Discussion
The main Metroid story is now two distinct trilogies
With at least a vague idea of what Ravenous will be about, I now see the main timeline as having two pretty well defined arcs, and I think it's really impressive that a Nintendo series of all things has been able to put together such a consistent and compelling story over a franchise that's been going this long
Am I off base, or does the story shape up like this for you too?
Yes, makes total sense. We're about to witness a defining point for the story and the franchise and the next game will probably step back a little and offer something completely new.
tbh, im buying a switch 2 for Ravenous, I was not really convinced until that and was thinking on buying an Oled, but this was a game changer for me, Dread was amazing and is my favorite metroid game with super
I was already going to buy a switch 2 for Fortune's Weave. Finding out that a new Metroid is coming out barely four months later just doubles down on getting one
Interesting fact. I was 19 years old when Fusion came out. I was 38 years old when Dread came out. I literally waited half my life to play that game. Ravenous coming out this quickly feels like a miracle
I think Mercury Steam managed to add several new ideas and fans liked them. Starting with parries, aeon abilities and a faster pace back in Samus Returns, a completely new villain and lots of Chozo lore in Dread, and Ravenous already feels quite different from the typical Metroid experience and we're all excited about it.
I don't think I've seen a single person complain about the abilities introduced by mercury steam. The only thing I've seen people say regarding Samus' Metroid abilities is "HELL YEAH EAT THEM ALL!"
I think so. After Fusion many expected Samus to be on the run from the GF and her becoming a fugitive/vigilante that might have to fight some GF troopers even or take down a splinter sect of it that was acting unruly. That would be quite different and most people seemed open to the idea.
I'm assuming so. With full control of her Metroid armor and powers, she's kind of power scaled up as far as she can go. They will need to bring the series back down to something slower and a little more atmospheric after this
I am thinking her continued evolution into more and more of a metroid will cause her to no longer look like a human at the end of the game. Somehow, her metroid powers will be either forcefully scaled back or removed from her DNA in order for her to survive as the human she has always been. The bad ending of Ravenous (which knowing Nintendo, would only be discussed, not witnessed) might be her turning into an actual Metroid Queen and losing her entire mental state permanently, thus, the federation or maybe even this faction of chozo would help her prevent that future.
Would be cool to have a Metroid Prime Hunters sequel where you’re hired to hunt down Samus on an unknown planet along with a host of other bounty hunters.
It took me a minute to realize you meant the last game in this chronology before they’d have to end the story.
I thought you were suggesting this poetic narrative shift forward where the new player character then saves Samus/the last Metroid like she saved the baby.
Yeah your first statement is what I meant. I don't know if I would truly want a Metroid game without Samus being the protag because her personality is so ingrained in the player experience that any time she goes out of character (Other M, Prime 4), it just doesn't feel good. It's one of the reasons I look forward to new Metroid games, to see how Samus reacts.
Playing as say Anthony or a Space Pirate leader like Ridley (regardless of a reboot or not) would be cool, but also instantly not really feel like a Metroid to me. At least not the Metroid that I've been playing for 35+ years and still want to play.
Can you imagine that new arc being defined by Samus vs the federation? If Samus is essentially a power sucking Metroid in lady form at this point, who by the end of Ravenous is super powerful, it makes sense to me that the federation decides to either control, study, or outright kill what they believe to be a dangerous superweapon. That power struggle would be a very interesting one to experience imo. Contrary to most Metroid games where we explore long extinct alien civilizations (always badass but a tad rote at this point in the series), they could move onto exploring the alien civilizations that didn’t go extinct but instead effectively run the galaxy. Plenty of opportunities to explore power and corruption with a bunch of cool new tech.
Jeez you described practically everything I wanted from the series after Fusion, and thought the series might have done before dread came out. Samus battling the federation because of her Metroid DNA was what I always thought the series might do after Fusions ending, and exploring other Alien Civilizations and looking at how the power dynamics and corruption of the Federation or those in charge. I would really want that in a future instalment in this franchise.
I think it was said that Dread would mark the end of one story and the next would be the start of a new storyline, but maybe they shifted it by one installment?
Yeah I heard that too, and I think what they meant was the end of the Chozo story. Which is one way to divide things, but in another sense Ravenous is clearly a sequel to Dread, so OP's arcs make an equal amount of sense to me (based on what we know so far).
You didn't imagine reading it. To me, Ravenous should be the first story about the Last Metroid, or the One Metroid perhaps. That it follows Dread is only logical, even if it's the start of something new.
No I think you're right. I do seem to recall hearing that as well, that Dread was the end of the Metroid and X parasite saga, and the next game (now we know is Ravenous) would be the start of a new chapter/saga for the series.
Samus has typically fit the meaning of Metroid (Ultimate Warrior) and is thought off a cosmic horror threat by her enemies. Dread's ending made it have a double meaning.
I might be wrong, but I vaguely remember hearing that Dread was acting as the finale to the main saga (Metroid 1 -> Dread)? Can't remember where I heard that though, so I might have imagined it
Yep, I'm happy to have it both ways. I think the 5-act narrative is probably stronger (especially since Dread was such a strong overall ending to everything that came before it), but I like having thematic trilogies as well.
Ah thanks for clarifying, that's important to keep in mind. I had just remembered "Dread" and "end" and taken it to mean something different, and a lot of other commentators seem to think the same thing.
Sakamoto combines the Metroid and X into one arc due to them being closely related. So while M6 will have Samus using her Metroid powers, it won't be revolving around Metroids as a species and I'm pretty sure the X are supposed to be eradicated.
I mean ya, it was always going to do that. They set these things up in Dread, with that plan in mind.
Doesn't *also* mean that Dread wasn't the end of one storyline. Dread is the game where Samus *becomes* Metroid. Even if it continues some story threads from Dread, that alone is still a dramatic shift in the focus and narrative of the series.
He also said that the X DNA fixed Samus’s biology and that was retconned.
Q: In Metroid Fusion, it seems to have established that "Samus can't use the Ice Beam because she has inherited the nature of the Metroids", but why at the very end is she unconcerned when she regains the ice beam?
Sakamoto: When she absorbed the core of the SAX (the perfect condition of Samus), she basically reconstituted her genetic condition. She didn't recover the physical damage of her amputated suit, but she did recover her genetic condition.
A good Super Metroid remake, that is. The original game nailed the exploration, the freedom, the mood, the contrasting since of power and doom. Even if they were to just remake it exactly as it is but with new graphics, it would still be difficult to keep that same dynamic.
Super Metroid is by far the best game in the series in my opinion.
And, also just my opinion, one of the most videogame videogames of all time. Which doesn't sound like it makes sense now that I write it out but it makes sense in my head okay. It just has a vibe to it.
Yo, that's pretty damn insightful. Not sure if they meant it to be that way (all of these games are group projects that are worked on by various artists and managed by different people at different points in time), but it has certainly turned out that way.
They could also ‘drop’ the prime series from being between 1/2 and do more 3d games between the X parasite series in prime style. Would be interesting to see what they could do in different periods of samus’ evolution
Very fun idea that they took the titular enemy and eventually made you what you swore to destroy. An interesting plot point continued over 15 years from Fusion to Dread.
Don't know what direction they will lean into, could be very cute to maybe even bring a baby Metroid back in some way.
Prime 1-3 take place between Metroid 1 and 2, and Prime 4 takes place sometime after Super Metroid. They are canon, but they have their own story that doesn't really interact with the main games' story
The Prime series (and Other M) are canon but are widely considered to be subseries/side stories. Only the 2D games (Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super, Fusion, Dread, and Ravenous are considered Metroid I through Metroid VI. This is what OP meant by "main Metroid games".
I do think a Metroid spinoff with young Samus could be interesting. But I would see it as distinct in the same way that Cereza and the Lost Demon is quite distinct from Bayonetta games.
I think there’s a lot of ways they could do it that don’t involve a creating a whole game dedicated to it. They could incorporate it flashbacks (playable or cinematic), have it revealed through dialogue (maybe introduce a character from her pre Chozo days), have it discovered via scans (e.g. pirate logs that detail the plans for the attack on K-L2 that are mixed with Chozo records that detail her rescue), etc.
A young Samus during her days in the GFed. Although...This would end up being a lot more character focused in ways the series usually isn't. And we've seen how the writers struggle to balance the expectations of Metroid as a game with including more characters and interactions with them.
Again, I think it should be a bold departure from tradition and an obvious spinoff game. That's why I brought up Bayonetta Origins. Even the art style is so distinct there's just no confusing them, so it immediately sidesteps the expectations of a Bayonetta game. And it's just a completely different genre.
I’m more interested in her early childhood. Her parents being killed by Ridley, her being adopted by the Chozo. Metroid is one of Nintendo’s few story-driven IP, but so much of the story is relegated to Japanese Manga that most players in the west will never see
I'm sad people didn't like Metroid prime 4, like I did. It was a big improvement over Metroid prime 3. It had issues sure, but it felt like a fusion of Metroid and Zelda ocarina of time. Yah the desert center needed more to do, and music, not to mention some questionable story chooses. I think people just had their expectations so high going into it because how long it took to develop and that hurt the reception. People expected something like breath of the wild for Metroid which wasn't what we got.
Other M may be a spin-off (not a mainline 2D entry), yet its still very much connected to the story told in the mainline games (particularly Super and Fusion)
and also beyond the shitty characterization I actually kind of like the story of other M, it sets in motion the whole thing about the federation being shady AF doing all sorts of either illegal or irresponsible experiments (they created metroids that were invulnerable to low temperatures, wtf) and it serves as a bridge between both games
Part of me wishes during the trailer it would have explicitly said Metroid 6. Like flash Metroid Ravenous, then flash Metroid 6. It makes no difference towards anything but it was a hope I had. Super Metroids intro did the whole Metroid 3 thing and just thought it would be a cool touch!
Will always cherish the memory of watching the direct with my partner who isn't much of a gamer, was flipping absolute shit as she sat there so confused lmao.
Haha that has happened to me recently. I was fixing up my mom's house. I was also watching whatever thing was going on and the new Castlevania was announced last year. I was outside putting on siding and just yelled as soon as I saw the CV 40th anniversary logo "FUCK YEAH!!!" my mom ran out, cell phone in hand calling 911 because she thought I fell and got hurt or something 🤣 I was like...nope, new Castlevania is coming out.
Whenever Dread was coming out, I remember an interview with one of the devs who stated that Metroid Dread was sort of the completion of the saga they had set up with the previous four games at that point. You're right, from what I understand, the first five games are a saga, and these would be more thematic trilogies
I don’t think this counts as part of the Fusion trilogy. This is like the birth order theory, where it’s been so long since the last kid that the younger kid is actually a second older brother. Fusion is the final part of the Metroid quadrology and Dread was the first part of a new Metroid trilogy.
It's been so long since Fusion that Dread had a lot of work to do both catching people up and building its own story. It also had a lot of story content cut. As a result I don't think it's fair to consider it "part 2." Instead, it’s using Fusion as a starting point.
It stands as a capend to Super Metroid of the Zebes Saga - the ptsd of Baby’s death, Mother Brain’s clone - Ridley Reborn.
You could are the Samus Saga as it explains the origin of Adam, as well as Samus’ only direct interaction with the Federation in the mainline series (not Prime).
Then of course the interjected Prime Saga taking place between ZM and Returns.
I was thinking the same thing. The Zebes Saga makes sense for the first three, though I'd probably call Fusion, Dread and Ravenous the "Evolution Saga", since we see Samus slowly getting used to the Metroid DNA inside her, for better or worse.
Metroid -> M2 -> Super feels less like a trilogy than an escalation of concept, with the Super feeling more like a conceptual reboot than a continuation of story.
Going back and slotting in Zero Mission and Returns after the fact feels less like filling in the story and more like new games fleshing out those earlier concepts.
I think Zero Mission -> Dread -> Ravenous feel like more of an actual trilogy than anything else in the franchise, regardless of actual timeline, since they’re all presumably refocusing on the Chozo as an active element rather than a background function of the world.
I'm fairly new to metroid and it's lore, but we're do the prime games fall in the timeline? Do they take place between super metroid and fusion? Or is it an 'alternate universe' type situation?
I think these two arcs work within the bounds of the current continuity. However, I'd suggest that the original quadrilogy, (Metroid I, II, III, and IV) before the manga and Zero Mission, had a different Saga-wide theme: The moral ambiguity of Samus. It is a set of four stories about genocide, being a killing machine, and having to grapple with that legacy.
I've missed a lot of the earlier Metroids but loved Prime Remastered. I've dabbled with Super and Zero Mission.
Do you think I can play Zero Mission, Fusion, and Dread to get ready for Ravenous? I own Metroid Prime 4 as well, but I'm hoping they release 2 & 3 in some playable form before I jump into it.
With kids and work, etc, five 7-10 hour games is a real commitment in my life and I'd like to get to Dread as quick as I can. I know Super is massively important, but I grew up hearing about everything that happens in it, so I'm sure I can revisit it down the road.
Super Metroid was the cap-off to the first two games. Unfortunately Zero Mission and Samus Returns introduces some slight inconsistencies which muddies the original intent, but it's water-tight otherwise.
Fusion > Dread > Ravenous is pretty straight forward.
The weirdest thing for me is that Fusion is now more in the middle of the story. For most of my life, Fusion was the most recent story, but now it’s what happened 2 out of 6 games ago.
Dread was described to us by Nintendo as the conclusion to the Metroid saga, so it’s likely better to view the series as being in pentets rather than triplets. More likely, they don’t intend to keep to a set number of games per arc.
I think Metroid (NES) + Metroid II (GB) + Super Metroid work better as a trilogy than the remakes + Super, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise.
And Fusion only work considering the narrative, because gameplay and aesthetically, Dread + Ravenous + a future MercurySteam entry would work better (if you count remakes, then it would be Samus Returns + Dread + Ravenous)
I see the first 5 games kinda like samus’s origin story. She is now a Metroid, the “ultimate warrior.” What wacky adventures will she go on next? Eating dangerous aliens that want to kill her? Sounds good to me.
I would argue that the first trilogy is actually "Samus Returns", then "Super" and then "Other M". "Zero Mission" is more like a precursor to everything so I don't know if it belongs as part of the first trilogy. However the secon trilogy is spot on.
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u/NotXesa Sep 10 '26
Yes, makes total sense. We're about to witness a defining point for the story and the franchise and the next game will probably step back a little and offer something completely new.