PixlBit

PixlChatter: Other Part

Kathrine: Getting back to difficulty, I thought the fact that enemies didn't drop health pickups totally changed how I played. It makes not getting hit a lot more important. Something previous games lacked.

Chris: I didn't think about that. Yeah.

Jason: Oh, that was a little annoying. You could always refill missiles, but you have to trek back to a navigation room to fully replenish health.

Kathrine: Or you could stop sucking. Or wait for an opportunity to do the health restoration.

Jason: Bah, humbug.

Nick: I liked that it encouraged a new way to play the game, especially with the health charging.

Jason: But it doesn't replenish your health to the max!

Nick: Even better.

Kathrine: When I was at like 55 or something, I found myself getting hit intentionally to be able to use it.

Jason: Which is lame.

Nick: That was done a little poorly, there was no reason to get hurt more to do it. Anything less than the recharge threshold should've allowed you to perform the function.

Kathrine: Eh, you can only do that if it's safe. You had to get down there far enough. If you could do it anytime, you’d never be in danger.

Jason: They could've made standard health regeneration take a little while? Just something so it wouldn't force you to get hit to go back to a comfortable health level. Maybe regeneration as time passes?

Chris: Regeneration as time passes is even worse; then you just sit there waiting around for your health to refill.

Jason: Eh, anyway, it's another tiny little thing that felt like it could've been better.

Nick: Yeah, I agree.

Kathrine: I'm not sure, it certainly bares experimentation, but in any case, I like the idea and overall I think it works.

Jason: I want to talk about the story. And cutscenes. And voice over-ing!

Kathrine: Yes! Can you believe we came this far along without mentioning it yet? Proof the game isn't all story!

Jason: Aside from the random GF folks having generic faces… I disagree with most people out there. I think the story is all right. Samus has daddy issues. She lost her parents when she was something like three! And then her foster race up and died.

Nick: Story, or just Samus whining to herself about Adam? I thought the actual story was alright, I just despise Samus' character.

Chris: LOL, that's where I actually disagree with you and Chessa, Nick. I understand where the whiny aspects are coming from, and she definitely has some daddy issues, but I don't think it was too horrible. At least, I was able to rationalize some of it (not all).

Kathrine: There’s nothing wrong with the story itself, it is how it's presented/told. I don’t know, sometimes I think people are just freaking out because Samus actually has emotion now and isn't just a robotic killing machine.

Chris: But there were definitely moments that it was borderline maudlin. There were only a couple of moments, and like I said, only borderline, I think. I do think that's a response a lot of people had, though (what you said, Kathrine.

Nick: I don't think it was so much the emotion as much as it was the pedestrian dialog and complete obsession with Adam.

Jason: She has daddy issues. It happens.

Nick: If they were trying to make Adam a father figure for her, they failed, it seemed like she just wanted his stuff.

Kathrine: Yeah, that's a common Japanese story, apparently. Adam was her trainer/teacher, so she desperately wanted to please/impress him.

Chris: Yeah, I can see that.

Nick. The story was too scattered and fragmented to focus the whole "father figure" aspect. I understand how they tried to do it, but it didn't come through enough for me to be sold on it. The story and characters were definitely typical Japanese, and as such, it felt like they tossed away the fact that Samus was a bounty hunter - which IMO takes a certain amount of callous - and replaced her with a whiny teenage girl that was obsessed with her teacher, it was just lame. The Ridley scene just ruined the whole thing for me.

Jason: Well, I think her mental progression was off for the title. This was her fourth or so time meeting Ridley. Honestly, they should have tried to fit this game in somewhere sooner... Either right before or after Metroid II. It would work there, in that sense, since that would be Ridley's first return.

Chris: It wasn't as strong as it could have been. I like that they tried to bring in emotion, but I don't think they executed it right.

Kathrine: Did any of you see the G4 review?

Nick: Nope.

Jason: I'm terrible. After Scribblenauts, I don't trust many reviews. So i don't spend time on them.

Nick: Not even his own.

Kathrine: Well, apparently, some people think this game is extremely sexist. At first I thought that was ridiculous, but after playing the game, I understand where they are coming from.

Jason: A woman being told what to do by a man?

Chris: "Hi, I'm an irrelevant woman who doesn't really want to be here, but I'm going to tell you about Metroid: Other M. Since I'm a woman, you know what I'm about to say is accurate and completely on topic! It was so much fun!" I’m just guessing what G4 said.

Kathrine: Though, I think, the only way they would find the game sexist is if they are looking for it, and are ignoring... well, everything we already said.

Chris: I think it has more merit than the racism card played for Resident Evil 5, but I don't think it's fair to really slam Other M. It has sexist themes in it, though.

Jason: Well, right, the idea falls more in line with father and child... or teacher and student. Incidentally, Samus is a girl. The same events would've occurred, except for, perhaps "The Baby!" stuff, had Samus been a man.

Kathrine: Though I also think it's obvious the story was written by a man, and I wouldn't expect him to get a female character exactly right.

Chris: That's true. That's a very good point, actually.

Jason: I suppose the whole concept of Samus's emotions with the baby Metroid are meant to mirror her thoughts on Adam. Samus wants to honor Adam in the same sense the baby Metroid honored her. She wants to at least live of to the legacy of a single Metroid she never really knew, but grew strangely attached to. So, if you look at it that way, it does shed some light on what's going on in her mind, and why she treats Adam with the respect she does.

Chris: I see the relation, but I'm not sure if the analogy is forced or not. But hadn't thought about it too much. I did feel bad when the baby Metroid died, though, I will say. Made me sad.

Jason: I feel like the whole reason why the baby Metroid was given so much consideration was to be a major metaphor for Samus and Adam. I mean, look: It's the last of its kind, and it's growing up separate from its parents, like Samus. It finds a mother, but because of Ridley, their time is drawn short. Yet, in the end, it's still loyal to Samus, even beyond any sort of natural instinct or sense. Likewise, Samus is alone, she's lost her family, she's growing up away from her adopted race, the Chozo, and Adam becomes, in a sense, her father figure. Samus wants to show the same type of appreciation for Adam as the Metroid had for her.

Chris: I see what you're saying, but just because you can make a connection between something doesn't necessarily mean one was meant to empower or illuminate the other. I think it may have been intentional, but I think it's where they decided to take the game. Yes, it was in response to the baby Metroid, but more so it was to offer a different definition of Samus's character.

Jason: Regardless, I think there's some sort of an intended metaphor there... and I think most people have overlooked it.

Kathrine: Or don't care. I just wanted to shoot stuff.

Nick: That might be, but I'm not sure they did a very good job making that evident in any sort of way

Jason: I'll agree to that. But I still think the meaning is there, and was intended.

Kathrine: Which is funny, Nick, because the game spells everything else out far too much with Samus's monologue.

Chris: The more shallow/formulaic relationship between Adam and Samus and the story overall shone through more than its possible subtleties. And made me think there really wasn't much beneath it.

Nick: Exactly, the obvious stuff was so in your face, I didn't want to look beneath it

Kathrine: And it's a direct contrast to Super Metroid. That game didn't even have cutscenes, it let you react however you wanted. Like when you defeat Ridley and find the broken Metroid container, it is up to you to make that connection and decide how to feel about it.

Jason: There's a lot more deeper subtleties in Super Metroid than here... Are they paralleled in any other Metroid title, though?

Kathrine: Zero Mision, probably. I feel like the first and second kind of tried too. You found the Metroid shells in Metroid II.

Jason: It's hard to say. I suppose I should go back and play Metroid II now.

Kathrine: But, I think the games were building to something. Each game added more story, but few forced them on you. Even in Metroid Prime, most of the story stuff was optional scanning. You could learn more, or you could just blast your way through. It was up to you.

Nick: I think that has been a staple of Metroid, and Other M flew in the face of that with all of its damn dialog, and it wasn't like it was all that great (even if you didn't find it offensively bad).

Jason: Fusion was just about as bad.

Nick: Yeah, Fusion suffered a lot of the same issues.

Chris: I think it was OK to try it since it was intended to be a different take on the series. Not that the way they did it worked as well, of course.

Jason: And people did complain about Fusion, but in the end, it's still a fun game, despite the linearity and the focus on the narrative.

Nick: And I think the same applies here.

Kathrine: Well, I never played any Metroid in its time, I never played any of the games until 2002 when I played the original on NES, finally. I never even heard of Samus until Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64. Yes, I assumed Samus was a guy. Everyone is in games. So, I don't have any perception of what I think a Metroid game should be, I appreciate each individual one for what it did, and not lament what it was lacking.

Chris: I think I can agree with that.

Jason: I made the mistake of playing Super Metroid first. I can definitely say Other M is better than Metroid.

Kathrine: That you did. I was on an NES jaunt when I played NES Metroid so I liked it okay. I can't stand it now, and I hate Metroid II. But I love all the others. How about you, Nick? When and what was your first game?

Nick: I played both Metroid and Metroid II around when they came out, but neither one all the way through. Not until later. I missed Super Metroid and didn't play it till college (03), which was after I played both Prime and Fusion, though I had played some of Super Metroid before both. The rest of the games I played at release, and I eventually went back and finished the first two in college.

Jason: Yeah, your story is nearly the opposite of mine, Nick.

Kathrine: Would you say you're a fan?

Nick: Yes a massive fan, one of my favorite series of games.

Kathrine: If you don't like the games that try something different, are you sure you are a fan of the series, or just of exploration games?

Nick: Well, I do like Other M, I just don't think it matches up to the others.

Jason: I'm a massive fan of Super Metroid and the GBA Metroid games. Moderate fan of Other M. Not a fan of the Prime games, and definitely no fan of the original. Metroid II is the only one I really haven't touched enough. Just wanted to throw out my 2 cents.

Kathrine: Metroid II is basically Black and White NES Metroid.

Chris: I like the series a lot. I don't think it's one of my favorite series, maybe just because I haven't had enough exposure (or early enough exposure), but I do enjoy them quite a bit. I played most of Super Metroid a long time ago but didn't finish it. Then I played Prime. After that I finally played through and completed Super Metroid. Then Prime 3. Now Other M.

Kathrine: Hey! We totally forgot to say anything about the controls.

Nick: I'd say they were surprisingly good.

Jason: They work, except for switching the controller orientation to first-person mode. That's awkward. Everything else works great.

Chris: Yep, what Jason said. That and what I said in my first impression of the game at E3.

Kathrine: The switching was very awkward. I never know which hand it's going to end up in. And I think it's worse for people who hold the Wiimote in their left hand. It's easier to flip it into your right hand. I had to do that, which was a little weird at first, but I got used to it.

Chris: That's very possible.

Nick: I didn't find myself having much trouble with the switching with the exception of the Queen fight.

Jason: I always have trouble making the controller recognize the sensor bar, but that's more due to my set-up.

Kathrine: Well, there's another issue. Sometimes when pointing near the edge of the screen, it'd flip rapidly from first-and third-person and make me queasy. Am I the only one that happened to?

Nick: Oh, my Gigantor TV seems to make this a bit easier for me

Kathrine: My TVs big enough, at least it doesn’t matter so much since I sit close enough to almost hug it. Still, there's no reason to not have a Nunchuk option. I feel the setup would've been more comfortable, and I doubt I'm alone in that.

Nick: I agree.

Chris: That's true

Jason: If you can do it, why not do it? Could've also had a 2D mode.

Chris: I don't think the 2D mode was necessary.

Kathrine: Anyways, I think that about covers it. Does anyone have anything else they’d like to discuss?

Jason: I think that's it from me.

Chris: Not that I can think of right now.

Nick: I've got nothing, most of my thoughts echo Chessa's in the official site review.

Kathrine: I think the best mindset to have going into Metroid: Other M is that it's a departure, and lacks exploration. If you can overlook the missing Metroid essentials, it's a great game in its own right. But it may not be to Metroid die-hards.

Chris: Sounds right to me.

Jason: I think the gameplay resembles Fusion enough that if you liked that, you'll enjoy Other M a whole lot, too.

Nick: Agreed, though I think Metroid die-hards will likely still enjoy it. I know I did.