Both the updates promised in February's Nintendo Direct for Metroid Dread have finally come out, so I thought I'd share some brief thoughts on what's new. BACKGROUND:
I didn't expect Dread to get any sort of post-launch updates since it felt like a complete game, but part of me did wish for a Boss Rush mode since I enjoyed the game's combat so much. Ask and you shall receive, I guess! WHAT'S NEW: 2.0 Update The main thing they added for the first post-launch updates was new difficulty modes. First was Rookie Mode, which is meant for newcomers to the series. It's more lenient across the board, with more forgiving health drops and reduced damage, among other things. As I had already beaten the game three times at that point (with one of those times on Hard Mode under four hours), I saw no reason to try this mode, but this will probably be appreciated by people who are just starting out and might be intimidated by the game's difficulty. The other mode they added is called Dread Mode, and it goes the opposite end of the spectrum. For the most part, Dread Mode is just Hard Mode, but with one catch: you get hit once, you're dead. Whether it's a stray projectile from an enemy or even contact damage, you are 100% not alive anymore. There are a few exceptions to this (you can still try to counter EMMIs, and stuff like lava still function like normal), but for the most part, Energy Tanks are absolutely pointless in this mode. Whereas I had no incentive to try Rookie Mode, I absolutely was game to try Dread Mode to see how miserable it would be. I did beat it (as you can see in the above image), and while it is as rough as it sounds, it wasn't as nightmarish as I thought it would be. That's mainly because it's not like you start over from the beginning of the game if you die (like in Hollow Knight's Steel Soul mode, or Doom's Ultra Nightmare mode). Save points still work and there are still checkpoints, so you don't really lose out on much. And while the prospect of having to beat bosses without getting hit sounds like hell, I only really had trouble with one or two bosses all throughout, and most of my deaths were either I was careless when traversing through areas or because I would stupidly mash jump even though I've played a fuckton of Metroid and should know better. Overall, I thought Dread Mode was a fun, respectable challenge. I like that it gave me the satisfaction of getting to defeat every boss in the game without getting hit. There's no real incentive to do it unless you just want to experience an even more difficult Metroid game, but I'm glad I took the time to beat it, because the feeling of defeating the final boss without getting hit is absolutely cathartic. 2.1 Update Well, here it is! I got what I wanted: Boss Rush. But oh boy, there's a lot more to this update than I thought it'd be, because there are three whole modes to Boss Rush. First, there's regular Boss Rush, which is your typical gauntlet of boss fights. You face off against every main boss in the game (plus a couple of minibosses), and the idea is to beat them as quickly as possible to get the best time. Your health doesn't replenish between fights, but your missile ammo does, and your available abilities in each fight will match how equipped you'd normally be in the actual game (e.g. you won't have Screw Attack against Kraid, but you will against Raven Beak). Pretty standard stuff, except dying only incurs a time penalty and doesn't force you to start over. Next, we have Survival Rush, where the idea is not to beat bosses quickly, but to take down as many bosses as possible. A five-minute timer will count down, and you have that much time to try and defeat as many bosses as you can. Beating a boss adds more time to the timer, and doing so without getting hit rewards more time. In this mode, both health and missile ammo carry over, and unlike regular Boss Rush, dying ends the run. I found this to be a novel spin on the Boss Rush formula, where you're trying for a high score instead of a fastest time. Lastly, there's Dread Rush, which is only unlocked if you beat Dread Mode (glad I did that, then). It's the same as regular Boss Rush, but with Dread Mode's one-hit kill condition. I was quite happy this was a thing, since that means I can freely do no-hit runs without having to play a whole campaign. This is also my go-to mode of the three, because I truly am a glutton for punishment. A neat feature you can take advantage of is practice mode, which allows you to fight bosses individually to get your practice in. This feature is a highly appreciated one, since it lets me replay my favorite fights with zero hassle (and I can even replay them in Dread Mode!). And if you're extra dedicated to chasing that best time, your best times for individual boss attempts in practice mode are also tracked. VERDICT: I was already pretty happy with Metroid Dread as it was on release, but these two post-launch updates gave me further reason to keep playing one of my favorite games of last year. Dread Mode was exactly the masochistic gaming challenge that was up my alley, and not only did I get my wish of a boss rush mode, but it comes with two great variations of it and individual re-fights to boot. Really can't ask for anything else. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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