Algorithm-chasing YouTube critiques, searing post-mortems, finger-pointing at its troubled growth historical past, and a relentless deal with 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 recreation 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 facets 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 recreation ought to: It’s a technical showcase; its controls are elegant; its world design is visually beautiful; it affords exploration, scanning, and loads of well-hidden objects; its boss fights stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the very best the collection has ever produced.
Having just lately revisited the collection with Metroid Prime Remastered, Prime 4 feels prefer it takes gameplay cues from that lauded entry whereas choosing much more linear biomes that really feel extra approachable to newcomers. Nonetheless, second to second, I discovered it more durable to place down than some other 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. Individuals misinterpret the intent of this house – it exists as a palate cleanser to blast by on the fun-to-control Vi-O-La bike between tense classes of dungeon-crawling in tight corridors. With a couple of 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, ambiance, and player-driven discovery are all there, however it 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 recreation’s use of NPC companions whose quips and chatter simply felt improper in a Metroid recreation. After a long time of largely solitary adventures, there’s an apparent temptation to push Metroid towards a extra character-driven construction, particularly in a recreation positioned as an entry level to the collection.
However on this case, the execution of that premise — together with sequences that felt nearer to a standard, dialogue-driven marketing campaign shooter — understandably felt like an excessive amount of of a departure from what defines Metroid. Whereas I don’t imagine 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 collection, 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 ‘adequate’ was by no means going to be sufficient.
Stripped of the hype and the scrutiny, although, this can be a recreation that succeeds much 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 it will likely be remembered stays to be seen, however I wouldn’t be shocked if hindsight proves kinder than the second it was launched into.
