Topic: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

@rallydefault
I played basically upto the save point after the second boss of the game. Honestly, I found McKenzie a bit annoying and if he was there the entire game I'd be annoyed. But even in this early but of the game it really wasn't that much. Most of the time you're by yourself

If I was to give a comparison I would say that at this point his involvement seems similar to something like Groose's interactions in Skyward Sword. Basically you escort him for a bit and then he just does a "I'll hold the fort" as you bugger off to do your thing

The complaints are valid. But seriously overblown

Got my copy in the mail and have played the first hour or two. The game is absolutely awesome so far. Still switching between 4k and 120 modes, unsure which I like more—but mostly wanted to say that WOW was the whole Mackenzie thing super overblown. He is with you for like 10 minutes, and was mildly annoying at worst. His writing doesn't even seem "marvelly" to me, just kind of generic nerdy character.

Well my fears were put to rest with Prime 4. I was worried with the huge time gap between when Prime 3 and 4 were made it would somehow not be the same anymore or feel too different. I was wrong. Feels totally like it could have come out shortly after Prime 3. Plays and feels just like how the next follow up should. Loving it! Everything just fits! It's perfect!

That's the best take I think I've heard yet. Isn't it sad how grown men our age feel the need to performatively act to "fit in as one of the cool guys"? It becomes a "keeping up with the Jones" competition to see who's more offended, so everyone keeps one-upping the previous takes by acting as if each line is the most ludicrous thing they've ever heard.

Saying their reactions are more annoying and outrageous than the dialog itself is absolute peak summation. It's literally just dialog with some characters. And frankly it's well-written to me and extremely well voice acted, and, well animated. Even if it was just run-of-the-mill, nothing special, it's just some dialog! That's it! Dude's having life-threatening allergic reactions any time 3 words get spoken. It's beyond outlandish.

I can't stand dishonesty, and I can't stand hypocrisy. I have no problem with someone who say, doesn't find the dialog that interesting. But it's not bad. A normal human response would be indifference. So seeing wild, flamboyant, hyperbolic reactions loses my respect real fast.

But so does hypocrisy. I watched SkillUp's review and he says he doesn't recommend it, and usually he's pretty spot on, but it's the reasons he gave that were completely illogical and contradictory to his own statements. I'll explain. He says it should have evolved more than just Prime after 18 years, but then praises Dread which had way less evolution in the genre than Beyond, and that had been after 19 years. That's hypocrisy.

He says backtracking after gaining power-ups like double jump were outdated, since other metroidvanias had power-ups that evolved combat, yet again, praises Dread which was chock to the hilt with power-ups that were essentially just tools to reach previously inaccessible areas. That's hypocrisy. And Prime 4 had WAY MORE that integrated into gameplay beyond a barrier to progress. Double jump can evade certain attacks, grapple can yank off shields, spiderball is used in all sorts of cool ways (remember Quadraxis?). So that's hypocrisy.

He says it no longer makes sense to backtrack for "just another missile expansion when he already has countless shots" yet that was never a complaint for Dread, a game he praises in the same breath. In fact Dread was worse because missile expansions were only +2 and not +5 making them even less impactful! Utter hypocrisy.

How does one who's usually so unbiased and fair suddenly become ground zero for the most "stare-in-you-face hypocrisy" I've ever seen? I think it's because he got upset by getting progress-locked near the end by not having enough green crystals, since he hadn't been collecting throughout the game. And that caused him to just go off on the entire game. Which tbh, I agree they shouldn't have done that as a requirement because it would suck just driving around for an hour to farm. BUT. That doesn't justify the hypocrisy of all the other criticisms.

And that's the thing. When people get emotional (particularly when they get upset) they become irrational. It's just human nature. I'm susceptible to it as well, which is why I never hold grudges anymore and typically forgive and forget as soon as possible, because I know firsthand how irrational anger can make you.

Combine that irrationality with the desire of some to fit in and be accepted and you have what we see today. It's a wonder any games release at all anymore without the entire gamership tearing into them. Particularly Nintendo games. While PS/Xbox/PC fanboys are BY FAR worse than Nintendo fanboys (don't think I'm defending them though, they can be annoying as heck too), the insane insecurity and desire to dog pile for acceptance into what they perceive as the dominant opinion is a hallmark of some Nintendo fans, FAR MORE than I've ever seen within any other fanbase.

I can’t believe I almost let some of the negative reviews dissuade me from buying this game. I had a last minute change of heart this morning and decided to get it.

Played about 4 hours straight (without getting up once- very rare these days). Thus far the experience is exactly what I wanted with even better art direction than I could have expected. Even if the game goes downhill from here on out (I’m half through the Forge) I’d be satisfied… for context I had a NES before the first Metroid came out. Very happy I picked this up. Cheers to the rest who are totally enjoying (it’s been great to read others are also super excited too!) great experience so far!

I'm loving it so far. It's very Metroid Prime-y in all the ways that matter.

Yeah the open world bits and the crystal collectables are arguably a bit unnecessary and shoehorned in, but I don't know if it's outright a problem if you don't pay it too much attention other than the necessary area traversal.

I'm still just under 4 hours in, and not rushing as I scan pretty much everything, so maybe I'm wrong, but yeah enjoying it so far.

What's up with the aiming in this? My arm cannon seems to get out of sync constantly or spin around in circles when im trying to aim straight ahead. How do you get the pointer to snap back to the correct position? In metroid prime remastered you just tap the R button but that's your missle launcher button in this game. Kinda frustrating during intense shootouts. Also anyone else getting Arkham vibes from the control beam? It's just like the remote control batarang when you're trying to guide it to the correct spot to open doors. One of the more annoying trial and error gameplay elements.

I was blown away by the initial videos which looked amazing and beautiful graphically but have since watched some reviews for example Dreamcastguy his concerns seem genuine and fair plus also the need to have a amibo to hear music while on the motorbike seems depressingly profiteering for Nintendo. The metacritic score is 80 and most reviews seem to be around 80 overall with some dipping as low as 60 and some of course giving 100 or near to it but most are at 80, a good game, not a great game. Eurogamer gave it 60 which seems very low. It seems far too expensive for such a game to me with the pricing not really justified at this point. Premium game pricing surely means a exceptional experience and that isn't the case here. It feels like a game that needs a few tweaks/patches to clean up the gameplay a bit before stepping in and experiencing the game so probably not a game to buy at launch. The motorbike sections sound absolutely boring and a chore. I don't like games where you are dreading having to do sections of the game before you get to the good bits. Also I don't want to support having to buy a amiibo to unlock features in games especially when such a feature can turn a boring section into a more pleasant section in the game. I don't collect amiibos so I am just denied a beneficial feature. Clearly its not a great game but quite a flawed game for quite a lot of reasons. If the vast majority of critics averaged out means 80 out of 100 its neither a great or a poor game, I guess a good game but its clear some people will not like it at all and some people will love it.

I would strongly suggest a physical purchase so you have the chance to resell it if you don't like or want to finish with it quickly. Does not seem worthy of a digital purchase at all. Even with a physical purchase don't be surprised if the price you get is much lower than you expected when reselling it. It feels like a game that will struggle to hold its resale value. I had a quick look on ebay for used copies and about 4 that are being sold as 'new other' or used so already the reselling has begun. Of course these people may have completed the game or they just don't want to play the game, we don't know their reasons.

@moevot138
So glad to hear it. Pretty much everyone here who's playing it is loving it. Virtually every "issue" has been a non-issue, with one exception, and even that isn't a big deal.

People hate having any other characters or dialog. It's wild. I love it and actually wish it had more. I kid you not, Myles is THE best character I've seen in a game in quite a while.

People hate the hub. I don't. I think it's not as fun as the rest but it's still fun. I think if it were half the size and without green crystals blocking progression late game it would be perfect, but even as is, I don't mind it.

People complain about amiibo crap, as usual. Amiibo gives nothing, people complain. Amiibo gives anything of value, people complain. Like gimme a break already. That said, I bought all 3 amiibo and I love getting that health refill and shield once a day. Some of those fights I need it. I also love jamming out to Volt Forge tune in the desert.

No game is perfect, but many imperfect games are a 10 in my book. And unless something radically shifts (which I doubt- I'm almost down to the final key), this game absolutely ranks right up there and yes, I still think it's better than both Prime 1 and 3

It feels weird but I both like and dislike Myles. I think the opening portion of the game made him more grating due to him having a lot of dialogue commentating on stuff that Samus was doing (literally stating the obvious). After that initial segment though, he's actually been fun to have around. Helps that the game actually knows when to let you be on your own and not interact with him.

I think so far (as a first time metroid prime player) the game is really solid. The only thing I find myself massively disliking from my time with the game is the desert hub area. Not a fan of how barren it feels- and how it doesn't even really fit the structure of the rest of the game in the slightest. It felt like they just sorta slapped Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field onto a Metroid game- but with it being larger and somehow less visually interesting in turn.

Got home from my Christmas party for work rather late last night, but i did the opening section and got to viewros before I turned it off for the night. Ill be digging in later today no doubt.

It does feel like the desert area was a last minute idea. Like, there should have been a huge biome hub instead that linked the other five and had it's own non-linear exploration for green crystals (or an alternative item that would have made more sense). Maybe it was deemed to ambitious and/or there were time constraints.

The desert is more lifeless than No More Heroes 1's 'open world', which is incredible really. Yes, yes "what do you expect from a desert?", which is exactly why Retro opted for a desert in the first place. It's cop out.

This is a conflicting one for me so far. Much like Other M, I love and hate this game at the same time. From a gameplay perspective, especially combat and when it sticks to being a Metroid game in the sense that it lets explore as Samus alone, it's spot on. But the 'open world' and bike were an absolute waste of time and resources, something Retro never should've put in there and I won't even get started on the NPCs. Some of the dialog makes the overdramatic nonsense in OM seem competent. Just a little disappointing because I've wanted a new Prime entry for so long and Dread delivered so well on the 2D front I was hoping for the same here, especially after the awesome MP 1 remaster. The blue print was right there for the new 'talent' at Retro and instead it feels like they wanted to make a game that was, in a lot of ways, the complete opposite of what the series is about.

I am trying so hard not to add another game to my backlog, but this one looks amazing, and my local Costco has the S2E for only 62 USD.... Ugh, self-control is hard!!

@Gamer83
How far in are you? I get not liking the bike as it isn't very "Metroidy" (though I actually like it, I just think the desert is too big). But I'm surprised to hear you say you don't like the dialog, tbh. Just knowing your tastes and preferences. I was really taken aback by how much some dislike it when I feel it's been great. I could understand indifference, but actively disliking it? Idk what it is that's so offputting. To me the dialog is leagues beyond Metroid Prime 3 Corruption and Other M, and the top notch voice acting and animation helps.

So I'm curious to understand what it is that bothers you so much about the dialog. Cause even if I didn't like it, I likely wouldn't care since it's just short sequences here and there, and doesn't really affect the game in any significant manner one way or the other. To me it felt like Prime 3 dialog, but way better with way more personable characters. So I really curious what exactly turns you off so much that not only do you not like the dialog when I love it, but actually deem it important enough to detract from the game (whereas I feel there's not enough and wanted more).

Usually we have pretty similar tastes when it comes to games we both play, so I'm a little surprised we're so divergent on this.

Every area of this game is just insanely gorgeous from not just a graphical standpoint but an artistic one as well.

And I just mapped out the entire desert getting every green crystal and I gotta say, it grew on me! I know I said I could have done with it being half the size but, it really only took an hour to scour the entire thing. And I rather enjoyed it. There's something oddly satisfying crunching into those green shards. I was surprised there was nothing left to map out after driving around such a short time. I couldn't do most of the secrets yet because I lacked many of the weapons but their locations are now tagged on the map so I can easily scoop them later.

Like, I really actually came to enjoy it. I can still see how having the crystal progression lock later could be a problem for some, but for me... I don't think this was a problem. I've changed my mind. I like it. I was kinda shocked how quick it went- I was expecting it to take several hours over multiple sessions but no, it's really not as big as it looks. Viola cruises and hitting those desert fruits to instantly refill your boost? Man... I went through every single hexagon like wait, what? That's it? I'm done already? Gave me a good excuse to enjoy the bike while jamming out to Volt Forge theme.

So... this is really interesting. Metroid Prime 4 is now a game which I cannot name a single thing I haven't liked. I thought it wasn't gonna be able to top Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. And look, maybe it still won't. That's an insanely high bar to hit. But right now, I'm starting to realize it's a very real possibility.

And Prime 2 had it's faults. The Dark world draining your life, the annoying Boost Guardian... I can't name a single aspect of Prime 4 that was anywhere as near bad as that. In fact I can't name a single thing Prime 4 doesn't do better, except perhaps the map design. The environmental labyrinthine puzzle-like map design bouncing back and forth between Light and Dark Aether was on the level. That's the one thing I'd say Prime 2 absolutely did better. BUT. Prime 4 doesn't have those weakness of Prime 2 and the personable characters expertly voiced and more diverse gameplay with the bike and psychic powers make it much less prone to becoming monotonous.

edit
Man I'm all over the place with my opinions shifting like quicksand lol. I think I get why some don't like the desert, and I'm gonna admit, I think the critique about amiibo unlocking music is actually fair. See, I have the amiibo, so I've been jamming out to Volt Forge theme. But I turned it off and realized oh... this wouldn't feel nearly as fun without these songs to jam out to. And that's when it hit me. I enjoyed it because I had the amiibo. That's it. That's the difference and explains why I ended up really enjoying it and others haven't. And you know what? I feel for them. You really should experience Sol Valley with Volt Forge theme. If you're in to amiibo, get the Viola amiibo. If you're not, just buy an amiibo card on eBay for $5-10 and scan it in for the skins and OST selection. Trust me, it does make a difference.

Just finished the game. Here's my thoughts.

It's more of the same Prime experience we had before with some new ideas and mechanics that are halfcooked at best. I found the graphics and boss battles (mostly) to be very good and everything else a bit lackluster.

Galactic federation
The GF characters are not that annoying as people say/said. The promblem is their existence isn't justified. They don't bring anything to the story, every line they have could be answered with "yes" and they don't get enough development for me to care about them. Samus not interacting with them, with the exception of a few small nods doesen't help (even she doesn't care!). Most importantly they take away from the atmosphere, the isolation, the whole thing what metroid is about. They are padding the game time with unnecessary dialog, babysitting and by making samus travel back and forth for upgrades.

Scanning
There's a lot of things to scan but most of it are machines, crates and stuff with boring/uninformative/ unneeded descriptions. The good stuff, lore and research scans are at an all time low.

Enemies
You got your smaller enemies insects, lizards, birds etc. Grievers and robots. That's about it. The basic enemy variety is lacking compared to prime 1,2 and 3.

The bike
It's fun to ride but besides two lasterluck boss battles it's underutilized. Yeah it's for traveling the empty hubworld and the mandatory ***** crystal collecting.

The desert
Unnecessary.

Music
Where's stuff like "Phendrana drifts", "Space pirates battle", "Temple grounds", "Vs. Ing", "Bryyo main theme" etc. Locking music in the hub behind an amiibo is diabolical. Also what's up with the title music stealing a melody from Pirates of the caribbean

The gameplay
Combat is fun but too heavy in some areas. You can't avoid it like in the other games as you have to protect the gf troopers. Sometimes it felt like every other room there was an obligatory battle. Especially in the mines and volt forge.

Exploring is good (when you're alone). Puzzles are simple but they still work.

Items and upgrades
Was there something new besides the handwaving stuff and the slow shot? Gotta love the mechanic where you go in to morph ball mode, lay a bomb, go to scan mode, grab the bomb and then throw it.

Other stuff
Why did they change the mcguffing hunt when they had it right in prime 3 with the energy cells. The mech parts would have been enough we didn't need the crystals.

What is Syluxs motivation/ deal? Oh you didn't play hunters or 100% the game, well too bad. A main villain that's hardly in the game.

The game development was troubled and it shows. That's a lot of whining and gripes but the game is okay 7/10. I just had higher hopes. I feel like this game would have been a natural continuation of the series.... in 2010-2012. I don't see myself returning to this one soon if at all.

This is a fair summary but maybe almost too kind. It's a 5/10 game, one that will destroy this franchise once and for all.