Just completed it 100%. Definitely my GOTY. That endgame had me speechless. Probably the best gameplay out of any 2D Metroid game by a wide margin. Due to recency bias, i'm going to wait a bit longer before I decide where it lands in comparison to other Metroid games (particularly the 2D ones). Though, it's safe to say it's on the higher end of the spectrum. The bosses are incredibly well designed, and I love being able to counter them and do additional damage. The cinematics during these counters are awesome, and some of the cutscenes in this game blew my mind. The only glaring negative, for me, was the lack of memorable new music. Remixes of the classic themes are outstanding, but I can't say the same for any of the new ones. Other than that, the game is fantastic.

Positives:

- Fast, fluid movement

- Progression

- Bosses

- Graphics

- Animations/cinematics

- Story

Negatives

- Lack of memorable music (aside from remixes of classic themes)

So, so good. Definitely worth the long wait. Now for another long, grueling wait: Metroid Prime 4...

Definitely a great game and one of the best in the franchise. Will replay Super Metroid on NSO after I 100% Dread to definitively decide which one is better.

I think I am about 3/4ths through so no end game spoilers pls. As far as 2D Metroids go, it plays the best, hands down, in no small part because it feels like a crystallization of all the good aspects of previous games while eliminating all the bad and mediocre stuff . However, ever since 2018, whenever I play a Metroidvania ( which is my favorite genre by far) , I find myself comparing it to Hollow Knight, and they all come short, as does Dread. The world interconnectivity is nowhere close to as organic as I would like, and the fast travel system is not great.

I just sequence broke the game on Switch. I got the morph ball bomb and the grapple beam early. Kraid is ruined very quickly. More than halved the time it would take to beat him.  Games that let you do that are awesome.

Something that I like that they do in Dread is have a checkpoint just before each boss. Hollow Knight was challenging, but I found some of the save point locations to be too far away from where a fight was and it was incredibly tedious to go back to that location just to lose again and repeat the process. This is until a certain point in the game, of course, but up until that point it really just feels extremely tedious and so does the geo grind. Lastly, I feel like Hollow Knight is excessively obscure for some things, in particular what you should be doing. 

That said, the world building for Hollow Knight and some of those little details are really awesome, and the way it goes about it's story really reminds me of Bloodborne (the details are there if you put it together). 

One last thing, I do like how Dread makes Samus feel so powerful by the end game. I never truly felt strong in Hollow Knight, just more limber. This isn't a con against Hollow Knight though as I feel it was completely intentional for the developers to make it this way. 

The game is really awesome, and I have very few complaints. The combat is slick, Samus moves very fluid, E.M.M.I. sections are appropriately thrilling, a ton of enemy variety and bosses are very well done. I also like how great this game guides you into the appropriate direction without locking you away from anything else or outright saying you need to go a certain direction (minus one or two exceptions). I always found my way to my destination without having to endlessly backtrack thinking I missed something, but I never felt the game was holding my hand or telling me I couldn't explore. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE how they handled the Shinespark puzzles. They were appropriately hard, and one of them seemed downright impossible, but finishing one gave you the biggest sense of accomplishment, IMO.

My only complaints would really be that back tracking isn't fun due to the load times between areas, the teleportation system really isn't that great, the chozo warrior parts start getting a little tedious, and the E.M.M.I. AI felt a little cheap (it's really ALWAYS in the same location you're choosing and goes the one path you were going??? Really?). I honestly think some jump scares for E.M.M.I. would have bean great, but I honestly enjoyed the E.M.M.I. pieces overall. Definitely kept my heart racing and gave me that sense of "dread" when I had to walk into one of those areas.

I've not got the game yet. One question about it: is it open world like the original Metroid, or more of a linear experience?

That game is amazing! Like others have already said, I like how it guides you organically without force. The basic route through the game is very well thought out, I really like the bosses and the story. And those animations are so wonderfully fluid. I love how badass Samus is this time. My only complaint is the low music volume.

Speaking of music, I really enjoy the Artaria, Cataris and Burenia themes. And I soooo much appreciate that they reduced the amount of old songs with new remixes to a minimum. I love the classic tracks, don't get me wrong, but listening to new stuff gives this game an own identity.

No game in the series has ever been as open as the original. Dread is just like the rest of the series in that it guides you on a set route with some occasions in between to go out of your way and enjoy some treasure hunting. Unless you try to break the sequences, which only a small fraction of players do, all games are more or less linear.

I saw the Kraid thing on social media, and it surprised the heck outta me (in the best way possible). Can't wait to try these things out on my second run.