Metroid: Dread is the first 2D game of the series that I’ve played. Which is funny because the Metroidvania genre has been my favourite since Hollow Knight and the Ori games came out. I haven’t played the vania part (as in Castlevania) either, but one thing at a time!

Samus is sent to explore the planet ZDR to find out if the DNA-absorbing host-replicating X Parasite, which was once believed to be extinct, still exists (she’s the only being in the universe with immunity against it). Fortunately, she’s a successful bounty hunter and arrives fully equipped for the job. Unfortunately, she is immediately stripped of all her cool abilities, and now has to explore the planet to find them to regain her full power. Don’t panic! I was told that she’ll be fine and that this has happened once or twice before.

Samus is left far below the surface of ZDR and finding the way back to her ship on the surface is now her main priority.

The exploration in Metroidvania games has become my favourite part of the genre. Stumbling into areas that have platforms just out of reach or rooms with temperatures you can’t endure, and having to remember these locations or mark them on your map to back track and visit them later add to the mystery and excitement.

Dread is full of these moments, it’s also very sneaky in making sure you don’t get lost and uses little tricks and traps to guide you to where you need to be. It was nice in that I was never really worried that I was in the wrong place or going the wrong way. For a short time it actually became a little disappointing for me because it made the experience feel a bit linear, but I came to really appreciate it. I don’t think most folks like the idea of getting lost and wandering around aimlessly to find their next objective. It’s really wonderfully done, and definitely worth playing through again to take notes on level design.

The visual quality and environment variety make wandering and blasting through ZDR a wonderful experience. Maneuvering through the many rooms never felt like a chore, and there’s always little hidden rooms or spaces to be on the lookout for. The monster variety always felt fresh and exciting, and the parry mechanic made combat so satisfying. It really has that level of polish that you expect from Nintendo IP. There were a handful of moments where the frame rate dropped, but thankfully none were at critical moments aside from one late game boss battle.

I have a weird relationship with boss battles in general. I’m never really looking forward to them, but when they get going I tend to really enjoy them. It’s probably because I love exploring so much that I’m worried I’ll be stuck on a difficult fight for too long before I can get to exploring again. That being said, I really loved the boss battles in Dread. They were expectedly quite difficult and often felt frustrating and unfair, but after learning the attack patterns for each phase, they became really fun. Each one had fun mechanics that made them feel unique from the last. Unfortunately for me though, one thing that made boss fights more difficult than intended was the double jump.

Samus can only double jump when she’s in a Spin Jump, which is where she tucks into a ball and does a few flips. When you jump while holding left or right she automatically goes into a Spin Jump, and because she’s in a Spin Jump, she can now jump again. Perfect, love it. The issue that I have is that when jumping while standing still, she doesn’t do a Spin Jump. So instead of my next jump button press making Samus jump again, it activates the Spin Jump, which then allows me to press it again to jump again. I had to rewrite that last bit quite a few times to make sense, in case it still doesn’t, simply: when standing still, I have to press jump three times to actually jump twice, but when holding left or right, I only need to press it twice to jump twice. I know it isn’t technically labelled a double jump in the game, so maybe it’s my fault trying to treat it like one. While moving through the world, It wasn’t an issue. It was during boss fights or EMMI encounters where things are moving fast and precision is crucial. My muscle memory from over the years just couldn’t be overwritten, and I’d often expect to double jump over an attack but instead fall right down into it. I think this is how the previous 2D Metroid games worked so maybe folks that grew up with these games feel at home here, but I didn’t feel at home. I felt like I was at my friends house in elementary school that called Samus “Samson” and thought that He was a really cool robot.

The only other thing about Metroid: Dread that I didn’t prefer were the EMMI encounters. Something about them really brought my momentum to a halt. Each time I reached a new EMMI zone I thought “Maybe I’ve played enough for now”. It’s very possible that I missed something and it just didn’t click for me, but I generally disliked those areas.

I’m not saying these two issues I had were objectively bad things, they just didn’t work for me. I really loved this game despite them. I took my time with it but didn’t really worry about item completion in each area so I’m excited to go back and find all of the hidden areas and items that I missed.

It also has got me excited about finding and playing more games in the series as well as the genre as a whole. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is on my list, If you have any recommendations, let me know!