Hello everyone, I hope all of you are doing well and staying warm during this very cold spell the nation is going through right now. I finish Metroid prime 4 beyond earlier this month. I must be honest; I am disappointed with the game. We waited 18 years for this. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a terrible game. I had some fun with it. When playing it, I can tell that this game had gone through development hell. They are stories are that Retro studio had to use elements from the Bandai Namco version. I want to fix prime 4 now that I have hindsight. Before I can fix it, first off, I must identify the problems I have with it. Heads off they will have a few minor spoilers.
Sol Valley
I will start with the biggest gripe most have. That is Sol Valley. It was Retro Studios idea to put this in the game. I can’t understand why they put this in the game. Sol Valley is so unnecessary.
Zones/Map
Sol Valley is the perfect segway into the next issue. The Zones are so beautiful. This is the best-looking switch 2 game so far. I must give Retro Studio credit for that. Yet the Zones are so linear. They were hardly any twist and turns in these areas. The zones’ design was so unimagining. As for the map, I give credit to the YouTube channel mokebone for this. The map supposed to be giant maze. You have to find secret passages, gain power ups, and defeat foes to move on. The prime 4 map doesn’t do this hardly at all. Going back to Sol Valley, it broke up the map.
Shrines
The shrines was a good idea. All of them shouldn’t been in Sol Valley. Also, the shrines were underwhelming.
Lack of villains
There were barely any enemies. They were so few enemies, and the enemies were the same. We are the machines, a plant foe, flying insects, and the grievers. They is pretty much it. Where were the space pirates at? None of them transported to this world. Really? The part where Samus was being circling around by the wolves was awesome. After that we never saw them again. As for the bosses fights, they were pretty cool.
Vehicles
The motorcycle was cool to ride, for about 30 minutes. Then it got tenuous. Especially when you have to collect the green crystals. The gunship fight scene at the start of the game was awesome. I was asking myself, I am I not flying it? Why is there no part of the game that I wasn’t controlling my gunship shooting down ships? There were big mechs in the game. Again, I ask why I am not controlling one of the mechs?
NPCs
Miles and the others weren’t annoying as most said they would. Armstrong talked a little too much but other than that they were fine. They weren’t needed it.
Ending
I will cut them a little slack. It seems that they are planning another trilogy. I won’t spoil it here. For the ending, it felt like it was all for nothing. The biggest part that ticks me off is the reason that Sylux is mad and hell bend on killing Samus.
Gameplay/Combat
For the most important part, the gameplay. The combat was fine. Yet it felt like it is outdated. I do understand the prime series is not meant to be fast paced with a lot of shooting. Why the screw attack wasn’t in the game? It would have been nice to add the shine spark from dread. Maybe they could have added the perry attack from dread as well.
These are the issues i have with prime 4. Please come back when I will fix the problems/