Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Announcement Trailer

Was anyone else hoping for more of an evolution in gameplay? It looks like it plays exactly like Metroid Prime 2 but that game is 20 years old.
I really want this game to do well but that trailer is making me worried.
- Yeah, somewhat agree.
  It's great just to see it exist. And not every game needs to reinvent the wheel, especially when the series hasn't had a game in 15 years.
  But by the end of it, I was kinda left wanting some new hook.
  Sylux showing up was a cool moment though. I didn't expect them to honor that tease from Prime 3, and I appreciate it.
  
  It’s great just to see it exist. And not every game needs to reinvent the wheel, especially when the series hasn’t had a game in 15 years.
  Plus it's a MetroidVania. Well, kinda the MetroidVania, or half of it. Trying too much with it would feel weird IMO because I'd want the two grandfathers to focus more on the central tenets, not some inventive genre-spinoffs.
- Let's face it: that trailer was just bad. We already knew MP4 was in the works; there was nothing that was shown for us to get excited for. No new enemies, no new suits, no new abilities, no new weapons. If I had to guess, I'd say the team was told to put something together for Nintendo Direct at the last minute, so they threw together footage from the intro level. It worries me that Nintendo wants to drive the hype from the existence of MP4, instead of the content of MP4.
  
  Yeah, I suspect the last minute trailer request too. I am a huge fan of the Metroid Prime trilogy (hunters doesn't count), and that trailer did practically nothing for me.
  Woo, slight remix of the space pirate theme, scanning a dead pirate, and morph balling through a conduit. And three seconds of Sylux, again, because we're supposed to care about that character for some reason.
  
  This late in the Switch's lifecycle, I'd argue that the existence of a new game as big as a Prime sequel is good to remind people of. Haven't touched my Switch in a while, but will likely be picking it up again for Zelda and Prime.
  
  Your guess is very generous.
- My personal view is that I rather have more traditional gameplay than upgrade trees and whatnot.
- In retrospect yeah. I was very excited just to see a trailer at all. After sitting with it for a while I’m kinda like, that’s it? To me it looks exactly like the recent Metroid Prime remaster (which to be fair I did really like).
  I wonder if the reveal of the big baddie was intended to carry more weight than it ultimately did.
  Still amped for this game anyway.
  
  The reveal wasn't a complete surprise though.
  It was hinted that guy would return in MP3's ending, and apparently in Federation Force too (I haven't played that one, but of course the reveal has been floating around).
  Sure, it was still kind of hidden, but for those who recognized him at all, chances are they'd knew that too.
  The trailer certainly failed at making his apparition exciting in any case.
- They did great with Metroid Dread, putting a new spin on an old classic.
  I have some faith that they won't just be rehashing an old formula and that this "Beyond" aspect will have some gameplay twists.
  This trailer seems meant to reassure those of us who have been waiting decades for a true successor to Prime that "yes, in fact this is it".
  I expect we will see more trailers as it gets closer, teasing some of the new story and gameplay innovations once they are more polished.
  
  I'm cautiously optimistic, but prime is made by a completely different developer than dread so there's no guarantees, unfortunately
- yeah this was one of my most anticipated games, until I saw this trailer and noticed the gameplay looks completely unchanged, now all my interest has disappeared.

FINALLY!
Just wish we could use Wii controls. That was the best way to play prime. The switch remaster was okay, but not as good.
- I feel like I'm the only one who prefers the original, gamecube controls. Playing through the switch remake, I played with the new controls for, like, 10 minutes before switching to the original control scheme and playing the rest of the game with it.
  
  I'm with you on the Gamecube controls, tank controls are awkward but Wii pointing is more awkward. Although the best control scheme I used was a Steam controller on Dolphin (for the Wii version).
  
  I prefer GameCube control for MP1 and 2 too.
  Though MP3 did the wiimote control very well IMO (duh, it was made for it, but still, in this case it added something).
  I have not tried MP1's switch remake though, I only played the original MP and MP2 on gamecube and then Trilogy on the Wii.
  
  Nope, you're not the only one. The Wii port of Prime wasn't as well-tested as the original.
- Switch remaster has a motion controls option. I quite like it. Is that comparable to how it played on the Wii?
- Yeah, Switch pointer controls were pretty YMMV, simply because the joycons themselves aren't nearly as reliable in that regard as the Wiimotes were.
  
  The Wiimote worked with a pair of IR blasters to locate your screen. Joycons have no idea where your screen is. In that light, that they work as pointing devices at all is actually rather impressive.
- I guess you forgot about the Wii remote turning being too slow for fighting the hive queen
  
  Yeah definitely have to turn up the sensitivity. The default level has you turning suuuuper slow.
  
  I forgot what the setting was, but the mode with the littlest deadzone/bounding box was the way to go for me. Had the butt of the wiimote rested on my leg for stability and played the game like a joystick aimed at the TV.
- Oh man, Wiimote and nunchuck on Metroid Prime was incredible. So goddamn intuitive. You just... point at everything. I've actually been holding off on the remake because my one and only playthrough of MP1 was with the wiimote. It ruled.
  
  Playing the original (GameCube) is also fun. For me neither control structure is the end all be all, I just preferred the Wii version.
  The remake was visually good for the most part, but I think the original looks better overall.
  I hope they release all 3 of the original primes with the remaster before 4 comes out, but I'll still be playing my Wii prime trilogy 🤣
- With Primehack you can play the OG prime series (I think the Wii U version?) on PC with a controller for dual joystick control like a modern FPS, or even m+k. It also runs well on steam deck, I have it on mine. It's very excellent, highly recommend.
- Prime is why Nintendo needs to embrace VR.
  
  Prime VR would be my JAM!

Quite odd that this is supposed to come to Switch just about when the next console will probably release. I wonder whether this will be the switchover (ha!) title akin to Twilight Princess or Breath of the Wild.
- No doubt it will come to both consoles. I just wonder what upgrades there will be on the new console.
  
  I'm guessing a single release, and the game being used to show off the backwards compatibility features of the next system. Probably the usual 800p-900p 30fps on Switch and something higher when slotted into a Switch 2.

I can't believe this is a real game I might get to play one day. The trailer doesn't even look that good, I'm just excited the project survived.

Some serious halo vibes. Are all the prime games like that?
- Halo is more "figuring out how to defeat this room of enemies IS the puzzle" whereas Metroid's puzzles are platforming and figuring out how to apply this new item to the areas you've already visited, and there just happen to also be enemies to fight.
  
  This trailer definitely looked more halo then.
- Visually maybe but not gameplay wise. They are very much Metroidvanias (that genre isn't called that by chance) where you collect gear to open up the maps more and more and shoot aliens on the way.
  I really loved Prime 3 on the Wii. One of the few shooters that played well on there. I got the trilogy when that was ported but got stuck somewhere in the first game. Was too proud to look up a walkthrough.

Ah. The game I bought a switch to play, just in time for the following generation.

Besides the low resolution, those don’t look like Switch graphics to me.
- Devs tend to go with simplified or cartoony graphics for legibility on the small integrated screen, but that's just an art style choice. Doesn't look too far off from Xenoblade 3, especially given polygons will be saved by not having to render a mile out. Or consider that Doom 2016 runs decently on the Switch.
- I thought that too. But this is the end of the consoles life and devs now know every trick. Also the areas in the trailer are pretty limited, so it's a bit less taxing than an open world game for example.

Meh.