Metroid: Other M - The Black Sheep....or so we thought

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

theRepublic said:

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

As someone already said, Other M is closer to the traditional Metroids in gameplay.  Prime is closer to Super in 'design'.  But even then, its missing many of the standard equipment of Super (Speed Booster, Shinespark, Screw Attack, etc) not to mention it focuses a LOT more on forced exploration.  And the first person view limits the combat compared to the virtual 360 degrees of sight and 8 degrees of attack.  Also, you can't run in Prime.

One of the biggest arguments I always hear is that Prime is suppose to be a 'perfect transition of Super Metroid' because they both have areas you can explore outside the set path.  But Prime does this WAY more than Super.  As much as people want to claim Super had sequence breaking, it was limited to just areas you could wall jump or shinespark.  The main game overall had a pretty set path governed by what items you could get. In Prime, you're practically forced to do 'sequence breaking' because the game has no set path and you have to constantly backtrack to previous areas you've been based on getting a new item.  Good example is how you can go all the way to Pontera Drifts before getting the Super Missile or Charge Ball.  Then have to go all the way back to Chozo Ruins and Tallon when you finally find it.  Super never makes you go that far out of your way, except to get the Super Bomb.

As I've said before, Metroid Prime is more like playing Ocarina of Time with only a first person view and half the items turned off.  It was a fun experiment, but its totally different than the traditional Metroid progression of gameplay.

Also, Other M took a lot from Prime.  Though Sakamoto doesn't want to admit it, many of the first person aspects, and even some of the monster designs, were taken from Prime.  Though the base gameplay mostly resembles a game like Fusion or Zero Mission.

See my post above on the gameplay of Other M.  Yes, some items are missing from Prime.  Instead, it puts more empashis on using the right weapon at the right time.  Other M is a lot more limited when it comes to your beams.  None of the upgrades feel an different.  They get more powerful, but not much more than that.  With the 2D games and Prime, there were big differences between the beams.

I disagree that Prime forced you to explore more than the 2D games.  Super and the original, especially the original, had an even heavier focus on exploration than the Prime games had.  Many pathways, and little to no direction in the 2D games.  Other M had just about zero exploration, and always told you were to go.

The beam upgrades in Other M are just as important as Prime.  Some areas you can't even progress without the Ice or Diffusion Beams.  Or are you going to tell me you would have been able to fight the Hive Boss in Sector 1 without the Diffusion beam killing 5 enemies at once.  Or you'd enjoy running through Sector 3 without the Ice Beam freezing all the maga enemies.  I thought not.

Also, like Mr. Kahn said, I didn't play the game on hard mode, so I don't feel the same as you.  But you could easily make the same argument for Nina Gaiden on hard.  Yet no one is complaining about 'limited gameplay and dodging all day' in that game.  Because its SUPPOSE to be hard.

And frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how Prime is a godly game because it has the most exploration of any of the games.  I already explained how it detracted from my experience, while in Super (and yes, even the original), there is a general path you are suppose to go, even if you want to explore outside that path.  Prime was like sitting in a giant 3D world constantly going 'Should I go in that room *scan everything*.....no, I don't have Grapple beam yet.  How about this room *scan everything*...no, I don't have super bombs.  How about this room *scan everything*...no, I don't have Spider ball yet....'  That's not fun exploration.  That's forced exploration that just makes you frustrated.  It gets old real fast.

Also, as I keep saying, I'm not going to say Other M was the best in progression or item finding.  But you people always take it to the extreme saying 'Zero Pick up items'.  You lose all credibility when you take something to such an extreme that even casual players of the game know you're wrong.  There was even NEW pick up items in this game, including energy parts, 'Accel Charge' to speed up the charging of your Charge Beam and 'E-Recovery units' to improve your concentration.  Yes, they felt easier to find, but please stop trying to claim there's nothing there.  Especially compared to Prime, which is missing key items and basically came down to collecting nothing but Missle Upgrades and Energy Packs outside of the main items.

Khuutra said:

No, of all mainline Metroid games, Other M actually is the black sheep regardless of whether one enjoyed it or not.

So was Majora's Mask for the Zelda series.  10 years later, a whole new generation turned it into a cult classic.

Also, I[d like to point out, a lot of the things people complain about with Other M are the same thing people complained about with Metroid Fusion.  Including forced story, limited gameplay, bad 'colorful' graphical design and 'ruining Samus' character'.  Just ever since Other M came out, they stopped complaining about that game and focused on Other M.