It's an unpopular opinion, but I liked the small internal monologues that Samus had in Metroid Fusion. Her text-based thoughts were sprinkled throughout the game, providing insight into her mental and emotional state. Given that Metroid Dread follows in Fusion's footsteps, concluding Samus' story with a cinematic, narrative-driven game, I had hoped that we'd see her share her thoughts with us again. But that's not the case. Despite Dread being about Samus, she doesn't have a voice in the game's story, and it's a noticeable omission.

Admittedly, yes, Samus does talk in Dread. I know that she literally has a voice in the game's story. And it's a pretty cool line. But if you're going to bring on a voice actor for Samus and have her speak, why not do it more than once? Given what happens to Samus over the course of Dread and what she learns about herself and her past, it feels strange that the one person who has nothing to say about who she is is Samus herself.

And I'm not saying Dread should have given her long-winded monologues, like she did in Metroid: Other M. I think Fusion got the formula right--in the quiet moments between the high-action set pieces, Samus would muse about what had happened to her or what she had just learned, typically relating the information back to her past. It gave us insight both into how Samus became the woman that she is and informed us as to her motivations and morals. Those monologues introduced us to Samus' no-nonsense personality, while also revealing she was capable of being driven by emotions like fear. Despite being a badass bounty hunter, Samus was still human.