Is Metroid Prime 4 in trouble?

[Veknoid_Outcast]

Otter said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:

I think it's a fair question. Sure, Metroid never sets the sales charts on fire and its slow-moving, methodical gameplay isn't the easiest thing to advertise in a short sizzle reel. But come on: Nintendo has not done a great job selling the game. One of the main trailers spent an inordinate amount of time showing how Samus can open doors, and the most recent teaser was dropped unceremoniously in the middle of a Direct, without so much as an introduction. It's possible the company doesn't know how exactly to communicate the greatness of Beyond, or it's saving all the good stuff for an upcoming in-depth breakdown. But it's also possible that it's obscuring some deficiencies in the game.

I remain optimistic. Metroid is one of the ten best gaming franchises of all time and Retro has made several of the finest games of all time. But I think it's totally reasonable to be a little anxious.

I'd argue the opposite of this. Trailers can always mask that deficiencies. What they've done is:

Trailer 1-Introduce the game with very straight forward gameplay reveal showing how it runs and plays, new location. No smoke or mirrors. 
First Mission Gameplay- 30mins of Straight gameplay. No fancy edits, or trying to hide deficiencies just pure gameplay.
Trailer 2-Introduced a new mechanic (telekenesis)
Trailer 3-Introduce open world segments and bike gameplay

Now I'm not saying this is the best approach, but its clearly not trying to hide anything. Maybe they would of done better to put all of that into one reveal trailer

What people are caught on IMO is the fact that none of this is sexy. The "good stuff" you're referring to probably doesn't exist because what you're seeing is a good reflection of the game. It's not AAA, its not heavily story driven, likely very few if any big set pieces.  It's the next entry in the rather niche prime series.

I think people are wanting this...



Whereas instead you're getting this

I totally appreciate this perspective. However, I disagree with the second half of your post.

I don't think the skepticism about the game comes from a misunderstanding of the core gameplay loop. I think it comes from the fact that much of the promotional material for the game has been underwhelming. I played Metroid Prime 1 and 2 in college and Hunters and 3 shortly thereafter. I adore the sub-series. I don't want Beyond to ape Halo (especially not Halo 4) or to abandon its roots. I want a continuation, in both narrative and mechanical terms, of the previous Prime games.