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

[theRepublic]

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

theRepublic said:

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 any 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.

I didn't say they weren't important, I said they didn't do much to change the way you play the game.  Before you get any of the upgrades you spend the vast majority of battles dodging and releasing the autocharge you just got after the dodge.  After you get any of the power ups...you do the same thing.  Now it just takes less shots, and you can freeze some enemies.  Whereas in Metroid, Super, and the Prime games, earning new beams actually changes how you approach the game.

Yes, there is a general path you are supposed to follow...in all Metroid games.  Why you can't see it in the Prime games I have no idea.  It is much more evident than in Metroid or Super.  The real difference between Other M and everything else is that the other games encourage you to explore.  You use your new abilities to explore areas you haven't been able to reach yet, or pick up items you couldn't reach the first time.  For the most part, that incentive is missing in Other M.

Let's go back to the "general path" thing for a moment.  While that path in Other M is completely obvious, Super and especially Metroid offer many paths for you to take at once.  Only one is the correct way to go to advance the game, but it gives you a lot to explore.  The are so many ways to go in Metroid that you can explore for hours without getting much of anywhere.  I should know, I've done it.

The game doesn't have any health or missile refills.  The enemies don't drop anything.  On hard mode, the game doesn't have power ups either.  You have to beat the whole game with a max of 10 missiles, and no extended health bar.  No Accel Charge or E-Recovery Tanks either.  So, why are you trying to say I lose credibility?