Kard8p3 said:
Will you list some of the things it does wrong outside of what I posted? I don't know if I enjoyed the game so much that I overlooked some things or what but I'd like to know what they are so I can be on the lookout for them during my next playthrough.
Well it's definately been a while since my time with the game, but I'll try to recap. I may very well miss a few details.
The biggest most glaring flaw in the game are the Where's Waldo moments, and ironically, these are the least mentioned aspects in reviews. The basic philosophy behind it is incredible simple and rewarding. Make use of an in game mechanic and translate them to cutscenes making both aspects blend in as seamless as possible. The problem comes in, when for whatever reason, they decided to make it work slightly different than the in game counterpart, and removing the lock on aspect. With this, we feel a complete disconection between the segments, and instead of having Samus be a character that has incredibly acute senses, that can spot all these little details, we end up having, we the players being turtured through an excercise of frustration with the intention of make the game world more interactive.
My second complain, are not the shoulder parts per se, but the lab investigation part. It's incredible stretched out, making you move with such an incredible stiff control movement, for such a long period of time. You just walk through a long corridor twice, devoid of tension and interaction. The other parts, like bathrooms and others, work reasonably well, because they are short, self contained, and used to traverse small enclosed areas were regular high speed movement wouldn't work.
But then, why are these 2 aspects in the game? I believe, there was the intention of making these 2 mechanics much more pivotal to the core experience, and make them interact with each other. Investigations parts were supposed to play a bigger role in older builds or concepts of the game, going through doors, papers, computers, perhaps even some stealth. Investigating both in first person and third person. There's the vestigial proof, in the second bathroom where we open a stall to find a powerup, it's incredibly basic and out of place, but my bet, is that it was supposed to be incorporated with much bigger strength earlier in development. Perhaps, they were taken away because they got in the way of regular Metroid gameplay of running and gunning, and didn't want to take such a radical aspect in this sort of comeback. That's my explanation on how we ended up with such disjointed mechanics in such a game, and both definately lower the overall quality of the game, there's no way around that.
The other problems I have with the game, aren't absolute flaws like these ones, but rather partial flaws.
First of all, it's the story in itself, and localisation issues. I said it earlier, regardless of the quality of the story, the game is divided in 3 big cutscenes. The opening, our flashback with Anthony and the ending. All 3 break up the action of the game, they're stiffly implemented and not to mention that they are unskipable. Then comes the localisation issues. Spanish subs are good, and the Japanese voice acting is amazing; So how come did the English version screwed both aspects up? I really can't answer the question, but the end of the matter is that they're much lower quality than their counterparts, and as a result, drag the overall product down a few notches.
As for the characterisation of Samus, I personally don't have a problem with it. But it's definately worth delving into. Sakamoto acknowledges that many people formed the character of Samus in our heads, with the brief information and actions performed in the game. We all have a common ground, but each of us is slightly different because of how we register each of these action, it has to do with context. So one of the main objective was to literally characterise Samus, in a tangible way. Unlike the manga, which has 2 main differences, one being the absolute beginning of the character, and two, being an entirely different medium, Other M is a game near the end. And what it does, is thrust this characterisation of Samus onto us, since the very beggining, in a long exposition dump, without easing in this character. We're explicitaly told how this character reacts, and naturally, that may cause rejection. This same character could've been achieved much more subtly than how it was portrayed here.
Invisible wall on their parts, serve an specific purpose. Make you go forward. That's why I don't give them much consideration as I probably should, because they go hand in hand with the overall pacing and design. They serve as purpose to keep the game feeling as 2d, by not interacting with the enviroment, except for the specific parts. But then, they offer such um jarring I guess invisible walls, mostly having to do with the Space Jump. This is probably done, to not make all the puzzles go to waste, but with a bit more fine tuning, they could've allowed for both.
And well, there are other bits that don't really fit all that well, like such a fantastic combat system, where there aren't enough enemies to take advantage of it, but at the same time, we don't want to get stuck in fighting, the importance is to always keep moving, so it's alright, although it doesn't feel quite right. Same with the whole authorization process. I don't mind the whole authorization issue like some of you, and I think it works well in this particular game, although I'd prefer it to stay here. From a gameplay perspective, it works alright, since they're not being authorized unless it's imperative to use them, and make for some fun set pieces (some more than others) and the basic power up progression issue, by crossing certain areas with and without certain abilities shed a few lights. But it does feel kinda out of place.
I may be forgetting a few more issues, but my point is that, that the flaws it has, are not inherent 100% bad, but rather a lack of focus and polish in certain aspects, but would've been easily fixed and avoided, so that's why it comes both as a dissapointment and as a triumph to me.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I totally forgot, this game is totally obtuse. Was gonna mention it, but I forgot. It isn't carried with the elegance of Super's design while teaching wall jump, shinespark and using the powerbomb to blow up Maridia. Instead, they come incredibly obtuse in a context where these type of things aren't allowed. People had issues with the power bomb, the grapple beam among others, and it doesn't do a great job at explaining the combat system as well. This is bad game design. No doubt.
