Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

[JokerOfSpades]

http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/8190 ... dnt-shoot/

[Labrynian Rebel]

Interesting read. The only part lacking is whether or not PTSD can be triggered later in life and not earlier to the same situation, such as the case with Samus.

[Groundhammer]

OK, I think people are taking this wayyyyy too seriously to actually be bringing in real experts to debate the "realism" of a sci-fi franchise.

I felt the same way when they had a Ph.D anthropologist play Resident Evil 5 to see if it was racist.

EDIT: Also, isn't it rather irresponsible of a credible gaming website to use an unauthorized scanlation of a manga whose canonicity is debated? Especially considering the recent crackdown on scanlating by Japanese manga publishers?

[bottler0cket]

That was very interesting. I for one like how Other M is (despite being in a completely fictional science fiction universe) is pretty realistic, and breaks away from the usual formula. It's realistic that Samus reacts in that way, even though it's not ''Badass'' or ''Cool''. I think it's even more badass that she is able to keep fighting despite all that she's been through.

[Satch]

The problem lots of people have is that it's an inconsistency with previous presentation. Like I said, I don't care that she had a PTSD attack or w/e, it was just a very heavy handed take on it.

brb putting on devil's advocate hat

ok back

He should have shown the interviewees all of her Ridley encounters to bring to light whether or not it works in such a manner as to happen once (twice if you care about the manga), and then never reappear again.

Koehne: I suffer with the disorder on a daily basis due to the fact that I am a combat vet the served in the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I can’t even play games that depict the wars anymore. It’s too real and I find myself dazing off while really into the game. I have the same kinds of flashbacks because some the games are so real...and I know I am of sound mind, but I wake up and do security checks in the middle of night about 3 times a night. I sleep in patterns of a couple hours at a time…I really did have to watch my 6 everywhere I went.... and it’s true when you see the death like that... it sticks with you and the smallest things set off some strong emotions... and the ones closest to us vets are the ones who can tell you even more....

It's a matter of consistency in presentation. To the average gamer who likes Metroid (and doesn't really know or care to know about the manga), then it's an inconsistency. She, all of a sudden, has PTSD now?

And I agree with Groundhammer. Bringing in experts to explain things for the sake of realism makes games no fun. Sometimes I just want to shoot stuff, y'know????

GOOD READ THOUGH. Thank you.

[Quadraxis]

I guess it's realistic, but I still want my theory about Ridley's screech of doom to be canon.

[Plas Durock]

Interesting read. The only part lacking is whether or not PTSD can be triggered later in life and not earlier to the same situation, such as the case with Samus.

I have PTSD, and it can indeed be triggered later in life. I still suffer from nightmares because of what i went through as a child, and recently I went through a scenario that made me have a flash back because it was so similar.

However when it comes to metroid Other M, it's all about the presentation, which was doen rather poorly. There's no in game explanation for it at all, unless they seriously expect people unfamiliar with the series to understand the events depicted in the commercial really happened.

Which in my opinionis even worse when it comes to explaining things. You don't show something in a game without showing why it happen or explaining it at some point. WITHIN the game itself. NEVER use outside sources.

[Super Star Kirby]

@Plas: Yeah. I enjoyed the story for quite a while, but then at one moment in time, I realized that people new to Metroid wouldn't understand it. In fact, I realized that I also couldn't say "Go back and play X Metroid game, and you'll get the story," because in fact, the story wasn't put in the games until now.

[Chipou]

However when it comes to metroid Other M, it's all about the presentation, which was doen rather poorly. There's no in game explanation for it at all, unless they seriously expect people unfamiliar with the series to understand the events depicted in the commercial really happened.

only problem is if they expected the commercial to explain her back story it sucked...really bad. when i first saw the commercial i seriously went "wtf is with big purple bird (i was unfamiliar with ridleys new design [which i still dislike] at the time] and the little boy jumping? (no seriously....i thought that was a boy)

how are people supposed to go "oh, that big purple bird/aerodatcyl/dragon and jumping boy means ridley killed samuses parents!"


i dont understand how they can cater to people who have never played the game series before by simplifying the controls, then make the plot near ununderstandable to anyone who hasnt played a single metroid game, let alone read the mangas

[Warhead]

I've only seen the infamous Ridley scene in a review, but the very fact that it goes completely unexplained confuses me. Were they just too lazy to animate a flashback to explain it? Explain, Sakamoto, EXPLAIN!!!

[Plas Durock]

Instead of having Samus turn into a child to represent her fear, they shoudl have shown a cut scene of the destruction of K-2L, that would have more than justified what happened.

[Zeroº]

Instead of having Samus turn into a child to represent her fear, they shoudl have shown a cut scene of the destruction of K-2L, that would have more than justified what happened.

And it would have been a very kick-ass scene.

[Chipou]

i agree, the back ground changing into a burning colony>her turning to a child

I've only seen the infamous Ridley scene in a review, but the very fact that it goes completely unexplained confuses me. Were they just too lazy to animate a flashback to explain it? Explain, Sakamoto, EXPLAIN!!!

no...he just expected that everyone read the manga and knew her story

[CapCom]

Instead of having Samus turn into a child to represent her fear, they shoudl have shown a cut scene of the destruction of K-2L, that would have more than justified what happened.

Exactly. This is something that occurred to me yesterday actually: the hatred people have of this scene stems from an inconsistency that is otherwise explained by a rather obscure backstory that NEEDED to be explained in the game. Just how many people have read that manga? Zippo. Because K-2L was NEVER explained in any of the games, it's impossible for players to realize that Samus has PTSD and EASY to make a conclusion that Samus is just being represented as a scared, inconsistent little girl rather than the murder machine that all the hardcore gamers want their characters to be.

It's a matter of consistency in presentation. To the average gamer who likes Metroid (and doesn't really know or care to know about the manga), then it's an inconsistency. She, all of a sudden, has PTSD now?

No, PTSD isn't something that JUST happens all the time. If you've been in a serious car accident, you don't have to be afraid of getting in a car accident every minute. But it can sure as hell be triggered the second you step into a car. Koehne illustrates a similar situation with BBQs.

[The Illusion]

Everything The Illusion had to say, minus the making games less fun thing.