History YMMV / MetroidDread

* UncannyValley: In designing and animating the E.M.M.I., the developers have somehow managed to apply this trope to ''non-humanoid robots''. An E.M.M.I. essentially has a head, a "torso", and four long limbs, so you'd expect it to move more-or-less like an animal, right? ''Wrong''. That thing bends its limbs and "spine" in ''all the wrong directions'', performing unpredictable and anatomically impossible feats that even on a robot look just plain wrong. It looks less like what you'd expect of a robot and more like an unearthly MechanicalAbomination, making a foe that's already frightening enough in gameplay alone even scarier. Unlike most examples of Uncanny Valley, however, [[TropesAreTools this one works in the E.M.M.I.s' favor, emphasizing how unnatural and dangerous they are.]]

** Despite losing to it at The Game Awards, many ''Dread'' players don't mind losing to ''VideoGame/ItTakesTwo2021'', as the game has a unique charm of its own and is much less controversial or "problematic" than other nominees or previous winners.

** [[spoiler:The furnace room (sometimes called the thermal room) located in upper-left Artaria.]]

** The Zero Suit's role has been decreased even further, becoming the complement to Samus' character that it was supposed to be rather than the source of {{Fanservice}} and {{flanderization}} that it was criticized as. As usual, it only appears in gameplay during Samus' death sequence, but the only way to get a good full view of Zero Suit Samus is to complete the HarderThanHard objective of beating Normal Mode ''and'' Hard Mode in less than 4 hours each, unlocking an ending image featuring the Zero Suit where Samus is shown to have the same [[HeroicBuild athletic physique]] she had in ''Samus Returns'' posing confidently. Ripped models from the game show that Samus in fact [[https://twitter.com/phazeons/status/1456817301408215041 reuses her Zero Suit design]] from ''Other M'', only with a more pronounced AmazonianBeauty build and more reasonable looking CombatStilettos. This was after complaints that ''Other M'' looked for excuses to focus on Samus' backside in her Zero Suit during the main story even in emotional and/or inappropriate moments.

** [[spoiler:The furnace room (sometimes called the thermal room) located in upper-left Artaria.[/spoiler]]

* ItsHardSoItSucks: A major complaint from some players and reviewers is the game's brutal difficulty, possibly the most difficult game in the series. In particular, it's felt that bosses and E.M.M.I. are too reliant upon TrialAndErrorGameplay. Also, gaining HundredPercentCompletion requires a lot of tricky Shinesparking and is a major turn-off for some. However many also find the challenge extremely rewarding while finding those difficult parts the best part of the game, and importantly, the increased difficulty is accompanied by copious AntiFrustrationFeatures, such as the addition of checkpoints to make getting right back into the boss fight as quick and painless as possible, to take some of the edge off.

** With the ''Franchise/{{DOOM}}'' fandom, which is not surprising considering the similarities between Samus and Doomguy/Doom Slayer, like [[HeroicMime their lack of dialogue]], [[OneManArmy prowess in combat]], and relationship with a friendly animal that would later be killed (the Baby Metroid for Samus and Daisy the rabbit for Doomguy). The official DOOM Twitter account even congratulated ''Dread's'' release by depicting the Doom Slayer in [[https://twitter.com/doom/status/1446475487023439876 an image]] similar to ''Dread’s'' cover art. It helps that both series are highly influential {{Trope Codifier}}s for two different genres (FirstPersonShooter for ''Doom'' and {{Metroidvania}} for ''Metroid'') which eventually suffered from decade-long {{sequel gap}}s following the release of a polarizing game (''VideoGame/Doom3'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' respectively).

** With the ''Franchise/{{DOOM}}'' fandom, which is not surprising considering the [[HeroicMime similarities between]] Samus and Doomguy/Doom Slayer. The official DOOM Twitter account even congratulated ''Dread's'' release by depicting the Doom Slayer in [[https://twitter.com/doom/status/1446475487023439876 an image]] similar to ''Dread’s'' cover art. It helps that both series have been highly influential {{Trope Codifier}}s for two different genres (FirstPersonShooter for ''Doom'' and {{Metroidvania}} for ''Metroid'') but have nonetheless suffered from decade-long {{sequel gap}}s due [[VideoGame/Doom3 to]] polarizing [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM games]].
** With the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' fandom; both ''Dread'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' are the first original entries in their franchises following long hiatuses brought on by [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM extremely]] polarizing [[VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry games]]. They also serve to move their franchise timelines forward for the first time in nearly two decades, instead of being an interquel or reboot.

* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Raven Beak may be an absolutely vile and despicable being, but his [[DarthVaderClone intimidating design]], his playing the perfect physical {{Foil}} to Samus, the fact that he is [[GreaterScopeVillain responsible for causing the events of the series]] to unfold, and his [[SugarWiki/AwesomeBosses three-stage boss fight]] in the game’s final act has quickly made him one of the most popular villains in the series next to [[Characters/MetroidRidley Ridley]], [[Characters/MetroidMetroidPrimeAndDarkSamus Dark Samus]] and the [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion SA-X]].]]

** With the ''Franchise/{{DOOM}}'' fandom, which is not surprising considering the [[OneManArmy similarities]] [[HeroicMime between]] Samus and Doomguy/Doom Slayer. The official DOOM Twitter account even congratulated ''Dread's'' release by depicting the Doom Slayer in [[https://twitter.com/doom/status/1446475487023439876 an image]] similar to ''Dread’s'' cover art. It helps that both series have been highly influential {{Trope Codifier}}s for two different genres (FirstPersonShooter for ''Doom'' and {{Metroidvania}} for ''Metroid'') but have nonetheless suffered from decade-long {{sequel gap}}s due to [[VideoGame/Doom3 polarizing]] [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM games]].
** With the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' fandom; both ''Dread'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' are the first original entries in their franchises following long hiatuses brought on by [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM extremely]] [[VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry polarizing]] games. They also serve to move their franchise timelines forward for the first time in nearly two decades, instead of being an interquel or reboot.

** [[spoiler:Even though he's being impersonated by Raven Beak]], [=ADAM=] is generally found to be better implemented here than he was in ''Fusion'', as he's much less intrusive and handhold-y while guiding Samus.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: The game is an admirable case of a developer just plain ''not giving up'' on a project they're passionate about. ''Dread'' was initially going to be a Nintendo DS game, but due to hardware limitations at the time, the lead producer of the series, Creator/YoshioSakamoto, had to cancel development. Development was rebooted again, but was then cancelled again due to hardware limitations, again. Then, when Sakamoto saw the potential that the developers of ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' had, he was finally convinced he could bring his vision that he had kept with him for almost ''twenty years'' to life.

*** Weirdly enough, anyone who's still upset about [[spoiler:how Adam was [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM last portrayed]] as a controlling force over Samus will ''probably'' feel a tinge of satisfaction towards Samus' response to "ADAM" seemingly ordering her to submit to his will. As in, [[TalkToTheFist pointing and shooting in his direction]] without even flinching. Yes, it's made clear within mere seconds to both Samus and the player that this is Raven Beak impersonating ADAM, but the feeling is still there, if nothing else.]]

** To what extent was ADAM [[spoiler:actually being impersonated by Raven Beak]]? ADAM constantly reminding Samus about her low odds of survival against Raven Beak and never addressing her as [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay "Lady"]] after the intro cutscene are both seen as subtle {{foreshadowing}}; however, both are also true about much of ADAM's dialogue throughout ''Fusion'' and, to a lesser extent, his living self's dialogue in ''Other M''. On one hand, shortly before revealing his true nature, [[spoiler:Raven Beak tells Samus that she has been following his instructions faithfully so far, which would seemingly confirm that he has been impersonating ADAM throughout her mission on ZDR.]] On the other hand, when Samus boards her Gunship at the end of the game, ADAM is already aware of [[spoiler:Samus's transformation into a Metroid, which would suggest that he had not been LockedOutOfTheLoop by Raven Beak, and therefore most (or, at least, some) of the Network Station conversations were with the real ADAM.]] Note that the first interpretation is outright confirmed by [[AllThereInTheScript the internal files]], such as the filename for the first Network Station conversation (0003firstcomunication[[spoiler:fakeadam]].dspadpcm) and [[https://tcrf.net/Metroid_Dread#Unused_Text Japanese text]] for the final Adam conversation, but most fans will be unaware of these details and free to interpret it either way.

** One of the contentions in the series starting with ''Fusion'' is when the story seems to break the flow of the gameplay, and outright unskippable cutscenes in ''Other M''. This game allows players to skip cutscenes after viewing them once like in ''Samus Returns''.

** Escue is a rather hard boss when fought the "normal" way due to its MacrossMissileMassacre attack and very limited windows of vulnerability. [[spoiler:However, charging up the Speed Booster and Shinesparking into the boss takes off the majority of its health, and the Screw Attack makes the fight a joke if the player has gotten it via SequenceBreaking as not only does it allow you to inflict damage through mere physical contact, it also renders you [[NoSell immune]] to ''all'' of Escue's projectile attacks]].

** Despite being a classic tool, the Grapple Beam has always been a contentious gameplay mechanic for being overly clunky and situational, not being useful for anything else but puzzles and platforming that specifically require it. ''Dread'' fixes this by making it workable alongside the Spider Magnet, giving Samus a quick, snappy way to reach climbable walls and ceilings that otherwise would take some work or be impossible to reach through normal jumps.

** The Central Units are purposefully very easy to beat, as the bosses themselves don't move around and the turrets and Rinkas are easy to dodge. They also don't increase much in strength/defense over time like the other {{Recurring Boss}}es do outside of turret arrangements, meaning the last one [[spoiler:that isn't killed in a cutscene]] (more with sequence breaking) gets fried with one Screw Attack once its plating is destroyed. Defeating the E.M.M.I. after the Central Unit goes down, however, is another story.

** For a late-game fight coming shortly after [[ThatOneBoss Experiment No. Z-57]] under normal conditions, Golzuna is fairly easy. Samus has nearly all mobility and firepower upgrades at this point, letting her avoid the boss's cluster bombs by jumping and dashing over it, and Storm Missiles can lock onto its backside multiple times and will also destroy [[spoiler:its Core-X form]] with one full volley. However, Golzuna is the only main boss that can be fought early via SequenceBreaking; while still simple, it's noticeably harder in the mid-game without the Space Jump and Storm Missiles.

** The Mawkin, especially when compared to the Chozo Robots. They move slowly, have highly telegraphed and easily-avoidable attacks, and can even be damaged with regular beam fire in case you should come into the fight low on missiles. They do gain ThatOneAttack later on, a fearsome blast of black bile that can shave off multiple energy tanks with a glancing blow... but even that is mitigated by the fact that once you beat them, you're rewarded with a full heal.

** For some people, the name "Raven Beak" doesn't really sound very threatening, even though it follows the Chozo naming standards of the main series (not that "Old Bird" or "Gray Voice" are great names either). A few fans actually prefer using the character's name as pronounced in the original Chozo language ("Ashkar Behek") because of this.

* CharacterRerailment: Like in ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', Samus retains her TheSilentBob status while maintaining her no-nonsense SilentSnarker but caring personality. This is clearly shown when she meets Quiet Robe and tells him [[spoiler:in Chozo language]] that she intends to finish her job - her ''only'' spoken line in the game, unlike her overzealous monologues in ''Other M''.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[AmbitionIsEvil Raven Beak]] is the [[Characters/MetroidTheChozo Chozo]] leader of the Mawkin tribe, and the [[GreaterScopeVillain architect behind the entire franchise]]. Once a mighty warrior who fought alongside his Chozo brethren, Raven Beak began to desire the Metroids for their power, hoping to use them to conquer the entire galaxy. But when the Thoha tribe sealed them away with hopes to exterminate them all, Raven Beak had the entire Thoha tribe slaughtered, only sparing Quiet Robe to act as his pet scientist, which allowed [[VideoGame/Metroid1 the Space Pirates to gather information on them]], and [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion the X Parasites to roam free]]. As ruler of the planet ZDR, Raven Beak has Kraid imprisoned as an abused slave, and keeps his men in line by killing those who disobey him. Upon discovering his metaphorical daughter Samus Aran is near, Raven Beak lures her to ZDR with hopes of obtaining her Metroid DNA to create an army of Metroids. Having Quiet Robe killed for giving away information to Samus, Raven Beak later decides to instead create an army of Samus clones after seeing no use in her anymore.]]

** The Shakernaut, a WalkingTank-like robot enemy introduced in Dairon that is incredibly powerful for even an uncommon mook. It hits really hard and far with its frontal shockwave attacks, has a nasty ranged laser that can hit Samus with pinpoint accuracy (it will even try to reposition itself to keep shooting if the player tries to hide behind a favorable angle on higher ground) and is capable of taking a ton of punishment if you don't melee counter it (and even then, there is no guarantee that it will use its melee attack when you are right next to it, sometimes using its laser at pointblank).

** The Central Units are far from hard, but they ''are'' very repetitive, since you fight them multiple times and there's not much strategy in taking them down besides just spamming missiles while you dodge slow projectiles, which leads to some tedious encounters.

** Raven Beak's past decision to [[spoiler:donate his Mawkin DNA to Samus' Chozo infusion]]. Was it an altruistic desire to help [[spoiler:this helpless girl protect herself]]? Was it a LongGame gambit, knowing that [[spoiler:Samus may eventually become his perfect soldier]]? Or was it on a whim, with consequences he didn't even consider at the time?

** Per usual, fandoms of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and Metroid enjoy the other's company with the former's release of VideoGame/HaloInfinite; both receiving a title serving as redirections from an AudienceAlienatingEra (namely VideoGame/Halo5Guardians and VideoGame/MetroidOtherM), specifically with CharacterRerailment for their respective protagonists after a controversial lack of iconic presence or being rather out-of-character for the majority of their runtime, instead returning their heroes to a more familiar presentation while allowing for a downplayed introspection to move them along rather than conflict with their established characters.

** From the moment the moment "[[DifficultySpike Dread Mode]]" was revealed in the February 2022 Nintendo Direct, the nickname "Samus [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Must Die]]" caught on immediately.

* ScrappyMechanic: The Shinespark is both loved and loathed by the fans. Whilst incredibly satisfying to pull off and heavily improved from [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission the previous time it was available]], the controls are notoriously unreliable in ''Dread'' -- entering the "surge" mode requires pressing the B button, which also doubles as the "jump" button (and, if already in mid-air, as the "spinjump" button). You often need to fire a shot in midair to leave spinjump position so you can do an aerial Shinespark. This means the player never has 100% control over whether Samus will jump or get ready to Shinespark when they need a specific response, so she may jump/spin when trying to surge and surge when trying to jump. Given how incredibly precise the Shinespark puzzles are, this just makes them all the more potentially frustrating.