Metroid Prime 4 developer explains why he is “stuck” with the semi-open hub design – Game News

After years of waiting since its announcement in 2017, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally officially launched on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 earlier this month.

The game received generally positive reviews, but still encountered many mixed opinions, especially revolving around the semi-open desert hub area and the motorbike travel mechanism. Recently, the development team at Retro Studios shared frankly about these controversial decisions for the first time in an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu.

According to a member of Retro Studios, right from the beginning of the project, the team was greatly influenced by the wave of open world games, especially the success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At that time, on forums and social networks, many opinions appeared expressing the desire to experience “an open-world style Metroid”. In response to this feedback, Retro began to consider introducing an element of freedom of exploration Metroid Prime 4.

However, problems quickly arose when the team realized the line’s core philosophy Metroids doesn’t quite fit the pure open world design. The series’ traditional experience relies on players gradually expanding their exploration area through new abilities, rather than being able to go everywhere from the start. To reconcile the two approaches, Retro decided to build a limited but freely moveable area, acting as a hub connecting to other areas in the game.

Development process Metroid Prime 4 then took longer than expected. The project was “reset” once in 2019, when Bandai Namco was withdrawn from the development role and Retro Studios – the team behind the parts Metroid Prime before – a complete takeover. During this time, player trends and tastes have changed significantly. According to Retro, the community’s general feeling towards open world games is starting to become more negative, as many people seem tired of the vast design but lack of depth.

Although aware of that change, Retro said restarting the project again is impossible. Therefore, the team was forced to continue perfecting the semi-open hub design, knowing in advance that this option may not satisfy all players. In the same interview, Retro also admitted that while in development Prime 4shooting and other action games have gradually become faster and more intense. However, the studio intentionally does not follow this trend, to keep the typical pace of an adventure game. The result, in their own words, is a game that is “almost disconnected from the changing times.”

Regarding another controversial element, the motorbike named Viola, Retro explained that this is a practical solution to the problem of mobility. Samus in Prime 4 has a relatively slow movement speed, while the desert area is too large. Although the character possesses acceleration abilities such as Boost Ball or Speed ​​Booster, the team believes that letting Samus “ride a motorbike” is the optimal solution to both ensure fast movement and create a cool and different feeling. Additionally, they expected these segments to help reduce tension from exploration, while also regulating the overall pace of the game.

Shares from Retro Studios provide a clearer perspective on our design decisions Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. However, for a part of players, these reasons may not be enough to change the feeling that the semi-open hub area in the game is not really as effective as expected.