This is one of those surprising things where if you can get past the initial hurdle of "this is a little silly" used as a springboard to get you going and understand that it is primarily a series of isolated vignettes, there's a lot to enjoy here. My listed playtime is low because I spent a great deal of time with the public beta that used to exist elsewhere. The game benefits being played multiple times and in different ways as you only ever have enough time for so many things in a single playthrough and some encounters are locked behind checks.

There's a marked difference between mortal and immortal love interests. Mortal love interests last only a few pages which would normally be a downside but it works within the story and they are by no means ineffective due to their length. The sculptor stands out to me as I believe it's only something like five passages but by the end, I was inconsolable, rather a feat for someone I had no real interest in when I stumbled upon him. I was widowed many times and felt melancholy every single time.

Immortal love interests on the other hand are more involved. You can quickly lose a large chunk of in-game time to them. Some of them regularly offer you "outs" to abandon them and return to the main plot. While I found myself interested in all of them and their lives, I didn't find them particularly romantic. Where mortal ones are the entirety of a honeymoon condensed, immortals are the comfortable tolerance of a long married couple. You do get to have sex with a dragon in midair so that's something at least.

As for the main plot, it is what it is. Quite often I don't care much for saving the world and become resentful when I've no choice, but you have a choice in this. You can embrace oblivion if you want, and sometimes I did, because I felt sad a character passed away or misanthropic after a one night stand encounter. The game doesn't judge you for this. If you choose to fight, it's possible to balance both training and romance though it's easier avoiding the problems of immortals.

An otherwise interesting meditation on futility and the parts people leave behind if you'd only let them.

There was a worry that because of all the MetroidVanias that have sprung up since Fusion, that the mother of them all wouldn't be able to keep up but I'm glad to announce: Metroid's still got it. Dread brings so much refinement to the 2D Metroid formula that it is genuinely scary at points, Samus is so amazingly agile and responsive now that every moment of down time is still exhilarating. Not to mention how cool she's shown to be - especially in those special boss counters. The story is less in your face as Fusion but moreso than Super Metroid and I think it strikes a good balance between the two styles of storytelling. The EMMI robots were fun adversaries making for many stressful encounters but I don't think they ever reach the same heights as the moments with the SA-X in the last game. The bosses, however, are so amazingly fun to take down; they constantly keep you on your toes with new attacks that don't ever feel cheap - every time I died to one I knew exactly what I did wrong and what to improve on. The puzzle solving was also very enjoyable, so much so that I fully completed my first Metroid game with this one. I really hope we can continue to get more 2D Metroids from MercurySteam since they made such a gem with Dread.