Ever since Metroid Dread’s announcement and release last year, the Metroid franchise has once again entered the spotlight, which lead to interest in past entries to the series. With Metroid Dread’s release having come and gone (and netting the Best Action/Adventure Game award from The Game Awards), rumours have circulated regarding the Metroid Prime series and an anticipated remake.
In a video by leaker NateTheHate, he talks about several potential announcements for this year. Regarding Nintendo, these include HD Remaster of Metroid Prime, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, a new Fire Emblem game, and a new DK games. NateTheHate does not have a perfect track record, but it is still pretty good.
Keep in mind that these are all speculations, and so should not be treated with certainty.
Fans of the Metroid series will notice that it is not the Metroid Prime Trilogy that will be getting an HD remaster for the Nintendo Switch, which is odd, considering that a remastered trilogy would be perfect to build anticipation for the next entry, Metroid Prime 4. It would also help players get a refresher or caught up in the Prime story.
However, there’s also talk about Metroid Prime not just being a remaster, but a full remake, akin to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake or the traditional Pokémon remakes.
If a true remake is in the works, it could be a way to give players a taste of what the Metroid Prime 4 experience will be like. This would not only include updated graphics, but also revamped gameplay that would give players a completely new experience while still preserving the setting and story of the original.
A few months ago, Bryan Walker, director of development and producer at Retro Studios, revealed that Metroid Prime 3 was originally planned to have open world elements, but was scaled down due to the Wii’s technical limitations.
If Metroid Prime 4 is to implement these original ideas of a less linear, more open world experience, it would be interesting to see it first implemented in a Metroid Prime remaster as a way to test the direction and gather feedback.
However, once again, keep in mind that these are all speculations and rumours, and many of them are conflicting, such as original rumours or leaks that a Prime Trilogy was one the way. We’ll have to wait and see what Nintendo has in store for us this year for Metroid, if any at all.