Metroid: Other M -- Impressions!

[Infinity's End]

I like Samus being sexy. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

However i still feel that many scenes in Other M come off as unnecessary, creepy, and fetishized.

Seeing how the studio that made the cutscenes is called D-ROCKETS (c'mon, people, really now.) and all of their previous games they've worked on, I find this HARDLY surprising. Y'all need to get a grip. Otherwise, if you feel you absolutely MUST talk about this, we already have an 11-page topic covering all the bases.

[kronoridley]

Thank you, IE. This means no one will post anymore pictures on here that could cause my face to melt.

[Emperor Ing]

I like Samus being sexy. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

However i still feel that many scenes in Other M come off as unnecessary, creepy, and fetishized.

Seeing how the studio that made the cutscenes is called D-ROCKETS (c'mon, people, really now.) and all of their previous games they've worked on, I find this HARDLY surprising. Y'all need to get a grip. Otherwise, if you feel you absolutely MUST talk about this, we already have an 11-page topic covering all the bases.

Of course, I never really implicated the whole team at large (outside of perhaps Sakamoto, who DID have input into storyboards and stuff like that, so in some ways he should be seen as responsible for the story presentation, in both its good and bad aspects), and I also realize that apparently what scenes that D-Rockets wanted to add were more ZSS stuff and probably would have been just as groan-inducing (so I'm glad for THOSE cuts).

I'm just saying that even what IS there with the Zero Suit, I don't necessarily like.

Now, the power suit is totally fine, and I like Samus' civilian uniform at the end. Those are some good stuff.

But I felt that the programmers wanted to flaunt Samus a bit too much and I sure think it shows.

[KingBroly]

I really think it has to do with the story just focusing on her being a woman above anything else (loner, bounty hunter, etc.) and not just in terms of looks. The way how she's treated, the way she just accepts things and doesn't question them, etc. In terms of "sexualizing" Samus with her Zero Suit, the least sexualizing scene in the game sadly enough is probably the Ridley scene since you get like one really ridiculous body twist near the end of it and that's it. It just comes off as 'hey, let's treat Samus really badly for a game.' You can like the story if you want, but you can't deny that's what's happening in this game.

If I had to guess most people still blame Team Ninja for pretty everything in the story. Then Nintendo will come along and make the game where she's awesome and probably make people say 'see, this was Team Ninja's fault, not ours.' Metroid fans are probably the smartest fans they've got.

[KingBroly]

I'm not spreading their work. I've tread my own path on this. Whether or not I'm right remains to be seen. I looked at something and came up with what I believe to be a proper hypothesis. Now it's up to someone else to prove me right or wrong. The sooner the next step in the story comes out, the better my chances are. Not even you can deny that.

We've gone in circles about how Samus is treated badly in this game just from a story perspective. There's almost no positives to go on here. A smile and a thumbs up are supposed to make up for all the negativity? Hardly. Samus has carried on from losses before. Remember Corruption? She lost allies while fighting the good fight. Here she hasn't permanently lost anyone/thing she really cares about. Even if Adam is dead and good, he comes back in Fusion so that loss is immediately erased, so his death really has no impact on the series whatsoever. Same thing with the baby, she gets fused with it in Fusion, so that loss is once again erased by Fusion.

So if you want to go all idealist about Other M, which it isn't, know this: This game has ZERO importance.

[KingBroly]

I have spread it around, but you realize time has passed since then. I've tried to analyze and explain things they left out of their analysis, which conveniently helps their cause by ignoring them. That's what a good analysis is supposed to be. You ignore the things that hurt your case. It's called being bias, where it's not what you report that's the problem, it's what you leave out. I'm not saying they're the only ones who've done it, but rather what happens all the time in writing, whether it be an analysis or a simple term paper.

I on the other hand went completely outside of the realm of this single game and tried to guess where it was going based on what's in Other M, Fusion and the rest of the series. Do you think I like the idea of Samus being a mind slave to Adam? Of course not, no one does. But if that's the case I want to see him nuke his ass like no tomorrow. The Adam-Samus relationship has been a big focal point for 2 games now. It is a common thread that will surely pop it's head in again in Metroid 5 where it eventually concludes. Because if it goes that way, which I think it will, you will see her overcome her pain and her strife all overcome in this arc and ascend to hopefully be something more. This entire time, she's been killing her family (Metroids and Mother Brain) probably because of the man she called father told her to, effectively destroying her past, when she's been actively looking for it.*

* - Note: I don't think Samus consciously remembers that she was raised by the Chozo on Zebes, nor that Ridley killed her parents.

I'm not trying to ignore you Walker, but you put A TON of stuff in each post to counter me. I don't have a very big attention span to try and answer everything. Hopefully you can forgive me.

I'm not talking about Other M being canon or not, I'm talking about its' significance to plot. Other M, for a video game story, is in a unique situation. It serves as a lead-in to another game. There aren't many games that do this directly. The last one I can think about is Crisis Core, but you knew what was going to happen there anyway. Here, it's the same thing but the story gives us more questions than answers, unlike Crisis Core which was basically just an expanded look at FF7's background.

[Emperor Ing]

What can men do against such reckless hate?

[FacelessGriffin]

Lots of text

One day I will make a drinking game out of this.

[Not Authorised]

Lots of text

One day I will make a drinking game out of this.

FacelessGriffin showed up solely to make a snide comment.

Take a shot.

...and so did I. Take two shots.

[FacelessGriffin]

Lots of text

One day I will make a drinking game out of this.

FacelessGriffin showed up solely to make a snide comment.

Take a shot.

...and so did I. Take two shots.

Not Authorised, you magnificent b*stard I READ YOUR BOOK.

[KingBroly]

Lots of text

One day I will make a drinking game out of this.

I made a drinking game thread already.

If you follow all the rules, you win! Unfortunately you won't get to see the next Metroid game because you'll die from alcohol poisoning.

[DM-92]

Well, i watched ALIENS today and it got me thinking... one slight problem in Other M is that Samus talks a lot throughout the game, but has no real memorable badass lines.
Near the end of the game (The Queen Metroid fight, the Melissa confrontation...), Samus was a real badass in her actions. Now i know actions speak louder than words, but the fact that she spoke a real lot ealier in the game (about her feelings and her past which for some reason people thought it made her seem weak???) but didn't lay down any badass words, when the time came, is maybe why people often forget just how much ass kicking she did towards the end of the game....
IMO, i think Samus is just as much the ass kicking bounty hunter in Other M (albeit some things were a little messed up, like the authoristiion thing) as she is in any of the other Metroid games...

[Emperor Ing]

There defnitely was a dirth of one-liners in the game, almost all provided by Anthony.


I think Samus really could have benefited from some cheesy one-liners that were just "badass" in tone and delivery. The story is already pretty damn ridiculous, so turning her into this Schwarzenegger one-liner spewing ass-kicker could have only really helped.

I mean, the only time I felt Samus, in a cutscene, was her awesome bounty-hunter self, is when she says "Any objections, Adam?" and I was like "YEAH YOU TELL THAT COCK-DOOFUS SAMUS YOU TELL 'EM"

But she had so many opportunities to be corny, and doing so while cutting down at the monologuing would have helped.

I mean the script is already meh so it could have used something BESIDES Anthony being Manthony to perk it up a little bit.

[Cosake_Solrac]

I felt for Samus during her lethal strikes.

Apparently those are non-canon, so ah well.

[Emperor Ing]

I wouldn't necessarily say that.

For one, it's absolutely stupid to argue whether gameplay is 'canon'. It just is.

Secondly, in theater mode, most bosses are killed with a lethal strike.