LogFAQs > #967378610

Samus - Metroid Dread

The one thing that's always kept me at arm's length from Samus is her jump. It's weird, floaty, you have a LOT of horizontal momentum that swaps on a dime during the entire thing. It takes very specific environments to make it really feel good, and until last year, I really thought only Zero Mission nailed the landing. Lots of tight corridors and vertical shafts due to the NES's limitations in how big you could make the rooms, but not TOO claustrophobic like a lot of Fusion's environments. And then the GBA controls, y'know, actually making it feel good. Prime's a bit more fine, the multiplayer of Prime 2 is actually really fun with Samus being able to escape firefights as a Morph Ball, but she feels REALLY slow and clunky compared to her 2D counterpart. Thought that Zero Mission and AM2R would really be the last word on how to make Samus feel agile, yet grounded and powerful.

But then Dread came out and... I think this is the first time Samus has actually felt GOOD against bosses? Like, Samus Returns was a fun proof of concept, but now there's this fantastic dynamism to Samus where she obviously feels like a threat at close range, but when enemies are finally closing in and lurching at her, she's able to strike back with a perfect turnabout. It gives her this element of survivor's tenacity that she didn't have before, always getting overwhelmed by anything that clung too close to her and melted her energy tanks.

Best Smash Appearance: Melee - Like I guess? Honestly, Samus has never felt great to me in Smash - she doesnt commit to any of the athleticism and movement she has in-game outside of a throwaway wall jump, and she rarely feels like a great projectile spam character because her options are all obnoxiously straightforward. Shes not a walking arsenal, shes a bunch of basic harrassment tools on the horizontal plane; Mii Gunner is a better Samus than Samus is. Melee at least allows Samus to have some level of speed and use her projectiles as either proper cover for them or a finishing touch, but Id REALLY like to see her get a redesign. This is one of the oldest designs that I think has a lot of unnecessary rust on it, and seeing how Link has evolved with time, Samus is just kinda sad. F

Incineroar - Super Smash Bros Ultimate

I wish he was the wrestler from Rhythm Heaven Fever.

With that aside out of the way, man oh man is Incineroar fantastic. Little things like his expressive taunting after every move to play up his role as a heel, Darkest Lariat actually working as a get off me tool, Revenge being such a fun mechanic that makes him devastating as a tag team partner, Alolan Whip forcing his opponents to obey kayfabe and run the ropes - Incineroar is such a fun, personality-filled design that salvages him from being just another Pokemon. He fits that grappler archetype perfectly, where you feel really dumb for losing to his limited options, but those options feel so GOOD to hit. I know hes a bit too slow to be used competitively and can be camped out pretty easily, but I find him a blast to play in almost any game mode as a send a message kind of character. Plus the Big the Cat skin is just brilliant. A-

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Pokemon Sun/Moon - I guess? I skipped out on Sword and Shield because Im just a bit tired of Pokemon, Ive played a lot of them I dont need a new fix every two or three years, seven or eight is fine by me now. Anyway, uh, hes fine? Im really not a fan of Intimidate users in general, its a very brain go off force you to make a move for no cost kind of ability, but at least he looks funny. I liked playing through SuMo well enough with my good friend John Cenya, and thats well and good enough for me.