4.5/5 ★ – Gooble's review of Metroid Dread.

Play time: 8.5 hours Rating: 9.5 This the first metroidvania game I've finished. After beating this game in an 8-hour rollercoaster ride over the past week, I'm sure it won't be the last. What an amazing ride it was. Metroid Dread perfectly blends the reward of beating tough challenges with introducing the many new players to the genre to the various intricacies of the metroid games and the style of exploration-focused platformers as a whole. I never understood how these games worked, but through subtle clues and level design I managed to understand why so many people love this style of game. The boss fights are tough as nails, each one forcing you to use your skill set to its fullest potential. Exploration encourages you to think about navigating the game world, and eventually grants you a feeling of mastery when you stop having to open the map every time you need to go somewhere. Something I didnt expect this game to do well is Samus' characterization. Through subtle animation and marvelous cutscenes you do clue in Samus as a conflicted, tense, frustrated but in the end compassionate human being. This really heightens the reward of defeating the last boss. It has flaws, sometimes the Switch chugged while running particularily detailed environments, and i did want to chuck my controller at the tv at times, but in the end this game is wonderful. I think I'll remember this one for a while.