Topic: Possible chance of Metroid Prime 4 using third-person view option?

After seeing the latest trailer with Samus on her cycle, I actually wouldn't mind a third-person shooter view too. It would feel fresh for 3D Metroid. I personally know a lot of players that hate the fps pov, but having this third person view option would be nice.

That would be a big change to the series so it would surprise me, but I guess we'll see. From what we've seen (both the motorcycle and a ball rolling scene) it felt like most of the action was first person but some things were third. Previous Metroid Prime similarly was mostly first person but had some third person parts.

For the record, I am one of the people who gets motion sick from first person perspectives so mostly don't play them.

@FishyS I don't mind it but motion sickness playing anything fps is common. Having third-person would be a great accessibility feature for those who have ms.

I think the main portion of the game will still be first person, the travesal (bike) looks to be the only thing in 3rd person.

@Fizzle002 And some of the ball rolling which we have seen is third person and was also third person in a prior game

@Hapless honestly I'd rather just teleport. Hopefully the travel is useful.

I agree, and I think it's far too rare for a game to give you the option to choose how to view and interact with the game. The Elder Scrolls is a great example of allowing the player to choose freely between first- and third-person views; certainly a single player game like Metroid Prime could offer the option if they really wanted to. I hope it becomes more common in the industry over time.

Agree with this as well. I'm nervous about the open areas only serving to milk extra time out of the player; they could just stitch the two on-foot pathways together and snip out the open bike areas. But I'm so excited for MP4 that I'm willing to suspend judgment until I play it for myself, come what may.

At one point I joked about the possibility of rooms/corridors switching to a 2D plane in third-person view, kind of like the Morph Ball corridors in past Primes or the Modern Sonic stages where they change between 2D and 3D in certain parts.

I'm curious to know if the bike sections can also be played in first-person view. Either that or put the camera behind her at all times to pseudo recreate Mach Rider.

I love the first person viewpoint it makes me feel more immersed in the game world. I play Zelda but would have preferred a full on first person viewpoint. Any game that gives the option between first persona and third person I always play on first person viewpoint.

@Hapless It honestly looks it could be forced on us.

Being this long in Development they should give more then one perspective when single gaming aka MP4.

@Jarodlaraus Let's hope. My guess it's still the basic MP game but plays it safe.

I can't see it happening seeing as its supposed to be part of the Prime series and the entire prime series has been first person perspective traditionally. What would have been nice is to see a patch for the MP1 remaster for Switch 2 and 2&3 remastered for the generations that didn't get to experience them the first time around. Still feels like yesterday playing MP on my GameCube.

I agree that it would be nice to offer a third person option. I appreciate that it's become an accessibility option now, especially since other games have started adopting it as well. The Outer Worlds 2 is adding one. More non-FPS games that are in first person should offer it.

Other M used a third person perspective and it is widely regarded as the worst Metroid ever made. I think Prime is better off sticking to first person.

Highly doubt it, most likely they only use third person in scenes that makes sense to the developer (bike riding and morph ball). Wouldn't mind having the choice though since I do think third person is more appropriate for a genre that involves or at least tend to involve a lot of platforming.

@vio

OTOH, tons of Metroid games from Super to Zero Mission to Dread do use third person, and are varying degrees of great. The issue with Other M isn't its view perspective, its. . . well, a giant list of things. I wouldn't take it as proof that any specific portion of its design is intrinsically "un-Metroid".

Now, what I would say is a good reason not to expect or include a third person viewing angle in Prime 4 specifically? Visor modes. Its a key element of the Prime sub-series, arguably the defining game design element after the simple fact of being first person. Its used as both a method of establishing immersion and ambiance, and a tool for puzzle solving. And third person perspective would make all these aspects either far more clumsy, or outright non-functional. Its just not worth the trouble.

Which, hot take: is also my opinion about almost every other game. Allowing the ability to swap between first and third person view at best means you have one good mode that the game was designed around, and one clumsy mode bolted on that only sort of works. At worst, neither mode works especially well. Its better for the developer to pick one viewing mode as the best fit for their intended vision, and put all their effort into making that mode work as good as possible.

I totally get what you mean! I think a third-person view could bring a really fresh perspective to 3D Metroid. Seeing Samus on her bike like that in third person would make the exploration feel more dynamic, and it might even make some of the platforming sections more satisfying. Plus, having it as an optional view could be the best of both worlds—FPS for immersion and third-person for a different feel. Honestly, I’d be all for that.

@TAndvig the more I see the trailers, the more I ask why the cycle? They could easily just make the morph ball go that fast right? Now we see her full body driving around in third person which goes against Prime (having us never see her in that view except in a ball).

The most sacred of limitations for a video game. If they broke this, is nothing sacred?!

Now to be fair, you're right, but only because super speed morph ball for no reason would be funnier. Wouldn't be better, but it would be funnier, which is in itself, a valid reason to want that.