Annoying companions will make or break Metroid Prime 4

It's been nearly two decades since the last Metroid Prime. The third game in the series, Corruption, arrived as a Nintendo Wii exclusive back in 2007, and aside from the occasional trilogy of re-releases or remasters, the first-person version of Samus Aran has been quiet ever since.

Despite this absence, hardcore fans remain incredibly precious about how the games in this series should look, play and feel. When Metroid Prime Remastered launched back in 2023, there was concern that the visuals might be too heavily altered or that the mechanics might be simplified for modern audiences. All these worries were in vain, but this time we might not be so lucky. It seems that the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will take cues from modern blockbuster design that not everyone will like. It doesn't know when to shut up.

Why are Metroid Prime 4's companions so annoying?

TheGamer – along with many other outlets – published an extensive hands-on preview of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond last week. For the most part, impressions seem positive, with praise for the visuals, initial atmosphere, and how Retro Studios keeps the usual gameplay formula intact while infusing it with larger environments and psychic powers.

While the gameplay hasn't changed much, it's been so long since I played something like Metroid Prime 4 that it somehow feels fresh again.

Given that the series has been gone for so long, fans are likely curious to see a return to form, rather than some sort of radical reinvention. The gap and massive popularity of the Switch era also gives Nintendo an opportunity to introduce Samus Aran to a whole new generation of gamers. The less narrative baggage, the better, while we want the game to feel much like it did on the Wii (or as most of us remember it, on the GameCube).

I played a little part of the opening to myself, and that was the vibe I got right away. Except there's definitely more talking, with the story seeming to feature a number of NPCs with their own individual arcs alongside Samus herself. This can complicate things if the execution isn't quite perfect, and the NPC that the hands-on previews spent all their time with was far from perfect.

The latest trailer had two instances where a soldier talks about how much he has to get back to his family. We understand, my husband…

One of the sections experienced in this latest preview featured a character named Miles Mackenzie, an overly chatty dork who doesn't know when to stop ranting. It's a bizarre shift in tone for a series that has always been about exploring environments defined more by their sense of intergalactic melancholy rather than people constantly chatting.

Miles Mackenzie hanging from a vine in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Mackenzie is always asking Samus to check her map, to save her game or point out obvious things going on around the player that we can figure out ourselves. His presence feels like a betrayal of the series' core identity, all in the pursuit of dumbing down its moment-to-moment gameplay, or at least making it more accessible to new players.

The latest trailers confirm that Mackenzie will not be the only character that Samus meets during the story, so there is a good chance that some of them will join us as well. I respect the need for additional speaking roles in a larger story like this, especially if you don't want everything to be told from the perspective of a heroine who famously doesn't speak, but it has to be in keeping with the tone already established.

Otherwise, it feels like an annoying MCU supporting character has suddenly found their way into a brooding space adventure where there's no place for them. I remain hopeful that we judge this book by its cover, and there is more to both this character and the larger plot than meets the eye.

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On the other hand, it's important to remember that it's been nearly two decades since the last Metroid Prime title, so Retro Studios and Nintendo likely have ambitions about how to evolve its gameplay and story in ways that can't be analyzed from a single preview.

We're missing the broader context of Mackenzie's role in the story, along with what other supporting players like this will look and sound like. Maybe they're just sticking around to show us the ropes for a couple of hours or so before leaving Samus to fend for herself, whisked off to deal with big, crucial objectives through an elaborate cutscene.

That's certainly how I'd approach it, because I know a lot of people return to Metroid Prime 4 for rewarding yet contemplative exploration where sinking into the unmatched vibes is part of what makes those games so special.

Without that, and with an abundance of dialogue or characters that betray those atmospheric intentions, you're left with something that seems destined to disappoint you. But would I rather see a proven return to form that's afraid to take risks for fear of upsetting hardcore, or something that strikes a balance between old and new even if it makes a few mistakes along the way? Sign me up for the other one.