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[Magicpaint]

My only worry about Prime 4 (aside from Shitty hunters like Sylux polluting the thing but that seems inevitable at this point) at present is the art design. I feel like Retro Studios worked some real magic to create some of the the most breathtaking, detailed environments in all of gaming. Each room had something unique and interesting -- it made exploring in these games (especially Prime 1) an absolute joy.

I hope Prime 4 can live up to that.

 

[Brickhunt]

I really don't get the cynicism around Sylux. Apparently Sylux has some pretty valid reasons for despising the Federation, and Samus's loyalty to them, and as we learn in future games the Federation isn't exactly as altruistic as Samus initially believes and, coincidentally enough, by the end of Fusion she's a fugitive against the law, just the same as Sylux.

It makes me wonder if the Federation didn't screw over Sylux or someone important to them and Sylux's actions might have more validity than just "I hate authority" - especially since Sylux's actions seem very personally driven.

Not to mention that Noxus, mentioned in his backstory to be good aligned and fighting against injustice, is also opposed to Samus in Hunters, which gives credibility to the idea that the Federation is not well perceived by the rest of the universe.

 

[Jotthah]

Where did you pull this from? Not that i don't already have an idea.

They probably mean this one for Material Artist

It is listed under Skills.
This is the only mention of PBR on the site.

 

[Rodin]

They probably mean this one for Material Artist

It is listed under Skills.
This is the only mention of PBR on the site.

I remember that, i was referring to "PBR almost exclusively used for realistic art styles" which is factually wrong. Games with a cartoony artstyle can greatly benefit from it, and they already do.

By the way, i personally don't think NLG is working on the game. That's not a "new talented studio", they've been around for a while and they already worked on the series with FF, so the "new" part doesn't even work for "first time on a Prime game".

 

[ResidentWeevil13]

I really don't get the cynicism around Sylux. Apparently Sylux has some pretty valid reasons for despising the Federation, and Samus's loyalty to them, and as we learn in future games the Federation isn't exactly as altruistic as Samus initially believes and, coincidentally enough, by the end of Fusion she's a fugitive against the law, just the same as Sylux.

It makes me wonder if the Federation didn't screw over Sylux or someone important to them and Sylux's actions might have more validity than just "I hate authority" - especially since Sylux's actions seem very personally driven.

I just haven't seen evidence that the Metroid series can execute stories that have to do with antagonist hunters or the Galactic Federation well. To me, those storylines always feel like Saturday-morning cartoons.

IMO, what was done well story-wise in the prime games, was having Samus learn about an alien race and their history (and usually their demise as well) through the environment and logs. It's way more tasteful and mature imo, and seems less silly.

It's just a preference, but the less stuff about the hunters and the Federation, the better.

 

[Vampirolol]

I really don't get the cynicism around Sylux. Apparently Sylux has some pretty valid reasons for despising the Federation, and Samus's loyalty to them, and as we learn in future games the Federation isn't exactly as altruistic as Samus initially believes and, coincidentally enough, by the end of Fusion she's a fugitive against the law, just the same as Sylux.

It makes me wonder if the Federation didn't screw over Sylux or someone important to them and Sylux's actions might have more validity than just "I hate authority" - especially since Sylux's actions seem very personally driven.

That's exactly the most boring plot twist possible and it will definitely come true if they stick with the "Sylux hates the federation" thing. There is a possibility that MP4 will end up having an amazing story but to this day the expanded universe in Metroid has never been exciting or original outside from the comics. I liked Fusion's creepiness but that's it.
With this said, I'm still excited as hell for the game because even the stupid hunters and the boring Federation didn't ruin MP3.

 

[KiNolin]

Tanabe: Sylux needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever Sylux is not on screen, all the other characters should be asking "Where's Sylux"?

lol! These Metroid producers really need to get off this belief that anyone would care about these stories they want to push for some reason. First the baby and Adam, now this obsession with some Lego villain from a spinoff and federation people. People go to Metroid for world building that comes from and with the game design, not for some cheap y/a scifi narrative. The stories in Super Metroid and Zero Mission are the maximum that should be present when it comes to traditional story telling within the series.

 

[Omega Kirby]

Not to mention that Noxus, mentioned in his backstory to be good aligned and fighting against injustice, is also opposed to Samus in Hunters, which gives credibility to the idea that the Federation is not well perceived by the rest of the universe.

I swear if he ends up being better rival than Dark Samus you'll see a bunch of hypocrites around here, gonna have to bookmark these threads. As someone said before he's a blank slate, they could literally do anything with him. Obviously he needs a bit of redesign to catch up with modern day graphics

 

[NintendosBooger]

I really don't get the cynicism around Sylux. Apparently Sylux has some pretty valid reasons for despising the Federation, and Samus's loyalty to them, and as we learn in future games the Federation isn't exactly as altruistic as Samus initially believes and, coincidentally enough, by the end of Fusion she's a fugitive against the law, just the same as Sylux.

It makes me wonder if the Federation didn't screw over Sylux or someone important to them and Sylux's actions might have more validity than just "I hate authority" - especially since Sylux's actions seem very personally driven.

The cynicism is rooted in the fact that the whole sub-plot is trash to begin with.

Why does any of that have to happen?

Make the focus of Metroid about the exploration of new worlds, aliens, and cultures, like the Chozo. Expand and diversify the lore. Let it play out like MP1. On this new planet, what happened to the original species? Was their demise instigated from within by a malignant entity that Samus must destroy, or did they meet their end by the hands of another race?

I don't give a damn about Sylux's beef with the Federation. And of the Federation itself, I pretty much give two shits about. Galactic conspiracies, double-crosses, political betrayal, and all that soap opera shit should be dumped on Starfox or another game more deserving on such trivial platforms.

 

[Marow]

I actually kinda liked what Hunters did with its introduction of species and characters (despite essentially every part of the lore being relegated to wikis), so I hope the game takes cues from it...

 

[WonderzL]

I agree that I would prefer this kind of plot to Star Fox, but Metroid is where we are getting it on, so let's hope for the best. Tanabe wants to make another Prime because of it, so we can't really hope for the opposite direction

 

[Skittzo0413]

The way he talks about about this future game back in 2015 makes me think it actually could have been in pre-production even that far back. It sure seems like it's barely begun based on that teaser but I wonder if it is farther along than we think. Maybe they just wanted to make the announcement to appease people and get them interested in Samus Returns but are saving actual footage for later, as a sorta "re-reveal".

And I do like the concept of the time shifting, it sounds like an interesting way to get the player to think outside the box for some puzzles.

 

[K' Dash]

Do you think they will use this Samus design from earlier Metroid Primes or go for the more popular design from the 2D games, Other M & Smash.

I find this design way better

Barbie Samus was in Echoes, so, I guess she's cannon?

 

[Pat]

I just hope the game will be more like the first Metroid Prime. Echoes was fine, but I didn't like Corruption much because of all these... weird aliens characters on a weird alien planet. I actually couldn't finish it because of the setting

I loved the feeling of loneliness in a natural world. I don't really like "space magic" and there was none in the first one.

 

[Marcel]

I just hope the game will be more like the first Metroid Prime. Echoes was fine, but I didn't like Corruption much because of all these... weird aliens characters on a weird alien planet. I actually couldn't finish it because of the setting

I loved the feeling of loneliness in a natural world.

Don't worry, you'll never feel lonely again in Metroid with all these great Federation space marines and original character donut steels running around.

 

[Toxi]

Everyone's complaining about Sylux, but I think they could totally work in the style of Dark Samus in Prime 2: A silent adversary working on her own agenda that constantly hounds you throughout the game.

 

[Brickhunt]

Everyone's complaining about Sylux, but I think he could totally work in the style of Dark Samus in Prime 2: An adversary working on her own agenda that constantly hounds you throughout the game.

Honestly, any Bounty Hunter given the Dark Samus treatment has the potential to be a very memorable boss battle. Go to any favorite boss battle thread on a Metroid forum and Rundas will definitively be up there.

There was just no way the DS could replicate that kind of battle on it's hardware, but with the Switch's hardware the gloves are off.

 

[Kurdel]

Eh.. Kinda hope we don't have a duel time period switching..

Of we see what the Chozo civilization was likeI am down.

 

[Toxi]

Honestly, any Bounty Hunter given the Dark Samus treatment has the potential to be a very memorable boss battle. Go to any favorite boss battle thread on a Metroid forum and Rundas will definitively be up there.

There was just no way the DS could replicate that kind of battle on it's hardware, but with the Switch's hardware the gloves are off.

I think it had less to do with hardware and more to do with them balancing the Hunters for multiplayer while having barely any development time spent on single player.

But yeah, Sylux could totally be a good boss if they were given the Dark Samus treatment. And the way Sylux uses their ship could make for a really interesting boss where you have to alternate between disabling the ship and fighting Sylux.

 

[zenspider]

I hope it's not actually called Prime 4. The Prime stuff is done. Let's move it on to Metroid 5, or something new.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't see the point of being beholden to Prime beyond the pedigree. Just move the story along, at least past the events of Super Metroid and Other M if post-Fusion is to big a leap.

I've played the Prime Trilogy at least twice through and I have no idea what a Sylux is.

 

[TheMoon]

I've played the Prime Trilogy at least twice through and I have no idea what a Sylux is.

Because you haven't played Hunters.

 

[jnWake]

Hopefully Pepsiman gets a redesign. I like his color scheme but his armor looks ridiculous for a villain.

 

[Jorok Goldblade]

They should use Sylux's blandness as a jumping-off point for a more malleable shape - they change form quite dramatically with the Lockjaw already, having them able to shift limbs or body parts into abstract shapes to attack with or manifest new limbs out of hard light could make them more of a distinctive enemy while keeping continuity with Hunters - going with the AI angle instead of it being a guy in a suit could also lend it to a game-wide progression of constantly adapting to Samus and modifying its base structure to more effectively counter her. In general, Dark Samus' movements and abilities grew increasingly distinct from Samus', while Sylux needs to be consciously differentiated from her to a greater extent.

In any case, there's plenty of ways they can use the blank slate of Sylux to create something worthwhile, but I'm not hugely confident that he's going to get any more compelling with a major role.

His ship, suit and weapon are all stolen from the Galactic Federation. They could easily open the game with him stealing better gear, thus changing his design.

 

[TheMoon]

Hopefully Pepsiman gets a redesign. I like his color scheme but his armor looks ridiculous for a villain.

Worth remembering that those designs stem from systems with strict hardware limits and priority given to Samus' suit.

 

[Xbro]

I'm like 90% sure that Sylux's entire thing is going to turn out to be a very basic twist like

-They're going to take off their helmet and be a clone of Samus made by the Federation so we get the third evil Samus in the series but they're an actual person and not an alien monster
-They're an inverse Samus whose family was killed by accident by the Federation and covered up

I think the second is what it is. Federation had Samus go to a planet, and the collateral damage of what happened destroyed his home

That's Other M.

No it's not. Other M is Metroid 3.5, not Metroid 5.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Pokemon is probably 2019.

Unless something goes horribly wrong, it's probably not 2019.

 

[Garlador]

The cynicism is rooted in the fact that the whole sub-plot is trash to begin with.

Why does any of that have to happen?

Make the focus of Metroid about the exploration of new worlds, aliens, and cultures, like the Chozo. Expand and diversify the lore. Let it play out like MP1. On this new planet, what happened to the original species? Was their demise instigated from within by a malignant entity that Samus must destroy, or did they meet their end by the hands of another race?

I don't give a damn about Sylux's beef with the Federation. And of the Federation itself, I pretty much give two shits about. Galactic conspiracies, double-crosses, political betrayal, and all that soap opera shit should be dumped on Starfox or another game more deserving on such trivial platforms.

And you can do all of that with Sylux, you know. Their race, home world, culture... perhaps a doomed alien race of which Sylux is the last survivor while the Federation is at fault.

Sylux is a tabula rasa. You can do almost anything at this point with the character.

 

[Mark1]

Anything related to the Federation can easily be something like in Echoes - where their role was there but minimal. If it's less than Corruption then I'll be happy with that.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Yup. I couldn't care less about the throwaway NPCs that Hunters introduced. In fact, I'd rather they binned them all off entirely and gave us something more akin to Prime 1 again. NPC interaction, which got boosted in Prime 3, does nothing for me.

NPC interaction similar to Alien Isolation would however work great. Like having some NPCs, but interactions mostly limited to gameplay, not cutscenes.

 

[CloudyTuba]

Do you think they will use this Samus design from earlier Metroid Primes or go for the more popular design from the 2D games, Other M & Smash.

I find this design way better

As much as I'd love for them to ditch the Anime Barbie look, it's probably here to stay at this point.

I just hope they leverage some of what the Zelda team accomplished.

Single planet
Massive scale
Exploration
Isolation

I need this now.

Yep this is what I want. When I hear Sylux and Federation, that doesn't sound like isolation to me. I didn't like that shit in MP3 and it only got worse in OtherM. Hopefully they got all that NPC shit out of their systems in OtherM and will ditch it for 4.

 

[forrest]

Yep this is what I want. When I hear Sylux and Federation, that doesn't sound like isolation to me. I didn't like that shit in MP3 and it only got worse in OtherM. Hopefully they got all that NPC shit out of their systems in OtherM and will ditch it for 4.

Same here. I'm also hoping for some seriously huge subterranean spaces with a focus on verticality. Underground lakes, lava, bioluminescent fauna, minerals or creatures to light the spaces.

And to be honest, with Samus being a bounty hunter in space, the possibilities for enemies, ancient alien civilizations and technology are endless. No reason to be constricted by metroids and space pirates, which honestly is feeling a bit tired at this point. Though, I guess you could say the same about Ganon and the usual Zelda narrative tropes, which were still just fine in BotW.

I guess I'm just trying to state I want Prime, but with a new fresh punch to the face that BotW brought to Zelda.

 

[AuthenticM]

Let's dream a little

A new Jurassic Park game? Ya I'm down.

 

[Omega Kirby]

And you can do all of that with Sylux, you know. Their race, home world, culture... perhaps a doomed alien race of which Sylux is the last survivor while the Federation is at fault.

Sylux is a tabula rasa. You can do almost anything at this point with the character.

Other M sure scarred these people for life

 

[Nanashrew]

At some point Samus has to face the consequences of her blowing up so many space stations and planets.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

And you can do all of that with Sylux, you know. Their race, home world, culture... perhaps a doomed alien race of which Sylux is the last survivor while the Federation is at fault.

Sylux is a tabula rasa. You can do almost anything at this point with the character.

Exactly. Some of people are too pressed about Metroid not involving anyone else, but Samus, as if you can't do isolation with a character hunting Samus for revenge

 

[MoonFrog]

At some point Samus has to face the consequences of her blowing up so many space stations and planets.

Hmmmm but is Metroid Prime 4 really the time?

You'd think that'd be after Metroid 2-4.

 

[KiNolin]

At some point Samus has to face the consequences of her blowing up so many space stations and planets.

Team Ninja is back?

 

[Lifeline]

So the game was not in development back in 2015. Assuming development started in 2016 and with the 3 years he said it'll take to make: MP4 out in 2019

 

[Servbot24]

My only worry about Prime 4 (aside from Shitty hunters like Sylux polluting the thing but that seems inevitable at this point) at present is the art design. I feel like Retro Studios worked some real magic to create some of the the most breathtaking, detailed environments in all of gaming. Each room had something unique and interesting -- it made exploring in these games (especially Prime 1) an absolute joy.

I hope Prime 4 can live up to that.

It's not inevitable yet my friend, keep carrying the torch

Yeah artistically there is a high bar, but I'm not terribly worried about that. The level of talent out there is staggering. As long as they go in the right direction (no shitty friends), I think they'll do something cool.

 

[Amirnol]

I hate dark/light world, alternate world, time-shifting crap. Please don't use Echoes as inspiration...

 

[KooopaKid]

Well, in addition, the Chozo are pretty spiritual anyway without the Tallon IV stuff. Remember that Samus powersuit requires her to be in constant concentration to keep it activated. And Samus had to complete a spiritual rite of passage to ease her mind and activate her fully powered suit.

And interesting enough, the idea that Samus' suit requires constant concentration dates back all the way to Super Metroid:

.

Samus gets distracted thinking about the baby metroid and her lack of concentration allows a spike trap to penetrate her suit.

This is very interesting. A shame this concept isn't more prominent in the gameplay and lore. It would make Samus an even more interesting and unique character. The suit being a bit magical is also quite unique in science-fiction.

 

[Xbro]

At some point Samus has to face the consequences of her blowing up so many space stations and planets.

That would be more fitting for Metroid 5, rather than Prime 4.

 

[foxuzamaki]

That's exactly the most boring plot twist possible and it will definitely come true if they stick with the "Sylux hates the federation" thing. There is a possibility that MP4 will end up having an amazing story but to this day the expanded universe in Metroid has never been exciting or original outside from the comics. I liked Fusion's creepiness but that's it.
With this said, I'm still excited as hell for the game because even the stupid hunters and the boring Federation didn't ruin MP3.

Every story has been done before, its all about execution

 

[GuessMyUserName]

Samus being hunted by Sylux just makes me think of SA-X. And SA-X was fucking fantastic and Fusion's entire saving grace. (+ Nightmare)

 

[Gravidee]

This is very interesting. A shame this concept isn't more prominent in the gameplay and lore. It would make Samus an even more interesting and unique character. The suit being a bit magical is also quite unique in science-fiction.

Technically you had this as a thing in Other M, when Ridley was attacking Samus and her suit was phasing on and off . Of course, I'm sure most people would like to forget that scene ever existed but the concept is there.

 

[gafneo]

I'm sure whatever the game includes, one thing is for sure, Federation Force controls will be how we play. They are much improved over past 3D games and the gyro gives a move precise way to kill targets. I think they would also need to include the triple charge blast and health drop feature. Maybe we will also get the melee stuff from Other M and Samus Returns.

 

[Schopenhauerian]

My only worry... is the art design. I feel like Retro Studios worked some real magic to create some of the the most breathtaking, detailed environments in all of gaming. Each room had something unique and interesting -- it made exploring in these games (especially Prime 1) an absolute joy. I hope Prime 4 can live up to that.

Yeah, Mama Robotnik’s research threads highlighted some of the great work that was done in that department, perhaps some of it will be used/re-used/re-purposed for MP4:

Volume 1 : Metroid Prime.

Volume 2 : Metroid Prime 1.5 and the Metroid 2 Remake.

Volume 3 : Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.

Volume 4 : Metroid Prime 3 Corruption.

[...]

I’ve been in full research mode, and have discovered enough stuff to fuel a couple of threads. I’ve discovered a ton of concept pieces, notes, renders, animations and reflections from Retro Studios staff regarding their work on the Metroid Prime trilogy. Some of this material has been seen elsewhere, and some of it seems to have had no exposure whatsoever...

 

[RagnarokX]

This is very interesting. A shame this concept isn't more prominent in the gameplay and lore. It would make Samus an even more interesting and unique character. The suit being a bit magical is also quite unique in science-fiction.

People actually made a big deal about the suit being magical in Other M, but it's always been that way. There just haven't been a lot of moments where plays a big role. It phases out of existence in every 100% ending, and it played a bigger part in Zero Mission and Other M. And there's also the Crystal Flash in Super Metroid.

But I find it funny that these concepts originated back in 1994.

 

[jrDev]

The time shift mechanic sounds very appealing to me since Titanfall 2 had a great implementation of it (albeit for a single level) and I always thought a full game with that concept and more variety would be great.

This is actually a really friggin cool effect...would look forward to something like this...