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Author Topic: Metroid: Other M  (Read 23690 times)

Turtlekid1

  • Tortuga
« Reply #75 on: January 07, 2011, 05:51:20 PM »
This game is supposed to be a direct sequel to Super Metroid, isn't it? So why is Samus's breakdown during the Ridley scene such a big deal?
Because it portrays her as weak.

The sight of Ridley alone likely would've been enough to make anybody cry if he'd killed their parents (and nearly killed them) when they were three, but she's also thinking about all those other things too.
Except she immediately snaps out of it once Anthony "dies."  The writing in that particular scene is even more horrendously inconsistent than in any other scene in the game.  I've heard arguments and cries of "PTSD" and "psychological issues" but a more likely explanation is that they had no efffing idea what they were doing.  They added that scene because they felt that they needed more drama or some nonsense like that.

Also worth noting is that Sakamoto had no reason to expect that American audiences would know anything about Samus' past with Ridley.  The only indication we're given that there's a past feud between them is in the manga, which is Japan-only (yes, we got it eventually, but only because fans translated it; the writers of Other M should not have been able to count on that).  So even if the scene itself was okay (which it wasn't), western audiences were given no prior frame of reference or context for it.

And yes, I do take this issue fairly personally.  I admire Samus as a strong character.  I can't watch the scene without getting a little ticked off at how badly it was handled.  I can't play the boss battle without regretfully considering how much more awesome it would've been if Samus hadn't broken down and turned into a three-year-old two seconds beforehand.  I can't listen to that battle's background music (which was incidentally the only excellent piece in the game) without a bittersweet twinge in my stomach reminding me of the pure, unadulterated suck that came not a few moments before that.
"It'll say life is sacred and so is death
but death is life and so we move on"

Black Mage

  • HP 1018 MP 685
« Reply #76 on: January 07, 2011, 06:13:28 PM »
Did you ever see this video, Turtlekid? : http://screwattack.com/videos/TGO-Episode-40-Heavens-to-Metroid (Some Explicit Language)

I don't agree with the way everything is said in that video, but I do feel it would do you some good to watch it.


Turtlekid1

  • Tortuga
« Reply #77 on: January 07, 2011, 07:06:20 PM »
Yeah, I remember that one.  It mostly complained about people misusing the term "stoic."  Which I never did, because I never saw Samus as stoic.  The rest was made up of strawmen (literally, in some parts).  And if you read the comments, they pick it apart.  The problem is that the whole video runs on false dichotomies: no characterization vs. bad characterization, emotionless vs. PMS, people who hated everything about the game vs. people who loved everything about the game, etc.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2011, 07:24:53 PM by Turtlekid1 »
"It'll say life is sacred and so is death
but death is life and so we move on"

Black Mage

  • HP 1018 MP 685
« Reply #78 on: January 07, 2011, 08:36:42 PM »
The word stoic is talked about for maybe three minutes in the beginning, hardly "most" of the video, and is a rebuttal to Reviews of the game "misusing" the word. I thought it'd be pretty clear that's not the reason I linked you to it.

I'm not going to defend how some of the points are presented, but I don't think you can dismiss everything said under the umbrella of "false dichotomy", which apparently is pretty popular.

You said you admire Samus as a strong character, but I think you'd be hard pressed to back that up as anything but your own projection of the character, as discussed in the video.


« Reply #79 on: January 07, 2011, 09:05:14 PM »
Black Mage's last sentence hits the nail on the head honestly. I remember when the reviews came out last summer and there was a huge fit over G4's review of the game. The reviewer even posted a follow up video and talked about how she's a girl and she felt Nintendo's portrayal in the game was somehow sexist and completely destroyed her character and such. But here I was just thinking "what character?".

I know Metroid has a much tighter storyline than other Nintendo properties, but honestly, how much character did Samus really have prior to Other M? Like it was already said, only the Fusion manga really counts, and the rest of the material (Super Metroid NP comic for example) is a fabrication of fandom. You could take her actions in-game and spin it as character, but that would be the same as me saying Mario is a veteran hardass who stomps a bunch of filthy animals and serenades maidens. There's nothing to contradict it because there wasn't a lot of material that went into it in the first place.
As a game that requires six friends, an HDTV, and skill, I can see why the majority of TMK is going to hate on it hard.

Turtlekid1

  • Tortuga
« Reply #80 on: January 07, 2011, 11:09:24 PM »
Except, y'know, that that's exactly what Mario is.  You can't define game characters by the same standards as other characters, because most of their actions are the player's actions.  Maybe I'm "projecting" (by the way, what most fans actually did was - to use another term from the review - extrapolate).  But quite frankly, I'm not interested in seeing a character that isn't "projected" if (s)he's going to appear weak and helpless.

And besides that, Samus is characterized in numerous other points during the series.

-She shows clear anger at seeing Ridley alive at the beginning of Prime (not fear or despair or desperate denial; anger).
-She also closes the eye of the Marine Captain in the beginning of Echoes.  Compassion.
-She's clearly creeped out by Dark Samus' "death" at the end of Echoes.
-She spares the baby Metroid out of sympathy and perhaps regret over committing genocide.
-She rages when said Metroid is killed by Mother Brain.  The anger in that scene is palpable, and that's something that not even modern games can always achieve.
-She expresses annoyance and surprise before and after she learns the true nature of her CO's AI in Fusion.

All these add depth without sacrificing character strength.
"It'll say life is sacred and so is death
but death is life and so we move on"

CrossEyed7

  • i can make this whatever i want; you're not my dad
« Reply #81 on: March 17, 2012, 03:26:42 PM »
I've decided Other M is an in-universe anti-Samus propaganda film.
"Oh man, I wish being a part of a Mario fan community was the most embarrassing thing about my life." - Super-Jesse

ShadowBrain

  • Ridiculously relevant
« Reply #82 on: March 22, 2012, 10:54:21 PM »
Or a massive nightmare sequence.
"Mario is your oyster." ~The Chef

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