Thoughts on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

I think I enjoyed this game. It was one that I was looking forward to. Both because of my affection for the series of Metroid games, but also because this game had a curious time in development. What were they going to do different from the previous games? What would it feel like to step back into this first-person world after nearly two decades?

I could tell a lot of heart and artistry went into the game. I could also tell a lot of corners were cut and things were not fully fleshed out. I enjoyed my time exploring the world of Viewros – and the story – and I can’t wait to see what they do next. I’m hoping that they can expand upon what they’ve learned here and we won’t have an 18 year gap and an 8 year development turnaround. Here’s a few of my collected thoughts as I played through the game and afterwards upon reflection.

  • Why green crystals? It wasn’t clear what they were for or how many I needed. Suddenly, at the end, I need a bunch? Tell me these are important so I can be mindful as I go along.
  • The desert area needed more landmarks, maybe twice as many. I also would’ve loved to see more enemy variety when out riding around.
  • How was I suppose to know to go back to Flare Pool for the last robot part? It want highlighted on the map like every other thing!
  • Tokabi out in the desert was weird. Felt very “Native American wiseman”. He also showed up randomly. The map would say I have an undiscovered item where he was, but he wasn’t there to receive it on that loading of the desert. So confusing.
  • Also getting a missile expansion from him was kind of weird. I think it’s the first time in a Metroid game that a living creature just gave me a power up. How does he hold it? :p
  • Can’t turn off Myles’ hints. 😐
  • Got the robot friend very late in the narrative. I found him, then went to home base once, then to the mines. Very short time to get to know him. He was great!
  • A robot driving a robot is a lovely trope.
  • More of them talking and fleshing out their story would have been nice. Give me a personal mission for each person or something.
  • Nobody commented on my new Legacy suit! What!?
  • The hotrod suit was cooler than the silver Legacy suit.
  • The final boss not being a Metroid hybrid – or in any way Metroid-related – was a letdown. Why does Sylus have these powers? Who gave them to him? Is it the Lumon saw Samus as the chosen one or can anyone grab the power?
  • Every boss has the same “jump over this expanding ring/wave” move. Really felt overused.

Addendum

In reflecting on this post, I went through my collection (thanks to DekuDeals.com for this feature) and was able to create a list of the games I finished in 2025.

  • 1000xRESIST
  • Ridge Racer 2 (PSP version on PS5)
  • BLADECHIMERA
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive
  • FANTASY LIFE I: The Girl Who Steals Time
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour (It counts!)
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Caravan SandWitch
  • Sword of the Sea
  • Absolum
  • BALL x PIT
  • Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut
  • Yakuza Kiwami
  • Thank Goodness You’re Here!
  • Fire Emblem Engage (Started in 2023 and finally wrapped it up!)

I played numerous others here and there, but either I have not finished them1 or they do not have an “end”; such as Fortnite, Forza Horizon 5, WARRIORS: Abyss, UFO 50, Genshin Impact, and other games where getting 100% is not the reason I’m playing them. 🙂

The future of knowledge is yours to protect. #Wikipedia25

I am really proud of this video my colleagues made to celebrate the 25th birthday of #Wikipedia. It’s a really stressful time in the free knowledge world and this celebration is a much needed reminder that there are amazing people behind all this and it’s stunning what they have accomplished over the last quarter century. Here’s to another 25 and beyond!

Fun behind-the-scenes fact. All media in the video is under a free license. As such, we have to provide attribution. For all 650+ assets. Here it is as one honking table. 🤯

Wikimedia Commons Vanity Stats

I made a thing. It allows you to see how many media requests your files have received on Wikimedia Commons. It’s a vanity project and the numbers don’t mean much without more context. 🙂

It’s a small python script that allows you to provide a username, date range, and a number of files to check. It then uses the MedaiWiki and mediarequests APIs to create a .csv file of how many media requests those files have received. I did this for my own ego, so a literal vanity project!

If this sounds interesting, I’d appreciate any constructive feedback. Not sure I’ll work on it more than I have, but thought I’d share.

https://github.com/ckoerner/Wikimedia-Commons-Vanity-Stats