For the first time in years, I spent almost two hours lost, making no progress, in a video game, and I loved every damn second of it. Metroid Dread is finally releasing this Friday on Nintendo Switch, and it’s better than good.
The last few years have seen an onslaught of Metroidvania releases, from Hollow Knight to The Messenger, and tens if not hundreds more. Metroidvania, and its similar but randomized counterpart the Roguelike (i.e. Hades or Returnal), and its equally confusing cousin the Roguevania (i.e. Dead Cells), have been all the rage. All that gibberish being said, I had started to dissociate Metroidvania from its roots. But the 19-years-awaited Metroid Dread did more than just remind me of its paternal connection to the genre, it made me remember why I fell in love with the genre in the first place.
Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread is the conclusion of the Metroid arc. This doesn't mean the end of Metroid Prime, or Samus Aran for that matter, but the end of a story that consisted of Metroid (released in 1987 and remade into Metroid: Zero Mission in 2004), then Metroid II: Return of Samus (released in 1991 and remade into Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017), then followed by Super Metroid (released in 1994), which led to the latest addition to the Metroid mainline, Metroid: Fusion (released in 2002). (Yes, I had to take my inhaler after trying to explain this.) While we’ve seen remakes, spin-offs, and guest appearances, it's been 19 years since a massive new release and lore drop. Metroid Dread ends this Metroid line elegantly in a send-off that is more than proper.
Everything about Metroid Dread feels like Metroid, which sounds like saying wine tastes like wine, but it's more than that. With so much time since a new title (not including Other M, a spin-off, sort of, I don’t know; we don't count it) it would have been easy, seemingly unavoidably so, to add too much, to glitz it up with new tech from the last decade. And while Samus has some intense new abilities that wouldn't have been possible two decades ago, and the world is stunning in 3D, which also would not have been possible, the game is without a doubt the ultimate Metroid experience.
Courtesy
Of course, my experience playing Metroid Dread was in the review period, so it felt even more true to form, taking me back to a time when every secret, puzzle, task, and boss battle was mine and mine alone to figure out. I hope you play it that way yourself. I got stuck running through maps over and over again until accidentally shooting something with a missile instead of the charge beam, or staring at the map to find a door I had skipped, or making countless other time-consuming mistakes. But there's something fun about being lost.
Related Stories
In adult life, we should absolutely hate wasting time. That makes sense. I think that's why a lot of modern Metroidvanias have found easier ways to guide players. Their difficulty instead lies far more in the combat or platforming than in the exploration, but that was one of the undertones that made these games so special in the first place. What's weird is with a plethora of open world games, we should be happier to be lost than ever. But something about being stuck in a linear environment seems less digestible. I say it seems, because it's truly not. Yeah, I ran down the same 12 areas over and over and over again, and oftentimes found other secrets to mark for later. I wasn't really progressing or getting a myriad of new abilities, but it was still cool to roam. I felt challenged like I had as a kid, and not because the cards were stacked against me or because the game was supposed to be masochistic.
Metroid Dread is a polished, remarkably addictive, and above all else, faithful final installment in a series so beloved that a two-decades-old sequel is still making massive waves in gaming. The game is not easy, especially for those new to the series, but the storytelling is done slowly but artfully, and when you finally get all those upgrades and unlock the secrets, it feels just as rewarding as you remember it. It helps that the narrative arc wraps up in a beautifully satisfying bow.
We don't post guides here at Esquire, so it's no skin off my back, but I highly recommend taking on this space odyssey alone. No guides, no help, no anything. Tackle the masterpiece with only your two thumbs, your head, and your heart. You’ll be better for it.
Want unlimited access to tech + gaming reviews like this? Join Esquire Select.
Related Story
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pr%2FQrqCrnV6YvK57y6Kdnqukrrmme8BsbnFvY2h9dnvMnqurp5mZeqW%2BxJqbZqqVq7amw44%3D