Algorithm-chasing YouTube critiques, searing post-mortems, finger-pointing at its troubled growth historical past, and a relentless give attention to what Prime 4 wasn’t appeared to characterise the temper following its launch, making me really feel like I used to be taking part in a basically completely different sport from the one being litigated on-line.
I discovered myself mentally auditing and second-guessing my very own enjoyment.
That’s to not dismiss criticism of the sport, as a result of there are definitely elements that deserve it. Too usually, although, the discourse felt much less like measured appraisal and extra like performative dunking. It felt like not sufficient was being mentioned about what Prime 4 does proper, such that I discovered myself mentally auditing and second-guessing my very own enjoyment.
The backlash was initially stunning as a result of I felt it was usually delivering precisely what a Metroid Prime sport ought to: It’s a technical showcase; its controls are chic; its world design is visually beautiful; it presents exploration, scanning, and loads of well-hidden gadgets; its boss fights stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the perfect the sequence has ever produced.
Having lately revisited the sequence with Metroid Prime Remastered, Prime 4 feels prefer it takes gameplay cues from that lauded entry whereas choosing way more linear biomes that really feel extra approachable to newcomers. Nonetheless, second to second, I discovered it more durable to place down than another main first-party launch of the present {hardware} era.
I even loved Sol Valley, the desert hub world routinely derided as an empty, ‘half-baked’ open world. Folks misinterpret the intent of this house – it exists as a palate cleanser to blast by means of on the fun-to-control Vi-O-La bike between tense classes of dungeon-crawling in tight corridors. With just a few collectibles, lore, and story beats to find, it does what it ought to.
Admittedly, Prime 4 manages to repeatedly break its personal spell with its narrative selections. Metroid’s conventional strengths of isolation, environment, and player-driven discovery are all there, but it surely actually fumbles in delivering a coherent character-driven story. Its makes an attempt to take action as a rule felt like tonal misfires that broke my immersion.
That dissonance was, for me, most obvious within the sport’s use of NPC companions whose quips and chatter simply felt improper in a Metroid sport. After many years of largely solitary adventures, there’s an apparent temptation to push Metroid towards a extra character-driven construction, particularly in a sport positioned as an entry level to the sequence.
However on this case, the execution of that premise — together with sequences that felt nearer to a traditional, dialogue-driven marketing campaign shooter — understandably felt like an excessive amount of of a departure from what defines Metroid. Whereas I don’t consider Prime 4 deserved the pile-on it obtained, I gained’t deny feeling considerably conflicted as soon as I rolled the credit.
I’ve my very own qualms with the sport, however I nonetheless struggled to reconcile them with how a lot of the dialog had already settled on Prime 4 as a disappointment. The conclusion I’ve reached is that the sport was judged each on what it truly is and on what it was speculated to symbolize because the long-awaited successor to a near-mythic trilogy.
After years of anticipation, the bar wasn’t merely excessive. Prime 4 was anticipated to justify its personal resurrection, to reaffirm the legacy of its namesake sequence, and to reward years of fan endurance with one thing transformative. Something lower than a series-defining triumph was all the time going to be framed as a letdown. Being ‘ok’ was by no means going to be sufficient.
Stripped of the hype and the scrutiny, although, this can be a sport that succeeds way more usually than it stumbles, one which repeatedly compelled me to maintain going lengthy after I ought to have stopped, one which I deeply loved taking part in. How will probably be remembered stays to be seen, however I wouldn’t be stunned if hindsight proves kinder than the second it was launched into.
Nile Bowie is an American journalist based mostly in Singapore who grew up on Nintendo. When he isn’t reporting on politics, enterprise, and worldwide relations, he’s very seemingly taking part in his Change, monitoring down previous Recreation Boy cartridges, or studying Nintendo Life with a cat on his lap.
