Everything We Know About Metroid Prime 4 (And What Features We Still Need)

The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally out, and sometime later in the year will be the release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Metroid Prime 4 will be the first fully 3D Metroid game to be released in nearly twenty years, since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption debuted on the Nintendo Wii back in 2007. This latest installment of Metroid Prime will be available to both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 audiences upon its launch.

The last major update that came from Nintendo on what players can expect with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct that happened in early April. From the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Direct trailer, Nintendo did offer some topline insights that lead to what players can expect, while also teasing what features may be involved in this next Metroid game.

What We Know So Far

The story of Metroid Prime 4 sees Samus Aran unexpectedly summoned to the planet Viewros, where she is looking for a means to find her way off this planet and get back home. Viewros is beautiful and filled with lush jungle environments, and is home to a central colossal tree at its core. However beautiful Viewros might be, it is also home to various alien creatures and opponents that Samus must fight to survive against, including a rival bounty hunter, Sylux.

Progression will require scanning and identifying relics on the planet to proceed. As Samus navigates across Viewros, she will obtain psychic abilities that will become integral to the combat within the game and are required for advancement in the story. So far, those abilities include new mechanics for opening doors and levers, and adjustments Samus can make to the trajectory of her beams. At the core of those powers is a central mystery to the native inhabitants of Viewros that we know little about.

What Features We Hope to See

The mechanic at the center of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the psychic powers that are granted to Samus Aran. Knowing so far that those powers will govern beam trajectory and opening doors feels overall like a thin usage for psychic powers. In games where psychic powers are pivotal, like Control, it would be a fair wish and desire to see Samus’ psychic abilities gradually being upgraded and dialed up in value across the game. Hopefully, those psychic abilities only begin with these basic features, but expand over time with additional use cases like telekinetically throwing objects at enemies, a telekinetic shield, and upgrading the scanning function that offers elements of precognition.

Samus’ morph ball is also always up for consideration of what to expect in the next Metroid game. Typically, the morph ball is upgraded with an additional charge capacity and destructive power with the morph ball bomb. With psychic abilities, the morph ball should hopefully receive some of those powers, whether it’s a psychic blast of some form that removes the shielding from enemies imbued with psychic powers, or takes down environmental barriers preventing progression.

On the environmental frontier, if Nintendo is going to give us a colossal tree, then by the order of the great Deku Tree, audiences should have a biome that exists either on the interior or exterior of that tree. A recurring theme within many Nintendo titles is restoring balance to nature, such as with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With the colossal tree being the center of the planet, much like in Avatar, it may be reasonable to assume that the tree will be pivotal to the endgame and the overall health of the planet of Viewros.

One consideration to always have in mind with any major release by Nintendo is to ask, “What about Amiibo?” Given that prior installments of Metroid had Amiibo functionality, it would be fair to assume that this feature would be included in Metroid Prime 4. While it’s usually a small upgrade afforded to players, it would be reasonable to assume a missile tank upgrade, which is always quite valuable in the early game.

Hopefully, with the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, more will be revealed about what games will be available and soon available for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, including updates on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Until then, fans of Metroid can still revisit the first installment of Metroid Prime, which is remastered for the Nintendo Switch.