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Forums - Nintendo - [Opinion]I think people are overreacting over the whole Metroid Prime 4 NPC situation

Norion on 24 November 2025
Vodacixi said:

Norion said:

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.

I will say to you the same I said to Pemalite. You would have a point if Metroid Prime 1 was the last game of the series before Prime 4. But we had two sequels to the Prime saga and while both kept the isolation in good messure (and everything seems to point to Prime 4 doing the same), they also combined it with a progressively more direct narrative and more involved and numerous characters. A similar thing happened to the 2D games. This has been going on for quite a while. It's not a surprise. If a nerdy NPC is all it takes for some people to throw the game into the garbage can maybe they weren't that interested in the first place or they haven't been in touch with the series for more than 20 years.

As for breaking the immersion, I would say that the Aurora Units and Admiral Dane in Prime 3 already broke the "immersion" by telling you constantly what to do, what your situation is and even giving you hints and/or marking on your map where to go if you took to long to advance the story. Again, while the format is more "personal", this is not a new thing. It's an evolution of an already stablished tendency in the series. You can dislike it and that's totally fine. But people can't act surprised by this. And again, even if some people find Miles annoying, I don't think his presence (which again, will be limited) should be a factor that ruins Metroid Prime 4 as a game. Plenty of amazing games have silly acting characters, even serious games.

I don't think having a moment in which all the bounty hunters (Miles included) work together with Samus in a big battle is something to be worried about. If anything, it seems like it will be one big epic moment.

I don't get why you're acting that cause the series has been shifting away from its roots for a while that means it's unreasonable for fans to get upset when it goes even further in that direction. Like this looks like it could be the Prime game with the lowest feeling of isolation yet so it's completely understandable that fans who loved that aspect in the first two games are upset that this one might be an even bigger departure than Prime 3 in that regard. 

For the immersion part it's not just that NPCs seem to be a big role but also what they're like. As I said in a different post if a TV series well known for its seriousness and atmosphere suddenly introduced a wacky character that was spouting dialogue like that it would understandably probably get a big backlash. I personally didn't mind the NPCs in Prime 3 but that's cause they fit with the vibe of the series.

I do agree that people shouldn't let it ruin the whole game for them though, best to enjoy the good parts instead of letting one aspect prevent that. It's possible that moment will be cool, I just brought it up to counter the notion that he's only gonna have a role in the beginning. If he tags along with Samus for some of the climax for example then a lot of people will hate that but again we'll need to wait and see how the rest of it is handled.



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Leynos on 24 November 2025
Vodacixi said:
CaptainExplosion said:

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

I doubt they will bring Ridley back for this. And I hope that's the case, because in my opinion we had more than enough Ridley for some time.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Pemalite on 24 November 2025
Vodacixi said:
Pemalite said:

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.

What norm? A 1994 norm? Almost every single game after Super has gone a different direction in one way or another. It's difficult to establish a thing such as a convention in a series that has done nothing but change since its inception.

You would have a point if Prime 4 was the first game to come out since Super. But that's very much not the case.

Metroid 1 on NES.
Super Metroid on SNES.
Fusions on GBA.
Zero Mission on GBA.
Samus Returns on 3DS.

Even Prime and Prime 2 relied on minimal voice acting.

And the majority of the 2D Metroids didn't rely on 3rd party voiced characters to convey a story.

The story of Metroid was a story through exploration and experience.

Last edited by Pemalite - on 24 November 2025

--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--

Majin-Tenshinhan on 24 November 2025
burninmylight said:
CaptainExplosion said:

One thing I DO wanna see in Metroid these days, assuming the twisted bastard lives somehow, is more indication of Ridley's monstrous personality, because so far we've only had tie in manga and Smash Bros. to properly convey Ridley as a monster inside and out. One manga (and I think Other M) even has Ridley confirmed as the pirate who killed Samus' parents.

I'd like for Ridley to get benched for once. It's gotten beyond ridiculous how they keep finding ways to fit it in each game, just to get its ass whipped again. At this point, Ridley's a joke. Don't get me wrong, battling him is exhilarating, but the suspension of disbelief on how he keeps getting revived/rebuilt/reborn/recloned in time to get clapped in Samus' next adventure is broken.

Here's an idea: give us another character from Ripley's species, and have it be more than just the bad guy who does one bad thing at the beginning of the game  before Samus smokes that ass near the end of the second act.

You say "for once", but he's been sidelined in 3 out of 8 mainline Metroid games (I'm counting Zero Mission and Metroid 1 as the same title here). He was absent in Metroid 2 (though he was an extra secret boss in the remake), Metroid Prime 2 and in fact the latest Metroid game, Metroid Dread.

Of course, that means he's in more than half of the games so wanting him to sit out still makes sense and all, but just saying he isn't as prevalent as you think he is. 



burninmylight on 24 November 2025
Majin-Tenshinhan said:
burninmylight said:

I'd like for Ridley to get benched for once. It's gotten beyond ridiculous how they keep finding ways to fit it in each game, just to get its ass whipped again. At this point, Ridley's a joke. Don't get me wrong, battling him is exhilarating, but the suspension of disbelief on how he keeps getting revived/rebuilt/reborn/recloned in time to get clapped in Samus' next adventure is broken.

Here's an idea: give us another character from Ripley's species, and have it be more than just the bad guy who does one bad thing at the beginning of the game  before Samus smokes that ass near the end of the second act.

You say "for once", but he's been sidelined in 3 out of 8 mainline Metroid games (I'm counting Zero Mission and Metroid 1 as the same title here). He was absent in Metroid 2 (though he was an extra secret boss in the remake), Metroid Prime 2 and in fact the latest Metroid game, Metroid Dread.

Of course, that means he's in more than half of the games so wanting him to sit out still makes sense and all, but just saying he isn't as prevalent as you think he is. 

Lol, I knew this reply was coming. I was using hyperbole, my dude. 



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Leynos 5 days ago

The only thing I ask of Metroid Prime 4 is to go back to Samus design from MP1. Abandoned the awful barbie doll look from MP2 onward in the series.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Fight-the-Streets 4 days ago

Beloved series that trace back to the 8- or 16-bit era will always face one major problem: the evolution of technology.

By definition, due to technological limitations, an 8-bit game (we’re talking about 1986) had to be “primitive”: simple graphics, simple stories (outside of RPGs, story wasn’t really a thing back then), no voice acting, and no real cutscenes (at best a few still images).

16-bit games improved on everything 8-bit games could do: some voice acting, some cutscenes, and generally more possibilities for storytelling.

With the PS1/Saturn/N64 generation came the 3D era. Its technological advancements meant that everything could become bigger—storytelling, voice acting, and cinematic cutscenes included.

The Dreamcast/PS2/Xbox/GameCube generation expanded on that and pushed everything even further.

The PS3/Xbox 360/Wii generation introduced HD graphics, making games more impressive and more cinematic. Many titles aimed to feel almost like movies.

The PS4/Xbox One/Wii U generation went even further in its cinematic direction.

The current generation—PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 1+2—continues that evolution with further technological and graphical improvements. Games and cutscenes now look even more film-like.

I didn't mention the handheld generations, but you can slot the Game Boy, GBA, and DS into the above eras however you prefer.

What I want to say is this: as game technology evolves, game series evolve as well. If a series refuses to evolve, it becomes niche and ends up in the indie-download-only sector, where you can’t sell it for $60, $70, or even $80.

If game technology had been much more advanced when the first Metroid was developed, surely it would already have included more storytelling, cutscenes, and voice acting.

Fans often don’t acknowledge the evolution of their medium and want their beloved series to stay the same. But that’s neither realistic nor advisable.