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

Wizpig

Member
MYE said:
Fuck this thread.

My god...
Prime 3 is a good game, but the weakest of the Prime series and it also tries too hard at being Halo.

It was the first time that Samus actually talked to a human being in-game (all the soldiers, etc.) and it was frustrating for a Metroid fan.

'course, after Other M, that looks like the best plot ever with the best interactions ever.
 

Kard8p3

Member
Wizpig said:
Prime 3 is a good game, but the weakest of the Prime series and it also tries too hard at being Halo.

It was the first time that Samus actually talked to a human being in-game (all the soldiers, etc.) and it was frustrating for a Metroid fan.

'course, after Other M, that looks like the best plot ever with the best interactions ever.

Samus never talked to anyone in Prime 3.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Okay, finally grabbed a copy today. Just got through the very beginning with the Purple monster, so its all new stuff for me from here on out.

*takes a deep breath*
 

farnham

Banned
Wizpig said:
Prime 3 is a good game, but the weakest of the Prime series and it also tries too hard at being Halo.

It was the first time that Samus actually talked to a human being in-game (all the soldiers, etc.) and it was frustrating for a Metroid fan.

'course, after Other M, that looks like the best plot ever with the best interactions ever.
the weakest is prime 2

simply because they tried to do too much

its a good example of a game making things overly complicated and therefore loosing a lot of the charm
 

wsippel

Banned
Wizpig said:
Prime 3 is a good game, but the weakest of the Prime series and it also tries too hard at being Halo.

It was the first time that Samus actually talked to a human being in-game (all the soldiers, etc.) and it was frustrating for a Metroid fan.

'course, after Other M, that looks like the best plot ever with the best interactions ever.
Let me blow your mind: I'm a Metroid fan, and Samus talking, to other people or herself, doesn't frustrate me at all. Prime 3 had its issues, but that wasn't one of them.
 

Poyunch

Member
farnham said:
the weakest is prime 2

simply because they tried to do too much

its a good example of a game making things overly complicated and therefore loosing a lot of the charm
And I say the weakest is Prime 3 since they focused too heavily on action and making use of the Wii's new controls. Nothing else in the Prime trilogy can compare to the awesome depth of puzzles in that game. Plus the bosses were much more interesting, again best in the subseries. :p

But I don't care that you disagree with me. See it's not that hard people. :[
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
EatChildren said:
No, he didn't. He stated that Samus has been seen as a mysterious character, and this is true. That does not mean she is a defined character. Quite the opposite, in fact, it means people have been exploring Samus' personality from their own perspective and crafting their own idea of her character.

He states that Other M now defines Samus, and thus those who enjoy her mysterious presentation of old might not. He even says that hiding Samus' personality was not intentional.

So no, there is no defined Samus that Sakamoto and co have done a 180 on, or pissed all over some established character with something new.

Sakamoto's own words bolded for ease

About changing Samus' personality -

Sakamoto said:
Depicting the story of Samus Aran in this game was one of the most important game design concepts from the very beginning because before Other M I did not think about what kind of person Samus Aran was and how she thinks and her personality. We did not do that by writing or by letting her speak a lot.

Plus because of the existence of the Metroid Prime series many people might have different ideas about what kind of person Samus Aran was. That was a concern for me because Metroid has already become a solid franchise and probably in the future as well we will be willing to make the sequels.

If many people have different ideas about what kind of person Samus is then there will be some problems about making the future franchise games. So with Other M I really wanted to determine and express what kind of human Samus Aran is so that we can really tell what kind of natural step she should be taking in the future...


About Retro

Sakamoto said:
For example my involvement was limited to the initial decision making processes about what we should do with Metroid Prime as being one of the Metroid franchises and the impression I got was they were very passionate.


They really wanted to realise the first-person shooter Metroid and also they were paying much respect to the Metroid franchise itself.
Here he admits that they were paying respect for what had already been established.


Sakamoto said:
I just cannot give you any exact answer. I don't know if it's correct but if I can share my hypothesis with you: It must be because Metroid has been interesting for the game creators especially when it comes to Samus Aran.

Although I have never tried to hide the psychological element of Samus intentionally, as a matter of fact I was trying to demonstrate the characteristics of Samus. Maybe because of that kind of approach Samus Aran has been taken as kind of a mysterious personality and that mysteriousness might have attracted people.

But now that we have shared more of her personality with Other M people might not have a similar interest. They don't see Samus Aran as a mysterious personality anymore but we knew that it was the case and the reason why we created Other M in that context is because after knowing the personality of Samus Aran we wanted people to love Samus Aran much more than before playing Other M.

So Samus being a mysterious character might have been catering to the ability for us to sustain the interest with Samus Aran so far, from now on we need some different approach. Now that you understand who Samus Aran is, what Samus Aran is you must be intrigued to know what she'll be doing next.

He just admitted that before this, the character had unintentionally developed a sense of mystery surrounding her and that Retro was paying homage to that. He clearly states that he wanted to take away the mystery so that they could expand upon the series in the future. That is changing the character regardless of whether he wanted her interpreted that way or not. That has become her personality trait until now by his doing and Retros doing.

If this is what we have to look forward to, then I think it was a terrible mistake. I just don't think it's that type of game. I don't want Metroid: Uncharted, but I suppose if it were done right I might change my mind. So far, they have not left me with with a positive feeling about this moving into the future.
 

AniHawk

Member
Boney said:
So Fusion is a 6/10?

:mad:

Fusion was like a low or mid seven, while Other M was a mid or high seven.

I think the main thing is Other M let me go explore when I was done. In Fusion, I have a bunch of rooms and secrets I can't get to.
 

farnham

Banned
ULF_55.png

this character is sooo cute. even samus adores it!

PounchEnvy said:
And I say the weakest is Prime 3 since they focused too heavily on action and making use of the Wii's new controls. Nothing else in the Prime trilogy can compare to the awesome depth of puzzles in that game. Plus the bosses were much more interesting, again best in the subseries. :p

But I don't care that you disagree with me. See it's not that hard people. :[
its not that hard but the pacing was terrible
 

heringer

Member
AniHawk said:
Fusion was like a low or mid seven, while Other M was a mid or high seven.

I think the main thing is Other M let me go explore when I was done. In Fusion, I have a bunch of rooms and secrets I can't get to.
So you're saying a Prime game (Corruption) is better than Other M and Fusion?

Holy crap!
 

wsippel

Banned
MadOdorMachine said:
He just admitted that before this, the character had unintentionally developed a sense of mystery surrounding her and that Retro was paying homage to that. He clearly states that he wanted to take away the mystery so that they could expand upon the series in the future. That is changing the character regardless of whether he wanted her interpreted that way or not. That has become her personality trait until now by his doing and Retros doing.

If this is what we have to look forward to, then I think it was a terrible mistake. I just don't think it's that type of game. I don't want Metroid: Uncharted, but I suppose if it were done right I might change my mind. So far, they have not left me with with a positive feeling about this moving into the future.
Metroid was always more story driven and grounded in reality than the other core Nintendo franchises. The Zelda and Mario games have no continuity or overarching storyline. They are simply a set of basic rules. There's no need to explain why Bowser returns in every game. Nobody cares that Link starts every game at square 0 with three hearts and a wooden sword. That doesn't work for Metroid.

Simply remaking Metroid 1 over and over would get stale after a while. Giving the lead character a voice and a personality helps explaining her motivation, which in turn helps creating new, hopefully interesting games.
 

farnham

Banned
wsippel said:
Metroid was always more story driven and grounded in reality than the other core Nintendo franchises. The Zelda and Mario games have no continuity or overarching storyline. They are simply a set of basic rules. There's no need to explain why Bowser returns in every game. Nobody cares that Link starts every game at square 0 with three hearts and a wooden sword. That doesn't work for Metroid.

Simply remaking Metroid 1 over and over would get stale after a while. Giving the lead character a voice and a personality helps explaining her motivation, which in turn helps creating new, hopefully interesting games.
the first ability you gain in most of the metroid game is rolling into a ball. there is no realism in that.
 
AniHawk said:
Fusion was like a low or mid seven, while Other M was a mid or high seven.

I think the main thing is Other M let me go explore when I was done. In Fusion, I have a bunch of rooms and secrets I can't get to.
All hatches are unlocked before you fight SA-X.
I know, I just went back to Fusion today and are now collecting items for the fight, and all sectors are open.

On a related note, the dialog in Fusion is lol.
Paraphrased "The SA-X has my memories, but it is not human"
"The old Adam would have eased the blow. This AI only thinks of the mission"

They seem to just be simple sentences put next to eachother. I actually don't even notice the story after I went "wait... why is Samus on this ship again?" after she did random garbage clean up in sector 3 or looked at a shiny thing in sector 5. It had little point other than to slowly ease Samus to the end game.


But that's not to say Fusion is absolutely an amazing game. Replaying it for the 4th time has been a joy. I hear Other M is a lot like Fusion, so I look forward to when it arrives this friday.
 

Nessus

Member
Beat the game with 100% last night. Overall impressions.

I really enjoyed it.

No it's not as good as Super Metroid, or Metroid Prime, but I really wasn't expecting it to be.

I think, though, despite it's flaws I maybe enjoyed it about as much as Fusion. Then again, Metroid II is my third favorite game in the series, while most people rag on Metroid II and endlessly call for an unnecessary remake.

As for the "sexist" argument..

This may be slightly controversial, but over the years I've gotten the impression that Japan in general is not as sensitive or aware of feminist thought as it is understood in the West, and it seems to manifest in a lot of their media (and the prevalence of stuff like Hentai, pantsu, upskirt cameras and the need to legislate a "clicking" sound on all cell phones because it was so common, while they are extreme examples, are a part of it).

I certainly don't think Sakamoto meant to imply anything of the sort, but I think it nonetheless crept in, an unconscious reflection of a general cultural attitude. Not one out outright discrimination, but of a comparative insensitivity to how the West views this issue.

For example, in the West Samus as an empowered woman has been heralded as a feminist icon for over a decade, to the point where that is essentially her sole defining characteristic. It's taken as a given that she's an example of feminism in gaming.

I get the distinct impression that she's not viewed that way in Japan. It seems like her defining characteristic in Japan is that she's female, which is an entirely different thing.

I dunno. I consider myself a strong feminist, but I don't agree with Abby entirely either.

I think a lot of people here are instantly polarized due to the emotions running high on both sides of the debate. They almost instinctually defend Nintendo because Nintendo is attacked so often (let me be clear; Nintendo is my favorite game company, but they are far from perfect) and act as if the game has to be either this abhorrent intentionally insulting sexist piece of filth, or alternately that there isn't a single thing that anyone could ever find offensive. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Honestly I think the questionable portrayal of Samus didn't affect me as much because I think it's been a long time coming. Since the increased sexualization of Samus in Fusion and Zero Mission, it's been more and more clear that Japan and the West weren't exactly on the same page with regards to what exactly Samus represents to them.

So the game's story's attempts to introduce this emotional depth and the barest hint of nuance had a very different effect than Sakamoto intended.

That said, I was shocked that the epilogue ending actually evoked a strong emotional response in me.
Just that quiet, dialogue-free moment of her hugging Adam's helmet was the single most impactful moment in the game. The only other parts that got me at all were Anthony's apparent death (I actually thought he was dead because she didn't go back to look for him, and because the game had shown no problem with killing characters off camera) and a tiny bit seeing what they did to MB.

Plot-wise, I appreciated a lot of the little additions to the Metroid mythos. Only certain Metroids can become Queens. Hatchlings apparently suckle from the Queen prior to mutating into Alphas (I wonder if the lack of mutations in Other M was due to an absence of radiation). The Federation has Ice Beams. I sorta figure Adam's squad were regular Army soldiers and the white armour from Echoes was the Marines (yes, these are the kinds of things I think about).

Back to the game itself.

Anyone calling this "broken" or anything of the sort is just being hyperbolic.

No, the controls aren't perfect, and there is a chance it may have played better with a different setup. The point is, the set up that is there is functional.

This isn't a broken game. I've played broken games.

A broken game is when you die often because of the controls, not due to any action on your part.

Personally, I don't feel I ever died because of the controls in this game. Yes, there were brief moments where it was aggravating that something didn't work perfectly, but they accounted for less than 1% of the total play time.

This isn't a game with bad controls.

This is a fairly polished game with an unconventional control scheme. There's a difference.

What is there is polished.

Perhaps it's people who are accustomed to more precision based genres; Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, or FPS games.

This is the third person equivalent of a button masher, I think. Metroid has never been about precision aiming. Enemies have, with a few exceptions, always been cannon fodder to be dispatched by spamming rockets. Prime recognized this and included lock on. That's why the auto aim doesn't bother me in the least in this game.

And it can't be stressed enough that you have to learn the dodge mechanic. It isn't possible to overuse the dodge mechanic in this game.

I honestly wonder. Do you take it as a personal affront that you got hit a couple times because you were standing directly underneath a flying enemy that managed to get a hit in? Is your entire experience ruined because your perfect play style was momentarily blemished? Is that how a lot of modern gamers genuinely feel about games?

That's just such an alien mindset for me. But I've never been a competitive gamer. I suck at StarCraft and Age Of Empires, but I've probably put more hours into those games than any other. I just find them fun.

Personally I think a far, far bigger failing is the game's outright refusal to allow you to explore at will. Even Fusion allowed for considerably more freedom.

And it strikes me as really odd, because it's not as if Nintendo and Sakamoto aren't aware that sequence breaking, etc. are part of the appeal of the series to fans; they wouldn't have included a low % run in Zero Mission if they weren't.

I think the game would have been best served by an option in the menu, between "Streamlined" and "Open World". That would, I think, satisfy long time fans, but also people who aren't as fond of backtracking.

Also an option to turn off the waypoint marker would rule, or a Metroid Prime-esque "wait until the player spends 20 minutes wandering around aimlessly, then offer them help" approach.

JohngPR said:
I just thought of this....the other M stands for
Malkovich
.

Huh. Neat.
 

etiolate

Banned
wsippel said:
Metroid was always more story driven and grounded in reality than the other core Nintendo franchises. The Zelda and Mario games have no continuity or overarching storyline. They are simply a set of basic rules. There's no need to explain why Bowser returns in every game. Nobody cares that Link starts every game at square 0 with three hearts and a wooden sword. That doesn't work for Metroid.

Simply remaking Metroid 1 over and over would get stale after a while. Giving the lead character a voice and a personality helps explaining her motivation, which in turn helps creating new, hopefully interesting games.

I understood her motivation in Super Metroid as revenge. Prime added a bit of 'destiny' I suppose. Other M doesn't really explain her overall motivation, but concentrates on her motivation with Adam.

I still say Adam is a case of dramatic irony.
 

wsippel

Banned
farnham said:
the first ability you gain in most of the metroid game is rolling into a ball. there is no realism in that.
It's hardly worse than the nanomachines bullshit in MGS or something, and super realistic compared to all the completely weird stuff going on in Mario.
 

AniHawk

Member
balladofwindfishes said:
All hatches are unlocked before you fight SA-X.
I know, I just went back to Fusion today and are now collecting items for the fight, and all sectors are open.

I tried going back into other sectors but the game wouldn't let me.
 

Poyunch

Member
etiolate said:
I understood her motivation in Super Metroid as revenge. Prime added a bit of 'destiny' I suppose. Other M doesn't really explain her overall motivation, but concentrates on her motivation with Adam.

I still say Adam is a case of dramatic irony.
I saw Other M as just another day for her that went wrong (as always). She was doing this because she's supposed to help people and people were calling for help.
 

Wizpig

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
Sakamoto's own words bolded for ease

About changing Samus' personality -

CUT
He's completely fucking crazy.

He thinks people will now be eager to see what happens next, but the truth is 90% of the fans LOST INTEREST in Samus Aran as a character.
 
wsippel said:
Simply remaking Metroid 1 over and over would get stale after a while. Giving the lead character a voice and a personality helps explaining her motivation, which in turn helps creating new, hopefully interesting games.

Thank you for putting words to the feelings i have had reading reactions of Other M. This is exactly what i feel people want which is completely irrational.
 

Kard8p3

Member
Wizpig said:
He's completely fucking crazy.

He thinks people will now be eager to see what happens next, but the truth is 90% of the fans LOST INTEREST in Samus Aran as a character.

So you've met 90% of the Metroid fans? As far as the internet is concerned I've seen plenty that like her character. Seems to be about 50/50 based on what I've seen.
 

farnham

Banned
wsippel said:
It's hardly worse than the nanomachines bullshit in MGS or something, and super realistic compared to all the completely weird stuff going on in Mario.
did anyone ever claim mgs was realistic :lol :lol
 
I'm doing the epilogue stuff, and I'm at 99% collected. There's an item in a room with an elevator in the main sector, but the elevator is off and I can't seem to get to the area that it's in. Please tell me when I go to do the final final stuff that I'll have access to that room so I can 100% this.
 

AniHawk

Member
Wizpig said:
He's completely fucking crazy.

He thinks people will now be eager to see what happens next, but the truth is 90% of the fans LOST INTEREST in Samus Aran as a character.

The streets will be littered with crumpled posters of Samus in skintight, revealing clothing thanks to Sakamoto's sexist vision of Samus.
 

Somnid

Member
farnham said:
did anyone ever claim mgs was realistic :lol :lol

Are you purposely using a narrow definition to prove a point or something? I can't imagine you don't understand what they are talking about.
 

farnham

Banned
Somnid said:
Are you purposely using a narrow definition to prove a point or something? I can't imagine you don't understand what they are talking about.
no i just cant agree with the notion that metroid is somewhat realistic. its as videogamey as it gets.
 

etiolate

Banned
Samus was more dynamic and interesting as a silent bounty hunter with motive for revenge. Other M turns her into a stereotype/trope.
 

braves01

Banned
Does anyone know what sales look like so far? Despite the controversy and lower review scores, I suspect this will sell at least as well as Prime.
 

farnham

Banned
etiolate said:
Samus was more dynamic and interesting as a silent bounty hunter with motive for revenge. Other M turns her into a stereotype/trope.
nah samus aran was like every nintendo character. a beacon that links you and the game world. there was nothing interesting in her personality only in the abilities the game gives you and the enemies you are fighting and backgrounds you are moving in. other m tried to give it some kind of personality and achieved some of that. sadly its not the samus a lot of people imagined in their heads.

Prime Blue said:
Will a future game succeed if they cut out Samus' tongue?
if team ninja gets to make a sequel (and i really hope so)

then i believe they will make her talk yet again. hopefully theyll do a better job this time around. and i hope that they give the voice actress another chance. she was good
 

Penguin

Member
Shin Johnpv said:
I'm doing the epilogue stuff, and I'm at 99% collected. There's an item in a room with an elevator in the main sector, but the elevator is off and I can't seem to get to the area that it's in. Please tell me when I go to do the final final stuff that I'll have access to that room so I can 100% this.

I got stuck here today as well!

Go back to the room before it, there's a place to use a PowerBomb, use it and prepare for awesome!
 

AniHawk

Member
etiolate said:
Samus was more dynamic and interesting as a silent bounty hunter with motive for revenge. Other M turns her into a stereotype/trope.

Her mission in Super Metroid wasn't revenge. I doubt she felt any real attachment to the scientists or the baby Metroid, but the space pirates needed to be taken out, and the last Metroid being taken by her arch nemesis was not something she could just walk away from.

Don't Prime and Echoes start with her responding to a distress call? Samus was more of the boy scout type than the Terminator type. It's never implied in any of the games that even though she's a bounty hunter, she does it for the money either.
 

Mafro

Member
Shin Johnpv said:
I'm doing the epilogue stuff, and I'm at 99% collected. There's an item in a room with an elevator in the main sector, but the elevator is off and I can't seem to get to the area that it's in. Please tell me when I go to do the final final stuff that I'll have access to that room so I can 100% this.
You'll get it eventually. In the long corridor before that room there's a door on the right you need to power bomb.
 

Nessus

Member
Shin Johnpv said:
I'm doing the epilogue stuff, and I'm at 99% collected. There's an item in a room with an elevator in the main sector, but the elevator is off and I can't seem to get to the area that it's in. Please tell me when I go to do the final final stuff that I'll have access to that room so I can 100% this.

You have to go the long way through Sector 2, to the Main Sector hub, then there is a power bomb door just before the locked elevator room. I didn't see it the first time I ran through that hall.

I tell you this because while I was trying to find out how to do this part I accidentally spoiled myself for the final boss.
 
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