Sex and the Zero Suit: Why Samus was Great Only in Metroid Prime

[amp316]

Khuutra said:

amp316 said:
The problem with Other M isn't that Samus was made into a more female character for me. The problem was that she was a dumb female character that was willing to burn to death and not use the very equipment that would protect her from doing so without taking orders from a man. Other M makes her look like a hot, dumb, and subservient plaything instead of the badass that she always was.

Other M had a plethora of problems not directly related to the problem of breaking away from the faceless hero archetype, yes, that is very true.

I still hold that it is evidence that the people holding the reins of the franchise do not know how to make her into an effective female character. We have an entire game dedicated to exploring the emotional depths of Samus, and it turns out all of her feelings are womb feelings. You and I agree this is bad; I'm just taking my conclusions a step further from that.

My solution is for Nintendo to step back from that, excise the characterization of Samus they've tired to establish in FUsion and Other M, and return to the respectful, solitary, powerful treatment she was given in Prime, where it was so easy to identify with her constantly.

I agree that they should stop worrying about the fact that a beautiful woman is encased in the armor and just let her kill Metroid and space pirates.  Just show her getting into the armor at the beginning and out of the armor at the end of the adventure.  The game shouldn't be concentrating on how she's female which is basically what Other M did.  This isn't a sexist statement.  I would be just as annoyed with a game about how Mario is a man.  I agree with you that they should just return the Metroid series to what it was.  Just have Samus be a voiceless character encased in armor.  As I said, sexiness is not the problem.  The problem is the inability of Nintendo to write a story about a sexy and powerful female without mucking it up so they just should abandon the idea altogether.