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Pre-Release Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Pre-Release Discussion Thread (UPDATE: New Trailer)

Joe said:
I have to be honest, I don't know why people are so confident there is going to be a Switch 2 version when there isn't even a tiny bit of evidence for one.
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If Switch 2 is backward compatible I think there will be at least some kind of patch that will improve the game's graphics.
 
SmolSam said:
If Switch 2 is backward compatible I think there will be at least some kind of patch that will improve the game's graphics.
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Hoping if this ends up happening, that we also get at least a res bump patch for Prime Remastered. Game already looks fantastic, but an even clearer image would do wonders.
 
Did Nintendo show any Switch games at the Game Awards in 2016?

Regardless, it’s still a Switch 1 game and Nintendo should definitely be showing it. This is the year to care about the Game Awards.
 
Honestly after waiting 17 years for this game, I'm just so freaking happy to finally see it.
I feel like sometimes its worth appreciating the moment and embracing optimism rather than looking for things to worry about. I used to be quite a pessimistic person, and I've been much happier since I decided to look on the bright side more often.
It's not every day we get a new Metroid Prime; let's savour it.

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I still can't believe we finally got to see Metroid Prime 4 for the first month. This has been keeping me going. Have been wanting to talk about it but finally don't feel too tired to write a proper post, so, yay me!

I've watched the trailer A Normal Amount since the Direct. Can't wait to watch the next one A Normal Amount too.

I didn't need convincing on the new Varia Suit look, but Glaedrax's thread really helped me appreciate it all the more. On that note...

Aurc said:
I can't believe the suit used to have a butt crack (well, I can, considering it's even visible on the Corruption figma I own). How asinine (assinine?)

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Gods I'm glad they got rid of that. Been bugging me for years.
 
IsisStormDragon said:
I didn't need convincing on the new Varia Suit look, but Glaedrax's thread really helped me appreciate it all the more.
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I initially had a rather negative impression of the new Varia Suit, but it later grew on me. I definitely need to see it in action in the full game before making further judgements, but it has the potential to become my favorite. I see Retro's vision, and I'm gonna trust that the changes made to the suit's proportions are for the best.
P4bl0 said:
Leave this thread
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They're telling the truth though, Metroid doesn't have the system selling power of Mario or Zelda. It's become such a tired and meaningless talking point (people love stating the obvious over and over again!), but it is the truth, lol.
 
Looking at all the design changes on the Powersuit ... it literally is the scene from The Dark Knight.

Someone took a look at the suit design and thought to themselves: "Okay, we gotta tweak this to make it less unbelievable someone could move pretty fast and slender in it, and not like a medieval full-plate-knight who needed two squires to even turn around."

Looking forward to whatever new suit theme/design this game brings.
 
Aurc said:
They're telling the truth though, Metroid doesn't have the system selling power of Mario or Zelda. It's become such a tired and meaningless talking point (people love stating the obvious over and over again!), but it is the truth, lol.
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It doesnt mean it can’t change though. The Nintendo from the GameCube isn’t the same one as the Switch imo, so I don’t like when people belittling MP just because it never sold as much as Mario or Zelda (yet)

If they put in work, MP can become a God of War type franchise for Nintendo and even become a sci-fi movie franchise down the line.

Pikmin used to be super niche and Pikmin 4 did really good numbers and widened its audience thanks to a very good marketing campaign, the same can happen to MP without a doubt.

Especially when fans have been waiting over 15 years for a sequel
 
P4bl0 said:
It doesnt mean it can’t change though. The Nintendo from the GameCube isn’t the same one as the Switch imo, so I don’t like when people belittling MP just because it never sold as much as Mario or Zelda (yet)

If they put in work, MP can become a God of War type franchise for Nintendo and even become a sci-fi movie franchise down the line.

Pikmin used to be super niche and Pikmin 4 did really good numbers and widened its audience thanks to a very good marketing campaign, the same can happen to MP without a doubt.

Especially when fans have been waiting over 15 years for a sequel
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I admire your optimism, but my expectations are pretty tempered. No matter how good Metroid Prime 4 is (and based on the quality of Retro's past output, I think we can safely expect a 90+ game), I don't see the series ever "taking off in a big way" like some believe might happen. I think Metroid will stay pretty niche, unless it fundamentally restructures its identity to be more palatable to the average Nintendo fan (made to fit right in with the company's brighter, more social, more family friendly properties), and most fans of the series, myself included, don't want that.

I'd love to be proven wrong about its sales prospects, but I feel my expectations are realistic, based on several decades of us having seen how this IP performs. We know roughly how well Dread and Prime Remastered sold, and both are still extremely recent.
 
How to make MP4 a 10mil+ seller in three simple steps.
1. Release MP4 on Switch Q1 to critical acclaim
2. Reveal a free multiplayer update arriving on the same day as 2witch Q2 (think a deeper and more varied version of the Hunters multiplayer (Metrunreal Tournamoid 2025), developed externally with Retro oversight), alongside whatever next gen patch yadda yadda
3. Profit
 
BozPaggs said:
How to make MP4 a 10mil+ seller in three simple steps.
1. Release MP4 on Switch Q1 to critical acclaim
2. Reveal a free multiplayer update arriving on the same day as 2witch Q2 (think a deeper and more varied version of the Hunters multiplayer (Metrunreal Tournamoid 2025), developed externally with Retro oversight), alongside whatever next gen patch yadda yadda
3. Profit
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You're not releasing a successful multiplayer game with lock-on.
 
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ziggyrivers said:
Anyone expecting Prime 4 to be featured in the Game Awards?
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I think it partially depends on if there's a September Direct and they give us new footage there. Prime 4 would make sense for TGA and would show the game off to a non-Nintendo audience, but if they already released a second trailer by then, I'm not sure if they'd bother.
 
Aurc said:
I admire your optimism, but my expectations are pretty tempered. No matter how good Metroid Prime 4 is (and based on the quality of Retro's past output, I think we can safely expect a 90+ game), I don't see the series ever "taking off in a big way" like some believe might happen. I think Metroid will stay pretty niche, unless it fundamentally restructures its identity to be more palatable to the average Nintendo fan (made to fit right in with the company's brighter, more social, more family friendly properties), and most fans of the series, myself included, don't want that.

I'd love to be proven wrong about its sales prospects, but I feel my expectations are realistic, based on several decades of us having seen how this IP performs. We know roughly how well Dread and Prime Remastered sold, and both are still extremely recent.
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It'd never happen. Yet, I've thought for a while how it'd be funny if "classic" Zelda fans, those who bemoan the state of that franchise as it continues to embrace its current "open air" direction, actually started migrating over to Metroid to fill the void of what they're missing.

Especially in the case of the Prime line, where veterans from Zelda's formative years clearly had their influence on this side of the brand. To say a number of classical "Zelda-isms" and tropes organically mingle with Metroid is an understatement. Sequence-breaking may be possible, but by and large, puzzles only have "one solution" and/or require the use of a specific tool. Traversal is also gated in a similar manner. The Prime games would also love nothing better than to continue to expand the lore and make the universe feel more alive and "lived in", in a similar matter that Hyrule has been for ages. And it just goes on and on.

More is the pity that, among other things, sci fi just isn't as much of a draw compared to more bog standard swords-n-magic fantasy. (Though given how modern Zelda likes to tow the "magitek" line, too, maybe that's up to changing, as well!)

All I know is that when a younger TreIII was similarly saddened by how I'd never get another game quite like Zelda 2, a friend pointed me in the direction of Super Metroid. My eyes were open, and I became a fan ever since. I'd love to see something like that play out again.
 
P4bl0 said:
It doesnt mean it can’t change though. The Nintendo from the GameCube isn’t the same one as the Switch imo, so I don’t like when people belittling MP just because it never sold as much as Mario or Zelda (yet)

If they put in work, MP can become a God of War type franchise for Nintendo and even become a sci-fi movie franchise down the line.

Pikmin used to be super niche and Pikmin 4 did really good numbers and widened its audience thanks to a very good marketing campaign, the same can happen to MP without a doubt.

Especially when fans have been waiting over 15 years for a sequel
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Pikmin and Metroid are not system sellers, i don't see a world where Nintendo would put Metroid day one on their new console expecting it to attract people to buy it
 
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BozPaggs said:
How to make MP4 a 10mil+ seller in three simple steps.
1. Release MP4 on Switch Q1 to critical acclaim
2. Reveal a free multiplayer update arriving on the same day as 2witch Q2 (think a deeper and more varied version of the Hunters multiplayer (Metrunreal Tournamoid 2025), developed externally with Retro oversight), alongside whatever next gen patch yadda yadda
3. Profit
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I can't see this working, one of the reasons Nintendo multiplayer games sells it's how they attract everyone, Metroid is still pretty niche
 
P4bl0 said:
It doesnt mean it can’t change though. The Nintendo from the GameCube isn’t the same one as the Switch imo, so I don’t like when people belittling MP just because it never sold as much as Mario or Zelda (yet)

If they put in work, MP can become a God of War type franchise for Nintendo and even become a sci-fi movie franchise down the line.

Pikmin used to be super niche and Pikmin 4 did really good numbers and widened its audience thanks to a very good marketing campaign, the same can happen to MP without a doubt.

Especially when fans have been waiting over 15 years for a sequel
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Zelda took years before it reached the hight it is now and that is only with two titles that went a very different route. Skyward Sword and Link's Awakening both didn't reach those numbers even close. Metroid Dread also "only" sold around 3M+ Which is an amazing number, don't get me wrong. But compare it to Link's Awakening which is a remake and sold around 6.6M+. There is a sheer difference between Metroid and Zelda for the time being.

Before Dread, Metroid Prime was the best selling game and I do believe there is a big chance that MP4 can do wonders, but I think it also will be hard to have it sell 10 million for example. But if it does I will be pleasantly surprised.
 
Vantell said:
Zelda took years before it reached the hight it is now and that is only with two titles that went a very different route. Skyward Sword and Link's Awakening both didn't reach those numbers even close. Metroid Dread also "only" sold around 3M+ Which is an amazing number, don't get me wrong. But compare it to Link's Awakening which is a remake and sold around 6.6M+. There is a sheer difference between Metroid and Zelda for the time being.

Before Dread, Metroid Prime was the best selling game and I do believe there is a big chance that MP4 can do wonders, but I think it also will be hard to have it sell 10 million for example. But if it does I will be pleasantly surprised.
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it sucks that Metroid has to change its gameplay to reach new sales heights. new Zelda and God of War play worse than their old styles (TO ME)
 
ohlawd said:
it sucks that Metroid has to change its gameplay to reach new sales heights. new Zelda and God of War play worse than their old styles (TO ME)
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As much as I love the Metroid/Prime series, the game play isn't for everyone.

A big, bombastic, sci-fi shooter set in the Metroid Universe could be a thing of beauty in the right hands. It wouldn't really be Metroid, but that's the point (to reach a larger audience).

Metroid Warriors 🤔
 
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tsuki2704 said:
Metroid is a franchise known for having low sales, it's not Mario or Zelda to be that hyped...
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I'll preface by saying that I don't think The Legend of Zelda is a low-selling franchise, but when you compare it to Mario historically, it's like comparing Zelda to Metroid in a way. Both Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom broke those conventions because prior to BOTW, no Zelda title ever sold more than ~9 million copies. Still very good, but a far cry to what Mario has done over the years. BOTW was the first real blockbuster Zelda title in that regard.

Some comparisons to be made with this too. On N64, Mario 64 sold nearly 12 million copies, whereas OoT sold under 8 million. On GCN, Mario Sunshine sold just under 6 million copies, and Wind Waker by contrast sold over 4.4 million. For Wii, things were about the same. Mario Galaxy 1, and 2 sold 12.8, and 7.5 million, respectively, while Twilight Princess sold 7.5 million, and Skyward Sword did under 3.7 million. Mind you, New Super Mario Bros Wii sold more than both Zelda, and Mario Galaxy games on Wii combined, a staggering 30 million copies.

And Wii U? Well...we'll just leave that one aside for now.

And then we get to Switch. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, a full-fledged Zelda title sold MORE than a main Mario game. Almost 32 million for BOTW, and a mere 27 million for Mario Odyssey. That just does not compute, and I can guarantee in early 2017, prior to the launch of Switch, and BOTW, if you had told people BOTW would sell more copies than the latest upcoming 3D Mario, you'd be laughed at. That's not to say BOTW wasn't hyped beyond recognition because it was. It was famously delayed 2 years because Nintendo decided they needed to put this game on Switch instead of keeping it exclusively on Wii U. It was a huge decision, but it paid off immensely.

Now, what does this have to do with Metroid? Well, we ultimately cannot say for sure how Prime 4: Beyond will sell. We can certainly look at what previous titles have sold (similar to what Zelda had sold over the years on different platforms), and make estimations, and other projections, but I think people did the same for BOTW prior to its launch.

I don't anticipate Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have a similar scale of success like BOTW did for Zelda, but when we think about the hype surrounding Prime 4 from its infamous E3 trailer in 2017, to the equally infamous 2019 Dev update on restarting the game from scratch, to now the first actual look at the game just a week ago, with a 2025 release date, anything can happen at this point. Metroid Dread is the best selling Metroid title of all time (which isn't saying much unfortunately, given it is only 3 million), and I'd be surprised if Prime 4 doesn't exceed that. I'm not picturing BOTW/TOTK levels of success, but even 5-10 million would be massive for the whole franchise.

But yes, Metroid is historically known for low sales, in the same way Zelda historically sold less than Mario. We'll find out for sure sometime 2025.
 
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Dark Cloud said:
is the story going to be about the Federation being evil? Why is it they have they time travel black hole portal thing? Did they find it? Did they create it? Will they use it for evil?
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I'd like to see a Metroid where Samus goes rogue against the Federation as though it's like the Spectre Organization, and tries to take it down. And then the Space Pirates turn out to actually be the good guys, and Samus joins forces. :devilish:

movies-spectre-trailer-gif.gif


You know you'd want that. maniacal laughter

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Dark Cloud said:
is the story going to be about the Federation being evil? Why is it they have they time travel black hole portal thing? Did they find it? Did they create it? Will they use it for evil?
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It wouldn't surprise me if the Federation isn't even fully aware of what they possibly have discovered. For all we know, the initial excitement about the discovery pertains to thinking they discovered a new "black hole powered" energy source, which the Feds and Pirates would certainly be on the market for, since Phazon is gone. Then the truth eventually comes out and it's....BEYOND™ anything either party could have anticipated. And then the race is on, with Sylux probably at the center of things (and being a few steps ahead of everyone, because perhaps they are from a/the future).

Again, I hope Tanabe and Retro fully indulge in the craziness that time travel could incite, in ways that would make Zelda's usage of it look positively pedestrian.
 
TreIII said:
It wouldn't surprise me if the Federation isn't even fully aware of what they possibly have discovered. For all we know, the initial excitement about the discovery pertains to thinking they discovered a new "black hole powered" energy source, which the Feds and Pirates would certainly be on the market for, since Phazon is gone. Then the truth eventually comes out and it's....BEYOND™ anything either party could have anticipated. And then the race is on, with Sylux probably at the center of things (and being a few steps ahead of everyone, because perhaps they are from a/the future).

Again, I hope Tanabe and Retro fully indulge in the craziness that time travel could incite, in ways that would make Zelda's usage of it look positively pedestrian.
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Yeah that can happen to. That’s what makes the whole thing exciting. Because they can take this anywhere they want.
 
beaglor said:
How many teams does Retro have? 'More then one' is a possibility, considering work must've been split between Prime 4 and Remastered, right? Is it possible they might be hiring for their next game?
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with all the hiring Retro Studios did for Metroid Prime 4, they problaby able to work at two big games at ounce, Metroid Prime 4 is problaby on the polishing part, and they are doing/or about to do pre-production of it next game(problaby aiming for Switch sucessor).
 
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All this talk about Metroid not blowing up, I'm already sadly ready for a world where Metroid takes a break. While I don't necessarily think the series needs to blow up to get more games, I wouldn't be surprised if it took a bit more than your typical Metroid fare for a Prime 5 to be greenlit - maybe something like 5M or so. Metroid 6 is probably being made as we speak but if we only got one Metroid a generation the IP would be less and less meaningful and Sakamoto has to retire eventually anyways. Obviously the people at Nintendo get to make what games they want to make and that's great but I can't help but wonder if Nintendo will look at the growth FE or Pikmin have achieved and think it's not worth the effort, especially when every producer there is multi talented anyways.

This isn't dooming, I'm not necessarily saying it will happen nor that it's likely, but it's something I've though about. I wouldn't be surprised if Switch 2 wasn't that great for Metroid or was kind of the last hurrah, the beginning of the end. All the more reason to cherish what we have now.
 
AngryAlchemist said:
All this talk about Metroid not blowing up, I'm already sadly ready for a world where Metroid takes a break. While I don't necessarily think the series needs to blow up to get more games, I wouldn't be surprised if it took a bit more than your typical Metroid fare for a Prime 5 to be greenlit - maybe something like 5M or so. Metroid 6 is probably being made as we speak but if we only got one Metroid a generation the IP would be less and less meaningful and Sakamoto has to retire eventually anyways. Obviously the people at Nintendo get to make what games they want to make and that's great but I can't help but wonder if Nintendo will look at the growth FE or Pikmin have achieved and think it's not worth the effort, especially when every producer there is multi talented anyways.

This isn't dooming, I'm not necessarily saying it will happen nor that it's likely, but it's something I've though about. I wouldn't be surprised if Switch 2 wasn't that great for Metroid or was kind of the last hurrah, the beginning of the end. All the more reason to cherish what we have now.
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Nice eulogy
 
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AngryAlchemist said:
All this talk about Metroid not blowing up, I'm already sadly ready for a world where Metroid takes a break. While I don't necessarily think the series needs to blow up to get more games, I wouldn't be surprised if it took a bit more than your typical Metroid fare for a Prime 5 to be greenlit - maybe something like 5M or so. Metroid 6 is probably being made as we speak but if we only got one Metroid a generation the IP would be less and less meaningful and Sakamoto has to retire eventually anyways. Obviously the people at Nintendo get to make what games they want to make and that's great but I can't help but wonder if Nintendo will look at the growth FE or Pikmin have achieved and think it's not worth the effort, especially when every producer there is multi talented anyways.

This isn't dooming, I'm not necessarily saying it will happen nor that it's likely, but it's something I've though about. I wouldn't be surprised Iif Switch 2 wasn't that great for Metroid or was kind of the last hurrah, the beginning of the end. All the more reason to cherish what we have now.
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I think it's all up to if the producers have fostered replacements. It happened to Pikmin, for example. Tanabe does have a replacement. Sakamoto, though, I'm not sure.
 
WonderLuigi said:
I think it's all up to if the producers have fostered replacements. It happened to Pikmin, for example. Tanabe does have a replacement. Sakamoto, though, I'm not sure.
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I don’t see why he wouldn’t have one. The amount of folks who love Metroid there I can imagine someone wants to take the series over.

All these old Nintendo series have new people in charge.
 
I don't see Metroid going anywhere with Mercury Steam around. Not sure Retro will keep doing Metroid if Prime 4 fails (it shouldn't, imo) but they did leave the series once sooooo it can happen again.

I don't play Metroid but I'd be surprised if fans have to suffer again haha.
 
Hocot8 said:
I don't see Metroid going anywhere with Mercury Steam around. Not sure Retro will keep doing Metroid if Prime 4 fails (it shouldn't, imo) but they did leave the series once sooooo it can happen again.

I don't play Metroid but I'd be surprised if fans have to suffer again haha.
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At some point Retro will get tired of doing Metroid just like they did before. Let’s say they do Prime 4 then a Prime 5. I could see them wanting to do something different after that. They’ve been off Metroid for so long and they have so many new faces there’s no Metroid fatigue
 
Please do not make statements that could be interpreted as generalizing an entire population as proponents of sexualization. - Lord Azrael, MissingNo., IsisStormDragon, Dardan Sandiego
I would rather the franchise die than have a bad producer in charge. Imagine if Sakamoto's replacement decides to appeal better to the Japanese audience, and now the games are about Samus catching cute alien creatures (a la pokemon), and Samus now just wears the zero suit and all in an anime style. I guess it would sell better in Japan at least...
Edit: kind of ironic that I say this while having a cute anime Samus as a profile pic
 
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