Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

I don't remember the last time I had to push myself this hard to finish a video game, especially one that I had initially been so excited to finally play. But between the constant handholding, the rigid linearity, and one relentlessly chatty NPC, Metroid Prime 4 just never quite felt like a Metroid game to me.

Metroid has always been at its strongest when it completely abandons the player, allowing isolation, dread, and uncertainty to do what they do best. Credit where it's due, the world design in Metroid Prime 4 is still pretty incredible, but the near-constant interruptions make it almost impossible to truly get lost in it.

Metroid Prime 4 feels like a Metroid game that's afraid to leave the player alone. A game where design decisions meant to make the franchise more accessible end up suffocating the very qualities that once made it so great. In the end, the resulting game is more Metroidexplania than Metroidvania.