Metroid Dread takes it away with an outstanding sense of progression as you're again stuck on a new planet to explore through every nook and cranny. The area maps are logically tied together with enough open space to navigate and branch out through seperate routes more and also less optimally, while the main path is apparent enough with very little handholding.
Samus is speedy and nimble, a pure joy to navigate around with just like it was in Samus Returns for the 3DS.

Level design and fluidity aside, the environments of planet ZDR weren't really anything beyond the series usual attire, and some sub bosses were recycled just a little too much on the final stretch. The OST was certainly there and added the needed ambience and intensity, but compared to the rest of the series iconic pieces these compositions are my least favourites, still alright, just not very memorable.

Beyond it all, Dread's killer variations of enemy designs and bossfights is another force to be reckoned with and the narrative dropped my jaw to the floor a good couple of times with some of its directions, I really love how grand of a narrative leap Dread took tying in to the preceding games.

In the end apart from being a bit bland with its environmental tropes, Dread is simply amazing to play, it is both intuitive and challenging, beautiful in seamless motion, ultimately a structural masterpiece with great replayability.

What a weird mixed bag this is. Might be the best Samus has ever felt in 2D, but it's in a world that made my eyes kinda glaze over. Probably a bad sign when the old games with literal boxes connected to each other making up rooms felt more like a place you were, and not just a backdrop you happened to be in front of. It was as if the more detail in an area, the less I noticed it. I don't know.

Lovely improvements on the moment to moment stuff Samus Returns laid down, and a wee change up to the order you expect to get powers in was nice, but general traversal felt like much more of a chore than it ever has, even with the mobility improvements. Maybe it's just me, or how I was feeling at the time, but the world in general here feels like it was designed to slow you down. Not in a challenging way, but more via obtuse layouts that came across as slap dash rather than having any purpose, or feeling like anyone once inhabited these spaces. The EMMI rooms were especially bad for this.

From the first announcement I ignored all the marketing, and the million trailers Ninty put out. So it may be my own fault for not wanting spoiled on stuff, but I truly expected the EMMI to play a bigger part, and have more free-roaming and scripted sequences like SA-X in Fusion. Not confined to specific rooms you can freely dip in and out of. Just a bit of a let down in that regard, especially because every interaction with them feels separate from the rest of the game. Switching modes, and not in a good way. I remember deciding to start clearing the areas and getting all the missed pickups as I could tell I was nearing the end, and at some point while looking at the map I saw the wee bit saying Remaining EMMI: 2/7 and I went "Oh shit aye, The EMMI" out loud. They essentially left my mind whenever I wasn't in one of their designated areas.

Now you might have gotten this far and thought "Guy, there are three and a half stars up there. That's a seven. What the fuck are you playing at?", and I wish I knew. Despite all the shite I've scrawled above, I had a brilliant time. The story is nonsense, I never played Other M so the ADAM shit means nothing to me, and an info dump at the end made me laugh and swear at the game, but at no point was I actually having a bad time. Samus is confident as hell, and with skills to back it up. She has that rep for a reason, and it's on full display. She clowns bosses and it feels incredible. I lost count of the amount of times I was shooting missiles during a scripted sequence and thinking "SHE IS SO COOL!".

She 𝘪𝘴 so cool.

Edit: I was much too harsh on the areas and I think i’m too unfair on a couple of occassions, this game is absolutely awesome and one of my favourite metroidvanias

I really enjoyed Metroid Dread but it is a hard game for me to talk at length about because, if you're familiar with this formula, metroid dread delivers exactly the experience you might expect (but i'm going to try and talk at length about it anyway). While Dread doesn't do a lot to change it up or offer something totally unique, it does what it sets out to do with such a level of mastery that its pretty admirable just how true to its roots it has stayed and ultimately, it's absolutely a ton of fun to play.

Dread's visuals are truly outstanding for starters, the quality of the game's animation does so much work for this game particularly with its action packed boss fight cutscenes and Samus’ smooth af movement. Moving around in Dread is so fluid and responsive and allows you to explore maps at such a pace that nothing ever feels a great distance away. From the first few seconds you control Samus it is obvious, this game just feels amazing to move around in. The set-pieces this game depicts are also detailed and beautiful but I do wish they varied a bit more.

Variation is a key thing I do sometimes think the game is missing, it delivers what I know many fans had been anticipating for years, but there's a level of close familiarity to almost everything presented here. But why fix what ain't broke right, it's all still really good stuff.

There is one major difference with dread, however - and that is the horror / stealth elements, which are super refreshing. The EMMIs are seriously terrifying when you first encounter them and the way they sense and pursue you had me on the edge of my seat. What's really cool about it is how you feel like you're just as agile as your pursuer, unlike many horror games which actively hinder the player. But you have to be creative with how you can subvert, outsmart and outmanoeuvre the pursuer. Taking a risk and diving into a dangerous 'EMMI area' is also something you must regularly do to progress in the game. There's nothing more tense than getting backed into a corner and having to desperately find a way out or having to fight the EMMI off. Fighting it off is particularly intense because of the randomised cues you have to react to, so you can't just learn its patterns, you really need to be on your toes which is awesome. When you finally get the powerup you need and can kill the thing its always crazy tense and then satisfying. My only gripe here is that they do make you do it a number of times with little variation. There is some variation with how you sort of have to work out your openings and find a hallway that you can aim down, but it still became a little repetitive the last 2 or 3 times I think. It would be cool if you like, had to find a different weak point on different EMMIs or use the environment to kill it somehow in my opinion.

The boss fights in dread are great fun and honestly pretty hard, you really have to learn attack patterns and pay attention to different projectiles while trying to aim your shots. Especially in the later fights in the game I really felt like I was juggling and rhythmically switching between my different options and really focusing on what was coming at me which is peak metroidvania boss stuff, I love that shit. When you feel like you're utilising many of your different upgrades to dodge attacks as they come and fire back, its like the perfect culmination of what you've learned, especially in that insane final boss fight. Going back to the animation of this game which is like, practically flawless btw - the boss fights and the mini cutscenes that play out in them are so expressive too. I particularly loved the moments when you can see Samus' expressions - just before she looks badass taking down a huge monster, just super satisfying and cinematic.

While I definitely had a really good time playing this game, I do also think that some hints of repetitiveness and reused fights, areas that are a bit lacking in their identity and music that feels very much just part of the background hold it back slightly. None of these things actively bother me or anything I just think dread is not as strong in these areas. I also find it interesting how dread has a kind of invisible dotted line that I very much felt like I had no choice but to follow. Part of what makes this genre really fascinating and unique is that sense of exploration and finding your path, and while its definitely well thought out design that kept me from ever getting confused or frustrated, sometimes finding your own way around is fun! But in dread there's always something in your way. Exploration totally still exists in this game and if you want all the items you'll be running around familiar locations all over the place so don't get me wrong, but for me at least, it felt like I often had to chase a high rather than it coming to me if that makes sense. What I mean is, because there's always that invisible dotted line, I felt like I didn't want to steer away from it like, ever, but I also don't entirely know if this was just me?

Anyway, great game, stylistically it's an absolute gem and has some amazing, fluid movement, tight controls, challenging and intense boss fights, a genuinely interesting story that follows on from what fusion set up and some real heart racing horror moments too! Very glad I picked this up!

Metroid dread is basically the best parts of samus returns and fusion put into one game. most of my complaints are purely aesthetic, as the music and general environments didn't leave a lasting impression on me. However, Dread makes up for that with some splendid combat and exploration. Bosses are flashy and large in spectacle, and the parry from samus returns doesn't break the pace as much like it used to. I didn't do much sequence breaking myself, but I can see there's more than meets the eye. while I don't see myself replaying this as much as Super Metroid or Zero Mission, this game holds its own fairly well.

The launch of the switch was a renaissance period for Nintendo. After an era hard-carried by second-party developers and delivering games for huge franchises that didn't really live up to the legacy of those big names, the Switch delivered a ton of first-party games that could be and would be argued as the best games in their respective franchises. Zelda got BOTW (lets be real, it's a Switch game); Mario got Odyssey, a game which stood out against the recent slog of the stale "New" moniker and allowed 3D World some much-needed breathing room and retrospection; and Smash got Ultimate, which gave everybody their hopes and dreams. Three Houses, New Horizons, Luigi's Mansion 3: For those first 3 years of the Switch, Nintendo was on fire; many most respected franchises finally got out of this strange rut as the lineup continued to grow. By 2020, things started to slow down. New Horizons had a promising start but a lack of substatinal updates sort of killed the game despite it's massive early success, and Ultimate's poor online and lack of substantial fighter buffs or nerfs killed the competetive scene. However, over the summer, we got that one glorious trailer, that one time where every fucking star aligned, that light at the end of a somewhat disappointing couples years for Nintendo and gaming overall.

Finally, Metroid gets her renaissance.

What a good game dude. Oh my god. comparable to Super for me. After no news on Prime 4 and a long, painful dark age for the franchise, MercurySteam has effectively resurrected the franchise, building off of what they learned in Samus Returns and improving on it's flaws.

In response to Samus Returns, Areas are larger, backtracking is more well-paced, and 100 percenting it is really fun. Sequence breaks—although I didn't actually try them yet myself—are not only possible but deliberate. (Though I wish there were more sequence-breaking secrets aside from Kraid.) The counter is more natural, controls are much better without the touchscreen, I like how missle types are straight upgrades rather than individual missiles. Enemy, boss, and area variety is vastly improved. There are repeated bossfights, but it's not to the cartoonish degree that Samus Returns took things.

The boss fights in particular are fantastic, it gets that nice balance of frustration with the first few encounters and confidence after learning their patterns. Dread is also well-designed in tandem with Samus' toolkit. For the most part each power-up is useful to a certain extent. Even when they're replaced by a better upgrade—like the Gray Suit or the Space jump—you'll have already spent plenty of time with most of the upgrades so they don't feel like wasted tools. Samus herself controls very well and for once my hands don't cramp up when I play a Metroid game. Just the right speed, just the right jump, just the right movement control.

The item puzzles and exploration are really engaging, just as fun and rewarding as the combat. The game will automatically tell you if there is a hidden powerup in the vicinity which helps with backtracking, as well as the very detailed map which tells you which items you've already obtained. Some of the Shinespark puzzles are a bit too obtuse for my tastes, but overall it's a game that always leads you on the right direction. EMMIs are a really neat side-concept that ups the intensity. Dread is short, but Metroid games should be short. I think it's that perfect length where you don't get exhausted of it.

Graphically the game is no slouch either—There's plenty of atmosphere to go around. I love all the detail put into the little animations and interactions. The backgrounds are nice, the lighting is great, the character design and art direction is vastly improved over SR. Sound design is also a lot better. The Pulse Scan is way less obnoxious, thank the fucking lord. I don't want tinnitus every time I want to find a hidden fucking block.

I really like how Mercury was able to bring Samus to life without her speaking any comprehensible language. It's the ways she composes herself and the really fun action cutscenes that make her feel cool and confident, yet she does express very nuanced expression and emotion when required. She's been doing this bounty hunter gig for years now, but she's not without emotion or character.

This game is just awesome man, I'm so glad it exists.

As for some criticism, there are some uninteresting environments like Artaria and Dairion, but other areas like Ghavorahn and Burenia look fantastic and go really far with atmospheric immersion. The EMMI sections are tense but there's no real stakes considering you just get booted out right in front of the door instead of the save rooms, which basically serve zero purpose. I wish that the stealth was more involved with the EMMIs, the concept of tracking based off of sound is really not taken far enough and just ends up being annoying at some points. Why are put separate energy and Ammo refills when there is literally a statue that does both in the game? They're also scattered around at random for no reason and are mostly pointless. Cross bombs are pointless outside a few puzzles and are basically replaced by the Power bomb (they're literally tied to the same button.) Same with the Speed Booster: while it is used for a lot of fun puzzles, it doesn't really get too much utility outside of mandatory obstacles.

The story is really bad. A lot of exposition dumps and needless twists, and way too much is backloading into the end of the game. I wish that final X-parasite was more of a fight, or at least built up for longer. Let's be honest though: it's a Nintendo game. The story never really matters all that much.

My biggest complaint is honestly with the music. It fucking sucks man, why does a Nintendo game, much less a Metroid game, have bad music?

The purple EMMI fucking sucks. Pre-gravity suit, it's CBT.

And then there's that question of linearity. Each area is very disappointingly self-contained which is something I didn't like about Samus Returns that carried over here. Granted, teleporters, elevators, and trams are placed to allow areas to connect in a very non-linear way, however there are problems with this:

1. The load times. They should not be this fucking long. Odyssey and BOTW have way shorter loaddtimes for much larger, more graphically taxing games.

2. There's still not really a whole lot of natural connectivity or shortcuts, even in those self-contained areas.

Again, contrary to everyone else, I do like the level layout. While it is pretty linear, it doesn't feel like it considering how you're constantly moving around and backtracking through different areas with how the entrances and exits are placed.

So, how does it measure up to Super Metroid? Everyone wants to know that.

Ok. Let's talk about this.

I really don't feel like it's fair to compare and criticize Dread, or the other Metroid games, based on the undisputed (queen) of the franchise. Of course it's not going to be able to compare to Super Metroid—because I really don't think we'll ever be getting another game with that kind of level design, at least from Nintendo.

Super Metroid was this sort of miracle game. The developers miraculously found this perfect balance between elaborate, labyrinthine, and complicated design structure with a deliberate and well-planned pacing, where every room was the sum of a larger whole. And even then, there were some strange hiccups like Madria which became almost too obtuse.

Super Metroid was from that era of innovation where game development could take risks because the medium was still in it's infancy, and even then Super just barley scraped by into becoming profitable and the franchise was in limbo until Prime rolled around. As the first actual, new Metroid game in 14 fucking years, I can understand that Nintendo didn't want to take the risk of trying to emulate Super Metroid's level design while not making it derivative of Super Metroid's design. It's so frustrating to see people knock this game down a peg and ignore the very obvious strengths it has over Super Metroid, because Super seems to be the only game in the franchise with the level design people want out of Metroid—so is it really that fair to let it define the entire series?

So is Dread better than Super Metroid? No. Dread does some things better than Super, and Super does things better than Dread. Overall, this is an excellent return to form for a franchise that has been struggling for almost 14 years now. Absolutely my Game of the Year (mostly because I haven't really played any other 2021 game yet.) I can't wait to see what MercurySteam and Retro have in store for us—as long as they actually fucking credit their employees next time.

The only Metroid I’ve played before this was Prime, but I’m a huge fan of Metroidvanias so was looking forward to trying out a 2D style one with Dread. It’s a good game, but thought it was a bit… uninspired? The presentation’s strong and I liked the gameplay for the most part, especially the movement once you find more abilities. The bosses were fun too and really force you to make use of all your skills, especially for the last one. On handheld the control scheme was a bit awkward, like having to hold a button to aim while trying to dodge a lot, but I got used to it after a while.

But overall there wasn’t really much about Dread that made it stand out to me next to others in the genre. I think what was mainly lacking was the exploration. The map is sectioned into different areas with teleport loading screens back and forth, and much of it is blocked until you have the skill you need and the path leads you directly back to that area to progress, which made the level design feel pretty linear aside for backtracking for missile upgrades.

Also I wasn’t a fan of the EMMI robots at all, thought they were just boring stealth sections that didn’t add much to the game. Getting caught by them was meant to feel tense, but ended up being more annoying than anything.

this game is fusion done right. not that fusion is bad but every single idea that game had is reintegrated here PERFECTLY. The X are more interesting and come later in the game, letting you see the actual enemies change and having the original to compare to the parasitized versions for context, as well as having powered up respawning enemies serve as more of a gradual transition in challenge. The Adam AI acts more as a chill hint machine and story recapper rather than a waypoint placer, and the SA-X role is replaced by the cool emmis. I don’t even have to talk about how fucking amazing and perfect the emmi encounters are. But I will. They encapsulate everything about why I love videogames and life. Well, I don’t love life as much as I love the emmi fights in this game but whatevs. The boss fights in this game all rule, and though maybe they lean too heavily on the parry mechanic, at least 99% of them are beatable without it and it's pretty generous with its timing and visibility. You just have to play the game on its own terms and it works.

It did take me a little while to get used to it. This is my first time controlling a 2d samus with a stick and it felt weird to say the least. But there is a button you can hold to stand firmly in place and point your gun with a red laser. So if you play it like RE4, it's a bit easier.

This game is, in my opinion, a good compromise between linear style and super style. I kind of prefer the super style in general, but at this point in the series I had to realize that only the first one, super, and prime 1 seem to use this formula that everyone including me fellatiaizes. This is a good compromise. It's very clear at all times where you need to go, and at the end of every area an elevator or tram pops up with the next room ready for you.

The sheer amount of items in this game and how filled to the brim the controller feels with combos and inputs and items was a blessing and a curse. Firstly, there's really cool shit like the seeker missiles from the prime games (renamed storm missiles which is way cooler) as well as this awesome dash that you'll be using in every boss.. but there's also stuff like the cross bomb. Which... kind of pointless... and boring... and you use it like three times. It seems cool in theory to have 500 gadgets but all of them overlapping on one measly dainty little switch controller means im gonna be fumbling around trying to do zl+y+quartercircle+flip the controller upside down like... idk. But its interesting that the two best metroid games both have bad controls. shoutout to the select button.

The story in this game is also my favourite since the 2/super wombo combo silent tragedy. The chozo have always felt like the only thing these games cared about (xcept echoes) but this game expanded their lore a shit ton. That whole ending sequence is just.... i hate this phrase but theres no other way to say it so im gonna whisper it. /whisper Peak fiction.

The environments though, are completely terrible. Why's every metroid game gotta have the fire world, the ice world, the cave world, the factory world, like have some cooler and more creative places? Echoes sucks ass but at least it had new settings like... swamp, and.. factory but in the sky. Corruption had factory but STEAMPUNK SKY ISLANDS!!!! Even so, the other games did interesting stuff with their locations. The water world in fusion was like an aquarium, the factory world in am2r was a water treatment facility, (BTW don't get up in my face about me treating am2r as a mainline entry. She's an adopted sibling and she counts just as much as the others.) Yeah, the environments are bland and the art direction is too. I suppose you'd WANT interactibles to clash with the environment, but it wasn't the best game to look at. The graphics are fine, but the areas weren't really that well put together. The music as well, was nothing to write anywhere about. The only songs I remember from this was the use of samus' theme and the one for this bug boss that reminded me of flight of the bumble bee.

Last thing im gonna complain about is the save rooms. They kind of feel redundant. There’s save rooms, and you can also save in map rooms and Adam rooms. It makes me wonder, though. Why? This game has an insanely generous checkpoint system. If you die to an emmi you respawn just outside the last door you used. And it extends to more than just emmi encounters. So many times I thought I had lost progress only to find out a checkpoint brought me 20 seconds back. Which is nice, but lost progress is the only tangible threat to the player in game design and while frustrating, the game doesn’t seem to mind some intentional frustration baked into its (awesome) design. You can keep the checkpoints outside boss rooms, or maybe just put the save room close to them, but EVERY emmi door is a checkpoint? I see one on the side, what’s the reason not to pop in and out just to save my progress? This makes me less engaged in the current life i'm at, I remember in other games when I was low and struggling and aware that any death would lose me 20 minutes of my irl time I was super on edge and invested with a capital i. Speaking of investment and capital, someone emailed me last month and told me the save rooms are there if you wanna save and leave the game, because restarting the game will lose your checkpoint. To you I say; No one does that. You press the home button to return to the home screen and turn off the switch. It’s not like you need to swap between games. The switch isn’t exactly a console where you’re playing more than one game at a time, I sold my copy of tears of the kingdom to buy dread and the sales tax still nearly bankrupt me. Boom, capital and investment setup paid off.

I went into this title with low expectations, mainly due to having already played Samus Returns for the 3DS (developed by the same folks at Mercury Steam) which was okay but not as good as the other mainline titles or as AM2R -the fan remake of the same game- and the fact that no official 2D Metroids have ever come close to being as good as Super Metroid 27 years later and I have come to terms with this.

Having finished my first playthrough, I can say this game blew away my expectations.

The best way I can describe Metroid Dread in a short paragraph is it being a cross between Fusion and Super with improved movement and controls.

The controls have been fine-tuned very nicely, they feel precise and responsive. Controlling Samus to do the actions you want is seamless but make no mistake, this is probably the hardest Metroid game out there along with Fusion but it manages to accomplish this for the right reasons.

The new combat options Samus has in her arsenal are very fun and are implemented very well, out of all of them my favorite has to be the 'Flash Shift' which is basically a dash à la Doom Eternal but you can do multiple in a row; you will need to take advantage of this movement option for some boss fights and puzzles. This ability and some other are balanced by the Aeion bar (brought back from Samus Returns but implemented way better here), the bar auto-recharges over the span of 2 seconds or so which don't deter you from using them but it's just enough for you not to spam them in boss battles (which will get you killed anyway).

Speaking of boss fights, that's the main thing along with E.M.M.I. -which I will go into later- that makes this game more challenging than the other titles in the franchise. The boss fights all feel fair and are the best out of any Metroid game out there by far, I found some of them very creative and they demand the use of your powers and new movement options, I also liked the fact that you usually have multiple options to defeat a boss while keeping the high difficulty which is not an easy thing to accomplish.

My only complaint with the bosses is how you fight some of them multiple times (I'm talking 4 or 5) but at least they are fun, well-designed boss fights.

E.M.M.I. is what SA-X wanted to be but at the end failed to, my problems with SA-X stem from the fact that it was way too easy to escape from it and all the encounters felt very scripted in nature (because they were) so you didn’t feel any fear at all. Here on the other hand, encounters with E.M.M.I. make you genuinely fear for your life and there are many moments in which you will manage to barely escape from them which feels very good given the non-scripted nature of these encounters.

Added to your arsenal is the 'Phantom Cloak' which lets you turn invisible for a limited amount of time at the cost of limiting your movement and Aeion (or energy after Aeion runs out), this comes handy in E.M.M.I. encounters. All of these things make for the E.M.M.I. encounters to be a very welcomed addition while not hindering exploration as they are limited to E.M.M.I. zones.

The only bad thing about the E.M.M.I. being limited to these zones is that you kind of know when to expect them and as such they are not very scary outside of these zones; that is to say, you won't have the feeling of dread in the back of your mind while exploring the other parts of the map. This is a good compromise to make exploration fun if you ask me, it strikes a good balance between a survival horror and a metroidvania.

Now that I have talked about the best this game has to offer, I will go for the things that while good I thought could be improved.

The map design in this game is superb for the most part. Most areas are interconnected which is something I like but something I don't like so much is the way these are interconnected -by elevators, teleport stations and shuttles- which I know is very much a Metroid thing but I wish there was an exception or two -like the magic feeling of going from Brinstar to Maridia in Super for example-, other than that I feel the map design was mostly good but for some exceptions.

Those exceptions are 'closed doors' and 'thermal doors'. The 'closed doors' should have been called 'walls' because there's no way to go through them unless you progress in the game, this would be fine if they required an upgrade or something but just shutting them down feels like a cheap way of accomplishing things.

I'm also not very keen on the thermal doors spread throughout the beginning of the game -where you are forced to redirect thermal energy in order to open them- but at least they are only overused in the beginning of the game, probably to make the game more accessible and direct new players in the correct direction. This is pretty much the only hand-holding this game has and it’s done in a tasteful way instead of an AI pointing to the exact location you need to go; it’s only for the beginning so it’s not too bad.

The soundtrack is very ambient and sets the mood very nicely for the inhospitable World of ZDR but it also feels kinda underwhelming at times, not bad by any means but I cannot think of many tracks that stick out after beating the game other than 'meeting with Quiet Robe'.

I feel the atmosphere was just right, the film grain in the E.M.M.I. zones was done masterfully and the backgrounds were a big step up from Samus Returns, not nearly as much seems copy-pasted. I also really like how some areas have very muted colors, they really transmit the feeling of Samus not belonging there perfectly.

Because this is a Switch game I feel the need to mention this as well: the framerate; an important aspect of the game considering its difficulty and fast-paced nature. The framerate aims for 60FPS and it almost always delivers it, it only drops at times but it doesn't hinder the experience in any critical way because the drops are not massive; it’s not NGII on the 360 is what I’m trying to say.

On another note, I don't really get all the complaints about this game being linear, just barely a week has passed since the game's release and many sequence breaks -some seem intended, some others unintended- have been discovered (you can even skip the Drogyga boss fight lmao).

This is my 2nd favorite 2D Metroid after Super and has become one of my favorite games, I will see if that opinion changes on subsequent playthroughs but I doubt so.

Now onto Hard 100%! :)

É literalmente tudo que metroid tem direito de ser, só que absurdamente bom.

Exploração? uma das mais complexas e gigantes da franquia inteira, com um level design incrível de tão intuitivo. Gameplay? a mais viciante, fluida, complexa e DELICIOSA de jogar, principalmente contra bosses.

TUDO, é muito bom. Os bosses são bem dificeis e épicos, principalmente o último. As areas são bem distintas e acho que é o melhor conjunto que a franquia já teve. A trilha combina bastante, não é tão reconhecivel, mas passa o sentimento perfeito pra area, e principalmente, pra situação.

A ideia dos E.M.M.I é uma das coisas mais geniais do jogo, torna ele um verdadeiro survival horror, um extremamente assustador.

Não vou ficar me estendendo, simplesmente incrível.

I was genuinely awful at this game, but it was worth it. Very very fun game, with a great sense of exploration and fantastic atmosphere.

Only reason I can't give 5 stars is the soundtrack is pretty forgettable and some fights ran at terrible framerate which I don't like seeing from a first party exclusive game.

Outside of that, brilliant game.

Metroid Dread. Wow, what a game. To start things off, I had never touched a Metroid game outside of a bit of NES, Super, and Prime 1. This game was by far more fun than those 3 by a lot. It sets a spectacular standard for an expansive genre and allows itself to spread its wings so freely that it comes off as a very welcoming game right from the get go. I won’t be talking much about the story and more so the gameplay instead.

This Metroidvania definitely surpasses its predecessors in many aspects. It allows you to get a grip of everything going on right from the start, it makes you want to play it for hours on end because of the fact that it's immensely engaging through its interactive environment and an easily explorable nature that makes backtracking not as much of a pain as you think it is, yet still retaining a classic Metroidvania feel that could honestly age as well as something such as Symphony of the Night in about 10 years time. The bosses and enemies you find along the way are fairly balanced, and anytime you die or are frustrated with something in this game, 99.9% of the time it’s on yourself, so don’t hate the game this time and hate the player. You will definitely learn from every battle you come across and use your new knowledge to your advantage in every fight, nothing in this game should be difficult except for your own limitations.

I was personally hesitant on spending 80$ (CAD) on this game due to its length, we’re so used to JRPG’s feeding us with hours of content that this game didn’t seem worth it for me since I thought I’d beat it in a weekend and never touch it again, I was wrong. It took me about 10 hours over the span of two weeks or so as I played with mostly any free time I had. This game is absolutely worth the price, and if you’re hesitant on picking it up, I’d definitely say just go for it.
9/10 for me and game of the year so far.

The circumstances surrounding this game's release are fascinating to me. For much of the 2000s and early 2010s, the Metroidvania seemed like a dead genre, but around the mid-2010s we started to get a deluge of non-linear 2D platformers with a focus on combat and exploration, driven largely by indie developers. A 2D Metroid coming out in 2012 would have seen miraculous, and even in 2021 the return was welcome, but it was also having to compete with a number of titles that took direct inspiration from Metroid: Hollow Knight, the Ori Series, Axiom Verge, etc.

I don't think Metroid Dread is at the top of the list of best Metroidvanias of the last 10 years, but it's still a very well-made and impressive game in its own right. This game nails the key element of feeling like you are getting consistently more powerful as the game progresses. Even though this is a video game with some genuinely challenging boss fights and sequences, there's still a strong sense of momentum, and I felt extremely compelled to keep pressing on. This game also contains some of the best 2D boss fights across gaming, and I felt a palpable sense of victory after finally taking out some of the harder bosses.

Where this game falls short for me is on the atmosphere side of things. Super Metroid and Metroid Prime have some of the most realized vibes in all of gaming, creating a sense of place. Metroid Prime looks very good for a Switch game, but the artstyle feels a little safe and sterile. I never got the feeling I was venturing too deep into the planet, with each abandoned outpost or ruined settlement highlighting the inhospitable nature of the world Samus was travelling through.

I would still recommend this game, however, even if only for the final boss, which is one of the most memorable encounters of this generation. I hope MercurySteam is given additional chances to work on 2D Metroids, as I feel like the franchise is in good hands.

Intricate level design topped off with breathtaking atmosphere and immersion that makes you feel like you’re truly exploring this gigantic world in person - while also telling a story just through exploration. All brought together by a terrific score that you can’t find anywhere else and combat that’ll just make you feel ‘good’. You can’t forget the bosses either, easily the highlight, so many greats in here with unique designs that you’ll never forget…. like fr, hollow knight is soooo good!

Ok real review fr: Metroid Dread is a pretty good game, but it’s a little bit inconsistent. Hollow Knight kinda spoiled me and made me think all metroidvanias played a certain way, so maybe I went into this with the wrong mindset, idk. But why is it inconsistent? Well, one second I’m enjoying it and the next second I want to blow my brains out and this happened at least 10-12 times during my eight hour playthrough. There is a lot of good though, the combat is fantastic and traversal is honestly better than Hollow Knight, but the actual level design just isn’t that good. The game isn’t really immersive, at all. I never felt like I was truly exploring this world for myself while watching a story unfold right before my eyes by just taking in the atmosphere. Also, this game gives you no freedom if I’m being honest here, and this is my BIGGEST complaint with the game. In Hollow Knight there is always a ‘right’ way, a way the game wants you to go, but it also wants you to take alternate paths and explore the world in depth. So really, there isn’t a right way in HK, the way to progress is up to YOU, the player. Stuck on a boss? Simply leave and come back later. Don’t like this area? Do the same. But in dread you can’t really do this due to how linear the game is, making the 1-2 times where I got lost feel REALLY tedious. If you’re lost in HK there is always going to be some type of path that leads to something new outside the “main” path. In dread, this doesn’t exist. If you’re lost you have to find the ONE right way. But maaaaybe this isn’t a big problem because this only happened about 1-2 but I’m not gonna act like it never happened. There are also the bosses which my god these fucking suck ass. There’s only three, maybe four bosses in the game I enjoyed, and one of those bosses you fight like 6 times so by then is it really a good boss anymore? However the final boss is fantastic, peak gaming I unfortunately have to say. Just wish the entire game kept up with that quality.

Despite its faults, Metroid Dread is still a really good game and one I’d easily recommend to people trying to get into this genre… before you play Hollow Knight though, so you aren’t disappointed by how much this game pales in comparison. Still great though!