To say that the wait for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been a long time coming would be a massive understatement. It has been nearly two decades since Samus last graced a Nintendo console, and needless to say, the cultural and technological landscapes have changed massively since the days of waggling the remotes of the Wii while tolerating the console's crunchy, sub-HD graphics. The surprise release of Metroid Prime Remastered in 2023 proved, however, that Samus' 3D adventures were such landmark titles that all they need to hold up incredibly well in the age of the Nintendo Switch and its new successor is a graphical spit-shine and some minor concessions to the modern controls and other niceties that we've gotten so used to in our video-games these days. Still, the question remained for many lifelong fans as we approached the imminent release of Beyond: After reclaiming the project from Bandai Namco's long and troubled development, would Retro Studios be able to recapture the magic of Metroid Prime?

To capture my feelings on the final product, I will tell you a story of a specific experience I had with the game roughly five hours into its campaign. I had been exploring the gorgeous and varied environments of Viewros as Samus, unlocking new psychic abilities and the kickass Vi-O-La motorcycle as I blasted aliens and solved some quick puzzles. I've even worked alongside some regular soldier types with quirky personalities and a lot of banter that Samus comically refuses to answer with anything other than a slight nod, which I honestly don't mind. It brings me back to the days of the original Halo and Half-Life games, where all of the character interactions and quips were more about setting the mood than telling a grandiose tale of drama and psychological depth. Samus speaks with her blaster, first and foremost, and while I wouldn't mind if she got some actual dialogue to flesh out her own personality a bit - even Metroid Dread let her get a couple of words in - the gunplay and movement are so silky smooth and satisfying that I don't have many complaints.

Except…well, if I'm being honest, there have been some nagging issues that keep breaking my immersion and pulling me out of Samus' journey. None of these problems is too big, but they are consistent, like a pebble in the shoe that you just can't shake out. Some of these psychic powers have awfully finicky implementations, for one, like how using the psychic bomb requires that you go into Morph Ball mode, drop a regular bomb, un-morph, transition into Psychic/Scanning mode, and then use telekinesis to grab the sucker so you can shoot it into the puzzle-hole. Then there are the weird and seemingly random difficulty spikes, which come from a mix of aggressive enemies and unclearly telegraphed prompts to use your psychic abilities. This one floating security droid had a set of nodes that I had to damage with Samus' remote-controlled psychic blast, which took me a while to figure out and led to some genuine frustration.

Anyways, I eventually arrive at the Ice Belt, one of the different biome zones that Samus reaches by crossing the vast swathes of Sol Valley's desert hub (think Hyrule Field, but with a lot more sand). I am immediately in love with the moody, dark ambiance of the Ice Belt, and I am eager to explore its abandoned laboratories with my new Fire Shot upgrade. Suddenly, I am confronted with a pack of wolf-like creatures who snarl and encircle me from the shroud of a snowstorm. Hell yes, I think, Time to do what Samus does best. I blast away at what feels like dozens of wolves for what feels like several long minutes, only to get overwhelmed by the horde and sent back to the last save station.

Okay… I think. I get it. This is one of those “cinematic” fights that I'm probably meant to lose, or something. Maybe the new ally character will pop up and help me out once my health drops low enough. So, I return to the wolfpack, take down a few with some token blaster shots, and let them come for me. I die, again. Of course. That is what happens when you let a bunch of alien wolves kill you on purpose.

Irritated, I then figure that the game is trying to tutorialize something, like maybe how the icy wolf-things are weak to fire. A typical Metroid move. So, I go back to the wolves again, taking special care to load up my new Fire Shot missiles, and I get to work. Eventually, I use every single one of my thirty Fire Shot charges on thirty different wolves, and I spend another ten or so regular missiles besides on the stragglers.

Then the horde overwhelms me, and I die. Again.

I will spare you the details of my remaining trial-and-error gauntlets, but as best I can tell, the proper solution involved some mixture of me killing enough wolves, letting my health get to dangerously low levels, and then surviving long enough for grizzled sniper Reger Tokabi to jump into the fray and trigger the cutscene that allowed me to finally advance to those sick, spooky, frozen labs. I proceeded to have a very good time unlocking doors, rolling through tunnels, and generally doing the things that make Metroid Prime such a legendary series.

This anecdote about my time simply unlocking the Ice Belt level is a pretty perfect encapsulation of what playing this game is like. By and large, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a shining example of everything I love about these games, and it makes for an immersive and satisfying experience that is perfectly at home on the Switch 2. The gameplay is buttery smooth, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous, and the console's motion controls and mouse-look features provide even more control and precision to make Samus' journey on Viewros that much more compelling. The Vi-O-La is a great addition to Samus' arsenal that I hope becomes permanent. I even really like all of the new, voiced characters. They're just present enough to give Beyond a unique identity amongst its other Metroid siblings, but they never overwhelm or detract from the somber, isolated atmosphere you'd expect from a Samus Aran bounty hunt.

The other twenty percent of the game, though, consists of underbaked and frustrating elements that feel surprisingly sloppy for a title almost twenty years in the making. Of course, I know that Retro Studios had to restart development only a few years back, but still, the seams on this project can be quite obvious. Some of the psychic powers end up feeling either needlessly overcomplicated or redundant to abilities Samus already mastered several games ago. A fair few enemy encounters give the impression that they could have used a couple more testing passes before getting rushed out the door. Some aspects of the plot, like Samus's lack of characterization or Sylux's flimsy role as the main villain, are elements that seem stuck between two different generations and several conflicting visions for the franchise. Is this a standalone return to the classic ingredients of the original Metroid Prime, or is this a forward-thinking evolution of the series that is willing to go in bold, uncharted waters? I don't know if Beyond has a clear answer to that conundrum.

To be clear, I really enjoyed my time with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It's a very, very good game, and a worthy entry in the franchise. It just isn't quite the incredible reintroduction to the world of Metroid that I think Samus deserved after all of these years. The game has so many great ideas and opportunities to expand on Metroid's legacy of compelling world-building and razor-sharp gameplay; it's just a shame that Beyond only capitalizes on all of that potential most of the time.