Topic: Metroid Other M

[bustin98]

I hate it when I come into a freakin' debate about something and my **** always gets ignored >.>

I know the feeling. At least you said your peace.

[DAaaMan64]

Now that it ended up this way, Nintendo is gonna be even worse about stories.

STORIEZ, OOH NOO

[KDR_11k]

I'd rather sacrifice storytelling for keeping the Metroid series alive.

[Chozo Ghost]

A wise man once said that it is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. That said, perhaps Sakamoto should tone down his storytelling in the next Metroid iteration.

I think he should take a page from Miyamoto and the Mario series. Have the Mario games ever been really story heavy? Miyamoto seems to be obsessed with keeping the story in Mario games to an absolute minimum, and instead focus everything on the gameplay. That's a strategy that's worked, because look how popular the Mario games are... theres no reason Metroid can't emulate that. In fact, that's actually how Metroid used to be. Other M is an exception rather than the rule. Games like Super Metroid had very minimum story, but it shows you don't need lengthy FMV cutscenes and dialogue in order to have a great game.

[DAaaMan64]

I'd rather sacrifice storytelling for keeping the Metroid series alive.

Thats definitely true. But I'd like to see Nintendo step farther into modern gaming with at least one of their primary series. Where we have story-telling and great game play.

[Mop it up]

The Legend of Zelda series has stories and that doesn't seem to take away from the gameplay, so it can be done. A Metroid game can have a story but it should tell it in the way that Super Metroid does; don't stop the game to show a cutscene, make scripted events where you still have some control over Samus.

[KDR_11k]

The Legend of Zelda series has stories and that doesn't seem to take away from the gameplay, so it can be done.

It's a very precarious balance though, look at crap like the starting village of TP. LttP did the starting story much better: You get told to go out, you find your uncle dying and grab your sword, then you're in a dungeon. Recently Zelda has been taking way too long to get started, not just TP. Think about the stupid forsaken fortress stealth sequence in Wind Waker. I once tried to demonstrate the gameplay of WW to a friend and the game wasted so much time with stuff like that...

[Ian Sane]

There is no rule that gameplay and story need to be mutual exclusive of each other.  Hypothetically a good Metroid can be made with a good story and good gameplay AND with the gameplay still retaining the basic elements that made Metroid successful in the first place.

A cutscene is just like a scene in a movie.  Any movie can be ruined by bad direction, bad acting or bad writing.  I don't dislike stories in videogames, I dislike BAD stores in videogames.  At the same time one can tell a story without pausing the game every three seconds to show a cutscene or making the game linear.  The irony is that Metroid Prime did!  By using scans the game maintained the non-linear Metroid gameplay and didn't pause the game constantly to show cutscenes.  The blueprint is right there and yet the Metroid Prime series remains unique.  I can't think of any game with a design clearly inspired by it.

You get the feeling that no developer wants to use that story-telling mechanic because deep down they want to be Mr. Film Director and use videogames as a way to bring their shitty movie ideas to life.

[Chocobo_Rider]

just wanted to say "hi" and throw in a quick 2 cents.

as Mop_it_up and Maxi know, I had some very strong opinions on this game after playing it for a few hours.

since that time, I have put in many more hours and my opinions have done 180* turns a FEW TIMES.

because of that, I can sadly see why this game has sparked so many debates.  however, as of right now, I have to say I'm loving the story.  so I don't fall into the stable of gamers who saw that Samus has emotions and ran for the pitch forks.  but some of the gameplay decisions are just inexcusable in my opinion.  and as Mop, Maxi, Stratos and some of my other friends can attest, I'm a flappin' optimist when it comes to gaming.

hope to have some fun around here.

*emphatic thumbs up!* tee hee

[PogueSquadron]

I really liked the gameplay in Other M, though I wish the story was more reverent and subtle.


Also...they really did some crazy things with the camera and the controls...It's kind of crazy when you start to realize the things that you're doing in quick succession...


HOWEVER...it's so remeniscient of older Metroid games.  Even with the new third person 3D take on the game, there are times where I felt like I was just doing the same things I've always done...Samus gets the charge beam, the missiles, the super missiles, etc.  I really hope that in the next game, they really give Samus some new abilities to play with, and really shake up the progression of the game.  I think it's something that both Zelda and Metroid need to be careful of...I really don't want to feel like I'm playing the same game over and over again simply with different maps.

[balzzzy]

I have to laugh at good ol' Reggie for his comments about the game:

"We believe that it could be, should be a million unit title". "We're not going to get there, not through the holiday. And we are doing a lot of thinking as to why. Because it's a great game. The consumer reaction because of the quality has been strong. We're doing a lot of thinking about why we didn't get there. I think the marketing was strong, advertising was very good, the social media we did was very positive."

Quit thinking and start listening to your fan base Reggie. The game just wasn't there, period.

[Chozo Ghost]

While it wasn't a terrible game, I just don't feel it was up to the Nintendo standard of quality. I really hope Reggie doesn't seriously feel that way either. He has to say positive things about Nintendo products, because that's his job, but deep down I hope he understands the real reason why the game isn't a million seller.

[Drizzt]

Did you guys think Anthony Higgs was a good character?

[Chozo Ghost]

Did you guys think Anthony Higgs was a good character?

I don't have anything negative to say about him. He saved Samus' ass once or twice. Its sad that Samus' ass even needed to be saved, because she is supposed to be the one who does the saving.... but we can't blame Anthony Higgs for that.

Anyway, since Metroid: Other M basically destroyed the reputation that Samus once had, from now on the Metroid franchise might as well be altered to have Anthony Higgs as the player controlled hero who saves the day. Samus can cry in her fetal position somewhere while Hero Higgs takes on the role of professional badass that Samus used to be before her character was assassinated by the sinister Sakamoto.

[NeoStar9X]

Has Sakamoto or anyone at Nintendo responded to the negative reaction some fans had to the story? How Samus was presented?

[broodwars]

Did you guys think Anthony Higgs was a good character?

I'm pretty indifferent to him.  He saves Samus a few times during the game and is probably the most like-able of the Federation Soldiers, but we learn basically nothing about him save that he used to be on the same squad as Samus and you can't really say he has any character development.  He definitely could have used a better voice actor/voice director, though ("Remember ME!?"), but that really applies to most of the cast so whatever.

[Chozo Ghost]

His nickname for Samus is "Princess". I could see how some might potentially find that to be sexist.

[broodwars]

His nickname for Samus is "Princess". I could see how some might potentially find that to be sexist.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that.  In the grand scheme of sexism that is Other M, though, it's a fairly minor thing and easy to overlook.

[Enner]

His nickname for Samus is "Princess". I could see how some might potentially find that to be sexist.

I took it as a term of endearment. I don't read anything negative about it coming from the character. I found Higgs to be fun. That's not hard since everyone else comes off as so dour.

[Plugabugz]

I finally completed this game today. 13 hours. even though a good chunk of those was the game on pause or me leaving it idle.

I'm glad this game is over and i'm glad i waited to get the game for £10 because i woulda been more upset if the game was any more. I spent far too much time fighting against the controls and having to stop midway through a fight to recharge health or missiles, which doesn't actually pause anyone else except me.

Absolutely everything else is excusable but if i cannot play without being killed 30 times by purely the faults of bad design then i'm gonna stop.

So i beat the final boss and spat the disk out out of the Wii. I won't even play the epilogue.

[Chozo Ghost]

Seeing this game priced at $14.99 on Amazon makes me sad because I paid full price for it.

[Plugabugz]

I'm fighting Ridley and i have like 50 points of energy left and 3 missiles. So i stop. Run to the other side, remote up and recharge, That's about 5-7 uninterrupted seconds. He flies over, grabs Samus then grinds her into the wall. Dead.

That happened, over and over and over. With different bosses, rooms, environments but all the same resulting problem.

I don't understand but who agreed having two mutually separate control schemes is a good idea?

So yeah... £10 is perfect.

[Nemo]

Plugabugz, the epilogue, was pretty cool, if I recall. You get to fight another boss (a fight I really enjoyed). And you get the frantic "ship is going to explode in 5 minutes" escape run as Zero-suit Samus (for no reason other than that she looks nice).

[Ceric]

I won't play this game.  Even with all the things I hated about the Prime Serious it is still a great game and I don't want to tarnish the image. (Especially the lore and scan stuff.  I loved that stuff.)

[Plugabugz]

Plugabugz, the epilogue, was pretty cool, if I recall. You get to fight another boss (a fight I really enjoyed). And you get the frantic "ship is going to explode in 5 minutes" escape run as Zero-suit Samus (for no reason other than that she looks nice).

I got into the first room by Adam's office where you have to power bomb on the wall to fight an enemy and got killed twice more in the same way as before. I then gave up and went on youtube and watched it.

I won't play this game.  Even with all the things I hated about the Prime Serious it is still a great game and I don't want to tarnish the image. (Especially the lore and scan stuff.  I loved that stuff.)

This highlights another point. Why WHY do i have arbitrary pixel hunts? QUICK! LOOK OVER THERE and while not moving try and find that little thing that isn't highlighted because there's no scan visor!