Metroid Prime 4 Timeline Placement

In an interview with Famitsu, Nintendo (presumably Kensuke Tanabe) reveals some details about the development of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, where they also answer when the game actually takes place in relation to the rest of the series. It's set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.

Well, you could make an educated guess already thanks to the given year, 20X9 on the cosmic calendar. As a reference, Zero Mission takes place in 20X5 and Federation Force in 20X6. Super Metroid apparently is set in 20X7, but this has to be taken with a grain of salt, because that information only came from Japanese advertisements. It lines up with what Nintendo is saying here, though.

And I'm not fully on board with this yet. They made a big deal out of how in Super Metroid the "last Metroid is in captivity", before the events of Metroid Fusion revealed that the Galactic Federation has a secret Metroid cloning program. Well, that twist got preempted by Other M eventually and the upcoming Metroid Prime titles may simply dive deeper into this topic, where Sylux has been getting his steady supply of Metroids from all those secret Galactic Federation labs doing the same illegal thing...

But in order for Samus herself to become the last Metroid in Metroid Dread, some cleanup needs to happen beforehand. You can't have cloned Metroids all over the galaxy.

Then there is also the topic of Samus's gunship. She seems to have two (or even three) different ones and is swapping them between missions. But where is she keeping the spares? And she was in need of a new gunship in Metroid Fusion, after she had crashed her ship from Super Metroid / Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, meaning that the one from Corruption and Beyond has to be destroyed eventually as well...

Source: NintendoEverything 

My Take on Metroid Prime 5

According to Nintendo, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was the beginning of a new tale after the Phazon saga from the original Metroid Prime Trilogy, where they may have already plans to continue this tale sooner than later. So, let's explore the possibilities. Spoilers for the game's ending right ahead!

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Review)

Teased 18 years ago, announced eight years ago, and its development rebooted six years ago... Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has a very long development history and now has finally become a reality on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. But was it worth the wait? Does it hold up to the reputation of the original Metroid Prime Trilogy? And how how does Sylux fare as a villain? If you have followed my logbook, then you will already have a good idea, but here is the condensed version.

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 6

It's not a true Metroid Prime game if there isn't something to collect before you can face the final boss. Not that it matters much when you're going for 100% anyway... In any case, there is a lot of sand to see, before heading into the mostly disappointing finale. Endgame spoilers incoming, so read at your own risk!

Scans: 100%
Items: 100%

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 5

Did somebody say Phazon Mines? No? Well, great... There was one last major area to explore with one last Teleporter Key to obtain, before the game is heading into the big finale. And it all feels like a very intentional throwback to the original Metroid Prime with this particular setting...

Scans: 93%
Items: 67%

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 4

Jungle, ice, lava... Metroid Prime 4: Beyond certainly doesn't cover itself with originality when it comes to environmental themes. Maybe they should have called this game "New Metroid Prime"? Anyway, let's see what the Magmoor Pyrosphere, errhhh... the Flare Pool has in store. With some desert driving in between.

Scans: 81%
Items: 51%

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 3

Let's talk about the coolest part of the game so far, the Ice Belt. In old Metroid Prime fashion you'll find a sleeping laboratory there, but it leads to a different revelation...

Scans: 67%
Items: 27%

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 2

The next area you get to explore is the Volt Forge, which is mainly a mass production facility for the game's other big gimmick: the motor bike. So, I've proceeded with that part and did some first cruising through the desert of Sol Valley afterwards.

Scans: 44%
Items: 16%

Metroid Prime 4 Logbook, Entry 1

Ah, well... let's just do this. I'm 90 minutes into the game, where I have played through both the intro sequence and the first area, which covers the demo and the previews. So, these are some very early impressions.

Scans: 30%
Items: 9%

Got Metroid Prime 4: Behind

A little late to the party... That's what you get when you pre-order from Nintendo directly. So far I've been an advocate of the My Nintendo Store, despite paying full prices, because you usually get a number of nice goodies, mint quality, and the game on time. However, they hate the idea of you getting the game a day early, so they always keep the deliveries very close to their chest. A little too close. And during the Christmas season, in the week after Black Friday no less, this backfired. My package was stuck in some delivery limbo, where nothing happened for 48 hours...

But I blame Nintendo here. They sent it too late without the necessary priority labels / fast shipping. So, I honestly can't recommend their shop any longer if you want to be playing on launch day. And yes, I could have just gone to some store and pick the game up there, but I wanted the additional goodies and this would have created some unnecessary back and forth. And after the mixed previews and reviews my excitement wasn't the greatest either, so I was able to wait two more days after having waited 18 years.

It only sucked that I had taken one day of vacation... But luckily I was able to move some hours around to have more time to play on Monday. I just hope they won't ever release a new Zelda game in December again, because I won't be as patient in that case.

Anyway, the My Nintendo Store sold the so called "Power Set" of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It came with a big mouse pad, 61x35 cm, and a set of nine holographic cards. You also get a small key chain in a litte pouch with the game's logo on it, but that's the purchase bonus item that comes with any physical version of the game.

In addition, there are three amiibo: Samus, Samus on Vi-O-La, and Sylux. For some reason, the first two already were released alongside Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment a month ago, on November 6th, but I haven't touched them until today. At least they were delivered on time.

And they look really nice. Well, I personally find the normal Samus to be somewhat redundant, since we already got a very good looking version of that suit with Metroid: Samus Returns, but there is some extra detail with the purple psyschic power stuff and it has a different pose.

Their functionalities inside the game seem to be either useless or questionable, which is a problem with main Metroid games, it seems. Federation Force did it actually best with the paint jobs...

Now, I'm off to finally play the game. I'm not entirely sure if I want to do detailed blogging about my impressions and progress, now that I have effectively lost two days of potential play time, but let's see how I feel after the first couple of hours. It will be a shame if I don't, but in that case a late review will have to suffice.

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...

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ~ amiibo Announced

It's a thing for Metroid, it's really thing. There have been few Metroid releases over the past ten years, but most of them got their own amiibo, which always included that game's version of Samus in her default suit, as well as the most prominent enemy. And Metroid Prime 4: Beyond won't be any different, except that they'll also throw Samus on her new bike on top, which even has a name: it's called "Vi-o-la".

That one is probably going to cost a bit more, I'm guessing 30€. The Kirby Air Riders amiibo actually cost 50, which is insane. We have arrived at a time, where a single amiibo costs as much as games used to.

What's also interesting are the release dates. For some reason, the first two, Samus and Samus on her bike, will actually launch alongside Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment on November 6th. And then Sylux gets released on December 4th, the launch date of Metroid Prime 4.

We don't know yet what they will do in the game, but I'm not expecting much. Curiously, there is only one Metroid title that didn't get its own amiibo after their introduction in 2014 and that's Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but it's also the one that made the best use of them with all those paint jobs for your mechs. It even proactively supported the Metroid amiibo that came out one year later for Samus Returns (see here).

Samus Returns rightfully got some criticism for locking an entire difficulty mode behind one of its amiibo, where Metroid Dread hasn't repeated that mistake, but its functionality also wasn't exactly great... There you got an extra Energy and Missile Tank for scanning the new ones, which would be missing otherwise.

Ideally, Metroid Prime 4 will not only support its own amiibo, but all the ones that came before, including those for Smash. Maybe there could be skins for your bike that are unlocked via amiibo, like a Dark Samus design.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Launching December 4th

Yesterday's Nintendo Direct gave us the release date for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and it's still coming in 2025, as promised back in June last year, but barely. It's going to launch on December 4th, to be exact, and that's not the only launch shown in the latest trailer...

There were comments about how Samus's new suit looks like a sports car... and now we know that this was fully intentional: the big reveal was that Samus will be driving a long motor bike in the game. Yes, she is joining the club!

With that also comes the largest world in a Metroid so far, seemingly going more in an "open planet" direction. And unlike the Master Cycle Zero in Breath of the Wild, which got added via DLC, this game was designed around this feature, having clear sections that are meant to be traversed via the speed bike.

And this is where it's getting... bland. When you have these huge, open deserts with nothing but sand or snow, it looks very uninspired, like something from a generic JRPG that only cares for its character models. Anyway, this likely serves as a way of traveling from one area to the next, instead of using your space ship (which is gone anyway) or the usual elevators. And the idea itself is actually quite nice, it's just that the execution clashes visually with the rest of the game.

At first I also thought that this might be a different mode altogether, kind of like the boat or train rides in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, meaning that there are separate bike sections and normal gameplay sections. But it looks like you can change to your bike whenever you want, it's just that based on the location one way of traversing will be preferred over the other.

But the second Samus hopped off her new bike and the game went back into her visor view, it looked so much better. It's like they had to tremendously scale down the details in those open areas. The rest of the trailer looked really cool, just like your typical Metroid Prime.

Now, the "bike across the planet" part is what really sets this game apart from the original Metroid Prime Trilogy, what makes this the next generation of 3D Metroid. And I can't say that I'm convinced... I just hope that it will be so much fun to play that I won't really care.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ~ Full Beginning

During the Treehouse Live stream on Thursday there was one segment dedicated to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Here they play the full beginning of the game, which features everything seen in the announcement trailer from last year, up to the point where you first encounter Sylux. And this is giving us a number of new insights to the game, starting with the story introduction:

It is the cosmic year 20X9.

Determined to defeat Samus and the Galactic Federation, Sylux and his army of Space Pirates launched a series of attacks on Federation Research Facilities.

It is believed that the Space Pirates are being controlled by Metroids that have the ability to fuse with other life-forms and control their minds.

Now, on Planet Tanamaar in the Desolan System, another Federation Research Facility is being attacked.

Galactic Federation HQ received their distress call and dispatched Samus, who was on a reconnaissance mission nearby.

So, this right away confirmed what we saw in the Nintendo Direct from last week: Metroids now are fusing with enemies, which is a thing with different bosses in this game. The first one is Aberax, reminiscent of the first Berserker Lord encounter in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but with some Mogenar mixed in for an overall tougher battle.

Anyway, the Galactic Federation has found a mysterious artifact somewhere in the Desolan system, which is the thing that you can see in the game's logo and also what Sylux is after. He shoots the artifact and this causes some gigantic eruption, swallowing Samus and everyone around her, in fact most of the research facility.

What happens next, that we don't know, but we can make some educated guesses. Right in the middle of this tutorial section there is this gigantic mecha getting controlled by a soldier, which – unlike those in Federation Force – is actually threatening and impressive. This mecha also gets swallowed by the artifact's burst and in the Viewros footage from last week we could spot it hanging in the trees:

So, what seemed like another crashed ship actually comes from the research facility seen in the intro. However, it looks like it all has been there for quite some time, meaning that Samus arrives on Viewros long after everyone and everything else.

It's an interesting premise and also gives Sylux the chance to grow as a villain, should he also arrive before Samus. In the intro he gets knocked over by a single charged shot and this is to be expected, since he is canonically about as strong as Samus in her most basic suit, which gets portrayed quite accurately here.

The threat mainly comes from him partnering with Metroids that are controlling Space Pirates. And you have to respect a villain, who isn't some grotesque force of nature, like the Metroid, the X, or Phazon, and therefore really tries his hardest to overcome both Samus and the Galactic Federation with some evil schemes. I'm curious to see where this will lead and how they will utilize him as a villain.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ~ Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Announced

In the latest Nintendo Direct we got introduced to the concept of "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games. A variety of Nintendo Switch games will see updates to enhance performance, increase resolutions, and enable the new sharing feature on the Nintendo Switch 2, where most of them will be free. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, however, require you to purchase an "upgrade pack", but they will also come with improved graphics and new features.

The first line of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games include Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokémon Legends Z-A, and... Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Some of these will even feature additional contents, like the Star-Crossed World for Kirby, but in case of Metroid Prime 4 this is primarily about the controls.

The game will support the mouse-functionality of the new Joy-Cons to offer a new control method. And it even does so seamlessly, so you can play with the pointer controls and as soon as you put down the right Joy-Con's side on a surface you will be able to utilize the mouse aiming. That's really cool!

Otherwise, the game will run in 120FPS, twice as much as on the Nintendo Switch. Or you can alternatively play in 4K. Both modes also support HDR in addition for even prettier visuals.

This sounds great, so there should be no good reason to go for the Nintendo Switch version, right? Well... there is a catch: the atrocious boxes. Here are the ones for Metroid Prime 4 in comparison (the different size of the boxes is just a guess, but the Switch 2 ones will be larger in a similar dimension to the consoles):

 

I'd say that the Nintendo Switch versions are actually more desirable. They take away less space and the covers are much cleaner. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition looks like one of those empty boxes that only include a download code.

And that might be partially even true. There is conflicting information about this, but we don't know for sure yet whether these upgrade packs will be included on the cards or as download codes. If it's the latter, then there will be no real value in owning the physical versions of the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions over the normal ones...

Update: the upgrade packs are indeed on the cartridge. And the Nintendo Switch 2 boxes are actually in the same size as the original Nintendo Switch boxes, so they don't take more space.

Well, in my case, I won't get a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, so I will likely play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on my current Switch anyway and then upgrade it later. The enhanced visuals are very nice, but I can also appreciate what Retro Studios was able to achieve on the old Nintendo Switch. It's very impressive. And when I replay the game later on, like in a harder difficulty, I can do so on the Nintendo Switch 2 with even nicer graphics.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ~ Viewros Presentation

In today's Nintendo Direct we got some more footage and insights into Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The games looks very beautiful, it's easily going to be one of the best-looking games for the Nintendo Switch, but everything also looks underwhelming at the same time... Why is that?

It starts with the marketing itself, where they are handling things in a similar fashion to The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom last year. So, they are picking things up from where they had left off in June, on a planet called Viewros, giving us an overview of what the players can expect there. And all of that randomly in the middle of the Direct.

It wasn't the big opener and it wasn't the big finisher. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but they are effectively putting this on the same level as a lower budget top-down Zelda title at this point. It can't compare to the treatment of games like Breath and Tears, where they had felt the need to give these games a dedicated showcase.

The other problem is the same as with the original trailer: everything just looks so familiar, like you've seen it all before – it's a blend of elements and themes from the Metroid Prime Trilogy games. Viewros may remind you of the Tallon Overworld from Metroid Prime, you even get the same orange plant pods. The main foes look and behave a lot like the Reptilicus from Bryyo in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. There's a crashed ship hanging in the trees, something seen in pretty much every Prime game. And how the Lamorn race, the inhabitants of Viewros, see Samus as their chosen one, feels very reminiscent to the Luminos in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, who already were a replacement for the Chozo.

It all was done before, it now just looks bigger and prettier. The only thing that sets it apart from the rest of the trilogy is the new gimmick with the psychic abilities. But both Prime 2 and Prime 3 had their own unique gimmicks as well, with the dark world and the Hyper Mode respectively. And for the most part the psychic stuff looks like it's this game's equivalent to the special visors, which lets you interact with the environment in new ways, like the Echo Visor or the Ship Visor did before. I won't be surprised if it even gets activated like one.

Steering your own beams is a really cool idea, however, where you even have entire games built around this, just with sniper bullets instead. So, there is quite some potential here, but for the most part it looked underwhelming again. "It let's you open doors, wow."

It also seems to be the reason why both the visor and the arm cannon have this purple glow to them, which wasn't the case in the announcement trailer. But it's something that you are getting right after, because all the new footage was still from the early game with only one Energy Tank available and so on.

Also, the big plant boss is giving Flaahgra vibes, adding to the list of familiar things, but I like how the Mochtroid(?) merged with it, which looks like it's going to be a general thing for bosses in this game. That's really cool and certainly a fresh idea for the Metroids as an enemy. It's also the only connection to the whole Sylux situation from the first trailer, where we have yet to learn how Samus gets from there to Viewros.

The trailer also made it sound like Viewros with be this game's Tallon IV or Aether, meaning that after the inciting incident with Sylux the entirety of the game will take place on this planet. So, you won't be planet hopping like in Prime 3. Instead you will be moving through time, apparently, if you put weight on the words in the trailer...

The threads intertwining beyond space and time are beginning to weave a new tale.

The producer of the Prime series, Kensuke Tanabe, also revealed in the past that he wants Prime 4 to have some sort of time shift mechanic, so it would add up. Potentially, the scenes in the first trailer from the beginning of the game, where the Galactic Federation Research Facility gets attacked by Space Pirates, also take place on Viewros, just in a later time, meaning that Samus gets transported into the past.

Let's see. I don't expect a major info dump next week, in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, but we will likely see the game again for how it may look on Nintendo's new system or even an upgraded version. We have learned today that there will be "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games (see here), which may be enhanced versions of Nintendo Switch games – and this could become one of them.

We may also get a proper release date next week, where maybe this is planned as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo Switch 2, or at least one of the early releases, and they didn't want to give this away just yet. Or Nintendo is simply aware that everyone will be speculating exactly this and they didn't want to create the expectation / assumption that the Nintendo Switch 2 is coming around the same date.

The new trailer ends with the introduction of a new suit for Samus, which reminds me of the Light Suit from Prime 2, but with a red and black color scheme. If they are doing things like with Echoes of Wisdom, then the next trailer will probably start with showcasing some of her new power-ups, including this suit. But I don't expect this to happen next week already, so maybe in a June Nintendo Direct. Next week will probably just tell us how they will treat this game in relation to the new console.

Nintendo Direct March 2025 Predictions

Nintendo has just announced that they will be holding an additional Nintendo Direct in less than 24 hours, this one focused on games still coming to the current Nintendo Switch, before they will deep-dive into the Nintendo Switch 2 next week. There had been rumors by NateTheHate about this, though the format was unclear, where this could have been another Partner or Indie World Showcase, but it isn't.

And that's actually quite exciting and reassuring. Of course, Nintendo will want people to migrate to the Nintendo Switch 2 sooner than later and they will certainly focus on making hits for their new system from now on. At the same time they have a massive audience with the existing Nintendo Switch and it won't hurt to entertain it a little longer. They may even bring out some titles for both systems, where the Nintendo Switch 2 version will look and run much better.

One of these titles will likely be Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which is probably going to be Nintendo's last big game for the Switch. It was shown in the last Nintendo Direct for the first time and still announced to come to the Switch, but everyone and their mother expects this to be another Twilight Princess situation, where it will also be one of the first major games for the Switch 2. Nintendo could use tomorrow's Direct to tell us what's the game all about and show some more gameplay. And then next week they could try to convince us to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 version instead, because it will be looking so much nicer.

"You liked what you saw of Metroid Prime 4 so far? Well, how do you like the game looking like THIS?"

Another Warriors game would be the perfect candidate for this as well, where I'm still convinced that they are going to make a Xenoblade Warriors, now that all Xenoblade games are united on the Nintendo Switch. The timing would be impeccable. I also wouldn't mind a new Hyrule Warriors based on Tears of the Kingdom, but it's a bit early for that. Such games could technically still work on the Switch, but would profit tremendously from the upgraded hardware.

Otherwise, I'm not expecting anything new, at least not from Nintendo's side. But they will certainly go hard on additional ports and remasters, because you can't ever have enough of those. There is the eternal broken record about bringing The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD to the Switch, ideally in a bundle. And it's now or never for that. It won't make sense to port them to the Nintendo Switch 2, because these are Wii U games and there is no justification to not have them on the Switch as well, unless they are going to remaster them all over again, which I doubt at this point.

As for actual remasters, Nintendo loves to recycle their Kirby games, especially so late in the game, where the same guy, who has predicted this week's Nintendo Direct, also talked about Kirby: Planet Robobot coming to Switch (source). Which is neat and only that, but it's about the type of stuff I'm expecting tomorrow.

There is also still the potential of getting Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Remastered as a warm-up to Metroid Prime 4, but I'm personally not counting on it, because the situation seemingly is that Retro Studios had remastered the first game to show what's possible on Switch and then moved on to work on Metroid Prime 4. So, if we're getting additional Metroid Prime remasters, they most likely will be done by a different team or after the fourth game is finished.

Another possibility, one that I find even likelier, is getting Metroid: Samus Returns HD. Metroid Dread is getting four years old in 2025, which is the amount of time it took to make the game, where potentially they area already working on a new 2D Metroid title for the Nintendo Switch 2, like Metroid 6 or another remake. But Samus Returns HD could be a side project and it would be great to have this game in the engine of Dread. In any case, the big star of tomorrow's Nintendo Direct will be Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Except... well, there is another long-awaited Metroidvania game that has been announced for Nintendo Switch many years ago. And there have been rumblings lately about this particular title, like an update to the Steam store page and other things. You know where I'm getting with this and you may laugh, but Hollow Knight: Silksong will come out eventually! Well, I was already convinced that this was to be shown at the last Nintendo Direct, also because it's long overdue, so my gut feeling has betrayed me here once already. But keep in mind that they already had a demo of the game running on Nintendo Switch in 2019. It's essentially another must for the system, just like Metroid Prime 4, even with the Nintendo Switch 2 coming out the day after.

Metroid Prime 4 ~ Starting Equipment & Secondary Weapons?

Unlike The Legend of Zelda, the Metroid series has a continuous storyline. And while it's not the most accurate with its continuity, it always creates the question of how did Samus lose all her power-ups from the previous title. Some Metroid games try to answer this, some don't.

Well, luckily for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, it doesn't really have to give an explanation, because Samus simply lost all her previous upgrades alongside the P.E.D. at the end of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It was similar after Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, where the third game gave you some starting equipment and then went from there. There is no need to take away the basics, like the Morph Ball, with every new game.

Metroid Prime 4 might do something similar. They've shown us what's likely the beginning sequence and you already have the Varia Suit, Missile Launcher, Charge Beam, Morph Ball, and Bombs. The last one wasn't showcased, but you can still see the three dots in the HUD for them while Samus is in Morph Ball mode:

Of course, it could be that Sylux then hits you hard with the Shock Coil and you lose all that as well, but this is getting old and it's generally more interesting to get new abilities instead of items that you've already collected two or three times before in the Prime series.

What's already interesting is the D-pad selection in the lower left corner of the HUD, which is different from the previous games. In both Metroid Prime and Prime 2 you had the visors there, while it showed the beam selection on the right side. Here there is only one selection and it includes the Missile Launcher:

This tells me that this time we're not going to swap between different beams, but secondary weapons, which may all use different types of ammunition. If this were about different types of missiles, then it wouldn't say "Missile Launcher", but only "Missiles". So, this is likely about other weapons.

This would be similar to Metroid Prime Hunters, and therefore not too surprising, since this game will feature Sylux as a primary antagonist. But we're not going to get six alternative weapons this time, only three. Still, those might come from other hunters, though this is what they already had done in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, where you've obtained new weapons and abilities from Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda, like the Plasma Beam.

Speaking of the Plasma Beam, with a secondary weapon system it's likely that the beams will stack in this game, like they did in Prime 3, where the Plasma and Nova Beams upgraded the basic Power Beam. I personally prefer such a system, because it's not much fun to have the Power Beam as your default weapon throughout the entire game. And it makes you truly feel more powerful. But if you can now swap your missiles to something else, Metroid Prime 4 may offer the best of both worlds, stacked beams and the strategic choice of swapping weapons.

Beam combos could also still work, but what combo you get will now be based on your secondary weapon, not the beam. So, if you want the Super Missile, you swap to the Missile Launcher (instead of the Power Beam). And so on. It makes sense and could become the best system in the Prime series.

It's also of note how you instantly swap to the Scan Visor, like there is a dedicated button for it. The D-pad is still briefly visible during that, but doesn't show the Missile Launcher any longer. So, it could be that it will also let you select between different visors when you hold down that visor button, which would be similar to the beam selection with the Dual Sticks control scheme in Metroid Prime Remastered. This control scheme is probably also the reason why'd they want to avoid having two selections at the same time again, because that right analog stick should be free for aiming.

Well, this is all just speculation, of course, where they've shown us only the most basic action. But the idea alone that the Missile Launcher is part of something that you can swap, already sounds quite promising. Let's hope that Nintendo won't wait too long until they reveal more.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Revealed

It's been seven years since the announcement of Metroid Prime 4 and Nintendo now finally delivers, after a development reboot that brought the project back to Retro Studios, who should have gotten this in the first place. And we now have a first gameplay trailer that gives us pretty much what has been promised. Nothing more and nothing less.

It clearly uses the same engine that we already saw in action with Metroid Prime Remastered, making this one of the best, if not the best-looking game for the Nintendo Switch. It's positively breath-taking.

I normally don't care much about graphics, as long as they look pleasing, but these two games are a technical marvel, achieving that much with so little... Can't even wait what Retro Studios will be able to create on the Nintendo Switch 2. Metroid Prime 4 doesn't need to be played on the next console if it looks this good, though.

But I have to be honest... as nice as the graphics are, the overall action looked quite generic. So generic that for a moment I was honestly confused whether I was looking at Metroid Prime 4 or a remaster of Prime 2 and Prime 3, because the sequence looked like a mix of Norion from the beginning of Corruption and the Space Pirate base in the Agon Wastes of Echoes. It felt all so familiar, like we've seen this before.

Of course it wasn't the exact same thing, but there were many similarities here and it felt a bit "lame" because of that. It wasn't until they brought Sylux onto the stage that I was entirely sure that this is actually Prime 4 and not a very fancy remaster of the rest of the trilogy.

Well, this is only the beginning of the game and it won't necessarily reflect the rest of it, where it's also fine to have some basic Metroid Prime action at first, very close to the original trilogy. It has been 17 years after all, not counting Federation Force.

But I do like that Kensuke Tanabe is sticking to his vision here, even after all this time, one that has been teased since the secret ending of Prime 3. Sylux wasn't necessarily the most interesting character in Metroid Prime Hunters, only the most mysterious, but his intro here is fire. Not only does he have Metroids (or Mochtroids) on his side, after he had stolen one in Federation Force, he has teamed up with the Space Pirates as well. It's painting a picture where this foe means serious trouble and feels like an arch nemesis for Samus, rivaling Dark Samus from the previous Prime games.

Add some guitar riffs into the mix and you're getting a certified badass. This also gave me some Metroid Prime Hunters vibes, but it wasn't Sylux's theme. Speaking of that game, I really hope that this will have a multiplayer mode where you can play as all the seven Hunters again, maybe even some new ones, because this would be amazing.

The Galactic Federation Research Facility might even be the one from the end of Federation Force, though there Sylux was acting stealthily, while here it's the complete opposite. It's a full-on assault by the Space Pirates, but the goal seems to be the same: take the Metroids out of the hands of the Federation.

At the end of the trailer we also got a glimpse at the rest of the game, where Samus visits the Mana Tree on the planet Pandora. The Tallon Overworld area was already a treat and this is going next level with the jungle area theme. They knew how to hit a nerve here, this was absolutely beautiful and makes you want to see more.

The game will also need some gameplay hooks to set itself apart. Echoes had the light / dark theme and Corruption had Hyper Mode and the Gunship controls. The latter still can be seen in the beginning of the trailer, looking slightly more hardcore, but I have a feeling that it will get destroyed by Sylux soon after. Samus enters the above area through some sort of portal, not her with her Gunship. And in Metroid II / Samus Returns she has switched back to her classic Gunship from Prime 2, so something must have happened there.

In general, I've always expected Prime 4 to bridge the gap back into the classic Metroid main series to a degree, where the Gunship change is one part of it. But Sylux snatching away the Metroids may also become the key incident which led the Galactic Federation to decide to wipe out the Metroids on SR388, because they became too much of a threat. So, I expect this game to be a more traditional Metroid story, since the Phazon storyline is over. There will be ties to Metroid Prime Hunters and Federation Force, and they might try to connect things back into the main series.

Nevertheless, it will need something to make it unique. To stand out in the series mechanically. And from the trailer or the game's title I really couldn't tell what that will be...

I'm not a fan of the game's title, by the way. "Beyond"? Really? This reminds me of Star Trek Beyond or Beyond Burgers... Let's see what it leads up to, other than going beyond the Phazon era. The logo also looks like the game revolves around Noxus, not Sylux.

Nintendo Direct June 2024 Roundup

Well, well, well... I went into this Nintendo Direct with high expectations. And I can't say that I'm disappointed. Technically, only one of the things from my list made it into the Direct, but that thing is nothing less than the first ever gameplay footage of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. And that was arguably the most important one here. Hello there, Sylux!

Otherwise, I did get meaningful replacements for almost everything else. There was no remake of Oracle of Ages & Seasons, sadly, but they've made a completely new Zelda game in that style, called The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which is full of surprises. In my Future of Zelda article from earlier this year, I did say that I can see them making a new top-down Zelda game next, but I didn't expect this to happen this year already and in the exact same style as the Link's Awakening remake.

As always, I will make separate posts about the big stuff later today, so I won't get into detail here, but I'm equally skeptical and excited, because on the one hand I really love the style, but on the other hand I'm not yet sold on the new "echo" mechanic. The game will launch together with a special-themed Nintendo Switch Lite, the "Hyrule Edition" and this only comes five years too late...

There weren't any of the remakes, remasters, or ports that I've been considering yesterday, but there was still something from my wishlist that I've made in January: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. That will be really nice to have on Nintendo Switch, right next to Tropical Freeze, especially since this comes with the improvements of the 3DS version, but without its terrible frame rate.

As for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Remastered, in hindsight it makes sense that they didn't want to draw away the attention from Metroid Prime 4. Maybe this will still come later this year as a way to pass the time, though.

Then there was something that I didn't have on my radar yesterday, even though I still wanted it: we actually got A Link to the Past & Four Swords for the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy Advance library. You will be able to play this game online for the first time ever with friends, at least officially. That's a big deal and I will have to get the Expansion Pack now, where this will be great to have as some entertainment until Echoes of Wisdom comes out in September. In addition, there is Metroid: Zero Mission, so there is also something small for the Metroid fans here.

The only thing that was completely missing was some kind of new Nintendo Warriors game. I was absolutely convinced that they would make "Xenoblade Warriors" next and I apologize for getting anyone's hopes up here. Instead, we got Fairy Tail 2 from Koei Tecmo, which was kinda lame...

And yes, I will go apply some clown make-up after this post. I've made the Silksong mistake once now, I won't make it again. I guess, Team Cherry will just do their own thing and drop the game once they are ready... any day now.