It's really good, but i'm really not digging the modernization/QOL stuff like the anime dash and the insistence on checkpoints (why do save rooms exist when you never respawn at them???). as it stands its more convenient to die to the EMMIs to reset the room than to actually try to stealth/hide, so i dont feel very much dread from them. Given how the EMMIs are more room based hazards and not like patrolling guards though, it would be too annoying as is to completely disable the checkpoints. they would have to redesign the ai of the EMMI sections to make sense with save room respawns so unlike difficulty or control options i dont think they could patch this at all to feel more similar to previous games.
As far as the dash, i think that Samus feels like she did in Samus Returns so she feels really great (even if i still wish the wall jump was still something more secretive and advanced rather than just another platforming tool in the repertoire) but i do think that its very easy to play the combat without getting hit entirely now, which is just a bit too much power fantasy than i want out of these games' combat? Evasion is a much more ambiguous situation in prior 2D metroid given that your only options are morph ball, normal jump, and spin jump, and the games gave you a dozen health bars because it certainly didn't expect you to play through these things like dodging as reliably as bayonetta. i liked the chaos of combat and it felt very distinct compared to other games, whereas now i'm encouraged to play more reactively and responding with parries and dashes like a bunch of other indie metroidvanias i've played. i'd like it if the dash was left behind like the samus returns aeon pulse, and they focused on expanding samus' existing movement options and making those more viable for easier combat.
I don't want to sound down on it though, i really like the plot and atmosphere, i love the aesthetics of the whole thing and the world is great to explore, and thankfully isn't as limiting as Fusion or Metroid II. I liked Samus Returns a whole lot and I like the teams work here, and the great reception is hopefully going to allow them to keep doing what they're doing. Coming up on the end now and I like it more than all versions of Metroid 2 or Zero Mission, but as it stands it really, really needed more granular difficulty settings, more options in general (no control rebind for a conventionally controlling metroidvania
wtf), and i really think the EMMI bits are just shy of totally working for me. great game! Worth the title metroid 5.
