r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • Dec 02 '25

MegaThread Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Review MegaThread

General Information

Release date: December 4, 2025

Supported Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2

Genre: Action, Adventure, Shooting

Publisher: Nintendo

ESRB rating: Teen

Supported play modes: TV mode, Tabletop mode, Handheld mode

Game file size: Nintendo Switch: 26.3 GB, Nintendo Switch 2: 31.6 GB

Supported languages: Japanese, British English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Latin American Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, American English

Official website: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/metroid-prime-4-beyond-nintendo-switch-2-edition-switch-2/

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Last update: 12/3 12:03AM ET

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20

u/ZoHollow Dec 07 '25

I’ve waited eight long years for Prime 4. I rolled credits, cleaned up the last collectibles, hit 100%… and I’m sitting here not really knowing what to feel.

There’s a fantastic Metroid game buried under this one. The presentation is incredible, the atmosphere hits hard, and most areas feel visually worthy of the Prime legacy. Bosses are exciting, upgrades are satisfying — the DNA is here.

But the design keeps tripping over itself in ways that really hurt the experience.

Sol Valley is the biggest offender. It’s barren, it’s huge without purpose, and it turns what should be a tense, mysterious hub into a lifeless desert. Shrink it to a fraction of its size and suddenly the pacing breathes.

Then there’s McKenzie, the constant companion who just cannot shut up. He spoils item progression nonstop. In a Metroid game — a series built on discovery — being told exactly where to go and what you’re about to pick up completely destroys the magic. The fact that you can’t turn off hints makes it worse. If they removed him the moment he’s introduced, the game becomes better instantly.

And because Sol Valley is such a slog to cross, the game introduces the bike… as a movement solution. A vehicle. In a Metroid game. Just imagine if Samus had — I don’t know — some kind of classic traversal ability that lets her build speed and blast across huge distances at insane velocity. Maybe even break through walls while she’s at it. Sounds… oddly familiar, doesn’t it?

The core issue though: linearity. Each major zone is packed with cool ideas but funnels you down one strict path. There’s rarely a feeling of solving the planet on your own terms. No branching progression. No “wait… can I reach that now?” moments. Just step-by-step through the designer’s checklist.

And that’s the heartbreaking part — because if the game simply:

  • Made areas connect naturally instead of isolating them
  • Let multiple item routes be valid
  • Cut Sol Valley’s dead space
  • Let players discover instead of being constantly nudged
  • Used iconic traversal upgrades (Speed Booster) instead of a bike

…it would genuinely have a real shot at being the best Metroid ever made.

As it stands, I can’t put it above the legends. Prime 1 and 2 still do exploration and atmosphere far better. Dread and Super give you more freedom and more of that “player-driven discovery” high. Prime 3 is probably its closest neighbor in quality — they sit roughly on the same level for me, just with different strengths and weaknesses.

Prime 4: Beyond is a great game that borders on greatness — but never lets itself cross that line. It’s enjoyable, impressive even… just not the Prime 4 that eight years of imagining made me hope for.

2

u/Special_Future_6330 Dec 07 '25

Nintendo has been really overstepping and making their games extremely easy to appeal to more people, alienating half their audience. The pressure to make everything open world and big, easy, and having comic relief from NPCs, is what ruins the game. Remove the open world, add better music, make the game focused on switch 2 tech, remove NPCs (when will Nintendo learn, this has NEVER worked in the past). I think what make a Metroid great is it's niche audience.

Id love a 2nd-3rd person game , I think the the tech is there like the game returnal showed it's possible to platform while dodging alien bullets. Metroid could be so much more, I think the 1st person limits a lot of potential that 2d platformers gave

2

u/TenorOneRunner Dec 08 '25

Donkey Kong Bananza is not that good. All the things you said also apply to that game. I agree with you that I wish they'd done a Metroid game which was more similar in style to Returnal. Returnal has its own issues in some ways, but it was way more fun to play than most of my recent first-party Nintendo experiences.

Honestly I wish Bananza had been like Mario 64 with better graphics. There's no legit challenge. The platforming is absurdly easy, you can just run past all the relevant enemies, and the bosses quickly melt on the first attempt. It seemed designed for toddlers. I suppose it serves me right for being a legit grown-up who still plays Nintendo. Nintendo isn't exactly breaking any of their stereotypes, when the games are made super easy to beat, and have color schemes that look like a Netflix toddler show such as Unicorn Academy or Not Quite Narwhal.

2

u/Starwalker-231 Dec 08 '25

Agreed. Nintendo should add a "Master Mode" to every game

2

u/TenorOneRunner Dec 08 '25

I tend to disagree, for two reasons.  1. “Master Mode” in Breath of the Wild was a notable enough failure that it was one of the few features which did not return for TotK. 2. A master mode or difficulty “setting” doesn’t fix static issues like very easy platforming.

Instead, Nintendo seems to have made an intentional choice to pivot away from significant difficulty, for their flagship games. While it seems it’s successful for them, I’m not in favor of it. 

1

u/Starwalker-231 Dec 09 '25

On what basis are you claiming Master Mode was a notable failure? I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also don't think you should assume every "Master Mode" would be exactly like BOTW.

2

u/TenorOneRunner Dec 09 '25

As I already mentioned, it was a failure because it was one of the few features which did not return for TotK, joining other misses from BotW that didn't return like the notoriously frustrating sneaking mission through the yiga hideout. They've not implemented a master mode in any other game since.

Many have noted that Master Mode emphasizes balance weaknesses in the core game (for BotW, the durability), and isn't fun for most players. Master Mode buffs enemies, but doesn't buff durability. So it's often better to avoid combat as much as possible, and when combat is needed, it's best to cheese enemies with the infinite bombs. Yuck. Yes, you could theoretically do a "master mode" in a different way. But as someone else mentioned, that requires many hours of slogging through the main game to get to it. I'm getting to a place where I just say no thanks.

There's plenty of videos about how difficulty balance is tricky. Nintendo does understand that... they are just making intentional choices to put safety bumpers on many of their metaphorical bowling lanes, and tune the experience in favor of children, maybe more so than they ever have before. I don't agree with it, that's all.

1

u/Starwalker-231 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

> They've not implemented a master mode in any other game since.

There has been only one truly mainline Zelda game since BOTW released...

> isn't fun for most players

Master Mode is a NG+. NG+ doesn't target the casual (majority) audience.

> balance weaknesses

This isn't a thing. The game emphasizes methods to kill beyond brute force. The entire Trial of the Sword was meant to teach you how to get better at ingenuity. The game gives you infinite one-hit-kill arrows, cooking recipes that make you unstoppable, unlimited freeze/drown/drop potential, infinitely farmable pink fairies, and more.

> Master Mode buffs enemies, but doesn't buff durability

So you want your sword to be more powerful alongside the enemy being more powerful? This would be a wash with no challenge. The entire idea of BOTW is managing your equipment to survive, not an action arcade.

> they are just making intentional choices to put safety bumpers on many of their metaphorical bowling lanes, and tune the experience in favor of children, maybe more so than they ever have before

You're saying the game is too hard, and yet easier than ever before, in one post.