5. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
And that's game number 5, the long awaited Metroid Prime 4. Including by me. This game has been divisive, with some people and reviewers praising it but many players heavily criticising it. And honestly, now that I've beaten it, I'm rather split on it too. Full warning: I will try not to spoil anything, but I will be generally discussing some aspects of the game. And yes, sorry, this is a long one, but I have a lot of thoughts on this one.
Let's start with the good, because there is a lot to like here. This game is visually beautiful. Its visual design in the environment and creatures is just as strong as it was in the previous Prime games. I really enjoyed the boss fights. Those are always highlights for me in the Prime games, and these bosses do not disappoint. The gameplay loop is satisfying. The various areas in the game, although linear, are still fun to explore, and constantly finding powerups to slowly beef yourself up feels as good as ever. I really want to stress: there is a lot to like here, and at times, that did shine through for me.
But yes, there are annoyances here too. The game feels strongly linear. You still explore areas and solve puzzles to progress, which is still fun, but in some way, this just felt stronger in previous titles. The games's locations are connected by an open world, and I know it's a desert but it still feels empty. I think I preferred the more directly interconnected areas from the previous Prime titles.
By far the biggest criticism online is the supporting characters, and unfortunately, I have to agree with the critics. Throughout the game you're accompanied by a cast of Galactic Federation characters. They call you, join you on quests, and will talk to you whenever they're around. And yes, I found them annoying and grading. Some of them instantly got on my nerves, to the point that once the cutscene ended I jokingly tried to shoot them (which the game doesn't allow but still). They instruct you on every new step which makes the game not only feel even more linear, but also takes away some of that sense of figuring stuff out more on your own. The previous Prime games also had objective markers, but they were far less intrusive. And on top of this, they're a hindrance in combat. There are multiple segments where you get into fights and they join you. And while they're constantly depicted as capable soldiers, every time they almost die and you have to stop fighting and go heal them. Often multiple times per fight. Several times I found myself almost screaming at my screen: "This would be so much easier if you would just GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
But a deeper issue with them is that, to me, they don't fit Metroid. A core aspect of Metroid, to me, is its sense of loneliness. That feeling of you, alone, on a distant, intriguing but hostile world, with nothing but your wits and your skills to aid you. One of Metroid's biggest appeals to me is that atmosphere. And these characters, to me, ruin that completely. If I ever got into that mental state of getting lost in the world the game was giving me, whenever these guys popped up it immediately took me back out of it. They break the immersion, and also break that sense of isolation and weight. I admittedly don't play many games with chatty sidekicks like this, but still: I would've enjoyed this game so much more if I was just left to explore this world on my own, and only interact with ancient messages and the main villain.
(Also, a little side tangent, but I do not understand why Nintendo thinks we like the Galactic Federation so much. Personally, I don't. At all. If you want other characters: Prime 3 had you interacting with other bounty hunters that turn from good to evil, all from different species with wildly different designs and abilities. They were cool! Prime Hunters's other bounty hunters are still, to this day, fan favourites! Yet from Prime 3 to gosh darn Federation Force to this, they keep focusing on the stupid space army. Drop them and focus on something cool instead! Hell, Sylux is right there. If you focused on just him, he could've been so much cooler!)
I think the biggest thing that stood out to me about Prime 4 is that it didn't feel as grand or epic as the previous games. The game does try to give your situation weight, trapping you in a completely unknown and isolated world, with a troubled history of a fallen civilization, but I rarely felt that weight. I don't know whether it's the world design, the npc's or whatever, but I never felt that immersion or weight. When I beat the original Metroid Prime games, I felt a sense of accomplishment, relief, grandeur, weight. With this game, I just felt like I had beaten another game.
And let me re-emphasize: that doesn't mean the game is bad. Tons of good games have left me without a major feeling at the end. And I did enjoy this game. I was always happy to pick it back up and keep playing, there are moments that did immerse me into the world and battles that are riveting. But yes, from Prime 4, I was also hoping to feel more.
I know that Prime 4 had an impossible legacy to live up to, but even seen on its own, I cannot ignore some of these annoyances. This is still a good game, there is no doubt about that. This is a high quality title that I don't doubt many people will enjoy. But to me, while I overall enjoyed my time with it, if I were to rank my favourite Metroid games, Prime 4 would not be very high on that list. I only just beat it, so maybe the positives will become stronger in my head over time. But right now, while this game is no doubt good and worth playing, I also don't feel comfortable calling it anything more than just "good".
