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Metroid Prime 4: The early preview raising huge red flags
Posted on 11/16/25 at 3:40 pm
Posted on 11/16/25 at 3:40 pm
Well the early previews for the long awaited Metroid Prime 4 arrived, lots of people were able to play the first 60-90'ish minutes of the game, sort of the opening area.
Needless to say, the reviewers almost all had the same feedback, game is quintessential Metroid Prime in terms of game play, music, puzzles, etc.
However there was a problem, a really, really big problem.
A hyper chatty sidekick comic relief NPC that follows you around almost the entire time. He never stops talking. Never stops making cringe "quips" and never stops giving you pointers as to where you should be going and what you should be doing.
Meet Miles MacKenzie. He's Arteus meets Aloy meets JarJar meets Poochie the Rockin' Dog.
He's the walking embodiment of "yellow paint" in fact he's even colored such. He's like every single horrible thing you can do in a modern video game rolled into one, you would swear it was satire if it wasn't real.
To call this immersion breaking or tonal whiplash is a complete understatement. This is Metroid for "modern audiences" This is Metroid brought to you by Marvel and Forespoken.
When IGN is savaging you for being annoying, insulting, and hand holdey, you know you've fricked up big time. Jump to the 6 minute mark to here this issue discussed.
"Hey Samus, your missiles can be used on enemies with hard shells!"
"Wow, this looks important, Samus, hey come check this out."
"Look at that cliff up there. I think I can see something."
you know the drill, it's same tired overbearing NPC shite we've all suffered through before and no matter how much people push back it seems to never go away. He's got Playstation Studios disease, only it's full blown AIDS.
This stuff can single handily ruin any game its in, but for a Metroid game, a series built around mood, atmosphere, isolation, exploration, puzzle solving, it might go down as the single worst case of it of all time.
Needless to say longsuffering Metroid fans are in meltdown mode. I have no idea how these studios can be so out of touch. Platinum Studios has a good track record with their games so I have no idea if this came from their leadership or was mandated from the outside.
The cope from some people is saying "Well this is only the tutorial area, he'll probably be gone after that" but the issue is the UI and other preview material makes it clear that there will be NPC's like this throughout the whole game you are forced to interact with, multiple times and they have COMMS in your helmet so they can just interrupt you at any time even if they aren't physically present.
And even if it does tone down later, talk about making a shite first impression. Imagine if Metroid Prime the opening on Tallon IV you were met with this shite
What's even more insane is Nintendo likely knew people would hate it and have intentionally hid just how much NPC shite is in the game up until the last few weeks.
Between the open world area that looks completely pointless and bland, the awkward and boring looking motorcycling driving, and the army of terrible NPC's ruining all the other areas, yeesh, I'm not optimistic at all. I will definitely not be getting this at release now and will wait for actual real reviews from trusted people to see if this is actually a worthy Metroid game or just some current year abomination.
Needless to say, the reviewers almost all had the same feedback, game is quintessential Metroid Prime in terms of game play, music, puzzles, etc.
However there was a problem, a really, really big problem.
A hyper chatty sidekick comic relief NPC that follows you around almost the entire time. He never stops talking. Never stops making cringe "quips" and never stops giving you pointers as to where you should be going and what you should be doing.
Meet Miles MacKenzie. He's Arteus meets Aloy meets JarJar meets Poochie the Rockin' Dog.
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. He's the walking embodiment of "yellow paint" in fact he's even colored such. He's like every single horrible thing you can do in a modern video game rolled into one, you would swear it was satire if it wasn't real.
To call this immersion breaking or tonal whiplash is a complete understatement. This is Metroid for "modern audiences" This is Metroid brought to you by Marvel and Forespoken.
When IGN is savaging you for being annoying, insulting, and hand holdey, you know you've fricked up big time. Jump to the 6 minute mark to here this issue discussed.
"Hey Samus, your missiles can be used on enemies with hard shells!"
"Wow, this looks important, Samus, hey come check this out."
"Look at that cliff up there. I think I can see something."
you know the drill, it's same tired overbearing NPC shite we've all suffered through before and no matter how much people push back it seems to never go away. He's got Playstation Studios disease, only it's full blown AIDS.
This stuff can single handily ruin any game its in, but for a Metroid game, a series built around mood, atmosphere, isolation, exploration, puzzle solving, it might go down as the single worst case of it of all time.
Needless to say longsuffering Metroid fans are in meltdown mode. I have no idea how these studios can be so out of touch. Platinum Studios has a good track record with their games so I have no idea if this came from their leadership or was mandated from the outside.
The cope from some people is saying "Well this is only the tutorial area, he'll probably be gone after that" but the issue is the UI and other preview material makes it clear that there will be NPC's like this throughout the whole game you are forced to interact with, multiple times and they have COMMS in your helmet so they can just interrupt you at any time even if they aren't physically present.
And even if it does tone down later, talk about making a shite first impression. Imagine if Metroid Prime the opening on Tallon IV you were met with this shite
What's even more insane is Nintendo likely knew people would hate it and have intentionally hid just how much NPC shite is in the game up until the last few weeks.
Between the open world area that looks completely pointless and bland, the awkward and boring looking motorcycling driving, and the army of terrible NPC's ruining all the other areas, yeesh, I'm not optimistic at all. I will definitely not be getting this at release now and will wait for actual real reviews from trusted people to see if this is actually a worthy Metroid game or just some current year abomination.
This post was edited on 11/17/25 at 4:04 am
11
Posted on 11/16/25 at 3:41 pm to StansberryRules
Another good video, jump to 5 minute mark
Posted on 11/16/25 at 5:56 pm to StansberryRules
Posted on 11/16/25 at 9:24 pm to StansberryRules
quote:Retro Studios is in Austin. It's loaded with weird hair freaks and they/thems
Needless to say longsuffering Metroid fans are in meltdown mode. I have no idea how these studios can be so out of touch. Platinum Studios has a good track record with their games so I have no idea if this came from their leadership or was mandated from the outside.
This is why the Eastern studios are bringing back everything home. You cannot trust ideologically obsessed Western writers and developers to not poison everything they touch. It's a shame Nintendo was too slow to realize it
As the saying goes - with mentally ill millennial writers, expect mentally ill millennial writing
This post was edited on 11/16/25 at 9:25 pm
Posted on 11/16/25 at 9:59 pm to RemouladeSawce
Yes and the culture of many of these studios has changed dramatically over the past decade and Retro hasn't really made anything since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and that was like 11 years ago, which in gaming terms is an eternity.
This post was edited on 11/16/25 at 10:09 pm
Posted on 11/16/25 at 10:07 pm to StansberryRules
Great, an NPC to tell you how "heckin' epic those missilerinos" you just shot were. We need to take video games back from this current crop of rejects they've got designing them
Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:23 am to StansberryRules
Good lord this screams nerd dev who wrote themselves into a Samus Fanfic 
Posted on 11/17/25 at 8:45 am to StansberryRules
Does Miles offer you chicken tendies when you're hungry?
Posted on 11/17/25 at 10:37 am to StansberryRules
My God what were they thinking? And if this is indeed the finished product, you gotta wonder just how bad the original attempt was that made Nintendo hit the reset button
Posted on 11/17/25 at 11:54 am to BCLA
Prime 1 is my favorite game of all time
The whole point of Metroid is isolation and figure shite out yourself. Having a sidekick constantly telling you what to do ruins it as well as ruining the isolation aspect
The whole point of Metroid is isolation and figure shite out yourself. Having a sidekick constantly telling you what to do ruins it as well as ruining the isolation aspect
Posted on 11/17/25 at 12:57 pm to StansberryRules
What an over reaction to a single NPC.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 1:05 pm to StansberryRules
I still haven’t bought GoW:R because I’m tired of being presented with puzzles and immediately told how to solve them.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 1:17 pm to StansberryRules
quote:
He's the walking embodiment of "yellow paint" in fact he's even colored such. He's like every single horrible thing you can do in a modern video game rolled into one, you would swear it was satire if it wasn't real.
To call this immersion breaking or tonal whiplash is a complete understatement. This is Metroid for "modern audiences" This is Metroid brought to you by Marvel and Forespoken.
When IGN is savaging you for being annoying, insulting, and hand holdey, you know you've fricked up big time. Jump to the 6 minute mark to here this issue discussed.
quote:
This stuff can single handily ruin any game its in, but for a Metroid game, a series built around mood, atmosphere, isolation, exploration, puzzle solving, it might go down as the single worst case of it of all time.
Needless to say longsuffering Metroid fans are in meltdown mode. I have no idea how these studios can be so out of touch. Platinum Studios has a good track record with their games so I have no idea if this came from their leadership or was mandated from the outside.
Bruh, calm down find some other responses:
quote:
LINK
quote:
But here's the thing, Mackenzie isn't on the level of the characters from those aforementioned titles. I certainly didn't feel like he was talking "constantly," as other previewers have alleged: he's only featured in a portion of the preview, and Samus leaves him to explore and solve puzzles on her own for extended periods. While I'd be lying if I said Mackenzie's dialog meaningfully enhanced my time with the game, I also can't call it a death sentence. It's perhaps not a glowing commendation for Mackenzie, but when I think of my time with Metroid Prime 4, he really doesn't come to my mind one way or the other. He's just not that impactful, and the rest of the game, from its combat to its atmosphere and soundtrack, come across as powerfully as ever. One talkative side character doesn't diminish that, in my view.
quote:
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that Mackenzie feels like a surprisingly small thing to get worried about. While I didn't walk away from the Metroid Prime 4 preview completely satisfied (I noted the game's alternative Switch 2 controls as feeling tacked-on and awkward, for example), I was impressed overall. Maybe my affection for everything else the game seems to be doing right overshadowed any annoyance I would have felt about Mackenzie's jabbering. And like I said, I most certainly do not have a high tolerance for this specific flavor of clunky, MCU-like dialogue. If I can look past it, then the gamers who look past it in God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and Avowed should have no problem.
quote:
Mackenzie was easy to ignore during the preview, but if he winds up playing a considerably bigger role throughout Metroid Prime 4's story, I could see it causing some tonal issues. Moreover, a recent trailer for the game teases other companions, which could conceivably detract from the essential lost in space vibes of Prime. Depending on how these companions are used narratively and mechanically, they could be to the game's detriment on a larger scale.
That seems like a measured analysis and not one defending it.
This post was edited on 11/17/25 at 1:19 pm
Posted on 11/17/25 at 1:56 pm to RemouladeSawce
quote:
This is why the Eastern studios are bringing back everything home. You cannot trust ideologically obsessed Western writers and developers to not poison everything they touch. It's a shame Nintendo was too slow to realize it
Not everything is about politics. Sometimes studios just chase shitty trends.
I would detox from politics for a while if you think it's this present in a Nintendo game.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 2:30 pm to TooFyeToFly
quote:But the narcisstic self-inserts and cringe writing are further exports of said mentally ill developers
Not everything is about politics. Sometimes studios just chase shitty trends.
The outspoken political / social views are the key to identfying them. Politics are relevant because it's how the purge participants are most easily identified
This post was edited on 11/17/25 at 2:49 pm
Posted on 11/17/25 at 2:34 pm to StansberryRules
I’m so fricking sick of everything being reduced into Disney marvel movie shitty millennial writing “ermmm actually” gruel.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 5:13 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
I still haven’t bought GoW:R because I’m tired of being presented with puzzles and immediately told how to solve them.
I think you can change that in the settings.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 5:41 pm to schexyoung
quote:
What an over reaction to a single NPC.
Here's the thing. doesn't his very inclusion greatly shake your confidence in everything else that went into the game? He's so objectively awful and the antithesis of everything Metroid is all about, and that's what you want to put out there as your first impression?
Even if best case scenario comes true, he's a "tutorial" character and disappears and there are minimal intrusive NPC's from that point on, how is basically taking a gigantic shite on the game int he first 30 minutes ever a good thing?
It tells me they eitehr don't understand or don't care about the Metroid DNA. It says they are totally willing to compromise the integrity of the game to eitehr pacify some "accessibility" consultant or trend chase this chatty helper NPC trope, which is an insane thing to trend chase becaues virtually everybody on the f'ing planet hates it.
If they think they are going to reboot Metroid as a "movie game" type series they are in for a rude awakening.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 5:46 pm to DoomGuy504
quote:
I think you can change that in the settings.
This was added in a patch like a year+ after release, to address all the complaints.
GoW:R is the single worst example of this NPC interference in gaming history. It doesn't "ruin" the game but it comes extremely close.
The NPC's literally start telling you exactly how to solve every single puzzle the second you get anywhere near it, you're often not even aware there is a puzzle yet and they are spoiling it. Why even have puzzles in teh game at at all then?
And the constant barking out of "hints" during battle, just absolute misery.
It was a minor nuisance in GoW18 but they cranked it up to 11 in Ragarnok.
They took the experience of having your little brother sitting on the couch next to you and offering "hints" and put that as a mandatory experience in the game. just unfathomably retarded this has become a thing in gaming.
Posted on 11/17/25 at 6:17 pm to StansberryRules
Disheartening but unsurprising. I hope I can actively ignore the bullshite and enjoy the gameplay, but I’m getting tired of mental gymnastics to channel out “well that just happened!” Level dialogue.
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