Metroid Prime 4 Is Finally Here and I’m Terrified to Be Hopeful

Alright look. I’ve started writing this thing three times now and deleted everything because it kept coming out wrong. Too fanboy-ish. Then too pessimistic. Then somewhere in the middle that just felt dishonest.

So I’m just gonna say it straight: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond comes out December 4th and I have no idea how to feel about it.

Part of me — the part that played the original on my buddy’s GameCube back in 2002 because I was too broke for my own console — wants to believe this is gonna be incredible. That part of me already pre-ordered. (Yes I know. I’ll get to that hypocrisy later.)

But there’s another part. The part that’s watched Nintendo fumble this thing for almost a decade. The part that remembers that 2019 announcement video where Shinya Takahashi basically said “yeah so we threw everything in the garbage and started over.” That part is… scared? Is that weird to say about a video game? Whatever. I’m scared.

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8 years since they announced this damn game. I had a different job. Different apartment. Different girlfriend. (She’s fine, we just grew apart. This isn’t therapy.)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZSKpBwi4P4

The trailer that made grown adults tear up at Nintendo Direct. No shame.

Quick Recap for People With Lives

So here’s the deal if you haven’t been obsessively tracking this like some of us (me, I’m some of us):

Nintendo dropped a logo reveal for Prime 4 back in 2017 alongside the Switch launch. Everyone freaked out. Then… nothing. For like two years, nothing. Then in 2019 they put out this apology video where they admitted the original developer — whoever that was, they never actually said — wasn’t cutting it. So they handed it to Retro Studios and started over from scratch.

Retro made the original Prime trilogy btw. So that’s actually good news. Best case scenario even. But restarting from zero in 2019 means we’ve been waiting another six years on top of the two we already waited. And now here we are.

According to Wikipedia’s breakdown, it’s launching on both the original Switch and Switch 2. Cross-gen release. Which is kinda funny when you think about it — the game that was supposed to be a mid-life Switch exclusive is now straddling two entire console generations. That’s like if a PS4 game took so long it also came out on PS6.

Both Switches. Somehow. After all this time.

Why I Actually Think It Might Be Good

Okay so despite all my whining, there’s real reasons for hope here. Not just copium.

First off — Retro Studios. These are the folks who made Prime 1, which is genuinely one of my favorite games ever made. Like top five, desert island, take-it-to-my-grave type beat. They understood something about atmosphere and isolation that most developers just don’t get. Walking around Tallon IV felt lonely in the best possible way. The scanning visor made you feel like an actual xenobiologist studying alien ecosystems instead of just Gun Person Who Shoots Things.

Second — Metroid Prime Remastered came out in 2023 and it was fantastic. 95 on Metacritic which is insane for a remaster. Proved that someone at Nintendo still understands what makes these games tick.

Third — the footage looks right. I know that sounds vague but Prime has a specific vibe and the trailers absolutely nail it. That moody lighting. The arm cannon taking up the corner of your screen. Samus’s visor fogging up in humid environments. Little touches that tell you someone actually cares about getting this right.

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Jordan’s Take: The Switch 2 version supposedly runs at 4K/60fps with optional Joy-Con motion controls that mimic mouse aiming. I’m skeptical of that last part — motion controls for FPS have never felt right to me — but I’ll try it. Probably hate it. But I’ll try. That’s personal growth I think.
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Why I’m Still Bracing Myself

Development hell is a real thing and it leaves marks. When a game changes studios, gets completely scrapped, restarts from zero, and takes eight years to ship… that’s usually not because everything went smoothly and they just wanted extra polish time.

Something was wrong. Maybe multiple somethings. And even when the final product turns out decent, there’s often this weird stitched-together quality. You can feel the seams. Cyberpunk 2077 had that on launch. No Man’s Sky had that for years before they fixed it. Duke Nukem Forever had that except it was also just straight up bad.

Plus the expectations thing is real. This isn’t just “new Metroid game drops, cool.” This is THE return of one of gaming’s most respected franchises after an 18-year gap from the Prime formula. Metroid Dread was great but it was 2D. Different thing entirely. First-person Metroid hasn’t happened since 2007 and people have been begging for it since basically forever.

Any stumble gets magnified. Any compromise gets picked apart by people like me who write too many words about this stuff. That’s not fair to the developers but it’s also just reality. High expectations are a double-edged sword and this game has the highest expectations of basically anything Nintendo’s ever made.

And honestly? Gaming in general has just burned me too many times lately. How many “triumphant returns” have been mid? How many beloved franchises came back worse than we remembered? I’m not gonna list them all because that would be depressing but like. We’ve all been there. Multiple times probably.

Me at 2am on December 4th, probably. Definitely.

Other December Stuff Worth Knowing

Metroid’s not alone this month btw. December 4th is actually weirdly stacked with releases.

Octopath Traveler 0 drops the same day — first time the series lets you make a custom protagonist which is cool I guess? Never got into those games personally but people who love them REALLY love them. The whole HD-2D art style thing is undeniably pretty.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is coming from the TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge team and that’s genuinely my second most anticipated thing this month. Beat-em-ups are having a moment right now and if this is anywhere close to Shredder’s Revenge quality it’ll be worth playing. 15 playable Marvel characters. Co-op. Pixel art that actually looks good. Could be really fun.

Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut finally leaves Switch 2 exclusivity on December 8th if you’ve been waiting for that. English voice acting this time around which feels weird to me but okay sure. Elden Ring Nightreign is getting DLC mid-month for $15 if you want more of that. Sleep Awake from Blumhouse Games looks genuinely unsettling if you’re into survival horror.

Oh and there’s this skating game called Skate Story where you’re apparently a demon made of glass skating through the underworld trying to eat the moon? I don’t fully understand the concept but the visuals are insane. Might be the sleeper hit of December if enough people give it a shot.

The Pre-Order Question

Should you pre-order Metroid Prime 4?

No. God no. Never pre-order anything ever. Wait for reviews. Watch some gameplay from people you actually trust. Let the day-one patch happen. You’re not gonna miss anything by waiting 48 hours except some cosmetic bonus that literally doesn’t matter.

That’s my official position and I stand by it completely.

Anyway I pre-ordered it the second it went live on the eShop. Because I’m a hypocrite with no self-control and I needed to feel like I was participating in something. Don’t be like me. I am not a role model. Do as I say not as I do.

But also like. If you’ve been waiting since 2017 you’re gonna buy this game no matter what anyone says. That’s fine. Just go in with reasonable expectations. Don’t expect it to recreate whatever magic you felt playing the original Prime for the first time — part of that magic was just being younger and experiencing things fresh. Everything hits different when you’re 14.

Hope for great. Expect good. Prepare for the possibility of merely okay.

Final Thoughts I Guess

December 4th is gonna be interesting either way. Either Nintendo’s extreme patience — scrapping everything and restarting, taking eight full years, refusing to rush it — produces something genuinely special. Or it produces a really polished corpse of what could’ve been.

I’m hoping for special. Genuinely. With my whole chest as the kids say.

But I’m also ready to be hurt. That’s just where we are in 2025. You care about things and then you brace for those things to disappoint you. It’s a great hobby we’ve all chosen here. Very healthy. No notes.

See you on whatever planet Samus ends up on this time. I’ll be the one compulsively scanning every rock and plant like it’s 2002 again and I don’t have rent to worry about.

That’s the dream anyway. That’s always the dream.