Metroid Prime 4: Beyond [Review]

I remember always getting unrealistically excited from the post credit sequence of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, all the way back in 2007. It felt purposeful, and it created hope on me that a sequel to it was happening sooner rather than later, maybe even on the Wii.

Between that and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's 2025 launch date, these 18 years were turbulent for 3D Metroid with Metroid: Other M, also on the Wii, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, on the 3DS. With every new 3D release for the series I couldn't really understand why would they produce other projects while the Prime series is in such a cliffhanger. Samus is being chased, for god's sake!

The fact is that Prime 4: Beyond had a mess of a production. The production decided to change the development studio after having announced the game's title and target platform, returning the franchise to the hands that originated it, even if they were a greatly reduced studio at the time of the re-announcement. It felt rushed. It felt unlike Nintendo from the beginning.

Still, Prime 4 was happening. That was enough for me. The cliffhanger will be addressed. I did a complete media blackout for Prime 4 other than the first trailer, and even if eventually became impossible not to know a little bit about the game, I still played it somewhat blind.

Prime 4 chooses to be a 20 hour long drag routine that hints and foreshadows the resolution of that cliffhanger from 19 years ago, locking it behind 100% completion (or a 30 USD amiibo only available in the Global North). Everything that happened before the very end really didn't matter, and this "big reveal" at the finishing line is just an excuse to complete a poorly elaborated narrative created from the urge to always hint at a next thing, back in 2007.

That means that nothing really mattered until the very end. No character here will be relevant – as they weren't before and can't be on the future, because the whole thing is not about them or the world it takes place, or the bosses that I fought, not even the native race that we try to empathize with. It is about that 30 second post credit scenes on the last game. As Beyond progresses, it starts to feel that Retro Studio and this project's production doesn't really know where things are going. It feels that they are "improvising", both in gameplay and narrative.

The game starts with a confrontation with Sylux, the baddie that was tracking Samus for almost 2 decades now, and hints to a story that doesn't exist. The beginning of the game feels to have been created a decade and a half before the rest of it, because this Federation Force drama and the world that Samus is in doesn't really seem to connect in any way other than chance. The game has about 5 areas, and while only the first feels like a big and sprawling place, the others are less complex vertical structures, that are still fun to play, but not as good as Prime 2 or Prime 1. What is between them is an "open world" hub that connect the entrance for these areas, Sol Valley, on the planet of Viewros.

This hub is the worst part of the game. It is dead silent, it has only two enemy types and so few activities that it is shocking to see it is that prevalent throughout the main scenario. Because of how linear everything is, there's a need of always interacting with Sol Valley, and it is always really, really bad. I'm happy that the areas and bosses outside of this mess are good, some even great, but this "thread" that connects the areas is sloppy, uninspired and repetitive. With the game having such a banger soundtrack, why is the biggest area of the game silent? Why does every section of the open world is the same aesthetic over and over? It is baffling to see something like this in a Metroid Prime game, rather, in a Retro Studio's game.

Samus is the "chosen one", but she barely does anything other than combat, fetching MacGuffins or opening doors. It is the first time that I felt that Samus wasn't an explorer, but a soldier. This game is overly militaristic, since there's a team of soldiers and members of the Federation Force that accompanies Samus the whole game. There's no nuance or criticisms here towards them or the space police, all the characters Samus interact with from that organization are sweetened good guys. It borderline sounds like propaganda, and it didn't pass as a good Metroid story.

The dialogues are really bad, filled with soulless exposition of things that just happened and serves no purpose other than extend the game's time. There's no nuance, no conflict, nothing, these characters are void, bland and forgettable. Their designs, irrelevant, in a game with otherwise great worldbuilding and art direction inside its dungeons and challenges.

There are good moments here, again, the soundtrack is amazing when something is on. The dungeon design and overall ambiance is amazing everywhere but on the very prevalent open world. The combat is good when it is not mounted. The thing is, I can't really see a system that is great on its own. Everything has a problem, and the problem is often difficult to ignore. The lack of enemy variety sucks, all the power ups are samey and aren't really relevant other than making another part of the world accessible.

Of course that Prime 4 is polished. It runs well and works well, and it is a miracle that it could be released after that much time. It also features amazing places and locales, and Fury Green is one of the best areas in the Prime series. Unfortunately, it is not enough to be good, since there are so many problems with its story, cast, progression, enemy variety and open world. I'm happy that the game exists and could be made, even with its terrible production. Now I can finally look forward to a franchise that is not shaped by a 30 seconds post credit scene of a Wii game.

I hope.

6/10