5 Years Later, Metroid Dread’s Perfect Ending Is Still One of Nintendo’s Best
Five years after its 2021 release, Metroid Dread remains a landmark title that successfully revitalized the dormant Metroid franchise. The game delivered a tightly designed Metroidvania experience featuring challenging combat encounters. The narrative follows bounty hunter Samus Aran as she undertakes a mission to the mysterious Planet ZDR, where the Galactic Federation has tasked her with recovering lost EMMI robots. These robots were originally deployed to the planet to locate and contain the last remaining X parasites in the universe—creatures with particular significance to Samus given her personal history with them. The game’s design successfully balances exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat to create an engaging experience. According to Polygon’s retrospective analysis, the game’s ending sequence stands out as particularly memorable and impactful, with the writer noting that it continues to resonate strongly five years after release. This concluding moment is positioned as one of Nintendo’s best narrative achievements in recent gaming history, demonstrating the studio’s ability to craft meaningful storytelling within the action-adventure framework.