Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review — a comeback that plays it safe, beautifully
Retro Studios returns with the series' best-looking entry and its most conventional structure.
Tessa BrindleReviews · Updated October 3, 2026 · 2 min read
Porch summary
- Retro Studios returns with the series’ best-looking entry and its most conventional structure.
- Played to completion on Switch 2 with a review code provided by the publisher.
- Verdict: 8/10 — Gorgeous, confident, familiar.
- Scores on Arcade Porch are set by the critic and checked by the editor; the publisher never sees them early.
There is a moment a few hours into Metroid Prime 4 when you realise the game is not going to hold your hand. That is the Arcade Porch pitch for this review in one sentence: Metroid Prime 4 trusts you, and it is right to.
Retro Studios returns with the series’ best-looking entry and its most conventional structure. What follows is the longer version — how it plays, where it stumbles and who it is for — written after a full playthrough plus the post-credits content that most people will never see.
How it plays
The moment-to-moment loop is the thing to get right in this genre, and it is right here. Inputs are read instantly, the camera stays out of the way and the game teaches by consequence rather than by tutorial text. Our play-tests found that aggressive players were rewarded far more consistently than cautious ones, which is a deliberate and very welcome design choice.
The world
Where the previous entry was a tomb, this one is a kingdom still clinging to life. Towns have shopkeepers with their own stories, side quests give you a reason to revisit areas that would otherwise be exhausted, and the map is denser than it first appears. We counted at least a dozen distinct regions on our save — with at least two we are fairly sure we have not found.
“Gorgeous, confident, familiar.” — the Arcade Porch desk, after the credits rolled.
Difficulty, and how it is handled
It is hard. It is also honest about it. Checkpoints are placed with care, the loadout system lets you change your approach without grinding, and the game’s cruelest arena has a tool sold right outside it for anyone paying attention. Our full guide on Arcade Porch covers the builds we recommend for each act.
Should you play it?
If you liked its predecessor: yes, immediately. If you bounced off the slow opening last time: also yes — Metroid Prime 4 is faster to its first great moment by a wide margin. If you simply want to know whether the Arcade Porch desk thinks the wait was worth it, the score below is our answer.
Arcade Porch verdict
Gorgeous, confident, familiar.
- The best-looking game on Switch 2
- Scanning is finally fast
- Mouse-mode aiming is a revelation
- Structure is Prime 1 with a new coat of paint
