• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Duderz

Banned
I'd say the exact opposite: people are more harsh on this game BECAUSE it's a Metroid and the franchise has years of preconceptions built around it.

I know I had some going into this game, and some were met very well (the core gameplay of a Metroid is there), some not so much.
 

rhino4evr

Member
Rez said:
replaying Echoes, the biggest downside is the lack of continues when you die on a boss.

going back to a save point pisses me off to no end.

edit: OMG FIXED DEATH APOSTROPHE
Yeah..and Echos has some legendary boss battles right with some dreadful checkpoints. That beig said.,,the difficulty in Prime 2 is a reason a lot of people disliked it, but just won't admit it, it's definitely the most difficult Metroid game to date. Personally I love a challenge, and Echoes delivered in not only boss fights, put environmental puzzles.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Duderz said:
I'd say the exact opposite: people are more harsh on this game BECAUSE it's a Metroid and the franchise has years of preconceptions built around it.

I know I had some going into this game, and some were met very well (the core gameplay of a Metroid is there), some not so much.

Yeah, I edited my post to say what I actually meant. I understand that argument.
 

Boney

Banned
_Alkaline_ said:
Good Boney. Good.
treat?

Plinko, you might wanna track down the manga, it's a pretty fun read and sorta explains the Ridley situation.

effingvic said:
I'm gonna have to dig out my old DS Lite and hunt a copy of both Fusion and ZM. Should I start Super again or play that after I've played everything else?
I played Fusion before Other M came out and played Super after I returned it. Consider Super and Zero Mision 1st tier Metroids. They're just so perfectly constructed, and Super especially introduced so many new things while Zero Mision refined almost all of it.
I'd put Fusion, Other M and the first 2 Primes in the second tier group, because as much as I personally like Fusion and Other M, in terms of design, they come nowhere near close the other 2, but they're pretty amazing games. The rest fall in tier 3 that I adore as well, except for hunters.

So I guess my point is.. yeah Super is amazing!
 

rhino4evr

Member
I actually started Other M with pretty low expectations based on GAF and some
Other reviews...and I think the game starts a little rough...but now that I'm used to the combat, and I've learned to just roll my eyes at the dialog.,I'm actually really enjoying myself.

I could play another Metroid like this..but with some definite upgrades in some areas.

I still haven't unlocked the mega bombs, super missiles, wave beam, or grappling hook..and im about 5 or 6 hours in. The game seems longer then i was expecting..
 
I'd actually have loved a boss rush mode or some kind of arena mode where you get bombarded with many enemies. It'd be a great way to test every weapon and skills you've picked up over the course of the game.
 

rhino4evr

Member
So far the bosses havent been that memorable to me.,but I think the Prime series kind of spoiled that for me. Most of the Prime bosses took real strategy and use of multiple items/visors to defeat. So far (just got the speed boots) the bosses have been mostly, "aim for the glowing spot" once its visible, and dodge until then.
 

Boney

Banned
I've never really been keen to the combat of the series except for this one. It works really well on the 2d titles, but it's an extension of the level design and speedrunning, but on it's own it's nothing mindblowing. The Prime's are serviciable at best.
 

mantidor

Member
Finished the game so final thoughts. (warning long post)

The good:

Ninja Samus.

Brutal Samus. Finish moves were just awesome

Music was ok, is still the weakest Metroid in that department.

Nice bosses.

Samus is so badass she locks herself alone (well, adam does it but she would've done it anyway) with a bunch of zebezians and blasts them all off.

Every single one of the crappy friends died (but one, sadly, but I'll take whatever I can).

I thought "birdie" was going to become another pet like the ones in super metroid, what a nice surprise it was actually Ridley in larva stage. When it was shown eating the rest of the insect boss in such violent way and Samus talked the only slightly interest lines in the whole game I actually felt a little hopeful the story was going to pick up.

The bad:

Way too linear, it's even more linear than Fusion or Corruption.

Repetitive scenarios and they were hardly memorable.

Combat takes a really long time to get used to.

The stupid method of item progression. That is one of the core gameplay parts in Metroid so I understand the need to limit your items and make the player gradually obtain them but doing it by authorization is one of the worst ideas ever. Make her always lose the powers at the beginning, I don't care.

Anthony is one of the most annoying characters ever and still it was better than the rest of the whole cast, including Samus, that is simply terrible.

The dumb animeish story, it made me remember why I stopped watching anime,
what's with japanese and their obsession with robots getting a "soul" and "feelings"? urgh such a tired plot device.

Not a single mention of the Chozo, that is just wrong.


The ugly:


Freaking heels!? the don't even fit in the suit itself... urgh...

Worst death scene in the whole series, after the one in Super all have disappointed me but here it was just terrible, this is Metroid, not Resident Evil, nor Metal Gear, make her explode and the screen go blank with a scream.

Traumatized Samus with Ridley, what the hell? yeah I know, but it's the third time she met him, it was dumb.

The suit is now some sort of fairy dust, the whole part when Ridley grabs Samus and makes the suit go away was stupid. Specially when afterwards he grabs you and crashes and drags you along the wall. The part when she gets all emotional with Adam when he's going to take care of sector zero is also painful to watch. I want my suit the way it always was.



Overall great game with such obvious flaws is sometimes painful to watch, but I would certainly play it again, I'll work my way to get 100% and hard mode eventually, but I'm in no hurry, which is weird for me with a Metroid game.
 
Boney said:
I've never really been keen to the combat of the series except for this one. It works really well on the 2d titles, but it's an extension of the level design and speedrunning, but on it's own it's nothing mindblowing. The Prime's are serviciable at best.

If we're talking about combat, I thought each Prime got a little bit better in this regard - Corruption perhaps being the high point of the series but still that's not saying much. The addition of the grappo lasso varied things up nicely so I'll give Retro credit for that. Overall though it was very much a small focus of the series - just as it was in the 2D games.

That said, it's nice to see Other M take the combat of the series and turn it into something that's fun and makes you feel powerful whilst still retaining a balance. I do think it could still stand to be a bit deeper and more versitile, but it's a nice step-up in an aspect of the series that hasn't developed nearly as much as others over the years.

I don't like the idea of a combat-orientated Metroid - and I firmly believe Other M isn't this - but as I said it's nice to see a little development in this area.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
I love all the negativity in so many posts that nearly always end with 'great game, but...'

remember when being a 'great game' wasn't a bad thing? :lol

Like, that time in gaming when great games were great?
I think it was fading-from-memory primordial soup that existed before the Internets.
 
The more I play, the more I want future Metroid titles to go in a horror orientated direction. The stand out moments so far have actually been the slower, more methodical parts - such as exploring that area
where you first discover the Federation are making bio weapons, before Lyle's death
. It has such a cool atmosphere, and reminded me of Dead Space more than a little bit.
 

Poyunch

Member
I NEED SCISSORS said:
The more I play, the more I want future Metroid titles to go in a horror orientated direction. The stand out moments so far have actually been the slower, more methodical parts - such as exploring that area
where you first discover the Federation are making bio weapons, before Lyle's death
. It has such a cool atmosphere, and reminded me of Dead Space more than a little bit.
๏_๏
 
You'll find nearly all Metroid games have element of horror in them - particularly Metroid II, Echoes and Fusion - but I agree that a larger focus on it could be a good step for the franchise. Not at the expense of slowing the game down, of course.

Sakamoto has always been pretty nifty at creating atmosphere and tense set-pieces.
 

Boney

Banned
I NEED SCISSORS said:
The more I play, the more I want future Metroid titles to go in a horror orientated direction. The stand out moments so far have actually been the slower, more methodical parts - such as exploring that area
where you first discover the Federation are making bio weapons, before Lyle's death
. It has such a cool atmosphere, and reminded me of Dead Space more than a little bit.
Now that's a first for this thread.
 

Kard8p3

Member
Boney said:
Now that's a first for this thread.

Indeed it is. I like the idea of those sections but with the exception of a couple most were pointless. I'd like to see the idea expanded on in a sequel though. If they were to put actual gameplay in those sections it could really be great.
 

RagnarokX

Member
mantidor said:
The ugly:[/B]

The suit is now some sort of fairy dust, the whole part when Ridley grabs Samus and makes the suit go away was stupid. Specially when afterwards he grabs you and crashes and drags you along the wall. The part when she gets all emotional with Adam when he's going to take care of sector zero is also painful to watch. I want my suit the way it always was.
The powersuit has always been like that...

Metroid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQppamJoDqc#t=22s

Super Metroid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlu5Mx-9wwU#t=3m17s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7h24WPziT8

Zero Mission:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_piN27HSI#t=2m34s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CudwdmyDdsk#t=1m56s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTBHEkLYC68

Fusion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hucQvIAjvh0#t=8m10s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqkewKBfIDc

Prime 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysExKtLvoq0#t=2m55s

Prime 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQtbFidSf0#t=26s

Also, both the manga and Zero Mission point out that Samus
needs to concentrate to materialize her suit. Sakamoto's excuse for Samus losing the power suit at the end of ZM was that she lost concentration.
 
Kard8p3 said:
Indeed it is. I like the idea of those sections but with the exception of a couple most were pointless. I'd like to see the idea expanded on in a sequel though. If they were to put actual gameplay in those sections it could really be great.

I did like how her movements translated into the following cutscenes though. It always annoys me a tad when your character is moving or behaving completely different from in-game to a cinematic. It's jarring.

Other M did it really nicely.
 

Boney

Banned
Kard8p3 said:
Indeed it is. I like the idea of those sections but with the exception of a couple most were pointless. I'd like to see the idea expanded on in a sequel though. If they were to put actual gameplay in those sections it could really be great.
For the most part, they're pretty cool, but that lab part was the worst, and really distracting. It's just too long, and there's nothing to interact with. They feel rushed.

I was skeptical when they reffered them as investigation parts in the initial reveal, but they did nothing of that sort in the final game, just a great buffer between game and cutscene.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
effingvic said:
I'm gonna have to dig out my old DS Lite and hunt a copy of both Fusion and ZM. Should I start Super again or play that after I've played everything else?

As for rating the Metroids, Prime and Corruption are a 10 for me. ZM is definitely up there as well. However, what I played of Super, I'd give it around 8.5 or so. It's a great game but I just don't see the brilliance. Other M wins my praise solely because I've had a lot of fun playing this game. It's like I was playing NSMBWii or Mario Kart with my buddies; I was grinning ear to ear.
As far as SM is concerned, if you haven't completed it yet, you really should beat that one first imo. Every other Metroid game you mentioned was influence by it which is funny because you don't see the brilliance in it. It was one of the first open world games.

Plinko said:
I'm 28 and I feel disconnected as well. I really, really hate what they did with the Samus character. One thing I really missed was finding the different weapons upgrades myself. It just seemed that Sakamoto/Team Ninja went out of their way to be restrictive in every way possible (invisible walls, authorizing weapons, no nunchuck, no moving in visor mode).

I also feel that the Prime Trilogy absolutely destroys this game.

I'm probably one of the few that believes that if the Metroid name/characters weren't applied to this game it would have gotten average reviews at best.
I agree about the Samus character bit. It seems like they tried to appeal to a new crowd at the expense of the fans that were already there. I also agree about people giving this game bonus points because it's a Metroid title. The first hour or two are so bad, I don't see how most people would have continued to play the game had it not been for the fact that they were hoping for some type of redeeming value because it's a Metroid game. The story, controls and "Where's Waldo" moments would have made me put the game down. There are plenty of games I haven't played because of controls.


Boney said:
You probably don't realize, but that's kinda offensive. You're implying we're not rational when it comes to this game...

by the way, did you read the manga? most that did, already knew how the character was gonna be portrayed so mostly didn't have a problem or was put as a minor complain, but I can totally see how it can detracts if you're not expecting this.


The actual map design, Aether as a whole is outstanding. Much better than Tallon IV.

We've debated about this enough that I would hope you wouldn't take offense to it at this point. You've said we should embrace the controls because the game was built around them. That's fine, but it doesn't mean they couldn't use some improvement.

The same thing goes for the story. I haven't read the manga, but I've read quite a bit about it in the past on these boards. What they did here was try to tie in some of the manga story into the game, for example when Samus meets Ridley. Despite their past, there was no reason for her to act the way she did. There were other ways they could have explained that without tarnishing the character. They basically made Samus out to be an emo teen. She's an adult in this game and doesn't act like one at all. There is no excuse for the way this story was delivered, yet people want to defend it. It's not cohesive and the acting is poor.
 

mantidor

Member
RagnarokX said:
The powersuit has always been like that...

Also, both the manga and Zero Mission point out that Samus
needs to concentrate to materialize her suit. Sakamoto's excuse for Samus losing the power suit at the end of ZM was that she lost concentration.

I always saw those as being lazy and not wanting to actually have to design how the suit comes together, I mean the death in super metroid shows they have thought about the suit falling apart in "pieces", it doesn't show it disintegrating in dust or "magic". Not to mention in both Other M and Fusion the federation takes care of the suit, in fusion they have to actually surgically remove it. And also Samus takes off her helmet a lot in most of the games. Both official art and gameplay cutscenes. Its obvious at some point Sakamoto thought about the suit as an actual suit and not a magic hologram.

However I admit it might be a daunting task, the suit, as cool looking as it is, it's really, really weird, it doesn't seem to be able to hold a normal human person. But here we had a whole CGI team, it would have been nice if they made the effort to try to solve the suit problem in a less "a wizard did it" way.
 

Kard8p3

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
As far as SM is concerned, if you haven't completed it yet, you really should beat that one first imo. Every other Metroid game you mentioned was influence by it which is funny because you don't see the brilliance in it. It was one of the first open world games.


I agree about the Samus character bit. It seems like they tried to appeal to a new crowd at the expense of the fans that were already there. I also agree about people giving this game bonus points because it's a Metroid title. The first hour or two are so bad, I don't see how most people would have continued to play the game had it not been for the fact that they were hoping for some type of redeeming value because it's a Metroid game. The story, controls and "Where's Waldo" moments would have made me put the game down. There are plenty of games I haven't played because of controls.




We've debated about this enough that I would hope you wouldn't take offense to it at this point. You've said we should embrace the controls because the game was built around them. That's fine, but it doesn't mean they couldn't use some improvement.

The same thing goes for the story. I haven't read the manga, but I've read quite a bit about it in the past on these boards. What they did here was try to tie in some of the manga story into the game, for example when Samus meets Ridley. Despite their past, there was no reason for her to act the way she did. There were other ways they could have explained that without tarnishing the character. They basically made Samus out to be an emo teen. She's an adult in this game and doesn't act like one at all. There is no excuse for the way this story was delivered, yet people want to defend it. It's not cohesive and the acting is poor.

The bolded part has been explained many times. In the manga because of what Ridley did samus now has PTSD. If you know how PTSD works you know that her reaction to him in the game in not out of the ordinary at all. PTSD isn't something you get over and at any point in your life it can kick in and the reaction could be like the one samus has in the game.
 

Poyunch

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
You serious? I've mentioned at least a half dozen times that they should make the over the should parts like RE4 to break up the monotony.
No the part where he said he liked that segment. That was out of the ordinary.
 

Poyunch

Member
I NEED SCISSORS said:
At most, all it needs is a run button so that players who cannot appreciate subtly can hurry things along.
I don't know it's like driving down an empty road only to merge into heavy traffic. It's just not fun for me. Glad you liked it though.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
Kard8p3 said:
The bolded part has been explained many times. In the manga because of what Ridley did samus now has PTSD. If you know how PTSD works you know that her reaction to him in the game in not out of the ordinary at all. PTSD isn't something you get over and at any point in your life it can kick in and the reaction could be like the one samus has in the game.
It doesn't change the fact that it's lame and she's kicked his ass in every other game but this one without acting like that. They made her out to be a damsel in distress with Adam and Anthony coming to save the day. They could have given her PTSD without making her act like a complete emo wreck. She's an adult in this game (it had to have taken place quite a while after SM) and doesn't act like one.


PounchEnvy said:
No the part where he said he liked that segment. That was out of the ordinary.
Except he didn't say he liked it, rather he'd like to see it go in a horror type direction.
 

Poyunch

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
It doesn't change the fact that it's lame and she's kicked his ass in every other game but this one without acting like that. They made her out to be a damsel in distress with Adam and Anthony coming to save the day. They could have given her PTSD without making her act like a complete emo wreck. She's an adult in this game (it had to have taken place quite a while after SM) and doesn't act like one.
But in the end Samus was the badass that took down Ridley. She just needed to get control of herself again. Also wrong use of emo. :mad:
 

RagnarokX

Member
mantidor said:
I always saw those as being lazy and not wanting to actually have to design how the suit comes together, I mean the death in super metroid shows they have thought about the suit falling apart in "pieces", it doesn't show it disintegrating in dust or "magic". Not to mention in both Other M and Fusion the federation takes care of the suit, in fusion they have to actually surgically remove it. And also Samus takes off her helmet a lot in most of the games. Both official art and gameplay cutscenes. Its obvious at some point Sakamoto thought about the suit as an actual suit and not a magic hologram.

However I admit it might be a daunting task, the suit, as cool looking as it is, it's really, really weird, it doesn't seem to be able to hold a normal human person. But here we had a whole CGI team, it would have been nice if they made the effort to try to solve the suit problem in a less "a wizard did it" way.
It's not a hologram. It's still a physical suit. It's just that it is tied to Samus' nervous system and she has to concentrate to keep it activated and it can be "teleported" on and off. It's always been depicted this way.
MadOdorMachine said:
It doesn't change the fact that it's lame and she's kicked his ass in every other game but this one without acting like that. They made her out to be a damsel in distress with Adam and Anthony coming to save the day. They could have given her PTSD without making her act like a complete emo wreck. She's an adult in this game (it had to have taken place quite a while after SM) and doesn't act like one.
"Hey, Samus. Your parents were slaughtered by Ridley right in front of you like 20 years ago! Get over it, you crybaby!" She didn't act emo, she had an invasive flashback induced by seeing Ridley unexpectedly. Think of it as seeing Ridley made her instantly fall asleep and she started having a nightmare about their first encounter. That's the kind of flashback she was having. She couldn't do anything until she "woke back up". Once she snapped out of it she kicked his ass.
 

Kard8p3

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
It doesn't change the fact that it's lame and she's kicked his ass in every other game but this one without acting like that. They made her out to be a damsel in distress with Adam and Anthony coming to save the day. They could have given her PTSD without making her act like a complete emo wreck. She's an adult in this game (it had to have taken place quite a while after SM) and doesn't act like one.



Except he didn't say he liked it, rather he'd like to see it go in a horror type direction.

I disagree with the damsel in distress part.
anthony had to help her but that was because of her PTSD kick. If you had a friend have an attack like that you'd help to wouldn't you? Just because she needed help in that situation doesn't make her a damsel in distress.
Also it doesn't matter if she's an adult or not if she has PTSD she's going to freak out like that. She seems unsure of herself at times but there's not a thing wrong or emo about that that. The complete emo wreck you speak of is not in the game I played.
 

kr2t0s

Member
Am I bizarro world? People talking about fusion like it's not only a good game but a decent looking game???

Fusion came out first on gba and we were all excited to have a new 2d metroid game but most of us realized it was trash after beating it. Zero mission is by far the better metroid gba game and is up there with super metroid in all honesty. Not quite but damn close.

For the most part all the reasons why people hated fusion are the same reasons why people are hating other m. Cutscenes, Adam, hand holding, limiting where you can and can't go for arbitrary reasons, etc.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
I NEED SCISSORS said:
At most, all it needs is a run button so that players who cannot appreciate subtly can hurry things along.
The whole basis for the debate about it earlier was how the game could have benefited by using the nun chuck. These sections were clearly inspired by RE4, but with the current controls there's nothing you can do but walk/run. I think these sections could have been a lot better and provided a fun mini-game to temporarily change the pace of the game and give players a break from the action if they were more fleshed out. To summarize, I feel that the game shines in the third person perspective. The first person and over the shoulder I feel would be better for mini games.
 

Boney

Banned
MadOdorMachine said:
We've debated about this enough that I would hope you wouldn't take offense to it at this point. You've said we should embrace the controls because the game was built around them. That's fine, but it doesn't mean they couldn't use some improvement.

The same thing goes for the story. I haven't read the manga, but I've read quite a bit about it in the past on these boards. What they did here was try to tie in some of the manga story into the game, for example when Samus meets Ridley. Despite their past, there was no reason for her to act the way she did. There were other ways they could have explained that without tarnishing the character. They basically made Samus out to be an emo teen. She's an adult in this game and doesn't act like one at all. There is no excuse for the way this story was delivered, yet people want to defend it. It's not cohesive and the acting is poor.
I don't see what you mean, I'm all for discussing it, and what I meant is that just because it's a franchise game we can't judge accordingly, I'd say it is the other way 'round with the whole linearity thing.

As for controls, I don't think analog would've helped it since you're basically moving in a straight line and it would've be detrimential for the sense move. Still, I'm all for the most control schemes you can have. I mean you even had to mod your Wii remote :(

As for story, I'd bet, if they ever remake Super, she wouldn't be scared, but it'd be more to it than just starting shooting.

kr2t0s said:
Am I bizarro world? People talking about fusion like it's not only a good game but a decent looking game???

Fusion came out first on gba and we were all excited to have a new 2d metroid game but most of us realized it was trash after beating it. Zero mission is by far the better metroid gba game and is up there with super metroid in all honesty. Not quite but damn close.

For the most part all the reasons why people hated fusion are the same reasons why people are hating other m. Cutscenes, Adam, hand holding, limiting where you can and can't go for arbitrary reasons, etc.
You're funny.
 
MadOdorMachine said:
As far as SM is concerned, if you haven't completed it yet, you really should beat that one first imo. Every other Metroid game you mentioned was influence by it which is funny because you don't see the brilliance in it. It was one of the first open world games.

What? No it's not.
 

Kard8p3

Member
kr2t0s said:
Am I bizarro world? People talking about fusion like it's not only a good game but a decent looking game???

Fusion came out first on gba and we were all excited to have a new 2d metroid game but most of us realized it was trash after beating it. Zero mission is by far the better metroid gba game and is up there with super metroid in all honesty. Not quite but damn close.

For the most part all the reasons why people hated fusion are the same reasons why people are hating other m. Cutscenes, Adam, hand holding, limiting where you can and can't go for arbitrary reasons, etc.

Who hates Fusion? To me it's one of the best games in the series. Not a thing wrong with it from where I'm standing.
 

Boney

Banned
Kard8p3 said:
Who hates Fusion? To me it's one of the best games in the series. Not a thing wrong with it from where I'm standing.
Well.. he did tell you why he didn't like it.

But fuck it, it's a fantastic game and it's beautiful to boot. I don't care it doesn't follow the Super Metroid blueprint.
 

IceMarker

Member
I liked Fusion, but it definitely not my favorite. Then again I did beat Zero Mission 22 times before my first play through of Fusion... :lol :lol
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
PounchEnvy said:
But in the end Samus was the badass that took down Ridley. She just needed to get control of herself again. Also wrong use of emo. :mad:
Kard8p3 said:
I disagree with the damsel in distress part.
anthony had to help her but that was because of her PTSD kick. If you had a friend have an attack like that you'd help to wouldn't you? Just because she needed help in that situation doesn't make her a damsel in distress.
Also it doesn't matter if she's an adult or not if she has PTSD she's going to freak out like that. She seems unsure of herself at times but there's not a thing wrong or emo about that that. The complete emo wreck you speak of is not in the game I played.
If it hadn't been for
Anthony, Ridley would have killed her, Samus would be dead, series over. Plus you have Adam calling in.
If that's not a damsel in distress, I don't know what is. There are plenty of other times when it's happened as well. Look, I'm not going to debate it. You guys want to defend it, that's fine, I can understand that, but don't be so narrow minded that you can't see how it wouldn't piss off fans. There's a better way they could have told that part of Samus' past. That's my point.

Boney said:
I don't see what you mean, I'm all for discussing it, and what I meant is that just because it's a franchise game we can't judge accordingly, I'd say it is the other way 'round with the whole linearity thing.

As for controls, I don't think analog would've helped it since you're basically moving in a straight line and it would've be detrimential for the sense move. Still, I'm all for the most control schemes you can have. I mean you even had to mod your Wii remote :(

As for story, I'd bet, if they ever remake Super, she wouldn't be scared, but it'd be more to it than just starting shooting.
Look thru this thread and read most people's initial reaction. Most of them initially complain about two things: story and controls. Right off the bat they do this, but they almost always say they're going to stick with it to see if it gets any better. It is Metroid after all. They give it some time, and low and behold there's a good chance you'll see them come back and say they're stuck on a "Where's Waldo" or other similar moment. This happens several times on peoples first play thru. It's so frustrating, these reasons alone would have caused a lot of people to quit playing a game but they keep playing because it's a Metroid game. Finally, they beat the game and a lot of them still complain about the ending and how underwhelming it was. People tell them there's more, so they go for 100%. This section is so enjoyable, that all the pain they went thru before seems worth it. Anytime they go thru it again, they'll now know exactly what to do. The thing is, they forget just how terrible it was the first time around. That's what I call inflating the game for more than it should be.
 
RagnarokX said:
The powersuit has always been like that...

Metroid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQppamJoDqc#t=22s

Super Metroid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlu5Mx-9wwU#t=3m17s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7h24WPziT8

Zero Mission:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_piN27HSI#t=2m34s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CudwdmyDdsk#t=1m56s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTBHEkLYC68

Fusion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hucQvIAjvh0#t=8m10s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqkewKBfIDc

Prime 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysExKtLvoq0#t=2m55s

Prime 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQtbFidSf0#t=26s

Also, both the manga and Zero Mission point out that Samus
needs to concentrate to materialize her suit. Sakamoto's excuse for Samus losing the power suit at the end of ZM was that she lost concentration.

And yet in Fusion, she was unconscious and they had to cut it off of her in pieces. Prime 3 had a similar situation where they modified her suit while she was unconscious for days or weeks.
 

RagnarokX

Member
Leondexter said:
And yet in Fusion, she was unconscious and they had to cut it off of her in pieces. Prime 3 had a similar situation where they modified her suit while she was unconscious for days or weeks.
Both of those involved a foreign sentient organism corrupting the suit.
 

Boney

Banned
Oh definately they'll pull through and finish the game. But it's not gonna make the flaws go away, and it might even intensify them.

I wonder how their gaming setup affected some people.. I know it's not proven or anything, but Threi's say about it, cleared all my doubts on setups affecting some people. And of course, this shouldn't happen.
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
The more I play, the more I want future Metroid titles to go in a horror orientated direction. The stand out moments so far have actually been the slower, more methodical parts - such as exploring that area
where you first discover the Federation are making bio weapons, before Lyle's death
. It has such a cool atmosphere, and reminded me of Dead Space more than a little bit.

That would be really cool actually. I'm surprised it didn't have much of an emphasis already.

I remember being scared as fuck when I first encountered a Chozo ghost in Prime. Hoooolllyyy ffuuuuuuuuuuck.


MadOdorMachine said:
As far as SM is concerned, if you haven't completed it yet, you really should beat that one first imo. Every other Metroid game you mentioned was influence by it which is funny because you don't see the brilliance in it. It was one of the first open world games.

Maybe it was for the time, so I can't comment on it's impact since I wasn't here when it was released. I'm basing the game off on playing it now and while I think it's pretty cool so far, I don't see why everyone wants each new Metroid game to be a re-skinned version of this game.

I'm going to start over then dig around for Fusion somewhere.
 

Mael

Member
Kaijima said:
'cept almost nobody in this thread has been praising it to high heaven while dismissing "every single" problem it has. This thread has largely been:

1. Player A comes in expressing massive annoyance, disbelief, and varying degrees of bitterness that this game isn't flawless.

2. Player B responds by wondering how they can have that big a problem with what seem to be relatively small issues in the big picture.

This is a (slightly) cartoonish exaggeration and I'm not accusing any one person in the thread of hitting every point; it's also just about par for the course when a prestiged entry in a series comes out and is the /slightest/ bit controversial in any aspect :lol

That's the problem right there! It's clearly NOT a small problem.
When someone comes and say : "Invisible walls suck balls" there's someone coming and saying that it's actually a great thing as it brings focus to the game design or something.


amtentori said:
I was infinitely skeptical of the game before trying it.

I have my issues with the controls, design, and story.

But I can't even imagine why you hate this game so much.
Calling it a turd is hyperbole.

If you enjoyed other metroid titles, there is no way you can go 360 and hate this.
It is pretty much Fusion 3D.
I have already enjoyed it way more than fusion and there are many many things I hope would be different about this game.

Except I'll repeat myself once more IT IS NOT.
Fusion was NEVER about following a yellow dot on the map.
At the begining you got an outline of the levels, a clear objective and THEN there was a twist meaning you had to actually find a way through secret passages and so on.
Heck there was even interferences by the SA-X meaning you had to find other ways.
If it really was Fusion 3D, I WOULD have like it.
In a sense it's quite like Zero Mission with their added Chozo statue crap that refill your energy and gives you the next step to go....only this time it's mandatory.
Having a CO named Adam and making sure to make SB impossible doesn't make this anything close to Fusion 3D.
And calling it a turd is NOT hyperbole if you place it on the context of this serie.
Quite like Mario Sunshine, it's a competent game but really crappy in the context of Mario games...and even that one was closer to 2D Mario than this one is close to anything Metroid.
And just so that we're clear, you can have all the enjoyment you can on that game it won't change how I view the game, seriously I never said that game was impossible to derive any enjoyment from. For example, I actually find GTAIV to be the most boring thing I've put in my ps3 by a mile long but I have no problem with people actually loving it. And the reverse is true as well

amtentori said:
Is hard mode just too unforgiving or something?

There's one thing I really don't like in this game is everything they did with mandatory 1rst person view, having a boss that's only that and unforgiving as it is....
Yeah I won't throw flowers saying how amazing it is:/

Hey at least there's a good thing coming from this all, if Other M is the template they wish to use from now on, you won't see me complain about any of the sequels!

And yeah horror is a thing that could mesh well with the style of the game, after all Samus's supposed to be fighting giant monsters from hell.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
effingvic said:
Maybe it was for the time, so I can't comment on it's impact since I wasn't here when it was released. I'm basing the game off on playing it now and while I think it's pretty cool so far, I don't see why everyone wants each new Metroid game to be a re-skinned version of this game.

I'm going to start over then dig around for Fusion somewhere.
If you played the original, it was pretty much a labyrinth for you to explore. The world slowly started expanding as you obtained new items. It was a neat idea because you could see there were places you could access, but you weren't able to yet.

Super Metroid pretty much improved on the original in every way. The game never told you where to go, but there was a map to go to if you needed help. That in itself was a major improvement. Once again, you could see there were certain places you could get to, but not until you obtained certain items. There were a lot of additions that mixed up the gameplay as well, the power bomb, speed boost, wall jumping, grapple beam and x-ray visor to name a few.

Fusion, the next official sequel threw a lot of that out the window. They took away your ability to go anywhere any time by opening and closing off certain sections of the game at different times. It's been awhile since I've played it, but the main thing I remember them changing was the suit, adding in some survival horror type moments as well and giving the game more of a story. Other than that, the game was in every way inferior to Super Metroid because no new gameplay elements were added. They actually simplified it and took some away.

Next we had Zero Mission, which was a remake of the original. They basically made this one even easier than Fusion. They made it to where there was no way for you to progress thru the game without telling you where to go. Basically, they almost completely eliminated the exploration. I don't remember if it was this game or Fusion, but one of them gave you the ability to grab onto ledges. That was a nice feature. This game also included a new stealth section and surface area to check out. Other than that nothing new was added. At the time it came out, a lot of people were upset about the game telling you where to go.

Last we come to Other M. Once again they took even more exploration away. The thing that originally put the series on the map has been almost completely eliminated. There's almost no sense of discovery and very little sense of accomplishment thanks to the way items are now obtained. They also made a massive influence on story which was always interesting before, but maintained a sense of mystery. Now, not only do they tell you everywhere to go, but they tell you every last detail about the characters. It's disappointing because the mystery surrounding the characters and worlds was one of the things that made them so appealing. Other features that they started to add in the other games like the survivor horror and stealth elements seem like they were attempted here, but not fully fleshed out. Despite all of that, it's the first entry from the series into 3D that's not a spin off. They decided to add an emphasis on action which for the most part they succeeded with. In that respect, it is a welcomed improvement. In almost every other way it's inferior to each of it's predecessors.

It's not that people are against the idea of something new and it's not that people want a reskinned Super Metroid. People just want the best parts of the games to continue while they expand and add in new ideas. That hasn't happened though. A lot of people, myself included feel like the series has been on a steady decline since Super Metroid. So what people want is them to go back and look at that series and evaluate it. Discover what about it made it so great and get that right first. After that, go back and add in those extra elements.
 

Kard8p3

Member
MadOdorMachine said:
Next we had Zero Mission, which was a remake of the original. They basically made this one even easier than Fusion. They made it to where there was no way for you to progress thru the game without telling you where to go. Basically, they almost completely eliminated the exploration. I don't remember if it was this game or Fusion, but one of them gave you the ability to grab onto ledges. That was a nice feature. This game also included a new stealth section and surface area to check out. Other than that nothing new was added. At the time it came out, a lot of people were upset about the game telling you where to go.

With the exception of the first chozo statue I'm pretty sure you can skip most the rest if not all. The exploration is just as strong in zero mission as it was in super. I still prefer super to zero mission but quite a few put zero mission above super. When it comes to the ledge grab it was in both fusion and zero mission. In fusion you had it from the start but in zero mission it was an item you found a little ways into the game.
 

Mael

Member
Kard8p3 said:
With the exception of the first chozo statue I'm pretty sure you can skip most the rest if not all. The exploration is just as strong in zero mission as it was in super. I still prefer super to zero mission but quite a few put zero mission above super. When it comes to the ledge grab it was in both fusion and zero mission. In fusion you had it from the start but in zero mission it was an item you found a little ways into the game.

The simple fact that Zero Mission is so SB happy means that you can skip most of them if not all.
I'm not even sure the ledge grab is mandatory to be frank.
But yeah linearity is not exactly the game's problem
 

Boney

Banned
You're adressing Fusion in the wrong light man. Yes, the game is less exploration heavy, but that's entirely on purpose. Many people got lost and couldn't wrap around their heads how to proceed in the earlier titles, so the team had the responsability to maintain the Metroid feel while at the same time, making the maps easier to navigate and making them more straight forward. Did they manage to do that at 100%? No, of course they couldn't, since the thing they had to eliminate was an integral part os Super's design, but everything else is there, plus more. Controls, are vastly simplified and refined, Samus manuevers much more tightly, and there's a better emphasis on combat. Map is smartly designed, but in the end, loses the genious of Super's design, a great trade off, for me personally since it's a great change of pace and better suited for handheld play. It still maintained low percentage runs and simple speed runs.

Then comes Zero Mision. The best designed Metroid. I suggest you go back to it, because how you're describing it, is selling it short. It's designed so both newcomers, by following the statues, or for series veterans by sequence breaking the entire game. The game is actually designed around this, they're all intentionally positioned, I first stumbled upon this discovering you don't need the long beam because there's another secret passage you can go through, but the rest of the game is devilishly geniously designed. You get to fight Ridley first, skip some of the bosses and get powerups early. Controls are even better than in Fusion and it introduces new elements like the stealth sequence. And if you found the game too easy, there's always hard mode, which is really hard actually. heck, I'm gonna be bold and say that Zero Mision is the finest game ever designed. Every little detail is there for a reason. Seriously go back to it.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
Kard8p3 said:
With the exception of the first chozo statue I'm pretty sure you can skip most the rest if not all. The exploration is just as strong in zero mission as it was in super. I still prefer super to zero mission but quite a few put zero mission above super. When it comes to the ledge grab it was in both fusion and zero mission. In fusion you had it from the start but in zero mission it was an item you found a little ways into the game.
I'm replaying ZM as well as Prime right now. You can't skip them. The only ones you can skip are the ones that have the new power ups like the ice beam. If you jump in that one, it will recharge your health and ammo, but there are ones placed through out the world that you have to get in to progress.

On another note, I'd really like to see them add in a melee or close combat weapon for Samus in the future. What if she could emit an energy shield or sword kind of like the grapple beam? That could be cool.
 
Top Bottom