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

[theRepublic]

gumby_trucker said:

theRepublic said:

Did you play Other M on hard mode?  It really boils the game down to the developers vision.  It plays nothing like the 2D games.  You spend most of your time spamming the dodge, and the fact that there are zero pick-ups really sticks out.  It forces you to play it "station-to-station", since you are just trying to get to the next save point to refill your health.  As a consequence, it makes it very clear just how linear the game is.  They really isn't very much platforming in Other M either.  It is probably about the same amount as in any of the Prime games.

I can't really argue with this point since I never played Other M on hard mode either, but I was just wondering what gave you the impression that hard mode was closer to the developer's vision than normal mode?

If the developer did indeed say as much then I would go back and try the game on hard mode so I could get a better idea of where you're coming from. From what I've heard about that mode (no pick-ups etc) it would indeed sound less like a Metroid game and more like a regular action game like DMC...

It is debatable, but I think it is the case because hard mode seemed to put an emphasis on everything "new" about the game.  The Sensemove and Concentration* have to be done constantly.  Those two moves are the whole reason that none of the enemies drop health or missile pick ups.  Tack on the fact that there are no health expansions in hard mode and it just emphasizes those even more.  Lethal Strikes also become important because they can end battles so much faster.

(*Concentration is "new" because Super's Crystal Flash doesn't count.  No one knew about that! )