To much cutscenes, not enough gameplay in Other M?

[Dark Samus Aran]

Almost every 30 minutes... unless you waste time... theres some sort of cutscene that (even if it shows your life and missles but you cant move) sometimes makes no sense.

[wraithdarksamus]

I completely disagree. The cutscenes are beautiful and move the story along very well. Which one(s) made no sense?

[HYRUL3]

There's like... An hour, maybe an hour and a half worth of cutscenes to 12 hours of gameplay. I'd say 8% of the game being cutscenes is fine.

[Zynux]

I think his problem might deal with the fact all together the cutscenes might not be all that in comparison to the actual gameplay, but maybe the cutscenes weren't spaced out enough. I remember two cutscenes, both with MB, being ridiculously long and successful in taking you completely out of the game because of their duration and tediousness. Maybe if those cutscenes were broken up more, then it wouldn't have been much of a problem.

[Emperor Ing]

You know Super Metroid stopped you from moving while it told you you had found another Missile expansion? Every single time, right?

So did Metroid Prime, if I recall correctly.

There aren't as many cutscene interruptions as people would think, but as Zynux rightly points out, the two exposition dumps you get at the middle of the game and at the end are pretty much game-breakers in terms of tedious story-telling. The last cutscene mainly.

But I'm not posting to rag on Other M. Rather, to answer the post's question:

There's enough gameplay, but it seems to be disproportionately shoved to the side in discussion, to favor picking apart the flawed (dare I say laughable) narrative - though only at two points do the cutscenes become extremely onerous, being the aforementioned moments.

[Zynux]

I think the beginning scene kind of over did it as well, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

The problem really boils down to the narrative and not the duration. A minute or two of cutsenes for me isn't that big of a deal, but if the story sucks (and if there is a lot of narrative) then I can understand why someone would perceive it as "the cutscenes are too long, not enough gameplay." And vice versa, an 8 to 10 minute cutscene wouldn't be that bad either if the story was good.

You know Super Metroid stopped you from moving while it told you you had found another Missile expansion? Every single time, right?

So did Metroid Prime, if I recall correctly.

Am I the only one that hated this? It irritated the hell out of me. It came to a point where I was like Yes, I know its a missile expansion, Get on with it.

[rondus18]

You know Super Metroid stopped you from moving while it told you you had found another Missile expansion? Every single time, right?

So did Metroid Prime, if I recall correctly.

Am I the only one that hated this? It irritated the hell out of me. It came to a point where I was like Yes, I know its a missile expansion, Get on with it.

I loved the parts in Prime where you were powering up doors and when you did the camera had to show you the door every time.

On the subject of the cutsenses, I don't think the problem has to do with the ratio of gameplay to cutsense, but rather the expectation the player has of what they're doing and how the gameplay and story either complement or conflict with each other. In Prime, for example, the gameplay is exploring the world and collecting stuff. Prime deleivers it's story via the player exploring the world and collecting scan data. No problems here.

But in Other M, the gameplay is largely exploring the world and collecting stuff while the story is in no way like that at all. This being the case I imagine some people will always feel the cutsenses are, to some degree, inappropriately placed no matter how brief or well done they are.

[wraithdarksamus]

Metroid: Other M is an action game for metroid fans. Not a casual game. The story was wrote for metroid fanatics who wanted to see more of samus, behind her visor for the first time. The cutscenes were needed to tell this story of samus.
Team Ninja did it perfectly.
The gameplay I do not think is largely exploring the world and collecting stuff, its action, shooting Ridley in his face or power-bombing a Queen Metroid's stomach.
The story works well with it. It is action packed, just look at the intro. Mother Brain looks freaking awesome in 3D.

[HYRUL3]

As a "hardcore Metroid fanatic" I was disappointed. Samus' characterization didn't bug me once I got past the fact that a lot of what she says is internal monologue, like a debrief of a mission.

I did NOT like Adam's characterization. He was cold the whole game, the story did not inspire me to give one iota of a fuck about him. Also, he's a character that's been a mystery, teased since 2002. 8 years of wondering his story gave me high expectations. A cold, emotionless android that shoots his allies in the back was not what I had in mind.

The hell run and the Ridley scene were my other issues, but the rest of the game was good. It did not meet my expectations for a Metroid game, but I'll take an average entry to my favorite series over a terrible game.

[Zynux]

You know Super Metroid stopped you from moving while it told you you had found another Missile expansion? Every single time, right?

So did Metroid Prime, if I recall correctly.

Am I the only one that hated this? It irritated the hell out of me. It came to a point where I was like Yes, I know its a missile expansion, Get on with it.

I loved the parts in Prime where you were powering up doors and when you did the camera had to show you the door every time.

Awww man, talk about irritating. They even talked about how they didn't want you to skip cutscenes in Metroid Prime, and I couldn't disagree more.

Metroid: Other M is an action game for metroid fans. Not a casual game. The story was wrote for metroid fanatics who wanted to see more of samus, behind her visor for the first time. The cutscenes were needed to tell this story of samus.

Funny you should say that, since Metroid: Other M was an attempt to appeal to casual gamers and hardcore gamers, but mainly casual. But it ultimately failed at appealing to both.

I did NOT like Adam's characterization. He was cold the whole game, the story did not inspire me to give one iota of a fuck about him. Also, he's a character that's been a mystery, teased since 2002. 8 years of wondering his story gave me high expectations. A cold, emotionless android that shoots his allies in the back was not what I had in mind.

The more I analyze Adam's action, the less I like him. I find it increasingly difficult to defend him in the game, I mean, I can find good points in this game's story if I really tried, and the gameplay was average, but I just can't defend Adam. He really was unlikeable in every aspect, plain and simple. The fact that everyone, including Samus, glorified aspects of him that clearly didn't exist made it all the worse. When he committed suicide with Sector Zero, let's just say there was much rejoicing.

[rondus18]

The gameplay I do not think is largely exploring the world and collecting stuff, its action

Yeah, I guess I was giving it's use of Metroid in the title a little too much credit. But an action game still has the same problem. This is why Half-Life and Bioshock don't have cutscenes and keep the control in the players hands most of the time. The only times you lose control of the characters in those games is when the characters don't have control over themselves so the lack of cutscenes gives these moments more weight. You come for the action and you get action and no one tells you to stop playing for a minute to watch a short movie.

The cutscenes were needed to tell this story of samus.

No they weren't. Cutscene based narratives are a holdover from the earlier days of video gaming when people didn't know how to tell a story in a video game so instead they just told a story in a movie and chopped it up and put gameplay sections in between.

Sure you can use cutscenes in a video game. In interactive movie games like Metal Gear Solid and Uncharted they work well. For a story centric game with slower paced gameplay like a jrpg or a game that just wants that extra cinematic flare, they work. But there are other and arguably better alternatives for action games and particularly Metroid.

[HYRUL3]

I don't mind cutscenes as long as they are kept at a minimum. If they further the story, sure. I like a strong narrative. If you can tell your story during gameplay, so the player still has control, like Kid Icarus Uprising, for example, that's the best way to do it. If the story you want to tell will have a segment that occurs outside of the main characters POV, then a cutscene works. Sometimes having cinematics just to be "more cinematic" is annoying. If you want me to pay attention to something in combat, like a new enemy or objective, have me pull a trigger to focus on it and notice its there.

Cutscenes are acceptable for me, in small doses. Just keep them at small dosage.

[Dryn]

You know Super Metroid stopped you from moving while it told you you had found another Missile expansion? Every single time, right?

So did Metroid Prime, if I recall correctly.

Not to mention, that's what, 90 to 100 times throughout Super Metroid? I think that's why they shortened it with a acquisition chime in the Metroid Prime trilogy. I didn't mind those as much as I did with SM.

[KRAID]

I completely disagree. The cutscenes are beautiful and move the story along very well. Which one(s) made no sense?

i have to say the cutscenes in Other M are wonderfullly done.

i think they got the balance correct between cutscenes and gameplay.
but then im a big fan of cutscenes and i was very happy with them.

[wraithdarksamus]

Yaaaaay another Metroid: Other M cutscene supporter!
Welcome to the club!
Now we have grand total of two members!
Yaaaaay!