Metroid: Other M

[Bigfoot]

That would have been nice to know

I might revisit the game on a rainy day or something to 100% it, but right now it's on the shelf.

[MechaFone]

Been watching this on youtube. It looks AMAZING. I do admit, it seems pretty dumb to have your upgrades handed to you. Still, that's the only thing I've found that bothers me.

...Well, that and the aforementioned lack of music. It's there when it really counts, ie boss battles, but otherwise it's really more like background noise than the usual music that keeps you company.

I personally could really get into the fast-paced action, the dodging, counter-attacking and strategic 'lethal kills'. The radar in the upper right hand corner makes it easy to get around, which is a plus for poor players like me who'd probably give up 'cause they got lost.

The story itself looks great, and it helps the cinematic style that they have good voice acting. I personally find the whole game to be really great, though I doubt I'll be able to look even half as smooth as the guy playing makes it look.

All in all, I would recommend this to anyone at least once. I know I look forward to it.

[Overflow]

Sooo, just to debunk the "Samus takes orders from a man? That's Sexist!" and "She won't activate her weapons till a man says she can?" complaints, samus DOES activate the space jump and screw attack on her own without Adam's permission.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[Bigfoot]

I never really looked at it as any sort of sexism. I just looked at it as him being her commanding officer and her only form of father figure.

[Bleck]

anyone who thinks the game is sexist is an idiot

[Overflow]

That's exactly what it is. There are even people out there who think Adam was her boyfriend. That's icky. I actually got the idea that Ian was her boyfriend.

Oh, and another thing: yes, Samus is a bounty hunter, but in the Metroidverse, bounty hunters are actually an organization run by the Galactic federation, so if they decide to call on a bounty hunter or two, those hunters have to respond and follow their orders. Obviously there are independent hunters (as seen in Prime Hunters), but Samus, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda are a few of the hunters "owned" by the federation.

Of course, after Fusion she must have left and become her own agent, and I'd love to see what the next game after Fusion would be like. I would love to see a return of Admiral Dane, and some people were even suggesting that since Samus is now part Metroid, maybe her power-ups could be in the form of Metroid Evolutions. Alpha, beta, gamma and omega suits, if you will.

[EC2151]

anyone who thinks the game is sexist is an idiot

I don't think the game is sexist, per se, but some of the hardest of the hardcore Metroid fans I associate with have had their faith in Sakamoto and Metroid's mythos severely shaken with the supposed sexism in the game.

Mainly the sexist moments come from

The scene where Adam shoots Samus from behind to disallow her in S-0, and this was completely in surprise and as a first resort. These guys argue (and probably rightly so) that considering how Samus slavishly followed Adam's orders the whole game (even to her own detriment), there was no need to shoot her. I mean, when Samus begged to go rescue Ian in the past and Adam said no, she still followed orders. Shooting her in this context may not have been intended to be sexist, but it certainly can come off that way. What they complain about is that the game actually wants you to celebrate the fact that a man just came out of nowhere, pot-shot Samus in cold-blood, left her weak and vulnerable, and brushes it off like it was nothing.

Of course, I don't entirely see it that way, but I think that scene was not really written as well as it could have been.

The other main moment is complaining that Samus' one act of independence from Adam, namely, leaving to become an independent bounty hunter, is seen in a negative light, as something she has to atone for (leaving the supervision of her male CO).

Basically, every one of her actions is based off what Adam would think of her, and she is emotionally unstable in his presence.

Again, I don't really see it that way, but I have a hard time sometimes disagreeing with SOME of the points being made (mainly the S-0 scene for me).

Also, I don't mind Samus getting emotional every now and then; I mean, she has a tender side, but I always think the badass planet-destroyer should be first and foremost in the eyes of the gamer.

[Bigfoot]

In my opinion,(spoilers) I feel that the reason Adam shot her out of no where is so he could prevent any chance of Samus proceeding into that room full of the Metroids. You see how worried Adam gets and how he rushes off to get to her once he finds out where she is going. Since the Metroids have become immune to cold, he knew that she would not be able to destroy them without destroying herself in the process. Adam prevented her from going out to try and rescue his brother, so he was just doing the same thing in this situation: trying to protect her. (end spoilers)

[Lemonectric]

That's exactly what it is. There are even people out there who think Adam was her boyfriend. That's icky. I actually got the idea that Ian was her boyfriend.

Oh, and another thing: yes, Samus is a bounty hunter, but in the Metroidverse, bounty hunters are actually an organization run by the Galactic federation, so if they decide to call on a bounty hunter or two, those hunters have to respond and follow their orders. Obviously there are independent hunters (as seen in Prime Hunters), but Samus, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda are a few of the hunters "owned" by the federation.

Of course, after Fusion she must have left and become her own agent, and I'd love to see what the next game after Fusion would be like. I would love to see a return of Admiral Dane, and some people were even suggesting that since Samus is now part Metroid, maybe her power-ups could be in the form of Metroid Evolutions. Alpha, beta, gamma and omega suits, if you will.

Queen Suit acquired

Press A to give birth to a baby Metroid

[TheKrow]

That's exactly what it is. There are even people out there who think Adam was her boyfriend. That's icky. I actually got the idea that Ian was her boyfriend.

Oh, and another thing: yes, Samus is a bounty hunter, but in the Metroidverse, bounty hunters are actually an organization run by the Galactic federation, so if they decide to call on a bounty hunter or two, those hunters have to respond and follow their orders. Obviously there are independent hunters (as seen in Prime Hunters), but Samus, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda are a few of the hunters "owned" by the federation.

Of course, after Fusion she must have left and become her own agent, and I'd love to see what the next game after Fusion would be like. I would love to see a return of Admiral Dane, and some people were even suggesting that since Samus is now part Metroid, maybe her power-ups could be in the form of Metroid Evolutions. Alpha, beta, gamma and omega suits, if you will.

Queen Suit acquired

Press A to give birth to a baby Metroid

If Samus was given some kind of love interest, there would be many bricks shat across the world, I'm sure. Despite what some people may already think, THAT would be what ruins Samus' character, not the explanation of her feelings and her past.

I'm sure people don't think about why she's seems so driven to protect everyone. If I lost my whole family to space pirates, I wouldn't want to lose anyone else I cared about.

Also Ben, don't you even start.

[Theophany]

You do know that the only thing Team Ninja had a hand in on this game was the combat system and character modeling, right? The story was handled by Nintendo.

My apologies to Team Ninja. Thanks for clearing that up.

[EC2151]

More specifically, the story was handled by Sakamoto, the creator of the series.

Basically, a guy whose amount of dialogue he's written in past games can fit on a napkin.

And boy does it show sometimes.

[Overflow]

Yeah, the writing's not the best, but I think it's pretty natural. All the characters speak like they would if they were in that situation, and with rare exceptions, I NEVER found it to be obvious this was recorded by actors, unlike certain other games...(Baten KAitos, I'm looking at you!)

[BardicKnowledge]

...and with rare exceptions, I NEVER found it to be obvious this was recorded by actors...

And how else would it have been recorded? :p

[EC2151]

The story for the most part works, outside of the S-0 scene for me, but it could have been written better, imo.

Higgs is the best character of the game.

He should be henceforth referred to only as MANthony Higgs.

Yeah, the writing's not the best, but I think it's pretty natural. All the characters speak like they would if they were in that situation, and with rare exceptions, I NEVER found it to be obvious this was recorded by actors, unlike certain other games...(Baten KAitos, I'm looking at you!)

You mean

END MAGNUS?

NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE

-evil smirk-

and

KILL HIM

IF HE LIVES. HE WILL BE A THREAT TO MY EMPIRE

[JCvgluvr]

I just got to the Exam Center today, so I'm still early in the game. Can I say that I LOVE how agile Samus has become? Samus has never been this fun to control, not even in the handhelds. Walljumping feels fantastic (or is it kick-jumping)!

I can see why everyone brings up the lack of music. It makes the game feel so sparse and empty, and NOT in a good way. However, an amazing part of the music came when I loaded from a save station for the first time. Hearing the iconic start song being played by an orchestra literally made me squeal with joy IRL.

[Overflow]

You mean

END MAGNUS?

NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE

-evil smirk-

and

KILL HIM

IF HE LIVES. HE WILL BE A THREAT TO MY EMPIRE

Haha, great game, but voice acting that sounded like they were speaking through tubes

Sooo... ScrewAttack really doesn't like the game. They go on a tirade about the game on SideScrollers, mostly about the story.

There seems to be 3 categories of people who play this game:

-Casual Metroid fans who have played one or two of the newer games. They like Other M's ease of play and don't mind the story.

-Large Metroid fans who have played many of the games, and whose favourite is Super Metroid. The hate the auto-aim, and their perception of Samus is completely messed with. They don't bother considering the story as it connects with the other games and instead focus on samus taking orders from a man and her freezing at Ridley.

-Hardcore Metroid fans who have played all the games and might have even read the Manga. We appreciate the gameplay styles and recognize the design choices with the auto-aim and concentration. We can understand why Samus is so emotional now, and why she freezes at the sight of Ridley(she fought him many times and blew up the planet he was on! Anyone would be convinced he was finally dead after that!).

I don't know why people are so hung up over Samus' new personality. Key word: NEW personality. her personality has changed after the events of Metroid 2 and Super Metroid. How could you ever hit enemies in a 3D space without the auto-aim? It was always pretty silly that enemies dropped missiles and health, so the concentration makes more sense and makes boss battles much more intense. As for her not activating her weapons or armour, remember, she is under the command of someone and if she wants to get paid, she follows his orders. Besides, she does activate features of her suit without his permission (Space Jump, Screwattack, Plasma Beam, etc).

[Ray Falling]

During the first hours of the game I found my appreciation for the original Prime growing. I sat there saying "well, it's not Prime", but then I figured it's probably best not to compare them.

I found most "reviews" a little unbalanced and also see the pattern Overflow is talking about.

My rating of the game would be somewhat positive, but at the same time I was a little disappointed and felt I didn't really get value for my money.

I would say the downsides of the game are its shortness, the lack of challenge (most of the time the game was simply too easy) and the diminished value and use of collecting items.

I personally did appreciate the story and the character of Samus in this context. Overall it felt like a sci-fi murder mystery movie; predictable yet enjoyable for the most part. There were the occasional moments when I thought I wasn't really playing a Metroid game, but I played on nevertheless. Other moments were really good and memorable

I don't really feel this is the type of game I'd want to replay over and over though. Which is why I initially commented saying the two days (10+ hours) of entertainment were not worth the price I payed for it.

In a closing comment, I'm afraid that a lot of games (on Wii) these days are heading in this direction: short, easy and not enough staying power. Which is why I'm more and more doubting future releases of even my favourite titles, and less likely to invest in these games anymore.

[The Mutericator]

Haha, great game, but voice acting that sounded like they were speaking through tubes

Sooo... ScrewAttack really doesn't like the game. They go on a tirade about the game on SideScrollers, mostly about the story.

There seems to be 3 categories of people who play this game:

-Casual Metroid fans who have played one or two of the newer games. They like Other M's ease of play and don't mind the story.

-Large Metroid fans who have played many of the games, and whose favourite is Super Metroid. The hate the auto-aim, and their perception of Samus is completely messed with. They don't bother considering the story as it connects with the other games and instead focus on samus taking orders from a man and her freezing at Ridley.

-Hardcore Metroid fans who have played all the games and might have even read the Manga. We appreciate the gameplay styles and recognize the design choices with the auto-aim and concentration. We can understand why Samus is so emotional now, and why she freezes at the sight of Ridley(she fought him many times and blew up the planet he was on! Anyone would be convinced he was finally dead after that!).

I don't know why people are so hung up over Samus' new personality. Key word: NEW personality. her personality has changed after the events of Metroid 2 and Super Metroid. How could you ever hit enemies in a 3D space without the auto-aim? It was always pretty silly that enemies dropped missiles and health, so the concentration makes more sense and makes boss battles much more intense. As for her not activating her weapons or armour, remember, she is under the command of someone and if she wants to get paid, she follows his orders. Besides, she does activate features of her suit without his permission (Space Jump, Screwattack, Plasma Beam, etc).

I haven't seen nearly as many people complaining about the auto-aim as the terrible writing. Things like the Ridley scene did NOT make sense. If she had gotten frustrated, it would have made sense, but breaking down and having a panic attack over an opponent she's killed literally five times* by that point? Hardly logical or realistic. Not activating the VARIA SUIT, of all things, until authorized? Far from realistic.

I appreciate the IDEA of making Metroid a more action-based game, but if the action is only so-so, the story is pretty bad, and they sacrificed the storylessness, the exploration, and the isolation for the sake of it, I call it a failed experiment. Sakamoto: please let Retro handle the next one. Or SOME American studio that knows what good writing is.

* Once in Metroid, two if you count Meta-Ridley in Zero Mission, three in Prime, four in Prime 3, five in Super Metroid. You can also count the very first fight with him in the opening scene to Prime 3 as another, if you choose.

[Calpis]

I actually didn't mind Samus' reaction to Ridley. I remember when I played Prime 1 for the first time, I thought it was a bit of a let-down that there wasn't much reaction to Ridley appearing, so this kind of made up for it.

For those who listened to the Screw Attack review: was anyone else annoyed that one of the guys kept on calling him "Ripley"?

[Overflow]

I actually didn't mind Samus' reaction to Ridley. I remember when I played Prime 1 for the first time, I thought it was a bit of a let-down that there wasn't much reaction to Ridley appearing, so this kind of made up for it.

For those who listened to the Screw Attack review: was anyone else annoyed that one of the guys kept on calling him "Ripley"?

That Would be Destin, the leader of the Anti-Nintendo Organization.

[Gollgagh]

he's on a show named screw attack and he's the leader of an anti-nintendo organization

... wat

[Nabeel Ansari]

That's like eating ice cream and saying protesting dairy products. xD

[Benjamin Briggs]

seriously this game takes disappointing to a whole new level

even the shiniest turds still smell like poo

[Invader_Quirk]

Haha, great game, but voice acting that sounded like they were speaking through tubes

Sooo... ScrewAttack really doesn't like the game. They go on a tirade about the game on SideScrollers, mostly about the story.

There seems to be 3 categories of people who play this game:

-Casual Metroid fans who have played one or two of the newer games. They like Other M's ease of play and don't mind the story.

-Large Metroid fans who have played many of the games, and whose favourite is Super Metroid. The hate the auto-aim, and their perception of Samus is completely messed with. They don't bother considering the story as it connects with the other games and instead focus on samus taking orders from a man and her freezing at Ridley.

-Hardcore Metroid fans who have played all the games and might have even read the Manga. We appreciate the gameplay styles and recognize the design choices with the auto-aim and concentration. We can understand why Samus is so emotional now, and why she freezes at the sight of Ridley(she fought him many times and blew up the planet he was on! Anyone would be convinced he was finally dead after that!).

I don't know why people are so hung up over Samus' new personality. Key word: NEW personality. her personality has changed after the events of Metroid 2 and Super Metroid. How could you ever hit enemies in a 3D space without the auto-aim? It was always pretty silly that enemies dropped missiles and health, so the concentration makes more sense and makes boss battles much more intense. As for her not activating her weapons or armour, remember, she is under the command of someone and if she wants to get paid, she follows his orders. Besides, she does activate features of her suit without his permission (Space Jump, Screwattack, Plasma Beam, etc).

I agree completely with you. That middle section of Metroid fans think they're more hardcore than they are. Her reaction totally makes sense with the manga. She even has that panic attack when she thinks Ridley will kill all the Chozo. Now she thinks he's finally dead along with all the horror he's caused her, and here he is again, in perfect health. Plus, she clearly has PTSD, which functions just like this.

The authorizing thing I thought would be really stupid, but I think it worked for the most part just fine. The only part that seemed dumb was when you had to go through the heat for a while until you were authorized to not burn to death.

Gameplay wise, I loved it. The auto-aim wasn't because they didn't use a nunchuk. It was imperative in 3D space. Plus, you've got enemies in the air and on the walls. How the hell would that work? And it didn't make it easy, either. I died a lot; much much more than I've died in a game for a looooong time.

Only issues I had were the scanning sections, which were totally unintuitive, and the fact that it was over so quickly. I still have a lot to collect, but still...