Metroid Prime 4 Wishlist: Remastered
I decided to look back at this old list again, and while I more-or-less stand by what I said at the time, I still wanted to get a bit more in-depth with some of it, as well as discuss new thoughts I hadn't had at the time. So in the spirit of Prime's recentish remaster and Echoes' hopefully upcoming rerelease, here's a new and improved wishlist of things I would like to see in Prime 4. I'm certainly not expecting all of this, and I won't even be too disappointed if most of it doesn't come true. But still, here's what I'm personally hoping for, at least.
World Design & Exploration
1. One Interconnected World: While I respect Corruption's efforts to broaden the scope with multiple planets, and it did fit that particular story well, I still would rather sticking with one planet and getting to know it more intimately, like in Prime and Echoes. A possible compromise of approaches could be to have a main planet with multiple regions and then some orbiting moons with their own isolated biomes that wouldn't fit with the rest, but either way I want a smaller scope and a bigger, more complex map.
2. Naturalistic Layout, Smooth Progression: Prime's world layout was interesting and unpredictable, but the pacing and smoothness of progression was marred by Magmoor and the frequent ping-ponging through it. Meanwhile, Echoes had a generally much more consistent progression, but achieved through a very straightforward and artificial world layout. I feel like a nice sweet spot between would be ideal, capitalizing on the advantages of both approaches while mitigating the downsides.
3. Splitting/Parallel Progression Paths: One of the things Hollow Knight did very well was in balancing the metroidvania upgrade loop against the freedom to explore. (To a certain extent Super Metroid had this as well, but not to the same degree.) Meanwhile the first three Prime games, much as I love them, suffer in replayability due to having a very defined and fairly railroaded progression path obscured by the backtracking.
I would like Prime 4 to try loosening that path and allow for upgrades to be obtained and bosses to be fought in different orders, (at the very minimum, intentionally allowed sequence breaking like in Super and Dread, without relying on stuff like the Scandash glitch) while maintaining enough structure for the progression to follow the intended story. Again, Hollow Knight is a strong example to look to.
4: Gunship As Fast-Travel: While I again favor a single-planet approach to exploration, I still think Corruption's heavier use of the gunship should be carried forward, and one of the ways that could happen would also address the problems in backtracking that Prime had. Having the ability to discover and clear access to other landing pads on-foot that the gunship could then be called to and travel between would be immensely useful. It could make late-game cleanup easier, reduce padding, and keep the ship relevant, rather than gathering dust in the far corner.
Ideally these pads would still be fairly spaced out, I think one per major region would fit the bill, but it would still be a nice way of reducing frustration in the lategame without completely trivializing exploration beforehand. (Just don't play the arrival fanfare Every Single Time she steps out of it, please)
5: Diverse Area/Room Layouts: One of Echoes' strengths, I feel, is in how the individual regions were constructed to each have their own distinct feeling. Prime's areas were either fairly gridlike (Ruins, Phendrana) with some occasional unconventional parts, or long hallways; (Magmoor, Mines) (yes the mines were a hallway it was just curled up) while Corruption's were all mostly just hallways, aside from the Pirate Homeworld; but with Echoes every region had their own style.
The Temple grounds were a big ring, with some branches and the Federation tunnels off to the side and the temple in the center, while Sanctuary Fortress was a pair of T-intersection halls stacked atop each other. Agon Wastes was a huge spread-out grid of big arenas connected by narrow corridors, while Torvus Bog was a tight, heavily interconnected web that had you going in dizzying spirals until more shortcuts were unlocked. Every one stood out not just in aesthetic, but in how it felt to actually traverse them, and I hope Prime 4 maintains that sort of variety.
6. More Verticality: While elevators afford some semblance of topography, and Prime's Phazon Mines and Echoes' Sanctuary Fortress in particular had some of this proper going on, I would love to see Retro take full advantage of the third dimension. From individual rooms, to broad areas, to the world as a whole, I want to see something more layered and topographically interesting, adding literally a new dimension to exploring throughout.
7. Mazelike Complexity, Grounded By Strong Landmarks: One of the things Samus Returns and Dread did that admittedly many don't like, but that I kinda do, is taking advantage of newer hardware to create a bigger, more complex map overall than prior 2D games, making for a more dense and mazey feeling. I personally would like to see Prime 4 do something similar, making each area bigger and with more rooms each, for a more complex layout on the whole with more to explore and discover.
However, where I do agree that this approach somewhat hampered SR and Dread was the aesthetic being overly-consistent (particularly in EMMI zones) and aside from a few specific rooms, not much in the way of memorable landmarks to use in navigation. While it had a more detailed map (and more railroading by blocking off prior areas) to lean on to mitigate this, it still makes navigation confusing rather than fun.
I feel like Prime 4 has an opportunity to rectify that with both more distinct individual rooms, and use of big landmarks (or even parts of other visitable areas) visible from multiple different rooms, (such as the shielded seed on Bryyo in Corruption) to keep navigation intuitive despite the greater complexity of the layout.
Upgrades & Features
1. Extremely Customizable Map Screen: Dread was a step in the right direction with the ability to place personal markers wherever, (which I definitely want to see here too,) but some have also said the level of detail in it can either be too easy or too overwhelming. I would like the ability to control the level of detail of what the map shows, whether it's Dread's positive deluge of information, the Prime trilogy's more straightforward marking of door types and simplified room layouts, Super's simple boxes, or even no map at all like in the original Metroid. Similarly, a feature like Corruption's Skytown Observatory, to mark uncollected upgrades in the map once you've progressed to a certain point in the game, but also still very optional.
Similarly, I would want map stations to be clearly delineated, (as I once attempted a playthrough of Prime with only the map showing places I had already been, only to mistake a map room for a missile refill and ruin it for myself,) and for the hint system to be able to be turned off like in Prime and Echoes, rather than mandatory like in Fusion, Zero Mission, and Corruption. In general, let people decide how much assistance they do or don't want in their exploration.
2. Retain Beam Swapping: While I know many people will likely disagree with me on this one, I personally favor the Prime/Echoes approach of swapping between distinct beams, rather than the flat stacking of effects like in Corruption and the 2D games.
While combat is honestly a secondary concern to me, I still feel like needing to change back and forth based on different enemies and contexts gave it a more engaging feeling compared to simply growing more straightforwardly powerful in Corruption. (Ironic given that one was the most combat-oriented of the three.) I will agree that the color-coding in parts of Prime wasn't the most exciting way of doing it, but Echoes' light/dark system was implemented better/more subtly, and I trust Prime 4 could similarly keep it fresh and interesting.
Alternatively, a good compromise between the two could be done like I said in another post a while back; having both specific beam types (IE wave, ice, plasma, dark & light) that need to be swapped between, and other stacking upgrades (such as the long beam, spazer, diffusion, etc) that impact how it fires. This could be a good way to have our cake and eat it, having that feeling of growth and evolution while maintaining the slightly deeper context switching system as well.
2.5. No Beam Ammo: While I do honestly like that as a feature in Echoes and felt it fit well there and added to the experience, I also feel like it is probably best kept there for now, unless Prime 4 somehow winds up involving the Luminoth again.
3. Keep Scanning Big, Freshen Up Other Visors: This is a more straightforward one. Again, I love the Scan Visor and I hope it remains a central feature of the game.
However, I'll also agree with those who have said that the trilogy thus far has kinda struggled with what to do with later visor upgrades. Prime's Thermal visor, while functional enough, still has few fans, and Echoes' Dark visor is a more limited and extremely contextual version of the X-Ray.
The Echo visor, meanwhile, I feel was an absolute win in terms of concept, but hamstrung by also being very limited in its actual utility. I realize there was only so much that could be done with it given an already-ambitious game running on the Gamecube's limited hardware, but given how pervasive sound actually is, I wish it had been given its full dues. Similarly, I think Corruption's Command visor was an interesting and smart addition, but also felt somewhat limited in the same way the Gunship as a whole was.
If either of those two make a comeback I hope they do more with them. If they introduce new visors, I hope those can also be unique and interesting additions; and given enough varied use-cases to be utilized throughout the game, rather than simply a handful of extremely specific moments.
4: More Original Upgrades And Suits: On that note, I hope Prime 4 maintains the trilogy's trend of adding new upgrades and even new upgrade branches (such as the visors and gunship), rather than simply falling back on the tried-and-true collection from Super. Especially nice in Echoes and Corruption were the new suits, and I particularly hope for Prime 4 to add some new interesting designs, off of the beaten Power/Varia/Gravity progression path.
5. Bring Back The Speed Booster: As hypocritical as this may be coming off of the last point, I hope to see an implementation of the speed booster and shinespark in 3D. Other M of all games managed to pull this off well, and I see no reason why Prime 4 couldn't do the same. Shinespark puzzles may have to be simpler than in the 2D games, admittedly, but I feel like it could still be utilized well enough to be worth that.
Furthermore, while some people insist this could only work in a third-person perspective, I personally disagree, and hope Retro will be daring enough to let the speed be felt from inside the helmet. (Though bear in mind my bias as a weirdo, who likes to play racing games from an inside-vehicle PoV when able.) Dread's Fast EMMI cutscene was a good tease of what this could be like.
6. Run Button & Parkour: Speed Booster or not, I feel like another way to alleviate the pacing complaints with the prior Prime games would just be allowing Samus to move a bit faster and be more agile, to make traversal and backtracking less of a slog, and bring it a bit more in-line with the 2D games. (Different planet gravities could be an easy way to justify the discrepancy.)
Similarly, this could take at least some cues from Mirror's Edge for how to make the first-person platforming a bit less clunky and more interesting. On the whole, I would want the generally more relaxed pacing of the Prime series to remain the primary vibe, but the option to move faster and take shortcuts when wanted would be nice to have.
7. Toggleable Upgrades: This is a minor one and probably what I'm least married to overall, but in the spirit of options, it would be fun to bring back the ability to toggle upgrades on and off like in Super and AM2R. They could even make use of it with certain rooms to traverse, or puzzles that require or at least are easier to do with certain ones being temporarily turned off.
Gameplay & Mechanics
1. Control Customization & Quality Of Life: This is a pretty broad and loaded topic to try to cover under a single point, but looking back on the prior trilogy and all of their respective strengths and flaws, it still felt like it warranted mention.
For the controls, Prime Remastered feels like a pretty strong indicator of what to expect, and I do like the ability to choose between the new control scheme and the Gamecube and Wii versions. (And hopefully they'll retain lock-on as a feature even with the gamecube limitations that necessitated it in the rearview, it's just a nice thing to have.) I also feel like they could be taken further, though, with button mapping, and (if possible, I know this is more of a hardware issue with the Switch) stronger and more consistent Gyro controls; given I played the trilogy on the Wii, that is most likely how I will be playing 4 as well, if all goes well.
As far as general quality of life features go, that's a bit harder to discuss in brevity and without foreknowledge of what issues might crop up in Prime 4, so this is mainly based off the precedent of the trilogy. I appreciate some decisions Corruption made in this area, (like the divots in spots where morph ball bomb-jumping will be required, something the Spider Guardian in Echoes could have benefitted from) while feeling others came off as too hand-holdy, so a tactful employment of that sort of thing could be very nice, while something more haphazard could really harm the game.
1.5: Avert Past Mistakes: In a similar fashion, there were certain recurring trends in the first couple that I feel Prime 4 would do well to learn from and avoid repeating. The Chozo Ghosts and Pirate Commandos as frustrating mini-boss-level enemies that reappear in certain rooms and lock you in with them were a consistent irritating time-waster that eventually frayed even my patience. The Cloaked Drone in the Phazon Mines being unscannable was irritating, and in general certain logbook scans and enemies only being obtainable within certain sections of the games were a consistent thorn in my side given my completionism. (And would be especially important to avoid if this winds up being as loose in sequencing as I would hope for.) This one is again more of a world layout issue already covered, but hopefully this can avoid the Magmoor problem. There are other examples escaping me right now, but hopefully this gets the point across.
2. Restrained Keyhunt (If Used): On that note, while I don't mind the endgame keyunts of the trilogy as much as some do, I still agree that they could be A Bit Much. (Particularly in Echoes.) It's possible that Prime 4 could simply choose not to do this at all, given the amount of criticism leveled at the concept, but I feel like it is a fun way to encourage cleanup and isn't inherently terrible. If they do decide to do this, I would hope it takes the best from the Prime and Corruption approaches.
With Prime, they were all out of the way and not mandatory to acquire until the end, but if you were keeping an eye out or knew where to look, the vast majority could be obtainable ahead of time, and there was a consistent spread of what upgrades would be needed for each, allowing one to basically drip-feed them pretty consistently across a playthrough. With Corruption, both the mere fact of only needing two-thirds of the total amount to progress to the finale, and the implementation of a dedicated penultimate area in which they could be used to unlock additional rooms and upgade-expansions, was a nice way of mitigating frustration while rewarding completionism. I feel like a combination of these two features would be a great way to redeem the concept.
3. Introduce New Unique Mechanics, Tactfully: Another thing I like about the latter two games is the way they branched out mechanically from Prime, even outside of the Upgrades. Even if I feel that was handled much better in Echoes with the Dark World, than in Corruption with Hypermode, I respect both attempts. I hope Prime 4 will have a similar unique, defining "Gimmick" to set it apart, but I also would want Retro to implement it with care and restraint, so it doesn't wind up throwing the whole experience off in a "damned if you do damned if you don't" way like with Hypermode. Similarly, more blatant gimmicks like all the motion-control busywork should be avoided.
4. Do More With The Gunship: I've already touched on this a couple times, but one of the mechanics from Corruption I hope sticks around is the Command Visor and making use of the gunship. I appreciate that they held back with it there so as to not be too obnoxious, but I also feel like with that proof-of-concept under their belt, there's room to expand on the whole idea and integrate it more, beyond its use in travel and infrequent bombing runs. Exactly what form that may take I'm not sure, but I am very certain that there is something.
Also, bringing back the dashboard trophies/decorations couldn't hurt! Add more customization than that, even?
5. Bounty Hunting Sidequests: I don't remember where I heard/saw this, but I remember learning that Corruption was planned to have the optional mechanic of a bounty board, where Samus could track down and capture specific targets and so actually fullfill on the whole Bounty Hunter title. It wound up having to be cut early on, and I think narratively it was a good call to leave out, given the urgency of the Phazon Crisis.
But now, assuming Prime 4 is more dialed-back again, (and takes place somewhere more populated, given the Sylux-vs-Federation stuff that's likely to feature) I feel like this would be an opportune time to try that again. (Plus mechanically, it could feed into the gunship customization idea on the last bullet point.)
While the general Metroidvania format of course does limit it slightly, I feel like a good way to handle it would be having bounties show up once you've got the right upgrade to access whatever area a target would be making base in. In the spirit of sidequests it would be purely optional and the targets would only show up in those rooms/handful of rooms if you've signed up for their bounty on the board, but it could be a good way to add some variety to the experience, flesh out Samus's more mundane missions, and even tell some interesting self-contained stories and do some worldbuilding.
6. In-Depth Multi-Room Puzzles: While we're on this track of Corruption-related bullet points, one really interesting thing it did was that bridge puzzle on Bryyo. Using the gunship's grapple beam to reassemble a Mogenar and move a power generator between a few different rooms, to access and bring together two halves of a bridge, and so create a shortcut between two previously-disconnected areas.
While the whole thing took place lategame enough that you didn't really get anything out of it other than another power core key to the GFS Valhalla, on its own it was still a really neat concept. Again, I would like to see Prime 4 try more of that sort of thing again, but able to be done earlier so it feels more useful.
7. Grandiose, Challenging Bosses: IE the Echoes approach. This one is pretty self-explanatory; while none of the trilogy have exactly struggled with giving their bosses epic scale, Prime's suffered from being too bullet-spongey and drawn-out, while many of Corruption's irritatingly forced you to use Hypermode to get anywhere. Echoes' bosses simply worked, being mechanically involved and requiring you to use the full arsenal of upgrades obtained to that point, while the built-in time-limit of the Dark World prevented them from being able to be as much of a slog as the ones in Prime. Even the Spider Guardian, while flawed and frustrating in execution, was a great concept. Prime 4 would definitely do well to take this approach.
Vibes
1. Compromise Of Aesthetic Consistency & Variety: Another case of wanting a mix of prior games' conflicting approaches, I like both Prime's vibrancy and variety, and Echoes' bleak consistency. While I do feel Echoes still managed to give the light world versions of each area enough distinctiveness to work more than people give it credit for, they all still shared a certain drabness, (while the Dark World aesthetic definitely overrode their counterparts) while Prime instead suffered from frequent whiplash transitioning between areas.
So a nice midpoint between the two, along with an injection of Corruption's sheer grandiose scale, I feel would serve Prime 4 well. Give it an overarching aesthetic and avoid Prime's level of whiplash, (except when done intentionally, so it hits all the harder when it comes) but let each region be distinct and memorable regardless.
2. New, Fresh Types Of Biomes: This is more in like, comparison to prior games than within itself.
The usual formula of enviroments has worked so far:
Caves: Crateria, Brinstar, Temple Grounds, all of SR-388, SRX, NOC, Artaria
Jungle: Brinstar again, Tallon Overworld, Torvus, Bryyo, TRO, Ghavoran
Desert/Ruins: Chozodia, Chozo Ruins, Temple Grounds again, Agon, PYR, kinda-sorta Ferenia
Lava: Norfair, Magmoor, Bryyo again, PYR again, Cataris
Glacier: Phendrana, Bryyo yet again, ARC, Artaria again
Underwater: Phendrana again, Sunken Frigate Orpheon, Torvus again, kinda-sorta Phaaze, Maridia, AQA, Burenia
Industrial: Tourian, Derelict Frigate Orpheon, Phendrana yet again, Phazon Mines, Temple Grounds yet again, Sanctuary Fortress, Norion, Pirate Homeworld, Wrecked Ship, Main Deck, Dairon, Hanubia
(Though in fairness a few stand out from the usual vibes to some degree or another; Impact Crater, Sanctuary Fortress, Norion, Pirate Homeworld, Phaaze, and Ferenia in particular, though it's worth noting that half of them instead have Phazon in common)
I feel like we could benefit from branching out a bit from that? If not whole new types of biomes entirely, then at least fresh variations on stuff. Beach episode when?
3. Populated Places & Federation Location: While this kinda goes up against the whole isolation vibes Metroid typically has, (though IMO Samus could and would still feel alone in a crowd) I think it would be interesting to actually get a look at what the Federation is like outside of the military stuff, (and again, this would enable the bounty hunting sidequest mechanic I mentioned,) and hopefully get to see more friendly races instead of just all humans like in Corruption.
So yeah, even if probably not a full-on city planet like Daiban in the ZM manga, it would be cool if Prime 4 took place on a colony planet with a Federation city that would comprise at least one or two of the areas, while the rest is still wild. Plus, if Sylux is involved, it would just make sense to face off against them someplace where the Federation is a relevant factor.
4. Darker Tone & Atmosphere: While this may conflict somewhat with the above wish, I'm kinda hoping for this to lean more on the eerie and horror-influenced end of the series' tonal spectrum; perhaps not as dark and intense as Echoes, but still more in that neighborhood than the bombast and action focus of stuff like Zero Mission and the first half of Corruption.
5. Utilize Hostile Gameplay Design For Tension: Kinda similar to the above, one thing I really like about Metroid II, Echoes, and Dread is how they use stuff like the gameboy's monochrome and small screen, the idea of the Dark Aether atmosphere dealing constant damage, and the EMMI and their zones. (And by contrast, Phaaze was a little bit disappointing on this front.) The aesthetic aspects of the environment are intensified by gameplay or design elements that work against you, making for a more tense and challenging experience. Again, I would like to see Prime 4 do something like this as well, hopefully something new but achieving the same effect, in the areas where Retro really wants to stress us out.
6. Speed Up The Pace, Still Smell The Flowers: As I already said with the run button suggestion, I personally really like Prime's relaxed pace, but I also know many do not, and even I have had times where I've wished for things to hurry up a bit more. In the same vein as Samus's movement, I would want this to apply to the pacing overall; letting me still take my time, but allowing those who want to move a bit quicker on the whole do so.
7. Strong Soundtrack!!!: I originally got into this series purely because of the Metroid Prime soundtrack, so my bias is clear, but I hope they really aim for that kind of strength in the music again. I would want new tracks rather than recycling old themes, of course, but the same blend of melodic strength and dense atmosphere.
Dread's OST isn't bad, and I've come around on a lot of it, but I feel like it definitely suffers from favoring unsteadiness in the notes and consistency in the progression too much, fading into the background a lot of the time, while the boss themes largely blur together in being loud and chaotic and not much else. Burenia does stand out for being a lot more melodic in comparison to the rest, and a few of the other tracks have grown on me anyway, but on the whole, I hope they stray away from that sort of style.
Some of Samus Returns' remixes of the original Metroid II soundtrack work magic in making memorable and atmospheric tracks of the assorted ambient bleep bloops, and I really like the sound design there in general, so if we're sticking with something more modern, that could be the way to go. But of course, ideally, I would hope for this to take after Prime and Echoes (but especially Prime) in creating memorable, gorgeous themes to accompany the game's environments, and strong powerful boss music that won't leave my head for weeks if not months afterward.
Narrative, Worldbuilding, & Characters
1. Direct But Restrained Conveyance: Once again using prior games as a point of comparison, while I think Fusion and Corruption's directness fit well for the stories they told, I think something more restrained like Echoes and Dread would be ideal; a few key scenes of dialogue, and then a lot more conveyed indirectly through subtext, body language, and of course the scan visor. Of course, it does ultimately depend on what sort of story will be told, and if Sylux and the Federation are indeed a big factor, it could make more sense to take Fusion's approach; if that's the case I probably won't be too disappointed. Besides, thanks to Other M, they already know what not to do.
2. Scanning & Same Depth Of Worldbuilding: As I already said, I want the scan visor to remain a big deal, and for there to be a lot of it. They could maybe put a twist on it, do a thing like Arknights's operator files or Nier Automata's weapon stories with the Main logbook entries. The way I'm picturing it, you could scan an entry early on, only to find parts of it still blocked out; then after certain thresholds in the story progression have been reached, (or simply something like gaining higher security clearance levels like in Fusion,) the classified sections become readable, adding new information to what was there before, or completely recontextualizing it.
But honestly, even if they just stuck with the same format as the first three games, that would be plenty fine by me, so long as they don't skimp out on the scans. In general, I think the biggest strength of the Prime series is the way it has expanded the universe and worldbuilding in comparison to the 2D games' much tighter focus, (which to be clear isn't a knock against those, just different but equally valid approaches) and I want them to keep that energy going here as well.
3. Proactive Samus With Agency, Sylux Given Nuance: Samus's side of this is pretty straightforward, but still felt like it was worth mentioning. In Corruption, Super, Fusion, and Dread she's put more in reactive scenarios, which IMO works well there, but I would like to see her acting more proactively again to some degree, like the setups for Zero Mission, Prime, Echoes, and Return Of Samus. The second part is more important to me either way, but I'm not too concerned about something like Other M happening again. And of course, remember body language is key; while I hope she gets at least a few lines like in Dread, I also think she's generally best served when speaking through her actions.
If Sylux is indeed the main antagonist here, I hope they're not painted as just a one-dimensional bad guy with no valid points about the Federation. While I love the more utopian vibe it was described with back in the Metroid NES manual, and would like to see at least some elements of that original vision brought back; as of Fusion and to a lesser extent Corruption, they're clearly not the flawless paragon faction they once were treated as, and it would just be weird to try to ignore that now. Don't get me wrong, I love all the truly evil villains of this series too, but at least based on how they were set up in Hunters, I feel like a more complicated portrayal would just make more sense where Sylux is concerned.
I'm also interested in how the Federation Force end scene with the stolen Metroid egg could factor into things, and that could be a good avenue to indirectly tell us some things about Sylux's character, and even draw parallels (or contrasts) with Samus.
4. Other New Characters, Given Time In Moderation: Similar to what I said about worldbuilding, I feel like another thing the prior Prime games have done fairly well with, is in introducing new characters to populate the universe, without (for the most part) intruding on the loneliness that's a big part of the series' identity.
I've seen some people hoping for Prime 4 to make a hard pivot away from Corruption's direction with the other hunters and leave Samus completely on her own again, but personally I wouldn't mind more friendly/neutral characters like them, U-Mos, and Admiral Dane. Again, it would be ideal if this is employed with restraint, and ultimately comes down to what would best fit the story and setting they wind up giving us.
By the same token, if they do go this route, I would hope the characters would still be given just enough room to breathe without becoming intrusive. The hunters in Corruption were pretty well-handled despite being painted in broad strokes, leaving us wanting a bit more, but the hunters in Hunters were ironically not so well-served by their game, intriguing hooks to bigger stories (literally in Sylux's case) but not really given too much beyond the bare minimum there. Again, so long as they can hit that "just enough" sweet spot between "not enough" and "too much", I look forward to meeting some new faces 4 could bring to the table.
5. Other Friendly (And An Unfriendly) Species: This one is pretty straightforward. Going back to what I said about the NES Manual (and ZM manga) depiction of the Federation as a multi-species conglomerate, compared to the all-human presentation of Corruption and Other M, I would hope to see more friendly alien races. Even if this winds up departing from my idea of a colony city in favor of a more remote world, something like the Luminoth would be welcome.
The other part of this is, (especially if we're already bringing Sylux out of Obscure Spinoff hell,) I want to see something of the Kriken, big or small. Even if they wind up not making a direct appearance, then at least further mention of them would be appreciated. Maybe clarification of their place in things, while we're at it, given how Hunters implied them to be a pretty big deal, but their presence is otherwise completely absent from the series.
Also, while I'm generally not fond of nostalgia for its own sake, Kihunters could be cool to finally see more of.
6. Feel Unique And Well-Defined: While I'm always in favor of a balance between building on (or twisting around) existing ideas and introducing new ones, I also hope that with its story and overall presentation, Prime 4 has a distinct identity within the series.
Prime had its beauty and the tale of a dying planet, Echoes had its oppressive darkness and the losing struggle against the Ing, and Corruption had its grandeur and climactic feeling amidst the urgency of the Phazon Crisis. The 2D games also largely do this; (IMO Super is a debatable case, revisiting and reusing Zebes but adding plenty of new stuff) while the much longer gaps between releases are an influencing factor, even without that they all still have their own distinct vibes and developments. (Hell, Other M even has a distinct identity, even if for all the wrong reasons.)
So in that vein, whatever Prime 4 does, I hope it does something that I can point to and say "This is the [Fill in the blank] one."
7. Surprise Me: Above all, I just want to be surprised. While there are a few specific things I'd like to see, yes, (I have this whole wishlist of them after all,) in general I've still been talking in pretty broad terms. That's because I want to go into this and get something new out of the experience; something that still fits with the rest, but that I could never have thought to predict on my own.
Final Wishes:
1. Emphasis On Exploration: Much as I love Dread, the way it blocks off prior areas to push you along in particular, is (for me) a big blemish on an otherwise excellent game. Similarly, Corruption and Fusion, for all their other narrative strength and ambition, are also more focused on combat, and give frequent, non-optional directions on where to go. And in fairness that approach works for what they're doing! But I hope Prime 4 won't follow in that route.
I hope for it to return to the Super/Prime/Echoes approach of just dropping you in the world and letting you figure stuff out yourself, with minimal handholding if any, (again, hint system optional, please!) and very little if any backtrack prevention, either. I just want to wander and become acquainted with this world on my own terms like I did with the first two Primes.
2. Maintain FPS View & Immersion Focus: This seems maybe a little redundant, but I'm putting it down anyway just to be safe. Some people have expressed wanting a third-person perspective, and even setting aside my personal hangups against that format, I just don't understand the appeal of making such a shift. The trilogy as a whole (and Prime in particular) hangs its hat on literally putting you in Samus's shoes in every way that matters, and I want Prime 4 to do the same. I don't seriously expect Retro to try changing it up like this, but I also hope they won't anyway, just in case.
3. Wait To Release: I hope it comes soon, yes, but not before the end of the year at least, lol. Partially because I have no money right now, and I want to be able to play it on release day! And partially because I would want Retro to be able to really take their time and polish it up into something beautiful.
