I struggled with Samus Returns and the Prime games weren't my vibe, so I have to go back a long way for great Metroid. After seeing good reviews and a lot of positive word-of-mouth for Metroid Dread, it was near the top of my list of games to play when I'd finally pick up a Switch.
I was finally able to get my hands on my own copy of the game recently, and it started out promising, tapping into some of my Super Metroid memories. Unfortunately, I never really did get on with the game's stealth sections--if you want to call it that--with the EMMIs. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe it. I hit game over more in this game than in every other Metroid game I've played, combined.
The game does eventually open up and it quickly grabbed me when it did. There is some incredible boss design here and (mostly) good map design. Locking map connection shortcuts behind power bombs wasn't a good move considering when you get them, but that faded to a minor annoyance by the end. After Samus Returns, it's easy to forget that you're supposed to get a bit lost.
What may be the highlight for me was, surprisingly, an interesting story. It's mostly told through atmosphere and subtle storytelling, like Hollow Knight, but there are some well-crafted cinematics sprinkled in. Samus is as expressive here as I've ever seen her. A really satisfying ending caps it off.
I'm excited to see what's next for the series. It's just a shame Dread has the EMMI sections because it just about guarantees I'll never replay it.
It might just be a metroidvania thing in this case, I think. You start with no tools at your disposal, you gotta go collect them. Hollow Knight also sucked for me without the Steady-something charm and dash. Now it‘s great. But it‘s not like every genre and/or game is or has to be for everyone and I get where you‘re coming from.
I can't respond directly because I haven't played either Metroid Dread or Hollow Knight specifically, although I've played and enjoyed many other metroidvania games, including the majority of the Metroid series (I even enjoyed Metroid Other M... mostly). But I'll say that there's no rule that prevents metroidvanias from being entertaining until you unlock some specific part of the ability set. The search to unlock new abilities should be fun itself.