Metroid Prime 4: Beyond | Review Thread

Better than Metroid prime 2 and 3 at 81

Austin Powers Doctor Evil GIF


Thats what 18 years of starvation does to ppl

2 and 3 were reviewed at a very different time, I don't think those games would review much different from what Beyond is getting, specially Echoes, you already had people crying because the planet kills you while you stand doing nothing.

I don't trust "journos" playing the game, I mean, most of them were probably infants when the first Prime came out, lol.
 
And I get the thought process too "If we give the game a bad score less new/general consumers will buy the game which means less sales for the game which means Nintendo might shelf the franchise for another 10+ years again"

And considering how long they held on to the completed remake of Metroid Prime 1 and how long it has been since a new F-Zero game has released out of all publishers out there Nintendo is one of the most willing to pull this sort of thing but at the same time it doesn't feel right that this game is getting off easy because of this.
A consensus will form when people play the game in a few days. My hype has lowered based on what I've read but I'll still give it a fair shake because it's Metroid. My assumption is the game will be considered a disappointment like Other M.

The EMMIs kill the entire flow of the experience and the experience in general to me.
Couldn't agree more.
 
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Better than Metroid prime 2 and 3 at 81

Austin Powers Doctor Evil GIF


Thats what 18 years of starvation does to ppl
Prime 2 is the one people look back on more negatively than positively due to how much back tracking the dark world created. I enjoyed the entire experience enough to 100% the game, but I can understand their issues.

I doubt that game would review as well today.

LOL! All the reviews are invalid for various reasons I've come up with, LOL.

Just so embarrassing man. You guys never grew up. Arrested development.

At this point I honestly don't understand the discourse here. The game is reviewing positively, yet most you guys are trying to convince others it's not?

Of the 69 (nice) current reviews, 53 are 80s and up. With 9 reviews in the 70s and 7 in the 60s. That's 77% of reviews being positive, 13% mixed and 10% slightly more mixed. No one is calling this game bad.
 
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LOL! All the reviews are invalid for various reasons I've come up with, LOL.

Just so embarrassing man. You guys never grew up. Arrested development.
Lol, you're accusing him when you're doing this way harder than him, at most you can accuse him of invalidating 1/5th of the reviews when you wanna invalidate the 4/5ths that are way more positive instead and keep that 1/5th as the truth, all the while shitting on people who point out the positive aspects they've been reading/watching (even in the lower ratings) as not having played it so not having any valid argument whatsoever when you do the opposite while also not having played it... Get a grip, again.
 
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Prime 2 is the one people look back on more negatively than positively due to how much back tracking the dark world created. I enjoyed the entire experience enough to 100% the game, but I can understand their issues.

I doubt that game would review as well today.

It's funny, to this day I never understood what it was about backtracking that drove so many people up the wall. Still don't, really.

I loved that game. And the first too, of course.
 
A consensus will form when people play the game in a few days. My hype has lowered based on what I've read but I'll still give it a fair shake because it's Metroid. My assumption is the game will be considered a disappointment like Other M.
I was hoping for something closer to the quality of Metroid Prime 1 & 2 not this combination of things from Metroid Prime 3 and Other M so I went from "I want to play this Day 1" to "I'll buy it when I clear my backlog a bit more"

I will give it a fair chance and play it so I can judge the game for myself but I'm no longer in a rush to do so.
 
Metroid Prime 3
I mean that's a 90 on mc (even while being on such an underpowered system vs the norm back then, probably docked points for not being on the tech level of PS3 games and such, not dissimilar to this game's situation I suppose, since it's indeed a Switch 1 game in 2025), basically a margin of error difference from MP2 on there (a 92), with just the first game having a somewhat meaningfully higher difference (97, what with being a fresh new formula at that point, well, other than the 2D to 3D Zelda similarities) so maybe don't trust reviewers either if you don't agree with that to begin with 🤷‍♂️
 
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I don't trust "journos" playing the game, I mean, most of them were probably infants when the first Prime came out, lol.

I don't trust anyone's opinion on Metroid game unless they played the first game on NES or famicom when it first came out. Maybe Super Metroid on the SNES. They will know what a true Metroid game needs to be like. If this game has excessive handholding and mostly linear structure than I'm out. I fucking hating Metroid Dread because of that. Fake ass Metroid game that was.
 
I don't trust anyone's opinion on Metroid game unless they played the first game on NES or famicom when it first came out. Maybe Super Metroid on the SNES. They will know what a true Metroid game needs to be like. If this game has excessive handholding and mostly linear structure than I'm out. I fucking hating Metroid Dread because of that. Fake ass Metroid game that was.
The IGN review says that the areas are mostly linear, going from point A to point B. Honestly, this is my biggest disappointment. I can overlook all the other factors if they can at least free up these areas but well I guess that is a bit too much to ask from these devs.
 
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Lol, you're accusing him when you're doing this way harder than him, at most you can accuse him of invalidating 1/5th of the reviews when you wanna invalidate the 4/5ths that are way more positive instead and keep that 1/5th as the truth, all the while shitting on people who point out the positive aspects they've been reading/watching (even in the lower ratings) as not having played it so not having any valid argument whatsoever when you do the opposite while also not having played it... Get a grip, again.
I kind of agree with him though. Discounting a review due to when someone was born seems kind of crazy. Lots of reviewers weren't born when Doom released for example and 2016 and Eternal reviewed well.

I don't care about reviews at all for games I'm interested in but that seems a strange reason to discount them if you do care about reviews.
 
Lol, you're accusing him when you're doing this way harder than him, at most you can accuse him of invalidating 1/5th of the reviews when you wanna invalidate the 4/5ths that are way more positive instead and keep that 1/5th.

I haven't invalidated any reviews. I haven't cast aspersions against any reviewers, their media outfits or indeed entire careers.

I haven't said the equivalent (but opposite) of any of the usual grasping, desperate screaming about reviews and reviewers.

Where's my post saying that X very positive review is fake, paid for, written by somebody who isn't a REAL FAN, written by an intern, written by someone who is a fanboy etc?

Nowhere, because I haven't written anything like that at all.

What you find interesting about reviews, what you find illuminating, what you choose to focus on or highlight is one thing.

Constantly trying to undermine the validity of reviews with a series of conspiracy theories, insults, insinuations, made up drivel - that's completely different.

We've literally had someone in here earlier suggesting that all the 'negative' reviews (I mean they largely seem to say the game is ok at least) were probably actually written by interns and that the interns couldn't be bothered to review the game and so just consulted what 'haters' of the previews said. Or something, fuck knows what they were talking about.

It's absurd and it's embarrassing behaviour, this constant drum beat of "well, if a review is negative then it's a fake review that doesn't count for bullshit self-serving reasons that I've just made up".

Jesus Christ, they're just reviews. Professional opinions. There's no need to embarrass yourself by blatantly and openly trying to find ways of nullifying them as valid, subjective opinions.

Again, like I said, it's like some of you still can't process the concept of reviews. After maybe 20+ years of talking about this stuff online. Oh, a bad review? That's fake and gay. Games journalists? They don't exist. Opinions I don't like? Not real, disregard.

Do you guys read your own shit back to yourself?
 
I mean that's a 90 on mc (even while being on such an underpowered system vs the norm back then, probably docked points for not being on the tech level of PS3 games and such, not dissimilar to this game's situation I suppose, since it's indeed a Switch 1 game in 2025), basically a margin of error difference from MP2 on there (a 92), with just the first game having a somewhat meaningfully higher difference (97, what with being a fresh new formula at that point, well, other than the 2D to 3D Zelda similarities) so maybe don't trust reviewers either if you don't agree with that to begin with 🤷‍♂️
I think the main issue is that by Nintendo's own words Metroid was inspired by Alien and it's considered a Western franchise and the thing we love about it here (Atmospheric alone time in a new environment) REALLY doesn't go well with Japanese players because they prefer their games to have a social aspect (social as in having people to talk to or having a party in a JRPG).

So ever since Metroid Prime 3 they have been inserting these random Federation Force jobbers that we don't care about here in the West in an attempt to socialize the game for Japanese players and they triple down on this attempt here again with Metroid Prime 4.

The Metroid series has sold so bad in Japan that even on it's own with the low sales of Metroid Dread in Japan it outsold the sales of the entire franchise in that region up to that point.

So it's evident that Nintendo still wants to try and appeal to Japanese players even if it comes at the expense of the experience that we Western players want or expect from this franchise.
 
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I haven't cast aspersions against any reviewers, their media outfits or indeed entire careers.

I haven't said the equivalent (but opposite) of any of the usual grasping, desperate screaming about reviews and reviewers.

Where's my post saying that X very positive review is fake, paid for, written by somebody who isn't a REAL FAN, written by an intern, written by someone who is a fanboy etc?

Nowhere, because I haven't written anything like that at all.
Well, I never said you did any of that so again you're going on another monologue based on nothing anyone said because you love listening to yourself. Of course you're invalidating the 50 positive reviews if you're constantly shooting down positive talk of the game and pretending the total mc, brought down by said 10 negative reviews, is an objective truth about it meaning it indeed can't be as good as any previous game that had a higher total mc that is also the objective truth of those so the new lower mc one can't be as good of a game. Without playing it. While accusing those who think they will like it equally based on this or that thing they read or saw so they will overlook the more negative spins as bullshit without having played it. While pretending it's a fact the NPCs are bad/annoying/ruin the atmosphere/etc. based on those 10, even though there are many others saying the opposite, that it's still fine and isolated for the most part, no more egregious than Prime 3 (which, again, has a 90 mc, and was plenty isolated for the most part past the intro, but maybe you don't find that objective either) and are actually likeable enough rather than annoying/bad. You already accused me of similar even though I have yet to say the game's good/better than this or that myself, just commented on what I read of reviews (and again, haven't said anything about any being more right than others myself, even for Gamekult all I said is they haven't reviewed the remaster at least so that I could maybe gauge how they rate Prime style in general, as clearly even here some think all Nintendo games suck so of course this one does too, and you mocked me over saying that), just like you're doing, except not latching on the minority of negatives as the only objective ones (cos all told even an 8/10 is obviously a great score, clearly folks here take the 6/10s as the real objective truth to bash the game with) and shooting down anyone going by the positive talk. You even implied that talk of inflated Nintendo scores is right here. So spare me the defending poor reviewers spiel.
 
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No it legit isn't. The EMMIs kill the entire flow of the experience and the experience in general to me. Shit, it's even called Dread because it knows those parts are fucking terrible.
Someone have emmi ptsd

Also imo one thing the EMMIs did for Dread was to haste the flow of those parts, you must be fast and precise when entering EMMIs territory, the only EMMI that ll "kill the flow" is the purple one most cause ppl dont have the gravity suit the first time they got there and they also forget to use the magnetic hook to move fast trought the water.

Other than the purple one, any other room is a fast paced race filled with adrenaline.
 
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I kind of agree with him though. Discounting a review due to when someone was born seems kind of crazy. Lots of reviewers weren't born when Doom released for example and 2016 and Eternal reviewed well.

I don't care about reviews at all for games I'm interested in but that seems a strange reason to discount them if you do care about reviews.

The point is just to come up with a series of arbitrary, evidence-free claims that magically render subjective opinions objectively wrong.

Why NOT just casually suggest that any negative (really, just insufficiently positive) review of a game you've decided you like was written by someone that was too young to have played the original trilogy (claim 1) which somehow (claim 2 and also ???) automatically means that their review of it can safely be discounted/ignored?

It sounds completely ridiculous and you've offered literally zero evidence, but why not just write it anyway? Why not just make any old shit up, just assert whatever you like?

Who's going to challenge you and say literally what the fuck are you talking about?

So just say whatever. What's next - games journalists have always hated Metroid? They all hate fun? Metroid Prime is just too hardcore for them, and they're all soft? The international anti-Prime conspiracy paid them off to say that the game is mid?
 
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No it legit isn't. The EMMIs kill the entire flow of the experience and the experience in general to me. Shit, it's even called Dread because it knows those parts are fucking terrible.
I disagree.

They're also pretty short sections and once you get the ability to kill them it's pretty satisfying. Dread has an amazing art-style, some of the best Boss battles and makes Samus a straight up badass. Amazing game.
 
I hope Retro reads all of these reviews (and some of the comments) and immediately makes adjustments for Prime 5. Alas, I have zero hope for Prime 4 getting a "shut them up" patch.

Sounds like the core game is solid at least, so I'm still looking forward to that, but I hope they learn that not every series evolution is for the better. I'm just afraid they're more likely to cancel than course correct at this point.

The "isolationists" were right. Innovate away, but don't chase the crowd by injecting tropey NPCs (likely written by tropey NPCs) into a series built on atmosphere of isolation and alien menace.
 
Well, I never said you did any of that so again you're going on another monologue based on nothing anyone said because you love listening to yourself. Of course you're invalidating the 50 positive reviews if you're constantly shooting down positive talk of the game and pretending the total mc, brought down by said 10 negative reviews, is an objective truth about it meaning it indeed can't be as good as any previous game that had a higher total mc that is also the objective truth of those so the new lower mc one can't be as good of a game. Without playing it. While accusing those who think they will like it equally based on this or that thing they read or saw as saying bullshit without having played it. While pretending it's a fact the NPCs are bad/annoying/ruin the atmosphere/etc. based on those 10, even though there are many other reviews saying the opposite, that it's still fine and isolated for the most part and no more egregious than Prime 3 (which, again, has a 90 mc, maybe you don't find that deserving either). You already accused me of similar even though I have yet to say the game's good/better than this or that myself, just commented on read reviews (and again, haven't said anything about any being more right than others myself), just like you're doing, but not latching on the negatives and shooting down anyone going by the positive talk. You even implied that talk of inflated Nintendo scores is right here. So spare me the defending poor reviewers spiel.

I wasn't saying that I think inflated Nintendo scores are right and I wasn't agreeing with that. That's a complicated topic (biases, the effects of nostalgia etc etc) but for the same reasons that I've written everything else I have I don't think it's very fair or useful to make broad statements like "games journos just love Nintendo games" or whatever.

All things being equal I would just stick to the facts, be reasonable about how opinions work and take a position of "Nintendo games get reviewed well because people tend to like them".

You've misunderstood what I was saying, possibly because my own post there had misunderstood the thinking behind the post I was quoting and so my intention seemed different.

My actual intention in that post was to argue against saying things like that. I don't know why people feel the need to keep saying anything from this genre of comment.

We both know that the same people stopping by this thread to say that they always thought that games reviewers are full of shit and that they ignore reviews would not be stopping by the thread to say if the MC was 98.

And what do you think I'd be saying if that was the case and leaving aside dumb aggregate scores (I find the obsession with MC scores just so strange) that the critical consensus was that this was a masterpiece?

I'd be in here going nuts with everyone else. I'd be enjoying that moment. I'd be revealing that I only went and bought a Switch 2 for this game, like an absolute mad lad. I'd be ecstatic.

Do you think for one nano second that I'd be in here sneering at the reviewers who declared it a new classic? Do you think I'd be scrabbling around for conspiracy theories as to why the tidal wave of critical praise should be ignored?

Would I bollocks, I can tell you. But that kind of behaviour is what this thread is riddled with. That's what you see on this forum everyday. It's so completely reflexive for way too many gamers online.

I just don't get it. I simply don't read reviews and ever think how can I undermine this? How can I suggest that the reviewer is somehow incapable of reviewing the game?
 
So the spanish developers at MercurySteam actually won the Metacritic war for Metroid, huh? Pretty damn impressive.

Even Retro Studio, even though it's a Nintendo first-party, didn't deliver a higher score for the franchise than "los forasteros". Anyway, ever since the first trailer I've been wanting Metroid Dread 2 way more than Prime 4. Hopefully Nintendo makes that happen.

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It's like some are scared of spending $70 on a Nintendo game, so they're gas lighting not only others, but themselves as well.

Nintendo must be the greatest company of all time for such concern trolling at this level, and the attempts to claim an otherwise high scoring game can somehow be so "disastrous" without even being played at this point is so disingenuous.

Some of you are really putting in the work already. Good job.
 
Miles, as feared from those divisive initial previews, turns out to be the main supporting character in the game, gracing players with his Jar Jar Binks brand of comedy quips via intercom messages and regular visits throughout the game. The other cast members are also flimsy caricatures, including the equally irritating Armstrong, a Samus fangirl who winces at the bounty hunter's presence and, at one point, even asks for her autograph.

It's sombre stuff for fans of the more grounded games in the Metroid series, and powers some dated gameplay segments, including escort and protection sequences that result in a game-over screen if your AI companions aren't properly protected. All the while, they'll reward you with dialogue barks like, "Sarge, look! She's doing Morph Ball!"
Holy shit.... Is that real?

Sounds even worse than OtherM.
 
Sad. The one thing i loved about Metroid games is the atmosphere and isolation. Some of the entries disturbed this but with this one they basically took a huge dump on it with all those characters.

And they even speak to you through radio com? Ugh!

Let me guess, Retro Studios is not the same people anymore, are they?

The franchise has truly lost it's identity now. This is a huge, huge pass for me.
 
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The negatives seem to be the NPCs, hand holding and the desert/bike combo. One review mentioned that this is the easiet Metroid to 100% because the map shows all item locations.

I'm gonna buy it because its metroid. I hope Prime 4 continues to score lower than Prime 1 and Dread so the idiots that had them make it more like BoTW get tossed.
 
At this point I honestly don't understand the discourse here. The game is reviewing positively, yet most you guys are trying to convince others it's not?

Of the 69 (nice) current reviews, 53 are 80s and up. With 9 reviews in the 70s and 7 in the 60s. That's 77% of reviews being positive, 13% mixed and 10% slightly more mixed. No one is calling this game bad.

I'm just talking about the ongoing jihad many people here have against reviews and reviewers. In my quoted post I actually meant to say the 'negative' (as you say and I've pointed out - are they?) reviews and not actually all reviews but when somebody's attempt to defend against a review they don't like is to immediately rubbish all reviews and reviewers then, well, they are also throwing under all the other reviews and reviewers under the bus.

I actually agree with you (leaving aside MC analysis) and don't think the game at all sounds like flatly a bad game in a binary sense nor that the reviews overall are bad. It had reviewed decently to good.

I wrote much earlier that I felt that the overall reaction here was an overreaction. I still do, like you. It doesn't match the overall review sentiment.

It is an overreaction that isn't surprising though given the MC score obsession here and how intense the anticipation for this game was - at least among those who were interested in it at all.

My personal angle is about the review invalidation nonsense and with the game specifically, a sense of personal disappointment and wariness about the game and also how much more ridiculous it clearly has become that anyone who voiced concerns about the negative aspects noted in the previews was attacked and mocked for thinking any of that stuff might not be great. Then we get reviews both very positive and somewhat negative where those elements are argued to be negatives.

Funnily enough where I'm coming from this is that I was really excited about the possibility of this game being god-tier or at least really good. But it has been hard to get super excited about what I've read so far.

It's also hard to decide whether you want to buy a console (largely just for this) a full price brand new game to then play said game on said console and be worried that you're going to be terribly let down (because we all have different standards) and that you've spent a lot of money on something you're now disappointed with and not sure you really want.

I mean, if I go and buy this and I really don't like it I'm going to feel like a real fool for getting so excited yet again, let alone for spending hundreds on the console and the game.

So that's why the disappointing nature of the less positive reviews is so off-putting. It's risky to put so much money down on this and so much personal hope - I was fantasising about a Prime 4 in the first few years after 3 too, just like a lot of fans.

I've grown so sick of getting excited and getting badly let down. Couple that with a sense of deep dissatisfaction about some aspects of gaming generally feeling like they're just not getting better or progressing over the past two decades and that explains my position.

I feel like there's so much potential in games. I feel like there's so much more potential in this very series than it has ever shown before, which is saying something when I think the previous games were amazing. So when I hear from some reviews that this is basically ok (which isn't bad, clearly) then that is more disappointing than just looking at the overall scores would reveal. I'm not looking at the scores; I'm looking at lines and paragraphs from reviews that say very concerning things about the game as it relates to me personally.

I was waiting for these reviews to come in right down to the minute. I was ready to order the game as soon as I saw that my concerns were *not* being reflected in the reviews. But that didn't happen. And I've got a still boxed Switch 2, controller, screen protector that I need to decide if I'm sending back or not.

And I don't think I can justify all the expense for the sense of the game I'm picking up from the reviews. Or should I say that I'm not confident of that. I'm torn. After having an initially quite bad reaction to the overall reception and the parts that were being noted as negatives I have since felt like maybe I would just say fuck it and buy the game anyway, keep the Switch 2, complete the damn game now (rather than years from now) and just deal with what comes out of that.

I don't know. I don't know. I wanted to feel the magic again, to sense that magic in the reviews. That Halo CE moment. That Ocarina of Time moment. That Metroid Prime moment! But I haven't, so far.

I've queued up the most heavily positive video reviews that were posted in here to watch later. I need to select 3-5 of the most positive reviews to go over. Maybe I'll get that sense of the possibility of feeling that magic moment again, maybe I'll get that back.
 
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A major Nintendo game landing an 8 from both IGN and GameSpot is wild. That's basically critics telling you it's good but chill.

Edit: 6 from Eurogamer??… yeesh. What's going on?
 
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A major Nintendo game landing an 8 from both IGN and GameSpot is wild. That's basically critics telling you it's good but chill.

Edit: 6 from Eurogamer??… yeesh. What's going on?

Eurogamer gave it three out of five; good. Or is it 'ok'?

You're much, much better off reading the review through.

Anyway, regardless of a review score and how you translate it into an adjective the review doesn't exactly blow your underwear off with anticipation.

Yeah it's mixed, it's ok, that it's 'entertaining but not memorable' is just not what a lot of us wanted to hear so many years.
 
I mean Dread ended up being up a being a huge hit for not being a very good Metroid game so it could work out for Prime 4 anyway.
Why is there a formula for a "good Metroid" game? And I honestly believe the only two games this whole series is judged on and can't get out of its shadow are Super and Prime 1
 
I haven't invalidated any reviews. I haven't cast aspersions against any reviewers, their media outfits or indeed entire careers.

I haven't said the equivalent (but opposite) of any of the usual grasping, desperate screaming about reviews and reviewers.

Where's my post saying that X very positive review is fake, paid for, written by somebody who isn't a REAL FAN, written by an intern, written by someone who is a fanboy etc?

Nowhere, because I haven't written anything like that at all.

What you find interesting about reviews, what you find illuminating, what you choose to focus on or highlight is one thing.

Constantly trying to undermine the validity of reviews with a series of conspiracy theories, insults, insinuations, made up drivel - that's completely different.

We've literally had someone in here earlier suggesting that all the 'negative' reviews (I mean they largely seem to say the game is ok at least) were probably actually written by interns and that the interns couldn't be bothered to review the game and so just consulted what 'haters' of the previews said. Or something, fuck knows what they were talking about.

It's absurd and it's embarrassing behaviour, this constant drum beat of "well, if a review is negative then it's a fake review that doesn't count for bullshit self-serving reasons that I've just made up".

Jesus Christ, they're just reviews. Professional opinions. There's no need to embarrass yourself by blatantly and openly trying to find ways of nullifying them as valid, subjective opinions.

Again, like I said, it's like some of you still can't process the concept of reviews. After maybe 20+ years of talking about this stuff online. Oh, a bad review? That's fake and gay. Games journalists? They don't exist. Opinions I don't like? Not real, disregard.

Do you guys read your own shit back to yourself?
Well you are obviously not reading your comments back lol.
 
Prime 2 is the one people look back on more negatively than positively due to how much back tracking the dark world created. I enjoyed the entire experience enough to 100% the game, but I can understand their issues.

I doubt that game would review as well today.



At this point I honestly don't understand the discourse here. The game is reviewing positively, yet most you guys are trying to convince others it's not?

Of the 69 (nice) current reviews, 53 are 80s and up. With 9 reviews in the 70s and 7 in the 60s. That's 77% of reviews being positive, 13% mixed and 10% slightly more mixed. No one is calling this game bad.
The problem is that the so called "concerned fans" love to focus on those lower reviews and keep repeating those quotes as the truth while ignoring everything else that doesn't support that narrative.
Even the person you quoted acts like he is a massive metroid fan but a few lower reviews and he already decided to sell his switch and buy a PS5, this tells me everything you need to know of these people.
 
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