The March 2026 issue of Nintendo Dream includes an interview with Kensuke Tanabe, Kenji Yamamoto and Bill Vandervoort, Retro Studios’ Design Director. The interview discusses the development history of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, designing Vi-O-La, Viewros, the Lamorn, writing the Logbook, adjusting the difficulty, and gives more context to Sylux’s role in the game. Tanabe-san also confirmed that Beyond is his last game for Nintendo, and he is retiring after a 40 year career.

Our thanks to Darts for once again providing us with an exclusive translation of the whole interview!

In this email interview, we learn the development secrets of the latest installment in the First-Person Adventure series, Metroid Prime, which has been much talked about for its very high quality!

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
The Story Explained

Mail Interview with the Development Staff

In this email interview, the development staff of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond told us in great detail about a variety of interesting topics, such as the development process, the design, the music, or the characters’ backgrounds! Parts that go deep into the plot will be marked with a “Spoiler Warning!”, so for those of you who are interested in the game, we recommend keeping these for after you’ve played it.

Kensuke Tanabe, Producer

Works for Nintendo. Has acted as Producer on the Metroid Prime series and many other games.

Bill Vandervoort, Design Director

Works for Retro Studios. Had a Level Design role on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Donkey Kong Country Returns, among others.

Kenji Yamamoto, Music

Works for Nintendo. Has composed the music of many Metroid titles starting with Super Metroid.

The game’s development history, and the meaning of “Beyond”

— How was the development team structured to make this game? Also, how were you able to collaborate with overseas staff?

Tanabe: When development started at Retro Studios¹, the staff from Nintendo was mainly me as Producer and Ms. [Risa] Tabata both as Assistant Producer and in charge of Progress Management, along with Mr. Yamamoto on sound, Mr. [Takayoshi] Sato on art supervision, and, initially, a single interpreter. Later, we added to the team one interpreter/coordinator, one English text translator, and in the final stages of development one more person for coordination support and one in charge of debugging. We also had the help of several other members who provided support on art supervision as well as the technical side of things.

On Retro Studios’ side, over 100 internal employees were involved in the development. For some time, they also collaborated with 3 Game Designers from Next Level Games². A lot of the work was outsourced, particularly on the art and cutscene creation, resulting in a total of over 300 staff members.

As for the development process itself, we at Nintendo first communicated the high-level concept for the game: its general structure, the setting, the worldview… We then asked Retro Studios to write the game’s concrete specifications and create concept art, level design documents, prototypes and so on, so that we could check them on our side, make some revisions and request changes. Once they got the final OK from us, Retro Studios then worked on the actual implementation. We also followed the same process for the various ideas that came from Retro Studios. Furthermore, the data creation was entirely managed by Retro Studios, including outsourcing to companies, supervision, delivery and so on.

Retro Studios set up three separate reporting meetings with us, one for game design supervision, one for art supervision, and one for progress management, and they held each of them basically for a few hours once a week. During the COVID-19 pandemic, employees from both companies worked from home, and after the pandemic ended, in addition to the Zoom meetings, we would travel to Retro Studios several times a year and hold in-person meetings for 3 to 5 consecutive days in order to advance production.

— What is the meaning behind the subtitle “Beyond”?

Tanabe: In this game, Samus is transported across time and space to a planet in another dimension called Viewros. We picked the English word that would best express this idea of “across time and space”. We particularly took into account the opinions of overseas employees from Retro Studios, NOA [Nintendo of America] and NOE [Nintendo of Europe].

¹ Retro Studios: A video game development company from the United States. In addition to the Metroid Prime series, they also worked on games like Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

² Next Level Games: A video game development company from Canada. In addition to Metroid Prime: Federation Force, they also worked on games like Luigi’s Mansion 3.

The origins of Samus’ new suits and Vi-O-La

— Please tell us about the design concepts for Samus’ new suits, the Vi-O-La Suit and the Legacy Suit.

Bill: The designs of Samus’ Vi-O-La Suit and Legacy Suit reflect their respective functions, but also the architecture and technology of each era of the Lamorn civilization. The sleek Vi-O-La Suit is rooted in the Lamorn’s Machine Era. While it incorporates elements from the Varia Suit, it contrasts with it thanks to its curving lines and mechanical nuances. Given that the Vi-O-La Suit allows Samus to ride Vi-O-La, we put a lot of emphasis on connecting the two visually. The Legacy Suit, as the Lamorn’s final gift to the “Chosen One” Samus, provides her with a protective barrier. This suit’s design reflects the organic aesthetic of their most sacred locations, the Temple of Memory and Chrono Tower.

— How did the brand new bike Vi-O-La come to be?

Tanabe: Around 2016, when I was beginning to plan this game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [2017, Wii U/Nintendo Switch] was getting a lot of praise for adopting an open-world format. Following that, I kept seeing comments online saying “I want to try playing an open-world Metroid!”. However, Metroid’s core concept of “acquiring new abilities to expand the explorable space” contradicts the “go anywhere you want from the start” structure of open-worlds.

Even so, I wondered, was there a way to meet these demands, if only in a limited area? I also thought that being able to exhilaratingly ride a bike through that area could add some variety to the pacing of Metroid’s gameplay, which is usually all about claustrophobia and tension. However, when I later saw Link riding a bike in Breath of the Wild’s DLC, my reaction was “Nooooo! Now people will think I stole that idea!”, and I wasn’t sure what to do. But then I thought, “No, I’m not copying them, and besides, Samus riding a bike is definitely cool”, and so, without further hesitation, I decided to make this bike a reality.

Sol Valley, the area where you can ride the bike, was conceived with freedom of movement as the top priority, so I made it a wide open space without any roads or obstacles. It was essential that this area made you feel that, while driving, if something caught your eye, you could focus solely on driving towards it. If multiple objectives come into view, you end up distracted from your initial objective, and you lose the excitement of gradually getting closer to your destination. To achieve this kind of experience, Retro Studios’s Sol Valley team made brilliant use of the terrain’s relief to ensure that you generally only have one objective at a time in your field of vision. At the same time, it made Sol Valley feel much larger than it actually is. I hope players can enjoy the feeling of blasting across this desolate land on Vi-O-La.

As for why it’s called “Vi-O-La”, I wanted to give the bike a somewhat unique name. Since I play the guitar I figured, “why not name it after a musical instrument?”, but using a guitar manufacturer’s brand name was out of the question, and “Guitar” didn’t really fit a bike. After giving it some thought, I went with an instrument whose name isn’t as well-known, but has a nice ring to it: “Viola”. It’s pronounced simply “Vai-Oh-La”, but who knows how the Lamorn actually said it.

The design of planet Viewros

— Now about the game’s setting, planet Viewros. It is comprised of a variety of environments, can you tell us about the creation process for each of these zones?

Bill: These zones have one central theme, which is to tell the story of the Lamorn’s Great Tragedy through their environment. These places were inhabited by the Lamorn, in different ways and for different reasons, and these reasons are often connected to what the player needs to achieve in-game. By experiencing first-hand the function of each zone and thoroughly scanning their surroundings, the player can gain a deeper understanding of the world around them, which makes it feel real.

We also incorporated the concept of “identity” to each of the zones. In other words, we asked ourselves the following questions: what kind of place is this? What things could only happen here? What about it could leave a memorable impression on the player? We took familiar elements from our Earth, and placed them in natural environments to make them unique: a factory in the middle of a thunderstorm, a laboratory atop a glacier, an artillery in the depths of a volcano…

The color scheme of each zone, down to how clear the sky is, was intentionally designed to be memorable and match the emotions felt by the player at every step of the journey. One area might evoke oppressing darkness, while another might convey a brighter sense of freedom. And of course, each zone also serves a purpose gameplay-wise. The goals the player has to accomplish, the level of tension they’re supposed to feel, the objectives needed to advance the story… We designed the structure and every component of each zone with all these aspects in mind. This process involved some extensive trial-and-error from a lot of people. To achieve this, we expressed in a few succinct phrases what kind of experience we were aiming for with each zone, and used these as “pillars” around which to organize the team.

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Spoiler Warning!

This section includes twists that are revealed during the story.

The Lamorn’s appearance and backstory

— The Lamorn race’s culture and history, but also their demise, were some of the most impactful aspects of this game’s story. How did you come up with their appearance and their lore?

Bill: We put a lot of thought into the Lamorn’s design. The Lamorn were a peaceful, refined, cultured, and very spiritual people. Their religiousness was a central theme in the worldbuilding, and is linked to many events that happened throughout their history. While the priests were the primary users of Psychic energy, all Lamorn had the potential to manipulate it. All these elements were incorporated into the Lamorn’s visual design. From the aquatic creature elements, the robes worn by the priests, the wavy arms suitable for handling Psychic energy, the hidden mouth suggesting telepathic communication… It was also important that the Lamorn convey a sense of sanctity, to contrast with the Grievers’ corruption.

Tanabe: Once we decided to set this story in another dimension, and also that Samus would acquire Psychic abilities there, the idea that Viewros’ inhabitants built their civilization around those Psychic abilities came naturally. However, since the idea for the bike came first, we also settled on them once being a mechanical civilization, and that Vi-O-La was invented during that time. After that, I wanted to give Samus an emblematic enemy other than the Pirates to fight, and while imagining what they could be, I was struck with the idea that the cause of the Lamorn’s demise, the “Great Tragedy”, could be them transforming into Grievers. At the same time, I realized the Green Showers could be used to increase the difficulty level of the enemies in Sol Valley, and that was one of the deciding factors for establishing this backstory.

Chatoya and the 12 other Lamorn, carrying with them miniature teleporters to return home, were sent to every planet across multiple universes to search for the “Chosen One” of the prophecy. Sadly, they were unable to find said Chosen One, and all died in obscurity at their respective locations. This does mean however that there are still 11 teleporters in existence. It would be hard to create individual stories for all of them, but I think that still leaves the door open for exploring a few of them in the future.

A people struck by tragedy: the history of the Lamorn

The Lamorn race of Viewros went through the primitive “Ancient Era”, the “Machine Era” that gave birth to Vi-O-La and the Psy-bots, and finally entered the “Psychic Era”. To grant every Lamorn the Psychic abilities that previously only a select few possessed, Psychic Crystals were surgically embedded into their bodies. However, the Lamorn who underwent that surgery muted into the frenzied Grievers… In their quest for peace, they brought destruction to their civilization and history by their own hands.

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Sylux: why the mysterious arch-enemy got the spotlight

— Let’s talk about Sylux. He had a brief appearance in the previous game, Metroid Prime 3 [2008, Wii], but he still remained a character shrouded in mystery. What led you to finally give him the spotlight in this game?

Tanabe: During the development of Metroid Prime Hunters [2006, Nintendo DS] over at NST, the game designer came up with concepts for all of the game’s hunters. Among them, Sylux’s concept was that he “held a grudge against Samus and the Galactic Federation”. At the time, in an effort to expand the “Metroid Prime Universe”, I was thinking about potential spin-off titles I’d like to create. So, even if he might already have had some ideas in mind, I asked him not to establish any concrete backstory. And while I was laying the groundwork with the 100% endings of Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Prime: Federation Force [2016, Nintendo 3DS], I would think to myself, “I’d really like to make a game centered around Samus and Sylux someday…”

It would be a really long time until the occasion presented itself, and given my age, I figured that this new Prime title would probably be my last chance to make that game a reality. So, I conceived this game as the first chapter in the Sylux saga. I wrote Sylux to be an unscrupulous, vindictive, almost demonic kind of character, and from this game onwards, Samus will also be aware of him as an enemy that she cannot avoid facing and must defeat. Consequently, the score between Sylux and Samus has yet to be settled. However, this game took longer to finish than expected, and it’s been decided that I will not be involved in the production of the series moving forward. Therefore, while there are no plans for a sequel, I hope that Ms. Tabata and Retro Studios can one day bring this story to a close.

The logbook, the teammates’ dialogue… Texts that flesh out the story

— Please tell us about your method and the aspects you paid attention to when writing the scanning texts and logbook entries.

Tanabe: First of all, since this is written in the context of a computer’s analysis, I have to choose my words so they won’t convey any emotion, and rather sound like the result of a logical and technical assessment. Moreover, since players won’t feel like reading if there’s too much text, I generally keep the descriptions to three lines displayed at once, and for longer descriptions, I try as much as possible to make it so you only need to advance the text once. Particularly, for text that includes hints on how to progress through the game, I make sure to present all the information the player needs within that length with easy-to-remember “keywords”. Finally, this is just a personal preference, but I hate when line breaks happen mid-word, so I try as much as possible to make each line fit perfectly within the text box. This way of writing is influenced by the novelist Natsuhiko Kyogoku.

As for the actual content of the text, I aim to write it in a way that would naturally pique the player’s curiosity and allow them to imagine things realistically. In particular, the research logs in Ice Belt took a lot of work, as I needed to scatter keywords that would allow the player to piece together the truth behind the “Great Tragedy”, without giving it away completely, all the while making it feel like a real researcher’s journal. I would have honestly liked to write text that’s fun to read like the Pirates’ logs, but this game’s setting didn’t allow for it.

That being said, I wasn’t originally supposed to be the one writing the scan text. Until now, all the in-game text had been written by people from Retro Studios, but they no longer work there. So, for this game, we hired a professional writer. However, being a professional, they prioritized “good writing” over “smart writing”, and that didn’t quite fit what I was looking for gameplay-wise. It was also hard to get them to fully understand the game’s specifications, and since it would have been impossible to meet the deadlines as is, I decided to take over the writing myself. To be honest though, I was so swamped with work that I ended up making some mistakes in the fine-tuning stages. It was fun, but I shouldn’t have taken that on.

On the other hand, I left the Galactic Federation Troopers’ dialogue to actual writers, as I can’t understand some of the nuances of the English language. For the Japanese version however, rather than simply translating the lines, I asked game designer Taro Kudo to write them in a way that would sound more natural and fit the game and characters.

Music and SFX production secrets

— What did you aim for and which aspects did you focus on when creating the BGM and SFX for this game?

Yamamoto: All of the music in the Metroid Prime series is composed by Nintendo, while the sound effects and voice acting are handled by Retro Studios.

Since this game is an FPA [First Person Adventure] played through Samus’ perspective, I composed the music imagining what kind of music I would be hearing if I were to set foot on Viewros myself.

As for the sound effects, I worked with Retro Studios’ audio team to create immersive sound effects that make you feel you’re really there. After entering the jungle in Fury Green, as you progress further and further, the melody you hear in the background transforms from that of a lush and beautiful jungle, to one that entices you to explore its depths.

As you progress through each zone, you’ll also encounter scenes where some facilities change in certain ways, like when restoring the power, or when lightning strikes.

During these scenes, along with these physical changes, the music also transforms to create a very unique experience. For example, in Volt Forge, there is a scene where a flock of Flight Drones begins to swoop down on Samus as the lightning strikes. For this scene, I prepared music that will send a chill down your spine and give you goosebumps. Another example is the cold and icy research facility, where the music gives the player courage as the place starts changing.

For the theme of the new bike, Vi-O-La, I made the music feel energetic.

As for the main theme, I made it to reflect Samus’ emotions during her adventure of Viewros. Every track in the game was made with Samus’ perspective in mind. I really hope that players will become one with Samus, and enjoy everything that planet Viewros has to offer through its music and sound effects.

Pay attention to the music in these scenes!

During each of the boss battles, pay attention to the background music. The guitar riff during Sylux’s battles in particular leaves a great impact, as if representing his twisted malice. Be sure to listen attentively when you get there.

Vi-O-La’s theme can be heard during the certification test in Volt Forge. If you unlock the Vi-O-La Radio using an amiibo, you’ll be able to change the BGM while exploring Sol Valley. This theme fits the cyberspacey certification track and Sol Valley’s arid desert just as well.

The series’ traditional jingles for Samus’ appearance and for acquiring items appear in this game as well. The former is particularly memorable, as it plays whenever you resume play from a Save Station, but also during the cutscene when Samus first arrives in Fury Green.

By scanning the Samus (Metroid Prime 4) amiibo, you’ll be able to listen to songs on the Vi-O-La Radio.

Difficulty, ease of play, and control scheme recommendations

— This game felt like it put more attention into the ease of play than past titles. Were there any particular considerations you had regarding the overall difficulty?

Bill: This game will likely be some people’s first Metroid Prime game, and the long-awaited return to the world of Metroid Prime for others. To make sure the game would be enjoyed by everyone, we reused elements from past Prime titles in a way that could draw in new players while moving the Metroid Prime saga forward. The story and characters also had their importance, and were driving factors for some design decisions. For example, most zones start with a linear path, allowing us to tell the story of the Federation Troopers who appear there. We wanted to motivate the player through a familiar narrative structure. While there are still opportunities to backtrack and explore when you first visit an area, the game’s structure is definitely not as intricately woven as the original Metroid Prime. But if the player returns to these zones later in the game, they can have new experiences and make small discoveries (especially if they return with new abilities). This is meant to reward players with a lot of curiosity, players who want more freedom to explore, or players who wonder “what could be happening in this zone now that the main plot is over?”.

And of course, we’ve made sure that players can thoroughly enjoy facing enemies and bosses, regardless of their skill level. We made countless adjustments and improvements to ensure that you’ll feel that sense of relief and accomplishment when you overcome an obstacle.

— The game offers plenty of options, like choosing between gyro controls and mouse controls, but for series newcomers specifically, are there any settings you recommend?

Bill: We did put in a lot of control options, huh! For a first-time player, I recommend starting with the default settings, and once you’ve gotten familiar with the gameplay in the first zone, you can try out different options. There are some settings like the camera sensitivity or inversion that you could also adjust to your liking right away. The “Lock-On Free Aim” feature, which allows you to aim freely while locking onto an enemy, can be used with any control method: gyro, the R stick, the Switch 2’s mouse… You can try out any of the controls at any time. And if you want to go further, you can even remap the controls by swapping button inputs!

Finally… A message to the readers

— With this being the first numbered entry in the Metroid Prime series in a while, I would like to ask once again about the themes you incorporated into the game, and the messages you wanted to convey to the player.

Tanabe: It has been over 40 years since I joined Nintendo. Now, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the last game I will be making at Nintendo. Even so, rather than making anything special, I simply worked with Retro Studios on delivering a fun and unique experience, for players of all types and all ages, just like previous Nintendo games. I hope with all my heart that this game will create long-lasting memories for everyone who plays it. And for those who have yet to play it, I hope you will get to experience the world of Viewros through the eyes of Samus.

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Spoiler Warning!

This section describes scenes from the ending. Proceed with caution if you haven’t finished the game.

— What was Sylux exactly up to after arriving on planet Viewros?

Tanabe: Sylux was severely injured following the teleportation. By chance, he was sent to the pinnacle of Chrono Tower. He slipped into one of the Healing Pods located there, and linked with Chrono Tower. That allowed him to obtain information from the Lamorn, and learn that to escape Viewros, he would need to use the Master Teleporter, and that five Master Keys were required to activate the teleporter.

Using the Sylux-Metroids that were transported alongside him, he then tried to control the minds of the Key Guardians and obtains the Keys; however, the Key Guardians’ willpower far exceeded the Sylux-Metroids’ mind controlling ability, leading the fused creatures to lose their minds and become enraged and hostile. Sylux’s recovery was a slow one, and he was essentially unconscious during this time. However, in his awake moments, he would send the Psy-bots against Samus, in an attempt to steal the keys she had obtained. Upon awakening, Sylux’s mind briefly linked with Samus’, which allowed her to see his memories in the form of flashbacks.

— Please tell us about the teammates from the Galactic Federation army. What led to the creation of these characters and the “cooperating with teammates” plot, which is rather unusual for this series?

Tanabe: I actually don’t play that many video games. I instead watch a lot of films. I majored in film production in college. Therefore when designing a game, I rarely analyse or study other games; and rather than thinking solely about the game’s systems, I place the emphasis on creating as many “Wow Moments³” as I can, and defining the theme I want to express through that game, all from the angle of “how can I can create emotional ups-and-downs for the player?”. In fact, this entire game was designed starting from said theme.

With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, I wanted to try and make a game where, at the very end, where pressing the A button usually means finishing it, the player would instead hesitate and feel conflicted. Actually, I already did this once in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening [1993, Game Boy], but for this game I really wanted to leave the player confused, going “What? This is how it ends!?” as the credits roll, and leave a long-lasting memory. I’m expecting some negative reactions, but I’ve always found films that leave you with a lingering feeling in your heart more memorable than films with a happy end, so I challenged myself to do that in a game.

So, I conceived the final scene first, and designed the game’s overall structure around that. To that end, I created the Federation Troopers who would fight alongside Samus, and planned the gameplay so that, as you progressed through the game, the bonds between them and Samus (and therefore you the player) would deepen. I actually had even more events planned to deepen those bonds, but due to time constraints, they had to be cut. That is my one true regret.

³ Wow Moment: An expression meaning “a moment that elicits emotion or surprise”.

Translated by: Darts

Header image by: Roy