Metroid Dread director says Samus losing everything at the beginning is a must

One of the big staples of Metroid games is how at the start of the adventure, Samus typically loses most of her abilities. The setup tends to be different each time, but players still end up having to find their way through the environments and obtain upgrades. This was again present in the series’ most recent entry, Metroid Dread.

José Luis Márquez weighed in on this element in an interview with Gamereactor. He told the site that this is a must for the Metroid games.

Márquez shared the following with the site:

“In the case of Metroids, yes, it has to be like that. You can’t start the game without losing things. It’s mandatory. Otherwise, I think you would be disappointed. It’s like, what? You get everything from the beginning? It can’t be!”

Something else Márquez touched on is game length in Metroidvanias. He personally believes more compact experiences are “the ideal duration” for the genre, as opposed to some titles that have come out in recent years that have lengthier runtimes. He feels that you can pack in a lot and avoid filler that way.

Also, Márquez isn’t personally big on Souls elements in Metroidvania titles, though he understands why people like it. He mentioned how he’s “not one of those who likes to make it hard for the players”.

As for Samus usually losing her abilities at the start in Metroid games, how do you feel about that element? Let us know in the comments.