good"
Funny, cause the first thing I thought when I saw the gravity suit was, "Man, I'm glad they didn't just recolor the suit. the larger vents on her shoulder pauldrons and giant green bolts running down her torso looked so cool!"
Yeah, technically none of the suits in Dread are *just* palette swaps, they have legitimately different designs from each other, even if it's subtle.
This game was soooo damn good. The ending twist was great. The Boss Battles were incredible. And it had THE best movement and boost mechanics of the series, BY FAR… and that’s saying something. I honestly loved my time with this game, and want MORE!
Honestly I never expected to see this level of boss fights in Metroid. Fighting Raven Beak and Experiment Z57 gave me the same feeling as fighting the good bosses from the Soulsbourne games. Not as hard obviously, but they really nailed it here
@@joaoassumpcao3347 The Raven Beak fight was just sooooo good. Easily the best fight of the game (that’s saying a lot given this game’s incredible bosses), and serves as a perfect test of ALL your abilities, and skill. Overcoming everything Daddy Raven Beak threw at you was just sooo damn satisfying.
@@Kenshiro3rd I would say that my favriote part of the raven beak fight was when you would counter him and this insane dodging scene begins as you just countiusly fire missles at him, Raven beak is the best metroid final boss, and imo, dread is the best metroid game
The twist at the end felt a bit shoehorned in/stretching for plot IMO.
@@Space_Australian not really, if you’ve followed the lore. We already knew she was part Chozo.
Even after playing through the game, I can't get enough of Dread related content
A game this good deserves all the content.
I am on my 8th playthrough. This game is like a drug man. I have been waiting 19 years for this game. Usually Finalies and revivals are shit, but Dread is Metroid 5 and more.
Same... and tbh this is the best review yet. I've seen so many in which they didn't even finish their first playthrough to 100% -.- and this is a game designed to be replayed multiple times
Still scratching that Metroid itch after all these years feels really good
Let's keep the hype alive for as long as possible...
I've been waiting since the Prime games for Samus's subtle characterization to make a return. The way she moves has clear intent, with as few wasteful motions possible (Kraid dodge). You can tell she is actively planning her next move, and her acrobatic capabilities are on full display. This is the most badass Samus has ever been. She just absolutely fucking tears through enemies (literally) in this game. On top of her still having feminine characteristics, like how she walks or how she looks at the player after beating the game. Samus Aran is a peak, quintessential strong female character done right.
More importantly, she's hot
I adored the animation done for Samus in Dread. You can really get a sense of the person under the suit. It never feels bulky, it feels like she's more comfortable and natural in her movements in the armor here than she ever has. There's plenty of stone cold badassery, but she also doesn't come off as needlessly unflinching. We get a great albeit tiny moment of fear in the middle of the game when meeting the quiet robe. She just got her ass handed to her by an Emmi and she's clearly scared, but Samus scared is ready to unload everything she has in a last defiant attack. There's even some subtle work done around her boots to give a visual effect similar to a high heel without actually having one, as well as her run being more focused on the toes adds to the idea. It's honestly just really impressive how feminine they make the movement.
Let’s not forget the hip sway. That is lowkey addicting to look at
@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged Seriously they made full and effective plate armor look sexy. That deserves genuine credit. Its not as over the top as Bayonetta or a lot of other sexy badass characters, but Samus has always been a bit on the sexy side when she's not working. Now its incorporated better.
@@Jasonwolf1495 _A bit?_ Let’s not mince words, Samus is one of the sexiest female video game protags, and that’s by design.
Coiled Power is how I find myself describing Samus movements. Calculated to a natural degree. Nothing wasted, and always ready to pounce. It's all very deliberate and not rushed, which I think shows a very intentionally calm mind, not one devoid of reaction entirely
the ending X parasite made sense for me because quiet robes tribe had DNA that was able to control the metroids and the X parasite gave samus quiet robes DNA to be able to control her metroid powers
Yeah, that was implied. She is still a metroid, only with control now. Not sure how he missed that part.
Adding to that, there was no moment of reflection because there wasn't time for one, due to ZDR, you know, exploding.
But why would he reactivate the EMMIs? Why is he able to overpower the X? Quiet Robe isn't a Metroid to begin with so it makes no sense to be able to combat the X.
Well, the QRX probably reactivated the EMMIs because of their ability to extract Samus' Metroid DNA. As for why it gave itself up to help Samus escape, you have to remember that X parasites absorb the DNA and memories of its host, so when the QRX absorbed Quiet Robe, it learned that his Thoha genes could keep Metroid DNA at bay, so it's fair to assume that the QRX sacrificed itself not out of goodwill, but rather out of a personal interest to keep Samus as powered down as possible.
@@averagefez Though the little bow QRX gives before reverting to Flubber Forme could be interpreted as QR's respect for Samus. I think there's a little of column A and B here, where the X chooses to spare Samus on QR's behalf while really wanting the Metroid before it to be gone.
I disagree with you on the idea that Dread says that Metroid 2 was justified. At the very least, they're saying that it was a trade off. I'm almost positive the idea is that her actions we're not justified, but even unjust actions can have positive consequences. It's still grey, because there was no way for Samus to have known in the moment that it was going to be beneficial. The end of M2 is quiet and bittersweet because there was no lens that you could put it through where her actions were just. All Dread does is show how that action *did* have a positive outcome, and actually puts more strain on her decision at the end. Keeping the last metroid and potentially bringing them back, would have brought them right back in Raven Beaks hands.
It’s not even Dread saying Metroid 2 was justified. It’s Quiet Robe saying that, which doesn’t make the philosophical ethics any different. It’s just another subjective opinion.
The point was mute when Samus eventually sees that regardless of Chozo, Space Pirates or the Federation, everyone just wanted to control and weaponize the Metroids. The Chozo story is also ironic, since the creature they wanted to eliminate, managed to outsmart them. I think the Thoha tribe knew ways to protect themselve from replication given they were able to study and find a way to counter the X. But since Raven Beak killed them, probably Quiet Robe wasn't fully able to take those measures when returning to ZDR.
utterly fucking insane point considering the context that is metroid 1
While I really enjoyed Dread, for me the biggest thing that excites me about its success is _where we can go from here._
I'm betting on either the Federation taking up the audacity to hunt Samus to kill her considering they can't clone Metroids. Samus certainly won't let them and after all, she is the last Metroid. Or, perhaps we'll see Samus battling the Mawkin tribe, or a sect of it or another tribe entirely, to keep the galaxy at peace. Or a brand new threat will grace the galaxy
It would be interesting to see Samus be hunted by the federation for one or just doing bounties that lead to another dreadful planet. It would be cool to explore multiple planets in a 2D metroid game for once though. I dunno. As long as they make a fun explorative 2D Metroid game I'm down.
Considering some of the past games (Hunters, Prime 3 Corruption, Federation Force), I think the idea is that Sylux is gonna be the new antagonist, and do something crazy relating to phazon and metroids.
Making Samus only speak in Chozo with a spanish accent instead of soulless monologuing for hours shows that they really learned what not to do from Other M.
I miss text monologue thoughts from Fusion though, I feel like they could have incorporated them without having them voiced.
The Baby, Adam. The Baby! Baby's cry. Baby. **starts crying in front of Ridley**
@@MustacheOnMars9 someone doesn't understand character development
@@novustalks7525 wat
@@Viktoria_Selene he's making of what he thinks is not an accurate showing of the character when it 100% is
I think the reason Quiet Robe X (Or QR-X) came to help Samus in the end was because it the only X parasite in the series to have mimicked a morally strong character. Sure SA-X seemed completely soulless throughout Fusion but I've always been of the opinion that the X was mimicking the power suit and not Samus herself, remember that the Metroid vaccine instantly wiped all the X Parasites within her immune system so the only ones left were the ones in the surgically removed power suit parts. All the other humans the X infected on the BSL were morally corrupt scientists (they made Nightmare and the Metroid breeding program after all) so the X couldn't learn much empathy or compassion from any of them. Quiet Robe however is part of a fundamentally peaceful tribe of Chozo that aspires for Galactic peace. The X parasite that mimicked them probably learned to understand the pain the parasites were causing other lifeforms from Quiet Robe's memories and experiences on SR-388 which is what lead to it's sacrifice at the end of Dread.
The Japanese version of Fusion clarifies that it was only the Federation Army behind those shady projects.
I highly doubt the X-QR truly gave af about helping Samus but rather helping its own kind, knowing the nature of the X. Once again, we have no idea if there is more X out there or not and there just might be. Nonetheless, Samus is the only thing standing between the revival of Metroids, something the Galactic Federation has manage to pull off twice and she shutdown twice. As the old expression goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And Samus is certainly no friend to Metroids or anyone who hopes to revive them or use their power ( truly the only thing that is a threat to them) as the Galactic Federation, Space Pirates, and Chozo have all done and she has gone against. In addition to that, Metroid Samus was outrageously strong, certainly the most powerful she had ever been by far. She could completely destroy them with her hyper beam alone, something her weapons have never done before. I'm sure X-QR knew the importance of keeping Samus alive but also knew the threat of allowing her to remain a Metroid and thus, with the knowledge of Quiet Robe, sacrificed itself in order to achieve the best outcome for the species, a "normal" Samus, a force against both Metroids and their kind, but nonetheless something that is much much better for other X to go up against in the future. I mean think about it; killing Samus would only allow those various groups to threaten the potential of the X going forward. But with her alive, there is a chance. As far as we know, the GF might still have Metroid DNA somewhere, I bet they do. Or if not them then certainly the Space Pirates. And who knows, there might be other Chozo out there who want Metroids as well. With that said, I look forward to the next installment of the series. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 20 years.
"Okay, I'm gonna watch this video until he gets to the spoiler warning and then hop off until I play through the series," I thought to myself foolishly before clicking the video. At least I got through a small sponsor segment, lol
Might have saved me. I'll watch it another time. Lol I was almost past that portion as quickly as it comes. :-p
Metroid Dread: The ballad of Swaggus Aran. You can tell that Metroid is loved by the developers. They made a conscious decision to give Samus ALL the sauce in everything she did.
Not to mention she radiates some Doom slayer energy!
Swaggus Aran. I'm stealing that. The two moments that made me have to pause and just go 'yes!' were when she stright up shoots Kiraid in the mouth in a cutscene (and the only time I wish there were HP bars, just so they could put in it not being full just to show that shot mattered), and when she gets to the point of draining those lace guys. I was low HP by the end of the second one she Dyson's up, only to be full after. The fist clench sold it. If, IF we get another Smash game, this is the template I want them to build from.
Samus's drip levels are off the fucking charts in game.
If they were to add another Metroid character to a future smash game, I think Raven Beak would be deserving of a slot. Another villain, he’ll have some pretty cool moves. Plus I find it neat that he sorta has Samus’ up tilt as one of his attacks in his boss fight. Making the move pseudo canon as a Chozo technique that Samus uses.
God, Raven Beak in Smash would be sick.
Up-tilt. An ancient technique from Mawkin martial arts.
what's funny is that through some minor animation tweaks, it's been retconned out of Captain Falcon and Ganondorf. So it could work convincingly.
They need to redo samus in SSB because her moveset is nothing like anything samus can do. They probably had a different character in mind and slapped her skin on it and made a couple changes since it wasn't going to be a nintendo game originally and they've just stuck with that stupid kicky melee cannon build. Samus needs to be able to do SAMUS things.
I did my second play through in one sitting trying to beat the game as fast possible and then it sunk in that this game straight slaps.
Does slaps mean good? Or bad?
@@grizzlyhamster means it's good
@Craig Adams weak bait
@@randommixer978 Thank you kindly.
In hindsight, it is very clear that it is always Raven Beak who is talking to Samus throughout the game. At one point he is like "You are no match for Raven Beak, even at your full strength. He is way too powerful, smart, good-looking and has a way too large penis xD".
Big beak energy
That scene where Samus unlocks that final suit was genuinely scary. Throughout all the games. We have only seen her as quiet and stoic. Maybe a smile or just closing her eyes to reflect her emotions. Then we see her go absolutely rage induced berserk. The change is sudden and terrifying.
We have seen Samus snap into rages before particularly in Metroid Prime 1 and 3, and it goes to show that Retro and Mercury Stream understand Samus' character and how her traumas affect her far more than certain others..
@@zephyr8072I don't really recall all that much rage in prime 1
I’ve said this before, but Metroid Suit Samus makes me feel things. I’ve been wanting a thoroughly-transformed alien Samus since I first played Fusion and we got the “Samus truly is the last Metroid” thing. So seeing Samus finally turn into this creature of all-consuming hunger, where _that’s not a suit, that’s literally just her body now-_ Hng. Yes please. And being able to sling Master Sparks around with total impunity makes it even better.
About the story, while they said this was the "end of the saga" what I think they meant, is just that it's supposed to be the closure to the Metroids and Chozo side of the story, but they will continue after Dread, just with a different focus (IMO they are going to go in the Federation side of things). And I'm pretty sure at the end, what happens is Quiet Robe's memories being strong enough to surpass the X's, and what restores Samus is the Thota DNA, which is supposed to be able to control the Metroids, so Samus now is able to control better her Metroid powers, so they are not really gone. That's what I got out of it, tbh
I couldn't agree more.
while i get your criticism about Ridley showing up in Samus Returns, i like him being there as his Proteus form pretty much makes the Prime Trilogy (quad since 4 is on the way) cannon as he's regrowing his organics back and ditching the cybernetics, and it leads right into Super with him following Samus' trail to Ceres and the pirates attacking when she left the baby there. great video!
The criticism of Ridley's appearance in SR has always been nothing more than blind purism/elitism purely for the sake of it. It's rather sad and tiresome, honestly. (Especially when you take into account that it was hardly different to how Mecha Ridley was added to ZM, something I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain about) It wasn't "necessary", per se, but it fills in the blanks nicely while also providing what is arguably one of the best - if not outright the best - fights with Ridley in the series. (Perhaps even the best final boss in the series altogether prior to Raven Beak, even, barring the Metroid Prime games) The direct acknowledgment of the Prime games in a mainline title, as well as this being the only time the actual Ridley has been a final boss, are also nice bonuses. Ironic that King is against Ridley showing up in SR when it makes perfect sense, and yet is perfectly fine with Kraid being in Dread when it doesn't whatsoever. (At least for now, since his appearance in the game is pretty vague at best; it being another member of Kraid's species doesn't work either contextually, mind you)
@@Zephrese I really like the addition of Ridley in SR as it finally connects the Prime games (and its just a really good fight), but I think it's really unfair of you to just throw anyone who didn't like it into the pile of elitist, some just really appreciated the upbeat calm ending that the OG game gave after a long abyss descent, it's an unique ending that stands out from the rest of the series which usually ends with an explosion or a big boss blowout at the end.
@@kingdomkey2262 Fair point, but for most people that I've seen hold this opinion it goes well beyond that for no good reason. It's annoying considering how long it's been. Most people focus on the one thing it changed that was supposedly "negative", rather than all the good and positive elements to it. Hypocrisy is common among these people too, such as the aforementioned exceptions made for Kraid and Mecha Ridley. With that all in mind, while it might appear "unfair", I think it's reasonable to think of this stance in general in the manner that I do. Also, keep in mind that I don't consider purists and elitists to be inherently the same thing. They usually are, but you can be a purist on something without being elitist about it. Similarly, someone can understandably prefer the original ending of the OG II while still enjoying and acknowledging that in of itself the Ridley fight in SR is otherwise a good thing.
@@Zephrese Thank you for phrasing my thoughts nicely on this topic. I have no problem with people enjoying different aspects of storytelling, when it borders on illogical and unreasonable is when I take issue. "someone can understandably prefer the original ending of the OG II while still enjoying and acknowledging that in of itself the Ridley fight in SR is otherwise a good thing." This, this, and more of this. You can not like something and still see logical reasons as to why it has a positive impact.
@@Mesyrr Exactly! I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking of this or similar stuff in such a manner. lol I do feel like I came off a bit harsh in my first comment, to be honest, but I just dislike how often people see things like this in such a black and white manner almost exclusively.
Some insight on quiet robe. His race of chozo actually could control more than just metriods, they were "attuned" to all things living in the galaxy. When turned to an x, his DNA allowed him to retain his sentient control of his mind. He reactivated the emmi in order to "force feed" samus's lacking abilities. And at the end of it, his DNA being absorbed by samus allowed the metriod form of her to be subdued. The metriod hunger for energy, life force or otherwise, is insatiable. She needed that DNA rebalancing bc of beak hitting her with a red plasma phazon blast, which in turn is why her metriod DNA started to take over. Metriods grow and evolve from high doses of energy of any form. Now I'm not sure if his blasts were actually phazon in origin. But his energy shielding really made a dark samus pull.
It's the Hyper Beam.
It wasnt blue so not phazon
@@meta9492 true. But there is such a thing as red phazon. Prime 1. But more likely it's just a remake of hyper beam while being red bc of beaks plasma cannon.
@@UmbreonMessiah kind of. More like A super hyper beam bc in super it wasn't as amazingly awesome as this one, but limitations back then probably is the only reason why it wasn't a full on continuous beam like all the revamped versions of hyper mode.
If they're so attuned with all things then why make Metroids to combat the X in the first place? It just seems like a plot hole but maybe it'll be explained later.
I just wanted to share my interpretation of the ending when the x controlling Quiet Robe helped samus. To me it seems at first that when the x took control of Quiet Robe it activated the emmi because of this. The x can access the host’s memory, so since the x possessed Quiet Robe they knew that Samus was the last metroid. (The metroid is also the sole predator of the x parasite.) So thats why the emmi were reactivated. Then later the x messes with the thermal flow to freeze the planet in an attempt to kill Samus because through the knowledge of Quiet Robe they know that metroids are weak to cold. Then at the end as the x’s extinction was closing in the x realized that killing Samus isn’t an option anymore. She is just too strong. So at the end the x possesses the powersuit once again but this time it only degrades it so Samus can escape as the x realizes this is the only way it can survive. So i think the next game will make it clear that not only is Samus a metroid now but her powersuit is also an x parasite. And i think it’s a really neat way of still keeping the series about metroids (at least somewhat) and it’s neat for long time fans to se an enemy like the x realizing that teaming up with Samus is a way better option than crossing her.
This is an interesting thing that you've brought to my attention: how do you keep Metroids in the Metroid story when they're all extinct? You make Samus part Metroid. Meme magic is real.
That explicitly goes against how the series explains how X and the Metroids interact, though. Metroids are immune to X infection, which is why Samus couldn't be infected anymore following her operation in Fusion. QR-X may have been able to alter Samus's DNA by letting it absorb her, but the X itself is dead and consumed. Maybe you could say the X live on through her in a metaphorical or spiritual sense (and people have said that about the SA-X letting itself be absorbed at the end of Fusion), but absolutely not in a literal sense.
Why would the X deliberately help Samus though?
@@averyhepburn8092 to survive, the x would die along samus if they couldnt escape with her.
@@danielquinlan2457 samus didnt absorb that x at the end, the x absorbed her powersuit, not samus herself.
KingK’s smooth late night radio show game reviews poises well next to Nerrel’s monotone timbre. One more harmonious while the other chaotic. Life, in balance.
“Honey grab the kids, new KingK video dropped.”
"who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my home?! Sean grab your sister and call 911!"
My favourite thing about Dread is how it is linear at first with the invisible hand guiding you through the game during your first playthrough, but then as you get better and learn some of the sequence breaks, it is simultaneously wide open. I've beaten the game 13 times at this point, and I haven't taken the same path in any of my playthroughs, which I think is SUPER cool!
35:27 well, that's the reason she wiped them out in the first place. She saw what happened on zebes and in the prime games, she knew they were dangerous, and while it was in many ways a bad idea... well... we can't forget what may have came to pass if she didn't. Mass Metroid Weaponization. In the end, either letting them live or killing them off, things only end poorly
Pretty early into my first play of Dread, I started wondering "Will this be the next Super?" And no, I don't think it is, and IMO that's a good thing. Instead of trying to recapture Super's exact magic (or Fusion's), Dread does a great job of just refining the hell out of the Metroid formula in a way that's totally its own, while borrowing the best parts of the previous 2D Metroid games. It's a blast to play in a way that no other Metroid game has been, so even though it's not quite my favorite in the series, I'm really glad it's exactly the way it is.
Honestly with all the sequence breaks being discovered this is the closest metroidvania we've ever gotten to Super imo
@@extremekiwi101 Its not as close as Zero Mission is, but its getting there. Zero Mission is almost completely nonlinear without glitches if you explore enough, while Dread still requires some small glitches to truly open up.
Lmao, no music, no previous gorgeous art, just dead polygons. How about borrowingy my аss next time, Nintendo. Every time people tell me Dread is ”good Metroid game”, I want to puke. (Of course they didn't go after Super Metroid, because nobody could. It's simply a good platformer, creative gameplay that worked on retro hardware.)
@@meyearsago-lc8bq Just wow
@@meyearsago-lc8bq tell me you're fatherless without telling me your fatherless
I’ve seriously never cared about what game gets GOTY, until now. This better win, especially since the competition is pretty slim this year.
Metroid Dread isn’t getting GOTY. They don’t give GOTY to games that don’t look like Uncharted. Persona 5 gained attention precisely because it was the exception to that rule
Nah I can think of some games that rival it
They never give GOTY to games that deserve it unfortunately
I'm pretty sure it will win several goty awards.
While I agree for the moment, SMT V is just around the corner. Though if we're talking about the Game Awards, their choice doesn't matter, as evident with the past 3 shows.
Finally, after seeing how much you love this game on Twitter, I get to watch you show me that with an amazing video
What's his Twitter handle? Clicked the link in the description and the account doesn't exist. Did he delete?
@@meltenvy yeah I have no idea what happened to his Twitter, perhaps it’ll be back after a couple days
@@meltenvy he posted an update on his blog stating that he’s pretty much done with Twitter at this point
One thing to add with Raven Beak calling Samus 'Daughter', I think its less about their connection and more about his arrogance. From Raven's perspective, he sees Samus as some random human kid he gave his warrior genes too, and basically uses that as 'leverage' to be like "the reason you fight so well is because you're basically my daughter, and that means you have to do what I say". Is it a good reason? No, and I honestly think it comes out of left field to explain her combat prowess as being derived from a random Chozo Warrior rather than her own wit and guile. But I think its what they were trying to go for.
"You just left your seed in me, left for years, murdered all my family, nearly murdered me, sent robots to stab me so you can take my DNA, and tried to mimic the A.I. version of the person I respect most, and now you're calling me your daughter!?" -Probably what Samus is thinking while preparing to blast the damn bird man...
He's not a random Chozo, he's a tribe leader, the strongest of them all, it makes sense
Um.... leaving all her combat prowess to her own wit and guile would not make sense since, you know. She is indeed wearing an alien armor, can summersault 200 times in the air, run through lava and weild all those weapons. Being the supersoldier that she is must have come from somewhere. No other human can do what she can, not because of her own skill, but because the chozo infused her with her chozo dna. The refinement of her skills is obviously due to her determination and foucs, but initially, she needed the boost to become what she became.
@@ZenoDLC Please don't call it "seed'
Raven beaks speeches are an attempt to demoralize Samus and get her to give up like saying "Everything about you that matters is from me." but because in truth he knows very little of samus this is what leads to his defeat he kept gloating and pushing her when he should have gone in for the kill
I like that angle, since I could see that is how he'll train any soldier.
Best switch exclusive since breath of the wild. I absolutely adored this game.
BotW is a Switch exclusive?
@@nickfifteen It might as well be for the 99 percent of people who don't have or care to have a Wii U.
Breath of the Wild was on the Wii U; it was not a Switch exclusive.
Super mario odyssey came out THE SAME YEAR
@@nickfifteen wiiu
The comic book answers when Samus got Ravenbeak DNA. When the Chozo adopted her they needed to give her their dna so she can survive on their planet.
33:10 Isn't Quiet Robe from the tribe that can control Metroids? He gave up his life to allow Samus to absorb him as an X, allowing her to control the Metroid suit. There was no reflection because the planet was about to explode. But yeah, after she flew away the ending was very abrupt. Not too big a deal though, not every story needs to have long endings. It's kind of refreshing how quickly the credits started to roll, it fit perfectly with the rest of the game since Samus didn't speak much.
the reason for samus just leaving at the end, with no pause, the way I saw it, it was more of a "ah, I can use the ship now, oh yeah, the planet is exploding NOW! need to get the F$%£ out of here NOW!"
Been waiting for this one! After beating a game I always love to watch reviews to get more perspectives, and you're the last one on my list. Can't wait to hear your thoughts :)
Same. Geek Critique is another I'm waiting on a review for, you should check him out. As well as MinnMax for a really long discussion on the game
EMMI to Samus: get your ass back here Samus to EMMI after Omega Canon: get your ass back here
@@Robert-tl2vg ?
I really appreciate how you're able to openly admit that something you love is far from perfect and give it harsh yet valid criticism
Idk, the things he complained about were kinda dumb
Dread's is the best version of the speed booster. It doesn't matter where you hit the cluster of speed blocks, it takes out the entire cluster as long as you hit at least one. It makes them significantly less frustrating. Yes the puzzles are difficult on their own, but nothing is worse than completing the puzzle only to fail at getting the item because you didn't hit the blocks right.
That, plus the fact that you can maintain the boost through slides and wall jumps, AND shinespark downward (oddly enough the first time that's ever happened) means that Dread has absolutely the best Speed Booster ever. Hard to imagine how they could make it any better.
Happy to see you give the music some credit. I think people have been overly harsh on it since the tracks aren't the sort of thing that stick in your mind after playing, but they're excellent while you're playing.
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with ambient music, especially in a game in this sort of setting.
I agree, it felt right and set the tone well in context. Just doesn't have many catchy melodies, which I think is in line with the way a lot of videogame music is going these days. Can't immediately recall any tunes from Elden Ring, for example, despite pouring HOURS into it, but I loved it all while playing.
@@TheGreatBLT Tbh it's not something new for the franchise. Metroid Fusion hardly had any "catchy melodies" either yet people never complain about that one. In fact Fusion's area themes are way more ambient than Dread's. Who can instantly hum TRO or NOC? SA-X's theme lacks a "catchy" melody either. Heck, even if you go back to even Super, check out tracks like Upper Norfair, Maridia, etc. Or in Prime tracks like Bryyo's themes from MP3... Metroid has always been like this people like to think it isn't just because of the 2 or 3 catchy themes each game has but the series has *always* been like this lol. Dread feels like a perfect mix between Super and Fusion's soundtrack styles, fits right in with the mainline series. It *does* have plenty melodies, they're just all using uncommon music scales and chord progressions you often only hear in jazz (like the whole-tone scale or heavy usage of augmented + diminished chords) which people aren't used to due to their weirdness (which accentuates Metroid's alien nature). Both Metroid Dread and Elden Ring's OSTs are phenomenal. I just think the regular person finds it hard to pick out melodies if they aren't conventional and upbeat, which is sad. I remember many of the tracks from Elden Ring perfectly well lol.
@@Cue-Ball. Sure, lower key, more ambient music isn't new for the series. I just think Dread is just particularly light on earworms, like I wouldn't find myself whistling bits from it as much as some of the games on more basic hardware. As you say, the melodies are less conventional, the compositions are more complex. Like I said, I personally enjoyed this soundtrack a lot, as I did Elden Ring. I certainly don't think catchy melodies are what define good videogane music at all, I'm just speculating on the sentiment behind a lot of the negativity directed at this one. Reminds me of the people who disliked the music in BotW, which I thought was fantastic.
I always love seeing someone do a shinespark puzzle in a way that makes me say "OH! That's much better then how i did it! I gotta try that on my next game." The multiple solutions is one of favorite parts of dread.
25:22 Uh...I'm almost certain that Zero Mission had more intentionnal sequence breaks than Super.
But more sequence breaks in general? Not likely.
Intentional, yes, more, *fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck* no. Zero Mission may have the single wall-jump but the moon-jump Super has breaks that game so much it's incredible.
@@jacobmonks3722 That's not the point. King K specifically said intentionnal sequence breaks. Of which ZM has more. In SM, you technically aren't even suppose to be able to Phantoon and Dragyon out of order, and even Ridley is probably suppose to require space jump for the lower norfair entrance. The intentionnal sequence breaks are limited to small stuff, like getting wave beam without the grapple beam.
I think the idea behind the Quiet Robe X at the end is that it was supposed to show a parallel between the metroids and the X. The metroids were, undoubtedly, universe threatening bioweapons engineered by the chozo for reasons that we could, charitably, call dubiously logical. Despite that, SR388 was a thriving planet with a lush ecosystem, and as we saw with the baby metroid, they were capable of /some/ sort of sentient thought. They could form attachments, spare others, and even fight to protect beings other than themselves. The X are given the same condemnation that the metroids were: "irredeemable, universe threatening monsters that have no sentience and live solely on their instincts to breed, spread, and grow more powerful." But as we see through Fusion, and with Dread, this isn''t entirely the case. The X were intelligent enough to be willing to sacrifice those aboard the BLS to destroy the metroids and samus that threatened the other X on the planet. And the SA-X, regardless of its motivations, DID ultimately sacrifice its being to Samus so she could destroy the Omega. We're told that they're capable of learning and have the ability to copy a host's memorieis...but then expected to believe they aren't capable of elevated thought. The QR-X is really the first pacifist individual we've seen infected by an X. Not feral beasts, or bioweapons, or violent chozo warriors, or samus herself - a pacifist of the Thoha tribe who knew more about the metroids than anybody else still living. At least in my mind, if the X truly are capable of learning and accessing their hosts' memories, there is no way an X could infect someone like Quiet Robe and NOT become a selfless pacifist in the process. But I do agree, I would have enjoyed even a *tiny* breather during that ending for Samus, or Adam, or SOMEONE to express some opinions on what the fuck just happened.
Just coming here to say another unique animation plays in the Kraid fight if you get the Flash Shift early. The level of detail here is insane.
21:01 Dread was my first Metroid game and I also found it, at times, painfully obvious that the game was leading me along a predetermined path.
In regards to Raven Beak, him being genetically linked to Samus is not characterization for Samus, it's characterization for Raven Beak. In this way he is Samus's equal or even more powerful than her. He mastered Samus's fighting style and equipment. He is better than her, which is why he ultimately wins the fight. Also I think Samus was raised by the more reserved and quiet Chozo. Her adoptive parents from the manga can be seen briefly in a flashback in Dread. Raven Beak calling her his daughter is him trying to flex his superiority.
i always appreciate how you have cc available so soon after uploading the video, thanks a lot!
would've loved some of these tips playing, but had a great time none the less, first Metroid I actually beat, and 100%, played others but haven't beaten 'em yet, tho, it does make the last Baby Metroid existence a Double Edge sword, kill it and the X-Parasites take over, don't and have power hungry species try and abuse it's power, honestly an interesting moral dilemma.
If my knowledge of Metroid lore is correct, the Federation did not know until Fusion that the X existed, let alone that Metroids were their natural predators. Samus was in the same position. The Chozo knew, but they kept this hidden. Why? I don't know, and I don't think we'll get an answer. But this tidbit changes that moral dilemma a bit.
@@rokr0001 I wouldn’t say they kept that hidden; it’s more that they didn’t really tell anyone who’s still around much of anything at all. If you don’t say anything, it’s hard to say you’re keeping a specific thing hidden. Although if they had intentionally hidden the X, it might be for the same reason that the space Pirates and Federation went after the Metroid. Or, they thought nobody would find the Metroid and do something stupid (or impossible?) like exterminating the Ultimate warrior before it could eradicate the X.
Yeah that spinespark tip. Will make future playthroughts easiers. Major pain to complete without those tips to 100 percent. Just 100 percented my first run. Now to hard mode.
Loved the video dude. I loved this game a ton, though I will say I disagree with you on a few points. In regards to Samus Returns I actually miss the beam and missile switching from Samus Returns in this. Like gameplay-wise I think I like everything else better, but I was actually disappointed to see Ice Missiles and Super Missiles as upgrades as opposed to combat options and collectables again like Fusion. It made those moments when you got counters off really cool because you had time to consider what resources you wanted to burn on bosses, and I feel in this game it's been simplified from 5 attack options to just 2. Not to mention while not every Aeion power was great, I loved the beam burst and would have been fun to use. Also in regards to Samus Returns and the speedboost it's like you said it's the claustrophobic design which was a deliberate design decision since you spent most of that game descending through caves. AM2R was done better but it was done by a totally different group that had very different goals. (There's a whole lot about the Samus Returns attitude you seem to have in this video I won't touch on but I'll still say I agree the game isn't perfect.) Anyway back to Dread. I actually think I loved the ending a lot and how ambiguous it is. Honestly reminded me of Fusion's ending and got me rethinking what happened at the end of that game in retrospect with the SA-X (I'm theorizing the Samus in the SA-X might have overpowered it's X programming.) I will say what actually bothered me in a similar vein though is the planet just sorta starts to explode with no real explanation or proper setup lol. Like at least mother brain did a self-destruct. I also definitely did not read into the ending what you did. I think Samus' Metroid dna was just surpressed since Quiet Robe was of the Thoha tribe, which is the point of Raven beak's DNA explanation. He said the Thoha tribe genes in her that surpressed the Metroid DNA from growing quickly, so Quiet Robe X kicked her out of the state. If they make a Metroid 6, I expect they'll probably expand on this. Going more into this. Admittedly, this is just a jank thing about Metroid canon, but the manga was made with the help of Sakamoto and is basically canon. So Samus having Chozo DNA and her using the suit, all of that was from the manga. Raven Beak being involved in that is new info to me I think, but it's been knowledge in the fanbase for a while. I will also say your tangent about the purple ooze machines felt kinda out of place in this video, as well as them tying in Samus Returns, even though they kind of used that game to set up this one since the scene was just recreating the chozo memories you unlocked from 100%-ing Samus Returns. I guess it was trying to get justice for AM2R or something, but just came off petty, no offense there. Also I don't think Quiet Robe was making a moral stance on Samus' actions at all, he was just stating the facts, and frankly this whole SR388 has turned into a F'd if you do, F'd if you don't situation, and I kind of love it. Like the X parasites are the bigger threat, and the Federation did make a mistake in killing them, but then again, the Metroids themselves grew out of control after the Chozo made them, and ARE very dangerous, and if we count Prime, the amount of ways they can mutate and replicate do make them a big threat to the galaxy. So the Thoha realized maybe the best thing to do was to nuke the whole planet, X and Metroid, but were stopped. As for Samus and sparing the baby Metroid, especially as depicted in Samus Returns, it was a turning point where she realized that she saw herself in the Metroid, and in turn, her act of kindness led to the Metroid helping her out. Not to mention the Metroids were originally meant to help the Thoha before they went crazy, and lo and behold, Samus has Thoha genes. God I love this game because I just realized the end of the last paragraph mid-writing this. This game legit recontextualized the whole series in the best way for me. They knocked this game out of the park. Sorry for the paragraph. Love the vids, and hope you don't take my comments about your SR criticism too personal :)
To note: the Manga is NOT the origin of Samus' backstory and so it isn't completely canon, this is why some people are getting confused about some specific details. While it is mostly canon, it should be expected that not all of it will stay canon, or ever was to begin with. The general backstory (K2L, Samus being raised on Zebes, the Chozo DNA) were already a canon part of the story prior to the Manga, including the previous Super Metroid comic that the Manga is a retelling of, and iirc Smash bros. Melee's trophies (which predate the manga by a year or 2) even mention this backstory. The Manga does add some specific background or minor detail to the story, and some of it was canonized, while others (like Gray Voice being there during the Zero Mission) completely contradict the canon story. So basically, take the manga with a grain of salt. I've noticed in another comment thread that people are confused on how the Chozo even have weaponry since the Manga says they are unable to fight because of biological tampering, the obvious answer being that the Manga made up that minor line of dialogue and it isn't necessarily canon.
@@GBDupree that's fair. I guess I should have been clearer that it's probably the most accurate we'll get to Samus' backstory, but yes the manga does take liberties in places to make it a more satisfying read. Still I recommend it since so much from it has found it's way into canon since then.
Honestly i don't think Samus' actions on SR388 unintentionally stopping Raven beaks retroactively justifies those actions as the whole reason Samus was sent on that mission in the first place was to prevent dangerous forces from using the metroids as a bioweapon. Raven Beak wanted to do that just lines up with stuff we already knew and doesn't change anything, Samus eradicating the metroids is ethically questionable and didn't actually stop Raven beaks plans as even with the metroids gone he simply adjusted his plans and kept going. If anything that cutscene actually justifies Raven's Beaks extreme actions in preventing the destruction of the planet as one of his soldiers were already infected and had he let the planet be destroyed there would be no metroids left to oppose the X parasites and the Galaxy would be doomed had the ones on ZDR got out somehow, (which is a little ironic given how much they condemn those extreme actions). Samus sparing the last Metroid is what saved the Galaxy both in Fusion and Dread as had she fully carried out her genocide mission there would be no hope left for the galaxy. The events of dread only reinforce that sparing the Metroids was morally right because it ultimately saved the galaxy again and again, although those actions still had consequences that need to be addressed. In terms of Raven beak being one of Samus' gene donors, it is a cheesy twist but it also doesn't really contradict anything we know. Samus was infused with Chozo DNA because she couldn't survive on Zebes as a child so she was unconscious during the whole procedure. The Chozo wanted to give Samus all the tools necessary to defend herself so infusing her with the DNA of the warrior race makes sense and lines up with why they gave her the power suit. All raven beaks presence there does is establish that he was around and active during that time which makes him feel like he's more of a longtime part of this universe rather than him just showing up out of nowhere. Something that most of the lore involving him tries to do with the Samus Returns connections also being a huge part in that. It also seems like an attempt to canonize more of the zero mission manga, as a lot of that lore has never been explained in game. I don't think it's the most graceful handling of it, but neither has most of the attempts to tie in the manga after the fact., other m being the worst offender of that.
I'm surprised you didn't mention how the Emmi patrol and chase music is a sort of warped version of the save room/item room music from various past Metroid games. Because ultimately the EMMI's are both SA-X and Torizo in that they're chase sequences that culminate in a boss fight with the thing holding your next ability.
The game was so good that even the AM2R diehard fanboys had to kneel. Good on you Sakamoto and fantastic job Mercury Steam, you did were really good with Samus Returns and knocked it out of the park with Dread.
Lol, no
I wouldnt say I kneeled, but certainly tipped my hat lol. Dread is awesome.
AM2R still better lol
Interrupting an SR vs AM2R debate to proclaim Metroid Dread is way better than both
It reminded me very much of super metroid. But dread has the great addition of the emmi parts where you have plan how to escape.
I will at least add that the opening of of game goes out of its way to talk about how X Parasites take on the MEMORIES of what they take over, which was so noticeable that I thought the twist was going to be Samus "lost" her powers because this was the last X Parasite you were playing as. Since that isn't the case I think the intent of reminding people of that is that the kind Chozo's memories went onto the X Parasite, basically making this X Parasite the same person with the same motivations. I don't know how he exactly helped, but I definitely just think the X-Parasite became him due to getting his memories.
The thing with Raven Beak being Samus’ dna donor I think was them just building upon the already known information that Samus was infused with Chozo DNA. I found it a kind of unique idea that she has both tribes of Chozo within her and therefore is the ultimate Chozo in a way. I admit him calling her daughter was a little weird but it made me feel like Raven Beak is delusional and is underplaying all of Samus’ power and achievements essentially giving himself credit for how capable she is, which I personally believe she’s shown she can be capable without her Chozo side in the Zero Mission added stealth section.
To be fair, I feel like it’s pretty obvious that the X at the end only suppressed the Metroid DNA. Also Dread’s revelations about SR388 do NOT undo the moral questionability of it all. We also know when Raven Beak gave Samus his DNA. It happened at the same time as when Grey Voice did.
So, about sequence breaks: an italian youtuber and streamer is currently playing through Dread, and at one point he just noticed that he could make that shinespark in the water in Ghavoran. Then he found those bomb blocks and spent half an hour solving the Shinespark puzzle, while the chat was going crazy. It was a great moment, to see this sequence break happen to someone who went in blind.
The whole Chozo DNA thing is from the prequel manga from Zero Mission - they infused Samus with their genes because otherwise, she'd never survive on the world they were using as a home (Zebes). That would be when she got Raven Beak's DNA.
Your segues into the ads are getting better and better. They're very enjoyable
Nobody seems to be talking about this game anymore but I just fired it up and played through for the first time since release and its still fire
While some of the lore is absolutely a lil' hokey and contrived (the interaction with the X at the end was a lil' headscratchy, to be sure), let's not forget that the last time Metroid wanted to explain something, they made Other M.
One of my favorite things is that we get the super missiles right before going to ferenia. while you go there, you basically one shot everything in your way, but when the X infect the planet and you go back through the same route, the game shows you how harder the enemies became with the X
Hm. Pretty sure Quiet Robes X-parasite "attacked" Samus at the end for two reasons. 1) The X and the Metroids are natural enemies so it sees a Metroid in form of Samus and "attacks" her. 2) The other characteristic of the X is their survival instinct. Seeing as the ship couldn't take off with Samus' Metroid powers it chose to supress them so they can take off, similar to the ending of Fusion.
Can we just appreciate how darn smooth KingK transitioned into the sponsorship? God-tier marketing 😎
Only another review, that makes me really hype to play Metroid Dread when I'll receive it for Christmas!
A lot of questions about the end and the implication of Samus’s Metroid abilities is stuff that would be interesting to cover in a sequel. Imagine if that Quiet Robe parasite more just gave Samus control of the powers, since that was a skill of the Thoha, her suit changing back as a sign of this. Makes me think how they could implement that idea in a sequel, having some kind of energy absorption power and a narrative twist being connected to that.
I dont think it removed it. X parasites take the memories of those they posses as well so its possible Quiet Robe overtook the parasite and decided to also find a way to transfer his Thoha DNA to Samus. The Thoha also can control Metroid, so I feel its less it negates her new metroid powers but rather lets her control them now, atleast limitedly. So I could see it be something like a devil Trigger going forwatd, where Samus can just become big strong for limited times.
I was wondering when the Chozo would be implemented as active elements in the story, and this was pretty good.
I thought the bosses were fucking amazing and the best in any metroid game I have played.
I'm just leaving a like for the amazing thumbnail art. 10/10
This game does movement and boss fights/difficulty really well. Felt so nice to have a last boss in a Metroid game that could kick my ass and actually take time to learn. The movement was expertly crafted as well (the speed boost, shinespark, ballspark, slide, infinite bomb jumps, flash step, etc.), everything felt so fucking good (quickly navigating the Emmi zones to avoid them, speed boosting into a slide and then into wall-jumps, or spinesparking into a slope and immediately storing another spinespark). I also appreciated the interactivity with the world and the background, it made the world feel more alive (things like water filling up areas, explosions or objects changing landscape, turning on power, etc). The world design I began to appreciate more as I replayed and got the gravity suit or the cross bombs early or skipped the space jump entirely. I still think they could of made it a bit more open ended in design (more multiple pathways and such), but I still think the world design was good overall. I liked that they never explicitly gave you markers of where to go (besides the ship which was really more of a tease as you kept getting close to it) and respected the players intelligence. Story in these games isn't a priority for me but I did enjoy the lore reveals and the moment before the last boss. Game of year so far for me.
I honestly still cannot believe how good this game is, after Samus Returns being only ok. It is perhaps the only time I've felt that a game was designed specifically for me, super metroid being one of my favorite games of all time in big part due to its use of sequence breaks, this being also the hardest metroid, and I do love my action games to be hard. And being this the finale of my favorite series in all of media. To this day I believe that Metroid zero mission, AM2R and Super Metroid are one of the greates trilogies in gaming, it is my game equivalent to LOTR and I replay them once a year or something. Sometimes adding Metroid Fusion. This is a most play for fans of modern Metroidvania and/or action platformer. And I cannot wait to replay the whole series for years to come, I will be excited to get to the final chapter. Seriously, you can play now 1 through 5 and they are all excellent games on their own right, while being vastly different from each other. That is impressive.
I loved Zero Mission, too, and I really want to erase every memory of Dread from my head and never remember this thing ever. Look how they massacred Metroid, no music, the art style so generic and full of dull grey, man...
The EMMI are Mr. X and Nemesis from the RE remakes done right.
What I love about dread is that it rarely tells you exactly where to go, but through sheer level design I never found myself getting lost. While having no direction at all can be fun it can also be frustrating when you get a new ability and have to check 100+ rooms for the way forward. Dread often has points of no return where you can’t go back too far without a new power, so you still get to explore on your own but have to check significantly less rooms
I also really like how Raven Beak has the beam burst and lightning armor from Samus Returns.
I just hope Prime 4 (whenever it comes out) is on the same level of quality as this.
36:40 Did you forget about Samus' DNA being from two different Chozo tribes??? It explains her being such a powerful warrior and being able to absorb the X! It even could explain why the baby Metroid looked up to her. I'm very surprised you wouldn't notice such a large aspect of the Metroid story and how it was all tied together.
At the end of fusion, the SA-X's X-form is completely ignoring Samus to try and kill the Omega Metroid, but when it got defeated, it realized that it only had one way to not die: become a part of samus. Similarly, the X at the end of Dread knew that, if it wouldn't have done what it did, it would simlply have died. In addition to that, the reason Samus lost her Meteoid form was because she actually didn't. Instead, she gained control over it, since that's the ability she absorbed. I should also mention that mitrochondira have evolved to not be a seperate living thing but instead to be the powerhouse of the cell, so this explaination does make sense.
I interpreted the final scene with the X parasite Quiet Robe like this: Samus had become a metroid, essentially. The X parasite retains the memories of the victim, so quiet robe did not want to harm Samus but the X part of him did want to harm the metroid part of samus. So the X parasite sacrificed itself to cleanse samus of the metroid DNA, both as a predator and as quiet robe wanting to help her.