Andy Played Metroid Prime 4: Beyond! - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast – “Andy Played Metroid Prime 4: Beyond!”

Date: November 14, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Andy Cortez
Main Theme:
Andy Cortez shares his exclusive hands-on impressions of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond following a media preview event in New York, with the rest of the panel breaking down his insights, discussing the franchise legacy, and voicing hopes and concerns for one of Nintendo’s most anticipated sequels.

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around Andy Cortez’s first-hand experience playing Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, making him one of the first in games media to go hands-on with the title. The crew dives deep into what makes Metroid Prime special, new features and changes in Metroid Prime 4, the controversial new NPC “Miles McKenzie,” and broader questions about how Metroid adapts to modern gaming standards. The show maintains its signature energetic, nerdy, and occasionally chaotic Kinda Funny banter throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Andy’s Metroid Prime Journey

• Experience with the Franchise
  • Andy has been playing Metroid Prime Remastered for the first time to prepare for Prime 4: “It’s always also one I’ve wanted to get to … I’ve been really enjoying my time with Metroid Prime Remastered.” (06:08)
  • He comments on how well the original Prime holds up, even compared to modern Metroidvanias: “It holds up really well … except for quality of life things.” (06:54)

2. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Preview Event

• Demo Structure
  • Attendees played the previously revealed intro section on Switch 2 handhelds at 120FPS and then advanced to new content on a large OLED in 4K60: “It was running at 120 on handhelds … in big picture mode, playing on a really, really nice OLED … at 4K60.” (08:27–10:30)
• Control Schemes
  • Multiple control options were provided (Joy-Cons, Pro Controller, mouse): “So many options of freedom for a lot of people who wanted to try out the game … I did all three of them …” (09:23)
  • Andy found the motion control/gyro options most comfortable, mouse support underwhelming: “The mouse controls didn’t like it … it didn’t feel awesome to use there.” (37:36)

3. Atmosphere, Visuals, and Presentation

• A Metroid Prime Feel
  • The atmosphere and art design “absolutely nail” what makes Prime distinctive: “I had a smile on my face the whole time … they are nailing the music, the vibes, the atmosphere, the way you’re exploring, the art design … only Retro Studios can.” (35:05, 35:16)
• Visual Quality
  • Prime 4 looks impressive on Switch 2 hardware, with only occasional low-res assets breaking immersion:
    • “The game looks gorgeous … This isn’t something that looks like it’s being held back … but there were some moments [with] cutscene assets [that] looked so low res.” (35:16–36:15)
  • “The Switch 2 is a very capable piece of hardware … can do a lot of these really pretty visuals.” (43:52)

4. Gameplay Impressions

• Classic Metroidvania Moments

  • Exploration, puzzle-solving, and “aha!” moments remain core: “I loved anytime I would have that sort of lightbulb moment: ‘Oh my God, that’s how I do this.’” (28:26)

• New Abilities: Psychic Powers

  • Metroid Prime 4 introduces “psychic beam” powers, including a controllable projectile reminiscent of Metal Gear’s Nikita missile: “There’s a psychic beam that you can upgrade … you control the beam as it’s flying through, like the Metal Gear Nikita missile.” (29:24)
  • These powers are used in both puzzles and combat/boss fights.

• Boss Fights

  • Boss designs involve multi-phase encounters using both classic and new abilities: “The boss fight was really neat … you shoot the weak points … then you use that little psychic Nikita missile thing.” (39:55–41:27)

• Controls & Quality of Life

  • Fine-tuning aiming within lock-on has been modernized: “You can aim within the lock-on to specific weak points … feels great.” (37:35–39:55)
  • A welcome update: the map camera controls have been improved vs. Remastered. (43:52)

• QoL Issues Still Present?

  • Andy notes the importance of setting expectations for classic save systems: “If you’ve experienced the last ten years of gaming, it can be frustrating … but as long as that’s in your mind, you’ll be fine.” (53:02–54:43)

5. The Miles McKenzie Controversy

• Introduction of an NPC Partner
  • Miles McKenzie, a chatty, possibly divisive new companion, appears in the early game: “Do you hate this character as much as the rest of the fucking Internet? … There’s an annoying little robot man or whatever walking around going, ‘Samus, shoot this’ …” (11:29)
• Andy’s Take
  • Not annoying yet: “Miles is not annoying yet … He’s not overly annoying yet. Now, for the Metroid Prime purists … this is a massive, distinct leap … But it is something that could definitely, definitely stick out.” (13:18, 13:23)
  • Andy relates that previewers were all asked about reactions to Miles, suggesting Nintendo is aware he may be polarizing: “… the second or third question I get is, ‘How did you feel about Miles?’ … I hear the same question being asked to everybody else.” (14:12)
• Panel’s Skepticism
  • Tim expresses concern that a talkative sidekick goes against the solitary spirit of Metroid: “That sucks though. I don’t want a tutorial teaching me how to play in Metroid Prime … that is so not what Metroid Prime even should and can be.” (17:21)
  • Blessing jokes Miles is “that kind of dude where you kind of don’t want to invite him to the friend group hang, but like, he knows somebody else.” (19:08)

6. NPCs & Modernization vs. Tradition

• Broader NPC Inclusion
  • The game features more NPCs than prior entries, some “serious,” more “Halo-like,” some lighter: “All the rest of them are less Jar Jar Miles McKenzie and a little bit more … belong in the Halo universe type characters.” (23:24)
  • This is discussed as a likely concession to modern game design and the franchise’s evolving lore: “I think it’s just more about what the Metroid Prime series is … If this was a complete reboot … it could make sense [to leave them out].” (23:56)
• Tim and Bless’s Hesitation
  • Blessing and Tim both admit to missing the sense of isolation that characterized Prime 1. (25:01)
  • “I thought it was refreshing that there weren’t that many other NPCs running around … this doesn’t feel like a thing that was needed.” (24:38, Blessing)

7. Performance & Platform Differences

• Switch 2 vs. Switch 1
  • Expect a big fidelity gap, but the base Switch version is still solid: “I think it’ll be a situation similar to Metroid Prime Remastered, where you will likely be getting 30 frames per second at 1080 … if you’re fine with 30 frames … you’re gonna have a good time.” (45:04)
  • Switch 2 unlocks 4K/60 and 120hz handheld modes for the intro segment. (10:30)

8. Guidance, Hints, and Modern Features

• No confirmation on toggling hints/tutorials: “That’s not something I noticed … I kept going back to the menu … I didn’t notice anything like that in general settings.” (43:03)
• The ability to pin/map obstacles (as in some modern Metroidvanias) did not appear: “No, I didn’t notice any sort of … take a photo of this or … pin or something.” (43:46)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Miles McKenzie:

  • “Do you hate this character as much as the rest of the fucking Internet? Apparently there’s an annoying little robot man or whatever …” — Greg (11:29)
  • “Miles is not annoying yet. We’ll see how it gets. Like, he’s not overly annoying yet.” — Andy (13:18)
  • “He seems like a Millie Mac.” — Blessing (14:46)
  • “I could see him getting very, very toned down because ... there already seemed to be a very conscious effort.” — Andy (14:48)

• On Atmosphere & Visuals:

  • “They are nailing the music, the vibes, the atmosphere, the way you’re exploring … I was so enamored … before we get to Miles and all that stuff.” — Tim (34:00–35:05)
  • “The game looks gorgeous … on the Switch 2 hardware I think is extremely capable and the game looks very modern.” — Andy (35:16)

• On Classic Metroid Design:

  • “I love what these abilities are doing … I love looking at things in the world and going ‘oh, I can’t get to that yet … but I’m gonna have that unlocked very soon.’” — Andy (36:15)
  • “Every time I would have that sort of like lightbulb moment … That’s how I do this, awesome.” — Andy (28:26)

• On Changing Times:

  • “I think a lot of the negativity is because people who have played Prime 1 Remastered and want to return to those roots … you’re no longer this lone bounty hunter. You have a squad with you.” — Andy (47:45)
  • “It feels like this world is a lot more alive than what I’m experiencing right now with Metroid Prime Remastered.” — Andy (24:15)

• On Old School Save Systems:

  • “It can be really, really frustrating … I lost progress … those little things can be really, really frustrating for anybody who has experienced the last 10 years of gaming.” — Andy (53:02–53:28)
  • “As long as that’s in your mind, then you’ll be totally fine with the experience.” — Andy (54:43)

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Important Timestamps

• 06:08 — Andy details prepping for the preview by playing Remastered.
• 08:27–10:30 — Description of the preview event setup, visuals, and controls.
• 13:18 — Andy’s levels of tolerance for “annoying” side characters: "Miles is not annoying yet."
• 24:38 — Blessing on missing isolation/solitude in Metroid, reaction to new NPCs.
• 28:26 — Andy describes Metroidvania “aha!” moments and new psychic powers.
• 34:00–35:05 — Tim expresses excitement that the Prime “feel” is intact.
• 37:35–39:55 — Discourse on control schemes, motion controls, and aiming system improvements.
• 39:55–41:27 — Andy describes a key boss fight and new gameplay mechanics.
• 43:03 — No noticed menu options for turning off hints/tutorials.
• 45:04 — Discussion about Switch 2 vs. Switch 1 version performance.
• 53:02 — Andy relays frustrations with manual saves in Remastered.

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Concluding Thoughts

Who Should Play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond?

• Metroid newcomers: Will likely be fine with the added guidance and cast, since modern games commonly feature NPCs and hints.
• Purists: May be turned off by the chattier tone and reduced solitude, especially in early hours.
• Visual sticklers: Will enjoy the game’s technical leap on Switch 2, though occasional asset pop-in/low-res elements show.
• Fans of classic Metroidvania gameplay: The core appeal—exploration, puzzles, creative traversal, and clever ability use—remains strong and evolves with new psychic powers.

Final Panel Vibes

• Andy is hyped and expects an “84 Metacritic” style review but thinks newcomers and modern players will be well served.
• Tim believes Remastered (Prime 1) will likely remain his default recommendation, but is optimistic.
• Greg, a Metroid outsider, is optimistic and plans to give it a try on Switch 2: “I am excited for this and I hope this is the one that clicks for me.” (49:27)
• Blessing is excited but contemplative about changing traditions.

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Summary Verdict

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is positioning itself as a technical showcase for Switch 2 and a new entry-point for a broader audience, staying true in core gameplay and atmosphere while making concessions (NPCs, tutorials) for accessibility. Its biggest risk is alienating Prime diehards with a less solitary vibe, but hands-on impressions are reassuring: at its heart, it still feels unmistakably Prime.

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Listen to this episode for:

• Vibrant first-hand descriptions of Metroid Prime 4’s gameplay and visuals
• Lively discussion around modernizing classic game design
• Hilarious, insightful Kinda Funny banter around video game nostalgia, evolving tastes, and the legend of “Millie Mack.”

For more in-depth previews and the latest in gaming talk, join Kinda Funny Gamescast live on YouTube, Twitch, or your favorite podcast app!

Transcript

[A]

Recruitment for Arknights Enfield Beta Test 2 has officially begun. Head to endfield.griffline.com and complete the recruitment survey for a chance to join beta test 2 when it starts on November 28th. What's up? And welcome back to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Friday, November 14th. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined today by Blessing adioe junior. Good day, Tim. Game over. Greggy himself, Greg Miller.

[B]

Good day, Tim.

[A]

And Andy Cortez.

[C]

Good day, Tim.

[A]

Who I'm very jealous of. Why?

[B]

Look at that hair.

[C]

Why is that?

[A]

You went to New York City to play Metroid prime for sure did. What are you doing now?

[C]

I'm installing a little something secret. Oh, for the. For the. For an upcoming trip. Don't want to play something secret trip. Little secret trip.

[D]

Little secret trip.

[C]

May get a secret Snickers for the secret trip. Love getting back to the hotel room, going like, oh my God, forgot I put a Snickers in here.

[A]

What a time to be alive.

[D]

It's me with chocolate chip. Or not chocolate chip. Chocolate covered pretzels.

[C]

Just. You don't even. Not in the wrapper. Just like

[D]

loose in my backpack.

[A]

Greg, what's your weekend looking like?

[B]

I got your baby shower.

[A]

Oh, that's right.

[B]

That's the big one, right? I get to go there.

[A]

Force you to do something. What do you mean? That's you.

[B]

You're the Grinch.

[D]

Not me.

[B]

I like doing things.

[A]

Oh, yeah, but you could be home playing games. You know what I mean?

[B]

No, I won't. I have a fucking four year old. He would let me play redacted with him for an hour and then he want to go play Spider Man. All this kid wants to do is play Spider Man. What if you want to play around

[A]

being Spider man actually playing insomniac?

[B]

He loves insomniacs. Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. It's been interesting to watch him grow into Insomniac Spider Man 2. Because obviously in the beginning it was okay. I put game speed to like 75, maybe 70. Whatever the option was. And then months ago took it up to 100. And it used to be, daddy, can you take me to the crime? And now he can get himself to the crimes and do all the different wheels. Oh, yeah, he's just got it now.

[A]

He just got pretty.

[C]

Whoa.

[B]

When he wants to get fired, he'll go, all right, let's play Astrobot. And he'll bump and he'll jump an Astrobot. Do all that. Yeah.

[A]

Cool times.

[B]

So yeah, I Would have gotten to play a little bit, but I'll still play that with him. Don't worry. That's, you know, your thing is perfect because we'll do it. Come home. Then Jen will probably cook dinner while we play a little bit of games.

[A]

That's cool. Are you planning to play any games this weekend? Bless.

[D]

You know, I feel like I'm in between reviews, actually. No, that's a lie. I'm playing the same thing. And he's playing. I'm playing the same. I got the same thing installed on my Steam deck.

[C]

I love that.

[D]

I'm probably gonna do that.

[B]

The thing I'm playing.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, we're all playing the same thing.

[A]

I played something completely different. I can't wait to talk about that.

[B]

Oh, you know, Are you enjoying what you've played so far?

[A]

I'm also playing games Cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the Kinda Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify or Apple podcast to get all of our shows ad free and get a daily exclusive show. Just a really quick favor I have for y' all because our lives can never just be easy in whatever way we want on all the different services we've been seeing. A lot of people ask, why are all the videos on YouTube locked behind a membership payroll paywall? And they're not. It's just, you need to go to the live tab. It only works that way because YouTube won't let live videos exist on the videos tab. They can only be on live.

[C]

And.

[A]

And because everything we do is live, everything we do that is public with ads is going to be on that live tab. There's no good way to explain that. So if you ever see people like, what's going on? If you could help try to explain, it would go a long way because we do look like assholes when people go to our channel and it seems like every single video is behind it.

[E]

Idea I just had and I feel like, Andy, you're almost about to get there. Banner idea. Update the YouTube banner. Be like, you know, public stuff.

[A]

I actually like that. Or that.

[C]

And also change our whole channel to kind of funny. The videos are in the live feed. The videos are in the live. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Make it extremely clear.

[C]

Let them know.

[A]

But anyways, yeah, it's something that. I don't know why it's been coming up so much recently because Nothing's new. But that's the thing is I feel like we might be getting influx of new people.

[B]

So you're welcome. The new voice of Pokemon brought them all in. A new generation of Pokemon, some would say me, Greg Miller cannot wait for the dlc. I apologize. Don't. Don't report me to hr.

[D]

No, it's just new, you know, it's just not regular.

[A]

It's just new. For a chance to be part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Like I said, we're talking about Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. Andy has played it. So if you have questions about Metroid Prime 4 please YouTube super chat them in and we'll get to get to them throughout the show. Remember, we are an 11 person business. All about live talk shows. Today's Games Daily was all about the Game Awards 2025 nominee predictions which was a lot of fun to listen to. And what else is going to be fun is on Monday when the Game Awards nominees are actually going live and they're going live at 9am Pacific. So an hour before our normal start time for Games Daily we will be there live, live reacting to the nominees for this year's Game Awards. And then after that we'll do our breakdown of you know, topic by topic or I guess that's right. Of the different award categories. Right. Of what we think the snubs are, what we're hoping will win all that

[B]

fun stuff the do.

[A]

Then after this is gonna be game showdown. After that's gonna be a little Call of Duty Black Ops 7 stream Internet loves this game. If you're a kind of funny member you can get today's Greg way. It's 15 minutes of Greg pledging his allegiance to Ethan Hawke.

[B]

I love you Ethan Hawke.

[A]

Spoilers. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Karl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm twining. Enough of all of that. Let's get to the topic of the show. Andy Cortez has played Metroid prime for beyond as did a whole bunch of games media people. We've seen previews popping up all over the Internet today. Logan Plant from IGN was there. You were there. You were the one I want to hear from. You're sitting at this desk. You've been playing a lot of Metroid prime remastered for the very first time.

[B]

Were you boning up for this?

[C]

Yeah, yeah. It's always also one I've wanted to get to and yeah, you know, maybe add. Maybe if it's good enough add it to my top 100, whenever that may be. So it's like, it's something I wanted to do, and I've been really enjoying my time with Metroid Prime Remastered.

[A]

And there's never been a better time.

[C]

There's never been a better time to hop in to Metroid Prime.

[D]

That's facts.

[A]

So that's real. Again, just to reiterate a little bit for people that might not know, obviously, I've loved Metroid prime my entire life because of the Nintendo fanboy that I am. Bless you. A couple years ago when Remastered came out, what's your one sentence on it?

[D]

Masterpiece. Damn, that's nice. My one sentence.

[C]

That's all I got.

[A]

Yeah, I love that. And now, Andy, what. How far through the game would you say you are? And like, overall, what are your thoughts?

[C]

I got the little spider ball unlocked where you can magnetize on the wall tracks, which is huge for me. I think Metroid Prime Remastered, the OG one, holds up really well against a lot of other modern Metroidvanias, except for the quality of life things where it's like more modernizations in more modern games would have had an easier autosave system. You know, a lot of.

[A]

And autosaves.

[C]

Yeah, a lot of. Period. Yeah. A lot of other games would have maybe had a bit more conveniences, but the game is still so damn good that even when I'm inconvenience something, if, If. If I'm inconvenienced in the moment, I would have dropped the game a lot earlier if it weren't that good. But it is so damn good.

[A]

Okay, so this being your first Metroid prime experience, and you were saying it's that damn good, you've now played how long of Metroid prime for about an

[C]

hour and a half.

[A]

About an hour and a half of Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. I need to know, what are your thoughts?

[C]

So we got to play the section that you all played in addition to much newer stuff. But the. The stuff that you all played at the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event, we got to play through that in kind of a. Hey, this has already been played before playing the handhelds. It was the first time being available in handheld, though, because you all played

[D]

on, I think, Monitor Doc with the mouse.

[C]

So. So this was like a cool kind of little cocktail morning thing, or it's like we got snacks, we got some little coffee and drinks and all sorts of stuff.

[B]

Dancers.

[C]

Yeah, dancers are there yet? Really hard for them to. Not a lot of mobility, but it was all just like a bunch of little standing tables with Handhelds with just like the Switch 2 Dr. Or the Switch 2 handheld just sitting there on all these tables and it's like, go play while we. Before we head into the next room. So you. We kind of play that intro section and yeah, it was running at a120 on handhelds. It looked fantastic. It ran so smooth. I, I was so blown away by a lot of the real time cutscenes. Like, holy. Like this. The Switch 2 is capable of doing a lot of really cool stuff visually. And then we got moved up to kind of the section where it's like, all right, now you're going to be playing stuff that nobody's played before.

[B]

Nice.

[C]

And that was where we sat down and we kind of all had a large play session. Or PlayStation, rather not PlayStation, but you know what I mean? Because it's like you could play with mouse if you want.

[B]

Oh, you got your wish. You wanted that.

[C]

You could play with mouse controls if you want. You could play with the Joy Cons. We also have a pro controller there, which was great. Like so many options of freedom for a lot of people who wanted to try out the game in, in a multitude of different ways. And I, I did all three of

[A]

them in addition to that. So you're saying that the handheld you played in the 120 frames per second

[C]

mode, but just that intro? Yeah, just the intro section.

[A]

In terms of the performance quality, FPS options you had with the second part,

[C]

what were they there? There were none. It was just like, this is the game in big picture mode, playing on a really, really nice oled, which like shout out to whenever game previewers like want to display their game and want to show you it in the best ways possible. And it's always a. A really, really nice thing because it sucks sometimes. Like playing on a really kind of cheap monitor. It's like, oh, you're not showing off this game in the best way it could be played. But we played on a really big nice OLED. And yeah, it was a 4k 60. It was like whether that's up res to 4k. I'm pretty sure there was like some uprising happening there. But maybe other previewers have more definitive answers there. But it looks.

[A]

I do know. Yeah, like I, I don't know what you guys got to do, but I knew that. I know the game is 4K60 or 1080,120, right?

[C]

Yeah, TV game looked fantastic. Looks super sharp, looks super sharp, looks super beautiful. And yeah, we played in a lot of different, different control schemes and we played, yeah, about 90 minutes worth of story stuff. A boss fight here and there, traversing the world, figuring out puzzles. Kind of like. Here's a little encapsulation of what the Metroid Prime 4 experience will be.

[D]

As somebody who is recently now enjoying Metroid Prime Remastered, and you've gone to experience what the Metroid prime experience is. Is Metroid Prime 4 giving you what that Metroid prime experience is?

[C]

A million percent.

[D]

Let's fucking go, dude. Let's go.

[C]

We're so back. I. I did get to see other people's previews.

[B]

Yeah. That's my thing. All right. Stop glazing Nintendo.

[C]

Right?

[B]

All right. I want to know from the horse's mouth.

[C]

You're the horse.

[B]

Do you hate this character as much as the rest of the fucking Internet? Apparently there's an annoying little robot man or whatever walking around going, samus, shoot this. Sam.

[D]

Shoot.

[B]

He's mansplaining to Sam.

[C]

It bad?

[B]

Was it bad?

[C]

It was really, really funny. Experiencing Miles McKenzie, we could see because.

[D]

Because American politician, a senator.

[C]

That's a. That's like when that's a Disney. Disney Channel show. The Sweet life of Miles McKenzie. The thing about Miles McKenzie is. And other characters of his ilk, the annoying side, character that yaps a lot. I generally have a lot more. A lot higher of a tolerance.

[D]

Is this him?

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

No shot.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

This Apex reject.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. You're talking about somebody who looks like they're straight out of Split Fiction. Like, this dude looks like he's a character in Split Fiction in the VR world.

[D]

He looks like Water Boy.

[E]

Jan Ochoa posted that.

[C]

He looks like Rick Moranis.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

More anus.

[B]

He bricked it. But we all knew what he was trying to say. We all knew it.

[A]

That's so unfortunate.

[C]

I thought he was doing, like, a joke. Like, I've never heard his name. I've never heard his last name said

[A]

out loudest, but damn. More it is.

[C]

So here's the thing about Nerd.

[D]

I was going to say Water Boy from dispatch.

[B]

Yeah, 100%.

[C]

The thing about characters like Miles McKenzie is I always have a much higher tolerance for characters like them. Whenever I leave a game and realize, like, oh, damn, you all really hated that one character that much. I thought it was whatever. Like, it didn't annoy me that much. Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

In the way that whenever we see people talk about Atreus, God of War 2018, it's like I never really felt like he was this annoying kid that I had to suffer through.

[B]

But these Atreus levels.

[C]

I'm fine. But I did write down in my notes, miles is not annoying yet.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[C]

We'll see how it gets. Like, he's not overly annoying yet. Now for the Metroid prime purists, someone who is not me, someone who has played through Metro Prime 1, 2, and 3, people who are like hardcore fans out there. This is a. A massive, distinct, you know, sort of like we're leaping and doing something way different with this. Because so much of the Metroid prime experience and my experience so far with part one is the very solitary, very quiet, but very like you are just with yourself and your thoughts. You're a Samus who never says a word, and you are only ever reading text things. So when a character is present, who starts kind of yapping with you and maybe not being as funny as possible, it's something that could definitely, definitely stick out. And the funniest thing about Miles McKenzie

[B]

is that the fact that it's a legal name every time.

[C]

It's not the way that he. It's not like him himself. I wish he was the funniest thing about himself. The funniest thing about it is when I am done with my demo, maybe the second or third question I get asked is, how'd you feel about Miles? And I hear. I hear the same question being asked to everybody else. So what do you think about Miles with Ken?

[B]

How badly is this preview cycle going to go because of Miles McKenzie?

[D]

Super chat with your nickname. Because I can't. I'm not going to call him Miles McKenzie Eminem.

[A]

I mean, I doubt he's going to be in much of the game.

[D]

I'm going to call him Millie Mac. I feel like Millie Mac.

[C]

He seems like, really.

[D]

Come on. He seems like a Millie Mac.

[C]

Okay, I'll think about that. I'll think about that. I. I think with. With this MacKenzie character throughout the rest of the game, I think Millie Mack is going to. I could see him getting very, very toned down because it There. There already seemed to be a very conscious, what if it gets effort into.

[D]

We got to turn the millimac knob down.

[C]

It. It really seems like there was already a knowledge within these dev teams, and I'm assuming that's why maybe this game took so long to get made. Is. Was this.

[B]

He used to play as Millie Mac. Like, it used to be in this game.

[C]

Like, dude, this guy's been like, you know, we've had to tone him down for the last seven years of development. He was like, way too much in the game.

[B]

Can't get more toned down than this.

[C]

Do feel like he won a competition

[B]

off a back a box of Mac and Cheese. He has to be in the game.

[C]

But we're beholden to this. I. I feel like this experience will get toned down even more based on these previews.

[A]

Do you think that's possible a couple

[B]

weeks ago less than.

[A]

Yeah. We're like three weeks away from this game or two weeks away a little and change from this game coming out December 4th. But are you saying toned down throughout the game experience or toned down before release? Because that's not happening.

[C]

I just don't know why. So much of an. Like a. There was so much of a like we're gonna effort to ask all these previewers what about this one dude that we probably also know is going to be probably.

[E]

I think that's more about them getting a understanding of what the preview cycle

[C]

is going to look like.

[B]

So they can prep developers and they can prep Nintendo.

[A]

But I will say knowing these games and I this to me is the biggest downside to Metroid Prime 4 I've seen thus far. Is this Miles McKenzie character. I'm not writing it off as like the worst thing in the world. Metroid Prime 3 also had a lot of NPCs that I think were to the game's detriment. It was not like a quality addition to the game. These games have gotten more and more about other characters and not about that solitary atmosphere. Which is why I don't like the others as much as I like one. I really still do love two and three, but one is so much more special to me. Two is also solitary. But there was the overview trailer that they dropped today. That was like about eight minutes that I watched and they go through it and they kind of explained there's gonna be a lot of different NPCs. I think miles is just gonna be the tutorial intro area one. I doubt he's in much of the game. Like the way like even looking at the trailer, every time you see Miles, it's all in the same little opening section. So it does seem very kind of like tutorially teaching how to play. That sucks though. I don't want a tutorial teaching me how to play in Metroid Prime. Like that's.

[B]

But you got to imagine Nintendo wants it because they're bringing in so many different fans. Right? So many new people.

[A]

But that sucks. Like that is so not what Metroid prime even should and can be to new fans of Metroid prime like this. It's going to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I don't think that anybody is going to be like, I love this Miles guy. And it's not even about the Miles. It's about. It's about them telling you. And because I'm with you, Andy, about the Atreus stuff, like, that stuff doesn't really bother me that much. And a God of War type of game that is like more action, like, shoot, this thing kind of war is not really about puzzles and like figuring things out. Metroid is so having them be like, look over there. Maybe this thing will help you open a door. Which I saw in this. I'm like, this is not good. Like, that's scary for me for Metroid, but I also think it's going to be over really quick.

[E]

Sorry before you said that stuff about the overview trailer, Tim, I was hoping that this Miles McKenzie was going to be like a red herring of like, oh, this is what the game's going to feel like to. Then when we get to the review cycle and we play through it and then he gets like killed or something to make you feel even more of that isolation that we know of Metroid Prime.

[C]

But it.

[E]

That doesn't sound like it's going to be the case.

[A]

Which is disappointing for you though, Andy

[C]

playing it, I think largely it feels a bit overblown. Like I. I don't. But again, I'm not the Metroid prime purist. I'm not somebody who, like Tim who's playing the experience. Yeah.

[A]

And.

[C]

And I've gameplay wise, I think everything fantastic so far when it comes to puzzles, when it comes to the design and what the things it's asking you to do. But it's not like this guy wasn't chirping in my ear all of the time enough for me to be like, oof. But I wrote the note down that like, yeah, this guy will annoy some people. He's not annoying me so far in this journey, but I could already tell that this is going to be a big point of friction for a lot of the player base.

[D]

This sounds like the kind of dude where it's like you kind of don't want to invite him to the friend group hang, but, like, he knows somebody else. You'd feel bad if you don't cut him out. Yeah, he's like, you know, he's gonna annoy some people, but, like, he's been a good friend to me. Yeah, just invite Millie.

[C]

Yeah, there. There are a couple, like, as escort missions where you have to like, protect him from getting killed a couple times. And it's not like, really long. It's just. Okay, it's a section of this. We're just getting to the next place or whatever. But Miles McKenzie for the audio listeners. He is one of these kind of Federation Force Fighters, whatever the hell that they are, in the Metroid prime universe and had the. His ship was downed. So he's kind of stuck alone out there, and he's just like, what am I gonna do? He's lying on his ship that's just been exploded. And then you kind of walk into the room and he's like, oh. Oh, my God, Sam, what the hell? What are you doing here? Like. Like, you're a legend to him is. You know, so he's, like, kind of pumped to see you, but he can also kind of help you with some of the tech that is set up because you are walking through these ruins of this ancient civilization. And he's kind of. He helps supplement the experience, but in a way that it legitimately didn't feel overbearing to me. I think that maybe the reactions are. I think it's natural to get very scared of this kind of ruining.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

The experience that you're scared to have. But for me, it's nothing that felt like it was too much for me.

[B]

Can I ask a dumb question? Please don't make fun of me.

[C]

I know it's stupid. Thank you.

[B]

I know. I'm more worried about Tim in the chat, though.

[A]

I will.

[B]

I'm pretty sure I know this. But just again, I'm never. I'm not a Metroid person. Samus doesn't talk in Prime. She talked in other m. Right. I remember the baby Metroid should have. I remember making fun of that a lot on Game Scoop. But, like, in these games. No.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Okay. So what, Millie Mac's just yelling at you and Samus is just like.

[C]

And that's the thing I don't like, because I feel like if they are. You know, Tim, you mentioned that other characters do get kind of yappy in the other games. Right. And that, like, they started to kind of maybe form, like, hey, this is what future games are going to be like. This is kind of the blueprint we want. It isn't just going to be this quiet experience with no dialogue. Right. I. Because I've seen Samus talk in other games before. I. I wish they kind of. I think it'd probably get even more backlash. But I wish she had, like, a very, very, like, Diet Master Chief thing because she gives him nothing back. And I say Diet Master Chief in the Like Master Chief talks, but not a whole lot. But when he does, it's awesome and impactful and there are times where this Miles guy is kind of yapping to it to you and is like, yeah, I'm looking for this one part and what I'll need is this one little thing. And she just like picks up her arm, takes this thing out and hands it to him. He's like, whoa, how did you know that? And like you don't say a word to him. And that feels like kind of odd.

[A]

It's figment of your semi lore when it comes to it where it's like she's just very like her character is. And for.

[C]

I know she's stoic and. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

But it is very. Just like I don't. I don't even want to waste time talking to you. She does do things. Not Master Chief levels of like one liners, but she will say like go or like, you know, quick things.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Once a while. She has a voice. She can talk, but yeah, I. I'm.

[C]

The vocal cords get crushed when she goes into the ball.

[A]

Watching a bit of this all five

[B]

situation, you know what I mean?

[A]

It does seem like they're kind of playing some of it as a joke even where it's like he will be talking to her and I saw like a camera cut to her in the overview trailer and it's. He says something about her not talking or something about her being quiet and it just kind of cuts her. She doesn't say anything and it cuts back. It's weird because like so much of what we've seen from this game so far has given me Halo campaign vibes and so much of this is giving me not my favorite season of red versus blue vibes. So like, like that's a little concerning but also not the most concerning because again, I do think this is just a entry point to the. The game type thing that they'll move on from.

[C]

Well, I. I mean, I guess I'm. My worries are. Are eased a bit more you mentioning that they talked about that There are other NPCs in the game and that that kind of gets me excited to see what else will be added and maybe, you know, we don't have to be with this dude forever for. For the better of everybody else's opinions on it because again, I. It wasn't something that overly bothered me at all.

[A]

Yeah, I mean we. I can even actually I'll pull up the trailer and I'll time code it to send a Barrett so we can Even just watch for like a minute. But like we see like four or five different NPCs and they all have different vibes, but all the rest of them are less Jar Jar Miles McKenzie and a little bit more like they feel like they belong in the Halo universe type characters, which I'm not necessarily saying is even a good thing, like, but I also know that these games are at this point going to have NPCs. I don't think we're going to get this. Even metroid dread had NPCs. Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Do you feel like, why do you think they need to have NPCs?

[A]

Just because of modern gaming and what people are looking for. And I just, it's, I just feel, and also just what the Metroid Universe is. If, if this was a complete reboot and they're starting something different, I think that could make sense.

[C]

The lone bounty hunter sort of style.

[A]

But this is like, she's done this at least three times before. You know what I mean?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And the Federation is very much present in this game where in those early sections, like you like the ones that you played Bless, where you are running through those space stations and there's fire everywhere in war. And it's like all the NPCs are going, oh, Samus, well, you're here. You know, like they're super stoked to kind of see you like that. But it feels like this world is a lot more alive than what I'm experiencing right now with Metroid Prime Remastered.

[D]

I think my thing is that I playing Metroid Prime Remastered, I thought it was very refreshing that there weren't that many other NPCs that are running around doing all that stuff. And when we did The Metroid Prime 4 preview, obviously, like, if you're a fan, you already come to expect this. But for me, coming in, I was kind of shocked by all the different NPCs. And not that I was like, oh, what are all these people doing here? This is terrible. But more so of a thing of like, oh, I wasn't expecting this. This doesn't feel like a thing that was needed.

[A]

Right.

[D]

Like, I, I, for me, I, I, I feel like if they went the route of having it be isolation, you're not running into people, would it really feel archaic or would it feel like a return to form? Like, is it something that a modern game has to have? Or do they have people that are running the numbers, doing the analytics and going, no players need NPCs to make the thing feel full?

[A]

I think It's. I'm saying it more about the Metroid prime series. Yeah. Like, as a follow up to Metroid Prime 3, I think you need NPCs.

[C]

Gotcha.

[A]

Because of how that was. And, like, again, I just. I.

[C]

Let's let us know in your super chats whether. What experience you want. Do you want an NPC and the

[A]

bear if you go to, like, 435? If we could watch this with audio for, like, a minute, that would be pretty cool. Just because I want y' all to see what we're talking about here.

[B]

You want to see what you're talking

[A]

about here while he pulls that up? Demon hacker, super chat saying, is Metroid prime for a Metroidvania? Absolutely. Metroid Prime, I think, might be the most literal 2D to 3D translation that we've ever seen of a game franchise

[C]

like Samus.

[A]

Some Galactic Federation troopers were also transported to view rose. Distress signals to help the troopers and occasionally battle alongside them. They can even provide useful upgrades. Teamwork is key. If any of you hope to escape the planet alive.

[D]

Wait, so that's Millie back shooting that gun?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Oh, good for him.

[C]

I see. I call it an escort mission because I didn't see him shooting, but, yes, he does. I felt like I was having to protect his ass.

[D]

Just the fact that he knows how to. How a gun works.

[B]

Wouldn't expect that. At least through the streets, he knows what he's doing.

[F]

If it's the only way off this rock. All right, I'm in.

[C]

What do you say, teammates? It appears you require assistance. I had no interest in anyone but

[F]

my family, but now it's a little different.

[G]

When we get home, I hope we

[C]

can keep the band together.

[B]

She's making the same escape.

[F]

I can't wait to see my family when I get back home. I'll be taking a much needed leave

[C]

anyway.

[A]

You can stop it there, but, like, there's a handful of characters, so it seems like you're gonna get some more quote, unquote, serious people. I hope all those people die.

[C]

Yeah, there's a universe.

[B]

I can't wait to get home. Worms and aliens and showed up without

[E]

writing a hundred percent. Do you think there's a world with, like, this big talking point, people being doubtful that once we get on the other side, all of us are actually sold on this little team. And when they all die, we're all, like, really heartbroken about Squad.

[D]

I feel like Millie Mack will make it out.

[A]

I don't think so, man.

[C]

And, like, he's got the Stuff I

[A]

realize I need a gun. The quality of writing that we're talking about here, like from everything I've seen, I'm just like, ah. Like it's not, it's not good. I don't think that it's horrible or bad, but it's not good. So I don't think that I'm gonna care like Halo Reach or something like that. You know what I mean? Like it's.

[C]

I totally, yeah, I totally agree with all that. It's. It's. It's nothing that really stood out to me and go, okay, well yeah, maybe this guy's a bit too yappy. But like, wow, we're getting some awesome death. Like no, there's. There's no awesome one liners that make you go, oh shit, I want more from this universe or I want more. You know, what else can. Are they capable of doing here writing wise?

[D]

In your time playing the game, did you experience any true Metroidvania moments that made you go wow?

[C]

Oh yeah, a whole bunch. Yeah. I mean like that's where the game like what it's doing creativity wise with these new abilities and these sort of psychic powers you are getting and how this world is reacting and working around you. I loved anytime that I would have that sort of like light switch moment, light bulb going, like, oh, oh my God. That's how I do this. Awesome. There are, there were plenty of those ability or plenty of those moments just in that short 90 minutes that I got to play. The way that the, the, the psychic powers kind of work. There's a psychic beam that you can upgrade your gun to that if you hold the trigger and charge it and then you hit, I believe like maybe R1 or something. It sends out a beam that you control on its own in first like you were controlling the beam as it's flying through. Think like the. What's the little rocket that.

[D]

Metal Gear.

[C]

Yeah. Metal Gear Rocket. Yeah. What's that one called? You know, like I know to control it. Yeah, it's killing me.

[D]

I know exactly what rpm.

[C]

No, but anyway, there's like one of those. Is it. That ability is kind of a key. Nikita missile. Yeah, there we go. So that sort of way of controlling that beam is a key way to either solve puzzles or even take down some enemies and bosses. And I found a lot of joy in that already and, and thinking about what else they could do with that. I think that's what gets me the most excited is like, you've already shown me cool things about the world that I am able to solve with these new abilities you're giving me. What else do you have in store for me?

[A]

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[G]

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[A]

And we're back. So obviously I'm a huge Metroid prime fan, which means I'm very much looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 beyond. And fingers crossed, just hoping that it's as good as I want it to be after the incredibly long wait that we've had. Right? We've seen the trailers. Metroid prime years have never looked good in trailers. I get that. So when we played it back at the Nintendo Switch launch event, it was very much like, I cool, it's more prime. That's good. But is it going to have that sauce that Metroid prime has? And it wasn't until the B roll came through for this preview event that we got like, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes of just gameplay that we can watch, just jumping between the sections of what you played. Barrett's been playing a lot of it as we go. And I hit play and within two minutes, I was like, holy shit, this is Metroid Prime. Like, they are nailing the music, the vibes, the atmosphere, the way you're exploring the art design of the entire world. I was so enamored and won over by just the opening moments of it before we get to Miles and all that stuff. Like, it's not even about that. It's just this section that Barrett has right now, how it sounds and feels. I'm like, they're nailing Metroid prime in a way only Retro Studios can playing it. Andy, does it play and feel as good as when I'm explaining? It looks and sounds like, yeah, I

[C]

had a smile on my face the whole time. Bear if we can get the volume up just a little bit just to hear the. Just the dulcet tones of the little like this is atmosphere in Metroid Prime 4.

[B]

You'll land on an alien world.

[C]

You'll meet Millie Mack. Yeah I. I think what it's doing atmosphere wise in these sort of early moments. Tim100 I think the. As somebody who's such a visual stickler as I am, I think the game looks gorgeous. What they're doing on you know on the Switch 2 hardware I think is extremely capable and the game looks very modern. Right. Like this isn't something that looks like it's being held back a whole lot. However, there were moments that reminded me a lot of playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth or Remastered where it's like when I'm looking at Cloud Strife or Tifa Lockhart you are the. The Most high res 3D assets I've ever seen in my life. And then that door behind you. It looks like garbage. And there were a couple of moments in this game where anytime there's anytime Samus on the screen, the materials they're working with on. On her suit the. And just a lot of the game looks gorgeous and there might be a moment where I'm you know, in a cutscene. There's a part where it's like damn, that looks so low res. Like can we. We can't like tune that or not. You know bump that up a little bit. So there were some moments like that. However, gameplay wise, direction mechanics, the stuff that you find yourself unlocking it. I just wanted to keep on playing because I already kind of found. I immediately found the hook of. I love what these abilities are doing and I love. I love looking at things in the world and going oh, I can't get to that yet yet. But I'm gonna have that unlocked very, very soon. And getting there, the way it all controlled felt great. I used again I talked earlier but the three different control schemes I ended up resorting to to the Joy Con with the motion controls. Cuz that's the way I'm playing Remastered now. And I love motion. I love gyro on. On the Pro controller. That's how I play Splatoon. I really enjoy the way that that feels. I use like. I use the right stick to like get my larger camera movements and I use the gyros to kind of really hone in on you know, the aiming. The aiming aspect of it all. The mouse controls didn't like it. I thought I. I haven't used the mouse controls a whole lot in on Switch 2 games yet, but haven't been

[A]

many to use it with.

[C]

It's not just the form factor. The form factor definitely doesn't like, help the experience at all. Like, you know, you would want to get one of those. I, I bought some of those like cheap Amazon plastic coverings that you put the Joy Con in. So it's feels a bit more like a mouse. You're not just holding like a thin piece of plastic. But for me, it was less about not just the form factor. It was something to do with either the, the TV or the sensor on the thing, but like moving felt very, very static and it didn't feel like the way that. Yeah, it felt very much like. I know it's not designed this way, but it felt like I only have a set amount of movements I can make and if I move this way, then it's gonna dig. It's gonna, it's gonna put me in the diagonal movement. Like, it just felt very much like one or zero. You're only doing this or, or nothing at all. So it didn't feel awesome to, to use there. Which bummed me out because I wanted to play this game like keyboard mouse style, so won't be doing that. I. I do like the way the gyro feels though. And then I've never been a huge fan of the way the Joy Cons are with the aiming where you aim towards the right of the screen and that turns you. I've never been the biggest fan of that. That's just not my jam. But the gyro felt great, shooting felt great, and I really enjoyed. I don't know if the Future prime games introduced this, Tim, but the aiming within the aiming, like. Yeah, because you, you lock on, right, and you, you lock on and you shoot that enemy and then you lock off and you lock back on and shoot the other flying enemy or whatever. But I, I assume this is something that they did add later on to the other prime games, but I haven't experienced that yet, so I really enjoyed. There would be moments where an enemy has a lot of like, weak points on it, but you lock on with the L2, so your camera's always locked on. You're never able to kind of turn away. But then you can aim within that L2 gyro stuff you're talking about. Yeah. Or you could use the right stick to do it, but you can aim within that L2, lock on to like, aim to this specific weak point on the shoulder or Aim to this specific weak point on the ribs or whatever. And I kind of enjoyed that. I'm not sure if future prime games added something like that.

[A]

I'm pretty sure that in even the Metroid prime trilogy that they released on Wii, that added like motion controls to Prime. Like I think that was added there as well, where it's like, yeah, you're locking on, but then you can fine tune within. Yeah, that stuff. And then, yeah, 2 and 3 had that as well because of how that trilogy worked.

[C]

Yeah, the fine tuning stuff felt great. Really enjoyed that addition and I, I assumed that, yeah, they probably added this later on. I just haven't experienced that. But I, I did have a good amount of fun with that. But the, the boss fight was really, really neat in. And what I've experienced in a lot of Metroid prime boss fights, I love the hell out of them. I love the way that they're designed. They're so much fun. I was telling, I was gushing to Blessing about the, the recent one that I experienced in Metroid Prime Remastered, the ice one where you have to like go into thermal vision, find the weak point, shoot it down. Like, I, I think they're just so smartly and like obviously designed where they're not doing anything that's too crazy in terms of pattern and pattern recognition. But it's like, it's still so satisfying to do. So the way this sort of plant enemy attacks you, you shoot the weak point on the, on the tenel. Right. And the weak point, when you shoot the spikes off it then sort of leaves that, you know, part of the tendril exposed. So you could shoot that down. Right. But then every phase it adds new tendrils. New like, you know, sure. New legs that come out of the ground or whatever. And then you have to use the more recent things you've unlocked, which is like if you break down all the armors on them, then you use that little psychic Nikita missile thing. And so now all of the tendril weak spots are exposed. You go, you charge you up your blast psychic Nikita missile mode it. And now you're flying through the world hitting those tendril weak spots.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

As the missile, it was so fun and so cool to do. I wish the movement on the. I wish the flying movement was a little bit quicker. It did feel a little too slow and I hope that they can kind of tune that up. It's maybe just slow for a reason, because I'm sure the stuff you have to aim at gets a little bit tougher and maybe that Gets tough to manage if you are moving too fast. But it did feel a little bit annoying where I'm like kind of flying through in this Nikita missile mode. I'm like, all right, let me just slowly make this turn around the enemy. And we're all in slow mo anyway. But I don't know if. If you can keep on playing bear to show like how that little. Yeah, here we go. So, yeah, a little bit too slow on the movement here. I wish it was a bit faster, but you do take out the weak points.

[B]

Are you at risk of getting hit while this is happening? Is the Samus at risk of getting hit while this happens?

[C]

I don't think so. I think you are kind of in this protected mode where you are there as long as, like, the shot lasts, I guess. Or maybe as long as you are. You are holding on the bullet. I don't think it looks like a slow down time.

[B]

Yeah, it was talking about being.

[C]

It does slow down time. Okay. Yeah. But I don't know.

[B]

I'd still be swinging.

[C]

I don't think I ever got knocked out of it. Gotcha you. But I just really enjoyed that initial boss fight and the boss patterns and the way it worked and then unlocking the, you know, the ball bomb and stuff like that was just seeing where the game could go had me really excited. And like, I want to play this game right now because it does look so good and it sounds good and it feels good to play.

[A]

We got some super chats currently working. Says in other prime games, you could toggle off hints, like directions on the map. Did you see anything like that in the menu from what you played?

[C]

That's not something I noticed, although I was. I kept on going back to the menu to like, mess with the sensitivity on the movement and everything like that. I didn't notice anything like that in general settings. So unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you there. But I will say that, you know, I love new things, Tim, and I just love the way this UI looks like when I go to the menu and it's. The color schemes are using the greens and the purples. Gorgeous. It looks so good.

[A]

And then on the flip side of that, this isn't a super chat, but the chat I saw earlier. Did you notice anything from the modern Metroidvanias that we've had? Where. Okay, you can't go to this area yet. Can you mark that on your map or something? Is there any type of lock on. Scan it and like, be like, all right, cool. I need to come Back to this.

[C]

No, I didn't notice any sort of Prince of Persia take a photo of this or.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

A little pin or something.

[C]

Keep a memory of that for later. But they did fix the one thing that I'm sure they fix in future prime titles. But dealing with Metro prime one, the most annoying thing is opening the map and having the movement and the camera reversed when you open up your radar and Metroid Prime Remastered, camera rotation is left stick and panning is right stick. And it always. It never makes sense to me then I'm always like thrown off by that. But that is fixed to be more modern where your right stick is the camera rotation. So that was like a really nice thing that I'm happy that they fixed. But yeah, I have here the. I think visually I am still really blown away by what it's doing cutscene wise. Like, there was a part of me I was like, there's no way this is the real time render. Like this looks so impressive to be on this machine. But I also just gotta keep in mind that yeah, this is a very capable piece of hardware now and the Switch 2 can do a lot of these really pretty visuals.

[B]

So many people have asked, is there

[A]

a super chat about it? There is a super chat. Mental gear gaming Fetty Waffle says, as a broke boy with a gift card, do you think this will be a playable on. Will this be playable on the OG Switch or am I doomed to wait for a switch too?

[C]

I think it'll be a situation where it's similar to Metroid Prime Remastered where you will likely be getting 30 frames per second at 1080. And if you're fine with 30 frames and you're. That's totally chill, you know, like, you're gonna have a good time with it.

[A]

Yeah, I think so too.

[C]

Yeah, because then they aren't. Yeah, yeah. Because then they unlock to those like, you know, they unlock that whenever you play on Metroid or on Switch 2, where it is way smoother and it looks awesome.

[A]

From all the comparison videos I've seen. It's not that I would say the switch to Switch 1 version looks significantly worse. I would say the Switch 2 version looks significantly better.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

That makes sense.

[A]

Brian Martinez says, bless. I saw Little Sims in Houston on Monday. Don't skip the concert.

[D]

Yeah, but you know, volleyball undefeated. If I'm not there, we might lose.

[C]

Did y'. All.

[E]

Did y' all play against that team you retired with?

[D]

No, that's this upcoming game.

[C]

Yeah. You got to be there for that. Big.

[D]

But his little sims, you know, we'll see how I feel today.

[A]

DJ Kanto says. Has anyone kind of funny used a regular mouse on the switch too? I know it has regular mouse support. Just wondering if you. I haven't yet.

[C]

I have.

[A]

And again, there just hasn't really been any mouse game that I've been interested in. And Even Metroid Prime 4, like a different first person shooter. Sure, a mouse would be nice, but Metroid prime is a much slower. It's lock on, right? It's like, it's more similar to Zelda Ocarina of Time than, you know, Call of Duty.

[C]

Call of Duty, yeah. Metroid, Metroid prime. The way like their design ethos I say is mainly built around timing as opposed to accuracy. Like it is more about when the enemy pops out of the ground, then you, you want to make sure you're locked on to then shoot it. And that's where the skill comes in. Where I was initially super against the whole lock on in Metroid prime because it's like, well, I get the satisfaction knowing that I aimed really well in that moment, but it's. It's more of like, no, you want to be able to make sure you shoot at the right moment as opposed to like being super accurate with it

[B]

or whatever, you know, interesting way of thinking about it.

[A]

Bless. Do you have any questions for Andy?

[D]

No, I've just been enjoying listening, dude.

[C]

I. I like, again, I'm not the best person asks about this because I didn't play two or three. And I think there's a lot of

[B]

people though who are going to pick this up and haven't played two or three.

[C]

And I think for those people, for even people who didn't play one, I think because you don't have that purist mindset of what your first time playing Metroid Prime Remastered was. And it's this, you know, Samus is a badass, but like, honestly, Samus isn't like even as much of a badass as she is in Dread.

[A]

Well, Dread's the end of the timeline so far. This is very early in the timeline.

[C]

Well, I also just think it's like tech wise, like the way that Samus is animated and shown off in Dread, she's the coolest person in the universe. Like when she gets the final kill landing superhero, like everything she's doing in those cutscenes are the coolest you've ever seen. Remastered doesn't have anything like that. Like you, you get the kill and that's it and you move on to the next thing, like, there's nothing that ever really shows her as, like, like the master chief of, you know, you know, time to give the Covenant back their bomb. Like, you're not getting that awesome sort of stuff in Remastered. I think if you're like me or if you haven't even played any of the Primes, I think you are. I think you're going to be totally fine with this game because you don't have that blueprint of what you expect a Metroid prime game to be. And you're probably used to games that may have a little yappy cohort here and there, but they're not like, it wasn't an overbearing experience. I think a lot of the negativity is because people who have played Prime One remastered and want to return to those roots, to this quiet, like, we are out here in solitude, just fighting, taking on these aliens. It's not this, like, lone space pirate adventure. You're no longer like this lone bounty hunter. You have a squad with you. And I think people who don't have the blueprint in their mind for what that is will be totally fine with this experience, because you've played every other modern game recently where there's somebody in the ear saying, samus, do this and that, and then you're going to be totally fine with it.

[A]

Greg, you infamously could never get into Metroid, correct? I am assuming that you don't have much interest in this one. Has anything you've seen or heard changed that?

[B]

I am interested in it. You know, again, it's been a banner year for me in my Switch 2, and I know it's the first year of Switch 2, but, you know, I am still in the honeymoon phase with this and I am excited for this and I hope this is the one that clicks for me. Remastered. I had popped up and tried, but it was just that it was a normal thing. Like, I'm on a plane, I'm getting home to my whatever I need to review and started it. And I was like, ah, this just doesn't feel like what I want to play right now. I like what we're seeing. I like that intro we saw there. Walking out of an alien planet. I love. I love the idea of this story of all these people are crash here. How are we all going to get off and what are we going to do? I'm going to give it the call a try. I'm excited for December 4th.

[C]

I think that it also just does such a great job of making you feel smart with puzzles. That aren't too basic, but they're enough to kind of give you that satisfaction of, like, wise, I solved this thing. That is not the, you know, we're not talking the witness levels of difficulty, but whenever you do have a little Metroidvania moment of, how am I going to get that one beam over there? And you use your psychic powers, and then you grab that one element and put it slotted into where it belongs. And then even near the very, very end of the demo, needing to power something up. And I had just unlocked the ball bomb, the psychic ball bomb, and jumped up in ball form, left the grenade up in midair, went back into human form, then went into psychic mode, grabbed the ball bomb that was floating in midair, and slotted it where it needed to go, man. I was like, dude, this game's gonna be awesome, man. Like, and that's coming from somebody who's, like, just loving the. Out of my Metroid prime experience right now. I think it's going to. I think it's going to do everything it needs to do in order for you to feel like, oh, it's, It's. This is what I expect out of a modern Metroidvania.

[A]

And I mean, it sounds like you've already answered this, but just to ask you, like, I feel like oftentimes we talk about, is it a good or bad idea to play the old game right before you play the new game? Are you going to, like, be Metroid primed out? You don't seem to be Metroid primed out.

[C]

No, but I also. I'm taking it very slowly. Like, this isn't something I'm marathoning. I'm playing about an hour to two hours every night for the last couple of weeks. So, like, that's why I'm still so early on. Like, I feel like I've been playing forever, but then I unlock something that's like 25 completion. I know it's not the longest game, but I'm just playing it at a very slow pace. So I'm kind of microdosing the Metroid prime experience. I don't. I would say if you. If you like Metroidvanias, but you haven't played the prime games. I would say don't. And just wait for it. Like, just wait for this one to come out, because I think it will. It will tickle all of the little things in your brain that love getting tickled whenever you solve something in a Metroidvania.

[A]

The thing I'm most interested in personally, because, like, I. I'VE played the other ones. I'm excited to play this and it's going to be on some scale for me of like I imagine good to amazing, right. Unless they really shit the bed, which I just don't expect at this point.

[C]

From what I've seen, I expect an 84 metacritic.

[B]

Okay, how long do you expect it to be? I was checking how long to be.

[C]

Probably like 10 to 15.

[A]

Okay, cool. Probably 15. Yeah.

[B]

Sorry Tim, you're driving.

[C]

You were driving somewhere.

[A]

Yeah. I really wonder after experiencing Metroid Prime 4, if someone were to ask me should I play Metroid Prime Remastered or Metroid Prime 4 what my answer is going to be? Because like, I find it very hard to imagine a world that I don't still say Metroid Prime 1 Remastered in 2025. So that to me is the, the challenge that I present today.

[C]

Now I will say real, real quick that like, if you play a lot of modern games with the modern conveniences that help us out, it can be really, really frustrating when. And maybe it's just the way that I've been playing one hour to two hours every night, but when I did Explore for about 90 minutes, died and then went, oh, I hadn't saved since I started, so I'm back.

[B]

I lost anywhere anytime.

[C]

You always have to go to the rooms that are only saved rooms. So I lost that progress. And then I went to continue my journey the next night and went back to where I was supposed to go and then realized, oh, you didn't even save the tool that I unlocked the last time I played. So the, the, the major big Metroidvania tool that I now had in my arsenal didn't get saved either. It's not that I like am going back to where I was, but the tool that I unlocked. So now I gotta go all the way back. Like those little things can be really, really frustrating for anybody who has experienced the last 10 years of gaming where your game is auto always auto saving your game is always like, even if you die, you it still save the last couple things you unlocked that that's not the case with Metro Prime Remastered. And that may kind of really frustrate people in some ways.

[A]

And in defense of that, I do just want to say that is the game design like that, like those games have that survival horror element of like this is how many missiles I have. I should go back to the save point right now before I go to this thing. It is that kind of risk reward of your time. But like again, I'm not defending that as A modern game, but also the new game, if it has auto save and all that stuff, it needs to be designed around that and like deliver, which I am a little concerned about.

[C]

I also don't even, I don't even think that that design ethos is bad. It's more of like just set yourself up and like have your expectations set to know that you, you know, this is. If you happen to Resident Evil 2 right now, the old school version, you are going to have to go to every typewriter room and say, you know, like you need that, you need the ink ribbon to, you know, as long as that's in your mind, then you'll be totally fine with the experience.

[A]

Final question.

[E]

Sorry, I was just bringing up the Metacritics for all of the games because Andy, you mentioned like an 84, 85.

[C]

94 for Prime Remastered. Yeah. 91 for the trilogy, Prime 3, Corruption with a 90. Damn. All these games are bangers, huh? Yeah, I didn't really know that. I thought that they like would have fallen off by. But I think I'm mixing that up with another franchise.

[D]

I think it's the thing where Metroid Prime 1 is so revered that like Metroid Prime 2 and 3 as I, I mean when I look at the metcritic are great games, but still the best one from what I understand is still one.

[A]

I mean look, it's a 97.

[D]

97 is saying.

[A]

And then yeah, it is a 97. And I do think 91. 90. Like yeah, I buy that Metro Prime 3 at a 90 might be a little high for my taste, but just a little. I'd say maybe like 88.

[C]

I, I think that if Metroid Prime 1 never got remastered and we look at those scores, I think whatever prime four beyond coming out gets rated at. I think we've just had a lot of other experiences recently that may lower what the score is. I think just a lot of really masterful games have come out that don't even get nines. You know what I mean? Like I, I think just generally the modern audience will give this a mid-80s score.

[D]

Yeah, I think my prediction for Tim is that you still end up recommending Metroid Prime 1 over Metroid Prime 4. In a similar way where I think if somebody came to you and they're like, I've not played any 2D Mario game, which one would I should I play? You'd recommend Mario 3 or Mario World over Mario Wonder, you know what I mean? Like, I think Metroid Prime I think is just so classic. It's so like Part of gaming. I don't know if zeitgeist is the word, but, like, it's part of gaming history in a way that I think is just impossible to live up to.

[A]

Yeah. Although you saying that, though, I. I think it is different with Wonder. Even though I'm not the biggest Wonder fan in the world, I probably would say Wonder is fine. Whereas, like, I'm. I think Prime 4 from what I'm seeing. Because, like Metro, Mario World, Mario 3, obviously they're classic games and I. I feel like I can make an argument of like, you should play them because X, Y and Z. From like a classic history perspective. That's not the case with Metroid Prime 1. Metro Prime 1 is like Metroid Prime 4 is just trying to do more Metroid Prime 1. And I think that Metroid Prime 1 is. It stands the test of time. And we're proving that with two of us here at this desk having played it now and still thinking it's a masterpiece. Right. Whereas, I mean, that is true for Mario World in three, but I think it's a little different, honestly.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Now, is Greg going to cement himself as the biggest Metroid fan and kind of funny?

[B]

I can't do that. I mean, you need to understand, that's the thing. As inarguably the biggest Switch 2 fan at kind of funny.

[A]

Such a piece of.

[B]

I'm about to have such a fucking winter. You know what I mean? Sure. Metroid prime, sure. But then what? The next weekend we got Pokemon. Next week, Pokemon dlc. I'm gonna get to sink my teeth into that as the Pokemon fan. I get just a little bit beyond that. New Year, New me, new animal Crossing content back in there, you know what I mean?

[C]

New horizons for you.

[B]

That's what they say.

[A]

And crazy times. Everyone let us know in the comments below if you're excited for Metroid Prime 4. Beyond. If you heard anything that. And he said that you liked anything you didn't and what your thoughts are on Miles McKenzie, Billy Mack, Billy Mac, maybe. We're gonna be right back with kind of funny Game Showdown. After that, a stream of Call of duty black ops 7. Till next time. Love y'.

[B]

All.

[A]

Goodbye,

[F]

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