Metroid Dread tells the story of Samus Aran’s adventure on Planet ZDR, but a lot happened on the alien world before she even arrived. To learn about that, you’re going to need to unlock some special gallery rewards. The method for doing so is simple, but it’s definitely a time-sink.
There are eight pieces of art to unlock in the gallery, telling one complete prologue before Samus’ arrival – don’t worry, we won’t spoil it here. But you’ll unlock one each time you get 100% of the items in a zone. There are nine total regions, but the final one, Itorash, doesn’t count as there’s nothing hidden there. Still, you’ll need to collect absolutely everything in Artaria, Cataris, Dairon, Burenia, Ferenia, Ghavoran, Elun, and Hanubia. That means every Energy Tank, Missile Expansion, and Power Bomb Tank. It’ll take you some time, but you can use any one of the 100% item completion guides linked here to help you out. The game has a nice completion bonus for you too, if you put in the work.
That covers the gallery, but what about the ending rewards? Those are all tied to speedruns. Completing the game in both Normal and Hard Mode will get you two. Completing each mode in under eight hours wins you two more, and you’ll get another pair for completing each mode in under just four hours. Do all of this, and you’ll get one last bonus reward. The rewards are special pieces of art based on previous 2D Metroid games, and while we won’t spoil them here, they are a nice nod after putting all that time into Dread.
