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[Kikujiro]

If, keeping everything else about their relationship constant, you change their genders to be the same and sexism issues go away, then those weren't sexism to begin with. If the only reason that Samus cannot take orders from a male superior officer is because he is male, that is a sexist viewpoint.

<cut>

You understand that your argument doesn't make any sense? You can't say "if you change this with that", because things work in context. It's one of the most stupid thing I read lately. Your constantly defending of the game is even more pathetic than the game itself.

Account finally activated! That was a lot faster than I though.

The problem with Samus' character was that it was very heavy handed, the narrative had no subtlety and her monologues would go onto explain things that recently just happened and the player saw.

<cut>

Exactly and that happens when someone who isn't a writer tries to write something. Sakamoto can't be subtle because he can't write. Earthbound is written by an actual writer and it's subtle and intelligent. Sakamoto's writing is the worst kind of fanfiction, from the mind of someone who probably never read a good book and watched too many soap operas and bad animes.

 

[RagnarokX]

You understand that your argument doesn't make any sense? You can't say "if you change this with that", because things work in context. It's one of the most stupid thing I read lately. Your constantly defending of the game is even more pathetic than the game itself.

Just because you didn't understand it and used ad hominems doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

 

[sonicmj1]

You're reading the argument wrong. If you treat a person a certain way BECAUSE of their sex, that's sexism. Samus and Adam's relationship could be the same regardless of their sex. Samus could be a young man looking up to Adam as a father figure. Samus could look up to Adam as a mother figure. They don't treat each other any way because of their sexes. It's a parent child dynamic.

If you call a black person the n word because they are black and you hate blacks, your skin color doesn't matter.

If you do anything because you hate blacks, then the racism is pretty obvious and no discussion is required. But could you use the 'n' word because the person is black, but you don't hate blacks?

We don't live in the hypothetical world where Samus is a man and there is no gender difference. The game was made intentionally with Samus as a woman and Adam as a man. Even if the character's roles are justified through the fiction, it makes sense to grapple with their implications. After all, if the relationship were distasteful to the author, he would be able to change the story around it.

So argue about what the relationship is (if you want to take the parent-child dynamic, go for it), not what the relationship would be if it were different. You can't freely change the context of the characters' actions without beginning to describe an entirely different story.

 

[Neff]

This thread has taught me that liking Other M causes you to make bad arguments.

Except the Other M defence typically boils down to 'not jumping on the hatewagon'. It's surprisingly easy to enjoy stuff.

 

[ASIS]

I also think the game deserved better, but not in praise. I think it deserved better design.

Samus was fast, the controls were responsive, the power ups were all done fantastically well. But in light of the crappy monologue, the confined level design, and the disappointing finale and NG+, it just didn't feel like the metroid I wanted.


i would like to see another take on the forumla though, I see great potential there. But this time I'd like them use the Wiimote+ nunchuck set up instead.

 

[farnham]

This thread has taught me that liking Other M causes you to make bad arguments.

Why is reasonably good graphics, reasonably good level design, nice sense of speed and good controls a bad argument?

I think it was too short.. But it was def a good game

 

[Riposte]

I don't have a horse in this race, but I dislike the aggressive tribalism that pops up on some games for GAF. MGS4, Heavy Rain, FFXIII/FFXIII-2, RE5/6 (or Capcom in general), BioWare in general, Call of Duty, etc. You can hate these games (and I hate Heavy Rain more than most games) without resorting to obnoxious meme spam. Feels like some posts are made weeks or months before a thread. (Btw, I totally admit to making JASON! jokes in the past at some point, but I'm probably not going to do that anymore.)

 

[sonicmj1]

Why is reasonably good graphics, reasonably good level design, nice sense of speed and good controls a bad argument?

I think it was too short.. But it was def a good game

Because those are meaningless arguments. "Good" is a relative term, and if you don't add any context to it, it doesn't say much of anything, beyond that you liked that particular thing. Why was the level design good? What did it do well?

As another poster put it...

After reading the short essay on objectivity vs subjectivity Femmeworth posted a few pages ago, I tried to think about these arguments everyone makes that basically come down to "I liked the game, you didn't like it, so it's all subjective".

Obviously, if you like or dislike something, it's a matter of taste and can't be right or wrong (usually).

So, what would be helpful and more constructive to actual discussion is seperating the quantifiable properties of the game from your opinion on why you liked/hated/didn't mind them.

For example, just saying "The controls are bad" is not really helping.
After a short adjustment phase, I personally had no trouble executing any moves, even using missiles in the middle of a fight, and didn't feel handicapped by the omission of an analog stick.
(Though it certainly looked funny when Samus was taking sharp 90° turns all the time.)
But me saying "The controls are good" wouldn't be helpful either.
So, we should find an objective description that everyone (or most people) can agree upon and then add our personal feelings about them.

For example:
Objective: "The controls are unconventional"
Subjective: "After a short adjustment phase, I didn't mind them.
Subjective: "The first-person/3rd person switching felt too jarring to me"
Subjective: "I could never use missiles because you have to stand still to shoot them."
Subjective: "I would have preferred nunchuck controls because the sideways-wiimote feels uncomfortable to me/I like to have full 360° movement in 3D games/etc."

I'm too tired to type all arguments in this way now, but I hope some people will understand what I'm trying to say.

 

[RagnarokX]

If you do anything because you hate blacks, then the racism is pretty obvious and no discussion is required. But could you use the 'n' word because the person is black, but you don't hate blacks?

We don't live in the hypothetical world where Samus is a man and there is no gender difference. The game was made intentionally with Samus as a woman and Adam as a man. Even if the character's roles are justified through the fiction, it makes sense to grapple with their implications. After all, if the relationship were distasteful to the author, he would be able to change the story around it.

So argue about what the relationship is (if you want to take the parent-child dynamic, go for it), not what the relationship would be if it were different. You can't freely change the context of the characters' actions without beginning to describe an entirely different story.

The hypothetical reverse gender situation is a mental exercise to illustrate that the characters' treatments of each other are gender neutral. Adam doesn't treat Samus any particular way because she is female and she doesn't treat him any particular way because he is male. Their genders could be reversed or the same and their relationship wouldn't change. His status as a commanding officer has nothing to do with their genders. She's not obeying him because he's a man. He could be a woman and she'd still have to obey because of rank.

When your argument is that Samus taking orders from Adam is only sexist because Adam is male, that argument is sexist.

 

[etiolate]

There's really nothing to praise about Other M. That's why people laugh and ridicule those defending the game. The title is average at best. Nobody would care about it if it didn't have the Metroid named attached to it. The level design is really basic, the art design is bad, the music is nonexistent, the story is terrible, the combat is mindless, the auto-aim creates input errors, the first person aiming is a terrible idea, the environments are forgettable, the monsters look tacky, the item/secret system is pointless, the pixel hunts are terrible, the hunch-walk segments are terrible, the pacing is bad, the length is short and the content barren.

In the end, your positives are that the main character moves fast and when you press a button something happens.

 

[RagnarokX]

There's really nothing to praise about Other M. That's why people laugh and ridicule those defending the game. The title is average at best. Nobody would care about it if it didn't have the Metroid named attached to it. The level design is really basic, the art design is bad, the music is nonexistent, the story is terrible, the combat is mindless, the auto-aim creates input errors, the first person aiming is a terrible idea, the environments are forgettable, the monsters look tacky, the item/secret system is pointless, the pixel hunts are terrible, the hunch-walk segments are terrible, the pacing is bad, the length is short and the content barren.

In the end, your positives are that the main character moves fast and when you press a button something happens.

You're right. The game is average at best. I just think most of the arguments people use against it are completely blown out of proportion.

 

[Green Mamba]

Jesus christ, if there's anything worth defending about Other M, it's not its fucking story. Holy shit.

EDIT: Reading this thread makes my brain hurt.

 

[sonicmj1]

The hypothetical reverse gender situation is a mental exercise to illustrate that the characters' treatments of each other are gender neutral. Adam doesn't treat Samus any particular way because she is female and she doesn't treat him any particular way because he is male. Their genders could be reversed or the same and their relationship wouldn't change. His status as a commanding officer has nothing to do with their genders. She's not obeying him because he's a man. He could be a woman and she'd still have to obey because of rank.

When your argument is that Samus taking orders from Adam is only sexist because Adam is male, that argument is sexist.

My understanding is that Samus is an independent operator, and not officially in the chain of command. She only works under Adam and follows his orders because she voluntarily agrees to do so (and there are reasons she has to agree, but it's still an important distinction).

An argument limited to saying that Metroid: Other M is sexist because Samus takes orders from Adam and Adam is male would rightfully be dismissed out of hand. I can't speak to everyone's particular arguments, but at the very least, the Moonbase blog post marshals a lot more evidence than that in its examination of the relationship between Adam and Samus.

I'm not going to go deep into a discussion of this, because I actually haven't played Other M. But I'm interested in reading better discussion about the game. Both sides dismissing each other with empty platitudes and lazy arguments makes for poor reading.

 

[Branduil]

Why is reasonably good graphics, reasonably good level design, nice sense of speed and good controls a bad argument?

I think it was too short.. But it was def a good game

I was talking about the "it's not sexism if you change the important details" argument.

 

[uncledonnie]

Jesus christ, if there's anything worth defending about Other M, it's not its fucking story. Holy shit.

Haha, seriously. But, there's nothing else worth defending either. Gameplay was crap. The puzzles were garbage. The sense of exploration was minimal.

It's not just the only truly bad Metroid game, it's a bad game in general.

 

[@MUWANdo]

the length is short and the content barren.

What?

 

[Green Mamba]

Metroid: Other M:

The only Metroid that forces you to run through super heated rooms before getting the Varia Suit.

The only Metroid that justifies Samus as not having the Varia Suit by having her actually have the Varia Suit. She just willfully turned off.

....

Adam -- Sociopath

Samus -- Mouth-breathing retard

 

[antitrop]

What?

I'm not sure what exactly was so incomprehensible about his post. The game doesn't take very long to beat and there isn't much to do.

 

[RagnarokX]

My understanding is that Samus is an independent operator, and not officially in the chain of command. She only works under Adam and follows his orders because she voluntarily agrees to do so (and there are reasons she has to agree, but it's still an important distinction).

An argument limited to saying that Metroid: Other M is sexist because Samus takes orders from Adam and Adam is male would rightfully be dismissed out of hand. I can't speak to everyone's particular arguments, but at the very least, the Moonbase blog post marshals a lot more evidence than that in its examination of the relationship between Adam and Samus.

I'm not going to go deep into a discussion of this, because I actually haven't played Other M. But I'm interested in reading better discussion about the game. Both sides dismissing each other with empty platitudes and lazy arguments makes for poor reading.

You are correct that there is no official chain of command, but as an official commanding officer of the government that Samus works for, Adam has authority over the situation. The same way the military would have authority over a civilian. Adam agrees to let Samus help the investigation if she follows orders. He could have just kicked her off the ship. Disobeying would be like declaring war; which she does do in Fusion and she pretty much becomes a wanted criminal. But the point is that his authority has nothing to do with gender.

Metroid: Other M:

The only Metroid that forces you to run through super heated rooms before getting the Varia Suit.

The only Metroid that justifies Samus as not having the Varia Suit by having her actually have the Varia Suit. She just willfully turned off.

....

Adam -- Sociopath

Samus -- Mouth-breathing retard

Well she had the Varia Suit in Super Metroid, too, she just left it at home for some reason. Metroid Prime forces you to run through super heated rooms because Samus lost her Varia Suit by tripping over a power cord.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

I like Other M.

That being said, it is the worst game of the franchise.

 

[Green Mamba]

Well she had the Varia Suit in Super Metroid, too, she just left it at home for some reason. Metroid Prime forces you to run through super heated rooms because Samus lost her Varia Suit by tripping over a power cord.

You're never forced into any super heated rooms in any other Metroid prior to getting the Varia Suit. I recommend playing them again.

We don't know what happens to the upgrades in between Metroid titles. But you get points for making shit up to fill a gap! I myself relied on what the game actually told me. Who knew?

Samus loses her suit upgrades in Metroid Prime to a rather large explosion. Doofy story contrivance, but not really Samus's fault so far as we can tell.

Try again.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I'm not sure what exactly was so incomprehensible about his post. The game doesn't take very long to beat and there isn't much to do.

Relative to what? It's much longer than any of the 2D games and on par with the Prime games in terms of content. Volume is the least of its problems.

 

[maharg]

The hypothetical reverse gender situation is a mental exercise to illustrate that the characters' treatments of each other are gender neutral. Adam doesn't treat Samus any particular way because she is female and she doesn't treat him any particular way because he is male. Their genders could be reversed or the same and their relationship wouldn't change. His status as a commanding officer has nothing to do with their genders. She's not obeying him because he's a man. He could be a woman and she'd still have to obey because of rank.

All this is is a mental exercise in sophistry. The text is the text, and criticism should be of the text, not tempered by some alternate universe where the text is something other than what it is. You're basically arguing that every story is some kind of superficial framework in which the characters, their actions, and motivations are completely meaningless. I don't know what you even get out of anything at that point.

When your argument is that Samus taking orders from Adam is only sexist because Adam is male, that argument is sexist.

Fortunately, the arguments are nothing so simplistic as that and rely entirely on the story as written and the characters as presented.

 

[RagnarokX]

All this is is a mental exercise in sophistry. The text is the text, and criticism should be of the text, not tempered by some alternate universe where the text is something other than what it is. You're basically arguing that every story is some kind of superficial framework in which the characters, their actions, and motivations are completely meaningless. I don't know what you even get out of anything at that point.



Fortunately, the arguments are nothing so simplistic as that and rely entirely on the story as written and the characters as presented.

Okay, where is the text where Adam and Samus treat each other a specific way because of their genders?

 

[SmithnCo]

Why does Samus' suit give out from one ice shot from Adam. Surprised they couldn't come up with a convenient way for her to lose some of her upgrades when convenient crap like this is still in. The Varia suit thing could've been empowering but instead it was handled in the worst possible way.

 

[Mudkips]

Okay, where is the text where Adam and Samus treat each other a specific way because of their genders?

There isn't any beyond Adam playfully calling Samus "lady".
The game isn't sexist, Samus isn't ruined as a character for not being a mindless tank the entire game, and thebabytheybabythebaby was annoying, but not terrible.

Other M is a great game, and it's a far better Metroid game than any of the Prime games were. I'd be happy to get a sequel with some better control options and less hand holding.

 

[maharg]

Okay, where is the text where Adam and Samus treat each other a specific way because of their genders?

Oh lord. I find it both fascinating and baffling that you're actually willing to descend down such an absurd rabbit hole to defend this awful story.

Samus was a character with agency. In Other M she submits all of her agency to a male third party. She is almost completely deconstructed as a woman with power into one who is almost completely powerless and unable to take any action on her own motivation, all because of a man to whom she unquestioningly submits. It doesn't matter if it's because she's madly in love with him or because she has daddy issues, either one is enough to render her agency null.

It doesn't matter what the story would mean if she was a man because *she is a woman*.

 

[AntMurda]

Oh lord. I find it both fascinating and baffling that you're actually willing to descend down such an absurd rabbit hole to defend this awful story.

Samus was a character with agency. In Other M she submits all of her agency to a male third party. She is almost completely deconstructed as a woman with power into one who is almost completely powerless and unable to take any action on her own motivation, all because of a man to whom she unquestioningly submits. It doesn't matter if it's because she's madly in love with him or because she has daddy issues, either one is enough to render her agency null.

It doesn't matter what the story would mean if she was a man because *she is a woman*.

I'm not defending the story. I actually don't care eitherway. However, isn't Samus following a ranked superior here regardless of gender?

 

[ThatObviousUser]

I think the commercial is pretty cool though, so there's that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12-fbN0uWPo

Such an amazing commercial. I remember making ton of GIF avatars for GAFers from it, and then the game came out... =/

 

[FreeMufasa]

Lov da game, direction n wudnt mind a sequal.

I can understand not liking it but shit game? Y'all trippin.

True say I prefer prime 1 n super. Still, I don't wanna see a prime 4

 

[DICKS AHOY]

"Secret of Samus that only I know: I know where Samus's beauty mark is."

 

[maharg]

I'm not defending the story. I actually don't care eitherway. However, isn't Samus following a ranked superior here regardless of gender?

Samus is not (regardless of whether she once was) a soldier, so her following orders is a choice she accepts and then reinforces at great personal cost. The fact that she's willing to harm herself in order to continue following orders would be disturbing regardless of gender, but in context it absolutely becomes a reinforcement of sexist ideals.

 

[Dion Blaster]

I still don't at all understand why they would opt to go with a dpad in a 3d realm? It makes absolutely no sense why they would ignore the nunchuck.

Not to mention switching to missile mode would be been much smoother with the remote pointed at the screen already, all you would have to do is hold down B, and you could still move around!

I just don't understand these dumb design decisions. And they would all be completely optional.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I think the sideways Wiimote thing was one of those "Hey this'd be cool!" sort of things. I remember them saying they liked the simplicity of NES Metroid, and wanting to do that (As opposed to Supers I guess? GBA Metroid still has best controls by far).

I didn't mind the dpad so much as I minded the missiles, personally. I actually kinda liked using the dpad, and they did make it work really well if you just accept the partial rails the game uses to help you.

 

[RagnarokX]

Oh lord. I find it both fascinating and baffling that you're actually willing to descend down such an absurd rabbit hole to defend this awful story.

Samus was a character with agency. In Other M she submits all of her agency to a male third party. She is almost completely deconstructed as a woman with power into one who is almost completely powerless and unable to take any action on her own motivation, all because of a man to whom she unquestioningly submits. It doesn't matter if it's because she's madly in love with him or because she has daddy issues, either one is enough to render her agency null.

It doesn't matter what the story would mean if she was a man because *she is a woman*.

Samus has agency for the whole game. She chooses to follow orders because it would be pretty boring if she just left and doing whatever she wanted would be a crime. It's not like she loses contact with Adam and just falls over like a puppet with its strings cut. Cooperation is not weakness. Just because you emphasize their genders with loaded language in your description of their relationship doesn't mean that in the game their genders mattered.

You're asking that she be incapable of adapting to a teamwork situation under a commanding officer. She has always been depicted as following a mission; not as some rebel.

Samus is not (regardless of whether she once was) a soldier, so her following orders is a choice she accepts and then reinforces at great personal cost. The fact that she's willing to harm herself in order to continue following orders would be disturbing regardless of gender, but in context it absolutely becomes a reinforcement of sexist ideals.

You don't have to be a soldier to follow orders. Not following the orders of an official of the government you serve would be a crime. She becomes a criminal in Fusion for not following orders.

Harming yourself to follow orders is stupid regardless of gender, but that decision had nothing to do with gender. She wasn't following orders because he was a man.

 

[CorvoSol]

Can I ask again how Fusion is at fault, though? Because Fusion always stands out to me as the game that more than any other proves what was wrong with Other M.

 

[Femmeworth]

Gah, I don't think these Other M sexism discussions ever change anyone's mind.

In regards to Samus' agency, this series of scenes speaks loads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k-9avJI3SpU#t=4663s

 

[Aquamarine]

Samus has agency for the whole game. She chooses to follow orders because it would be pretty boring if she just left and doing whatever she wanted would be a crime. It's not like she loses contact with Adam and just falls over like a puppet with its strings cut. Cooperation is not weakness. Just because you emphasize their genders with loaded language in your description of their relationship doesn't mean that in the game their genders mattered.

You're asking that she be incapable of adapting to a teamwork situation under a commanding officer. She has always been depicted as following a mission; not as some rebel.



You don't have to be a soldier to follow orders. Not following the orders of an official of the government you serve would be a crime. She becomes a criminal in Fusion for not following orders.

Harming yourself to follow orders is stupid regardless of gender, but that decision had nothing to do with gender. She wasn't following orders because he was a man.

Samus didn't use some of her abilities until Adam "allowed it." Following orders is one thing, but refusing to use the extent of her arsenal to complete her missions makes Samus seem clingy and subordinate.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

I have not authorized you to breathe.

 

[Quackula]

Can we just chalk up the whole sexism angle to the crappy writing all around?

 

[maharg]

Can I ask again how Fusion is at fault, though? Because Fusion always stands out to me as the game that more than any other proves what was wrong with Other M.

Sorry. I didn't say (or didn't mean to say, I forget my exact words) that Fusion was in any way as bad as Other M, only that it planted the seeds. Samus struck me as unnecessarily obsessed with Adam even when I played the game when it came out, and it's that plot point that Other M took and ran with full force.

 

[CorvoSol]

Gah, I don't think these Other M sexism discussions ever change anyone's mind.

In regards to Samus' agency, this scene speaks loads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k-9avJI3SpU#t=4663s

WHY DID I READ THE COMMENTS?

Sorry. I didn't say (or didn't mean to say, I forget my exact words) that Fusion was in any way as bad as Other M, only that it planted the seeds. Samus struck me as unnecessarily obsessed with Adam even when I played the game when it came out, and it's that plot point that Other M took and ran with full force.

I never really got that, but I mean, it could've been that Samus doesn't handle human relationships well. This is a woman who was raised by bird-men after all. I dunno, for me Fusion proves that Samus is what we all thought she was, since she starts the game saying she hates orders and when she finds out what the Federation is up to midway through the game, sticks it to them.

 

[maharg]

Samus has agency for the whole game. She chooses to follow orders because it would be pretty boring if she just left and doing whatever she wanted would be a crime. It's not like she loses contact with Adam and just falls over like a puppet with its strings cut. Cooperation is not weakness. Just because you emphasize their genders with loaded language in your description of their relationship doesn't mean that in the game their genders mattered.

You're asking that she be incapable of adapting to a teamwork situation under a commanding officer. She has always been depicted as following a mission; not as some rebel.

I'm asking that she be capable of motivating her own choices without external input.

You act like this game is a documentary, detailing true events from an objective perspective. It's a story written by people. People with both conscious and subconscious ideas about how people behave and ought to behave. When a story takes a character who was previously empowered and systematically eliminates their power for no real narrative purpose, it's not hard to see that these ideas are shining through.

Basically we found out in Other M that Samus really was, in the eyes of her creators, just a reward in a bikini all along. That's why Other M gets such vitriol.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

WHY DID I READ THE COMMENTS?



I never really got that, but I mean, it could've been that Samus doesn't handle human relationships well. This is a woman who was raised by bird-men after all. I dunno, for me Fusion proves that Samus is what we all thought she was, since she starts the game saying she hates orders and when she finds out what the Federation is up to midway through the game, sticks it to them.

Okay every one Nintendo made a metroid Manga. Of smaus telling her orgin story. If ya'll would please read that so you can see samus was not changed in Other M. In all the games befor this&#65279; she was a voiceless character. Other M just gave her the voice She already had. So if you don't like Samus from other M the truth is you don't like SamusGet your Dicks out your ass and realize that Please!

I don't like samus getting my dick out of my ass

 

[RagnarokX]

Gah, I don't think these Other M sexism discussions ever change anyone's mind.

In regards to Samus' agency, this scene speaks loads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k-9avJI3SpU#t=4663s

How does her getting knocked out prove she loses agency? She's making her own decisions, and Adam had to use physical force to stop her from going on a suicide mission. The scene is really dumb, but nothing Adam said would have stopped her from choosing to go on the suicide mission.

Samus didn't use some of her abilities until Adam "allowed it." Following orders is one thing, but refusing to use the extent of her arsenal to complete her missions makes Samus seem clingy and subordinate.

But her decision to follow orders was not because he was male and she was female. She didn't use her powers because it was a condition of being allowed to help with the mission with the excuse that Adam was worried that her powers might be dangerous to his men. It's not a great excuse, but it was just to give a reason to limit her powers for the purposes of gear gating and creating a difficulty curve.

 

[goldenpp72]

How does her getting knocked out prove she loses agency? She's making her own decisions, and Adam had to use physical force to stop her from going on a suicide mission. The scene is really dumb, but nothing Adam said would have stopped her from choosing to go on the suicide mission.



But her decision to follow orders was not because he was male and she was female. She didn't use her powers because it was a condition of being allowed to help with the mission with the excuse that Adam was worried that her powers might be dangerous to his men. It's not a great excuse, but it was just to give a reason to limit her powers for the purposes of gear gating and creating a difficulty curve.

I think the problem is that most people (like me) would assume Samus would say fuck all that and kick some ass. Samus was to many of us a powerful, silent hunter that did things her way. I honestly don't think people want Samus to get married and be a house wife or something either, though it would probably still make for a better game than other M.

 

[Fandangox]

Well she had the Varia Suit in Super Metroid, too, she just left it at home for some reason. Metroid Prime forces you to run through super heated rooms because Samus lost her Varia Suit by tripping over a power cord.

Difference is, as dumb as it was to have her lose her powers by tripping, it served a clear gameplay purpose that didn't clash with the story

"She would be over powered with all her stuff, she loses it, must get them again"

In Other M she has all her powers but cannot use till she is allowed to, integrating the gameplay and story, but it wasn't pulled off correctly and what it does is just create a mess of things.

Why wouldn't Samus activate her Varia suit? Cause Adam didn't allow her too? That's silly, Unlike power bombs or missiles there's no harm in the Varia suit. The story justification and Gameplay justification just didn't work out in this game.

 

[AniHawk]

the sexism aspect of the metroid other m story isn't even the worst part. it's how it affects the game design, its pacing, and how removes the sense of reward from the player that really sucks.

it's weird that this came out the same year as heavy rain, but heavy rain was held up as really great among critics despite a pretty limited view of women as a whole (something i refer to as frank miller syndrome)

 

[Agent_J]

i won't defend any of the game's flaws, but i'm not afraid to admit that i enjoyed this game so much that i 100%'d the entire game on two difficulties. i'm just a casual metroid fan, with my first experiences being metroid prime and fusion (both incredible).

 

[goldenpp72]

Difference is, as dumb as it was to have her lose her powers by tripping, it served a clear gameplay purpose that didn't clash with the story

"She would be over powered with all her stuff, she loses it, must get them again"

In Other M she has all her powers but cannot use till she is allowed to, integrating the gameplay and story, but it wasn't pulled off correctly and what it does is just create a mess of things.

Why wouldn't Samus activate her Varia suit? Cause Adam didn't allow her too? That's silly, Unlike power bombs or missiles there's no harm in the Varia suit. The story justification and Gameplay justification just didn't work out in this game.

Plus it would be really easy for game designers to simply come up with new hazards or simply retcon the fact she had earned new powers in a previous game and not bother trying to explain it (hi Mega Man). Just make the room some kind of destructive acid fog thing that eats your suit over time, done, need a new suit to progress.