Metroid Dread Review Spoilers

I like how Metroid Dread literally directly comments on the formula of Metroid by literally being part of the plan, Samus since Metroid 2 was actualizing as a genocidal bounty hunter for good, and it literally manifests with Samus becoming something stronger than Metroids. All of the homage that was used earlier, along with the exact Fusion formula of ADAM coming along with Samus, is just a recreation. I was a bit terrified as soon as Samus herself was losing control of a few of her aspects as she gained strength, eventually literally becoming something more threatening visually than a Metroid, and it was a bit horrifying. She literally becomes the power fantasy by others, not on her own terms. The whole reason for the formula of her getting items and becoming strong enough to "save" the planet was its own setup to serve someone else's ends as she just followed orders. It's not just her military police overlords, but also her own past that has a stranglehold on her, almost eerily like Other M in terms of her agency being decided by others, but unlike that games' misogynsitic interpretations of PTSD and "being emotional", here the authority is cold and heartless. But it is here where Samus is emotional, and that is a strength and not a weakness. She takes what she's been given literally into her own hands. It's the culmination of Samus self-actualizing and not kowtowing to authority, and that's a fucking amazing way to both finish and possibly continue her story.

I think a large problem with the plot beats, though, is that there's just never enough time to really settle on the plot beats in-cutscene because they immediately have to resolve or be interrupted. This has a lot of lore centered around its whole narrative, but they never truly feel ingrained into moments. It's more of quick image flashbacks to signify that it's utilizing them rather than baked in. It also manifests poorly in other aspects, like the "Mother Brain" homage fights for the ultimate power (which make for some of the most banal fights in the game), or having the whole Network Stations with ADAM straight from Fusion that just feels like an ever present reminder due to its roboticism and mundanity. The twist that it wasn't ADAM is neat but because of how sterile the convos was, it felt like it lost impact.