Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Honest Review

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been highly anticipated for nearly two decades. Each release and cancellation has kept many in a state of uncomfortable and inconvenient anticipation where the knowledge that something could be released and then pulled would disrupt most veteran gamers. For new gamers, it has been an era spanning most of their lives. The franchise has become a household name for its impact, innovation, and strategy of deserved critical acclaim. But gamers are not going to give you slack in their fun and entertainment. After decades of waiting, Metroid Prime 4 released to incredible anticipation and expectation. However, in anticipation, the expectation was more than just a feeling about the game, the expectation was in its need to be mastered. As a game tracking to be great out the gate in a franchise with a cult following, the reputation was dependent on its need to be nearly flawless; seamless in the transfusion of story, gameplay, graphics, and worldbuilding to keep players in an in world state of euphoria and escapism. The world needs to lose themselves in the game, hope, lives, and story for great response. 

Narrative

In a one of a kind futuristic world game, players become Samus and are given new the new to the Metroid universe, psychic powers to manipulate world. Beyond released with an impressive array of powers and discoveries revolving around the character and accompanied game world. Telekintis changed to toobing and intricate in  which players planned and revealed puzzles forced players to become more strategic. Samus, in her search for a way home for girls and women, becomes. The character morph becomes an advanced mechanism of the implemented world, combat of experience and skills in game mastered to deliver unforgettable completion. Beyond with its new mastery of experience grazing the  limits of seamlessness is remarkable to be.

Sure, there will always be a segment of players that embrace the battles from a purely visceral standpoint, but ultimately, the battles were just spells and animations creatively styled to seem like something visually pyrotechnic. More often than not, riddles in battles were the more clever, engaging component to be solved and, more often than not, were the aspect more engaging than the battles themselves. There are a few notable sequences, like the lengthy riddle that culminated in the cinematic reveal of a boss, that are truly definitional, but, in the end, Metroid 4 left the masterstroke till last, and the gameplay layer will not be melee integrated, which is at the crux of it, extremely safe. But safety above all else is not always a negative predicate, although the experience would truly be a lot closer to feeling like a masterstroke rather than simply an above average experience.

Combat

Fighting in Metroid Prime 4 once again brings out the full spectrum of the original style and the gameplay loops more or less introduce modern paradigms, and in this, the contextual holding of targeting locked on, and the adaptive dodging from the mechanised movements above a pivot rotation is still once again a visceral experience, as an example. You control Samus, with all the potentially available constructs, in conjunction with a dodging move, that on command mount into a ball which is an instant pivot and low profile flick beneath the battlefield. More and more constructions of the new style of duels are usable in addition to the weaponry on elemental construction, which is useful in puzzles, in suboptimal play in dual battles, and simply just beneficial in fending off bullets while a useful melee charge is available.

The boss fights are outstanding and are still a highlight. The fights are exhilarating and require complex strategies, whether you are standing still and engaging in a tense duel or battling against a towering monster. However, every combat section does not achieve that. Some sections, like the one with repetitive waves of enemies in a closed corridor, turn Prime 4 from an atmospheric shooter to a dated one. These sections don't ruin the experience, but they interrupt the enjoyment of the flow.

The Game's Biggest Flaw with an Open World

The open desert hub, Sol Valley, is the biggest stumble in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The Sol Valley is where the game connects the desert regions to the main parts of the game, all while justifying Samus' new motorcycle. However, the Sol Valley, is the weakest part of the journey. The desert is uninteresting to look at, is empty with a few points of interest, and has a very shallow array of enemies.

This empty space, again, is paired with a McGuffin objective. Samus sis, driving into a glowing crystal, collects green Lamorn energy scattered around. It's tedious busywork, running out the clock artificially. You can, theoretically, collect some energy while going about your usual travel, but empty energy pockets will always be around. The task isn't engaging. The motorcycle is a neat addition that fits into the story, but it's soiled after a hub world that is completely dissociated from the series' strengths.

Isolation and Atmosphere

Once Metroid Prime 4 leaves the desert and returns to centered, meticulous, hand-crafted environments, it becomes something particularly special, especially as each major region is a large, fully self-contained dungeon. You explore, collect a key upgrade, defeat a significant boss, and move to the next. Like the older Prime games, architecting the experience to be this linear allows for much tighter control on pacing, atmosphere, and tension.

Volt Forge is one of the best places one can have the privilege of going to in the entire series. A gothic industrial building filled with pulsing electricity and heavy rock music. The location's lore and backstory are showcased in environmental details and scan logs to tell one of Prime's greatest tales. A prime example of top-tier worldbuilding through observation. The places you visit in the game are incredible and give an immersive feeling of having depth in building the world.

Samus Companions

In the Prime series, Samus is now accompanied by Galactic Federation companions. While players are performing missions, the acting of the characters, such as anxious engineers and snipers, is brought very cinematically. The characters even bring purpose to missions by opting purpose-driven dialogue.

Talking companions can even be a distraction in this otherwise fantastic game. The characters talk during combat, comment on puzzles, and display a lack of understanding with the loneliness players have grown accustomed to in the franchise. The best moments of the game are when the players are left to think and explore on their own, without the hindrance of companions or other forced dialogue.

This game was highly anticipated by players for its story but it has some disappointments. Sylux was assumed to be the game's major rival yet, after so much build up, Sylux only assumed a minor, yet pivotal role, especially through major story points. Sylux has a major story point emotional ending but for some reason this emotional closure was swapped for a point that was primarily focused on civilization.

A Tech Part

When played on the Switch 2, the game runs at a flawless 60 FPS, with a performance mode that goes up to 120 FPS. There is a slight increase in lag on the original Switch, with resolution quality lowered, but the game is still 60 FPS and fully functional. While definitely more enjoyable on the Switch 2, players on the original model are also able to fully enjoy the game, so no one is excluded.

Final Score

Story: 7/10 - Setting the Lamorn civilization mystery aside for a stronger premise, the story is a little underwhelming. The character Sylux came off to the audience as having potential for a good twist, but with even pacing, the story doesn't meet the potential one would expect. 

Graphics: 9/10 - During the time of this game's release, it was one of the most visually striking games Nintendo has developed. The game has great lighting, great drawing, and great immersive visuals. It is a great exhibit of the improved Nintendo Switch.  

Gameplay: 7.5/10 - The game has great combat as well as the art of classic Metroid Prime with great exploration and control. It has great boss fights as well as some psychic skills. The game has some holding holes of unnecessary desert traveling, and some fighters may get overtaken repeatedly.  

Replayability: 6.5/10 - Some desert objectives may be mandatory throughout the game but they may take away from the overall desire to play the game over and over backtracking for upgrades and collectibles.  

Overall: 7/10 - Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a good sight with some inconsistencies to return to the game from over a decade away. The potential for the biggest comeback is ruined to be below what is expected, but the return is still solid with good momentum for the highest to remind the audience of what it once was. The game still contains the finest things of the decayed franchise to remind the players of the once great franchise.