Games That Will Definitely Be Overhyped in 2019
Metroid Prime 4
Metroid Prime 4’s announcement was very un-Nintendo. Since when does the company ever tease upcoming games that are years away from release? It’s almost unheard of, but it certainly sent the entire gaming industry into a fever pitch of excitement. That’s the brand power we’re dealing with here.
Of course, the timeliness of Metroid Prime 4’s reveal did wonders for Nintendo’s reputation as a company. It helped cement in our minds that the Switch represented a different era for the Big N, one where they were prepared to take new risks and portray a different image and were serious about delivering the games fans desperately wanted to see.
Maybe that was the point? And yet I can’t help but feel this has put a big weight on the shoulders of Metroid Prime 4 that hasn’t done its chances of living up to its billing any favors.
Two or three years is a long time for fans to cement in their minds what they think a Metroid game should and shouldn’t represent.
Metroid is a franchise that’s always expected to deliver in a big way — to match the quality of a mainline trilogy that has consistently recorded near-perfect review scores across the board. It’s hallowed turf. Sacred ground.
Naturally, Metroid Prime 4 is going to be closely scrutinized in comparison to its predecessors. There’s going to be an expectation from some that it stays true to the franchise and follows the blueprint of the original trilogy.
Others will want it to do something completely different. And they’ll be newcomers that don’t really appreciate Metroid Prime as a shooting experience next to the genre-leading franchises that have imposed themselves in the decade since the last game in the series.
This is a game that definitely has the cards stacked against it, and there’s inevitably going to be parties from every angle that won’t feel as though it’s the game they’d hoped for.
