Falcom are a machine with how efficient they pump out games

I thought the intended method was to use the charged version of chill penguin's weapon to get it at least that's what I always do lol

bsky.app/profile/mome...

While I still consider Prime 1 to be superior, Prime 4 was still an enjoyable time

Its flaws are noticeable but they don't detract much from the core experience and I'm hoping if there is a Prime 5 that Retro learns to improve these new ideas they had to make an exceptionally great Prime game

The music in Prime 4 is also great (except for that amiibo paywall like Nintendo whyyy)

I don't mind the ambience in the desert but still an anti consumer move to lock it behind an amiibo/100% completion

Still the ost was great and enhanced the exploration and atmosphere of these areas

Very pleased at the visuals and performance of this game like Retro are unreal how well they can optimize on Nintendo hardware

The desert is the weakest area visually but I feel that comes with the desert theme like deserts are boring and bland in general so I couldn't care how barren it looks

I mainly played at 4k 60 in docked mode cause I don't have a 120 hz display but this game gave me the opportunity to try it in handheld mode

And yeah in handheld mode I stuck to 720p 120 cause it just felt unreal after the switch 1 generation barely handled maintain 30 for major 1st party titles

Visually prime 4 delivers what I feel is the best looking Nintendo game to date

Fury greens left such a great first impression like I just enjoyed admiring the scenery like it's amazing seeing this level of graphical fidelity on a Nintendo console

Especially impressive that this was in 4k/120 fps

It just makes it convenient not having to manage switching visors

Also found the psychic abilities fun for puzzle solving and even on some boss fights

Speaking of boss fights, most of them were pretty fun and a good challenge with exception to the omega griever that one dragged a bit

Despite my critcisms, Metroid Prime 4 still gets a lot right from its atomosphere, the stunning visuals, the rewarding sense of exploration and puzzle solving, and streamlining of certain mechanics

For one thing I like how the psychic visor is basically an all in one visor in this game

That being said since I knew the crystals were part of the endgame, I at least didn't have to backtrack for them cause I had enough to unlock the memory fruit right before the finale

There are some points of interest to explore in the desert but overall still the weakest aspect of the game

I'm not against Samus having a bike I think it's cool but the way the map is laid out just gives this game more of a structure similar to a traditional 3d zelda game than a metroid prime game

While I don't hate the desert, it feels devoid of purpose other than for the prime staple fetch quest

It's not to say Samus doesn't emote but yeah it just makes the game's conversations sound so one sided with Samus never speaking

Regardless of the narrative issues the plot was still fine overall and the lore was also interesting to explore

What's not that interesting to explore is the desert hub

Probably a hot take but my bigger disappointment is the lack of conversation from samus' end cause it still feels we're not free from the aftermath of Other M

Idk I liked Samus' characterization in fusion and I feel it's not the worst idea to go back to that than keeping her a mime

The 2 points of contention being the npcs and the desert

The npcs didn't really irritate me with their dialogue but I still wish they were better written to give more attachment to them cause as is they don't really enhance the narrative

They're not really bothersome but could've been better

Does it quite feel like it lived up to the hype of being 6 years in development since the restart in 2019?

Not quite but this is still mostly a metroid prime game thru and thru

The game feels like it wants to increase the scale of what a prime game can be but not quite executing it well

Dana!!