here be spoilers for Beyond

Continue at your own enjoyment's risk.

No, it's not my favorite, nor do I think it's better than any other Prime. But there's been overwhelming "this game sucks" threads, so this is a "I liked this about it" thread. Because there ARE good things in Beyond.

• Visuals. As expected of one of the first titles on a new 4K capable console, Beyond looks gorgeous. Detail-rich environments in high resolution are a treat for the eyes. No notes: excellent work.

• Beam ammo system. As soon as I realized there was beam ammo I was immediately worried it would be as mildly annoying as it was in Echoes. But no! By having all the beams share a larger ammo pool, you never feel like you're running out, even when you use almost exclusively one type for a while. Great design decision that I honestly think an Echoes remaster could benefit from.

• Morph ball tunnels. Minor one, but I liked that a bunch of the morph ball tunnels were super wide (especially in Volt Forge). It just felt more realistic and fresh to navigate. The lore of them all being maintenance tank tunnels also helped make them more believable, which I liked.

• Psychic additions to abilities. No, not "this is a normal Metroid or Prime ability but the word 'Psychic' was added". The actual changes:

  • Guided charge shot. Cool AF and the puzzles with it were clever. They were usually the ones that stumped me (mostly because I couldn't see them, not because I was lacking info). Having to kill Phenoros with it by striking deep within its body felt like a re-imagining of killing a Metroid Queen, and I LOVED that.

  • Throwing morph ball bombs. I realize that a far-reaching bomb slot is normally an opportunity for a morph ball or spider ball puzzle, but being able to just ignore all that and throw a bomb was neat. The fact that this extends to power bombs was the cherry on top. I'd be thrilled if this mechanic somehow returned in future games.

  • Spider ball tether. Flinging yourself around pinball-style as the spider ball is fun. I could see this making some truly fascinating morph ball puzzles. Great addition.

• Ice Belt lab. What makes Prime's Phendrana labs one of my fave parts of that game is how creepy and unsettling it is. Ice Belt's lab, prior to repowering it, is very similar in its creepiness, and that's a good thing! Atmospheric highlight in Beyond! And for those who say 'yeah but they just compied Phendrana labs' it's not a sin to copy a good thing. Something like 70% of Metroid Prime is copied from its predecessors, so this is fine.

• Griever lore. The idea that Grievers are mutated Lamorn adds a welcome dimension to them. All the scans surrounding their origin and the Lamorn's attempts to change them back and failing is great storytelling.

• Beam chips. The idea that Samus can take random bits of machinery and reengineer them to become functional beam weapons is fun. I know there's the whole 'defeat an enemy and take its power' thing that Metroid generally has but I like the more sci-fi feel of the former.

• Vi-o-la. Fundamentally cool, criminally underutilized. There's so much more you could do with it that roam. Volt Forge's paths and tracks brought to mind F-Zero GX like possibilities, and the Phenoros battle was just scratching the surface of what a boss battle with it could look like. No, I'm not saying Metroid should become a Mario Kart: I'm saying there's more you can do with the Vi-o-la and the addition of vehicles that expand Samus' capabilities is welcome (which Corruption did first, BTW).

• Telekinesis. Again, fundamentally cool, criminally underutilized. I want a fight against space pirates where I get to change the battlefield with my mind powers. Or a boss battle where I need to mentally mess with its insides to defeat it. Or just levitating power up crates around for fun. Being able to move stuff in Metroid is almost always restricted to puzzles and pathfinding. Not only could more be done on that front (think Portal), but the combat and miscellaneous potentials are vast indeed!

Please also show you appreciation for Beyond in the comments!