Japanese Charts: Sorry Samus, Octopath Is The Best-Selling New Release This Week

Fantastic sales for Switch 2

No surprises. Metroid Prime was never a healthy-seller in Japan. I did Expect Octopath 0 to sell a bit more, but HD-2D games are all beginning to look the same now.

Switch 2 units are really getting up in numbers, making me think how big a boost it'll get during the week before Christmas.

It’s kind of surprising since both are niche franchises, but it’s to be expected. Overall, great numbers for the Switch 1&2.

Poor sales for Metroid, also in Japan... I'm beggining to think the game won't sell much overall. Which is a shame, as it's a FANTASTIC game, from a fantastic series. I'm enjoying it throughly!
If this one doesn't sell (and apparently it won't), I'm afraid Nintendo will stop making more Metroid games... One of my favorite series. But I would understand it, why would they care, if nobody else does...?

Oh well...

If Metroid games were easier, I would gladly buy them. But I cannot complete them. I gave up Prime (bought it at sale) at the mines, Dread (got it from a friend) not far from the beginning.

Where did those Switch 2 numbers come from!? Big stock increase?

A shame about Metroid Prime 4 but it is the Japan equivalent of Kirby Air Riders in UK.

Metroid was even below Air Riders? Yikes. That bums me out, honestly.

"Metroid Prime 4 underperforms in UK."
"Metroid Prime 4 underperforms in Japan."

McKenzie bros., I don't feel so good...

I dunno about anyone else, but I cancelled my MP4 preorder after the reviews. It seems nice but inessential, especially with SO many other releases to play.

Glad to see Octopath up there. I'm 70 hours into the game already and dont wanna stop playing

It's nice that Air Riders is continuing to do well in Japan. Hopefully it convinces Nintendo that other franchises like F-Zero, Wave Race and 1080 can coexist alongside Mario Kart.

I think the price increase from Nintendo for games certainly hasn’t helped either. I am much more selective now about which games I buy because 70 Euro and in some cases 80 or more is just too much. Games I would have taken a chance on before I don’t bother with now.

Eyeball mathematics but Octopath collectively putting up roughly 60K? Well done. My backlog is bursting at the seams or I would bite but happy to see

For comparison. Prime 1 Remastered sold 7,960, Prime 2 sold 17,680, and Prime 3 sold 34,151.

@the_beaver in good news, Nintendo doesn't always seem to base their decisions on the sales numbers. If this were a Sony or Ubisoft or EA property? Yeah, I'd be concerned. But Nintendo seems to lean more towards listening to what their developers want to do as opposed to what the market says will be a home run.

That said, I look forward to the same DoomTubers that said Pokemon sucked, ignore the sales numbers, pointing to these sales numbers to say Metroid sucks, look at the sales numbers.

@Johnny44 I think this was always the fairest criticism of the pricing model on games. Will the extra 10 bucks net out against the folks who pass because of the extra tenner?

I guess it still remains to be seen, but I'm more in your camp at the moment.

im pretty sure sales for prime 4 will be great and we still havent seen the western sales and digital sales either.

@OpheliaDynamight How have you come to that conclusion? I expect low sales is one of the major reasons Nintendo took 18 years to release a sequel to Prime 3 (with no other 3D game in between).

@ROMhaiku I think it was more to do with them not having a new, innovative game play mechanic for a Prime game than the sales numbers.

Don't get me wrong, if it sold 50 million units, yeah, they'd probably have put some more resources into figuring that out, but I don't know that the low sales were the biggest factor in that gap.

This is all speculation on my part though, so feel free to disagree.

@OpheliaDynamight Fair. I think we can only ever speculate on Nintendo's decision-making.

Pretty nice competition between Metroid Prime and Octopath Traveler!

Also, I bet Metroid Prime will end up selling around 4-5 million, which is honestly plenty enough copies for a more niche series to get more sequels.

And it deserves it. It's better than Prime 4 in my opinion

Really doubting it's a release that's going to have much in the way of legs given 1), it''s already fallen out of the top slot on the Switch 1 eShop under a week after releasing, and 2), about the most positive buzz it's really getting is, "Yeah, it's pretty good," and there are a lot of people who aren't being that nice about it.

I don't think there's any danger of Metroid as a series dying or anything - Dread is the best-selling individual release in the series and all - but between the nightmarish production and the attempts to big-up Prime not really seeming to have worked critically or commercially I could see it being a series that ends up sticking to 2D for awhile.

A mix of clunky/handholdy/unfun game design and a high game price has me waiting on a MP4 discount at this point.

Considering this is Japan, I don't think the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond numbers are that bad. I'm curious to see how the game is doing in other markets. Glad Octopath Traveler 0 has had a warm reception at least. Still not sure if that one's for me, but I may find out in time depending on how Octopath Traveler II treats me.

@MamaSymphonia Rolls my eyes.

Its really wild seeing Nintendo absolutely dominate the top 10 games so often besides one multiplatform game.

@BenAV You gotta be kidding me. Prime 4 had more innovative ideas, but people threw a fit.

@canaryfarmer Na. It's a great game. That's your loss.

@AllBLK No it's not.

@robotreptile I find most reviews nowadays very surface level, there have been highly rated games I completely bounce of off and games with mixed reviews that are some of my favorite entries in years

@OpheliaDynamight Psychic abilities? Bike? Barrior? Backwards air dash? Did you even play it?

@BenAV Yep.

Octopath Traveler 1 sold 110,111 copies, and Octopath Traveler 2 sold approximately 78,000 copies in its first week in Japan.

@michellelynn0976 My comment was that the gap was longer because they didn't have a new gameplay mechanic, not low sales.

That would then mean that they started developing the game once they brainstormed some new mechanics organically, which seems to be the case from your list of new mechanics in the game.

That said, no, I haven't played it and I doubt I will. I suck at anything first person. I'm glad you're enjoying it though.

It's interesting to see that it's the Switch 2 Edition of MP4 the one that charted. We'll see how the Switch 1 version fared by tomorrow.

@RiasGremory It’s not Metroid territory. But in Edwinworld Octopath 0 on PS5 comfortably crushed everything in its path.

Absolutely love prime 4 but I am worried we won’t see any more of these games the way it seems to be selling.

PS5 with disc is on number 7. 😟
It needs more love.

@michellelynn0976 which one of those words were meant to illicit innovative awe? This game is terribly mid and outdated. Scanning everything takes forever and isn't remotely fun, engaging or interesting. The enemey AI is so dumb and non-threatening, they're only ever challenging because they can easily avoid your 5mph projectiles with no full-auto so you just have to sit there spamming your trigger like a jackass. Constantly coming across locked off upgrades that require an upgrade you don't have yet is stressful design, considering how god awfully slow you traverse, the idea of having to go back later just to get a few more missiles or something is so tiresome. The "puzzles" are probably too easy for 5 year olds. The bosses just require jumping around until theres an opening and hoping your bullets hits while they're dancing around. Having no melee attack or counters feels odd. There's now no question in my mind why these games never sell more than 3 million copies, Retro are talented and I hope they either make the next entry 100x more modern or ditch the franchise for good.

@OpheliaDynamight But, in order to not make such a bad statement, it's always better to get educated first.

@Morsel I don't know if I've ever considered a Metroid game hard, though Prime 4 does have an easy mode.

That's not a good sign for Metroid, especially with how long we've been waiting for this game and the hype surrounding it.

@michellelynn0976 I literally said I was going to get it, just not for full price, which is a hefty price. Also, I've watched enough gameplay videos and well thought-out opinion pieces, and I know what I do and do not enjoy in video games, the entire desert 'thing' is incredibly unappealing to myself, and spending All. That. Time. crashing into green crystals looks like no fun and seems like something that should not be in a non-mobile game in 2025. As someone said, the entire desert environment looks like a solid generation behind the rest of the 'stages', wrt detail and immersion, and I don't disagree. The rest of the game visually looks amazing and I love the tracks I've heard on the Nintendo Music player. However, knowing that the enemy variety is minimal throughout, and that desert backtracking/back-and-forth/roaming takes up a considerable amount of playtime, plus that it's not even that long of a game it sounds, I can wait a little bit more. I am sure I will enjoy a lot of MP4 when I get to it, but after this long, I'm disappointed in what I've seen, and I can wait to spend less money on it than if I was truly excited.

@Lizuka honestly if they were smart they would take the first three Metroid games and remake them all in a collection using the engine for Dread. Though I would suggest that they use Zero Mission as the Metroid 1 game since the original Metroid 1 has aged very terribly and is not fun compared to every other game in the series.

@michellelynn0976 I'm not sure you're following along with what I was saying.

I said they didn't have any new mechanics 18 years ago that they wanted to try out for a Prime 4. Then, over time, they gathered some ideas and eventually started development on Prime 4, which is now filled with those new gameplay mechanics.

You're being very aggressive about a comment that wasn't at all a criticism of Prime 4.

@Anti-Matter it needs more Japanese friendly games.

Well that’s about right for Japan and Metroid, it’s never been a major player over there. It’s doing decent in the west from what I gather. I started it this week but I’m still very early on, I just got certified to ride the bike. I’m having a good time with it so far. I will say for a prime game I would’ve hoped we were at a grander scale by this gen, definitely not a bloated and empty open world, but this one does feel a bit confined in places besides that vast lonely desert. That really could be my biggest gripe, but so far I’m happy with it and I just hope we get more from this series but also the 2d games should have their place to.

As for now I rank them Prime 1,3,4,2.

@Shhh Lol You're uneducated on this game. You're lying about the bosses. So, tell me how do you defeat Sylux? Because if you think jumping around hoping the missels hit will work, you got a big shock coming to you.

Tell me, where do you hit the Omega Griever? There's a certain spot you hit. Actually, there's two.

Outdated? 🤣🤣 This is a joke right? Yet, you all want Metroid to be Metroid. That's Metroid sweetheart. Your criticisms are horrible.

Also, the puzzles can be solved by a five year old, yet you couldn't solve them right? Tell me how you find a hidden power tank in the Ice Belt? I want to hear this. Not all the puzzles are complex, but there's some in there that really do test your noggin.

No innovation? Like controlling your shot more than any video game has let you before? Suuuure Jan. I don't think you've played it. Now, it's not a perfect game, but a lot of what you're saying are downright lies.

@The_Nintendo_Expat Na. I just don't like lies. An outsider? Please, I've seen your comments.

@The_Nintendo_Expat Yeah right. The Switch 2 isn't bad. You're just trolling.

@OpheliaDynamight Psychic?

@canaryfarmer $70 bucks isn't bad. Ugh, I wish games had not gone up in price myself. Also, what you spend is your choice.

I completely overlooked that the Switch 1 family cleared 51,000 units this week. That is phenomenal for a console being put out to pasture. All that western graphical horsepower means nothing over there.

@michellelynn0976 when replying to posts, I noticed most accounts set up this year have one agenda.

@WiltonRoots Yep. I've noticed it too.

@michellelynn0976 I don't understand the question so I'm just going to answer it straightforward.

No. I am not psychic.

I hope the Prime 4 numbers are low like these across all regions. Beautiful art direction aside (the concept artists in particular should be promoted to a good company like Monolith), this game should not be rewarded for the slop it is. If that means not getting another Prime, so be it. Prime 4 is worse than nothing imo.

I enjoyed what I played for MP4 but I haven't touched it since the Pokémon DLC came out, think Nintendo's release schedule has not helped MP4 at all

That said I am sure every game will have its own measure of success realistically they are not gonna be expected MKW numbers for MP4 so it'll be fine

@michellelynn0976 so let me see if I'm following the logic here.

I post a comment saying that I think Nintendo develops games based more on what their developers want to do and can think up, not on what sales numbers are, so we might see a Prime 5 even if sales numbers aren't great (which is still to be determined).

I speculate (openly calling it speculation) that the 18 year gap may have been because the developers didn't have a new mechanic or direction they wanted to take the series in yet. Clearly, since Prime 4 exists, they found that new mechanic/direction.

You list a bunch of new things in Prime 4 and demand to know if I played it.

I agree they have new things in Prime 4 and that I haven't played it.

You call me uneducated.

I said I was literally defending Prime 4 as having new things.

You say I'm a troll.

Are you not seeing how this is a very confusing interaction for two humans to have?

I'm enjoying the game, but I really don't understand why they needed a massive hub area, since so far, my curiosity to investigate what I see on the horizon as Myles told me to do was rewarded with a wall telling me that I couldn't progress because I didn't have the thing I needed to get past the wall. Then Myles starts telling me to investigate the volcano specifically. I don't mind when a game is linear, but I do mind when it tries to pretend that it's non-linear. Why are you putting me in a big open area to explore, only to tell me that I'm only allowed to check out the southeast corner of the map?

Metroid Prime 4 might be Nintendo's most expensive flop. Even they didn't believe in the game, it got no marketing and was shoved in the tail of 2025 for a release.

Metroid Prime 4 did not deserve all the dirt people threw at it. It's a great game...

Quality of Metroid Prime 4 aside, Nintendo should have remastered 2 and 3. 3 was released eighteen years ago

@The_Nintendo_Expat I did not follow the whole conversation, but I went up a little bit, and you litteraly said "and I always wonder if the person realizes that "bad things selling well" is how the games industry got into the mess it's currently in", implying that Switch 2 is a bad product.

It's clearly not. You can dislike the games but it is a phenomenal piece of hardware.

FPS has always been a problem genre in Japan, so this is no great surprise.

@OpheliaDynamight Because the psychic mechanics in Prime 4 are new. Sheesh

@The_Nintendo_Expat I'm not rattled, but I have seen your comments.

I couldn't finish three because of the shots you had to make with great speed and precision.

Didn't finish two because of the dark world which sucked every second I was in it.

They nailed it with 1 but I'm scared of getting 4 and being duped again! Probably will, because the rest of the series still outweighs these two Downers.

metroid prime 4 flopped real bad..

@Morsel I recommend Metroid Zero missions (I think it's on NSO?...) It holds your hand but also throws in a lot of curve balls. It really gives you that Metroid feel! Fusion was my second and works too! They are both more manageable then the rest of the series maybe.

So far, Octopath 0 is the way better game of the two, so no surprises there for me. I'm about 8 hrs into each so maybe that changes at some point but I feel like it isn't likely.

@MamaSymphonia honestly, the reviews totally exaggerated any "issues" Prime 4 has. I went in expecting the worst from the NPCs and was actually pleasantly surprised with the voice acting, they haven't annoyed me at all and I thought I was sensitive to annoying limpet hand-holders after I couldn't make it through Pokémon Shield's snorefest opening... perhaps the egregious reusing of Sun & Moon's animations was what got me there, but still. I also enjoy the desert area, riding the bike is just plain fun!
In conclusion, eff the reviews it's actually really good.

@HammerGalladeBro where does the longer list get posted? I know it's not posted on nlife but is there a version I can read in English somewhere?

@Shhh it sounds like you're annoyed that a Metroid game plays... like a metroidvania? The clue is in the name my friend

@Otoemetry I mean, I watched a lot of footage of people playing as well. Like I said, it looks decent, it looks like a Metroid game... but to me it definitely doesn't look like a $70 experience.

@MamaSymphonia I suppose that's a choice you have to make but I just thought I'd give you my opinion based on my experience of playing the game. I deliberately avoided reading full reviews or watching play throughs once all the noise started dropping on social media so I didn't taint my experience of the game and I was genuinely shocked at how different my thoughts were in comparison, it makes me feel like most of the complaints were ragebait designed to generate clicks

Even acknowledging a few flaws compared to the masterpiece that is Prime Remastered, I'm loving Prime 4.

But I'm also a weirdo that loves taking my time in a Prime game and scanning absolutely everything, learning the lore piece by piece and taking in the ambience in between battles etc, so maybe I'm just the ideal type of fan for the series.

It's a shame the series (Metroid in general) doesn't always sell very well, but it is what it is. Plus Nintendo's marketing (or lack thereof) for this game was pretty awful and I really don't know what they were thinking.

@Otoemetry For me, the crushing lonely atmosphere of Metroid Prime IS the franchise. They lost my interest and my purchase (at full price, at least) the second they chose to compromise that for chatty NPCs and huge, completely empty environments.

And anyone who says the desert and MacKenzie don't ruin the atmosphere because "they're only in part of the game" might as well argue that a drop of cyanide won't ruin a bottle of wine.

I'm glad people are getting "something" out of the game, but it's definitely not the something I'd want from Metroid Prime, and that alone is disappointing enough to tarnish the whole experience.

It's the Octopath players might be why the sales figures are high as they are. I got MP4but playing Octopath0 right now and getting stick trying get past chapter one.

@The_Nintendo_Expat What? I never said that. Good grief. Lol

@MamaSymphonia Yawn. This is why Metroid can never catch on. That's nothing, you still get the isolation with this game. Prime 3 had NPCs, Other M, etc. Good job judging a game before you play it. Slow clap.

@garfreek Thanks for the tips!

@MamaSymphonia the first paragraph of this comment seems like a bit of a contradiction, if you ask me, but you do you.
I'm telling you it feels exactly like a Metroid Prime game and you should trust me since I've been playing them for over 20 years

@Otoemetry Famitsu themselves post it at the end of the source, on the red text that says ゲーム販売本数ランキングページ.
Here's the link, it currently has last week's top 30: https://www.famitsu.com/ranking/game-sales

They usually post the top 30 a day or two after posting the top 10.
Unfortunately, I don't know if someone posts them in English.

@HammerGalladeBro thanks that's really helpful, hopefully my browser can auto-translate!

@HammerGalladeBro I'm curious, what does digestion rate mean?
Edit: also can translate as 'sales rate' though I'm still unsure what that would mean and how they measure said rate 🤷🏼😅

So happy to see Octopath on there. Game divers even more sales. I dunno if it'll top OT2 for me, but it's definitely getting close with how deep OT0 has its hooks in me.

Metroid Prime 4 is a very good game. I am having a lot of fun with it. I believe they are building on this game and will give us another Metroid with in the next two years.

Momotaro Dentetsu 2: Anata no Machi mo Kitto Aru – Higashi Nihon Hen + Nishi Nihon Hen - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Just loving that catchy title.

Do we have access to digital sales?

@Dr_Wright the only time Nintendo shares digital numbers is during their quarterly reports, and even then it's not usually specific numbers but rather a ratio of digital vs. physical sales that you can use to find the approximate numbers from the total sales figures

@Otoemetry I know, I shouldn't trust my own lying eyes, eh?

The problem I have with Metroid games is that if I put it down for more than a couple days and then pick it back up, I forget where I am, where I’ve been and where I’m supposed to go next so I often just give up. I’ve restarted Prime Remastered multiple times like this and would estimate I get about halfway through each time. I’ve never beaten it.

@MamaSymphonia well if you're going to watch someone else play the whole game then of course you're not going to want to play it yourself

Prime 4 coming out so close to Christmas could lead to it having some delayed sales in some countries (not Japan, obviously). It’s a must have for me being my 2nd favorite Nintendo franchise, but it was a good option to add to the Christmas list so I held off. Sales of the physical version going under the tree will obviously show early, but there could be a lot of eshop credit or people picking a game after opening gifts.

@WiltonRoots wen the western sales for both physical and digital comes out that would make the doubters stop pulling things of thin air or assume anything without actual facts.

@Otoemetry beats me what it means, hopefully someone that reads Japanese could chime in.

In any case, the sales chart has been updated with the top 30, revealing the Switch 1 version of Metroid Prime 4 at #15 with 7,586 sales.

I'm a long time Metroid fan but I gotta say I'm absolutely loving Octopath Traveler! Nice blend of an interesting story and town building. Still hoping I get Metroid prime 4 for Christmas though ✌️

@The_Nintendo_Expat Well, that was a lot of nothing. Lol

@The_Nintendo_Expat Personally, I think the Switch 1 era showcased Nintendo's highest overall quality in a single generation of games... well, possibly ever. And I've been playing since the NES. So maybe it's just by comparison with the overwhelming and seemingly endless magic the Switch gave us so early on that these offerings feel particularly weak.

@The_Nintendo_Expat no, it isn't as annoying as people made out. It was overblown, as usual, by people who have an ulterior motive of getting as much engagement as possible for their content and controversy generates more clicks than a lukewarm reaction.
I don't know if you've played this game, I'm guessing not based on your comments, but this supposedly chatty NPC basically ignores you once you're out of the starting biome and even during that first part barely talks to you unless you're showing signs of being stuck... even then it's only an occasional pointer to the next logical zone of exploration. I managed to explore the entire desert and that reminder only came two or three times, maybe I'll find more NPCs in the 4th biome but right now the prevailing online opinion of them in this game is totally misrepresenting the reality of the game.
As for the value proposition, that's highly subjective and quite frankly you cannot make that decision for others who clearly believe the game is worth $70 or more.

@Otoemetry nah, Hollow Knight is my favorite game of all time, and I can list 30 other Metroidvanias off the top of my head that have catapulted the genre to new heights leaving this outdated game in the dust, as if Prime is even all that comparable anyways.

@michellelynn0976 wow look at you go, what a mess. All over a game that will sell 3 million at best. Did you have a blast dropping little bombs to stop the mean tornado man? Did that innovation blow you away? And oh, look how cool it is to grab a little purple knob wItH yOuR MiNd and make it follow the path to unlock stuff, truly a breakthrough accomplishment, you're so right, good job big guy! I stopped playing halfway through the volcano temple because the boredom was driving me insane. I'm glad the puzzles are enough to meet your standards, my point stands.

@The_Nintendo_Expat "Expertly sabotaging their best franchises is among Nintendo's many talents."

How sadly true!

@Shhh

Well, it certainly speaks to subjectivity between players. I've never been able to stick with Hollow Knight and find enough fun with it (I've really wanted to), yet I'm having a blast with MP4 despite some notable flaws that it has. Neither of us are wrong, we just find enjoyment in different areas/things.

@eldersnake There's an element of objectivity with sales numbers, review scores and frequency of reference across the public sphere but yes I'm certainly not trying to discredit or deligitimize anyone who finds this to be their cup of tea - I just see a lot of lost potential with the series and I believe not only are Nintendo holding themselves back by not evolving it but they're hurting the fans because more of the same that only ever sells a handful of copies means more of the same waiting a quarter of a lifetime for the next entry.

@Shhh You basically did a whole comment telling me how butthurt you are. Lol And, I think it'll do more than 3 million. Maybe 4 million. But you just showed how immature and that you bring nothing to a discussion.