Samus in Ninja Gaiden

[Esrever]

Who DID write Other M, anyway? Does it say in the credits? I mean, I'm sure the story was built around Sakamoto's concepts and ideas... but he's a game designer, not a writer. Surely someone else must have been responsible for writing all the actual dialogue, right?

Because man, that's the biggest problem by far. Sure, the plot itself is kind of cheeseball, and it does place Samus in a kind of impotent role at times. But I'm still pretty confident that this exact same story, with all the same major beats, would have been way less offensive if the writing itself wasn't so bloody terrible. It's the dialogue, and Samus' internal narration especially, that do almost all the damage. I mean, even on a base level it is almost comically awful. (At times, it is barely even functional English!) Samus can't even talk about something as innocuous as altering her ship's flight plan without sounding like some sort of mental patient... let alone explain the deepest, most innermost workings of her psyche!

I feel like a better writer and a better vocal performance could have sold us on the plot -- why Samus cared about Adam, and why she'd follow his orders -- without sapping all her strength and turning her into a vacant, doubtful, desperately needy, and generally unlikeable flake. It's her words, much more than her actions, that are assassinating her character.

[Rob-Bert]

If one wants an in-story explanation, maybe her bizarre manner of speaking can be chalked up to being raised by the Chozo and such.

Personally I thought the entire story would've turned out much better without Samus' narration. It's tantamount to adding dialog over the first half of WALL-E or having somebody narrate everything that's going on in a silent movie.

[Esrever]

Yeah... you definitely get the impression it would be stronger with all the inner monologue removed. Like Blade Runner! Or Garfield.

[G.Silver]

I missed it in the credits (and Mobygames still doesn't have an entry for it) but I get the impression Sakamoto wrote it because he says things in interviews like how he insisted that the localization team keep things like having Samus call Mother Brain "Mother" because he thinks it sounds cool (and "don't read into it much") or the baby metroid "Baby." Seems like he's taking the credit for it one way or another.

[Xyton]

I'm just in the beginnings of this, and so far I think the game is… well, the game is good. I'm enjoying playing it, it's presented well, the camera seems solid, and while there are some design choices that confused me at first (concentration / having to point at the screen in the heat of battle for missiles), it's actually pretty cool thus far. The story / dialog, on the other hand, is... ow. Even early in the game Samus seems very submissive. I'd say that this is why you shouldn't have silent protagonists speak, but I don't think that's really the issue here. It's more that the character they're portraying -- skilled, but submissive and... emo? -- doesn't match the skilled, confident character I remember. (On top of that, I never really thought of Samus as a silent protagonist so much as being in solitary places. I guess if you want to get technical, she narrated the intro to Super Metroid, but I don't remember her having any lines in Prime 3, so yeah.) What happened? She was working with other people / taking orders in Prime 3 just fine, and that was earlier in the chronology. Also, things seem a lot more linear than usual. I'm still near the beginning, so that could change, but the action seems a bit more and the exploration a bit less. So overall, I'd say it's good so far, but it doesn't feel like a Metroid game. ¬_¬

[Blount]

I take it you've never played Fusion. This is basically it, except on steroids and with vomit-inducing drama. It's linear, Samus monologues a lot, you're on a spaceship that recreates earthly environments and you find out that one of the divisions contains Metroids that are being toyed with by the Galactic Federation. To its credit, however, Fusion didn't have Samus whining about everything, and not only was she not okay with following orders but she also went against them several times. This actually becomes a major plot point in that game and serves as a sequel hook.

Also, the Prime series is no longer accepted as part of the chronology, but rather something akin to a parallel universe, now that Sakamoto has decided to show how much of an ass he really is.

Also, the game sucks.

[Xyton]

I take it you've never played Fusion.

Correct. They're that similar, huh?

Also, the Prime series is no longer accepted as part of the chronology, but rather something akin to a parallel universe, now that Sakamoto has decided to show how much of an ass he really is.

Wha? Is that this game's doing? (I played Metroid, Super Metroid, and the Prime series; they all seemed to fit together well enough. There was a good sized gap between when I played the Prime games and the originals, though -- is this new, or was it brought about by the Prime games and I just didn't notice?)

[Blount]

If you notice carefully, Sakamoto never really wanted the Prime games to be considered part of the original Metroid series, which is evident in many interviews and even the secret developer comment on Samus's ship in Prime 3. Nintendo has apparently adopted this philosophy as well, thanks to his influence. But yes, it's only been official since Other M. There's even a promotional video featuring the history of the series and it doesn't mention anything from Prime once.

[Xyton]

Well… :( Thanks for the info, though.

[Popcorn]

Other M is sexist bullshit and the gamer reaction to that claim has been nothing short of stunning.

[Blount]

Well… :( Thanks for the info, though.

Trust me - by the time you finish Other M, you're gonna want Prime separated from that bullshit.

[Crazy Penguin]

Aww, damn it. Samus was my favourite. Loved the 2D games. Haven't started Prime Trilogy yet...

the gamer reaction to that claim has been nothing short of stunning.

Jesus fuck.

[Esrever]

I don't think the Prime series is being written out of the main Metroid story so much as it was deliberately created to never be a part of the story in the first place. The whole series is a side tale (however epic) that ultimately has absolutely no bearing on any of the games that follow it. If Other M fails to acknowledge the Prime saga, it's probably because it is totally irrelevant to what's going on. Them's the breaks!

But even if Sakamoto feels distanced from the Prime games and was excited to finally do his "own take" on a 3D Metroid, I have a hard time believing he or the developers actually disliked Retro's games or were trying to ignore them. Considering what a different kind of game Other M is, I have been continually surprised by how much it still draws from the Prime series. At the very least, they obviously played them!

[Delphine]

Other M is sexist bullshit and the gamer reaction to that claim has been nothing short of stunning.

Yikes. It's so sad to see little boys who refuse to acknowledge that sexism exists.

[Crisis]

To be fair, this is a game series where the main character strips at the end based on your speed.

[Blount]

If Other M fails to acknowledge the Prime saga, it's probably because it is totally irrelevant to what's going on.

That would be true if Other M didn't contradict some important factors from Prime. First you have Ridley's regeneration, which is handled in a completely different manner. Then you've got the Space Pirates, who are now stated to be harmless without a Mother Brain, when we know full well what they were capable of in Prime. It's true that they did eventually let themselves be led by Dark Samus in Prime, but that doesn't nullify their actions before that. I'm pretty sure there were some other things, but I can't remember right now. I think my brain may be forcing itself to forget the plot from Other M.

[Zeta]

Then you've got the Space Pirates, who are now stated to be harmless without a Mother Brain, when we know full well what they were capable of in Prime

Getting killed by Samus and performing experiments on themselves that usually backfire? Wetting themselves whenever they see Samus? Most of the threat in Prime was from either Chozo traps or Phazon mutation - neither of which the pirates had much control of.

Without Ridley and Mother Brain the Space pirates are rock-stupid bio-engineers without any sense of self-preservation, tactics, or restraint.

It's like an entire race made up of the 3 Stooges. Pretending to be pirates.

[G.Silver]

I don't understand how the Space Pirates can even do any of that. How do they answer emails with giant pincers for hands?

[Blount]

My point was that they still had evil plans without Ridley or Mother Brain. The fact that they're hilariously incompetent in every game they appear in is a different story.

I believe the question you should be asking, Silv, is:

How do they does science team answer emails with giant pincers for hands vapor for brains?

[Crisis]

The space pirates get a lot of crap for being unconvincing bad guys (not least by slowbeef's latest Let's Play), but I dunno, I found the Phazon Mines to be pretty intimidating.

but how do they type with boxing gloves on giant pincers

[Frieza2000]

So what does the title mean? What is the "Other M"?

[Esrever]

Wow, I am obviously just not far enough along in the game to be making any comments about plot contradictions!

I'm still way behind everyone on this. After agonizing over it for awhile and reading all the online reactions, I decided not to buy it... then a couple weeks later, I got it as a birthday gift! (Which I actually really appreciate, because it's the only way I'd have ever gotten to play it without feeling incredibly angry with myself.)

[G.Silver]

So what does the title mean? What is the "Other M"?

Perhaps it's for the other Mother Brain, the "MB." The "Other Mother."

[K2J]

Because Metroid: Other Mother would've sounded too gangsta.

[Xyton]

So I beat it.

Trust me - by the time you finish Other M, you're gonna want Prime separated from that bullshit.

You're two for two. ¬_¬

I think it's pretty solid from a game point of view most of the time, but the story. Just… ugh. I'll give it credit for going to an unexpected place, but that's it. Overall, it doesn't feel as much like a Metroid game to me than Prime did.

Also, Ridley came back how? Really? Ouch.