Ever since dropping this a month ago I've tried figuring out what didn't work for me this time around, I still don't fully know! On paper Dread is a really great time- movement and combat feel nice, the EMMI zones genuinely scare me (especially after hitting the pen...), the art direction is pleasant and the sound is fantastic. And yet almost all my enthusiasm vanished towards the end of my playthrough, after forcing myself to continue for a bit I realized the joy wasn't coming back and cut my losses.
I feel that Dread is hindered by two key elements. The exploration can be hyper-linear at points; after a while a lot of your time spent with the game will be trekking from one teleportal to another, almost every path that strays will be gated off by an ability you don't have yet or an environmental hazard that prevents progress. It doesn't help that you don't spend much time in any of the areas either, the game hurries you from set piece to set piece which reduces the environment’s impact to “the ice place” and “the big water room.” My other point of contention is with the EMMI zones. I like the EMMI's! I think they're scary and do a good job of keeping you on your toes. The zones however aren't fun after the first few, I came to loathe being forced to halt all progress so you can repeat the same start-and-stop "stealth" segments that you did with all the previous ones. I hate to engage in armchair game design but I think it would’ve been way more interesting (and scarier!) to have 3 or 4 EMMI’s lurking around the map at all times. I’ve never played RE2 but this is what I understand the Mr X stalking mechanic to be, imagining what Dread could’ve been with this approach makes me sad at the lost potential. It probably would’ve resulted in a completely different experience, but it’s not like we’d be losing anything exceptional. If only…
Aside from these specific gripes I still found a lot of the initial charm missing, it’s a bummer to have so many of Dread’s strengths rely solely on being novel. After feeling tepid on Zero Mission and finding Super Metroid’s traversal too stiff to enjoy I’m questioning if I even like the 2D series that much anymore. Wouldn’t call Dread bad, I had a great time playing it upon release, but it’s certainly misguided. Still stoked we got a new 2D title though, let’s just hope the next entry (if we even get one) learns more from its genre contemporaries.
I feel that Dread is hindered by two key elements. The exploration can be hyper-linear at points; after a while a lot of your time spent with the game will be trekking from one teleportal to another, almost every path that strays will be gated off by an ability you don't have yet or an environmental hazard that prevents progress. It doesn't help that you don't spend much time in any of the areas either, the game hurries you from set piece to set piece which reduces the environment’s impact to “the ice place” and “the big water room.” My other point of contention is with the EMMI zones. I like the EMMI's! I think they're scary and do a good job of keeping you on your toes. The zones however aren't fun after the first few, I came to loathe being forced to halt all progress so you can repeat the same start-and-stop "stealth" segments that you did with all the previous ones. I hate to engage in armchair game design but I think it would’ve been way more interesting (and scarier!) to have 3 or 4 EMMI’s lurking around the map at all times. I’ve never played RE2 but this is what I understand the Mr X stalking mechanic to be, imagining what Dread could’ve been with this approach makes me sad at the lost potential. It probably would’ve resulted in a completely different experience, but it’s not like we’d be losing anything exceptional. If only…
Aside from these specific gripes I still found a lot of the initial charm missing, it’s a bummer to have so many of Dread’s strengths rely solely on being novel. After feeling tepid on Zero Mission and finding Super Metroid’s traversal too stiff to enjoy I’m questioning if I even like the 2D series that much anymore. Wouldn’t call Dread bad, I had a great time playing it upon release, but it’s certainly misguided. Still stoked we got a new 2D title though, let’s just hope the next entry (if we even get one) learns more from its genre contemporaries.