Metroid: Other M

[EC2151]

an even better question to ask is "Remembuh me?"

[Calpis]

yeah because better resolution doesn't matter at all. We really should be playing games in 320x240. It made the pixels easier to see.

[Ferret]

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/i_25030.jpg

If I have to fight that thing one more goddamn time after I've already killed it and obtained the powerup it was carrying...

[Nabeel Ansari]

If I have to fight that thing one more goddamn time after I've already killed it and obtained the powerup it was carrying...

You can dodge EVERYTHING in this game...

SPOILERS:

All you have to do is make sure he's ready to punch you, dodge twice, and blast.

Repeat that for epic pwnage,

[Bleck]

yeah because better resolution doesn't matter at all. We really should be playing games in 320x240. It made the pixels easier to see.

are you going to argue that being able to differentiate between pixels somehow makes video games unenjoyable

really are you going to try and argue that

[Toadofsky]

are you going to argue that being able to differentiate between pixels somehow makes video games unenjoyable

really are you going to try and argue that

I think he is and I wanna watch!

[Gollgagh]

well if it's possible at all, why shouldn't we be able to use a higher resolution

[Bleck]

First thing that comes to my mind is price. The Wii is the cheapest system of this generation, and it's obvious this is largely due to it's lack of physical power. To make the Wii capable of delivering FULL 1080 PROGRESSIVE 3D SUPERFANTASTIC DEFINITION, you'd need to make the system larger, more expensive, and probably less physically reliable; I've seen a 360 tip from standing position to it's side on a carpet, landing with a soft thud. It stopped working. My Wii, on the other hand, has been dropped down a flight of stairs, and still works flawlessly. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft and Sony have spent multiple times as much money as Nintendo has on repairing and replacing broken systems.

Trying to justify making a system expensive for gamers and your company, so games can look better, is ridiculous.

The second thing, and the thing that is most obvious, is how graphics do not, and have never, had any impact on how well a game plays. Famitsu is largely the most critical bunch of reviewers when it comes to video games, no? Well, take a look at the games that they've given perfect scores to -

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Soulcalibur

Vagrant Story

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Nintendogs

Final Fantasy XII

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Monster Hunter Tri

Bayonetta

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Pokémon Black and White

Fifteen games that can agreeably be considered the cream of the crop of their respective genres - and most of them are on Nintendo systems, including the Wii.

None of the Nintendo entries can really be called out for their amazing graphics; in fact, the only two on the list that, at the time of their release, can be held above the general standard for graphics are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Bayonetta, and anyone who's actually played it can give you a long list of reasons why Bayonetta was phenomenal that have nothing to do with how it looks.

Metal Gear Solid didn't even need the graphics to be that great of a game, and Peace Walker proved it by being on the PSP and looking, mostly, like a PS2 game.

Essentially what I'm getting at, and can provide more information to prove, is that graphics have never mattered as far as gaming goes. Sure, having good graphics is nice - but you can never, ever say that having 'sub par graphics' drags a game down if it is good in every other respect without looking like an elitist idiot. If you want to complain about something in a video game, complain about something that matters beyond a precursory glance.

---

Also, note: of all the things in Metroid: Other M, do you know what took the most work and received the most focus during development?

Making the cutscenes look nice. Look how great that turned out.

[Brushfire]

Final Fantasy XII

Famitsu can't be trusted, cause they gave a perfect score to that gaming abortion.

[Toadofsky]

well if it's possible at all, why shouldn't we be able to use a higher resolution

Because the Wii was not made for HD gaming, at the time, most people DID NOT have an HD TV, and even if they did, a poll came out that stated that few really used the HD plug-in on the TV. So Nintendo, didn't feel the need to shoot themselves on the foot and make a console that would turn only turn profit until years later, unlike some other companies.

Though Nintendo admits their next console will be HD, but let's be honest, it has to be more than that. And really, after you play a game on any console do you keep dissecting the graphics after playing for a while?

[Bleck]

Famitsu can't be trusted, cause they gave a perfect score to that gaming abortion.

FFXII is the best game that plays like it does, which, unfortunately, is by itself not very good. The game has an interesting setting, great music, and is bound to keep you busy for hours if you fall into it.

If you can stand boring mmo gameplay, which I totally understand if you don't.

Because the Wii was not made for HD gaming, at the time, most people DID NOT have an HD TV, and even if they did, a poll came out that stated that few really used the HD plug-in on the TV.

I still play video games on a big chunky TV, and mostly with my Wii. I have no reason to buy a new TV right now, and fact of the matter is that not only is that true for a huge buttload of people, but people want it to continue being true.

Sony is marketing to the people who are willing to go out and buy a 5000 dollar TV so they can play 3D Call of Duty 9. Nintendo is marketing to everyone else. It's a no brainer who the more profitable group is.

[BardicKnowledge]

FFXII is the best game that plays like it does, which, unfortunately, is by itself not very good. The game has an interesting setting, great music, and is bound to keep you busy for hours if you fall into it.

If you can stand boring mmo gameplay, which I totally understand if you don't.

Quick aside to this: FF12 has the best gameplay near ever -- all tedium is just washed away. It's a shame that the plot is absolutely terrible

[Calpis]

are you going to argue that being able to differentiate between pixels somehow makes video games unenjoyable

really are you going to try and argue that

I didn't say anything about how resolution makes games more/less enjoyable. I said that higher resolution makes it easier to see.

Graphics and resolution aren't the same thing, but you're talking like they are.

When I was still playing games on an SDTV I said the same stuff you're saying now, but after having a decent HDTV(albeit 720p), going back to an SDTV is hard. Everything looks fuzzy, like I'm watching it through dirty glasses. I guess in that respect, it makes it less enjoyable. Doesn't make it a worse game, but at the same time it's ridiculous to argue that a resolution upgrade doesn't benefit the experience.

[Bigfoot]

FFXII is the best game that plays like it does, which, unfortunately, is by itself not very good. The game has an interesting setting, great music, and is bound to keep you busy for hours if you fall into it.

If you can stand boring mmo gameplay, which I totally understand if you don't.

I still play video games on a big chunky TV, and mostly with my Wii. I have no reason to buy a new TV right now, and fact of the matter is that not only is that true for a huge buttload of people, but people want it to continue being true.

Sony is marketing to the people who are willing to go out and buy a 5000 dollar TV so they can play 3D Call of Duty 9. Nintendo is marketing to everyone else. It's a no brainer who the more profitable group is.

These days, you can get a decent HDTV for $500-$700(I understand you mentioned 3D TVs), but yeah, the whole 3D thing is silly imo. I don't see it taking off. It's way too expensive to invest in the TV and glasses for anyone that wants to play/watch.

[Gollgagh]

Because the Wii was not made for HD gaming

hi sup you guys are good at reading

well if it's possible at all, why shouldn't we be able to use a higher resolution

the graphics are already there

you just can't get them out of the box

[EC2151]

If I have to fight that thing one more goddamn time after I've already killed it and obtained the powerup it was carrying...

You have to fight that thing a surprisingly irritating number of times.

You're not done yet!

[Gollgagh]

thatsthejoke.mpg

[Schwaltzvald]

Don't forget those that have the old tube TVs that finally get tired of using pencils or popsicle sticks just to make the on/off button work ever since it sank into the set; this is of course after the remote controller died and if the owner bought the cheapest possible cable that didn't throw in another controller that one can set to control the TV after imputing a code for it to be recognized.

Talking from first hand experience here...

[Toadofsky]

Don't forget those that have the old tube TVs that finally get tired of using pencils or popsicle sticks just to make the on/off button work ever since it sank into the set; this is of course after the remote controller died and if the owner bought the cheapest possible cable that didn't throw in another controller that one can set to control the TV after imputing a code for it to be recognized.

Talking from first hand experience here...

The Video input on a TV my parents had since I was like 4 fell inside the TV, seriously.

That TV will probably still work even after their 40 inch plasma dies in a few years (as some have projected on these new TVs....)

[Overflow]

Other M as covered by the Game Overthinker:

http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2010/09/episode-40-heavens-to-metroid.html

I like the arguments he presents and I think they make a lot of sense, especially his description of Super Metroid at the end.

I know he didn't mention the characterization in the Prime games or Fusion, but in the former, there really wasn't much, and the latter is pretty similar to other M and together they really flesh out Samus' character.

[Rozovian]

Funny how he lampshades a strawman but still treats his audience as one. He's basically saying that anyone with an issue with this game's story must think that:

1. following orders from a man means you're submissive if you're a woman

(rather than following stupid orders is a stupid thing, (power bomb deactivated I can understand, grapple beam deactivation is just dumb))

2. if you're not a submissive woman, having emotions is a bad thing

(rather than overcoming those emotions. also, those emotions can be implied and conveyed by other means that an overacted cutscene or whiny monologue, they don't need to be overstated. a visual medium is about "show, don't tell", not "show and tell")

3. Samus is a loner and can't have human interaction like ever

(rather than preferring to be by herself. we've seen her deal just fine with other ppl (and creatures) in the prime games (well, 2 and 3), and now she suddenly lapses into monologues whenever a random creature appears or one of her new buddies said something)

Apparently, he was overthinking his audience. Or underthinking. Strawmen are so much easier to prove dumb.

btw, thread tl;dr, anybody else think the escape sequence after the helmet scene was Zero Mission copypasta?

[EC2151]

I actually thought it was hilarious because it CAME OUT OF NOWHERE

-big emotional music playin--

WARNING

WARNING

[JCvgluvr]

Just beat the game 100%. The escape sequence was a great surprise (that was spoiled for me by stupid gamefaqs posters). I was quite anxious to escape, and made it with a minute to spare. (Emperor, what you're saying is so true, it was funny.)

That was a good game, but a pretty bad Metroid game. I'd say that Other M barely manages to be better than Metroid (NES), Metroid 2, and Hunters (barf). I'll probably replay M:OM one time (and ONLY one time) in a couple years.

[The Author]

My issues with this game are not so bas as to make it a bad Metroid game, in fact, if you were to eliminate some of my complaints, it would be probably the best after Super Metroid.

Well, onward to the bad things (also I haven't read the thread so some of these may have been addressed, but not by me .)

First of all, my most replayed Metroid ever is Fusion. While I know it is not the best, it might as well just be my favorite. I pretty much have the story committed to memory. Other M first of all caused Fusion's story to not make sense anymore. Secret space station lab that manufactures Metroids and that also includes the Nightmare weapon and a Ridley "clone" which is explored by Samus guided by a CO ? Every time I went into a sector I was kinda annoyed at how identical the premise was to Fusion. When I saw the nightmare I could only laugh.

Second: First person perspective: in some cases it worked fine, in others where you had to scan a very minute object to progress, or at the end during the Swarm attack, it was just too annoying to make it work. When you ran into one of these scan puzzles, it just stopped the game in its track, you could be running around and then if you were not lucky to find the one blotch of green on the grass you had to scan, you could be immobilized for 5 minutes.

Third: Missile use. Clunky system that could have been a lot better in my mind. Issues with switching to 3rd person made a specific "royal" boss fight much harder than it was.

But, if you ignore these issues, everything else about this game works and it works pretty damn well. Samus feels a lot more organic in this game, when she had to be a badass she was one, but she was also human, something that you only barely saw in Zero Mission and you had hints of in Fusion. The platforming was tight, the camera changing angles wasn't disorienting at all, the game could be overall pretty damned solid. But its flaws are too big to ignore. Which is bad.

But I do like this direction for the game and I guess if they make another one like that it might get better.

[EC2151]

Like I said earlier, I am almost SURE that we will get a Zero-Mission esque game in the mold of Other M following this. And we the fans will be happy, since it will probably be handled with more finesse.

Also, that Game Overthinker video makes me more and more frustrated the more I think about it. I left comments on there as "Rothello" which basically sums up 1) my likes and dislikes of the game, and 2) how the Game Overthinker has essentially become a big piece of biased shit.