| d21lewis said: There ya go. The reason why Samus took one hit from the ice beam. Lots of things that are "new traits" for Samus that people don't like (she even fights for the attention of guys) are actually established traits from years and years ago. But for people who've only played the games (or only played a few games), they feel betrayed by the character that's been Samus for over a decade. It's like somebody who watched the old Batman tv show from the 60's being pissed when they find out that Batman is actually an vengeful psychopath. I can understand where they're coming from but they didn't have the whole story. |
Yeah okay, I haven't said anything because I know you're funny light hearted guy, I like you and I don't want to get into an argument and to be honest I actually really did enjoy Other M even though I didn't like the story. But seriously you're counter points are getting kind of ridiculous. This is going to be a long post and I'm not ranting or angry or anything. And this isn't really meant to be entirely directed at you, I just wanted to kind of talk about my take on Other M since I only recently played it, and you're post is a good jumping off point for me.
First, factual nitpick, that image you posted is from Nintendo Power's Super Metroid Comic, not the magna that was released much later. Since it probably didn't involve anyone who worked on the game, it's probably shouldn't be considered canon. It's not even consistent with Super Metroid itself. That famous scene where the giant Metroid Hatchling saves Samus and gives her the power to beat Mother Brain? Didn't happen in that comic, instead one of the Federation minor characters kills the hatchling. (Not realizing it was the hatchling because it was big now.) Samus sees it's dead, persumes Mother Brain killed it, and just blows her the fuck up. Also, her hair is purple for some reason.
Next, your 60's Batman vs. Golden Age Batman is a poor one because those are seperate Batman's with separate universes. Like how the original Teenage Mutant Ninja's Turtle comics (Very Dark and Violent) are a separate from the 80's Show (Light Hearted Action aimed at Kids), and then the 80's show it's separate from 00's show. (Somewhere between the two.)
Other M is suppose to be the same Samus from Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and presumably the Metroid Magna. This is all suppose to be part of the same universe. You suggest that people who don't have the "whole story" are at fault for expecting things that had already been set-up or alluded too, but a lot of the complaints about Other M's story is it being inconsistent with other parts of the Metroid series. To be fair, events in one game not matching up with others tends to happen a lot in game canons. What with players having free will an all, and game mechanics changing as a series grows, but Other M is very story heavy so these things tend to stand out more than in earilier games.
The whole Ridley PTsD scene. If you've played Metroid and Super Metroid, it's seems very strange for Samus to be paralyzed by just the sight of him considering she's fought and killed him twice already. (Four times if the Prime series is canon.) It's even more jarring that Ridley's appearance in Super Metroid seems far more frightening, he's the very first enemy you encounter, so you're without most of your suits powers and he's holding the Baby Metroid in his claws, while trying to kill you.
Skimming through the Magna (Which is set before and during the first Metroid Game) makes that scene seems like a really weird repeat of something that already happened. Here's part of Samus' first encounter with Ridley since he killed her parents. (Oh and Ridley can talk in this.)
That's Samus in the lower left corner, and this seems like it actually fits with what would happen in Other M, expect near the end of the Magna Samus get's a rematch, tells Ridley she's sick of being afraid of him and repeatedly blows him the fuck up.
So yeah, seems kind of odd consideirng she'd be that afraid of just the sight of him in Other M when she already went through something worse once before. (Technically Twice since she fought him again in Super Metroid) And his appearance in the Magna is far more creepy, he gleefully points out he ate the bodies of the people he killed at Samus's colony and reminds her that one of them was probably Samus's mother. In Other M he just stares at her and growls a lot, and unlike the Magna, you don't get a rematch to show Samus overcoming her fear of him. (Or let the player enjoy finishing him off.)
Even Fusion seems to contradict Other M is some ways. You've got this bit of dialogue from Fusion for one.
For some reason, this awoke a nameless fear in my heart, and now I am being sent there to investigate. My mission on the B.S.L station will be overseen by my new ship's computer. Following the commands of this blunt, computerized CO is something I have to bear, as it was a condition of my taking the ship. For someone who dislikes taking orders, this is the second time I've found myself having to do so. It makes me recall my other CO [Adam]...The real Adam would have said the same thing about that incident, but he would have softened the blow. He was relentless in his criticism, but he always cared... He was not a machine obsessed with duty. No such compassion could exist in that computer.
In Fusion Samus says Adam "...was not a machine obsessed with duty." Yet that seems to be exactly how he acts in Other M. He almost instantly decides to let brother die for the sake of saving everyone else without batting an eye. He shoots Samus in the back (literally) so she won't (possibly) die trying to destroy Sector Zero because he still needs her to kill Ridley, something he can't do. He also doesn't come of that caring either, and he never seems to soften the blow of harsh orders either. So even Adam is different than how he was described in Fusion.
Not even talking about Samus characterization anymore, a lot story elements in Other M are just poorly done. Samus monologues about everything, often about obvious things or events that we had already just witnessed. The whole "deleter" subplot is just forgotten, you have to find out who it was yourself, but there's no reason to even bother since the deleter angle was just to give Samus a reason to distrust Adam. The whole confusing MB/Madeline thing is only revealed very late in the game with only minimal build up and it ends anticlimactically and suddenly. The game set-ups fights with unfreezable metroids and a rematch with Ridley, but you never actually get to see them happen.
Also, that whole "Invicible Robot" comment eariler. You don't really feel like that's what Samus was shown as prior to Other M? The first time I played a Metroid game was a demo of Super Metroid at my local Wal-Mart when I was kid. I didn't know anything about the series but I'm bored and I love video games so I start playing. I found my way to Kraid and start fighting him. I'm having fun but I don't really know what I'm doing so I die. And then the little robot guy I'm controlling explodes and there's brief image of woman in her underwear underneath just before the screens fades to black. (Or White I guess.) And I was wondering what the hell just happened and who was that?
That little scene that plays when you die really stuck with me. The people making the game could have more easily just have had nothing appear after Samus explodes, or just have her fall over and Game over pop on the screen. They did to make it very clearly Samus wasn't just a robot, and Super Metroid had a lot of great little moments like that help flesh out the idea that Samus is powerful, but still vulnerable. Your first fight with Ridley you're hopelessly outmatched and only survive because he simply ditches you so not to get caught in the explosion himself. You're truly helpless when attacked by the now grown up Metroid hatchinling and can't do anything to stop it from draining you're energy only for it stop when it remembers Samus. The whole Mother Brain showdown. Even things like the cystal flash move are designed to show Samus as human being in a suit of Armor.
And the other Metroid games have bits that flesh out her character as well. In Metroid II she disobeys orders because she can't bring herself to kill the final baby Metroid. You see this kind of caring again in Fusion with all the animals she saved from Zebes curled up in her ship. Metroid Prime 3 had nice way of showing her limits with her reflection in the visor becoming more and more corrupted.
A series that has used subtle nuiances and minimal storytelling for so long to suddenly drop a very heavy handed and not particularly well written story on it's fans is defintely going to feel like a slap in the face for some. I don't really care since I can just ignore bits I don't like, but still I wasn't really looking forward to this game either, so yeah I came in pretty indifferent. Still I can empahsize with the die hard fans out there who eagerly were awaiting something that both, didn't show the same level of concern for aspects of the series they found sacred, and was kind of a mess too.
P.S. Please don't think of this as an attack against you or me trying to tell you that you're wrong about something, you're post just seemed to spark my interest enough to write something I've been kicking around in my head for a while.
P.P.S. That whole Power Bomb thing with the Metroid Queen? I instantly knew what to do, but died several times anyways. Why? Because I was holding the charge button on the way down, but the game ignores that and you have to press the button again after you're in the stomach, but even then there's a delay before the Power Bomb actually starts charging (Which your Power Beam doesn't have) and since I was low on health I kept dying tapping the charge button wondering why it never showed starting a charge.
So yeah, nice callback, but poorly executed. =P
