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« on: September 27, 2010, 03:27:43 AM »
SPOILERS IN THIS RANT
Special note: I wrote this rant in two parts (not equally long halves, though) First part was written in the early morning, and the second was written the following day. I was pretty sleepy during the writing of the first part, so it probably won't hold up as well as the second part.
Alright, it's time I throw my two cents into this thing, because I have a lot to say. A LOT. It's gonna be a seriously long read, so if you feel up to it, grab some coffee or something. And please, if you're going to respond, make sure you've read the whole thing, as some points may be further re-enforced later on this rant of mine, (and, again, the second part is probably stronger, so if you have a rebuttal for something early on, keep reading and make sure a later point doesn't trounce that rebuttal)
And before I really get started, let me just say that every discussion I've seen concerning this game inevitably had the defenders turning to the haters and making an accusation that the haters just want Samus to be a cold, unfeeling, emotionless, silent robot killer, with no personality of any kind. It's a frustrating thing to see, because the haters almost never even insinuate that that's what they want in Metroid, ever. In fact, many times, they've already made it clear that they don't want that by the time the defenders get desperate. It's a strawman tactic, and it's something that I'm going to ask everyone in this topic not fall into as you read this topic.
First of all, I have to tell you that some of the people in this topic are, simply put, WRONG. I'm talking about the people who said that "We didn't know Samus before this". WRONG. I'm sorry, but did everyone just forget about METROID FUSION?! That angers me. Y'know why? Because everyone here's talking about how Other M's such a great game, and yet you're all conveniently ignoring Fusion, or as I call it, Other M: Good Edition. As far as I'm concerned, it does everything better than Other M, besides graphical and audio quality (technical quality; even with regards to art direction and soundtrack, I found Fusion to be superior). It does Samus's monologues and personality better (and I'll get into that more later on) It features a more compelling portrayal of Adam Malkovich (and that's all through Samus's nostalgia trips and a ship A.I. that doesn't really start acting like Adam until the very end) It tells a Galactic Federation Metroid cloning conspiracy story better.
Since I don't know really where else to go, I'll just jump right into the infamous Ridley scene. Ridley appears, Samus freezes. She freezes so badly, that she actually starts to lose control of her suit. Sorry, but NO. Let me tell you why no. Because she's defeated Ridley before. She defeated Ridley in Metroid/Zero Mission. She defeated Meta Ridley in Prime. She beat him again in Corruption, then killed Omega Ridley later on in that same game. Then she defeated Ridley in Super Metroid. She never, EVER froze in ANY of the other encounters. Oh, and don't give me anything about how this time, it's because she thought he was dead. Though it isn't absolutely certain, Ridley probably died most of the other encounters. Note that I said that Samus killed Omega Ridley. That one was for certain. Because he EXPLODED. That Ridley died without question. But what about the other times? I'd have to say that Ridley dies in Metroid/ZM and Super. It seems like Ridley and Kraid's (and in Super, Phantoon and Draygon's) life forces are tied directly to the entrance to Tourian, since it opens only after you defeat them (and I seem to remember them exploding in those games as well) There's not much reason to assume they aren't dead, and plenty to assume they are.
So why is it that Samus only now suffers from PTSD when Ridley shows up? Even if you assume that Meta Ridley survived in Prime (after the Chozo statues laser him over a cliff) and Corruption (he falls down a reactor core shaft) and that Samus somehow KNOWS he survived, that still leaves him reappearing in Prime and Super without Samus freezing up. The idea that Samus would freeze up at all, even due to PTSD, is irritating, but I think I'll save that for the another paragraph.
Next item: Samus is obsessively submissive, to the point of reckless stupidity in this game. Yes, I'm going there. And I have good reason. Back to Fusion for a brief moment, one thing that Samus mentions in that game is that she doesn't like taking orders, and she's only served under Adam before this (that's important to remember, because if his command was all it took to make her decide that, and she LIKED him, then it means him being in command on the Bottle Ship, as opposed to any other person, doesn't change a thing when considering the following) Now, she does work with the Galactic Federation at points in the series, but she's a bounty hunter, so it can be assumed that they're paying her for it. Plus, it seems like they're not particularly restrictive with their assignments. Go here, secure this, talk to that person for information on those, and be sure to destroy that on your way out. Not much of "don't use weapon X" or "try not to step on creature Y", or anything else that might be expected were she actually serving in the GF officially.
Now, in Other M, she isn't officially working under Adam. She's not under any orders to do anything. And yet, she voluntarily de-activates almost every single piece of tech in her suit until each one is authorized, and agrees to follow his command. Now, I want you to really think about this. In Fusion, Samus describes her relationship with Adam as one of mutual respect. There's nothing to indicate that she'd be obsessed with the guy. And yet, here she is, agreeing to follow his every order - even though she doesn't like taking orders and doesn't have to - and de-activating everthing. Including her ARMOR UPGRADES. She literally endangers her own life by volunteering to take orders, which she doesn't like to, and stubbornly not activating gear which DOES NOTHING BUT PROTECT HER FROM HARM, all because the guy she was serving under when she decided she didn't like taking orders tells hasn't specifically told her to protect herself yet. It's literally a life-threatening stroke of stupidity which goes against her established character traits. There is EVERYTHING wrong with it. And I've seen this poorly defended with "it's just a way to weave the item collection into the narrative". That's no excuse. At all. In fact, it justifies the focus it's gotten. They wanted it tied into the narrative? Fine. Now they have to deal with the consequences of doing so. It's open to criticism for being poorly handled now, just the same Prime's reason for Samus losing her powers caught crap. "An explosion in a hallway flung her against a wall, and that caused her suit's features to malfunction? Then why didn't it malfunction during that fight with the aerotroopers, where you got hit with, like, 20 missiles?" Don't want the criticism? Then do it right.. That's why criticism exists, to make sure you know what to do (or, at least, what NOT to do) next time.
Another thing is that Adam comes across as a jerkass because of this. Like, why wouldn't he immediately check all of Samus's suit upgrades, and choose which ones were authorized, and which weren't? And c'mon, I get why he wouldn't authorize Super Missiles, Power Bombs, the Plasma Beam, and the Screw attack. Those are very dangerous weapons, and should only be used when absolutely called for. Even the lesser weapons are still pretty dangerous, and maybe Adam didn't feel like he could really trust Samus with them at first (and even if that was the case, it clearly became apparent to him at some point that she was trustworthy, he could have done it then; and even if she wasn't, not authorizing stuff would become irrelevant in a scenario where she goes rogue, because she's still ultimately in control of which upgrades are active, giving Adam even less reason to withhold authorization of most of her equipment)
But really, why didn't he just immediately authorize the Varia Suit, Gravity Suit, and Space Jump? After all, those functions do exactly the following, in order: adds extra protection and shields the user from extreme temperatures and acid; adds even more protection, and allows free movement underwater and in areas with non-Earth-standard gravity; allows for greater mobility by way of a near-infinite amount of midair jumps. That's it. There's no apparent risk factor involved with allowing the use of those upgrades, so Adam just looks like an ass for making her less able to defend herself and move around in battle. In fact, why did Samus volunteer Adam authority on those upgrades alongside her weapons in the first place? Weapons are one thing, but why the armor and mobility upgrades? It makes even less sense as we go along here.
Then there's probably the shining example of cutscene convenience making Samus a delicate little flower: Adam shooting Samus in the back as she approaches Sector 0. One shot. Just the one. And apparently, in spite of the tremendous ass-kickings Samus is able to bear througout the series, and still come back swingin', this one shot hits her so hard that she is knocked unconcious, and when she comes too, she's so weakened that she can't re-activate her suit, or walk without stumbling around. Oh, and this is also the scene where Adam sacrifices himself by going into Sector 0 and wreaking enough havoc to cause the area to detach and self-destruct with him in it. Let me ask... did this guy forget to bring explosives of any kind? I remember at the beginning, they couldn't open the locked door, and said they didn't want to use explosives because the uncontained blast might cause unwanted damage to the ship around them. Well, that's exactly what he wants in this situation. Was he not carrying any? Did he give them all to Maurice or something? Did he have some, but ran out as he was exploring the ship? Speaking of ships, was it not possible to take the GF ship or ask Samus to use her gunship and go on a bombing run? Did the damage have to be internal to cause Sector 0 to detach? Christ, the story does so much damage to these characters' intelligence and integrity, is it really that difficult to see how everyone could be so upset over it? It's not a good thing when even a moment of thought can devalue a character's scarifice so much.
One seemingly minor, yet still relevant thing, is Adam calling Samus "Lady". In Fusion, Samus recalls that Adam would call her "Lady", and that if it were anyone else, she'd have found it condescending, but Adam knew how to say it in such a way that it sounded dignified. That says something about Samus and Adam, and their relationship. In Other M, however, Samus comments that she didn't mind Adam saying "Any objections, lady?" at the end of each mission briefing, because "I was glad he went with something delicate." UGH. So we've gone from dignified to delicate. That reflects so poorly on the both of them, and yet people STILL ignore how much better Fusion told its story and fleshed out its characters. Infuriating.
Okay, now with regards to everything about Samus's perceived vulnerability, be it emotional, mental, or physical, let me just remind you of Samus's past. This is a past where she has defeated or killed Ridley at least 6 different times (Ridley in Metroid/Zero mission, Mecha Ridley at the end of ZM, Meta Ridley in Prime, Meta Ridley in Corruption, Omega Ridley in Corruption, Ridley in Super) This is a past where she defeated Metroid Prime, then defeated it again and again as Dark Samus. This is a past where she brought down Kraid and Mother Brain on two seperate occasions each. Where she killed Phantoon and Draygon. The Emporer Ing. The Omega Pirate. Quadraxis. Countless hordes of Space Pirates, even on their own acid rain-drenched planet. Numerous rival bounty hunters. Omega Metroids. A Metroid Queen. After all that, for anything to strike such an insane level of fear in her (the amount is critical here, don't ignore it) as Ridley did, and for one single shot from a GF weapon to knock her out and temporarily render her completely defenseless even after she comes to is such a departure from everything we've seen in the past, such a betrayal of who she's been ESTABLISHED as (not just from fan perception, this is actual portayal we're talking about here) that I'm left wondering why they didn't just alter the story so that this was one of Samus's first missions after departing from the GF. That would have made it the first time she encountered Ridley after he killed her family, making the PTSD thing infinitely more believable. It would have eliminated the stupid authorization gimmick, sparing her from looking stupid and sparing Adam from looking like an ass. It would have maybe even made it a little bit plausible for Adam to do the kind of damage he did with that shot, if she wasn't using her power suit to its fullest potential, or didn't have access to the Varia and Gravity armor upgrades. Or, hell, reboot the series. Anything. But don't even try telling me that this is the same Samus. There's FAR too big a contrast between Other M's Samus and the Samus from the ENTIRE REST OF THE SERIES to swallow all of this at once.
But this past isn't just one of her exploits in the games. This is one where it becomes apparent that she can't be judged in many respects by the same standards as typical humans. This is where the PTSD thing loses power. This is where Samus's completely voluntary submission of authority to Adam with regards to her Varia and Gravity suits and to her Space jump goes from dumb to absurd. This is where I point out the fact that Samus was RAISED TO BE A WARRIOR SINCE CHILDHOOD BY THE CHOZO. She was even infused with their DNA in order to become tougher, at the tender age of 3. She also served in the GF military after her Chozo training ended. She's a space warrior. She IS an intergalactic badass. She is athletic, efficient in battle, and has access to to an amazing power suit. This is not down to fan perception. These are cold, hard facts about her. Taking all of that into account, it becomes fair to expect Samus to be tougher, more capable, and more mentally stable than a real-world human soldier. The PTSD excuse might make sense, but not nearly as much when you consider all the mental toughening Samus no doubt went through during her life with the Chozo and serving in the GF military.
And this is right about the point that the Metroid manga comes up. Alright, let's play. So, Samus freezes upon encountering Ridley for the first time since he and the Space Pirates attacked and her parents died. In fact, posttraumatic stress disorder is specifically mentioned here by one of the onlookers. So, the manga is fair game here, right? Okay, so let's talk further about what canonizing the manga means for Other M. First, right back to Ridley. Samus freezes during that first encounter, and he beats the crap out of her. What happens the next time they meet? Why, that would be the re-telling of the events in Metroid/Zero Mission. Ridley appears, and Samus does indeed hesitate in apparent fear. However, two things stand out at this point. First, she's nowhere near as frightened as the first time (the first time, she loses her head and begs to be shot dead before Ridley can tear her to pieces; the second time, she basically stares him down for a moment, feeling intimidated) second, she snaps out of it in only a few seconds. This supports my belief that Samus is mentally and emotionally tougher than Other M gives her credit for. Now, some have said that PTSD is not something that you can just "get over". This might be true for a human in the real world, but as I've said, Samus is above and beyond that. She's grown mentally tougher since the previous encounter with Ridley. Not only CAN she get over PTSD, but she DID. It's in the manga. Her experience in the face of danger allows her to mature constantly, to the point where even her mental troubles are diminished.
This second encounter with Ridley also brings me back to the argument of Samus being more afraid of the fact that Ridley seemingly returned from the dead than Ridley himself. Well, guess what happens in this scene? Samus kills Ridley. Yeah, that thing where I said that Ridley probably died in Metroid/ZM? Yeah, the manga says he absolutely did. What does that mean? Well, it means that Meta Ridley's appearance in Prime was the first time that Ridley appeared to come back from the dead. This also means that his appearance in Super Metroid, after Omega Ridley was killed in Corruption, is at the very least the second time that Ridley seemed to come back from the dead (and remember, that's assuming that Samus knew that Meta Ridley survived the Chozo statues in Prime and the plunge down the reactor core shaft in Corruption). That also means, of course, that Ridley's appearence in Other M was at least the third time Samus got the impression that he came back from the dead. The third time. And if Samus made such improvements when it came to just Ridley himself after only one real PTSD freakout, then there's no reason to doubt that she could get over her fear of his apparent ability to resurrect constantly after it happened twice already, and she quickly took care of him both times. At the very least, she wouldn't have reacted NEARLY as badly as Other M wants us to believe. Regretting bringing the manga into this yet?
Because we're not done. There's also the matter of Adam Malkovich. Specifically, the fact that Adam and Samus are shown interacting after Samus has left the GF and become a bounty hunter. There's no bad blood here. There's nothing to indicate that the cold reception at the beginning of Other M was caused by anything other than his desire to find out whether the GF went through with the Metroid cloning program, and if so, sabotage it and destroy all traces of it, without Samus finding out. In fact, you know that scene where Adam refuses to help save his brother from a dangerous situation, because it would endanger the lives of everyone around him if they did anything other than retreat from the imminent explosion? Well, manga Adam seems to go against Other M Adam during the events of Metroid/ZM. They know Samus has gone to Zebes alone to take care of the Space Pirates, and a fleet under Adam's command is engaged in battle with some pirates elsewhere. The pirates, in spite of having the upper hand, prepare to warp back to Zebes. Adam realizes that this spells big trouble for Samus, and orders his fleet to go after them. His navigator informs him that this would be a monumental challenge after the damage they've taken, and Adam tells him he doesn't want to hear it, and thinks to himself "Samus... I won't let you die!" So the same Adam who let his brother die so as to not risk the lives of those around him also ordered those around him later to risk their lives so that Samus wouldn't die? And then this same guy, who was last seen on good terms with Samus, didn't immediately authorize the use of her Varia and Gravity suits, Space Jump, Grapple Beam, and basic weapons like regular Morph Bombs, Missiles, and the Ice Beam? Yeah, okay. Sure. I'm guessing those of you who didn't support involving the manga in this are relieved it's not being used against you so well. Those of you who did... well, I can't imagine you being too happy about this.
In summary: Samus is out-of-character, obsessed with Adam in spite of never indicating such a thing in previous works, she makes stupid decisions, the cutscenes have no problem making her weak for the sake of convenience, Adam is an ass, Adam is an idiot, Adam is just as out-of-character here as Samus is, Adam's noble sacrifice loses a lot of dramatic power when thought about at all, the PTSD theory doesn't hold as much water as you'd like it to, and the manga might very well be Other M's worst enemy, rather than its best friend.
Now, what do I think about Samus being given a more definite character in the Metroid series? I think that would be great. If they did it right. The point of this is that Other M really went for a story, failed at it, and now the creators have to face the criticisms of the fans. Once again, I have to mention Fusion. Fusion featured Samus monologuing too, but she wasn't nearly as wordy as the motormouth in Other M, nor is she as redundant (Other M Samus is constantly talking about things we already know, be it memories of previous games, or plot details that have already been made apparent) She also gets the character development that people say she hasn't gotten yet (again, an infuriating thing to say when such a great game as Fusion exists) and does it in a way that gives her emotions, details her relationship with Adam, gives insight into her personality, and shows that she's not a robot, all without destroying her established image of being the most badass female in all of gaming. Other M Samus and robot Samus are opposite extremes, and I don't really like the idea of either one. Fusion Samus is neither, and the relative shortness and linearity of the game, compared to other Metroids, can be forgiven because it does the story and the character of Samus well.
So please, once again, nothing about wanting a robot. I don't want a robot. I just also don't want Other M's Samus. They both suck. The first Metroid is allowed to get away with it, due to hardware limitations. And from then on, even as early as Metroid II, we're given at least glimpses of character, and even possibly of vulnerability. And that'something else. Apart from not wanting Samus to be a robot, I don't need her to be completely invincible. Let me give two examples from the Metroid Prime Trilogy that I liked. At the end of Prime, Samus removes her helmet observes the wreckage of the ancient Chozo Temple. Now, as she was raised by the Chozo, it's not difficult to see a look on Samus's face indicating that she thinks what a pity it is, to see the ancient remains of the once-great Chozo people's efforts, crumbled and burning. An indication that she appreciates Chozo architecture, that she harbors a nostalgic fondness for their culture. Now, that is just how I interpreted it, but that's kinda the point. It's an indication of how I see Samus, an indication that I'm not coming from a shallow perspective with my complaints about Other M.
Another moment is from Corruption, this one about how I don't have a problem with Samus still being afraid. I just don't like how far the Ridley scene in Other M went with that fear. In Corruption, Samus enters the Pirate homeworld's Leviathan Seed, to destroy it. When she enters the core, Omega Ridley swoops overhead, then lands. He stomps towards her, Samus backing up as he approaches, then Ridley tries to bite her. Samus leaps out of the way, going into Morph Ball mode, circles around Ridley, unmorphs, then aims her arm cannon at him, and the two stare each other down for a moment, Ridley roaring menacingly, before the fight begins. Now, maybe it's just me, but I saw that backing up, and the staredown after the unmorph, those moments of hesitation, of non-aggression, as Samus showing some fear. And not only did I not mind, but I found it made sense. After all, this is Omega Ridley we're talking about. It's not just Ridley, it's Ridley with his Meta-Ridley cybernetic enhancements, made even more dangerous by a healthy dose of Phazon radiation. This is pretty blatantly the most dangerous incarnation of Ridley we've ever seen, and even regular Ridley is pretty badass. And really, it's easy to see in-canon Ridley/Samus confrontations always bringing Samus close to death in one way or another. Like I said, it's the level of fear that Samus experiences in Other M that makes me shake my head. If they had toned it down (and really, I can't see any reason why they didn't; if they wanted Anthony to get knocked over the edge of the platform that badly, the could have had Ridley ambush them or something) then I wouldn't have minded. Even after Super Metroid, and my belief that Samus is mentally tougher than real-world humans, I could still buy her being at least a little afraid of Ridley if she explained that she had almost died every time they squared off. But there's none of that, and she experiences a freakout the likes of which we've only seen before when she was much younger in the manga (and I've already explained why bringing the manga in only does Other M further disservice)
Speaking of Anthony, he's something I actually liked out of the game. Heroic, cool ("You got no style!") has a giant gun, and is probably the only voice actor I actually liked. In fact, let me talk about other things I liked, just to take a break from complaining. I liked the dodge and finisher system. Very flashy, and added some cool to in-game Samus. I'm also impressed that the NES-style Wiimote setup worked as well as it did, although I still think that a Wiimote/Nunchuck setup would have worked better. The graphics, of course, are great for the Wii, and the effects, especially when it comes to the holographic illusion that are the creature habitats of the space stations, and what happens when you mess with it (shooting the backdrops, graphical glitches in the hologram, etc.) are very pretty. I like that Ridley's empty husk after the Queen attacks him sets up his appearance in Fusion, nice detail, that. I also liked how frequent boss battles were. Kept the action going nicely. Phantoon was an especially excellent and memorable fight. I didn't mind the concentration move, either. Overall, the game really is fun, although not close to the lofty standards set by Super and the Prime Trilogy. Fusion and Zero Mission were also better. Still, this one was fun enough that, although I had big issues with the story and characterization, I still enjoyed the actual game, and am glad I got it. On a scale of 1-10, 5 being average, my enjoyment rating is a 7.8. It's just a sad thought that the game with the most story, character, cutscenes, and talking, is also the one where I pay attention to the gameplay over everything else the most (except the original Metroid)
I'm not quite done with the game just yet though, I have a few more things to say. Next subject is the Deleter. Specifically, the fact that, not only is it never really resolved, but it's basically just dropped completely. Like they forget about it. Now, there are a couple of clues to tell you who it was (as if it wasn't immediately obvious just from looking at the squad members' faces and figuring out that way) but it's just the fact that the whole subplot just whimpers and dies in a corner while you're not looking. It also brings to mind the fact that Adam and Anthony are the only squad members who get any character development. Feels like kind of a waste, to have all these guys, and not even try to do anything with most of them besides have them there so that the one guy, who also gets no characterization besides being the assasin (and you can't attach that to him without knowing which one it is, although that's easy enough to do) can kill them all (again, for a subplot that eventually fades away quietly)
Then there's the voice acting. Actually, most of the voice acting was middle-of-the-road and forgettable, with two exceptions, one better and one worse. The one I actually liked, as I said, is Anthony. He delivers his lines well, and I came to like him enough to hope that he shows up in a future game. The one I didn't like was Samus. Let me say right now how amusingly sad it is that the most emotional Samus in the series (again, emotional to a fault) is also far more robotic sounding than anyone expected her to be. Just one more thing that puts a damper on the accusation of Other M's haters wanting a robot, when one of the things they complain about is Samus sounding like a robot. By the way, Jessica Martin was Samus's VA in Other M, not Jennifer Hale.
Oh, and mentioning the VA, I HAVE to mention the dialogue. Many people like to complain about the VA, but they ignore the fact that, even if they had the best voice actors in the world at the top of their game, the dialogue and monologues are so unnaturally written that it would still suck. Robot Samus aside, "The word he so obviously chose, 'outsider', pierced my heart." is a line which could never NOT sound stupid and pretentious, ever. Yech.
Well, I think I've finally run out of steam. In closing, let me just say that I complain to make known all the issues with the game, and how it relates to the rest of the series, specifically so that more effort is put into the story and characterization in future Metroid games. Constructive criticism is something that should never be unwelcome, and I spent plenty of time and effort making sure that all of my points were valid, well-explained, and constructive. I don't seek to get anyone hating the game, but I do seek to make it known that it has very real issues which are worth analyzing and worth addressing.
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