We’ve all had a few days to breathe after E3. It was a week of ups and downs for just about everyone, but the Nintendo Direct presentation included something nobody expected. At least, I didn’t expect it.
I’m a big fan of the Metroid series. It’s one of my favorites because it combines elements of fear, atmosphere, exploration, challenge, and more together. Samus has been called the first (human) female playable character in a video game, which is a big deal, but the games have not spent a lot of time in mainstream popularity.
Metroid Dread and Games as Art
So I was being optimistic when the Direct started. If we’re lucky, we will see a teaser or a few screenshots from the development of Metroid Prime 4. After all, it has been in production for some time. That’s all I wanted, but what happened reminds me of a quote I once heard:
“Entertainment is what happens when you get what you want, Art is what happens when you get what you didn’t know you wanted.”
-Josh Groban? (I don’t remember the exact words. I watched an interview with him saying something like this but he might have been quoting someone else)
For me, in a very real sense, hearing Mr. Takahashi say that Prime 4 was still in development, but that they had a different Metroid game to show, made my mind start churning.
Metroid Dread Trailer Recap
Samus dropped in, which is always an exhilarating sight. Nintendo knew just how to craft this trailer, because they knew that by typing “Metroid” letter-by-letter on a black screen would be familiar and exciting for their fans. By simply pausing and adding “5,” Nintendo demonstrated that they knew how to make the brains their niche audience collectively explode.
We’re getting Metroid 5? Before Metroid Prime 4? That’s an odd choice. I imagine the smirk on the faces of the Nintendo executive team must have been strong as Samus opened fire on the robot. Gameplay was a surprise as well, but nothing could compare to the title reveal.
E.M.M.I. closed in, its red eye flashed, and I sat transfixed. “Metroid” in big bold white, but the biggest surprise came in one five-letter word. “DREAD.”
If you haven’t been playing Metroid games since the early 2000s or earlier, Dread probably meant nothing to you. I was introduced to Samus by playing Super Smash Bros. for the N64, but the first game I ever saw was Prime 1 when it was still new. I picked it up and I was hooked.
The Golden Age of Metroid
Those days were a golden age for Samus and her space adventures. Fusion, the first hunt demo, Hunters, the Echoes demo disc, Echoes itself, and Corruption all seemed to rush in one after another. I couldn’t have been happier with the games either, but then the faucet tightened up.
Rumors of Metroid Dread were stirring before Corruption even arrived, but it died out in obscurity. Other M followed Corruption, like a steel wall dividing fans. The magic faded and prospects of Metroid 5 and Prime 4 dwindled. The fire reignited in me at the announcement of Samus Returns, but it was too late. The 3DS was on its last legs, and Metroid was already regarded as a cult series. The commercial failure of the Wii U is likely another reason everything seemed to be fading away.
The Second Golden Age?
The announcement of Metroid Prime 4 was a big deal for the fans. Finally, more Prime! That’s nice, but it made everything all that much worse when production stopped and switched to Retro Studios. Then, months and months of silence. That was the big N’s way, right? Just stop giving news for a game and hope people forget about it. I wish we could have known what they were planning.
The trailer for Metroid Dread is a bigger deal than series newcomers can know. It’s like watching Metroid be saved from the brink of destruction for the SECOND TIME. The first time, Prime arrived after an entire console generation without a Metroid game. With any luck the almost 19-year-long wait for Metroid 5 will be paid off with another golden age for the bounty hunter.
The Phyronian Chronicle 