Metroid Dread [Game Review]

TL;DR

This game is not a long play. Most players it took around 15-25 hours to complete this title.
If you are looking for a true homage to Metroidvania and going on an adventure, read my article on Hollow Knight and maybe that will be convincing enough to embark on your next Metroidvania game.
Seasoned or non-seasoned Metroidvania players will have minimal to no trouble clearing this game.
If you don’t like games that are more graphics than they are anything else, definitely skip this title for sure.

[Played on a Nintendo Switch Lite]

Last review, I commented briefly about Metroid Dread. I likened this title to eating a fun-sized candy. That is not to diminish the amount of excitement I did have in this title, but to merely state that this game was fun treat yet it makes you really wish you had something larger in scale of the same variety. Essentially, Metroid Dread is all the polish that a contemporary title needs, yet lacks the substance that gives us something new to talk about.

This title is essentially classic Metroidvania, and you can expect to get lots of new upgrades to your suit and have to navigate around new biomes and terrains, and of course the backtracking and working around typical platformer obstacles. The main issue with this title is that there is a lack of variety of exploration, and the game plays super linear for a newer title. You do not go on your own adventure in this one, and there is no optional/bonus content to enjoy. Having some challenging bosses to the side or some fun objectives to do are a nice mold breaker when you are bored with the main story content of a game. (If you are looking for a Metroidvania title that gives you this joy and adds a lot of original content value, then I recommend reading my article on Hollow Knight.)

I did enjoy the overall graphics and cinematic play of this game, and the cinematic-led battle mechanics were a nice touch. I can’t help but say that this was the distraction that was delivered to make your forget that you are only playing a 15-25 hour game. (depending on your skill level with platformers and/or Metroidvania) The final boss is enjoyable enough though, and it would be nice to continue the narrative that Dread carries on in the story. However, if I wanted to enjoy a good story only I would be looking for a light novel series or manga. In the world of games, we want an interactive experience (which includes a good story and world) and Dread did not deliver the interactivity that I would’ve loved to have with in such a fantastic world that Metroid really lays out.

Hopefully one day we will possibly see a good Metroid title that stays true to the Metroidvania platformer style. It seems like Nintendo is more interested in remastering and exploring the Prime titles, which are very good, but this deprives those of us that want a 2d platforming experience with the Metroid games. Unfortunately, the direction that most Nintendo games suffer from is that they are moving away from what makes them a fantastic, integral experience in favor of massively, successively producing titles and giving the masses a title that they can easily beat, or perhaps can sit on their backlog for the ends of time.