Of course I read the OP, sure I agree there have been many well executed changes before (Other M is my favorite Metroid game),
but nothing else felt as out of place as this stupid 'funny' character.

I respect that you don't feel that any of the previous changes felt out of place. Personally, I think the entirety of Metroid Fusion (and by extension Other M, which is in great messure a copy-paste from Fusion) could be considered a big fuck you to the most traditional Metroid fans. And yet, most of them love the game (myself included).

I think one potentionally annoying character is not enough to see this kind of overwhelming reaction, specially compared with what the franchise has gone through in the past.

The internet nowadays is just addicted to non-stop faux outrage and negativity cos that's what drives engagement, which means more ad revenue.

The game will probably be 20+ hours long and this goofball will probably be present for only a small slice of that.

Prime 3 already had Samus interacting with and fighting alongside Federation troopers back in 2007.

The "controversy" is most likely way overblown.

Not a fan. But I'll give it a chance still.

What I loved about Super Metroid was the story telling through action, rather than dialogue.

Discovering you were in-fact a woman upon death was a significant plot-twist at the time, saving animals, perfect endings, the sequence of events... It was all story telling through action and events without directly telling a story... That is what people are upset about, deviation to that norm.

The original Metroid did not a have a map. Super Mario Bros helped the player telling them the game is not over yet. Princess is in another castle. Just post Atari era and some games were super short and no standards set yet in game design. Some little kids thought beating a game was the first level in something like Ghosts N Goblins or Castlevania. Super Metroid helps the player giving them a map. Assisting the player. Metroid Prime have a tutorial. 7th gen of consoles had their own yellow paint feature that is still standard now. Button prompts. Press X/A whatever icon over anything of interest in the area. Mario 64 didn't have that to open a door. Resident Evil didn't for items and yet every game does now. So if you cry about yellow paint. Were you crying about these back then? No? Then shut the fuck up.

Like if Ridley is somehow alive again, and he kills them just to get to Samus.

A big, fat, nothing burger.

When I first heard of a "controversy and I actually saw what it was, I thought: "Seriously?! THAT'S it?!? THAT'S what Metroid fans are so upset about?! That says more about them than it does the game itself!" Breaking the immersion? The dude literally appears in one section, early in the game, you help him, and then he jollies off to do his own thing while you continue your exploration! He's inoffensively amusing at best, annoying at worst. That's literally it.

And as far as the whole "This isn't Metroid!! This is breaking the immersion! This is NOT what the franchise is about!" The same thing was said when Prime 1 was revealed and it showed the FPS approach of the game. "Metroid is Metroid, not Halo! This game is gonna BLOW!" And then the game came out, it was absolutely incredible, it became the best-selling game in franchise history and would have sold even more if the GameCube itself had sold more had Nintendo not shot themselves in the foot with the design and marketing of that console. (Don't get me wrong, I love the GameCube to pieces! But Nintendo dropped the ball there."

And to Metroid fans saying that "This isn't Metroid! This is NOT what the franchise is about!" Did you ever stop to wonder that maybe, just maybe, that's the point?
Look, the last sales update we got for Metroid Dread was 3 years ago when it had just passed 3 million units sold. Which is outstanding for the franchise! It's the best-selling game in the series... But in the grand scheme of things? Especially when compared to the likes Kirby, Fire Emblem, or Tomodachi Life? That's not all that impressive. And that's just compared to the other lower A/high B-tier Nintendo franchises. That's not even comparing it to the S/X-tier franchises like Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon.

From my perspective, Metroid fans, especially the ones over at Elon Musk's app, place the franchise at a higher place in the Nintendo pecking order than it actually is and, in this instance, don't seem to realize that the total isolation and complete immersion that they hail and love so much about the franchise... MIGHT be the very thing that's holding it back.

Just dumping Samus in the middle of some alien planet and saying, "Have fun!" with little to no-context or hint is EXTREMELY alienating to newcomers and beginners. Something the Metroid franchise is in DIRE need of - Especially if the reports about Prime 4's budget are to be believed.

And if stuff like introducing NPCs with casual, Marvel-type dialogue and more story, narrative driven elements, can help do that, and as long as the core gameplay elements of the franchise remain intact - And based on the gameplay footage I've seen, that appears to be VERY much the case... Then what the Hell is the problem?!?

Come and get me when it's a REAL controversy - Like a game that's a glitch-ridden, broken, borderline unplayable mess with terrible, unfinished graphics and visuals that makes your eyes sore.

I do think people shouldn't give up on the game yet and wait and see how the overall implementation of the NPC companion aspect is like but it's completely understandable for fans who prefer games like Prime 1 and consider isolation a really important part of the series and dislike how it's shifted away from that to be very concerned by the direction Prime 4 is going in.

Prime 3 did have NPCs but if I remember right after the first 1-2 hours you were alone most of the time until the climax and there weren't any that were particularly annoying so those people were able to put up with it but here NPC companions look like they're going to be a thing that continually happens throughout the game and the first one people have seen is terrible so even if he's the worst it could still seriously drag the game down if some of the others are bad too. Even Miles alone is gonna be immersion breaking for many Metroid fans and his character really does feel out of place, like if there's any video game series I don't wanna see a character like that appear in it Metroid is definitely up there.

If he's only in it for a small portion near the start that wouldn't be too bad though still not ideal since the opening hours of a game are the most important but it's actually up in the air how much of a presence he'll have overall cause this Japanese commercial shows him appearing alongside a few other NPCs at a later point so he is actually not confined to the beginning. Hopefully his role after the start is tiny.

My Guess , might of already been said, the character is getting a Amiibo.

Finally bought and started playing Metroid Prime Remastered to prepare myself for Prime 4 - And yeah, it confirms to that those NPCs are necessary. For tutorial, world building, AND story-telling.

While I love Prime 1 dearly and it is still a fantastic game to this day - It is NOT beginner/newcomer friendly - Which, as I mentioned in my prior post, the Metroid series is in DIRE need of.