Metroid Ravenous Officially Revealed, Release Date Given

Previously discovered thanks to a ratings board document, Metroid Ravenous was officially announced in today’s Nintendo Direct, with a dedicated trailer being posted shortly after. Following on from the events of Metroid Dread, it appears Samus has been attacked by a group of mechanical assailants before falling into a complex cavern system on an unnamed moon.

The trailer shows the melee counter from Dread returning, with an additional twist. Samus appears to grab and absorb enemies after countering them, which makes sense given she gained Metroid DNA-based energy absorption at the end of Metroid Dread. As the game is named Ravenous, the trailer has a voice-acted Samus state that she will survive “Even if I have to feed on my enemies to do so,” and Samus is seen several times in the Metroid-themed Green Armor mode, also from Dread. Samus dealing with a growing hunger as she uses this ability to survive is likely to be a central theme in the story. The title may also reference the antagonist’s motivations, as the trailer shows one saying, “become my flesh and blood,” to Samus before he attacks. Lastly, the trailer shows Samus interacting with a winged Chozo, though it is unclear if this is happening in the present, in a flashback from Samus’s or some other perspective, or a hallucination. Notably, the game’s voice acting was in English even in the Japanese trailer.

Mechanically, in addition to her melee counter, Samus’s ability to freely aim her arm cannon returns from Dread, along with a slide move and series staples of missiles and Morph Ball. An upgraded form of the Flash shift was also briefly shown off, with Samus able to use the ability more rapidly and in multiple directions. As mentioned above, Samus grabbing enemies to drain them while her hand glowed purple was also shown, but what specific mechanical purpose it has was not. It may be a method to recover health and ammo, but a fight with an enemy that resembled a Chozo Statue that dropped resources upon being shot showed it was definitely not the only method in the game.

The last thing the director gave us, apart from a visually striking image of Samus in full Metroid Armor spin jumping into a glowing double kick à la Kamen Rider, is the game’s release date. That date is January 28, 2027. Hopefully there will be more concrete information in the months leading up to release.