Despite never playing one, I used to always be turned off by the Metroidvania genre for no good reason. A genre that based itself around backtracking sounded like a nightmare. As I've aged I have become more open-minded to all genres, and metroidvanias were no different. About a month after Dread's announcement at E3, I gave the genre a shot for the first time with Super Metroid. After being blown away by how amazing that was, Dread instantly became my most anticipated game of the year. I thought there was no way that Dread would surpass Super Metroid but Mercury Steam definitively proved me wrong. Dread is a game with amazing exploration, a fantastic movement system, and a surprisingly good story. The exploration feels extremely authentic for the most part. Progression through Dread is anything but hand-holding, but it is very hard to get lost in this game. Unlike Super Metroid, there aren't areas of the game where you have to hit a random, unlabeled block in the wall to continue. The progression manages to be smooth and authentic, without being one-directional. My biggest complaint about the progression is it can feel a little crunchy in the end. There is a point where you are collecting ability after ability in a short amount of time which briefly ruins the natural feel the progression aims for. The EMMI's were great for the most part. It kept me at the edge of my seat during various circumstances. It fell short near the end when the EMMI's started to feel more like a roadblock than a genuine threat. Overall though the EMMI's were great. I could gush about the gameplay all day but it is definitely one of the most satisfying controlling games I have ever played. The movement system is top-notch. When I play some of the other titles It will definitely take me a while to adjust to their movement because of how fire Dread's is. I can't really describe how perfect it is, so I'd recommend you just try it for yourself. The story was really good but I won't get into that to avoid spoilers. Overall an amazing game and a new top 5 addition. I would've never expected a game from a genre I used to dread to show up in my top 5.