Metroid has been the one series that seemed to buck most of the traditional Nintendo trends. Instead of the colorful locales of the Mushroom Kingdom or the often serene or pastoral Hyrule, the Metroid series mostly finds the hero, Samus Aran, killing hostile aliens and space pirates in dimly-lit caves deep below the surface of remote planets. There are no princesses to rescue, only threats to eliminate and they’re dispatched not through some comical boop on the head, but with an arsenal of deadly futuristic weapons. She tracks her prey across massive regions chock full of puzzles and secrets enticing players to return to already-explored areas with upgrades to find even more things. Metroid Dread has continued this tradition by delivering what might be considered Nintendo's most difficult and complex title. Despite challenging the classic notion that Nintendo always requires its titles to be fun first, I am pleased to report that Metroid Dread is absolutely worth your time if you're willing to put in the effort.
At the most basic level, Metroid Dread has all the hallmarks of a classic Metroidvania game. Samus explores and tracks her targets on Planet ZDR over a series of interconnected regions along the way collecting abilities and upgrades which make her steadily more powerful. Some abilities like the nearly-immediately acquired melee counter add exciting new ways to approach combat. The regions of ZDR do have distinct themes like in previous Metroid games, and there are multiple tilesets across each region. However, some tiles appear in all regions. At times this can create a bit of thematic disconnect (when you go from one screen that appears to be a robotic corridor of sorts immediately into a lava-filled fiery cave for example) but it's mostly forgivable and never feels immersion-breaking. One of the most important sub-regions (and undoubtedly the reason for the title) are those patrolled by the new diabolical Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers, or E.M.M.Is. Early on the game warns you that E.M.M.I.s are not normal enemies and they need to be handled in a very specific way. These become an extremely central component of Samus' trip to ZDR and without a doubt are responsible for more of my deaths than anything else. Dang robot proboscises! Probosci? Anyways, the cat-and-mouse game this dynamic establishes is the source of some very real anxiety.
It's hard to discuss the difficulty of Dread outside of the pacing. Other Nintendo series like Mario usually have a steady difficulty ramp and give players non-progression dependent extra challenges and rewards to earn if they really want to test their mettle. Dread, on the other hand, has a difficulty curve closer to Dark Souls which requires players to approach both enemies and environmental puzzles with respect and careful consideration. Players are regularly rewarded for their efforts by way of enhancements, upgrades, and abilities. When you've collected enough upgrades you can head back to earlier areas to pick up some of the non-essential items although some of those require extremely skillful execution. You'll know one of these challenges when you see one because you'll stumble across something that just seems objectively impossible. "Wait, there's one of those there? What?" If you see these and are intrigued enough to try, just don't be surprised if you find yourself learning nuances of abilities or equipment that you didn't know existed.
Once you know the steps, the fights are much more approachable.
The comparison to Dark Souls is too common with today’s games, but it’s earned here, especially when it comes to the game's boss and miniboss fights. I can confidently state that none of the boss fights felt like standing in one place and shooting a glorified damage sponge - each requires careful attention to enemy tells, weak points, and environment. After the first encounter or two I started considering my first attempts "learning runs" in which I would not expect to be successful. Three or four attempts later I would execute the necessary mechanics and it would feel like Nintendo wanted you to be part of a choreographed routine. I never walked away without a few scratches, but once you know the steps, the fights are much more approachable. Then just when you're feeling confident about knowing certain fights, Dread has a way of throwing new variants at you which add new layers and considerations. This is refreshing in a world full of games where early-game bosses become late-game enemies. I was going to make the comment that a few fights are outright miserable but I remembered that, much like Dark Souls, if you find yourself frustrated and not making any progress, you're probably approaching it from the wrong angle (I’m looking at you Escue.) Take a step back, rethink your assumptions, and try some new things. This approach saved my Switch Pro Controller from collision courses with obstacles in my room more often than I'd like to admit.
From a technical standpoint, Nintendo are masters of extremely careful art direction and technical assets that, with few exceptions, maintain a smooth framerate despite obvious hardware limitations. Those occasions were almost always where a large quantity of tiny enemies were on the screen at once. The game does suffer from some long loading sequences when traveling from one region to another and there's an extremely small handful of times where transitioning from one room to the next is met with a black screen for a few seconds. Again, rarely immersion-breaking but it is noticeable. Dread's complexity is most easily seen in its controls - most buttons are mapped both individually and in combinations which can cause confusion during some challenging late-game boss fights. Audio design is usually a major component of most Metroid titles and this is no exception. While it doesn't have the bangers that Super Metroid did, the team did create a great atmospheric soundtrack that definitely adds to the texture of every area.
The last major piece of the puzzle here is the plot which is surprisingly good. Metroid games (the strange Other M notwithstanding) have never had much to say about plot. Samus is a bounty hunter, she shows up for a reason that's usually either Metroid or space pirate related, and she gets to work. Dread does a great job of peppering in narrative beats that feel interesting and important without interrupting the pace of the game.
Feeling like something is way harder than it ought to be.
While being an outstanding game there are a few other issues worth noting. First, every so often the game will present players with a combination of enemies and navigation mechanics that feels less like a challenge and more like a purpose-driven annoyance. It just feels bad to repeat jumps multiple times and take a large amount of damage because of what seems like questionable level design. This is compounded by the fact that the nuances of jumping are the same as older games in the series. Said otherwise, there are certain types of jumps that can only trigger if executed in EXACTLY the correct way resulting in players potentially feeling like something is way harder than it ought to be. Finally, there is at least one upgrade that doesn't feel like it needs to be in the game at all. It is used in maybe one critical path puzzle and then it gets relegated to "Oh yeah, I guess I could probably use that to help get this missile upgrade."
Metroid Dread gets most things right
All in all, Metroid Dread gets most things right - it delivers a classic high-quality Metroidvania experience that incorporates a more modern and thoughtful difficulty arc which can hook players hard. It keeps a good pace of upgrades and enhancements trickling in that constantly make players think about the last time they saw a certain block or door. It delivers some brutal but brilliant boss and miniboss encounters that'll leave you satisfied. Finally, while feeling like a wholly new Metroid experience, there are a ton of references to previous entries that hardcore series fans will appreciate. If you're not afraid of putting in some work, Metroid Dread will give you one hell of a ride.
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