Debuting earlier today during Nintendo’s E3 Direct,Metroid Dreadhas been a long time in the making, with rumors persisting about the project for over a decade. It’ll finally be hitting shelves on October 8, joining the likes ofMario Party Superstars, WarioWare: Get it Together,andShin Megami Tensei 5as part of the Nintendo Switch’s stacked Fall lineup.
To celebrate the official announcement of the title, Nintendo released a new interview withMetroid Dread’sProducer Yoshio Sakamotoduring its Treehouse livestream, talking to the developer about the title’s history and where it falls in the timeline of the franchise. The clip comes loaded with interesting reveals about Samus Aran’s latest adventure, including the fact it’s intended to close out the story of the originalMetroidseries and has been discussed by Nintendo for years.
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“The series has chronicled the uncanny relationship between [the] Metroids and the heroine Samus,” Sakamoto explains while recapping the series in the opening moments of the interview. “This game will mark an end to that story arc.” The producer explains that he’s excited for fans to discover how it will tie upthe originalMetroidseries' loose ends, although he acknowledges that this new experience will be more than just an addition to the story.
If fans are wondering why a follow-up hasn’t emerged sincethe release ofMetroid Fusionback in 2002, Sakamoto also explains exactly why the sequel has been such a long time in the making. In the game,Samus is relentlessly pursued by a threat known as EMMI: a giant robot that cannot be harmed by weapons and will eradicate Aran the moment it catches her. It will crop up frequently throughout the campaign, forcing the player to think quickly to avoid its deadly grasp.
The ambitious concept was one the team dreamed up almost 15 years ago, however, it didn’t have the technology to implement it at the time. Years later, the studio took a second crack at it, deciding again that it wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Sakamoto admits Nintendo was unsure it would ever be able to work onDreaduntil it met MercurySteam Entertainment, who co-developedMetroid: Samus Returns. With the two teams collaborating on Samus' latest intergalactic adventure, the producer claims “we’ve created a version ofMetroid Dreadthat even surpasses what we imagined 15 years ago.”
The rest of the interview delves into the sequel’s gameplay and story, revealing that EMMI was originally a research robot owned by the Galactic Federation and will lurk in certain areas of the map actively searching for Samus. The game is shaping up to be a fun return to the franchise’s roots ahead ofMetroid Prime 4, which Nintendo also teased during its E3 showcase.
Metroid Dreadis launching on October 8 for Nintendo Switch.
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