While it is well-known at this point that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond—released earlier this year—features quite a few chatty characters, one player has discovered that the game’s characters could have been even chattier. The player has discovered unused dialogue in the game’s audio files, which he has uploaded in a video that you can check out below. Many of these lines were ultimately cut from the game before its full release, but the files still made it into the full release.
The cut dialogue doesn’t really include any plot critical. Rather, they largely lean on the jokier side of things, with characters discussing roast beasts, and how much VUE-995 can bench press. These dialogues were likely cut out of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond because they didn’t quite fit the overall tone of the game. All in all, as caught by VideoGamesChronicle, the cut dialogue amounts to around 30 minutes in length.
It is worth noting that the Metroid Prime series has traditionally been quite well-regarded thanks in large part to its focus on exploration, and the isolation that a player can often feel in the shoes of protagonist Samus Aran as they uncover the deep plot threads in the games. While the first three titles have all been critically acclaimed, the most recent entry has the lowest aggregated Metacritic score of the series so far.
Our own review for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which you can check out here, also noted the chatter between NPCs as being a major negative point of the game. In our review, we wrote about understanding the usefulness of helping characters that might be stuck on some puzzles. However, the lack of any way to disable the NPC chatter was a major issue, especially since this chatter has the tendency to minimise the themes of isolation and general atmosphere of the game.
The development of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has also been a rather gargantuan undertaking if its credits list is anything to go by. As discovered when the title came out earlier this month, the credits list 21 different studios for their work on the game, including primary developer Retro Studios. Among the teams credited in the game are Virtuos, Territory Studio, Waterproof, Red Hot CG, and AMC Studios.
The long list of studios having worked on the game should come as no surprise, since Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was first officially unveiled all the way back in 2017. At the time, rather than traditional franchise developer Retro Studios, the title was noted as being developed by Bandai Namco Studios based out of Japan and Singapore. The title subsequently changed hands since then, with development having been restarted under Retro Studios back in 2019.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond takes Samus Aran on a brand new adventure on the planet Viewros, where they must fight for survival against a number of enemies, including rival bounty hunter Sylux. The first-person gameplay focuses on a mix of action, platforming, puzzle-solving, and exploration, and Samus can once more scan the environment around her to discover more of the story as the game progresses. The title is available on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
