There will always be a debate with gamers and developers/publishers about “how much a video game should be changed with each new entry.” After all, if you don’t change enough, things become stagnant. If you change too much, though, you risk losing the game’s identity. Metroid Prime 4 Beyond had a LONG development period, and yet, as my review of the game noted, in my opinion, it turned out great, and is a must-have for the Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. However, while the team at Retro Studios did insert an open-world-style area via Sol Valley, the game itself was still very “Metroidvania” in setup.
In a chat with Famitsu, which was translated by Nintendo Everything, someone who worked on the game noted that they did hear player requests for a truly open-world entry in the franchise, but that didn’t happen because that would mess with the formula that the franchise was built on:
For me, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond did indeed have a good balance of excitement, tension, action, and traversal, and going fully open-world might not work for Samus as well as some might think. If a next entry is made, we’ll have to...
