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The prospect of a remaster was promising so it came as a shock when Metroid Dread was announced instead. It was developed by the same team who worked on the remake, Mercury Steam. It certainly feels like a sequel to that blemishes and all. As good as the feedback has been for Metroid Dread, the game could stand to use a few upgrades via patches.
8 Add Difficulties
There are no difficulty options in the game. There is also no scaling AI that dials back the challenge if players are dying repeatedly like some other games without difficulty options. For the most part, Metroid Dread feels balanced in the right ways. There are certainly moments where the scales dip more favorably in the game’s favor such as the overpowered EMMI sections. Even tweaking the counter windows for EMMI would help. In a year where accessible difficulty options were a dime a dozen, not have any here does hurt Metroid Dread.
7 Tweak Amiibo Support
There is sort of a way to make the game easier thanks to Amiibo support. The new twin pack that comes with Samus and EMMI have exclusive content. The Samus figure will give players an extra health tank. Every usage after that will heal Samus once a day. The EMMI figure gives players more missiles and then restocks them once a day with every use after that.
The tricky part is finding these figures. Other Amiibo figures in the series grant health and missile recharges but they aren’t permanent. There should be a patch to make it so that any Samus figure can grant that health boost and the other figures should give out that missile upgrade.
6 Improve The Load Times
The biggest thing holding the game back are the load times. The time it takes from the start screen is the longest but death is also an issue. Again, with no difficulty options, this game can be challenging. Death is certain and the wait is the real killer.
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Dying in EMMI sections only to have to wait through loads to then try again can be frustrating. This is true for bosses as well. The checkpoint system can be uneven which also hurts both of these examples. It would be nice if somehow Nintendo could improve the load times. That might be tricky with the current Switch hardware. Another solution would be to at least fix the checkpoint system such as allowing players to immediately retry a boss.
5 Merge Save Points And Recharge Stations
One of the most confusing things in Metroid Dread is that the save points and recharge stations are separate. If the two were side by side but in separate rooms that would be one thing but more often than not they are far apart. It is most certainly too late to combine the two rooms now but it is still worth mentioning even if it does sound more like a wish. It would make getting around less confusing. Stranger things have happened in games before post-launch.
4 Needs More Options
The lack of difficulty modes is an issue but so is the lack of any options period. There is no way to customize the control scheme and subtitles can’t be disabled as just two examples. The only options the game has right now are ways to increase brightness and the ability to turn rumble on or off. There is the Amiibo support in the menu along with ways to reload saves or checkpoints but then that is it. That is weird to see in a modern Switch game. Some more extra would be nice too like a Boss Rush mode.
3 Better Fast Travel
There are two majors ways players can fast travel in the game. Shuttles and elevators move Samus to new areas. There’s no way to travel to the big areas otherwise. There are also hidden teleporters later in the game.
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Both modes of travel could be better as there is still a lot of backtracking involved. It would be great if Samus could travel between save points instead, or if Nintendo just put more ways to travel in the game.
2 Add 3D Photo Mode
This game is primarily set in 2D but there is an exception to this perspective. When players upgrade Samus’ blaster temporarily to defeat EMMI robots, the camera angle shifts into third-person while aiming. Since there is already a 3D engine in the game, it would be nice if Nintendo added a photo mode. The Switch’s internal capture button is fine but being allowed to get deeper perspectives would be even better. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also in 2D but it has a 3D capture mode so the blueprint is there for Metroid Dread.
1 Can Samus Talk?
This might be a big ask now but giving Samus a voice would be stellar. The opening to the game has Samus retell the events of Metroid Fusion in first-person, but she isn’t voiced. There are other voices in the game so it seems odd to remove the voice of one of the most iconic females in video games, She has spoken before in the games. Maybe the developers were afraid of the feedback of too much Samus like in Metroid: Other M. Her not having a voice is more standard for the series, but it would still be good to see Nintendo try again. New powers like the invisibility cloak are nice, but so would hearing Samus’ voice.
Metroid Dread was released on October 8, 2021 and is available on Switch.
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