TF Views

At some point, the Chozo had contained the Metroid on SR88 and planned to eradicate them by destroying the planet. But instead of carrying out the plan, the leader of a warrior tribe, Raven Beak, wanted to use the Metroid as a bio weapon. However, he needed the help of another Chozo tribe to control them and went to planet ZDR to get their help (by killing all but one named Quite Robe). Unfortunately one of his warriors had been infected by an X parasite when they were on SR88, forcing him to deal with the outbreak of the X on ZDR. In the meantime, Samus destroyed all the Metroid on SR88 (and subsequently the planet).

Somehow, Raven Beak learned Metroid DNA was used to cure Samus when she was infected by the X parasite herself, and lured her to him by transmitting a video of the X parasite still alive on ZDR. Knowing the danger of the X, Samus heads to ZDR, where she is ambushed by Raven Beak, but for some reason, he leaves her in a weakened state (being the reason why all of her abilities are gone at the beginning of this game), and reprograms the EMMI robots to stalk her to collect the Metroid DNA from her.

It's interesting to see living Chozo in this game, and are the villains in the story at that. I've also started encountering X-parasites. I wasn't sure the power suit would still be able to absorb them like in Fusion, but it still has that ability.

One thing that frustrated me about this game so far... I came across a Chozo warrior/X parasite boss, which at the end of the fight you have to do two melee counterattacks when prompted to (when a spark on his spear appears) during a cutscene, but I didn't feel the game really made that clear you have to do this, if you don't, it repeats the second phase.

After defeating this boss, the gate to area is left open, allowing the X parasites that had been contained to spread to the rest of the planet. Essentially making the second half of the game more like Fusion. Regular enemies become mutated by the X, making them a little stronger and more durable, and will become X parasites when defeated for Samus to absorb to regain health/ammo, rather than dropping health/ammo power-ups (so it's essentially just a cosmetic change, but it's a nice attention to detail).

I kinda wish there was more variety with the EMMI robots. The robots themselves can have some different abilities. Like one can freeze Samus, another has a speed boost, another is better at tacking Samus and can fire an energy ball that stuns her... All hinting at abilities they will give Samus when defeated. But when it comes to fighting them, it's the same fight. They'll slowly crawl towards Samus allowing you to fire the "Omega Stream" to destroy the protective plates on their head, at which point they'll stand and slowly walk towards Samus, allowing a charged Omega Blast to destroy it. The last one is the only fight that differs as the Metroid DNA in Samus awakens, and allows her to absorb the energy from the EMMI... and you fight an X infected Chozo warrior instead, another boss fight that gets repeated a few times in the game. Albeit they add a shield to the mix in later fights, and their X form can spit a black beam that really hurts... So things at least slightly change for those fights.

Repeated boss fights aside, for the most part, I did really enjoy the bosses in the game. They were a lot of fun figuring out their patterns and how to defeat them.

Little confused why they felt the need to introduce the Spin Boost ability in this game. Unlike what the name suggests, it's just a double jump, and becomes completely obsolete once you get the Space Jump... Which you pick up not long after the Spin Boost anyway. Other abilities, as I mentioned before, are pretty standard for Metroid games. I like that the Super Missile essentially stacks to the regular missile in this game. The new Aeion abilities are all pretty useful as well. Pulse Radar will show you all the hidden breakable blocks in a given area. The Flash Shift is very useful for avoiding enemy attacks. The Phantom Cloak... Honestly thought it would be more useful than it is. Sure it allows you to avoid detection from enemies, particularly the EMMI's, but I often found they'd stick around the area I'd take refuge in, making it a brief respite at best. And using it for too long would begin to drain health. Generally, I found it best to just make it through an EMMI area as quickly as possible trying not to use the Phantom Cloak.

Not liking the design the Gravity Suit in this game as much as the Power/Varia suit, mostly because of the glowing lines on the front.

Still doing some item clean up throughout the game, now that I have all the abilities, before headed to the final boss...

Finally finished collecting all the items in the game. There's some pretty tricky ones to get. For collecting 100% of the items in each area of the game, you unlock a piece of art in the gallery, showing events on ZDR prior to Samus arriving. Getting all items will unlock a hidden piece of art, showcasing some prominent characters from throughout the Metroid franchise.

In the finale of Dread... Samus heads to Itorash, Raven Beak's flying fortress. Interfacing with the computer, the Adam AI reveals that Samus is now a Metroid, with the Metroid DNA within her actively transforming her. He says this should have happened as soon as she was given the Metroid vaccine in Fusion, but that the Chozo DNA she got from the Thoha tribe had probably kept it at bay all this time, as they were the only ones that could control the Metroid. He's aware she has DNA from the Mawkin Chozo tribe as well, giving Samus her physical prowess. The computer then reveals it was actually Raven Beak posing as the Adam AI, ever since the AI lost contact at the beginning of the game, as well as that her Mawkin DNA came from Raven Beak himself. When she first encountered Raven Beak, the Metroid DNA reacted, apparently because Metroid's are genetically programmed react violently towards the Mawkin (not sure why the Thoha and Mawkin DNA in Samus didn't just cancel each other out in that case, but whatever). Seeing the potential during their first encounter, Raven Beak left Samus to trek through ZDR in order to make her the most powerful Metroid ever, and he's very pleased with the results.

Samus of course refuses to allow Raven Beak carry out his plans, and so the final boss fight begins. And it's very difficult... During the first phase, after you've countered him once, his armor glows yellow and none of your attacks will hurt him, so you're forced to counter him. Some of his attacks you can get missiles and health out of, which can be a lifesaver in this fight. The second phase, he will take flight. It's a fairly straightforward phase, where you just have to do your best to avoid his attacks and shoot him. Phase 3 is somewhat similar to the first phase, but with a few new attacks.

I wont spoil the end of the fight, but needless to say, Samus defeats Raven Beak, leading into a classic escape sequence. Due to the last minute power up, she cannot control her ship, but an X-parasite restores her, allowing her to escape ZDR before is explodes.

Unlike other Metroid games, there is no scene at the end based on time/item completion. Instead, like completing item collection in each area of the game, you get a piece of art, based on how long it took you to complete the game. It's a scene based on previous Metroid games... I've looked it up and they are: Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super Metroid, Other M, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread. To unlock them all, you have to complete the game in under 4 hours on both Normal and Hard mode, which is also unlocked when you beat Normal mode the first time. Once you've unlocked them all, you get the same poster you get for 100% item completion, except it has Zero Suit Samus instead of her in the classic Varia Suit. It's a little disappointing that there is no unique ending scenes, but the art is pretty cool. Not sure if I'd be willing to beat Hard mode in under 4 hours to unlock them all though...

Your character has been transported into the past by Arceus, who tells you to capture all the Pokemon to see him again. When your character wakes up, he or she is immediately greeted by the Professor of the game, who asks you to help him recapture the starters of this game, introducing you to Pokeballs, a brand new invention in this time frame. It is a nice acknowledgment to generation 2 that these first generation Pokeballs are made from Apricorns. I would have liked to see the Apricorn Pokeballs from Gen 2 make a return here, but unfortunately, they don't. Just the standard Pokeball, Great Ball and Ultra ball. There are two new ones however, a Heavy Ball, which is different from the Gen 2 Heavy Ball, and a Feather Ball, both of which have 2 more effective variations as well. There's no traditional shop or Pokecenter. Instead, you can buy or gather ingredients to make items and for a free full heal, you can rest in various locations, which will also pass time in the game since it has a day/night cycle.

Capturing Pokemon and battles are a little different, which is a welcome change. Battles are only initiated during a wild encounter if you chose to send out a Pokemon from rather than it happening automatically. It's also kinda cool that you can still walk around during the battle, rather than just standing behind your Pokemon. If you chose not to battle, or all your Pokemon faint, you're on your own. Meaning, the wild Pokemon can attack you directly. Finally gives some weight to all those Professors telling you that it's dangerous to go into the tall grass without a Pokemon to protect you.

From where I'm at in the game so far... It's set up sorta like a giant Wild Area, giving it somewhat of an open world feel. Although for some reason, you can't freely go to and from the settlement town. You have to transition to and from basecamps instead.