Let me think here... what is the intended sequence of major item gathering in Metroid Dread...
- Charge Beam
- Spider Magnet
- Phantom Cloak
- Wide Beam
- Morph Ball
- Varia Suit
- Diffusion Beam
- Bombs
- Flash Shift
- Speed Booster
- Grapple Beam
- Super Missiles
- Plasma Beam
- Spin Boost (Double Jump)
- Ice Missiles
- Storm Missiles
- Space Jump
- Gravity Suit
- Screw Attack
- Cross Bombs
- Wave Beam
- Power Bombs.
Then for my speedrun (Any% NGM Early Space Jump) I go:
- Phantom Cloak (Doing this first allows for many shenanigans, but I suggest playing on Rookie Mode, or the boss gets really hard without Charge)
- Charge Beam
- Spider Magnet
- Wide Beam (either this or super missiles is the longest time it takes between upgrades)
- Morph Ball
- Varia Suit
- Diffusion Beam
- Grapple Beam (this is an "intended" sequence break, as in the devs set things up for it. early grapple is very nice)
- Bombs
- Flash Shift
- Speed Booster
- Super Missiles (or Supre Misseel as I say to myself)
- Plasma Beam
- Ice Missiles (skipping Spin Boost)
- Space Jump (here is where things get really wonky, hence the category name)
- Screw Attack (shenanigans!)
- Gravity Suit
- Cross Bombs
- Storm Missiles (doing this boss with screw attack is so much nicer, not to mention navigating upper Ferenia with the gravity suit from the start is great)
- Wave Beam
- Power Bombs.
This game is a lot of fun to play, like just the act of moving around, and fighting is a lot of fun, and I have yet to get tired of it.
There are many friendly categories for beginners, and the minor glitches are honestly not that bad. Personally I think running glitchless is less interesting, while major glitches are a real pain to learn. NMG Early Space Jump strikes a nice balance for me between being interesting, but also not having any terribly hard tricks.
The short charge thing they discovered to get even earlier Screw Attack in NMG is just impossible for me, even if it does save like five minutes when done right.