feels like every time I check a thread about Metroid Prime 4, the conversation has completely fallen off the rails. People are taking one minor flaw or one disliked choice and acting like it single-handedly makes the entire game “0/10 Concord-level trash.” It’s wild how fast things get exaggerated.
The best example is the NPC discourse. He says, what, two lines where he tries to joke about his situation, gets excited when he sees Samus, and occasionally gives a one-sentence hint if you go out of your way to talk to him. That’s it. But somehow this tiny thing has become the meme of the game as if he’s narrating every five seconds or turning the whole atmosphere into Borderlands or something.
And look, I get why people are sensitive about tone. Metroid is known for its environmental storytelling, isolation, and meditative pacing. After Other M and the long gap before Dread, people are defensive about anything that feels out of place. But turning a few minor NPC moments into “the downfall of Prime 4” is an insane leap.
What makes it worse is the idea floating around that “we have to support it even if it’s bad, because maybe we’ll get more Metroid.” No. Blindly supporting bad decisions just signals that those decisions were good. That’s how you get more of the same problems. Criticism is necessary.
But at the same time…
Telling a dev “you’re cancer” or “you’re the reason Metroid sucks” isn’t criticism, It’s harassment. And it makes the whole fandom look unhinged.
I’m just tired. The conversation around this game has become so warped and polarized that it barely resembles actual discussion anymore. I just want to enjoy Metroid or ANYTHING without sifting through meltdown posts, doom predictions, and people reviewing the game based on a few NPCs
Can we please chill?
Honestly I get how this kind lf things just kill the vibe. I just watched said NPC and I'm my instantaneous reaction was siding with the haters. Marvel/Reddit writing gives me the same sensation as looking at AI slop, some kind of moral degradation, a denial of your own sensitivity and intelligence.
I know it sounds super exaggerated but cultural products are things we engage with in a ritualistic manner. Even big products of profit-driven companies have been (supposedly) made by fellow humans for a reason beyond mere survival, which is powerful. We all crave for a semblance of authenticity and slop eaters are no exception they just don't know any better.
There's immense frustration in knowing that a product of a thousands people could be a beautiful thing except for the fact that they collectively disregarded the part where people feel the slightest bit of emotion aka writing and acting
They put Marvel writing in Metroid? Good god
There's a guy that follows you around for like 20 minutes who does not shut up and is really annoying but then you leave him behind. He still contacts you over radio occasionally after that but far less frequently. People are talking like he ruins the game and I'd rather he not be there, sure, but it's really only a minor part of the game as far as I've seen (which is not that much to be fair so I might not know the worst of it yet).