Metroid Prime 4 is Really Here

Today is one of those game launch days I can't believe is here. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is out and about in the world. Usually, these "is it really out?" launches are coupled with long development times and unexpected sequels. Prime 4 is a premiere example of these requirements.1

It has been 18 years since the last new Retro Studios Prime game and nearly 12 years since their last new game at all—Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Prime 4 itself was announced eight years ago at Nintendo's first E3 with the Switch console out. Going back through my Twitter feed, it was a beautiful day with two Metroid titles announced.

I cannot believe TWO Metroid games were announced. It's like Prime/Fusion all over again. So amped.

I was far more reactionary and hype back in those days. Actually, doing the math, Prime 4's public facing announcement to release is nearly as old as my marriage, off by just a few months. shivers

It's funny, in a way, to look back at that original teaser (JPG reveal, really). The "4" is completely different. The blue flame styling is more evocative of Prime 3: Corruption than the purple that Beyond would end up adopting. We really were just given an atmosphere to create hype, amplified by the new and clearly destined to be successful Switch console.

Almost two years later, Nintendo would announce the complete reboot of the game and that Retro Studios was back in charge after their run with DKC. I remember I was at my in-laws' house when the news broke. I rushed to my laptop to write the article for DualShockers. That was about two months before PAX East 2019, I believe.

Nintendo would be mum on the game until last summer when it reintroduced the game to the world, seven years after the title's teaser. During the intervening years, we got Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime Remastered, but Prime 4 has loomed over the Switch, Retro Studios, and Metroid fans for ages.

During the last two years, I've been playing the Prime series for Chapter Select in anticipation of this very game. It's been a slow burn to play them, mostly due to my own meandering, but Metroid Prime 4 still felt like it might not actually be real. I heard it in our recordings as I went back and edited the episodes this year. Unsure of dates, scope, and ambition. Prime 4 has always been the hope of an idea, not a sure thing. I don't know if it will even feel real when I pick it up from Best Buy in a couple hours. I suspect it will hit me when I see whatever sick menu design Retro has cooked up.

The review embargo broke two days ago and if you look at Metacritic, you might be inclined to think this is "fall from grace" with the other three core Prime titles being well above a score of 81. But the Metacritic score for Tropical Freeze is 83 and that is one of the greatest 2D platformers ever made. I was talking with some younger friends about this and how I have become opposed to review scores all together. The encourage a race to the bottom, both of the page and the critique process. A review from John Linneman at Digital Foundry is worth more to me than a 100 from Dan Ryckert at Giant Bomb or a 6/10 from Robin Bea at Inverse. It's because I know John's tastes, thoughts, and standards. I trust him more than any score. It's crucial to find voices you respect, not just one's whose tastes align with your own.2

It has been a long time coming. I was a paltry 13-years-old when Corruption launched on the Wii. I was engaged when the Prime 4 was announced. Now, I have a house, a three-year-old daughter, etc. etc. etc. Time is a funny thing. I wonder what game will make me feel like this next. Perhaps it will be when my own kid plays Metroid Prime for the first time. At least she won't have to wait for the sequels.

Footnotes

  1. Other titles I think of would be The Last Guardian, Kingdom Hearts 3, and maybe Alan Wake II. ↩

  2. I haven't read my friend and co-host Logan Moore's review yet since we will save our discussion for Chapter Select, but you can go read it if you want! ↩