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Pre-Release Metroid Prime 4: Pre-Release Discussion Thread

Phendrift

Phendrift

Bounty Hunter
Pronouns
He/Him


Developer: Retro Studios
Release Date: TBA

With Dread just around the corner, and Metroid Prime remake rumors popping up, I figured some of us would want to talk about Prime 4!

The game is currently in development after being announced at E3 2017 initially developed by Bandai Namco with Retro Studios taking over and rebooting the project in January 2019.

So what would you like to see from Prime 4? When do you think we will get it?
 
Regardless of when it comes out, I think we might have a chance of seeing the game in some fashion over the next year or so.
 
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I would guess we see Prime 4 at E3 2022 alongside a reveal for Metroid Prime 1 remake with Prime 4 getting a 2023 release window and Prime 1 remake possibly being dated or a window such as Fall 2022.
Dread - 2021
Prime 1 remake - 2022
Prime 4 - 2023
 
When the reboot first got announced I was shooting for Holiday 2022. Now it seems like 2023 at the earliest, with the possibility of a 2024 delay. Shame it's taken this long, but so long as they get it right it doesn't matter.

My biggest fear is Retro will play it safe and do a Prime 1 retread essentially (i.e. same old Super Metroid upgrades, similar looking lava/forest/ice/ruin environments, no new central mechanic like the Dark World or Hypermode, space pirates, etc). While that game would probably be very good, I'd much rather see something new.

The original premise Tanabe teased in 2015 with a time-shifting mechanic and Sylux being involved sounds fantastic, that's the type of novelty I want to see. Based on FF's secret ending it seems like they definitely planned on going in with Sylux as a villain, although with the reboot I'm worried of plans being scrapped. Considering he's been teased since Prime 3 I really hope they don't drop it.
 
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2023 is when I thought it would come for a little while now. I’m starting to wonder if they might do an open world now though. With the latest interview with a former Retro employee saying they had ideas for open world Prime 3; maybe this will be revisited for Prime 4.
 
I think Prime is still my favourite 3D game ever (save perhaps for BotW) and I often go back and think what makes it so special. The things that stand out for me are things that would be so easy to get wrong in a sequel, especially one developed after such a long time, so I'm pretty nervous for Prime 4.

- Environmental storytelling. It was perfect in Prime; I think they just about got away with it in Prime 2 with the GF; I think they put a step wrong with Prime 3.
- A living, breathing world, with history and memories. So many of the more memorable areas in the game are those that don't really serve as anything related to completing the mission, they just have artifacts or non-violent creatures that remind you that you're on a different planet with its own ecosystem and past civilizations.
- Scanning! More than any other gameplay aspect, I think this has always been the essence of the Prime series. It is part of the storytelling and the lore, it is part of the puzzles, but it is also a reminder that you are on an alien world and you need to study your environment in order to progress.

Moreover, I think all of the above are neither overdone nor underdone - they are weaved into the core game with the deftest of touches.

I am anxious about Prime 4, but I'm glad it's in the hands of Retro. It seems to be a studio that has a really good culture and I think they will have an appropriate reverence for the original games even if most of the staff have moved on.
 
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Dark Cloud said:
2023 is when I thought it would come for a little while now. I’m starting to wonder if they might do an open world now though. With the latest interview with a former Retro employee saying they had ideas for open world Prime 3; maybe this will be revisited for Prime 4.
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I'm not sure if fully open world is absolutely compatible with a metroidvania desing. Maybe more open areas which allow backtracking. But I'm not sure how the desing could be done without being labyrinthine.
 
Mori Medinayo said:
I'm not sure if fully open world is absolutely compatible with a metroidvania desing. Maybe more open areas which allow backtracking. But I'm not sure how the desing could be done without being labyrinthine.
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It’s kind of why I’m curious to see what they thought of doing for an open world Metroid game. Like how would it work.
 
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Mori Medinayo said:
I'm not sure if fully open world is absolutely compatible with a metroidvania desing. Maybe more open areas which allow backtracking. But I'm not sure how the desing could be done without being labyrinthine.
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It could basically mean the gating is organic and not artificial. Like, no weapon specific doors, but chunks of rock/wall that require certain weapons to get past.
 
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Personally expecting 2023. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they tied it with new Hardware if the dates are somehow aligned
 
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TheDok said:
Considering BOTW and Odyssey's sales 10m LTD seems reasonable. Would be amazing to see it actually happen
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I think 10m is way too high for a Metroid game, but I hope I'm wrong. It would need to be a stellar genre-defining game to hit that
 
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My main desire is that I hope that Prime and the main games would have decidedly more synergy with each other, going forward. You go from the Prime games to the Main games (or vice-versa), and it's enough to wonder if they're really supposed to be a part of the same timeline or not, based on how organizations like the Pirates and Federations are depicted in each.

At the very least, can they both take place in the "post-Fusion" timeline, and just alternate with Prime sliding in extra stories in between the main games' "episodes"?
 
Dragoncaine said:
Assuming MP4 has a hype-worthy level of promotion and reviews very well as expected, what are our SUPER early predictions for the game's sales?
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I want to see Metroid Dread's sales numbers before I can even dream a guess for Prime 4.

I know it isn't an apples to apples comparison. but Dread's sales should at least give an indication of the franchise's sales potential going forward.
 
Josh5890 said:
I want to see Metroid Dread's sales numbers before I can even dream a guess for Prime 4.

I know it isn't an apples to apples comparison. but Dread's sales should at least give an indication of the franchise's sales potential going forward.
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Dark Cloud said:
I think there’s too many factors for me at the time to make a proper prediction.
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I get that. For me, I think even some casuals will be excited by a graphically impressive sci-fi FPS exclusive to Switch - whether they're already invested in Metroid or not. But waiting for Dread sales is a great idea.
 
Reading the scrapped open world concept thread, it makes me think a lot about the "openness" of metroidvania game design and how open-ended such a game has the potential to be without losing its distinction.

Feels like openness has been a running theme of switch entries of popular franchises with BotW, Odyssey, Pokémon Arceus and maybe also Kirby. Curious to see how open-ended Prime 4 will be, if at all.
 
Well it's impossible to predict. It depends a lot the impact that will Dread have in people. And if the marketing and pre-hype is well done. It also depends about how they manage de Prime 2 Remaster. But I wish it surpass 5 and even 10 million. I also hope Dread surpass 5 million, I think it's quite possible.
 
If I’m Retro I’m taking huge risks. I’m going to evolve the platform. They have the pedigree behind them.
 
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Dragoncaine said:
Assuming MP4 has a hype-worthy level of promotion and reviews very well as expected, what are our SUPER early predictions for the game's sales?
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Around 7-10 million is my guess. A big range but we're too far away to make any stronger predictions.

I think Prime is more poised to succeed now than its ever been, the market has decidedly shifted towards those types of games. But we'll have a better idea when Prime 1 Remasterake releases next year
 
Holiday 2023 release is where I'm at right now, and it will be the greatest game ever made
 
This seems silly, but I don't particularly want it to be titled Prime 4. I love the Prime games but I think the trilogy was a pretty tight set of interconnected games. Some sort of subtitle after Prime would work for me.
 
Dopply said:
This seems silly, but I don't particularly want it to be titled Prime 4. I love the Prime games but I think the trilogy was a pretty tight set of interconnected games. Some sort of subtitle after Prime would work for me.
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Nah I'm glad they're calling it Prime 4. Doesn't change how interconnected the original 3 are.

I really dispise the trend of publishers dropping numbers from titles, it's just a shallow attempt to appeal to newcomers. It's like they're ashamed they made so many. Even worse is the trend of rebooting a franchise and just calling it the original game's name, like Tomb Raider 2013 or God of War 2018. Norse GOW is especially fucking stupid since it's not even a reboot.
 
Dopply said:
This seems silly, but I don't particularly want it to be titled Prime 4. I love the Prime games but I think the trilogy was a pretty tight set of interconnected games. Some sort of subtitle after Prime would work for me.
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I don’t think it’ll be called Prime 4. They only call it Prime 4 so we know what they’re talking about. I think the numbers should be dropped. Metroid Prime: Subtitle
 
If the game really shape up to be a GOAT-tier game, I hope Nintendo double down on the BotW approach.

Cross-gen game with heavy promotion and masterful accolades.
 
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A 2023 release would put it in Year 7 of the Switch life-cycle. That's a very, very late release for a game with big sales expectations, but it forced me to look up similar situations on past consoles in regards to late-in-the-day tentpole releases. I think most similar release is probably God of War 2 - a 2007 PS2 game that came out after PS3 was on shelves. A critically and commercially successful game.

We really don't know what Nintendo's philosophy is going to be for whatever comes after Switch - ideally it would be something that's entirely backwards compatible a la GBA or PS2 to keep the OG Switch software ecosystem alive for a while longer.
 
Aaron said:
A 2023 release would put it in Year 7 of the Switch life-cycle. That's a very, very late release for a game with big sales expectations, but it forced me to look up similar situations on past consoles in regards to late-in-the-day tentpole releases. I think most similar release is probably God of War 2 - a 2007 PS2 game that came out after PS3 was on shelves. A critically and commercially successful game.

We really don't know what Nintendo's philosophy is going to be for whatever comes after Switch - ideally it would be something that's entirely backwards compatible a la GBA or PS2 to keep the OG Switch software ecosystem alive for a while longer.
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It's also the cycle with The Last of Us part II. Furthermore, it's quite possible MP4 is a crossgen between OG and Dane Switch.

I just want to speculate about this but. With Nintendo pushing hard Metroid:
2021 Dread.
2022 MP1 Remaster
2023 MP4

Could it be possible that they'd try tu push marketing for Dread and MP1 to maximmum and, if it's sales are really, really good and makes the IP big (always in sales term), could MP4 be the main title with Dane or the succ launch? Instead of BotW2?
Ps. I've alwayd assumed BotW2 is gonna be 4K switch launch title, that play good with OG Switch.
 
Now that dread has been released it time to see a teaser of this game at TGA (even if its only a small cgi clip)
 
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TreIII said:
My main desire is that I hope that Prime and the main games would have decidedly more synergy with each other, going forward. You go from the Prime games to the Main games (or vice-versa), and it's enough to wonder if they're really supposed to be a part of the same timeline or not, based on how organizations like the Pirates and Federations are depicted in each.

At the very least, can they both take place in the "post-Fusion" timeline, and just alternate with Prime sliding in extra stories in between the main games' "episodes"?
Click to expand...
The Prime games are pretty good at doing their own thing with the universe, while not stepping on the toes of the main series narrative. I don't expect that to change, going forward. I find that they do a really solid job of expanding the Metroid lore, so I hope that continues with Prime 4.

What are your issues with the way the Federation and Pirates are depicted, just out of curiosity? In the case of the Pirates, "Space Pirate" is just a generalized term, rather than one used to refer to a given species. That's why the 2D games feature the Zebesian "lobster claw" Pirates, while the Prime games opt to depict other species instead (in addition to one of their homeworlds, Urtraghus, in Prime 3).
 
I'm probably alone here but I really hope this ends up being a third person game. I feel like it's easier to make Samus super agile that way.
 
Dragoncaine said:
Assuming MP4 has a hype-worthy level of promotion and reviews very well as expected, what are our SUPER early predictions for the game's sales?
Click to expand...
10m, with a super long hype cycle, having Metroid Dread already being the breakthrough hit of the franchise selling 4m+ and Metroid Prime Remakester being super well received and looking fantastic. Also, it would release alongside a new, more powerful revision. I don't think it'll be cross gen because I don't believe and a Switch successor coming before 2025 and I don't believe for a second this game will come later than 2023.
 
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KC Hazel said:
I'm probably alone here but I really hope this ends up being a third person game. I feel like it's easier to make Samus super agile that way.
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I wouldn't mind a third-person one. Retro is quality, and will make it quality.

Third-person or not, I really hope they find a way to incorporate the Speed Booster + some type of dash, this time around. If it's first-person again, it can take some cues from just how fluid movement feels in modern FPS titles like Titanfall 2, or Doom Eternal.
 
Mina said:
I’m all in on Prime 4 hype. Expecting 97 MC and 10m sales. You’ll see, you’ll all see!!
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I like you have a cup of cake!!
Absolutely agree. It's gonna be Metroid's Super Mario Odyssey/Breath of the Wild, taking the franchise back to the 97 MC and getting it to sales it never got before.
Mainly because Dread is already paving the road for the franchise, and MP1HD will get even more hype.
 
Marce-chan said:
I like you have a cup of cake!!
Absolutely agree. It's gonna be Metroid's Super Mario Odyssey/Breath of the Wild, taking the franchise back to the 97 MC and getting it to sales it never got before.
Mainly because Dread is already paving the road for the franchise, and MP1HD will get even more hype.
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I have MP4 at a 96+ for sure.
 
Irene said:
Reading the scrapped open world concept thread, it makes me think a lot about the "openness" of metroidvania game design and how open-ended such a game has the potential to be without losing its distinction.

Feels like openness has been a running theme of switch entries of popular franchises with BotW, Odyssey, Pokémon Arceus and maybe also Kirby. Curious to see how open-ended Prime 4 will be, if at all.
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Exactly. It can be more open ended, have huuuuuge areas at the same time it maintains the maze design and is even somewhat linear.
Not every Nintendo franchise that goes in the open world-ish design needs to be full open world in the western sense like Breath of the Wild is.
I like to think more it'll be more like Super Mario Odyssey where you have huge levels that you explore interrupted, collect and milk them to death, but go to each linearly, or like Arceus is gonna be where you might have a hub esque area and go to huge areas that are fully explorable. Or something like the next Kirby is gonna be.
 
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Mori Medinayo said:
Well it's impossible to predict. It depends a lot the impact that will Dread have in people. And if the marketing and pre-hype is well done. It also depends about how they manage de Prime 2 Remaster. But I wish it surpass 5 and even 10 million. I also hope Dread surpass 5 million, I think it's quite possible.
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I think Dread will get to the 5m mark and I can't believe a faithful remaster of a 97 metacritic cult classic will do anything but wonderful sales wise in 2022.
I think the long-ass dev/hype cycle the game will get will sale it for itself. We have a lot of people talking about it and eagerly waiting for something since 2017.
 
Retros going to make it open world I hope. I like for them to be trendsetters. Metroid Prime barely can be replicated by other devs and that’s 20 years old. I’d like for them to advance it again.
 
TheDok said:
Nah I'm glad they're calling it Prime 4. Doesn't change how interconnected the original 3 are.

I really dispise the trend of publishers dropping numbers from titles, it's just a shallow attempt to appeal to newcomers. It's like they're ashamed they made so many. Even worse is the trend of rebooting a franchise and just calling it the original game's name, like Tomb Raider 2013 or God of War 2018. Norse GOW is especially fucking stupid since it's not even a reboot.
Click to expand...
I love how Mortal Kombat has gone:
They numbered it til 4, then made every possible kind of subtitle in the PS2 era, then released an actual reboot just called Mortal Kombat, that literally everyone called MK9, then released the next game called Mortal Kombat X, trying to call it X instead of ten, just so the next game is called literally 11 and is the best selling ever.
We got the other way around with Mario Kart having the console name as its title just so I got numbered with 7 and 8.
I think Resident Evil and Final Fantasy are the greatest examples that you can be numbered and have a ton of games released without getting the "damn 15 already" vibe.
 
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The problem with some open world games, at least for me, is that traversal is just too bland. Takes forever to get anywhere, and it's not fun to move around. Prime example: Horizon Zero Dawn. Example of the complete opposite: superhero games, like Batman: Arkham Knight, or Spider-Man.

Samus is very much a "superhero". Between the Grapple Beam, Space Jump, Speed Booster, Wall Jump, and any other mobility-related abilities they'd opt to give her, she's got the ideal kit to make the simple act of navigating a large play area enjoyable. Metroid could straight-up be a perfect fit for an open world experience, should they choose to go that route.
 
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