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Metroid Other M |OT| You're Not Supposed to Remember Him

KevinCow said:
Retro did a better job at giving Samus a character in this two second bit at the end of Echoes than any of the shitty rambling bullshit in Other M.

8kVcd.gif


"Yeah bitches, I just totally just saved your planet and your entire species. Big deal. Later."
God no, that was the cheesiest clichéd stupid moment ever included in a Metroid game, only to be superseded by the mighty morphin' GF corps in Other M.
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
that GIF summarises why the Prime games' story are so awesome pretty succinctly
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Segata Sanshiro said:
Because there's no dialogue?
it's mostly all implied rather than outwardly said. that's such a cool thing that video games can do that other mediums can't.

I'm a sucker for mute, first-person narrative. (Half-Life 2, Dead Space 1 etc)
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
So basically it's bad then.

*znort* :)

Rez said:
it's mostly all implied rather than outwardly said. that's such a cool thing that video games can do that other mediums can't.

I'm a sucker for mute, first-person narrative. (Half-Life 2, Dead Space 1 etc)

Ah - so what you're basically saying is that you prefer your female leads to be seen but not heard?

ZOMGSEXISM ;-)
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
I hit the credits this weekend I quite enjoyed the game. It had some serious shortcomings (completely unfocused story), but I always looked forward to my next play session. I'm thrilled to go work on 100% as that is everything I love about the game (light amounts of combat, tons of exploring and figuring out how to get upgrades).

Metroid%20Other%20M%20152.jpg


Metroid%20Other%20M%20161.jpg
 

Mafro

Member
Prime Blue said:
God no, that was the cheesiest clichéd stupid moment ever included in a Metroid game, only to be superseded by the mighty morphin' GF corps in Other M.
A lot of people seem to have forgotten this:

7Mza7.png
 

robor

Member
I'm a sucker for mute, first-person narrative. (Half-Life 2, Dead Space 1 etc)

Prime doesn't fall under this, but one of my biggest gripes with Half-Life 2 is the narrative sequences where you're in a room with two other characters rambling on about shit while you stand there like a silent douche bag.
 

farnham

Banned
i think i will play this game a lot more then i did with MP1 through 3

not because the prime games were bad or anything. simply because this game can be beat in one session and MP1 trough 3 simply cant (for me)
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
robor said:
Prime doesn't fall under this, but one of my biggest gripes with Half-Life 2 is the narrative sequences where you're in a room with two other characters rambling on about shit while you stand there like a silent douche bag.
I think that's the genius of those games, personally. It's literally a first-person narrative. The narrative is unfolding around you and the character is what you make of him within the confines of the set path.

I'm happy for alternatives to exist, but the mute protagonist isn't something I feel needs to be done away with, especially in first-person perspective games. Third-person perspective games with a camera pointed at a mute character are a whole other can of worms.

I'm not just saying this to somehow put down Other M and put Prime on a pedestal, this is just one of those little things about games I could dork out over for hours.
 
Rez said:
I'm happy for alternatives to exist, but the mute protagonist isn't something I feel needs to be done away with, especially in first-person perspective games. Third-person perspective games with a camera pointed at a mute character are a whole other can of worms.

Sidetracking a bit, but how do you think third-person titles with a mute lead (I'm thinking Zelda here, particularly) should handle this kind of thing?

Nintendo in particular have a bit of an issue here, as they have a number of characters in their stable who are - or who should remain - mute (...and you can argue that Samus was one of them).
 

heringer

Member
Going to start a second playthrough now. Not sure If on hard or normal... I like grabing upgrades and no upgrades at all sounds like it could lead to some very frustrating moments. :p
 

robor

Member
Rez said:
I think that's the genius of those games, personally. It's literally a first-person narrative. The narrative is unfolding around you and the character is what you make of him within the confines of the set path.

I'm happy for alternatives to exist, but the mute protagonist isn't something I feel needs to be done away with, especially in first-person perspective games. Third-person perspective games with a camera pointed at a mute character are a whole other can of worms.

I'm not just saying this to somehow put down Other M and put Prime on a pedestal, this is just one of those little things about games I could dork out over for hours.

Yea that's cool. Well Prime 1 worked like that for me for the most part. But that's due to being alone for the entire game.

I used to adore the silent protagonists, but these days, I want more out of my avatars. This kinda started with Fusion funnily enough.
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Sidetracking a bit, but how do you think third-person titles with a mute lead (I'm thinking Zelda here, particularly) should handle this kind of thing?

Nintendo in particular have a bit of an issue here, as they have a number of characters in their stable who are - or who should remain - mute (...and you can argue that Samus was one of them).
I can deal with it, I just don't like seeing a camera pointed at 3D model as they animate back and forth silently. Well... hmm. It bothers me more when they're 3D models, animating in front of a camera and have a text bubble instead of speech. But that's another thing again.

Link works because Nintendo are tasteful with how they choose to animate him, ranging from his expressions to his general mannerisms and barks. It's one of those stupidly complicated things that everyone takes for granted that Nintendo have always nailed with 3D Zelda games. I can't even articulate what it is that makes it work. I love that.

A game like Dead Space is also third-person, but everything about the game, from the UI to the in-game HUD to the reticule are part of the world. Technically it's third-person, but everything about that game is in the style of a first-person game. It's one of the reasons I'm not too excited for Dead Space 2, I guess. They're making it seem like DS1 was an accident, in that regard.


robor said:
Yea that's cool. Well Prime 1 worked like that for me for the most part. But that's due to being alone for the entire game.

I used to adore the silent protagonists, but these days, I want more out of my avatars. This kinda started with Fusion funnily enough.
I'm just glad that I usually don't have to choose one or the other. I like that both exist.

I guess I can get the same sort of narrative experience from a more traditional spoken-narrative from a movie, albeit enhanced in some regard thanks to my connection to the character, whereas a movie couldn't really get away with what Half-Life gets away with. That alone attracts me. It's like some clever guy building the game has patted me on the shoulder and said "you, my friend, are going to experience this story in a very deliberate way". It's reassuring when I can sense a very deliberate stance on a matter like that, it suggests confidence in their ability to see a creative idea through.

Of course, that's a best case scenario. It could then go on to be a trainwreck.
 
I fucking *hated* the way Half-Life (especially 2) handled its silent protagonist. If the conversation is going to flow a certain way anyway, it's not like I pretend my thoughts count. Fuck you Alyx Vance, I don't like you, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop pretending I said I did.
 
Rez said:
I can deal with it, I just don't like seeing a camera pointed at 3D model as they animate back and forth silently. Well... hmm. It bothers me more when they're 3D models, animating in front of a camera and have a text bubble instead of speech. But that's another thing again.

Link works because Nintendo are tasteful with how they choose to animate him, ranging from his expressions to his general mannerisms and barks. It's one of those stupidly complicated things that everyone takes for granted that Nintendo have always nailed with 3D Zelda games. I can't even articulate what it is that makes it work. I love that.

Mm. Yeah, the way they handle Link is generally very, very good - its a big part of why I have such a hard time with people demanding they give him a VA, when his character generally comes across so well from animation and design alone.

They're making it seem like DS1 was an accident, in that regard.

I think everything Visceral did after DS1 has made it seem like DS1 was a happy accident...
 
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Segata Sanshiro said:
I fucking *hated* the way Half-Life (especially 2) handled its silent protagonist. If the conversation is going to flow a certain way anyway, it's not like I pretend my thoughts count. Fuck you Alyx Vance, I don't like you, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop pretending I said I did.
you just don't understand rock n roll, pops
 

Tritroid

Member
I am really not understanding the complaints about the story. Some people are going completely overboard with the negative comments in here.

Does the story have some spots that are cringe-worthy? Yes. Do some points leave a bit of head-scratching? Sure. Do a couple moments come across as completely-anime-inspired? Absolutely.

But the story is not a complete and utter failure by any regard. It's an entertaining way of explaining what happened between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, and it did a pretty damn good job of it. Yes it has it's shortcomings, but so does every other video game driven story to date. It sounds like a lot of people were going into this expecting flawless writing on a cinematic level, and that was just never going to be the reality, especially not from a franchise that up to this point has never even had a main character with a single line of voiced dialogue.
 
Rez said:
you just don't understand rock n roll, pops
Seriously! If he's going to be silent, at least have other people act like he's silent! Don't just delete half of the conversation and call it a wrap! Put Chewbacca noises or something fuck.
 

heringer

Member
Segata Sanshiro said:
Seriously! If he's going to be silent, at least have other people act like he's silent! Don't just delete half of the conversation and call it a wrap! Put Chewbacca noises or something fuck.
Halo ODST did that right. Your guy doesn't speak a word and people always talk like "so you're the silent type, huh?".
 
Rez said:
that GIF summarises why the Prime games' story are so awesome pretty succinctly

Eh.

Better than Other M or no, that bullshit with the "Phazon can create alternate now dimensions lol" in 2 and pretty much everything in 3's story was still total bullshit.
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
What I'm imagining Gordon to be saying, or at least what the game is implying Gordon to be saying, is probably a lot more emotionally engaging than whatever would actually be said. Having to fill in the gaps myself just endears me to that world that little bit more, especially on a repeat playthrough.

But some people do hate it. I never was a "the best story is the one YOU think of" (Wright 19:32) fan, but Half-Life 2 was the game that really clicked with me and sold me on the idea.

Although I was also a kid who ran around in OOT making up my own story as I tried to jump over an impossible to jump over rooftop in one of the villages, so maybe I'm just unstable.
 

farnham

Banned
i think the difference between zelda and metroid in terms of voice acting is that in metroid games you had no npcs at all up until metroid prime 3 or sorta metroid fusion.

so they had a lot of room to fill in some characters like anthony higgs and i think they did pretty well (anthony in particular was a very interesting character that i would love to see in other metroid games. samus seems to care a lot about him and he is a character from samuses past as much as adam is. he is like a big brother to her from what i gathered. also he was the hidden hero of the game. shame that team ninja didnt make a anthony mode.)

zelda has many npcs in the past and most of them are not suited for voice acting. characters like the mailman or tingle would be soooo ackward if given dialogue. (oh hi there im tingle. im 35 and i wish i was a fairy.) It just works a lot better with text and mumblings only. Malo is another good example. he goes on and on and on with his sarcastic slanter. if a young kid would have spoken that dialogue it probably would have killed that character for many people.
 
heringer said:
Halo ODST did that right. Your guy doesn't speak a word and people always talk like "so you're the silent type, huh?".

They do that in HL2; It's actually pretty annoying. It was alright the first time in Half-Life 2(Alyx was all "you're not very talkative, are you?") but then characters kept going "oh Gordon, you don't have to say anything, we already know how your blank personality feels" and "come on Gordon, say something".

Those robots in Portal 2 coop have way more personality than Gordon in fact. I love 'em.
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
well, of course they do. Gordon doesn't have a personality. He isn't a character in any traditional sense of the word. He's just a surrogate.
 
Rez said:
What I'm imagining Gordon to be saying, or at least what the game is implying Gordon to be saying, is probably a lot more emotionally engaging than whatever would actually be said. Having to fill in the gaps myself just endears me to that world that little bit more, especially on a repeat playthrough.

But some people do hate it. I never was a "the best story is the one YOU think of" (Wright 19:32) fan, but Half-Life 2 was the game that really clicked with me and sold me on the idea.
I feel that Breakdown did it way, way better. Better than pretty much any FPS prior or since. But then, he wasn't completely silent. Most importantly, *that* Alex didn't pretend you were saying shit.

Half-Life 2 for me was seriously:

"Hi Gordon, I'm Alyx!"

Segata: "GO TO HELL AND DIE"

"Why yes I am a pretty little butterfly thanks! Mind if I come with you?"

Segata: "FALL TO HELL I HATE YOU"

"Great, I'll bring the nachos!"
 
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Deleted member 30609

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Segata Sanshiro said:
I feel that Breakdown did it way, way better. Better than pretty much any FPS prior or since. But then, he wasn't completely silent. Most importantly, *that* Alex didn't pretend you were saying shit.

Half-Life 2 for me was seriously:

"Hi Gordon, I'm Alyx!"

Segata: "GO TO HELL AND DIE"

"Why yes I am a pretty little butterfly thanks! Mind if I come with you?"

Segata: "FALL TO HELL I HATE YOU"

"Great, I'll bring the nachos!"
heh, yeah I guess an actual want to be a part of the world is needed. it becomes borderline role-playing for me, at some point.
 

heringer

Member
Fimbulvetr said:
They do that in HL2; It's actually pretty annoying. It was alright the first time in Half-Life 2(Alyx was all "you're not very talkative, are you?") but then characters kept going "oh Gordon, you don't have to say anything, we already know how your blank personality feels" and "come on Gordon, say something".

Those robots in Portal 2 coop have way more personality than Gordon in fact. I love 'em.
But in ODST it's at least convincing because nobody pretends to know what you're thinking, which is the case in HL2 and yeah, it's annoying.
 
Dont know if it has been shown here, but it seems the metroid japanese box art has a little surprise:
Other-M.jpg

Other-M-1.jpg

Other-M-2.jpg

Other-M-3.jpg


Segata Sanshiro said:
Now I understamd why the eyes clashed a lot with the art of the helmet. Knowing this I have to say its an excellent boxart.

I feel that Breakdown did it way, way better. Better than pretty much any FPS prior or since. But then, he wasn't completely silent. Most importantly, *that* Alex didn't pretend you were saying shit.

Half-Life 2 for me was seriously:

"Hi Gordon, I'm Alyx!"

Segata: "GO TO HELL AND DIE"

"Why yes I am a pretty little butterfly thanks! Mind if I come with you?"

Segata: "FALL TO HELL I HATE YOU"

"Great, I'll bring the nachos!"

And that why I love to play with the Adriana Lima skin :lol
 

farnham

Banned
SpacePirate Ridley said:
Dont know if it has been shown here, but it seems the metroid japanese box art has a little surprise:
Other-M.jpg

Other-M-1.jpg

Other-M-2.jpg

Other-M-3.jpg


Now I understamd why the eyes clashed a lot with the art of the helmet. Knowing this I have to say its an excellent boxart.
also the japanese version has english and japanese voice acting and english subtitles as well. or so i heard
 

heringer

Member
SpacePirate Ridley said:
Dont know if it has been shown here, but it seems the metroid japanese box art has a little surprise:

Now I understamd why the eyes clashed a lot with the art of the helmet. Knowing this I have to say its an excellent boxart.
Yep, it's awesome. And apparently you can even select english voicework and subtitles. I would totally buy that if the Wii was region free.
 
farnham said:
i think the difference between zelda and metroid in terms of voice acting is that in metroid games you had no npcs at all up until metroid prime 3 or sorta metroid fusion.

That's not really true.
 

farnham

Banned
_Alkaline_ said:
That's not really true.
well.. i dont remember having any NPCs in the original, in 2, in Super, in Prime 1 and in Prime 2. (GF space marines all die before you encounter them in Prime 2)

You have the ADAM AI in Fusion and some GF space marines and bounty hunters in Prime 3

heringer said:
Yep, it's awesome. And apparently you can even select english voicework and subtitles. I would totally buy that if the Wii was region free.
homebrew your wii and use gecko os. it works like magic

im definately getting the jap version this winter when i go to japan
 
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Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
farnham said:
well.. i dont remember having any NPCs in the original, in 2, in Super, in Prime 1 and in Prime 2. (GF space marines all die before you encounter them in Prime 2)

You have the ADAM AI in Fusion and some GF space marines and bounty hunters in Prime 3
The Light Aether priests in MP2 existed.
 
farnham said:
well.. i dont remember having any NPCs in the original, in 2, in Super, in Prime 1 and in Prime 2. (GF space marines all die before you encounter them in Prime 2)

You have the ADAM AI in Fusion and some GF space marines and bounty hunters in Prime 3

Luminoth?
 
Rez said:
well, of course they do. Gordon doesn't have a personality. He isn't a character in any traditional sense of the word. He's just a surrogate.

But the problem with Gordon is that he's entirely blank.

Link(especially in WW) was a better example of how this can be done well. His simple emoting was enough to give us a base and let us fill in blanks from there. Never had to say a word.

It let me add input to his character but made sure I couldn't do things like cause my own plot inconsistencies by grossly misinterpreting him.

What if Gordon is supposed to be me but I don't like Alyx? Is she still my love interest? Does she suddenly become a creepy stalker who won't take no for an answer?
 
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