Topic: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

That's absolutely one aspect in which Metroid Prime 1 (and probably 2 as well, but I haven't replayed that one in the last 20 years) shows it's age. It can be a right slog backtracking through "interesting areas". Also a hub area in a Metroidvania is not a novel concept (often containing things like shops or other ways to upgrade your abilities, gather information etc.) and many in the genre employ some sort of it or even a mixture of ways to travel/connect that open up once you've reached a certain level of complexity in the map layout. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case here too. Maybe it's more straight forward in the beginning and later you unlock shortcuts or alternative modes of travel (like teleporting) + new abilities that allow for faster traversal. Modern MVs do that all of the time, once you thoroughly explored an area some sort of fast travel option opens up to "unslog" the backtracking. I also think it rather likely that neighboring regions will also have direct connections to each other (because why wouldn't they?) and you won't have to go through the desert area each and every time. The mark of a good MV is how seamlessly and organically the map opens up. It also goes together with the sense of power you gain once you level up. Areas you once had to battle through tooth and nail, in the later parts you will just breeze right through or skip altogether. I mean, the genre isn't new and Retro and Nintendo played a big part in defining it, so I would assume they know what they are doing.

For some reason Prime 4’s approach to queries design reminds me a bit of Luigi’s Mansion 2. Not that there was a giant desert of a motorbike in that game. But the fact that they chopped up ‘The Mansion’ into lots of smaller mansion with their own themes seems similar to how the main world is being divided up here.

…Maybe.

I dunno, I haven’t played the game.

I've said it before, but: IMO the one big change that Prime 1 needed? An additional connection point between Tallon Overworld and Phendrana Drift. Everywhere else has plenty of doors-to-before offering shortcuts ( even the Phazon Mine has one you unlock, even if its fairly late ). . . but Phendrana? Despite being a place you need to visit multiple times over the game, you always have to get there through Magmoor.

@OmnitronVariant
I don't think it's an assumption at this point. Its a disclosed fact that the areas are connected to a hub like Hyrule Field. And it's a fact the bike speeds up traversal between areas.

These are not assumptions. If you mean, "makes backtracking less tedious" that's a pretty safe assumption, and I stand by it. I've played enough video games in my life to know how long it took to backtrack in the previous Prime games and what effect making that easier will have on me as a player.

Honestly this is only kinda related, but I have been thinking that as much as the idea of making an ACTUAL open world Metroid Prime (which this obviously isn't) is stupid and bad and cringe, I think having larger open areas could be very beneficial. At the very least, if you combined two larger rooms from the previous games, including the same quantity of items/doors to other places and the like, it feels like it'd make for some cool environments that make the game stand out while feeling like a natural evolution of the series. Especially since the doors in the Prime games are secret loading screens, so taking advantage of having more power to avoid that more often would be the most logical thing to do.

Maybe this game does that, I dunno, no one wants to discuss it other than for non-controversies lol.

This. I find Prime Remastered to be overrated for this reason and was crushed that it was nothing more than a graphical coat of paint for the game. People act like Prime 1 (also Super Metroid, but for the purposes of this conversation I'm focusing on Prime 1) is this untouchable masterpiece and there's nothing they can do to make it better. No, it's an excellent game but it's not flawless, and this is a major flaw. The game is utterly PAINFUL with backtracking because of a lack of fast travel, shortcuts, etc. Worst offender is the stretch from Flaaghra to the adult Sheegoth, where you have to pass through Magmoor Caverns a whopping 3 times with little new that opens up in the process simply because it's the only way to reach your actual destination which is Phendrana. Prime Remastered doing nothing about it because they focused on graphics that barely look that much better (seriously I'm sick of these types of remakes/remasters, making the graphics 10% better doesn't exactly make the game more fun to replay) definitely killed the nostalgia for this game, or at least that part of the game.

Yeah, this is what Prime 2 did. Everything else was accessed from Temple Grounds but you could discover elevators that provided direct connections between the areas that you could use as shortcuts (there's an elevator between Agon and Torvus that you can access with the Boost Ball, and elevators between Agon/Sanctuary and Torvus/Sanctuary that you can access with the Power Bombs). I wouldn't be surprised if Prime 4 does something similar.

@kkslider5552000 I actually do think the game has these larger areas apart from the desert. Just look at the scenes in the trailers of the big open jungle area with the bridge and the temple in the background or the snow desert environment in which the wolves attack and the collapsing hanging bridges. There will definitely be some amazing setpieces taking advantage of the newer hardware.

Has anyone here played Metroid Prime Federation Force? I'd like to hear the positive aspects of that game. I only played about an hour of it as multi-player games on 3DS weren't really all that great (I'd have been much more into it with a different art style and released on Switch).

I've heard all the complaints. But I'm curious about its strengths. Same for Other M. I played about 4 hours of Other M, but my issue was the control scheme. If it just had normal controls without swapping back and forth with horizontal and vertical Wiimote and relying on a d-pad for 3D traversal, I probably would have finished it. But I want to hear from someone who really dug into these games- convince me why I should play them, if you can.

Smaller non-linear dungeons/environments connected via an overworld > one giant, interconnected nest of environments, every single time.

Had so much more fun with Elden Ring vs. Dark Souls for this reason alone.

New screenshots.

Ok I have to admit, I love the design of those areas!

Just received the message from Nintendo that the pre-order will be locked in tomorrow, the money processed and the game downloaded to my Switch 2. Then it's just one week to go folks!

This is a pretty game. Also, it's hilarious that there are over 1,000 messages in a game-specific thread before the game is out.

I still can't believe it's only a little over a week to go until release. 8 years it took to get to this point. It still doesn't seem real to me tbh.

I have my work Christmas party next Thursday, so i won't be able to play until Friday 🫤

As of 11pm tonight (Central Time), it will officially kick off the one week countdown. My brothers in arms, we are almost there.

@OmnitronVariant
Ikr? The first screenshot is my favorite because it reveals there will be 2D morph ball sections like previous entries had. I always love those 2D sections. Btw, I spot a little enemy on the center-right side along the lower path.

Pretty much my thoughts. Something I'd note is that, even back in the very first Metroid Prime? Some of the "rooms" were quite largely and definitely tried to fake being an open area filled with contents, rather than a room. The first big room in Phendrana Drift being the standout example, complete with the one major "building" ( that isn't actually a building, but definitely wanted you to think of it as one ).

@JaxonH
I read a article couple years back that they were planning on turning "Metroid" into "Federation Force" to open the world up with more freedom. Honestly i kinda wish they would.

The official one week countdown begins.

This is the last Wednesday on planet earth we must suffer without the existence of Metroid Prime 4. For at 11pm next Wednesday night, a new era is upon us.

I'm wondering how the beam system is gong to be like? I'm guessing something similar to what MP3 did. The Beam Stacking system from the 2D Metroid games.