So, what was your favourite game you played in 2021? (Gaming)

by CyberKN , Oh no, Destiny 2 is bad, Saturday, January 01, 2022, 23:14 (1056 days ago)

Mine, after just barely finishing it with less than 24 hours before the new year, was Metroid Dread.

I don’t think I’ve ever touched a Metroid game before. 99% of my experience with Samus Aran comes from playing her in Smash Bros.

2D platformers are my gaming kryptonite, so I never had any impulse to give the series a shot. But everything about the game I saw from trailers just LOOKED so cool that I opted to include it on my list of gift suggestions for Christmas. After getting home from a wonderful Christmas at my folks’ place, I spent a good chunk of time over the next few days just playing the heck out of it.

There are parts of the game that admittedly I found less than stellar; the boss fights gave me hand cramps, and one of the things I really dislike in games (but is a core feature to Metroid) is wandering around a large level, trying to figure out where to go to progress.

But everything else about the game feels so expertly crafted that it outshines those minor blemishes by ten-fold. The art style is impeccable, unlocking suit upgrades and utilising them to traverse levels and fight enemies in new ways is a blast, and everything about the stealth/chase/puzzle sequences is 100% up my alley in a way I wasn't expecting.

Now I'm hoping for Switch ports of some of those 1st-person Metroid Prime games on the Gamecube.