Jack Mathews, the former lead engineer on the original trilogy, criticized the desert "Sol Valley" and the vehicle "Viola" in *Metroid Prime 4: Beyond* as "nothing but a waste."
Does He Not Understand the Essence of the Series? Criticism of the Development
Mathews’s widely discussed critique was made on “KIWI TALKZ,” a YouTube channel that conducts in-depth interviews with industry professionals, including developers and composers.
Mathews pointed out that while all the biomes in *Metroid Prime 4* other than the desert follow the familiar style of past titles, “Sol Valley” is something entirely different. He described it as “something like *The Legend of Zelda*—which is dungeon-centric—combined with the vast ocean from *The Wind Waker*,” andHe added, “In Sol Valley, where there’s only one major landmark leading to the destination and you can barely see anything, we developed two or three dedicated AI systems—and that technology and development resources aren’t being utilized in other areas. It’s just a waste of resources to spread them out like that.”
Furthermore, regarding the motorcycle-style vehicle Viola, Mathews remarked sarcastically, “I can’t help but think that someone on the development team was a motorcycle enthusiast and felt they absolutely needed a section where players could enjoy ‘casual gameplay.’ That person clearly didn’t understand that in the *Metroid Prime* series, ‘casual gameplay’ refers specifically to the time spent exploring—not shooting enemies.”
He also pointed out that implementing new elements like “Solvalay” in a series like *Metroid Prime 4* carries risks. The question is: What makes the new system fun? Will it actually be fun? And how do we determine that?
“I understand what I’m creating, and I’m trying to make something that’s just as fun as before. But I don’t understand Solvalay at all. There’s nothing interesting about it. It’s not what players are looking for,” he reiterated.
In a review published on Game*Spark, the author also pointed out inconsistencies in the “Solvalay” field—arguing that, compared to the hallmark of past titles—a “game progression that feels like active exploration but is actually carefully controlled”—*Metroid Prime 4* features haphazard and inconsistent pathfinding, and that its “non-linear” nature actually robs players of an active experience"Solvalay"—a field that, due to its “nonlinear” nature, actually robs the player of an active experience—and pointed out similar issues.
*Metroid Prime 4: Beyond* is now available for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch.
