The Nullify Power Suit Gun (how do you explain that one?)

[Not Authorised]

Apart from Samus's characterisation, the one thing that bothers me most about the plot of Other M is that there exists a gun that can completely deactivate Samus's power suit in one shot leaving her helpless for minutes afterward. Whut da hell?

I can follow the reasoning (even though I hate that reasoning) that Samus's suit is fueled by her confidence, and getting shot by someone she trusts completely would shatter that confidence, but the problem with that is that she didn't see the shooter until after her suit had broken. The player was supposed to wonder if it was the mysterious serial-killer who shot her and not the guy who actually did. I can also see the possibility that Samus's concentration was broken due to facing another infant Metroid, but that makes you wonder if all the next villain has to do to kill her is post shocking images all over the walls with turrets attached.

I'm not just asking to point out some more bad writing in Other M - this entire sub-forum is jam-packed with those - but to ask if there's any way to explain away this incredibly poorly introduced weapon. How does there exist a gun that can basically kill a fully armored Samus Aran in two shots? If that technology exists, how are we to take any future villains and boss fights seriously? Or was the suit just infected with crippling cutscene incompetence?

[Lucid Flower]

The suit is more powered by her mental stamina and or will. Not confidence in herself. When she was shot she was pretty worn out considering all the things that had happened and she was also distracted. Seemed fair to me, Adam only shot her, so that he could explain everything and so she could not stop him, he knew she is stubborn. She would not have just let Adam sacrifice himself the way he did. At least Adam thought that. They did not get to catch up and talk about what had happened with Ian. It all made sense to me. Also it was a story event, so it dose not have to recognize game play events or otherwise.

[ph00tbag]

So why does the suit not deactivate while the infant metroid is sucking her dry in Super? The thing that bothers me is that we know Samus can take a hit while in the power suit, even ones she may not be expecting. An ice beam to the back should bounce off the suit like a shard of Thardus. I don't know this weapon is. My solution to the myraid of questions that scene raised is to ignore it.

[Not Authorised]

The suit is more powered by her mental stamina and or will. Not confidence in herself. When she was shot she was pretty worn out considering all the things that had happened and she was also distracted... ...Also it was a story event, so it dose not have to recognize game play events or otherwise.

Yeah, well, that'd work better if not for the fact that the suit stays on when Samus is too tired to stand and nearly beaten to death by Mother Brain and the Omega Metroid, which were also story sequences. Granted, she loses the suit in her death sequence in most games, but a weapon that takes her from full health to blue ass nekkid in one shot doesn't fly.

That it's powered by mental stamina instead of just confidence I like. I'll subscribe to that theory gladly.

[Chris]

I never gave it much thought to be honest, mainly because it seems the developers didn't either, I just think it was all they could come up with to make Samus not go into Sector Zero and to show her in her Zero Suit some more.

[Lucid Flower]

They have never worked the concentration aspect of the suit into any of the games before. I'm guessing maybe they had not thought about it yet back when Super Metroid was being made. Metroid has always evolved and changed. Besides it was just a device used to carry the story. Nothing more. These events do not have to tie in with game play. Why keep making a big deal out of nothing

[CapCom]

Yeah, it was invented at the time of MZM. Supposed to have been explained in the manga, and in interviews. Not popular in America because it invokes imagery of Power Rangers rather than technology that borders on mysticism.

I think in SM you could explain it away with the fact that Samus didn't know the giant Metroid was the baby.

The Ice Beam has to be explained away as 'guns in cutscenes have more power than in-game guns'. That's always how it is. Samus has been shot by an Ice Beam in Fusion and it doesn't kill her. I suppose you could say she had emotions for the larva when she saw it and was taken by surprise, but the classic rule that objects in cutscenes are more powerful than in-game will always trump.

[Not Authorised]

Yeah, it was invented at the time of MZM. Supposed to have been explained in the manga, and in interviews. Not popular in America because it invokes imagery of Power Rangers rather than technology that borders on mysticism.

I think in SM you could explain it away with the fact that Samus didn't know the giant Metroid was the baby.

The Ice Beam has to be explained away as 'guns in cutscenes have more power than in-game guns'. That's always how it is. Samus has been shot by an Ice Beam in Fusion and it doesn't kill her. I suppose you could say she had emotions for the larva when she saw it and was taken by surprise, but the classic rule that objects in cutscenes are more powerful than in-game will always trump.

Yeah, I guess it could be as simple as that. I suppose if Cloud Strife got caught by several rounds of machine gun fire in a cutscene he'd drop dead on the spot, intead of taking a mere 20 HP loss and getting a limit break gauge increase. Still, super suit with fancy alien technology should offer greater protection even in cutscenes.


Lucid Flower: I could ask the same question of you. Why get so annoyed that people criticise the story?

[FacelessGriffin]

Yeah, it was invented at the time of MZM. Supposed to have been explained in the manga, and in interviews. Not popular in America because it invokes imagery of Power Rangers rather than technology that borders on mysticism.

I think it's less Power Rangers and more Kamen Rider. Which is actually incredibly awesome when you think about it.

... It's fun to add nothing to the conversation yet still doesn't count as offtopic, isn't it?

[Lucid Flower]

Lucid Flower: I could ask the same question of you. Why get so annoyed that people criticism the story?

Why do you criticize this scene, when there are hundreds of others just like it in other games? I'm only trying to better understand some of these arguments, and why some of them are even necessary?

Wikipedia:Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another (the critic). To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.

Another meaning of criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature, social movements, film, arts, and similar objects and events. The goal of this type of criticism is to understand the work or event more thoroughly.



I feel like some of the criticism is fair, but not all of it. Other M is not the game I would have made if I made games, and it is not the game I wanted it to be. However I was still able to find plenty of things I enjoyed about it. Some of the things about it gave me a different perspective on what a Metroid game could be like, just like the Metroid Prime games. If Some things about it left a bad taste in peoples mouths, it is fine to discuss that. So long as people try and see things outside of themselves a bit. They had different ideas when they made the game. If retro had not had different ideas we would not have gotten Metroid Prime.
The new ideas seemed to come across easier than some of the new ideas in other M.

I did not see a problem with what happened in the cut scene. Samus has limits. I interpreted what I saw as, not the suit reaching its limit, but Samus was unable to concentrate any further to keep it activated. The suit is connected to her, but dose not take all of the damage, she still feels things in there. I think mental strain is one of those things. The idea that She needs to concentrate to keep the suit on is a new idea, and they decided to use it as a device to move the story along.

[Not Authorised]

Lucid Flower: I could ask the same question of you. Why get so annoyed that people criticism the story?

Why do you criticize this scene, when there are hundreds of others just like it in other games? I'm only trying to better understand some of these arguments, and why some of them are even necessary?

Wikipedia:Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another (the critic). To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.

Another meaning of criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature, social movements, film, arts, and similar objects and events. The goal of this type of criticism is to understand the work or event more thoroughly.



I feel like some of the criticism is fair, but not all of it. Other M is not the game I would have made if I made games, and it is not the game I wanted it to be. However I was still able to find plenty of things I enjoyed about it. Some of the things about it gave me a different perspective on what a Metroid game could be like, just like the Metroid Prime games. If Some things about it left a bad taste in peoples mouths, it is fine to discuss that. So long as people try and see things outside of themselves a bit. They had different ideas when they made the game. If retro had not had different ideas we would not have gotten Metroid Prime.
The new ideas seemed to come across easier than some of the new ideas in other M.

I did not see a problem with what happened in the cut scene. Samus has limits. I interpreted what I saw as, not the suit reaching its limit, but Samus was unable to concentrate any further to keep it activated. The suit is connected to her, but dose not take all of the damage, she still feels things in there. I think mental strain is one of those things. The idea that She needs to concentrate to keep the suit on is a new idea, and they decided to use it as a device to move the story along.

I think I'd look silly if I criticized similar scenes in other games in the Metroid Other M forum. But if you must know, I criticize because I love this series. Pretty much the same reason you're defending it, really.

But I think you're seeing me as being more hostile than I am right now. While I still have very little faith in Sakamoto as a writer, my attitude towards Other M has softened considerably since I started posting here. Rather than seek flaws to turn into gaping holes so that I can tear the game down, I seek more to understand it. Which is why your answer is a fine one, and if the narrative had done a better job of portraying what you describe, I might have seen that scene in a better light.

[KingBroly]

"I felt that if I let my guard down I would easily be broken."

This is what Samus says at the beginning of the game. In that scene, she lets her guard down mentally, either struggling with what to do or confused at why she is shocked at the sight of this Metroid (harping back to what she originally did on SR388). She becomes oblivious to the outside world for a moment, and in that span of time Adam shoots her in the back. That is why her suit fails there. She lost focus.

The exhaust ports on her back were also covered in ice, so her venting probably failed.

Her suit might still be magical, but how does something like that store the following and not be magical?:
- Bombs
- Power Bombs
- Missiles (Up to 255)
- Grapple Beam
- Boots/Speed Boots/Hi-Jump Boots
- Ice/Wave/Plasma/Charge Beams
- Screw Attack

Besides, it's sort of always been magical through the stripteases at the end of games.

[Not Authorised]

You know, if Prime 3 is taken as canon to Other M (which it totally should always be to me, but probably wasn't to Sakamoto - I dunno) then Samus's suit may very well be part-magic. Since the Bryyonians failed to heed the Chozo's advice to let magic and technology coexist, it seems fair to assume that the Chozo have magic and do incorporate it into their technology.

Which certainly makes the morph ball easy to explain as A Wizard Did It

[cross307]

one of the greatess problems with cutscenes since the early day of the play station is that what you see in gameplay has little to nothing to do with the story told in the cutscenes.

some examples of this are:

resident evil: where your character is beaten by zombies all the time and never got infected unless is in cutscenes, metal gear solid where snake do some crazy action moves or the most famous of all final fantasy VII and the dead that girl whos name I forgot.

In this case a simple ice gun can take out samus´ suit in one shot, it really doesn`t need more explanation.

speaking of the suit can sombody tell me what kind of retard think that an armor that desapear every time you got distracted is a good desing?

[KingBroly]

You know, if Prime 3 is taken as canon to Other M (which it totally should always be to me, but probably wasn't to Sakamoto - I dunno) then Samus's suit may very well be part-magic. Since the Bryyonians failed to heed the Chozo's advice to let magic and technology coexist, it seems fair to assume that the Chozo have magic and do incorporate it into their technology.

Which certainly makes the morph ball easy to explain as A Wizard Did It

I think more of it as a Nano-Tech Suit. That's right...

NANOMACHINES!