LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
My distaste for Other M is very well documented.
That being said, the sting of Other M's bad story, dialogue, and voice acting had started to subside and I had begun to tell myself that it couldn't have been as bad as I remembered. This video reminded me that, nope, it was that bad. In fact, it sounds worse than I recall. *sigh* Samus had more emotion and personality when she was a MUTE.  |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
Hnnnnnnnggggggg.................WE GET IT ALREADY! You hate Other M. We get it! There probably isn't a single person on the forums who doesn't know that. Nothing you say will change our opinions. Either comment on wether or not you found the riff entertaining, or don't say anything at all. No one wants to hear you whine about how much you hate the game anymore. NO ONE.
Oh.....and I am back. I WAS going to leave for good, but a certain member (he knows who he is) "encouraged" me to come back, so here I am. Back on topic............. 
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
Yeah Trish, seriously? You're getting almost as bad as KB. Give it a rest already, k?
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
Sheesh. Why must people insist on bringing this up over and over again? 1up, G4, and the these guys.
We get it. It was a polarizing game. Was it as bad as the Zelda CD-i games? Will it kill the franchise? Was it, for a fact, the absolute worst game of 2010? No. So, I don't get it. What's the point?  |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
Er, I DID comment on the riff. I said exactly how it made me feel... which was that it reaffirmed my problems with the laughably bad quality of the script and voice acting. That is 100% ON TOPIC and I'm sorry if that's repeating a general theme, but the very nature of a LRR's "Unskippable" series is to mock terrible cutscenes and voice acting... which Other M has in spades (hence "Part 1" for this Unskippable series). You had to have known that a video series that routinely mocks bad voice acting would get people riled up over how bad the game's story was, and, sure enough, the comments on that video are flooded with people harping on the very things I've said and you've grown tired of for months now... but that's just it. A new video focusing on the game's narrative shortcomings is opening an old wound, so I apologize for reaffirming my disappointment in the game, but that's only the natural reaction to "Unskippable's" video. But, for your sake, I'll go into what I "enjoyed" (because you're obviously sick of hearing what I didn't.) I was nodding my head and amused by nearly everything they said in the video. Why IS a warrior like Samus wearing so much mascara in a hospital? Why WAS Samus so attached to the animal creature that imprinted on her? Why did she sound so bored and lifeless? How does she squeeze into her Zero suit? The video basically just pokes fun at many of the things we've talked on this board about for a long while, but that most people outside the core fanbase wouldn't appreciate. Many people, I noticed in the comments, either weren't Metroid fans or hadn't purchased the game, and they were groaning along with the commentators about the bad voice acting and the endless babbling of "the baby, the baby, the baby". But, summing it up, they summed it up themselves. "Giving Samus a voice wasn't half as bad as what they made that voice say." And I agree. The video is equal parts amusement, humor, and disappointment. I'm glad it exists, because I've always used humor as a crutch to deal with things that made me angry, sad, or upset... which Other M is a shining example of. Glad Unskippable is tackling this game.
I would LOVE to give it a rest... and I totally will as soon as another good Metroid game comes out to give me something good to talk about (and I have frequently praised the series and offered positive feedback for future directions many other places on this forum). But, yes, I apologize for harping on the game again and again. Even if it's true, even I am tired of doing so. The fact that I HAVE, I hope, shows just how upset I was/am, nearly a whole year later, because Metroid and Samus are not JUST games I play and a character I greatly admire, but the franchise and the character are the VERY REASON I became a current game developer making a Metroid-inspired game with a Metroid-inspired heroine. The disappointment I have with Other M has not waned as much as I would have liked, because the character literally, 100% shaped my ENTIRE LIFE and convinced me to focus all my heart and soul into making games with characters as great and strong as she is. I promise this'll be the last time I rag on Other M THIS much and THIS strongly. I know I'm one of many that led to the "too much negativity" thread on this very page. For me, it's been less about the game, and more about me finding an outlet to just get all the anger, sadness, and disappointment out of my system, rather than keeping it bottled up and festering inside me. I eagerly look forward to a new Metroid, if only to give me something new to talk about. Last impressions suck and they linger hard and long, so I'm full of plenty of questions, whether it's the future of the story (Metroid 5 with Samus on the run from the military? Sylux ever coming back?), the gameplay (new powers and suits, please?), or the development of the game itself (Retro Studios? Team Ninja? A new studio?). I'm on pins and needles waiting for something, anything, new to talk about, and I promise my mood will change quickly once a sliver of new content is teased our way. |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
 Man, i just soo love her posts. I had no idea people were this passionate about Other M. Sorry to add but i just couldn't resist |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
I loled at "Come closer, I have no sense of depth!" The rest was good. I'm a fan of Loading Ready Run, but I normally don't watch Unskippable because they normally don't show games I care about.
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
the voice acting wasnt that bad.
it was done on purpose that way. that is if your talking about Samus. VGM out... Super Metroid, the most perfect game ever created! Period!
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
Hey, I got an excellent idea. How about when another Metroid game comes out and it doesn't fulfill my expectations 100%, I'm going to complain about it 24/7 to everyone all the time, even if everyone else like it. No, seriously. I am going to do it. It's only fair. |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
I think that would be Norfair  "Wargle!"
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
"[It] was also chosen as one of the worst games of the year by Entertainment Weekly and Attack of the Show". "Criticism was raised on its script, dialogue, and cutscene length, with Samus' portrayal considered a deviation from the character." "[T]he long-term sales numbers were considered disappointing by Nintendo." "Major criticism focused on the script, dialogue, and cutscene length." "Game Informer listed Samus first on their list of the "Top 10 Dorks of 2010" due to her "lame backstory"." "GamesRadar chose Other M as the "Mangled Makeover" of 2010." "GameTrailers additionally nominated the game for the Most Disappointing Game of 2010." "Game Informer placed Other M third on their "Top 10 Disappointments of 2010." "Entertainment Weekly chose the game as the second worst of 2010." "1Up Reviewers... cited the plot as "the future's dumbest soap opera"." "The game has been routinely criticized for creating a hideous mess of a game with an unbelievably offensive grasp of women. - Singularly Bizarre" Do you REALLY want to stick with the "everyone else likes it" route? Isn't this thread a response to the fact that Other M's narrative is currently the laughing stock on display in "Unskippable"? You DO realize you're just egging me on, and I both aware of this and don't care, because, honestly, I believe I've got far more stamina, passion, numbers, and references for why Other M was a catastrophic misstep than you do when dissecting its problems and strengths, in addition to the focus of this very thread, which is LLR's flogging of the game in "Unskippable". I can rationally and calmly explain my points again and again if I need to. Let me just be frank here, and, believe it or not, this is not going to be a "negative" response. This is how I feel about the Metroid franchise and story, and why I am still optimistic about it: I am currently a professional game designer, story writer, programmer, and modeller, working on my dream game that is very much in the spirit and tradition of traditional Metroid. Working with me is a group of some of the most passionate and enthusiastic people I've ever met, all of whom see video games as a medium of swelling possibilities and untapped potential. We are at a point in gaming's life cycle where the medium has finally begun to achieve the same sort of recognition and respect that movies, music, and literature have received as an art form. That's fantastic news, and the recent Supreme Court ruling protecting gaming as a form of expressive art only justified and reaffirmed game creators' beliefs that we aren't just making trifling entertainment, but we're tapping into something deeper and creating literal art. More so than ANY other art form, video games are an interactive medium that remains incomplete without direct player involvement. That has led to bold and original ways of thinking, expressing one's self, and imprinting one's personality, desires, and wish fulfillment into the embodiment of gaming avatars. We are at a point now where a game such as Bioshock can tell a story of eugenics, free will vs predestination, political and theological liberation and ideological fallout, of man coping with and surpassing human limitations and the horrors this entails, and make it as compelling as the Ayn Rand novels it draws inspiration from. We are at a point where Silent Hill can present a story of layered philosophical gravity orchestrated against a backdrop of confusion, uncertainty, and moral neutrality. Issues such as rape, child abuse, religious zealotry, euthanasia, insanity, teen pregnancy, suicide, drug use, sexual identity, and adoption are all addressed in a more mature manner than any Hollywood film ever has. We have games now that thrive on narrative in a way that only the medium can present, and it's the reason games such as Bioshock, ICO, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Alice: Madness Returns, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Shadow Hearts, Heavy Rain, Fable, Limbo, Shadow of the Colossus, and so many others simply could not work as efficiently and effectively in any other medium. How does this all apply to the Metroid franchise? Because, up until recently, Metroid has been a hallmark torch-bearer of utilizing every facet of its game design towards telling an immersive, literary story through the beauty of environmental interactivity. Metroid's game worlds, like Silent Hill's layered fog and Okami's lush flower fields, were once stuffed to the gills full of weathered history, dynamic terrain, exotic and exciting eco-systems, and vastly imaginative expanses that curtailed their expository dialogue in favor of a more vague yet approachable design sensibility. Look at a game such as Shadow of the Colossus. It is minimalist to a fault, never explaining in thorough detail anything in general. The era of time, the heroes, the villains, the colossi, the environments... nothing is really explained in anything more than hints, whispers, and rumors. One of the most memorable moments, for me, was running up the ruins of a centuries-old destroyed temple that had sunk deep into a lake. The game didn't tell me where I was, or what used to be here; it left the details to the player's imagination, letting the atmosphere, lore, and history speak for itself in a way a movie or book could never accurately do. I was interacting with this world, touching it, traversing it, and wondering aloud how such a beautiful temple could fall into disrepair, sink beneath the waters, and remain undiscovered for what must have been a millenia. In that one, simple moment, I was bombard with more context, history, beauty, and emotion than if I had ever just had someone exposit its backstory and function to me at that point in the game. Similarly, Metroid's narrative at one point used to be just as powerful yet minimalistic. There was a time when the games dotted the landscape with ancient, crumbling Chozo statues bearing benevolent powers and abilities only Samus could acquire, never bothering to dump loads of exposition for their existence and function. There was a time when Metroid's story took emotional shifts without a single, solitary line of dialogue as the ruins of a sad and forgotten culture are unearthed and their final days dealing with an inevitable and unavoidable death dawned on them and their loved ones. Even a game as recent as Prime 3 explored the hesitation, remorse, regret, and sadness Samus felt when she was forced into slaying her fellow friends and comrades, and the finale of the game was a poignant and effective display of her paying them respect and showing her own humanity and vulnerability by paying them tribute, all of which was done through interaction either in the game world, even in the boss battles, or through pantomimed cutscenes devoid of any dialogue. I'm a story-writer and I'm in charge of my game's story and narrative, and you'd better believe that I have many prized books on my shelf focused on the language of literature, cinematography, and game design. The rules of them that traverse all of these include "simplicity over density", "actions over words", and plenty other variants of the basic "less is more" philosophy of story and characterization. It's why JAWS is scarier when you don't see the shark; it's why Shadow of the Colossus thrives on its minimalism and emphasizes its actions; it's why Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allen Poe's works are chilling when stripped of a definable context and familiar foundation to root the reader in. Game language may be different, but it follows those same rules, and Other M's narration breaks nearly each and every last single one of them. Beyond just bad story twists and bland writing, none of the most timeless and effective principles of storytelling are put into place througout the game, which, I remind you, was designed, packaged, and advertised as a very cinematic, story-driven game with it's own gameplay-free "movie mode". To be a game, you have to be the character within the game, and not watch them or be disconnected from them. There's a reason people say "I died" when they lose a game instead of saying "Sonic/Mario/Link/Samus died". It's the same reason Resident Evil says "You are dead" instead of "Jill/Chris is dead" when you lose. All video games are a form of roleplay, and good games keep that player locked in that role. BAD games suck you out and break that illusion, something even a great game like Deus Ex: Human Revolution did with its boss battles, let alone Other M and its myriad of character-altering cutscenes. I firmly believe that Sakamoto is a talented game designer, but the language of games and movies do not correlate. Other M downplayed the strengths of its video game roots, since all good games thrive on interactivity, player freedom, and generating empathy between player and avatar, and instead emphasized its film aspirations, which by their nature are the antithesis of game design, being inactive, restrictive, and singularly driven by one man (the director) instead of the player. Sakamoto is neither a competent story writer nor is he a competent filmmaker, much in the same way Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott can't just decide to make great games without being well-versed in the language of that medium. This long dissertation amounts to this; I am proud to be a gamer and a game developer, but having spent merely three years of my life singularly focused on this medium, I at least understand what the appeal of games is outside of other mediums, what makes it unique and appealing, and why good game developers should play up those strengths instead of subverting them to make non-interactive CG cutscenes. Gameplay, music, environments, and controls should all support the story and characters, and when they fail to do so, the ENTIRE game, at that moment, FAILS. Prior Metroid games, particularly Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, understood this, or at least knew enough to apply these principles, and the games stood the test of time on a foundational level, both in how the games looked graphically, sounded aurally, and their stories told interactively. And that is the very reason I want to take that foundation and run with it. Games are so much MORE than movies, and I honestly believe games are going to only rise in prominence and perhaps surpass films as the predominant art form capable of affecting on an intimately emotional level. Players MUST invest themselves in games to get anything out of the experience, and it's the hours spent in games that makes the consequences and story shifts so much more keenly felt than other medium's. Red Dead Redemption's ending cannot function without the preceding hours and hours and hours of living in Jack Marston's boots; Mary's letter in Silent Hill 2 is hardly effective without enduring the arduous task of finding her ourselves in the bowls of hell itself; and Metroid, itself, would never be an effective series of chills, thrills, and dramatic, last-minute escapes from exploding planets had not it been US in Samus's shoes, ourselves frantically fleeing from inevitable death. Watching that and EXPERIENCING that could never coexist on the same resonating level. There is MUCH to be learned from Metroid on a narrative level, both in the prior games and in the most recent one. Despite being the newest game, I easily see Other M as the most regressive and outdated game in the franchise for failing to capitalize on any strengths of being an interactive medium. It was the equivalent of making a black and white silent movie when the medium around it had matured and evolved to enable itself to tell far more complicated and arresting films. I'm not opposed to story or even cutscenes in games, but the next Metroid game needs to carefully think about when and where to do them. Another narrative rule of thumb is that story and narrative should "arrive as late as possible and leave as quickly as it can", ensuring everything is well-paced, concise, and doesn't talk down to its audience. Everything the next Metroid game does needs to exist for a reason; nothing superfluous, nothing unnecessary, nothing detrimental to the player experience. Every enemy, every UI element, every musical note, every word of dialogue, can and must work towards immersing the player in the world, because that's not ONLY what the industry demands at this point, it's what Metroid itself pioneered. |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
TL;DR.
Trish: you're about to kill this thread with your insane walls of text. Chill, girl. |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
WALLS OF TEXT.
WALLS OF TEXT EVERYWHERE. *ahem* Well, I personally enjoyed the hell out of Other M and it's cutscenes, so I hate to see people tearing it apart all the time but I enjoyed the video non the less. It's pretty lulzy and it's not half as bad as I thought it was going to be. Now I just have to find part 2... "Come on, Samus. This is quarintine, not a runway. You don't have to work it."   |
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Re: LRR's Unskippable tackles Metroid: Other M
I'm not totally concerned about the next game. Other M wasn't meant to add much to the Metroid series. It was just an interquel. Any negative aspects in the game could very well be absent in the later games on the 3DS and Wii U. Metroid is constantly changing. Check out these titles. Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Metroid: Other M. Whether it be presentation, graphics or gameplay, these titles are nothing alike. I'm certain the next game will, in some way, be different than Other M and given the negative reception, I can almost guarantee it. |
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