When I played Metroid Prime Remastered I loved it.
The exploration and puzzle solving was exquisite. The story and feeling of isolation was really unique. There were lots of wow moments like in Phendrana Drifts when you have to fight your way out using the thermal visor. The world feels interconnected and cohesive.
Long story short: it's a banger game.
I ended the review by saying:
Based on playing through the entire game I'm so hyped for Prime 4. Hoping it's in the style of the original 3D Prime game.
I was hyped for ~3ish long years.
Then the game came out last December.
Me being me I watched a fair few YouTube reviews of the game before buying it and the news wasn't good. Sure there are some parts of the game that feel like a true Metroid Prime follow up but overall the game was a bit of a dud.
Silly Marvel like characters that say dumb things and get in your way. A huge barren desert that has a boring fetch quest. Areas that aren't interconnected. Puzzles that are way too easy.
There's no wow moments. There's some okay ideas and things that are cool but the game just doesn't hit the highest of highs. And unfortunately for Nintendo, this is what the Metroid fandom expects after so many great games in the series.
It's interesting in this Arlo discussion video to see that Kensuke Tanabe (the producer of Metroid Prime 4 and many other Nintendo games) is retiring. It's probably a good thing he's heading off into the sunset. The company needs fresh blood at the top and new ideas for games.
