Topic: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

@rallydefault
I am a longtime Metroid fan, but I have NEVER been married to some purist notion of what game is "supposed" to be. I dont care. Just give me something fun. I didn't care when Zelda broke tradition, and this game is essentially the same formula just with some added elements (and the extra characters arent even new- Metroid Prime 3 had them too, this one just does them waaaay better).

I mean, if ppl don't like it, Idk what to say, sucks to be them I guess. But as someone who literally got into gaming with Metroid Prime, this game is up there with the best in the series. 10 all day every day, and that's not hyperbole as an "overreaction" to be contrarian. It's legit one of those games.

I'm stuck to this game like Gorilla Glue. And it keeps getting better the more I play. I havent been this in love with a game in years, probably since Monster Hunter Rise.

I thought Ice Belt would turn out kinda bland but man... it's up there with Phendrana Drifts. The atmosphere is haunting and you can almost feel the cold yourself. The glistening shimmer of the frozen snowpacked ice in the tunnels of the lab... and with that butter 120 fps? It's pure euphoria. That's the best word to describe Metroid Prime 4. It's non-stop euphoria.

10/10 for me. Best Metroid Prime since Metroid Prime 2. 4th is now 3rd best in the series in my opinion.

1. Metroid Prime / Metroid Prime Remastered - 10/10
2. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 10/10
3. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - 10/10
4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 9.5/10

That's my opinion and Metroid Prime series is one of my favourite game Franchises of all the time alongside Mario Kart, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong Bananza, BioShock, Splinter Cell, Fallout, Ratchet and Clank, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Resident Evil, Yoshi, Hitman, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and lot more. I love games and gaming. I own Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X and PS5 as well Nintendo Switch. I am so glad Retro Studios nailed it!! Fingercross Metroid Prime 5 coming next some years not wait like hell 18 years waited for Metroid Prime 4.

I recommend the Muumba mouse grip and the 8"x10" Seihoo firm mousepad, both of which are on Amazon. If using the grip I'd advise using button remapping to set X (scan visor) to L3 so your thumb doesnt have to reach, and map L3 to R3 for grapple lasso since you won't use that nearly as much and don't even get it until a good ways in. Use L to jump instead of B, with ZR to shoot and R for missiles and you only need to use Y for morph ball mode, and even that could be mapped to B for easy reach since L can jump instead. Heck, you could even map stuff to SL and/or SR on the Left Joycon if you wanted. My middle finger naturally rests on the SL when holding Left Joycon so it's a free easy-to-press button if you want to free up your mouse face buttons. Could map morph ball to that button instead of B and never rely on face buttons at all.

edit
OK, found the best mapping.

• Enable Motion Controls for Grapple Lasso to free up L3, and R3 isn't used ao that's also free
• Map A to R3 so you can interact while resting thumb on Right Analog in mouse mode
• Map X to L3 so you can scan without taking thumb off Left Analog
• Map Y to SL/SR to transition to morph ball mode with either your middle finger wrapped around SL or pinky on SR
• Enable Motion Controls for Spring Ball so you can jump in morph ball mode (can also click L3 since it's mapped to X, which is just as easy)
• Use L to jump, ZL for psychic/scan visor, R for missiles and ZR for beam.

Done and done. No need to move your thumb up in an awkward position on mouse since all 4 face button actions can be activated with other buttons.

@Insert_Username and @JaxonH thank you both for the recommendations! And I appreciate the button remapping suggestions, definitely trying them out once the grip arrives.

I've never been so disappointed in my life lol...

First area feels like everything is peak, myles isn't problematic at all and you wonder what reviewers were even talking about in terms of annoyance he basically doesn't do anything bar get escorted across a bridge, first boss fight is clean and uses the new mechanics well..

but then as soon as you get into the 2nd 'area' you encounter a whopping variety of 2 different kinds of enemies that aren't particularly fun to fight, a linear hallway connected to hallway system, and every single area does this.. by the time i was on to the fourth area i set my expectations to 'nothing to see' and I wasn't wrong cause it was literally just the same enemies on repeat, like at some point one enemy just becomes the only enemy in the game that even interacts with you and the variations are just their textures not actual gameplay. I've actually taken my headset off cause i was so sick of hearing their terrible theme.. the music tries to be like old prime games but its just like looping the worst sounding effects instead of making something actually pretty to listen to for awhile. One of the bosses I audible went "You can't be serious.. they couldn't make something original for this???? This looks like it was ripped directly from another franchise".

The desert especially sucks when you consider backtracking cause there is no fast teleport system, at least that i have found after 12+ hours anyways, and theres multiple moments where you're just unsure where to go. The game doesn't really hand hold you like you'd think with the characters, its kinda less than corruption infact, but the way you get upgrades is so anti-climate and in such... bizarrely randomly open in your face areas and you don't unlock them as soon as you get the pickup... you bring the pickup to myles to give it to you which is just stupid.

Its like the demo and the trailers exclusively showed off the best parts of the game cause there's so little here actually good... and its such a shame cause that first area is genuinely what sucks you in and makes you think we have a good successor and the wait was worth it and then it gets to a point where i genuinely didn't even feel like playing anymore. I did a lot of exploring, backtracking for item upgrades, picked up every green crystal on the map cause of the fruit thing.... deposited it near the very end of the game and saw the required grind only went up to like 10%, i genuinely cannot see anyone replaying it while thats a thing, the requirement for that should be the first thing they patch.

...speaking of things they need to patch... here's my main complaint about the characters; i softlocked on an elevator... yeah... SOFTLOCKED on an elevator in a 18 year development game, because the elevator required the npc to be on the lift with you, and even though the npc was standing literally in it fully, it would not detect they were there and they even played the voice line indicating that they were, the lift just bugged and would not work and they would not move to try and manually reposition them for it.. forcing a reset

Gosh dang. 11 people on my friends list got Metroid Prime 4. Haven't seen those kind of numbers (excluding Mario Kart World) since Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Kirby I had 7 friends who got it, and DK was about 7 also.

This bodes well. Dual release across NSW1 and NSW2 was definitely the right move. Seems like a lot of ppl are interested which means.... drum roll... we're likely gonna get another one!

Got a solid 2.5hrs in tn. Got vi-o-la and I basically turned it off for the time being. Not sure I'll play anything else this weekend.