Nintendo explains approach to Metroid Prime 4’s difficulty

Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, has commented on Nintendo’s approach to the game’s difficulty.

In an interview with Nintendo Dream, the Japanese magazine pointed out how this entry feels like more thought was put into the “ease of play”. Tanabe was asked if there was anything that was kept in mind with regard to the overall difficulty, to which he pointed out how the team wanted to appeal to both longtime fan and potential newcomers. That, along with achieving certain goals during development, meant toning down the backtracking a bit in terms of complexity. 

We’ve translated Tanabe’s full words are as follows:

“This game could be someone’s first Metroid Prime, but we thought there would also be people making their long-awaited return to the world of Metroid Prime. We wanted to construct something that all people could enjoy, so while we pushed the Metroid Prime adventure forward, we included mechanics from previous Prime games in ways that would draw in new players. Also, we had goals for the game’s story and characters, and that became the motivation for some decisions. For example, in most of the game’s zones, the first path is linear, and that was effective for telling the story of the Federation Troopers of the zone. We wanted to spur on players’ motivation with familiar storytelling methods. There is backtracking and exploration even on first visits to areas, but not as complex as it was in the first Metroid Prime. If players return to these zones during the second half of the game (especially when possessing new abilities), they can have new experiences and make small discoveries. This would be rewarding to players who are curious, want freedom in exploration, or the type of player who wonders what a zone would look like after the main plot has played out.

And of course, we made sure that facing off against enemies and bosses was engaging regardless of skill level. We repeatedly made adjustments and improvements so that the relief and sense of accomplishment from overcoming a difficult section could be felt.”

In other news, Tanabe seemed to reveal that he’s all but retiring from Nintendo as Metroid Prime 4 is his last game – though it could be the start of a Sylux saga. Read more about that here.

Translation provided by SatsumaFS and Simon Griffin on behalf of Nintendo Everything.