MINOR SPOILERS MENTIONED!

The wait has been long for the next 2D Metroid. I came in way too late to feel the wait. I was born in 2002, the year that Metroid Fusion and Prime came out. Can you blame me? I only got into the series when Dread was announced and fell in love with Metroid. Yoshio Sakamoto saw the potential in MercurySteam to make their long awaited sequel and I came in with cautious optimism. Expanding upon what I loved most from Fusion and Super Metroid with Samus's modern controls in Samus Returns, I was really excited, and I wanted to be rational with them, but they weren't, but goddamn did they exceed in the places I wanted them to.

Let me start by saying that MecurySteam did an extraordinary job at making this game play well. While the worlds feel large, Samus moves fast enough that traveling to the other side doesn't feel as long. The flow and rhythm of Metroid Dread is infectious with effervescence. There are so many animations done for Samus to make the game feel perfect with many transtioning stances. Metroid Dread easily has the best controls in the series. The controls from Samus Returns were expanded on here and thet feel so much better. Samus shooting while sliding and still being able to aim and then transition into her morph ball is a feast on the eyes. Parrying is so crunchy and never gets old due to how instantaneous Samus can kill enemies. Shinesparking is the best that it has ever been and the puzzles that test it are showcases of the game's infectious rhythm.

In my Super Metroid review, I said that the magic of Metroid was making the player feel like they have outsmarted the game despite the game being deliberately designed. On my first run, I thought that the path to the end was linear, but on my second run, HOLY SHIT, was I wrong? Super Metroid usually has sequence breaks that are quickly digestible and the moments where you say "They knew!" were short and quick. On my 2nd run, Metroid Dread pushes one of those moments further than any in Super Metroid. I did a sequence break to get the Gravity Suit early and skip the space jump and another new upgrade. Then I thought I was stuck as I progressed, then I shinesparked, and it worked. Another moment later, I did some wall jump wumbo jumbo when I needed the Space Jump and it also worked. There were no glitches involved. This was fucking deliberate. They fucking knew about this route and the fact that they made the story route work for the casual playthrough and one like this made me bump my rating up to 5 stars despite my problems. It changed how I looked at the level design of this game, wondering if I can Shinespark here and experimenting. I'm blown away at how much MercurySteam had to fine tune the levels to work for both casual and sequence breaking runs. And what's better is that there are more "They knew!" moments like this that are being pushed such as an instakill against a boss.

Oh yeah! Did I mention that the bosses are the best in the series? Because they are. The first 2 bosses were easy. But I struggled with every boss afterwards on my first playthrough, and I loved them. They hit hard but they feel fair with their telegraphed attacks. And when I fought them on my second playthrough on Hard, they mostly became a breeze. When looking at videos, there were details that I have learned like instakills and such that add to the interactivity of bosses. Think Draygon from Super Metroid, but there are more like it. There are some repeated bosses but they don't linger on too long and there's still a variety of great bosses that are well paced out to make the repeated ones not feel like detriments. Sony Santa Monica should take notes here if they want to make a good game.

Then we have the E.M.M.I's. Metroid Fusion's SA-X was what I was wanted out of a Metroid game. Both the SA-X and E.M.M.I didn't shit myself, but I loved how they both create tension. Gameplay wise, I loved the E.M.M.I's more. While in Fusion, you had to either hide or run away through one linear path, I think E.M.M.I's are much more interesting as they make you route quickly and read rooms to space yourself. There's some quick decision making involved and it is tense. I love how hard E.M.M.I's are to parry, holding the player accountable enough for getting caught. If you slip up, you feel that dread of the E.M.M.I getting closer and you trying to not fuck up again. Just when you have enough upgrades, the game knows when to stop the E.M.M.I encounters. One thing that is a conflip among the players is how the checkpoint system works. When you die to an E.M.M.I or a boss, you don't restart at the last save point, you respawn at the room before the E.M.M.I room/boss room. You either dislike this because it dampens the tension of E.M.M.I's or you'd appreciate it because you don't have to backtrack to the room. I, for one, like this. One criticism of Super Metroid would be getting to Phantoon. The closest save room is so far away that you'd have to run all the way to the boss if you died, and Phantoon is one of the trickier bosses on first playthroughs if you don't know what you're doing. So I felt thankful when there was nothing like that.

There are some weaknesses that I will admit. The music is weak and doesn't stand out in comparison to Super Metroid or Zero Mission. I think it leans too much towards ambience that I found myself not remembering any melodies. I do not get why you can't use power bombs when you get the collectibles. You unlock them when you kill a certain enemy in. This part feels too railroaded and could've been done Super Metroid style instead. I can excuse the Super Missiles since like Fusion, your missiles turn into super missiles rather than the two being separate. The intro cutscene is unskippable even though every other cutscene is. Even after beating the game once, you can't skip it. Apologies for not writing that kind of review that I did with Super Metroid but there isn't much here in terms of storytelling. The storytelling is from exposition rather than environments and gameplay. Not much stood out to me in terms of stuff that leaves you with theories like that Chozo statue in the Wrecked Ship or the Mocktroids in Maridia. Metroid 2's story worked because the gameplay structure affected the atmosphere. Super Metroid's story worked because its gameplay caused moments to really stick out and how the second game's identity raised the stakes. Fusion's story worked because for as lacking of agency Samus was, it helped make her feel weak compared to the SA-X and it worked by making Samus feel accountable for her actions. She kills her past by fighting the SA-X, an entity representing her experience in SR388. Dread isn't as much of an extension from Fusion storywise. Samus's previous actions didn't really impact the story of Dread like its predecessors. The E.M.M.I's could've been potential for a conflict of Samus vs. the Galactic Federation that we saw about to bloom in Fusion, the GF are only mentioned at the start and the E.M.M.I were hacked. The story is different than expected, but it has some cool nuances to the Chozo family and some fanservicey moments that caught me off guard. MercurySteam knows what makes a Metroid game work, but not a Metroid story

I'm going to say it. Currently, this is my favorite Metroid game and my favorite 2D game since Hollow Knight. Maybe even topping it as my favorite 2D game ever. I'm so happy that Metroid Dread is selling so fast because the series really deserves more games and attention. Metroid Dread has it's weak moments that are important like the story and music, but gameplay wise, the flow, controls, bosses, and level design are god tier to make this my favorite Metroid game to play. I can't wait for MercurySteam to finally get that pitch of a Metroid Fusion remake to be real.

Pros:
+ Lives up to the SNES and GBA 2D classics, offering large areas to explore and items to find

+ Fun, challenging boss fights

+ Fluid 60fps gameplay with responsive controls

Cons:
- EMMI chase sequences and areas quickly become a nuisance and overstay their welcome after just an hour of gameplay

- Small enemies and stage hazards pose little threat/challenge

- Soundtrack doesn't add much to the experience and is mostly forgettable

- Can be a bit graphically underwhelming if playing on a large tv due to the visuals running at forced 900p

- You can't run around as Samus in a scantily clad bikini. :(

Final Thoughts:
Allow me to share my perspective on Metroid Dread, drawing from my enjoyment of Zero Mission and Super Metroid, both of which I played just a couple of years ago.

Metroid Dread is a welcome addition to the franchise, offering a blend of familiarity and fresh experiences. While it doesn't take many risks in terms of ideas and execution, it manages to capture the essence of the classic SNES/GBA titles. For seasoned fans, there may not be many surprises, but for newcomers, it serves as an excellent entry point to explore what all the hype is about.

I enjoyed playing through it to the end but there wasn't anything that totally knocked my socks off from the experience. The EMMI areas didn't add much in the grand scheme of things, but it always felt satisfying to blow those damned robots' heads off. Bosses can be challenging because they often have rapid, unpredictable attacks, but are easily defeated after learning their patterns after a retry or two. Exploring the maps can be tedious for first-time players, but firing at every nook and cranny in search of items or a room exit is par for the course for those familiar.

I managed to finish the game in roughly 9 hours and change (100% item completion took me 12), which included multiple retries, leaving the game idle, and running around aimlessly for probably 2 of those hours. One could effectively achieve 100% completion and beat the game in 9 hours or less on a first playthrough if they don't get sidetracked or lost. Once you’ve completed Metroid Dread, there isn’t much reason to replay it unless you’re up for self-imposed challenges like no-hit runs, speed runs, sequence-breaking, or exploring glitches. However, if you’re like me and simply want to enjoy the game and move on, it makes for a fantastic weekend rental.

This is a game from 2005 with 2017 graphics, with little to none effort in innovation and game design. It's like the development team refused to acknowledge the existence of any other metroidvania title and built everything from scratch, nothing that was fun (Hollow Knight), engaging (Iconoclasts) or challenging (Momodora) for me in other titles can be found here (I haven't tried Hard Mode, but I sure won't given my experience with the standard run).

I'll list immediately the pros, so we can move on to the real juice of the review: I really like the aesthetic and theming of the Metroid saga, Samus is a timeless icon and I grew up playing the Prime Trilogy, and the movement is really smooth, makes me feel like the game would be really enjoyable to speedrun for those who enjoy it. Now, let's get into why I don't fall into this category:

• Combat design is really unbalanced, with the possibility to gain so much maximum health that after some hours of gameplay you just ignore enemies and damage boost through the map and half the bosses getting nullified by simply pressing A to dash over their heads.
• The other half of the bossfights (especially the final one, no spoilers ahead dw) are based on gimmicks and QUICK TIME EVENTS. Certain bosses won't die if you shoot at them for 10 minutes, but if you do a certain thing to them they die immediately, making the encounters a chore rather than a challenge.
• The powerups are so boring I could get asleep after two full cups of coffee, the dash was the only really good one. Everything is just a recycled movement upgrade from past titles, the equivalent of a Red Keycard from Doom or a simple firepower upgrade: "Uh wow now the lasers I shoot are green, what a fantastic game". Also, there's very little incentive to explore, since the ONLY reward you'll ever get for finding a secret is a missile tank upgrade.
• If movement is smooth, I can't really say the same for combat: keeping L pressed to stay still, moving the right analog to aim in 2D, keeping R pressed to switch to missiles missiles (but not too long, or you'll trigger the other powerup!) and pressing Y to shoot is not comfortable, as it is not intuitive that you can double-jump (or space-jump) only while you are falling, and if you spam the button Samus won't jump at all and you just fall. Why was it implemented like this, this isn't the SNES anymore.
• Every map is always abruptly cut in two by some bullshit closed thermal door, forcing you to go all around the map or don't go there at all (castrating the feeling of exploration), just to make fun of you a couple hours later with a shortcut opened with a new powerup that save you 20 seconds and nothing else (e.g. some grapple beam blocks)
• Lastly, probably the most irritating part: the so-called "Metroid Moments". After 35 fucking years, nobody has told Sakamoto that breakable blocks not distinguishable in-game or in the map from every other tile is the worst idea for a 2D game, especially if it's vital for story progression. I got stuck so many times and had to seek help because "Oh look, this single block below the missile tank can be broken with a morph bomb with absolutely no clue other than the proximity with another piece of map, which happens half the fucking time with no breakable blocks whatsoever because we needed to stretch the game to more than 10 hours so you have to go around 2 areas to make 10 meters. Oh also at the end of the game you'll have to break some walls that not even the scanner reveals lol"

I can't really recommend this game to anyone, other than diehard Metroid fans. Especially not for 60€, there are way better games of this genre for litterally 1/4 of the price.

Spoiler Review:

This is an excellent game, and I have a lot to say about it, but the most important thing to note is that it genuinely lives up to the challenge of being comparable to Super Metroid. For the record, I probably like Super Metroid more, but I’m sure arguments will rage on, which is a testament to both games’ quality.

My personal gripes with it would include a number of things but the biggest one by far for me is the re-use of mini-bosses. There’s a handful cases of this being done, especially if you count the EMMI sequences, which all play out similarly, but where I find this truly unforgivable is the gold Mawkin warrior in the endgame. I cannot grasp why they chose to put this guy there. He’s right at the end of the game, right where you expect to be fighting the final boss, so not only is it blatant filler but it breaks the pace of the endgame as well. And then even beyond that he’s been scaled up to hit harder than anything else in the game, the final boss included! It’s surreal to fight this copy paste job that kills you in 3 or 4 hits and then go on to fight the boss of the game where you can tank a good 10-15 hits. Luckily though the game still ends on an extremely high note; as the final boss fight, the cinematics, and the spectacle are brilliant, possibly the best in the series.

All of my other complaints are honestly not as sour as how I felt about that Mawkin fight but my other main issue would be the feeling of linearity. There definitely was a point in my playthrough where I stopped caring about checking out my surroundings and rather just tried to decipher the intended route as fast as possible, since backtracking is actually prohibited in a lot of cases. I’ve heard it opens up after the first third of the game but by that point I had grown so used to not being able to backtrack that I figured it would be easier to just barrel through the game at full speed and then get my optional upgrades after, which I did. Normally I’d dislike this but honestly it did feel good to commit to that pacing, plus, there’s a lot of sequence breaks on the horizon so I’m sure that feeling of “confined linearity” can be rectified on my second playthrough

As for the difficulty I would have to disagree with the media outlets claiming it’s “too difficult.” It’s a stiff challenge at points but it’s nowhere near unfair. I actually believe it strikes the perfect in-between where conquering a challenge isn’t exhausting but is very rewarding, especially the final boss. There are sections that would prove extremely difficult for casuals but they’re in all the appropriate places (final boss and completely optional shinespark puzzles.)

Aside from those specific things it would probably be easier to simply list the things I loved about it: the boss fights are dynamic, captivating and challenging. I love all of the major boss fights and for good measure there is a really awesome quick kill animation for Kraid that can only be attained by sequence-breaking, surely a nod to Super Metroid. The atmosphere and environments in the second half of the game are awesome. Very immersive and mysterious, the way they should be. I do wish the early game environments were more interesting, for the record. The cinematics, while redundant at first, became some of the only cinematics in any game that I actually cared about. The sense of progression and power ups are very on par with the series, maybe even a bit better. The EMMI encounters were great if you play it more like tag and less like hide-n-seek. It’s super thrilling to map out your route before going in and then trying your best to do it as quick as possible without being caught. The nearly frame perfect window you have to escape was really appreciated from me as well. It added another layer of depth and I found myself pretty good at it actually, maybe landing it about 40% of the time. The way they handled Samus’ character was also perfect in my opinion, and I’m very glad they kept it as minimal as it is. The mechanics, however, are the shining achievement of the game in my opinion. The smooth control and layers of depth and options when it comes to combat is where this game makes you wonder what they can possibly do next, should they choose to do another 2D Metroid.

All in all, while flawed, I believe this to be one of the best games on the switch, which is actually saying something at this point. I recommend everybody check it out, even if you haven’t played a Metroid before, as I’m nearly positive you’ll get something out of it. If the layers of polish and depth from this game are saying anything about where this series is headed, you might want to hop aboard now.

So even though I was in the middle of three different games (Dead Cells, Bloodborne, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, in case you're wondering), as soon as I found out this was a direct sequel to Fusion I had to play it.

And...it's fun. It plays well, and I like some the new mechanics like the Phase Shift (really could've used that when fighting the SA-X) and the melee counters, especially when you do a melee counter while running and just looks cool as hell. (I will say I had a hard time getting used to the free aim, and spin jumping and double-jumping is still just as finicky as ever.) The boss fights are fun (the boss boss fights, not the "Oh hey it's my 5th Choza warrior fight where he does almost exactly the same things as last time" boss fights), and none of them are as frustrating as Nettori. The environments are cool, I like the way they play with the 2D space, and the animations are great, especially the boss counter sequences and quicktime events.

But in some ways it's kind of shiny and boring. Like I said, the environments look great, but none of them have that claustrophobic, mysterious vibe that Fusion's environments have. And the bosses are just...they're just shiny monsters. Where Fusion's artwork is evocative, Dread's is representational, and it just isn't as interesting. There's nothing in this game that matches Nightmare, both the foreshadowing when you see it just floating around in the background and boss fight itself. Similarly, the idea behind the E.M.M.I.'s seems to be "Hey, the SA-X was scary, what if we just do that 7 times?" But where the SA-X is unpredictable, you always know when you're going into an E.M.M.I. zone, and I never felt the same tension running away from them that I did when suddenly the SA-X shows up and times to run for your life while dodging plasma beams and ice missiles.

EDIT: The comparison that I had in the back of my head while writing this and then forgot to bring to the front of my head is that, in some ways, Metroid: Dread is to Metroid: Fusion what EA's Battlefront is to actual Battlefront. Where the original has depth despite its limitations, the newer game is shallow despite (or perhaps because of) its vast resources. This is isn't a wholly fair comparison as Dread definitely has a lot more going for it than EA's Battlefront, but the general arc of rough-but-deep to shiny-but-shallow(er) is similar enough. The trend these similarities suggest calls to mind Disney live-action remakes and the MCU, and while independent artists seem to have a stronger position in the games industry than they do in film, I don't know if it's strong enough to make up for the possible Disneyfication of AAA offerings.

Well, that got dark. /EDIT

Storywise, Dread really saves it all for right at the end. Where Fusion reveals the SA-X relatively early and just lets you sit with that knowledge for a bit, Dread rarely shows you anything outside Samus's POV, and there's not really any "Oh, what" moment until right at the end, when you find out Samus is a Metroid now, the computer was actually Raven Beak, also Raven Beak is Samus's dad, all in one cutscene. Other than meeting Quiet Robe, there's not really any other narrative development during the course of the game.

So Fusion keeps the crown, but I'm glad there's more 2D Metroid, and it was a fun 10 hours.

p.s. There was absolutely no reason why they had to show Samus waking up before showing the [first] fight with Raven Beak, and it was really confusing. I have no idea why they chose do it that way instead of just presenting the events in order.

Metroid is my favourite series. The original game was, quite literally, the first game I ever purchased with my own money. Super is my favourite game of all time, only threatened by Breath of the Wild and Chrono Trigger (a few others come close, but those two are difficult to topple). It's the only series in which I own a copy of every game, and have played through all the mainline titles to 100% completion (so excluding from this, as I do in most rankings, Prime Hunters, Federation Force, and Pinball—fine games but not "the core" series).

Hearing earlier this year that not only was a new Metroid coming but that it was a resurrection of a title long thought deceased was just the sort of thing I needed to make 2021 a little more bearable. And now it's here, and it's excellent. Mostly incredible. It's actually very near the top of the heap for me, and might threaten the top two spots were it not for a few key things holding it back.

First, the good. The atmosphere, visuals, sound design—all excellent. The combat is wickedly fast and smooth (and feels a little, with the flash dash manouevre, that they maybe cribbed a bit from Hollow Knight), and also fucking brutal at times. In fact, I think it's safe to say this is the hardest a Metroid has ever been. Is it too hard? I don't think so, no, but it would be a poor place for a newcomer to waltz in. It definitely has the methodical hunting/puzzling of every other title in the series, but its boss fights and the EMMI encounters give this one a different weight. A... sense of dread, if you will.

Speaking of the EMMI encounters... I don't love them or hate them. A couple had me wanting to pull my hair out, for sure, but they are made bearable by -very- generous checkpointing. I do think the counter window is too narrow, and it falls into the Uncharted mistake of having you repeat something that -should- be dramatic enough times that it loses its drama, but they are at least unique puzzles in and of themselves.

To the bad... I love the expansiveness of the world but sometimes feel as if it loses the sense of everything being so expertly tied together like in Super or Prime 1. It never takes that long to get from one end of a map to another—especially once you've upgraded to full murder machine status and no longer have to concern yourself with environmental concerns and the like.

Truly, the only full-on negative I can think of is, except for a couple of very welcome callbacks, the music is almost entirely forgettable. Which is really sad from a series that has given us such incredibly moody music for years. Even the boss music is just... there. There's not really any drive to any of it. It's not bad, it's just not good or engaging.

It's a small-ish wart on an otherwise excellent package. It doesn't rise to the very top of the Metroid heap for me, but it comes closer than any title has done in a while.

As such, it's time for a personal ranking (mainline titles only). Best to worst:

Super > Prime 1 > Dread > Zero Mission > Prime 2 > Samus Returns > Prime 3 > OG Metroid > Return of Samus > Fusion > Other M

I know a great many people love Fusion, but for me it commits the two cardinal sins of a good Metroidvania: being too linear, to the point of being annoying; and having a point of no return that it doesn't signpost terribly well, restricting you from going back and collecting everything until -after- you've finished the game. The only reason it's not at the bottom is because Other M's story is so atrocious (I actually don't mind playing Other M, I just hate everything to do with its narrative and characterizations).

Anyway, Dread is great and was, for me, worth the wait. It feels very much like a game with one foot in the old while also having paid attention to how much the Metroidvania genre has evolved over the last several years of pretty amazing indie titles.

I’ve talked to many friends who love this game and the hype got to me and I bought it digital day one. I love Nintendo and I’ve enjoyed previous Metroid games. So why not jump in?

I liked a decent amount of the game or I thought I did but as I kept playing it just felt like it wasn’t for me.

I played mostly handheld and the joycons are just not right for me and this style of game so also take that into account.

When you get the big cannon to take out the EMMIs the controls feel so clunky and even the way the game changes camera angles and stuff felt off.

But I did like the running and dodge of the EMMIs overall, which seemed to be a turn off to some. But I liked this idea/change.

The game looks pretty damn good for the most part but occasionally when it goes to 3D It showed the Nintendo side of things.

My biggest issue was it just felt forever to get upgrades? Trying to blast a room to find a hidden place/path just didn’t feel the same for me this go around?

Talking about biggest issue I almost spaced on the slow story. The story takes so long to really happen that I just lost interest and that’s probably the biggest thing for me. The gameplay was fine but the story and hidden stuff just didn’t happen quick or often enough for me.

The boss battles are fine and remind me of Metroid but even then I get a little bit of “I just don’t like this style anymore” but I think die hard fans will eat it up.

Overall the game is fine. I don’t hate it but it’s just not for me. It doesn’t hit the stuff I guess I’m looking for in a game these days? Time is too limited to hunt for the joy. But I bet many others will and have named this their game of 2021.

You know what's weird? Having beaten Metroid Dread this evening, wiping the sweat from my brow after a series of epic final encounters and storyline revelations, it wasn't until I was chowing down on a packet of crisps and a cup of tea later on that I realised...

Huh. Those EMMI robots were really quite secondary to everything else going on in the end.

Doubly weird because for the first three quarters of the game they put the Dread in Metroid Dread. Very similar to the way the SA-X makes you go "oh no..." when you hear her clunking down the corridor in the otherwise eerie quiet.

This is a 10 hour epic with all the polish we've come to expect from a big Nintendo release. Everything looks great albeit a little samey between the different parts of the world. The soundtrack is a bit forgettable too although the overall sound immerses you in the environment very well.

Gameplay is superb. Tough but not unfair. There's a lot of buttons to remember but just about all of them feel natural after a while. If anything there's too many moves, with some not being used all that much. Regular enemies become an absolute pushover by the end but Samus still feels like a bit of a glass jaw in her battles so the challenge is still there.

Story. I'm going to go and watch a YouTube video to make sure I understand exactly what happened but it was very enjoyable, times up this chapter, but leaves things ready for a fresh start, whatever Samus's next adventure may be.

I don't replay a lot of games, as there's always something to play next! But for Dread, I'll make an exception I think. And that's always the best indicator of a 5 star game.

The Nintendo Switch has become my favorite console of all time. Not just of this generation, but of all time. I say this knowing all the flaws that it has, from joy-con drift (which has yet to happen to me, and I got a Switch in 2018), to the anemic online service, to some of the power/frame rate issues with the platform. Hybrid portability trumps all of that. Playing at home or on the go with no drop off is still just as awesome today as it was yesterday. The other thing too is the library of the Switch is by far the most diverse library of any Nintendo console. The first party titles are lit, the thing is an indie machine, third party support is the strongest for Nintendo since the NES/SNES days (heck, GTA games are coming to the console!), and there are plenty of retro titles to play as well. However, some of the big names were missing, and one of the biggest was Metroid. The series, which started in 1986, has a rabid following, but compared to Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Smash and Mario Kart, it falls behind. I've always liked it because I love Metroidvanias (and I like more mature, adult oriented games by Nintendo). The first one, flawed as can be, is a fun, but sometimes frustrating challenge, but Super Metroid is a stone cold classic. The Prime series is one of the best series in video gaming. So I was quite excited when Nintendo announced Metroid Dread, the first new 2D Metroid since 2002 (there have been spin offs and remakes in between that time).

When I got the game, I was playing other great games like Bioshock and Blasphemous. Unfortunately, for those games, they have been put to the side, as this game has taken all my attention. The atmosphere oozes with suspense. The challenge is high, but not impossible. The controls are fluid. The graphics are gorgeous. The music sets the mood. The abilities are fun to learn. The combat is a blast. It gets almost everything right.

This is what I've been waiting for on the Switch. A great, mature, Nintendo IP (yes, Bayonetta and Astral Chain are kind of this as well). I wish Nintendo would make more games like this. I love Mario and Zelda, but there are many Nintendo fans like myself who would like a more mature title with that Nintendo touch. This (with huge assist from MercurySteam) does the trick. It's a classic that deserves love so we get more games like this.

Game of the year for 2021, definitely for the Switch, possibly for all consoles.