Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ~ Overview Trailer

In less than three weeks Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will hit the shelves and that feels unreal, also because Nintendo hasn't been talking much about the game... at all. But this has changed today, where they've released a seven minute long overview trailer, explaining the game to dummies. Did you know that Samus could jump?! Woah...!

But it also introduces the main areas of the game, which probably won't win any awards for originality, with both their naming and their environmental designs:

• Fury Green
• Volt Forge 
• Ice Belt
• Flare Pool 

It is very reminiscent of the areas you had in Metroid Prime, but also in Metroid Prime: Federation Force with the jungle, ice and fire themes. Volt Forge probably is the most novel out of the four, but you could still compare it to Talvania.

All of these areas are connected via the "Sol Valley", which is the huge, open desert. This is where you will primarily use your bike, Vi-O-La, confirming that this is essentially a more interactive replacement of the classic elevators. But I like how the main areas are all visually highlighted in the horizon, e.g. you get a giant tree for where the Fury Green lies, so you can always tell where your destination is.

But we've seen all this already, so the biggest reveal in the trailer is that Samus won't be alone: she will have the company of some Federation Troopers... yaaayyy... There are Makenzie, Duke, Armstrong, Tokabi, and others, who are also stranded on Viewros and who will assist Samus on various occasions.

Every good Metroid fan will have flashbacks to Other M with this one, but as long as they don't forbid you to use your suit upgrades, it will be fine. Though, it seems they do like to talk... a lot. To be fair, some of it looks really cool. But if you're the type of Metroid fan, where isolation is key to your experience, then this game will probably disappoint you, especially if you already disliked the Federation troopers in Prime 3.

Producer Kensuke Tanabe is a huge fan of the Galactic Federation for some reason, which brought us the infamous Federation Force, and he had already said many years ago that he wanted to explore more of it with this game, especially with Sylux as the antagonist, who hates the Federation. But this has some potential... Maybe the Federation soldiers will all get hunted down by Samus's "archrival" to let this new villain shine. I mean, the way how they all talk about seeing their families again, you already know that they won't see their families again... For the drama!!

Also, we get to see the new beam system in action, even though it's not explained in the trailer. But there seem to be Plasma, Ice and Shock Beams, all elements corresponding to the different areas on Viewros. The difference to the first Metroid Prime here is that they get swapped alongside Missiles and use up ammunition, much like the beams in Echoes.

Curiously, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn't seem to be compatible with a Switch 1. They explicitly stated that you should purchase the game edition that matches your system, but as far as I know the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom still work on an old Nintendo Switch – they will simply lack the upgrade features. So, you effectively get the Switch game on the cartridge and the upgrade pack, but this seems to be different here for some reason.

Or maybe Nintendo is just saying that, because they still want to sell some copies of the Nintendo Switch version. But it could be a good thing that I have a Nintendo Switch 2 by now, because I have preordered the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition in good faith that I could play it on my Switch at first and then use it on a Switch 2 later...