Metroid Prime 4: Beyond dey, but e be like say e get ein own challenges. After plenty years of development, including starting over from scratch, di game finally reach Retro Studios, di same people wey do di original trilogy. But di scars of di long and troubled development dey clear.
Technical Marvel
Even though di art direction, graphics, and sound design sweet, Metroid Prime 4 dey baffle person to play. E dey focus too much on action instead of puzzle solving and exploration. Di side characters dey annoy person, dem no dey leave you alone. Di desolate overworld no get personality.
Di result be say di game feel like e dey against di mood wey dem carefully create wey dey make di series dey work. E be one of di weaker Metroid games for recent years.
But make we no lie, Metroid Prime 4 be technical marvel. I play am mainly on di Nintendo Switch 2 handheld mode. I change between two graphical modes: one wey get higher resolution wey dey run at 60 FPS, and one wey dey run at 120 FPS at 720p. Colors dey pop, light dey dance off surfaces, particles dey drift, and choir vocals dey layer on top of ambient soundscapes. Wetin Nintendo do here be model wey di rest of di industry need to take note of. Great art and music suppose take priority over unnecessarily taxing graphical "innovations."
Game Design Wahala
Di game start in a linear way, dey throw waves of enemies at you. For one of di first major areas, just as you dey gain freedom, di game go require you to complete 20-minute tutorial on how to use Samus ein motorcycle (wey dem call Vi-O-La). When di game finally open up, ein desert hub world dey add half-baked lore, but...
Super Metroid be everything when I be kid. I spend countless hours dey watch my father dey waka through di depths of di planet Zebes as bounty hunter Samus Aran, dey draw maps and sketches of di armored heroine. Di game ein atmosphere and ambiance strong well well, e fit make energetic six-year-old keep quiet without even put controller for ein hand.
Those memories mean say I get good idea of wetin I think Metroid suppose be - as many others dey get too. E be foundational text for gaming, one of those golden age touchstones for action-adventure and exploration systems wey build formula wey dem fit follow for generations.
When you dey play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, e easy to pick up on di echoes of di franchise ein past. Audio cues and musical motifs from di older games dey creep up now and then to trigger Pavlovian response. Samus dey lose all ein coolest powers and must start from scratch, dis time collecting different suite of skills. Di basic structure dey remind person of di classics; on paper, e be Metroid through and through.
But very early on, e dey clear say something no dey quite right. Plenty people dey involve for di mission, with galactic soldiers and technicians dey chime in with directions and quips. Some subterranean places dey get creepy aura sometimes, but e dey wedged between sprawling vistas of mountain range and literal desert to traverse by motorcycle. By di time wave of riff-heavy rock hit your ears, tonal whiplash dey divide just about everything.