the Prime 4 discourse is fucking exhausting and I fucking hate it
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?
Snort_Owl [they/them] - 1w
My life got so much better when i stopped looking at any and all gamer discourse. I dont even read reviews anymore I buy games based on the box art like god intended
16
🏴حمید پیام عباسی🏴 - 1w
Something I learned as a 40 something who is privileged enough to still have time to enjoy video games on occasion is that the people who enjoy playing video games play them then move on. Gaming discourse has a selection bias towards people who don't like games and have enough time to spend on line raging.
15
KnilAdlez [none/use name] - 1w
I think vinesauce put it best when he said it feels wrong to have someone talk in a contemporary manner in a sci-fi game. Especially a game series known for its isolated atmosphere. But, and I'm not too far in the game, there are still some incredible atmospheric moments. I wish Myles wasn't in the game but I'm not going to let him ruin it for me.
15
razgriz [none/use name] - 1w
it feels wrong to have someone talk in a contemporary manner in a sci-fi game.
New Star Trek 🇺🇸
10
KurtVonnegut [comrade/them] - 1w
"Ahead Warp six-seven Mr. Sulu."
"Ayo, pause captain Kirk, are you cappin'?"
"No cap on a stack Mr. Sulu, I'm cheesing for some alien huzz."
5
lil_tank [any, he/him] - 1w
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
14
Frogmanfromlake [none/use name] - 1w
They put Marvel writing in Metroid? Good god
6
Demifriend [she/her] - 1w
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).
9
vegeta1 [he/him] - 1w
I imagine these toxic people treat gaming like their dating or relationship lives where I imagine they persist and persist until one gets tired, worn down and humors them out of pity or to get rid of them. Neither is fulfilling
6
Obama's Perfidy - 1w
Well, I haven't played the game. I actually did just after reading your post look up this Miles NPC, which people are calling Reddit, as my first foray into the game after having the original series be quite a childhood memory for me. So I apologize if that biases me a bit, versus your gamergate centric aggravations. In Prime 3, you did have a couple nods towards a wider universe of hunters. Other exceptional individuals (you could call them future petit boug hah hah) like Samus, who of course has a very unique backstory as a human enhanced by the Chozo and whatnot, I'm not a lore fiend. The last time we saw somebody act like Miles, I believe it was the Sub Zero type guy, Rundas, of I'm not really sure what type of alien he is. He just sort of goes, wow, when he sees you, and then the next time he gets possessed by evil ghost version of you empowered by phazon, you know the deal. The shapeshifter lady does the same thing, and even when I was like 5 years old I was going what the hell, that's it? You don't even need to have actual words exchanged between you and the hunters because you can use them to provide surprise environmental changes by blowing something up or destroying an obstacle you thought was impassable. They didn't even really do that though. There's only like four or five moments where you even remember they exist. Now there are myriad development reasons why whatever concept version of the hunters' storylines never came to fruition, but it's been many years since then. We've had plenty of time for people to literally grow up thinking about this universe and come up with lots of ideas. What has Nintendo done with that? It's Cape shit. People were pretty pissed off at other M because the narrative elements were placed directly between them and the gameplay logic saying you can't use this item you already acquired yet because daddy won't allow you to.
6
KurtVonnegut [comrade/them] - 1w
Other exceptional individuals (you could call them future petit boug hah hah) like Samus
So, is Samus a proletarian because she gets paid in "piecewise" wages by the Galactic Federation? Or is Samus petite bourgeoisie because she owns her own small (bounty hunting) business, owns her ship, and owns her power armor, etc.? I guess she's part of the labor aristocracy, being a high-priced contractor, or even worse, part of the military-industrial complex...
3
queermunist she/her - 1w
when you realize Samus is a PMC
😮💨
4
KurtVonnegut [comrade/them] - 1w
She truly is the Graham Platner of video game characters.
4
razgriz [none/use name] - 1w
Nintendo can't find the sliding scale between fash Samus gleefully participating in ultraviolence in Metroid Dread and Samus having having to ask her father for permission to wear the Varia suit after being melted half to death in a lava filled cave
6
TheBroodian [none/use name] - 1w
Sorry I'm going to be the annoying Internet pedant. It's fine to dislike Dread if it's not your cup of tea, but doing ultraviolence doesn't make Samus a fascist. There's no society or people who she's subjugating
10
buckykat [none/use name] - 1w
I hated Dread for the right reasons. It doubled down on everything I didn't like about Samus Returns: melee counters, QTEs, linearity, and limited backtracking.
5
comrade_pibb [comrade/them] - 1w
The game feel was really good in dread but the level design was ass
4
buckykat [none/use name] - 1w
"Let's take those annoying little bat things that you have to QTE parry or take damage, but instead of a little chunk of health, let's make it an instant death!"
The point where I gave up on Dread completely was when I got insta-gibbed by one of the identical insta-gib bosses, then respawned not back in the last save room I used, but at an autosave point a few rooms back. It felt like the game admitting that its own mechanics were so bad they couldn't work with normal Metroid saves.
4
TheBroodian [none/use name] - 1w
In a general sense, I think Nintendo has forgotten what made their classics good
3
razgriz [none/use name] - 1w
I liked Metroid Dread I just thought it was funny when she went Warhammer 40K on the rogue Chozo leader's QTEs
2
LuigiMaoFrance @lemmy.ml - 1w
Harassing devs obviously crosses a line, and I also often find myself annoyed by chuds crying woke and DEI at anything they dislike about media.
That being said, western devs should be legally prohibited from touching japanese IPs.
tips fedora
5
ClassIsOver [he/him] - 1w
A lot of my favorite games get hosed by the internet because it's easier to latch onto a sentence fragment than it is to explain why you like something. Disco Elysium has "too many communist leanings". Death Stranding is a "walking simulator". Dorfromantic is "just plain boring". Civ 6 "broke too many things that were good about Civ 5". I don't care. I enjoyed the shit out of them.
NoahFuel in games
the Prime 4 discourse is fucking exhausting and I fucking hate it
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?
My life got so much better when i stopped looking at any and all gamer discourse. I dont even read reviews anymore I buy games based on the box art like god intended
Something I learned as a 40 something who is privileged enough to still have time to enjoy video games on occasion is that the people who enjoy playing video games play them then move on. Gaming discourse has a selection bias towards people who don't like games and have enough time to spend on line raging.
I think vinesauce put it best when he said it feels wrong to have someone talk in a contemporary manner in a sci-fi game. Especially a game series known for its isolated atmosphere. But, and I'm not too far in the game, there are still some incredible atmospheric moments. I wish Myles wasn't in the game but I'm not going to let him ruin it for me.
New Star Trek 🇺🇸
"Ahead Warp six-seven Mr. Sulu."
"Ayo, pause captain Kirk, are you cappin'?"
"No cap on a stack Mr. Sulu, I'm cheesing for some alien huzz."
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).
I imagine these toxic people treat gaming like their dating or relationship lives where I imagine they persist and persist until one gets tired, worn down and humors them out of pity or to get rid of them. Neither is fulfilling
Well, I haven't played the game. I actually did just after reading your post look up this Miles NPC, which people are calling Reddit, as my first foray into the game after having the original series be quite a childhood memory for me. So I apologize if that biases me a bit, versus your gamergate centric aggravations. In Prime 3, you did have a couple nods towards a wider universe of hunters. Other exceptional individuals (you could call them future petit boug hah hah) like Samus, who of course has a very unique backstory as a human enhanced by the Chozo and whatnot, I'm not a lore fiend. The last time we saw somebody act like Miles, I believe it was the Sub Zero type guy, Rundas, of I'm not really sure what type of alien he is. He just sort of goes, wow, when he sees you, and then the next time he gets possessed by evil ghost version of you empowered by phazon, you know the deal. The shapeshifter lady does the same thing, and even when I was like 5 years old I was going what the hell, that's it? You don't even need to have actual words exchanged between you and the hunters because you can use them to provide surprise environmental changes by blowing something up or destroying an obstacle you thought was impassable. They didn't even really do that though. There's only like four or five moments where you even remember they exist. Now there are myriad development reasons why whatever concept version of the hunters' storylines never came to fruition, but it's been many years since then. We've had plenty of time for people to literally grow up thinking about this universe and come up with lots of ideas. What has Nintendo done with that? It's Cape shit. People were pretty pissed off at other M because the narrative elements were placed directly between them and the gameplay logic saying you can't use this item you already acquired yet because daddy won't allow you to.
So, is Samus a proletarian because she gets paid in "piecewise" wages by the Galactic Federation? Or is Samus petite bourgeoisie because she owns her own small (bounty hunting) business, owns her ship, and owns her power armor, etc.? I guess she's part of the labor aristocracy, being a high-priced contractor, or even worse, part of the military-industrial complex...
😮💨
She truly is the Graham Platner of video game characters.
Nintendo can't find the sliding scale between fash Samus gleefully participating in ultraviolence in Metroid Dread and Samus having having to ask her father for permission to wear the Varia suit after being melted half to death in a lava filled cave
Sorry I'm going to be the annoying Internet pedant. It's fine to dislike Dread if it's not your cup of tea, but doing ultraviolence doesn't make Samus a fascist. There's no society or people who she's subjugating
I hated Dread for the right reasons. It doubled down on everything I didn't like about Samus Returns: melee counters, QTEs, linearity, and limited backtracking.
The game feel was really good in dread but the level design was ass
"Let's take those annoying little bat things that you have to QTE parry or take damage, but instead of a little chunk of health, let's make it an instant death!"
The point where I gave up on Dread completely was when I got insta-gibbed by one of the identical insta-gib bosses, then respawned not back in the last save room I used, but at an autosave point a few rooms back. It felt like the game admitting that its own mechanics were so bad they couldn't work with normal Metroid saves.
In a general sense, I think Nintendo has forgotten what made their classics good
I liked Metroid Dread I just thought it was funny when she went Warhammer 40K on the rogue Chozo leader's QTEs
Harassing devs obviously crosses a line, and I also often find myself annoyed by chuds crying woke and DEI at anything they dislike about media.
That being said, western devs should be legally prohibited from touching japanese IPs.
tips fedora
A lot of my favorite games get hosed by the internet because it's easier to latch onto a sentence fragment than it is to explain why you like something. Disco Elysium has "too many communist leanings". Death Stranding is a "walking simulator". Dorfromantic is "just plain boring". Civ 6 "broke too many things that were good about Civ 5". I don't care. I enjoyed the shit out of them.