Metroid: Other M

[liquid wind]

I think the voice acting itself is fine, the dialogue, particularly samus' inner monologue, is just badly written

[The Dual Dragons]

I hate all Metroid games due to the lack of interesting story and cinematic. I heard this one will have that, so I'm in!

[Tinus]

I have a bad feeling about Samus' characterisation in Other M. I just watched a cutscene where she meets Ridley on YouTube, and without spoiling anything, I really think her behaviour in that scene was very un-Samus-like.

All the long monologes are nothing new, since there were also a few in Fusion, but I do feel the Metroid series doesn't need them to convey the story.

Still, I want to play the game before making any judgments, and the new gameplay mechanics do seem interesting, so I guess I'm still going to get this game.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I do feel the Metroid series doesn't need them to convey the story.

.

The thing about Metroid is that it's largely not supposed to be story oriented at all...

Retro Studios did a good job with that in Prime 1. THe only story you got was through ancient lore and space pirate database logs.

Didn't play Prime 2 so i can't say if the story bogged down the game play, but there was WAAAAYYY too much story and characters and talking in Prime 3. Prime 3 was a very good game, just not a good Metroid game.

[The Dual Dragons]

To me, the designs and visuals that follow the Metroid games are screaming for more story.. they have some great concepts going on that could bloom a lot with a great narrative.

[Tinus]

Retro Studios did a good job with that in Prime 1. THe only story you got was through ancient lore and space pirate database logs.

Yeah that was awesome.

I actually didn't even mind the additional dialogue in Metroid Prime 3 so much. With all the references to the Federation in the series, it made sense to finally show Samus meeting up with some actual living people in it. And all of those scenes are at the very beginning and near the end of the game, the rest is still good old solo exploration.

Of course some people are saying the same is true for Other M, so hey maybe it won't be so bad.

[Bleck]

Then how should Samus sound?

certainly not like she does in other m

[The Mutericator]

To me, the designs and visuals that follow the Metroid games are screaming for more story.. they have some great concepts going on that could bloom a lot with a great narrative.

No. No no no no no no. This is the same Hollywood pitfall other games and series have fallen into, and I do not want it to happen to Metroid. Metroid's awesome BECAUSE there is minimal story, BECAUSE it's all isolated exploration. That's why I'm not buying Other M (I'll borrow it and try it out first instead).

I realize I'm a bit of an extremist, but I loved Metroid, Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime because you were alone completely, no one to interfere. Sure, it feels empty, that's the point. Can you imagine the opening room of Phendrana Drifts if some idiot Galactic Federation trooper were there to welcome you? Even Prime 2 felt like it had a tad too much interaction, with having to go back to U-Mos every once in a while, but it was acceptable. Prime 3 was fun, but definitely not a Metroid game in the more strict definition (read: SERIOUS GAMERS LIKE MYSELF, WHO TAKE GAMES SERIOUSLY BECAUSE WE ARE SERIOUS GAMERS you get the point).

[Thalzon]

Are we seriously arguing the validity of a Metroid game?

Jesus, people. Look, it's got Metroid right in the title. That basically makes it a Metroid game. Because it's a friggin' label, not an essence. The game could be all about Samus having a slumber party and doing her nails and watching some bad movie on pay-per-view, and if it has Metroid in the title, guess what? IT WOULD STILL BE A METROID GAME.

Once again, it's a title, not an essence or quality. If it's not exactly like previous titles, that does not mean it is not a "true" Metroid game. It just means it's a different Metroid game.

[EC2151]

If you want to talk about clunky controls, I still maintain that Super Metroid has some clunky control issues.

You have to sometimes contort your fingers and hold the controller in odd ways if you want to pull off running, jumping, and shooting all at the same time (or usually just a combination of the two). And the Space Jump is always so darn hard to figure out.

For me the perfect Metroid controls were in Zero Mission. EVERYTHING just worked. And worked flawlessly. This is not to say that Super Metroid is not great, but if it had Zero Mission controls... man I think it would be absolutely perfect, as opposed to nearly perfect (95% or so in my eyes).

And no one plays Metroid for the story, man. It's for the GAMEPLAY. You're missing out.

I'm agreeing with Mutericator, Metroid does not need cinematics or cutscenes to really tell a story. The best Metroid stories are told at your own pace, and are given through environmental clues and other observations (in this regard Super Metroid and Metroid Prime have told the best Metroid stories).

That's not to say there CAN'T be cutscenes- Sakamoto can do whatever the hell he wants- I'm just saying that ideally the game is not bogged down by a need to tell some heavy-handed Japanese pseudo-story the likes of which Square Enix has become especially known for.

For Other M, i see it like Fusion: there is a story and there are cutscenes/monologues (in the same sense there were in Fusion). I don't think it hampered Fusion all that much aside from the unskippable 5-minute intro (which I have saved over and every time I play the game I start from that save) and they were effective in heightening some of the tension and drama.

I don't think that R&D1 (or whatever that team is called now) has to try to do the same thing in every game; if they want to branch out and try a more 'cinematic' Fusion-styled game, I'm fine with that, since I really enjoyed Fusion for the tension and the revealing nature of the story (I mean, who didn't get scared whenever there was an SA-X encounter, or who wasn't surprised when they found the Restricted Lab?). However, what made those moments great is that Fusion was not focused on story, ultimately. It was focused on tried-and-true Metroid exploration and environmental observation. If Other M can keep that, I'm sure it'll be a success in my eyes. Several reviews have said mixed things, on whether the story or the game takes precedence. I hope that when I play it, the latter factors more than the former.

[Tinus]

If you want to talk about clunky controls, I still maintain that Super Metroid has some clunky control issues.

You have to sometimes contort your fingers and hold the controller in odd ways if you want to pull off running, jumping, and shooting all at the same time (or usually just a combination of the two).

Also having to switch between weapons using Select was really annoying.

[Benjamin Briggs]

so I played this last night for about two hours and I found it to be painful and frustrating

the cutscenes are beautiful, but there are way too many of them and they are way too long and the dialogue is PURE GARBAGE with multiple examples of using the exact same word to describe something 4-5 times in a span of 3-4 sentences; there's just a ridiculous amount of redundancy in the writing overall, and very little substance to the story so far

as far as the gameplay goes, it seems like nintendo assumes that I am five years old and have parkinson's, but they somehow managed to make me wander around and go "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO" after I kill all of the enemies

granted, I have only played the first few hours of the game, but it is NOT impressive so far. holding out hope, though

[Lemonectric]

Apparently I missed the part where they gave out early copies of the game to everyone. You are terrible people.

As far as dialogue goes, I'm just setting my standards above Super Mario Sunshine. Can't go lower than that.

(Also, you can change the button setup in Super Metroid, Tinus. Unless you're just referring to the switching system itself, which I didn't really mind.)

[Benjamin Briggs]

personal friends with shigeru miyamoto bro

[Devyn]

Well, I"ll say this. If you don't like this one, there's always Metroid Prime Trilogy. I am very eager to play this game, I wish someone could teleport me a copy. Thanks for the reviews, info and stuff.

Edit: However, I'm not liking what people are saying about the game being sexist. Judging from what I heard, it probably is. I like Samus to be a strong, independent type. But, I'm still interested and I will buy this game when it comes out and probably eat it like a new yorks strip steak covered in soy sauce.

[Ferret]

Sexist or not I'm getting this game ASAP. And it's alright for Samus to act like a woman.

[Tables]

The game could be all about Samus having a slumber party and doing her nails and watching some bad movie on pay-per-view, and if it has Metroid in the title, guess what? IT WOULD STILL BE A METROID GAME.

and i would probably still buy it

[yangfeili]

Also having to switch between weapons using Select was really annoying.

Am I the only one who always (ALWAYS) customized my controls in that game? Yeah, the default scheme does suck, but I never used it for more than like a minute on accident.

Y = Shoot

B = Jump

A = Run

X = Weapon Switch

Generally you don't need to use the run button much other than for the speed booster, but if you insist, I recently tried an experiment in which I used L to run. Sort of messes with your ability to aim while standing still, but it does make it very easy to run, jump, and shoot simultaneously.

Really, what the game needs is a Playstation controller, but a perfectly functional layout can be done an SNES controller.

[EC2151]

No dude, EVERYONE customized the controls because the default was pretty bad.

I tried L for dash once thinking it'd solve my problems, but lo and behold, you had to use L for the X-Ray visor in that set-up (wtf?), so I was like "Well, THAT didn't work."

[AarowSwift]

Sexist or not I'm getting this game ASAP. And it's alright for Samus to act like a woman.

And how, pray tell, do you think women are supposed to act?

Also, on the issues of controls. I see a lot of people bringing up "how clunky Super Metroid's controls were". Super Metroid had one controller and its limitations to deal with. Other M had other options to choose from sitting right there and deliberately ignored.

[EC2151]

And how, pray tell, do you think women are supposed to act?

Refer to:

[Ferret]

You know, there's no safe way to answer that question so I'll tell you to figure it out your own damn self and anyone who wants to take up a dispute with me, well, I've got time to throw down (even if I am going to get my ass handed to me).

[AarowSwift]

You know, there's no safe way to answer that question so I'll tell you to figure it out your own damn self and anyone who wants to take up a dispute with me, well, I've got time to throw down (even if I am going to get my ass handed to me).

The answer is, like a human being. We're a rather varied bunch you know and sex does not predetermine behavior. Unfortunately, there are a lot of negative stereotypes that focus on weakness, vulnerability, and being hysterical stamped on female characters. Considering her portrayal as being strong and decisive in every game up to now, having Samus suddenly break down into tears would be pretty egregious. I haven't played the game yet. I don't know if this is what happens or if there's a build up that would make something like that appropriate for any person regardless of sex. Reviews so far do not have me encouraged but I hope it's just knee jerk hyperbole.

My point though is, the statement "act like a woman" treats individuals like some sort of mono behavioral hivemind programed by their sex to be a certain way. It's not true. There's a lot greater variety between individuals than there is between any particular identity group based on something as superfluous as sex, or skin color, or nationality, etc.

[RDX]

you know i wish women would stop getting so up in arms whenever a female stereotype is presented. there are male stereotypes too, and they pop up everywhere, yet we just kind of deal with it because either we fall into that category or we know that it doesn't apply to us.

you're bothered by whatshisface saying it's ok for samus to act like a woman. should i be bothered any time i hear someone tell someone else to man up? of course not.

i doubt that other guy thinks that women are their own type of human being and that they should be in the kitchen making sandwiches. that mindset is really, really dated now. i doubt anyone who knows how to use a computer would be that misogynistic.

so, tl;dr: chill out.

[Arek the Absolute]

back to chat about how metroid other m is a great game