Topic: Metroid Other M

[KDR_11k]

I don't understand why it can't be both.

You could integrate both really simply by having Samus uncover an unknown world, looking for her lost abilities, and every time she gains a crucial ability she can be transported through a flashback or whatever to the days where she first learned how to use it. So she finds the ability to screw attack and a flashback happens that lets you play out a training exercise given to you by the chozo where you had to collect pieces of something while never once landing or falling. In that time you could drop hints here and there about why the chozo became extinct.

They COULD do it that way (though I could imagine the flashbacks getting annoying) but they already stated they're going to take the Fusion route.

[Peachylala]

Depending on how difficult the modes are (Team Ninja is notorious for high difficulty in their games), and how the game flows, it might last about as long as a Metroid 2-D game. Two to three hours if you blitz through it (and know what you are doing).

This is just a guess though.

[Ian Sane]

Looking at those screenshots for the first time in months I was caught off guard.  They look worse than Metroid Prime on the Gamecube.  I think Retro has just spoiled us.  They're so exceptional they make everyone else look bad.  Other M still looks FINE, it's just not as great as it could be.

I liked Metroid Fusion, though not as much as Super Metroid.  But I liked Metroid Fusion a lot and thought it was a really great sequel.  The fact that is wasn't just More Super Metroid appealed to me.  I like sequels that try to provide a similar but different experience.  I consider that a perfect Nintendo sequel.  It's like how Pikmin 2 isn't about collecting spaceship parts on a time limit.  It's a very different sequel but is still incredibly enjoyable and still feels like Pikmin.  Both games are different and are both essential.  Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion are the same way, you HAVE to play both as neither game will provide the same experience as they other.  Zero Mission on the other hand, while REALLY awesome, is not offering you much more than Super Metroid did.

But I can understand the concerns people have.  I know why some Metroid fans don't like Fusion.  It's much more linear.  For me it's not that bad but I can see how someone would see that as un-Metroid.  If they switched it into actual levels like a Mario game then that would be too much for me but as it is it still feels Metroid enough for me.

Emphasis on storyline in a videogame can be dangerous because there is a tendency for such focus to hurt the gameplay.  It's funny that people always bring up Metal Gear Solid because I find the gameplay for that still remains fun.  My beef with it is often the story is PISS POOR and sometimes just outright BORING.  If you were telling a story that isn't stupid than the Metal Gear Solid approach would be fine.  My real concern with this is that the story is going to SUCK.  That's usually the problem.

Metroid Prime is like the absolute best example of a great story told in a way that doesn't affect the gameplay at all.  I wonder if Team Ninja realizes the hard act they have to follow.

Just as long as the game is fun to play and I get to explore a strange new world and it doesn't cross the "this no longer feels like Metroid" line it'll be great.

Though over time I have to come to realize that many of the things we loved about classic games probably only existed because of the restrictions involved at the time.  When a creator is give complete freedom he often lets his ambitions take over.  Regardless of how Other M turns out it may very well be exactly what Sakamoto wanted to do with the NES game but couldn't.

[KDR_11k]

Wasn't Yokoi the main mind behind Metroid, not Sakamoto?

Anyway, for me one of the core elements of the Metroid experience is dealing with the world, deciding on routes, exploring and following my own goals (even if the game is designed to nudge me toward the intended goal). Shadow Complex did that very well, Fusion and Prime 3 didn't. The world is the star for me and the background of Metroid I'd want to explore is the world of the Chozo (how they really lived), not the personality of Samus Aran.


Besides, the Metroid Fusion story was pretty much just an Alien Resurrection ripoff.

[Halbred]

It lacked a half-cloned Samus in a tube whispering "kill me..."

[Peachylala]

Wasn't Yokoi the main mind behind Metroid, not Sakamoto?

Technically, yes. Yokoi however only made the basic concept. Sakamoto was the main man behind the first three Metroid games. Kind of like Miyamoto and Tezuka.

[mantidor]

I don't understand the rampant boycotting of character development for Samus. This isn't Mario--there's a continuous story here.

The fear is justified because Nintendo and Sakamoto have sucked hugely regarding story and character development. The best thing about Samus as a character is that her story was practically unknown. Everything they have added has tarnished that, and isn't even that original or interesting (revenge because of her dead parents is the most overused plot),  and even her suitless design has gone downhill.

I'm excited/concerned as well about Other M.

[Peachylala]

Having played the two Metroid GBA games, these are the flaws which Nintendo/Sakamoto should clearly avoid:
 
Fusion: Way too much story, too much hand holding.
Zero Mission: Hand holding again, though toned down. Forced stealth mission. No Power Bombs in main game (Sakamoto, wtf).
 
Though, maybe the hand holding was made to attract the expanded audience...?

[KDR_11k]

I could accept PBs being after the stealth sequence if it wasn't easer to get to the final boss wiothout the PBs than getting them.

[Dirk Temporo]

Looking at those screenshots for the first time in months I was caught off guard.  They look worse than Metroid Prime on the Gamecube.  I think Retro has just spoiled us.  They're so exceptional they make everyone else look bad.  Other M still looks FINE, it's just not as great as it could be.

They don't in any way look worse than the first MP. Keep in mind that it's a completely different game format, and a blatantly different art style.

[broodwars]

I don't understand the rampant boycotting of character development for Samus. This isn't Mario--there's a continuous story here.

The fear is justified because Nintendo and Sakamoto have sucked hugely regarding story and character development. The best thing about Samus as a character is that her story was practically unknown. Everything they have added has tarnished that, and isn't even that original or interesting (revenge because of her dead parents is the most overused plot),  and even her suitless design has gone downhill.

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember that Nintendo Power Super Metroid comic being fairly good and it was pretty narrative-based.

[Halbred]

The manga is surprisingly good, too, and VERY narrative-heavy, as are mangas generally.

[Ian Sane]

They don't in any way look worse than the first MP. Keep in mind that it's a completely different game format, and a blatantly different art style.

I don't see them as different art styles.  They're both Metroid.  This isn't like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess here.

Samus just seems very undetailed in those screenshots.  The lighting and shading isn't as nice as in Metroid Prime.  Samus' suit looks like it's made up of two colours.  Look at http://www.mobygames.com/game/gamecube/metroid-prime/screenshots/gameShotId,33788/ and it's the same suit but with the lighting and the different shades it looks more like it's really there.  I'm looking at these shots, which I haven't seen in years, and I'm blown away by how much better they look.  Metroid Prime's graphics look great even by today's standards.

[Chozo Ghost]

Looking at those screenshots for the first time in months I was caught off guard.  They look worse than Metroid Prime on the Gamecube.  I think Retro has just spoiled us.  They're so exceptional they make everyone else look bad.  Other M still looks FINE, it's just not as great as it could be.

They don't in any way look worse than the first MP. Keep in mind that it's a completely different game format, and a blatantly different art style.

I agree. This new art style might be a bit less realistic, and I think that's what Ian is trying to say. Metroid Prime certainly does have a more realistic style to it. But this game is more like a graphic novel type art style to it, and its a given that this sort of style will be less realistic, but its still cool and not in any way inferior.

[mantidor]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember that Nintendo Power Super Metroid comic being fairly good and it was pretty narrative-based.

I remember that, but we are talking here about awesome 80s/90s Nintendo, not this new Nintendo that thinks a badass space hunter would use a ponytail with a red ribbon.

[KDR_11k]

I agree. This new art style might be a bit less realistic, and I think that's what Ian is trying to say. Metroid Prime certainly does have a more realistic style to it. But this game is more like a graphic novel type art style to it, and its a given that this sort of style will be less realistic, but its still cool and not in any way inferior.

I think realism goes better with Metroid. It's inspired by a live action movie, not a book or comic.

[vudu]

Word on the street is that Other M is controlled via the Wii remote held sideways.

Featuring a control scheme that uses Wii Remote-only controls (held sideways) for side-scrolling adventure and battle moments, with pointer control for first-person exploration and shooting, Other M certainly sounds like a fine compromise for the longtime Metroid fan.

Does this mean that first-person segments won't involve any moving on the player's part?

[dack25]

The control scheme makes me think it's going to play like Shadow Complex, which might not be a bad thing even though that was a $10-15 game and I'd expect this to have more content. Is it safe to say that the 2.5D games are going to get played out soon?

[Chozo Ghost]

I would feel more comfortable about the sideways remote control setup if the remote actually had the same number of buttons as at least an SNES controller, but sadly it doesn't. I want a game that plays like Super Metroid; not the original Metroid.

If they're going to do this then they should make it use the CC controller instead, and if necessary bundle a CC with the game ala Wii Play. Doing that would also beef up sales for sure.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Word on the street is that Other M is controlled via the Wii remote held sideways.

Featuring a control scheme that uses Wii Remote-only controls (held sideways) for side-scrolling adventure and battle moments, with pointer control for first-person exploration and shooting, Other M certainly sounds like a fine compromise for the longtime Metroid fan.

Does this mean that first-person segments won't involve any moving on the player's part?

METROID ON RAILS!!!  Ohhh Noooo!!!!

[Chozo Ghost]

God, I hate on-rails. I wish it would die off already..

[Halbred]

It might just shift perspective in certain areas. In one room you might be running toward the camera, in another you're running away from it, in another it's sidescrolling, etc...

[Stratos]

I would feel more comfortable about the sideways remote control setup if the remote actually had the same number of buttons as at least an SNES controller, but sadly it doesn't. I want a game that plays like Super Metroid; not the original Metroid.

If they're going to do this then they should make it use the CC controller instead, and if necessary bundle a CC with the game ala Wii Play. Doing that would also beef up sales for sure.

Don't forget the B and A buttons. Granted, they are more difficult to press while moving but the B trigger at least could be hit more easily while playing. + and - could also be used.

[Halbred]

HOLD B TO STRAFE *FAIL*

[Adrock]

It might just shift perspective in certain areas. In one room you might be running toward the camera, in another you're running away from it, in another it's sidescrolling, etc...

Seems like kind of a waste then. Just make a 2.5D game and spare us the random perspective shifts.