Fury as Metroid Prime 4 Basic Features Locked Behind Pay Wall

The reviews are in for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and it's safe to say that it has been an extremly mixed bag, with some lamenting the choices made by the developer whilst others persist in praising it to the hilt.

In our own review, writer Sam Cawley said the following, "Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been eight years in the making and yet it unfortunately misses the mark in several ways."

"As the biggest Metroid Prime game to date, it’s fallen into the trap that many open-world games succumb to, having an overwhelming feeling of emptiness. The actual levels themselves are good, look great, but are dragged down by interfering NPCs and linear layouts that defeat the point of a metroidvania entirely."

The game releases on 4 December, so it won't be long before we find out exactly what the player base thinks of it all, but in the meantime, there's another potential point of conflagration that's gaining some traction.

Metroid Prime 4 Amiibo Unlocks Bike Music

Over on Twitter, YouTuber Luke Stephens shared the revelation that the new Metroid Prime 4 Amiibo actually unlocks a genuinely worthwhile feature in the game, with those who aren't willing to fork out for it seemingly left in the mud.

"Let me get this straight: If you pay $29.99 for the collectible Samus amiibo in #MetroidPrime4 you get to play/select music while driving the Vi-O-La bike in the otherwise quiet desert..." the post reads.

"In other words: They locked MUSIC while riding through a desert behind a $30 paywall... Am I missing something that makes this not insane?"

It isn't particularly good form to keep a feature that improves the moment to moment gameplay so much, locked behind an additional and significant purchase, and it seems the responses all agree.

Let me get this straight: If you pay $29.99 for the collectible Samus amiibo in #MetroidPrime4 you get to play/select music while driving the Vi-O-La bike in the otherwise quiet desert... In other words: They locked MUSIC while riding through a desert behind a $30 paywall... Am… https://t.co/qmFRbvdNhR

— Luke Stephens (@LukeStephens) December 3, 2025

"Holy s**t this is Metroid Prime 4? The game we waited 15 f***ing years for? Wow I guess I picked a good time to stop being a Nintendo fan a few years back," one response read.

"On top of them charging you when I'm assuming is 70 to 80 dollars for what looks to be a PS3 game?" another added.

Others disagreed, with one saying, "you’ve said optional paid add-ons don’t inherently make a game worse (your “skins” example).

So why is optional music selection behind an amiibo suddenly “insane”? Either it’s fine as a bonus or you need to call out the entire DLC/music economy too."

The next few days will see how the game lands overall, though it has made a less than encouraging start and Nintendo might have to react to a few problems along the way.