• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Metroid Dread is 15 years in the making, and MercurySteam's big second chance after they bombed the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Trilogy

Marty-McFly

Banned
Yeah, never understood the hate either.Metroid has a very weird fanbase that is very hard to please. Its specially weird that they are so defensive when not all metroid games are all that great, when they usually treat like they are. Played Fusion lately and I mean, its a good game, but the compliments stop there. Returns feels like a natural evolution of the franchise that was (mostly) being held back by being a remake/reimagening.
As a gamer I've learned to separate nostalgia from reality even though the line is sometimes easily blurred. Regardless of what anyone else says, I'm pretty sure Dread is going to blow away any previous 2D Metroid for my personal tastes.
 
Last edited:

Jermare

Neo Member
I don't get the hateboner some of you have for Mercury Steam. It's not gonna take too much for them to make Dread the 2nd best 2D Metroid after Super Metroid. Samus Returns is solid, and improving on its shortcomings only a little bit would suffice, but it looks like they've vastly improved on them. It might be sacrilegious to say, but with the way things are looking, it might be better than Super Metroid as well. We don't have to wait much longer to find out.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Metroid Dread was planned as Metroid Fusion's sequel 15 years ago and was destined as the end to the main Metroid arch that concerns Samus versus Metroids.

The Metroid head kingpin, Yoshio Sakamoto, tried to get the game off the ground, but the Nintendo DS struggled to support his vision. Development was canceled several times as the prototypes for Metroid Dread never became what they needed to be, it never become what Sakamoto wanted. Over the following years, rumors of Metroid Dread flew around, speculating that it was either canceled or about to release very soon, folks were jonesing for a new 2D Metroid but it never came to be. Eventually, the name died out and it became just another title that never came to pass.

Fast forward to 2014, MercurySteam, a Spanish developer tasked with making a new Castlevania trilogy for Konami had just released Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the third game in the Lords of Shadow trilogy. The game was mediocre at best and sold like fucking shit. It bombed like hell. It was especially disappointing considering the first two games were well received and liked by fans.

After the failure of Lords of Shadow 2, MercurySteam somehow got into talks with Nintendo to remake Metroid Fusion. However, it didn't fly, Nintendo didn't buy it and they were rejected. But Sakamoto saw their love and passion for Metroid and gave them a chance to work together with Nintendo to develop a remake of Samus returns. In 2017, Samus Returns comes out, it's a big success, people love it. Nintendo's trust in MercurySteam grows, MercurySteam gets the go-ahead to develop the infamous Metroid Dread, the game Nintendo tried to make so many years ago.

And here we are, a few days away from MercurySteam's biggest console title since the original Lords of Shadow, and finally, for Metroid Dread to see the light of day.
Fuck no

they butchered 2.
the fan remake AM2R was infinitely better.

The track record of this company so far is one shit game..
One mediocre one at best.
And that is my issue. It was never good enough for a metroid game.
and now this golden turd is given the keys to the main 2D line.. after zero mission and fusion.

i really hope they do well.

it’s like handing out mario kart 9 to the garfield kart team.

yeah you can but do you want to?
 
Last edited:

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
The Mercury Steam are bad developers meme is certainly a bit played out at this point. By the way, how are Konami doing now anyway?
bQmBNoC.jpg

Still doing fine just a different name
 

MagnesG

Banned
Graphics whore trolls and suspected ponies have comes in droves as prophesied. They can't play a game unless they wanked off those pretty pixels constantly, so expect this avalanche of manchildren shrieking like monkeys when people liking good games with gameplay on future threads. They just can't "cared" contradicting themselves at every turn though.
 
Last edited:

Marty-McFly

Banned
Graphics whore trolls and suspected ponies have comes in droves as prophesied. They can't play a game unless they wanked off those pretty pixels constantly, so expect this avalanche of manchildren shrieking like monkeys when people good games with gameplay on future threads. They just can't "cared" contradicting themselves though.
Not to mention Dread is a beautiful game. Full stop.

Unfortunately I expect some of this toxicity to spill into its reviews because I hold reviewers in no higher regard than your average forum troll, well maybe a bit but not by much.
 
Last edited:

Doomtrain

Member
I think Mercury Steam makes pretty mediocre games. Samus Returns was decent in some ways, but I hated the level design, and I feel like it very much missed the point of Metroid. I’ll play Dread and I’d love nothing more than for it to be great, but I’m still tentative on it overall.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Oh my, I didn't realize this is from the same team that made those atrocious "Castlevania" games and the Samus remake, which I also found to be pretty terrible after about the halfway point.

Shit. Going to take a wait and see approach with Dread now.
 

SuperGooey

Member
Even as a huge Metroid fan, I was unable to finish Samus Returns because it was so boring. It may not be as bad as Other M, but I somehow dislike it more because it's not even fun to hate like that game. It doesn't help at AM2R is a vastly superior game to SR. I hope Dread is better, and I think it will be, but the days of Metroid being a gaming powerhouse is long over, imo.
 
Last edited:

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Problem with Samus Returns is that it's on 3DS and not Switch. Once the Switch came out I couldn't stand the 3DS as a portable gaming device. Game came out at the end of the 3DS's life and the Switch overshadowed it.
 
Last edited:

alucard0712_rus

Gold Member
After playing Super Metroid for the first time in my 34 years of life just recently, I look at the Dread videos and they feel like something is missing. I can't describe what it is, maybe it's because it's 3D instead of 2D but it just feels off.
Every game compared to Super Metroid is missing something :)
If serious - I feel the same. Interesting that Samus Returns felt perfect to me.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Returns and all of the Castlevania’s were great in my opinion (except for the stealth missions in LoS2….but we all know who’s fault that was).
Yea, I watched the "What Happened' video from Matt McMuscles on YouTube and it provided a lot of insight into LOS2.

It seems like the stealth stuff is mostly in the beginning of the game and doesn't last for too long, but even the developers went on record to say it was a mistake. I was also surprised to learn that it released so close to the launch of the PS4 and wasn't ever brought over to the nex-gen consoles.

Clearly I've never played the game and this is all second hand knowledge through a YouTube video but it got me really interested in getting a copy of the game. I thought the first LOS was awesome, great story, graphics, ost, gameplay. I never bothered with LOS2 at release cause I wasn't gaming as much and the internet shit all over it.
 
Yea, I watched the "What Happened' video from Matt McMuscles on YouTube and it provided a lot of insight into LOS2.

It seems like the stealth stuff is mostly in the beginning of the game and doesn't last for too long, but even the developers went on record to say it was a mistake. I was also surprised to learn that it released so close to the launch of the PS4 and wasn't ever brought over to the nex-gen consoles.

Clearly I've never played the game and this is all second hand knowledge through a YouTube video but it got me really interested in getting a copy of the game. I thought the first LOS was awesome, great story, graphics, ost, gameplay. I never bothered with LOS2 at release cause I wasn't gaming as much and the internet shit all over it.
If you like part 1, it's nearly as good. Part 1 is still better but they're not that different. Easily the best depiction of Dracula's castle too if you're into the art design. There's a ton to enjoy in the game. And there's Alucard DLC too.
 
Last edited:

Azurro

Banned
I thought Castlevania: Lord's of Shadow was great, so I'm not surprised to see them working with Nintendo. I'd like to see Sony working with them, they have great technical acumen and with a bit of help with design they could be one of the best studios around.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Fuck no

they butchered 2.
the fan remake AM2R was infinitely better.

The track record of this company so far is one shit game..
One mediocre one at best.
And that is my issue. It was never good enough for a metroid game.
and now this golden turd is given the keys to the main 2D line.. after zero mission and fusion.

i really hope they do well.

it’s like handing out mario kart 9 to the garfield kart team.

yeah you can but do you want to?

How did they "Butcher" 2? The worst thing about Samus Returns is that they added a little too much, which is hardly a bad thing. Area 3 and the Baby Metroid blocks are really the only downsides, which adds maybe an hour? worth of extra playtime. You can still beat it with 100% pretty easily in under 5 hours.

or is this one of your "rage" bits and you are being facetious? I can't tell anymore.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
How did they "Butcher" 2? The worst thing about Samus Returns is that they added a little too much, which is hardly a bad thing. Area 3 and the Baby Metroid blocks are really the only downsides, which adds maybe an hour? worth of extra playtime. You can still beat it with 100% pretty easily in under 5 hours.

or is this one of your "rage" bits and you are being facetious? I can't tell anymore.
Nah i hate returns with a passion. I still can't believe that studio pooped out dread.
It's a totally different feeling game.

2 controls like ass the levels are boring just everything about it is boring.
I tried it AGAIN on an emulator..( thinking i might be the horrible 3ds controls) I just can't after 2 hours i noped the hell out.
 
Last edited:

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Nah i hate returns with a passion. I still can't believe that studio pooped out dread.
It's a totally different feeling game.

2 controls like ass the levels are boring just everything about it is boring.
I tried it AGAIN on an emulator..( thinking i might be the horrible 3ds controls) I just can't after 2 hours i noped the hell out.

Understandable. GB Metroid II was my first real foray into Metroid so I have a softer spot for it. AM2R is definitely a better product, but I can't say I hate Samus Returns. Its still a solid 7.5/8 out of 10 for me. AM2R, Zero Mission, and Fusion are all 10s though.

Excited to try out Dread. Just have to wait for my local game store to open at noon so I can pick it up!
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Understandable. GB Metroid II was my first real foray into Metroid so I have a softer spot for it. AM2R is definitely a better product, but I can't say I hate Samus Returns. Its still a solid 7.5/8 out of 10 for me. AM2R, Zero Mission, and Fusion are all 10s though.

Excited to try out Dread. Just have to wait for my local game store to open at noon so I can pick it up!
dread is in my top 3 best metroid games.
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
I wonder if it scores better than MS best offering?

So thus far they scored similar
 
Metroid Dread is going to be a huge hit, mark my words. Nintendo is flexing it left and right, even promoting it with new OLED model. Maybe Ninty is picking up MercurySteam as a first party developer similar to Next Level Games, given the big success of Luigi's Mansion 3?
What else does Nintendo have to flex?
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
Game is pretty shit honestly. I don't understand how this team is still being given big projects.

The game is obviously gonna be a success yeah, but people are worried by the quality.

I know a Game that was also nearly 15 years in development…
duke-nukem-forever-720x393.jpg




giphy.gif

giphy.gif

mercurysteam has never been good with gameplay.

Mercury Steam always struck me as such a curious choice for a partner for Nintendo - I haven’t seen a great output of quality from them, honestly. I really hope Nintendo HEAVILY supervised this and had input from EAD, etc. Unlikely but I still hope this game is great.

These posts didn't age well.
 
Last edited:

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
These posts didn't age well.
My post aged fine. I stated that Mercury Steam wasn’t my first choice for co-development of a 15-year dormant game, but then ALSO stated that I hoped it would turn out great, which apparently it did. So either Mercury Steam is improving or EPD was heavily involved. Either way, it’s a win for the fans.

Please release yourself from your fanboy blindness and petty attacks, you’ll be a much happier person, I promise.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
My post aged fine. I stated that Mercury Steam wasn’t my first choice for co-development of a 15-year dormant game, but then ALSO stated that I hoped it would turn out great, which apparently it did. So either Mercury Steam is improving or EPD was heavily involved. Either way, it’s a win for the fans.

Please release yourself from your fanboy blindness and petty attacks, you’ll be a much happier person, I promise.
You said you haven't seen great output of quality from Mercury Steam and that it was unlikely the game would be great. I mean you're entitled to your opinion but that's a pretty wild take given on how Nintendo has handled their IP's this gen and the critical reception of Samus Returns.
 
If you like part 1, it's nearly as good. Part 1 is still better but they're not that different. Easily the best depiction of Dracula's castle too if you're into the art design. There's a ton to enjoy in the game. And there's Alucard DLC too.
Seconded. I didn't like the
modern day setting portions,
but the rest was awesome
 

Blendernaut

Neo Member
I dont get it guys. Metroid Dread turned out to be a GREAT game, widely recognised as an outstanding Metroid by reviewers and olayers, and still, I don't see people here coming back to this thread and saying "oooops, I was wrong".

Qhy the hell would Mercury Steam deserve to be treated so badly? They clearly don't, at least not this time.
 
Top Bottom