@LonelyGoomba Personally I think Metroidvanias are at their best when the bosses are hard but not frustrating and I think Dread does that the best. Out of the ones I've played
People kinda overrate nonlinearity in Metroid tbh
Really the only true nonlinear game is Metroid 1 but all the ones after that were built with lock and key level design but with some dev intended sequence breaks or player exploits
It’s a lot more about feeling it than being it