Silent odds crackle as Sylux bends reality, turning ESP into a weaponized edge that shifts Metroid Prime 4 from beginner’s map to psychic frontline.
Stuck? The answer is probably psychic powers
Stuck? The answer is probably psychic powers
If you’re at a loss for how to proceed at any point during your Viewros expedition, it’s a good idea to see if you can manipulate something with Samus’ charged psychic beam, since that’s often the way forward in Prime 4‘s early hours. Can’t reach a switch on the other side of the room? Try a psychic-controlled charge shot. Facing a boss with multiple weak points? Psychic-controlled charge shot. Shielded enemy that’s only vulnerable from behind? Yeah, you get the idea.
Get creative and be observant
Stay alert to every detail around you-Metroid Prime 4 rewards players who pay attention. Environmental clues often hint at hidden paths, enemy weaknesses, or secret upgrades waiting to be found. Experiment with your abilities and tools in unexpected ways; a strange sound or a flicker of light could point to something valuable. The more you test, scan, and observe, the more the world responds, revealing opportunities others might miss.
When the answer isn’t psychic powers, it’s probably something else in the environment. Metroid Prime 4 strikes an unusual balance between pointing out things like where a door is and expecting you to solve puzzles without any help. One early instance, for example, sees Samus trapped in a room where the elevator control panel is just out of reach. The solution? Using an industrial arm meant to move motorcycle tires to pick up Morph Ball Samus and drop her where she needs to be. There’s no shortage of similar puzzles across Viewros, so if you can’t figure out what to do, take a look around the environment and see what might mesh well with your current abilities.
Lock on
Aim your targeting reticule at foes or objects to snap into Lock On mode. This lets Samus fire while moving freely, dodging attacks and circling enemies for back shots. Hold the lock to chain multiple targets, then release to unleash a rapid volley. Practice on Phazon Corruptors early-they’re slow enough to test your aim without much risk. Mastering this keeps you alive in heated fights.
Locking onto an enemy makes hitting them easier, of course, but it also gives you a handy dodge move that you wouldn’t otherwise have. Press B rapidly while strafing around an enemy to have Samus do a quick sideways dodge. It’s often the only way to avoid taking damage against enemies that fire projectiles or beams. Combat is a lot more common in Prime 4 than in most Metroid games, even compared to Prime 3: Corruption, so you want to avoid taking damage and getting Samus run down as much as possible.
Brush up on your explosives
Explosives in Metroid Prime 4 are more than brute tools-they’re strategic instruments for clearing paths, stunning enemies, and revealing hidden caches. Keep a variety of bomb types at hand and pay attention to the psychic feedback from Sylux’s ESP scans, as subtle cues often indicate weak points in the terrain or enemy armor. Timing matters too; detonate too early and you’ll waste ammo, too late and you’ll take damage. Practice chaining blasts with psychic abilities for high-damage combos that can turn tight encounters in your favor.
Metroid Prime 4 likes to assume you’re closely familiar with its language, without bothering to educate you. Normally, that’s not a big deal. If you can’t tell your stealthy psy-bot from a Griever, you can still get by just fine. With some bosses and puzzles, though, you do need to know what the scanner entries actually mean. Take the first time you fight Sylux, for example. His second form is unstoppable except when you attack him with a concussive blast. What’s a concussive blast? The log entry doesn’t say.
So, try to remember this:
- Concussive blast: Requires a morph ball bomb
- Explosive blast: Requires a missile
- Powerful blast or strong force: Usually breaks when you hit it with a charged beam shot
Prime 4 throws out other terms as well, like electric shock and so on, though making the connection between those and one of Samus’ weapons is usually more straightforward. As an example, for stuff that needs an electric shock, use Samus’ electric beam.
Boot up the scan visor – a lot
Use the Scan Visor constantly-it’s your best friend for uncovering hidden lore, weak points, and environmental clues. From structural data on walls to the biology of strange creatures, scanning provides context that pure firepower can’t. Many puzzles hide behind scannable triggers or security locks that are easy to overlook in the heat of battle. Develop the habit of scanning every new object you encounter, as it rewards you with insight, logbook entries, and occasional tactical advantages that make the difference between surviving and thriving on your next mission.
This is probably second nature if you’ve played any Metroid Prime before, but scanning stuff is even more of a big deal in Metroid Prime 4. Lamorn logs – like Chozo lore chunks in the first Metroid Prime – are few and far between, so most of a location’s history unfolds via the random bits and bobs you can scan. Yes, there’s even lore behind different types of shipping containers and the trucks used to move them.
Even if you don’t care much for the worldbuilding, you should get in the habit of scanning bosses and enemies for clues about how to find their weak points. Some bosses, including Sylux, have different scan logs with hints about their new weaknesses when they change forms as well.
Use your missiles
Missiles pack a punch against tougher foes and shielded targets in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Charge your beam to lock on, then fire away to strip defenses or deal heavy damage from afar. Save them for bosses or clustered enemies, as ammo stays limited early on. Pair with Sylux’s psychic abilities for quick follow-ups when shields drop.
Tempting as it may be to hoard your most powerful ammunition, you shouldn’t hesitate to use missiles against most foes. Enemies in Metroid Prime 4 are much more responsive to different types of force than they are in other Metroid games. Take the automatons in Volt Forge, for example, or the Grievers in Fury Green. You can just use the power/psychic beam to defeat them, but you can also knock them backwards and interrupt their attacks with a missile blast.
The exception is if you’re in an encounter with a powerful enemy that’s only weak to missiles. Don’t waste them on mobs or anything other than the spot that’s weak to missiles in that case. Even if you do run out of ammo, though, it’s not all that terrible. Bosses have a convenient habit of summoning small enemies or spitting out destructible projectiles that drop ammo.
Explore everywhere
Samus’s missions thrive on curiosity, so make exploration your habit early. Scan every corridor and hidden alcove-Metroid Prime 4 rewards persistence with upgrades, shortcuts, and lore fragments that deepen your understanding of Sylux’s motives and the new psychic powers system. Use your ESP abilities to sense concealed paths or manipulate objects that ordinary weapons can’t reach. The more ground you cover, the stronger and more adaptable you become for the challenges ahead.
Yes, exploring is the point of a Metroidvania, but it’s easy to get caught up moving forward in this one without bothering to look around. Metroid Prime 4 isn’t interested in pointing out upgrade locations or save rooms for you, either. Its rooms tend to have slightly more complex layouts that make it so you can’t just see everything as soon as you enter, in contrast to something like Metroid Prime Remastered. A missile expansion might be hidden under a slightly unusual floor pattern. A save room may be tucked away at the back of a bigger chamber, with the door set back out of plain sight.
Take notes
Keep a record of scan data, logs, and enemy behavior as you explore each area. Writing down patterns, weak points, and environmental clues helps you anticipate threats and solve puzzles faster. Notes on your psychic abilities and their interactions with specific technologies can also reveal hidden tactics that you might overlook in the heat of battle.
You can place map markers in Metroid Prime 4, but they don’t actually tell you everything, like which power-up you need for a specific thing. It’s nice to know where a missile expansion is, but if you don’t remember that you need the psychic pull or boost ball, then that’s not very helpful for planning.
Some important locations don’t lend themselves to map markers, too, either because you can’t see a power-up associated with it or it’s just really easy to forget about. It’s worth making notes for things like remembering to take all those green crystals you scoop up in the desert back to the Lamorn altar. Or that one random pull hatch in Volt Forge that has no distinguishing features and just lurks there, waiting for you to open it. There’s a lot of stuff like that across Viewros, and it’s a good idea to keep up with it all if you want to fill out your log book and aim for as high a completion percentage as possible.
Best psychic power combos in Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
Psychic power combos in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond blend Samus’ ESP abilities with weapons for efficient combat, puzzles, and traversal on Viewros. Effective pairings amplify damage, crowd control, or mobility by chaining upgrades like Psychic Visor scans with Lasso pulls. These strategies shine against Sylux and psychic foes.
Combat Combos
Pair Psychic Lasso with Super Missiles: Lasso enemy weak points or tentacles, then fire tracking missiles for massive damage bursts. Use Psychic Glove to control Motes from charged Psychic Bombs, detonating them near groups after a Thunder Shot freezes foes.
Puzzle Solvers
Scan with Psychic Visor to reveal platforms, then Psychic Grapple across gaps followed by Psychic Boots double jump for precision landing. Psychic Power Bomb clears crystal walls, combined with Boost Ball rolls to navigate debris quickly.
Boss Tactics
Against Sylux, Psychic Lasso yanks glowing cores post-Ice Shot freeze, then unload Fire Super Shots; Psychic Spider Ball evades attacks on magnetic tracks. Chain Psychic Bomb Motes with Glove control to disrupt phases.
Best psychic combos for crowd control in Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
Psychic combos excel at crowd control in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond by grouping enemies with telekinesis before unleashing area blasts via the Neuro-Point system. Cryo-K and Pyro-K trees provide top synergy for freezing or burning packs, turning foes into panicked hazards. These setups dominate pirate swarms and mutated waves on Viewros.
Cryo-K Freezes
Use Force Lariat from Tele-Kinesis to clump enemies, then Cryo-K’s Shatter Spike detonates frozen clusters for screen-wide explosions and stagger. Follow with Plasma Lance piercing through survivors, multiplying damage up to 6x on aligned groups.
Pyro-K Denial
Thermal Vent lays flame carpets that panic and interrupt bipeds, forcing dodges into kill zones; chain with Supernova Pulse for 220 base damage plus 25% vulnerability on panicking organics. Tele-Kinesis + Pyro-K quick-swap launches 420-600 damage fireballs to clear rooms instantly.
Hybrid Tactics
Tele-lift a foe, ignite with Plasma Beam, then hurl as a molotov for 225 radius blasts; mix Pyro-Cryo for thermal shock true damage chunks. Psychic Power Bombs in Morph Ball enhance with mote infusions for wide-radius pulls before detonations.
