Just started playing this last night
Control feels a bit wonk but I think that might just be because I’m using a 360 controller
Nobody told me David Hayter was in it
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this was a surprise to me too and honestly it’s so weird and doesn’t fit in at all but somehow that makes it perfect, like everything else in this game is psx era fan wank so why not throw in solid snake too??
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I’ve been running through SOTN again after finishing Bloodstained. This time, I decided to try that keep-the-starting-equipment trick that I’d heard about in the past rather than play it for real.
I don’t remember whether I was already aware of the bird family sequence in the telescope room, but I love that the game includes little details like that.
Also interesting that with all the games that were influenced by SOTN, none has matched it. In my opinion, at least. (Hollow Knight is good, though.)
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I feel like sotn is such an idiosyncratic experience that it’s kind of impossible to match. so many of the things that make it great and memorable are odd details like the telescope stuff. the game is just crammed with things like that and in sum that makes it very memorable. I don’t know if it’s possible to repeat that kind of thing without it just seeming derivative. honestly bloodstained comes to closest in terms of being full of weird stuff that they threw in just because they could.
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I still don’t think we’ve topped Super Metroid but something like Rain World gets close
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the only thing that really matches the sumptuousness of those two and isn’t just “another metrovania” is la-mulana
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Yeah that counts
I’m not really surprised the oldies still rank though, this format is basically nightmare mode for level designers
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Yes, I guess I’ve never considered SOTN “better” than Super Metroid. The latter has its strengths in its consistency and atmosphere, while the former in its novelty, detail, and scale. Both are exemplary in structure.
I’m impressed with Rain World, especially with its messy, detailed look. But I always find myself becoming impatient when I play it for some reason.
La-Mulana is great, too. Good thing we get to play all of these and don’t actually have to choose.
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I’m playing SotN for the first time after having enjoyed Bloodstained, and I’ve been surprised at how little it reminds me of Metroid. The atmosphere is so specific that it blinds me to the similar structure. Whereas every other metroidvania I’ve played in the last 20 years has felt more or less like Super Metroid.
And Metroid is about gathering a handful of powerups, all of which are vital and necessary for progression. SotN and particularly Bloodstained are about getting a million powerups, 10% of which are necessary. Emotionally it feels very different!
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This structure doesn’t really work for me (I like needing to try these things) but it makes me really want to play with a mode or randomizer for SotN or Bloodstained. Say, these items don’t level up, level/stat comparisons are exaggerated, and you get a dozen or so drops in a playthrough, with about 8 ‘forced’ weapon switches.
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I’d love a random mode or some system of forcing a frequent change in playstyle – I liked this about Let It Die for instance, with the constantly breaking, different-feeling weapons – but I wouldn’t want to lose the absurd number of powerups ranging from overpowered to useless and crazy. SotN/Bloodstain feel unknowable, whereas super metroid feels like a swiss watch.
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tell me more about rain world friends
Rain World is maybe as close as anyone’s got to picking up Metroid II’s baton
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Oh, definitely, half the fun in semi-random weapon selection is getting something absurdly broken sometimes. I’m strongly in favor of broken mechanics in a single-player game (this is that constraint in Destiny that I’d die under)
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as Brooks says, it’s the one true successor to Metroid II
it’s fear, and prey, and a big world in which you’re always a small part
it’s past midnight in the big city and a storm’s rolling in and the last bus was fifteen minutes ago
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I waited too long to beat the game and now pretty much all of the good shards have received significant nerfs. Thanks, Iga 
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I agree with the general thrust of what you’re saying re: SM & SotN but one of my only real criticisms of SotN has always been “8000 missile tanks”
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Thanks for the heads up on that. I’ll skip the update unless it improves anything significantly.
Hmm, yeah, they really were pretty thorough about nerfing everything good. It should improve replayability and make nightmare mode a more respectable challenge, but there’s something off about dumping the change on people some of whom are midway through their saves.
Also a bit of a slap of a face to Switch owners who may excitedly download an update to find the performance didn’t change but their favorite skill did
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mad about the storaema nerf