The new Metroid Prime 4 trailer has the best Switch graphics ever

A new trailer for Metroid Prime 4 has revealed the first details of the plot and some new gameplay mechanics, but not whether there’ll be a native Switch 2 version.

Thursday’s Nintendo Direct, for the original Switch, was strange for any number of reasons, not least because that the long-anticipated Switch 2 Direct is only next week. That and the fact that the most notable new announcements were two former PlayStation exclusives coming to Switch and the return of two super obscure Nintendo franchises.

If there was one game that was almost certain to be featured though it was Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which many suspect will be a launch title for the Switch 2 – if only via backwards compatibility.

The Nintendo Direct did nothing to discredit that theory, as the game still doesn’t have a release date, just sometime this year. But there’s still no hint of whether it will have a dedicated Switch 2 version, as well as a Switch 1 edition.

It was the Switch 1 version that was apparently being shown in the new trailer, but the graphics looked so good many suspect, just as they did with the debut trailer, that it’s really Switch 2 footage.

That’s presumably not the case – Nintendo is very unlikely to outright lie about such a thing – but the game look considerably better than any other Switch title, including the likes of Luigi’s Mansion 3.

It’s possible the footage being shown is the Switch 2 playing the Switch 1 version, and adding some enhancements on top but, again, if that was the case Nintendo would probably just say so.

Apart from looking amazing, the main thing to be discerned from the trailer is that the plot of the game involves Samus being trapped on the jungle planet of Viewros. The previous trailer clearly showed space pirates, and rival bounty hunter Sylux, but in this one it was just angry alien lifeforms.

The footage was likely from the opening sections of the game, before the main plot kicks in, but it did reveal one of the game’s main new gimmicks: psychic powers for Samus.

Whether that means she has her usual gadgets from the start isn’t clear, but her abilities involve operate alien mechanisms, opening doors, and controlling the trajectory of her beam weapons. So basically, she can use the Force now.

The end of the trailer shows what we think is Samus in a new red and black suit. It could conceivably be one of the various evil versions of Samus, that have been in previous games, but we think it was just meant to be a new suit – although it was unclear what new abilities it might confer.

Apart from the psychic abilities the trailer didn’t reveal much, other than that the game continues to look incredible, so whether we’ll get additional information next week, at the Switch 2 Direct, is unclear.

The only other big name first party game during the Direct was Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which was a bit of a surprise, as usually new games are only shown off during dedicated Pokémon Presents showcases.

Z-A continues to look good, with the semi real-time combat being an interesting twist to the formula. As with Metroid, there wasn’t an awful lot of significant new information, but Nintendo did reveal that at night you’ll be able to battle with other trainers.

This is when you can compete in the Z-A Royale tournament, where you work up the ranks from Z to A, with anyone that goes all the way having their wish granted.

However, if your wish is a native Switch 2 version it’s unclear if that will be granted. As with Metroid Prime 4 there was no indication that there’d be a dedicated next gen edition, and it may be that both games only work on Switch 2 via backwards compatibility.

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