Metroid Dread will "mark an end" to the story arc that began in 1986

Nintendo dropped the reveal trailer and release date for Metroid Dread as the biggest surprise of its E3 2021 presentation - check out everything announced at the Nintendo E3 2021 Direct to make sure you didn't miss anything - and I know I got chills when I saw "Metroid 5" show up on the stream. Nintendo had even more to show about Metroid Dread during its extended Treehouse Direct presentation, and that began with a video featuring series director Yoshio Sakamoto, who discussed Dread's place in the franchise.

We first met Samus in the original Metroid, and ever since then her fate has been intertwined with these parasitic alien organisms and the various factions that want to exploit them. That part of her story will come to an end by the time credits roll on Metroid Dread.

"The series has chronicled the uncanny relationship between these Metroids and the heroine Samus, but this game will mark an end to that story arc," Sakamoto reveals in the video. "We're hoping fans of the series will wonder, 'what does 'mark an end to the story arc' mean?' as they play the game."

While Samus has slaughtered scads of Metroids in the course of her bounty hunter career, her relationship with the creatures is complicated. She's even part Metroid now, at least as of the end of Metroid Fusion, and we saw the Galactic Federation was busily cloning more Metroids for its own purposes in the course of that game. If you have no idea what any of that means, don't worry - Sakamoto says you'll still be able to jump right into Metroid Dread.

"While the story is important, this is not just a game for longtime fans. At its core, it's a 2D action game, so as long as you embrace your role as the most powerful warrior in the galaxy and unleash that power, anyone should be able to enjoy playing. Even if you've never played a Metroid game before, as long as you watch the prologue in this one, you should be able to grasp the story. Rather, I believe you'll enjoy it in your own way because this is your first Metroid game."

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