Topic: Metroid Other M

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I really don't know what to think of this one.  It looks like Ninja Gaiden only covered in Metroid paint.  It's flashy and exciting (and seeing more of the Metroid universe as a whole is always welcome), but I'm very skeptical of this one.  It just doesn't look like a Metroid game at all.

We see eye-to-eye on this one.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

[Stogi]

And what does a metroid game look like?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

I do like it. People complain about Nintendo never taking any chances, and here is a pretty big (and different) step for the franchise and people hate it even without seeing very much of it.

[broodwars]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

Had a feeling that argument would pop up.     Except the Metroid Prime games maintained the the general atmosphere and whatnot of the 2D games, and in the end they were still true to the Metroid license.  This game is clearly a different beast altogether from the games that came before it.  Whether that's good or not we'll have to see.  I havgn't dismissed it altogether...I'm just troubled by this shift in direction.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

Had a feeling that argument would pop up.     Except the Metroid Prime games maintained the the general atmosphere and whatnot of the 2D games, and in the end they were still true to the Metroid license.  This game is clearly a different beast altogether from the games that came before it.  Whether that's good or not we'll have to see.  I havgn't dismissed it altogether...I'm just troubled by this shift in direction.

Nothing can quite top Infamous, I know.

If they weren't so dang complacent!

[broodwars]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

Had a feeling that argument would pop up.     Except the Metroid Prime games maintained the the general atmosphere and whatnot of the 2D games, and in the end they were still true to the Metroid license.  This game is clearly a different beast altogether from the games that came before it.  Whether that's good or not we'll have to see.  I havgn't dismissed it altogether...I'm just troubled by this shift in direction.

Nothing can quite top Infamous, I know.

Have you read my most-recent post on that game?  That game's so frickin' cheap right now that it's sitting in the corner having a Time Out right now.  My current gaming obsession is one I just picked up yesterday: Fallout 3.  *trembles*

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

Had a feeling that argument would pop up.     Except the Metroid Prime games maintained the the general atmosphere and whatnot of the 2D games, and in the end they were still true to the Metroid license.  This game is clearly a different beast altogether from the games that came before it.  Whether that's good or not we'll have to see.  I havgn't dismissed it altogether...I'm just troubled by this shift in direction.

Nothing can quite top Infamous, I know.

Have you read my most-recent post on that game?  That game's so frickin' cheap right now that it's sitting in the corner having a Time Out right now.  My current gaming obsession is one I just picked up yesterday: Fallout 3.  *trembles*

Now that I can support you on!

[broodwars]

I'm sure the same complaints were made when Metroid Prime was revealed.

It just looks like a generic FPS with Metroid paint. Metroid is 2D... blah blah blah.
I'm not even really a metroid fan, since I've never really played any of the 2D version that much, but that trailer sold me on this game.

Had a feeling that argument would pop up.     Except the Metroid Prime games maintained the the general atmosphere and whatnot of the 2D games, and in the end they were still true to the Metroid license.  This game is clearly a different beast altogether from the games that came before it.  Whether that's good or not we'll have to see.  I havgn't dismissed it altogether...I'm just troubled by this shift in direction.

Nothing can quite top Infamous, I know.

Have you read my most-recent post on that game?  That game's so frickin' cheap right now that it's sitting in the corner having a Time Out right now.  My current gaming obsession is one I just picked up yesterday: Fallout 3.  *trembles*

Now that I can support you on!

Yeah, I found a PS3 Collector's Edition copy in a EB Games near me, so I picked it up just yesterday.  Man, that game is ****ing awesome with the atmosphere and the V.A.T.S. system and all.  Unfortunately, it's also really really really easy to get lost if you aren't continually looking at your miniscule map.

And getting back on topic, here's hoping this Metroid is a worthy addition to the license.  I just worry about Team Ninja of all teams working on this.  What, on Easy Difficulty is Samus going to be carrying around a Teddy Bear or something, while on Normal Difficulty the game slaughters you on the first level?   

[Caterkiller]

This is how I always wanted it. 3rd person gameplay, with an awesome(seemingly) story. I am absolutely sold!

For a moment I thought we were going to see a new star fox.

[Ian Sane]

To me it looks like Team Ninja had a game and Nintendo told them to put Samus in it because God forbid Nintendo release a game without an established franchise in it.  It looks like an awesome game but I don't see anything to suggest it's a Metroid game.  Just putting a Metroid skin on it doesn't make it Metroid.

Yeah there was similar skepticism for Metroid Prime and that turned out to just nail it.  But consider the situation:

- At that point Nintendo had never made ANY Metroid spin-offs.  No Hunters.  No Pinball.  You could trust Nintendo to not just shoehorn Metroid into something else because they had NEVER done that before.  Now they have.  Metroid and Zelda aren't "sacred" franchises anymore.  Nintendo treats them just like they treat Mario.

- With Metroid Prime there was a key need to bring the franchise into 3D.  We didn't quite know how it would work and it turned out using a first person perspective was the solution.  Where is the need here?  We already have Metroid in 3D and it's amazing.  They don't have to reinvent the wheel here.  Unless Retro is leaving Nintendo.

Is it fair to be skeptical because back in 2001 I trusted Nintendo and in 2009 I don't?  I'm wondering if maybe this is Nintendo's attempt to make Metroid fly in Japan.  NCL has Japan focused tunnel vision.  A game could be the biggest thing in the West and they'll just note that in Japan it isn't selling.  So maybe they think Team Ninja will make a more Japanese Metroid and that will sell better there.

If it turns out good I'll get it because it does look good.  If it doesn't sound like a real Metroid game though I'll get it used, so as to deny Nintendo the sale.

[ShyGuy]

Was that Samus talking? Instant boycott if so.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Was that Samus talking? Instant boycott if so.

Didn't she talk in MP3?

[BlackNMild2k1]

And getting back on topic, here's hoping this Metroid is a worthy addition to the license.  I just worry about Team Ninja of all teams working on this.  What, on Easy Difficulty is Samus going to be carrying around a Teddy Bear or something, while on Normal Difficulty the game slaughters you on the first level?   

You gotta remember that Team Ninja is working WITH Nintendo, so whatever problems Team Ninja might have on their own, they have the guiding hand of Nintendo upending tables to make sure the game turns out to Nintendo's liking.

Yeah there was similar skepticism for Metroid Prime and that turned out to just nail it.  But consider the situation:

- With Metroid Prime there was a key need to bring the franchise into 3D.  We didn't quite know how it would work and it turned out using a first person perspective was the solution.  Where is the need here?  We already have Metroid in 3D and it's amazing.  They don't have to reinvent the wheel here.  Unless Retro is leaving Nintendo.

They are putting Metroid in 3rd person 3D like they had originally intended, Retro couldn't pull it off so they let Team Ninja Gaiden do it.
Now Retro is working on something else, non-Metroid related.

Is it fair to be skeptical because back in 2001 I trusted Nintendo and in 2009 I don't?  I'm wondering if maybe this is Nintendo attempt to make Metroid fly in Japan.  NCL has Japan focused tunnel vision.  A game could be the biggest thing in the West and they'll just note that in Japan it isn't selling.  So maybe they think Team Ninja will make a more Japanese Metroid and that will sell better there.

I think NCL figures that if it sells in the US then good, because we would have bought it anyway, and now they want to focus on the home crowd, so that they will buy it too. Ninja Gaiden did very well in the East and the West, so a Metroid Gaiden should be able to sell on both sides too.

[ShyGuy]

I don't think so. I don't really like her stripped down suit as well either. Maybe I'm just suffering nerd rage over the lack of Trace Memory Wii and Fatal Frame 4.

[stevey]

The game just looks amazing
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/xfe2v7.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">[/url]
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/f582yo.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">[/url]

[Peachylala]

I would boycot this game if Jennifer Hale didn't repraise her role as Samus.

You can't have Samus talk if it isn't Jennifer Hale's voice.

[mantidor]

That purple dinosaur is damn ugly.

The thing with multiple perspectives is that they usually have to be pre-set in specific locations to accomodate the gameplay, that also usually leads to linearity, something that would kill the metroid experience. It also kills inmersion unless it's handled VERY well, so again, I'll wait and see.

[Caterkiller]

If you pay attention to the trailer, you can clearly see the Mother Brain in her "dino" suit attacking Samus and the Super Metroid(yes the super metroid) at the same time. Or getting attacked by the super metroid, you even hear its voice.

This story finally takes place after Super Metroid, and hopefully after Fusion as well.

[rbtr]

It looks like a prequel.  With a younger, rowdier, shoot-yer-brains out samus.  I like the mythos of the Metroid universe, the Prime games had A LOT of story, but you didn't have to pay attention to it.  I don't mind some of the story being more upfront, as long as it's done well.  Retro put the "upfront" story in Prime 3 fairly poorly, with a blank samus just staring while characters talked to her.  Samus can talk, she talked at the end of Fusion, and Zero Mission.  She knows words, I can tell from all the reading she did.

Anyways, story is okay, because I adore the universe.  Those screens look awesome, remind me of the original metroid. I see ambience in those backgrounds, just enough to let your imagination fill in the blanks.

It could switch perspective based on the situation, not pre-scripted points.  I'm exploring this long tunnel (2-D) OMG BAD GUYS COMING FROM THOSE BUSHES! (3-D)  I need to shoot that enemy in a specific point (THE BRAINS) (1rst person).

Day 1 purchase.

[Ian Sane]

The game just looks amazing

It does?  In those shots you posted it looks worse than the Gamecube Metroid Primes.

Metroid Prime has always been probably Nintendo's most hardcore game in that liking requires as open mind.  It has always had to fight against people that think it should play like Halo because it LOOKS likes an FPS.  It has always had to fight against people that think that it needed different controls, again because it looked like an FPS.  It has always had to fight against people that think because Metroid in 2D is third person Metroid in 3D has to be the same as well.  Hell Metroid itself isn't that user friendly with all the backtracking.  Moving to a first person view was a risky and bold move.  And those who were actually open minded enough to give the game a fair chance discovered it was one of the greatest games of all time.

But Nintendo has never REALLY been that supportive of it.  They created Metroid Prime Hunters to clearly please the very rubes that weren't willing to accept Metroid Prime for what it was.  Metroid Prime 3 was much more of a Metroid game than Hunters but even then it seems more action focused and more straightforward.  Nintendo doesn't seem to want Metroid Prime to be Metroid Prime and with the Metroid Prime Trilogy they're perhaps killing off the original games with the original control schemes for good.  Plus Nintendo is so much more casual and mainstream focused now.  Metroid Prime 3 is somewhat of an oddity in the Wii lineup.  Metroid is not open and inviting.  It's confusing and intimidating.

Maybe Nintendo has taken Metroid away from Retro Studios and given it to Team Ninja to make a more conventional game with wider appeal.  And that means third person view, more action oriented gameplay and a more Japanese style for that audience.

[TJ Spyke]

The video looks alright. I'm not sure I like the mixture of 2D and 3D. I also think Metroid should stay with the Metroid Prime style of gameplay.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I envision Metroid as a fiction, not a game type.  There is room for multiple game types within that fiction.  I'm looking forward to a more action-y Metroid game.

[vudu]

I don't really like her stripped down suit as well either.

Her first suit of every game is "stripped down".  Soon she'll get an upgrade with industrial-strength shoulder pads.

[bustin98]

There are so many colors in those screen shots. Definately not HD...