Alright, I don't do these forums often, but I gotta' say, any Wii owner would do good to get Metroid Other M, it's epic. From what I've played on the Prime series, this game completely blows 'em out of the water. Sure, the Prime trilogy was a 1st person shooter, but in any case, Other M is nothing short of epic.

Though I would suggest getting Sin and Punishment first...

Other M is a much-debated game right now. While most agree that it has its flaws, some people are really enjoying it and others are upset or angry about it.

Me? I just got done playing a bit of it before sitting down to check the forum, so it's fresh in my mind. And I'm enjoying it so far. I'm only about four hours into it, but so far I see these deviations from the Metroid formula as a fresh change rather than a sacrilege.

I'll bet it's not long before we hear from somebody who's not enjoying the game as much as we are, though. It's rather controversial, which is to be expected when they make heavy changes to a successful and long-running game series.

The other M iz pantz i no cuz i ain playd nun ov themz.

seriously though I never played them, maybe I should try some day, maybe.

I was really looking forward to it. Then I decided to buy a computer which I by far couldn't afford, and thus can't afford anything else for many weeks until I've paid this off.

I guess I'll take the time to play the rest of the prime series which I never got around to.
Uh...I'll play Prime 1 and 2 at least. I don't have Prime 3, which sort of raises the same problem I started this post with.

Oh.
NO.
They did not just ruin everything that fans like me of the Metroid series know and love. How could they commit such an atrocity? Retro Studios built this series from the ground up, and now we're seeing the unthinkable. We're seeing our little city of complacency being torn down to the ground. Because they did the unspeakable.

They made Samus Aran talk. ;)

Anyway, on a serious note, I actually haven't played this one yet (though I'd really like to) but I'm just disappointed with all of the backlash that this game is receiving. The arguments I've seen say nothing about the gameplay itself, just about how a game developer has messed with the convention that the previous one established. This just spells fanboyism at its worst (or best, if you're into that).

I just find it ridiculous that people would scoff at a game that tries to reinvent its foundation. Even if it doesn't necessary work the way they wanted it too, it just seems like a healthy way to approach developing new sequels to a series.

blindsk
Anyway, on a serious note, I actually haven't played this one yet (though I'd really like to) but I'm just disappointed with all of the backlash that this game is receiving. The arguments I've seen say nothing about the gameplay itself, just about how a game developer has messed with the convention that the previous one established. This just spells fanboyism at its worst (or best, if you're into that).

The funny thing is, all these angry fans think Team Ninja has changed Samus' personality. But the truth is, she never had a personality in the first place. She's just another one of Nintendo's blank-slate characters. Is it so bad that she now has feelings, apprehensions, and a former commanding officer that she's still seeking approval from? I won't know until I finish the game, but so far I'm enjoying it.

blindsk
I just find it ridiculous that people would scoff at a game that tries to reinvent its foundation. Even if it doesn't necessary work the way they wanted it too, it just seems like a healthy way to approach developing new sequels to a series.

Especially with Nintendo, who is known for sticking with successful formulas for way too long. I'll tell you what, whether or not you end up liking the changes, it does feel fresh and yet somehow still like Metroid. But I especially like the addition of dialogue, story, and secondary characters.

The game really goes into depth with Samus and her personality. It only took me 4 days to beat it, but there's still things you have to do after you see the ending credits (Items you couldn't get before, etc... no spoilers). And the main approach from what I've caught with the game is that they're trying to go back to their original roots with the 3rd person running and gunning, while still keeping the newer roots with the first person rocket/analyze play.

For the most part, the game actually made Samus become my 2nd favorite Nintendo character, and this is coming from someone who never really cared for the Metroid series. In any case, I can't see how any Metroid fan couldn't love Other M.

Hawk
The funny thing is, all these angry fans think Team Ninja has changed Samus' personality. But the truth is, she never had a personality in the first place. She's just another one of Nintendo's blank-slate characters. Is it so bad that she now has feelings, apprehensions, and a former commanding officer that she's still seeking approval from? I won't know until I finish the game, but so far I'm enjoying it.

I'll admit you're part right, I could even tolerate the infamous "Samus, I'll authorize you to use whatever suit powerup," mechanic. I actually thought the more plot driven angle had a lot of potential if it was given some polish in later installments and I considered buying my own Wii and copy of the game. The storytelling didn't become a deal-breaker for me until
Ridley shows up. Samus freezes up upon seeing Ridley and flashes back to when he killed her parents. As I understand Other M is late in the Metroid continuity, (between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion I'm pretty sure,) meaning that Samus has already met and defeated Ridley on several occasions by now. Also when she meets Ridley in Metroid Prime, (one of the earliest in the continuity,) Samus actually chases him. I understand that Samus is supposed to be suffering from something like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on from losing the baby Metroid in SM but I dunno if I buy that. I might be willing to believe it if there were earlier indications that Samus might be suffering some kind of anxiety but there isn't really, so the scene with Ridley just feels like it came out of nowhere.

I just finished the game tonight. I'm really surprised at how much I loved it, considering the amount of people who are up in arms over the game. I don't know, I guess I'm a bit more open to the idea of Samus having some flaws and psychological issues... and open to a Metroid game that strays from its usual formal (it strays pretty far in a few areas). But I've sort of been hoping to see some adventurous risks happen in the old Nintendo classics. Other M certainly qualifies.

I'd love to see more games like this one. There are a few things they could fix, but in general the game played really well and looked beautiful to boot. The sad thing is, with the fits people have been throwing over what I feel were trivial issues or non-issues, I'm worried we may not see another game like it.

In general, I think this has been the biggest fan/media overreaction since the Zelda Wind Waker style was unveiled. Hopefully in a similar manner people will look back several years from now and see the good in this game.

patrickdevine
I'll admit you're part right, I could even tolerate the infamous "Samus, I'll authorize you to use whatever suit powerup," mechanic. I actually thought the more plot driven angle had a lot of potential if it was given some polish in later installments and I considered buying my own Wii and copy of the game. The storytelling didn't become a deal-breaker for me until
Ridley shows up. Samus freezes up upon seeing Ridley and flashes back to when he killed her parents. As I understand Other M is late in the Metroid continuity, (between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion I'm pretty sure,) meaning that Samus has already met and defeated Ridley on several occasions by now. Also when she meets Ridley in Metroid Prime, (one of the earliest in the continuity,) Samus actually chases him. I understand that Samus is supposed to be suffering from something like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on from losing the baby Metroid in SM but I dunno if I buy that. I might be willing to believe it if there were earlier indications that Samus might be suffering some kind of anxiety but there isn't really, so the scene with Ridley just feels like it came out of nowhere.

You do make some good points.


That Ridley scene is definitely one of the more argued parts of the game. And yeah, it's pretty likely they cranked Samus' fear up a few notches too high. I'm sort of guessing it was a cinematic tactic to make us, the players fear Ridley... Because how threatening would he be if even the characters in the game didn't seem afraid of him?

But yeah, they overdid it a little. For some reason, it's not really a big hangup to me, just a momentary lapse in Samus' nerves, which I kind of figured she was entitled to when surprised by the thing that killed her parents.

Pardon me, if I may interject...

It's not just that they derailed a character that we got a pretty good impression of through her text dialogue for many of the previous games, but that her new "personality" is sexist and insulting.

Samus was hardly a blank slate for them to lay this on, her text dialogue and journal entries in previous games gave us a pretty good impression of who she was. A lack of a voice actor does not mean she had no personality before M.O.M.

"Days went by in their quiet way" is NOT something that would come out of Samus' mouth any more than Ellen Ripley from Alien! It's as if they felt giving her purple-prose dialogue (and a hell of a lot of it) would make her seem more feminine and deep. Oh, and making her hung up on babies, because that's the only thing all women care about. Want to add instant depth to your Bad@$s bounty hunter chick? Make her whine and pine for babies! Babies! Babies! It's the only useful function women serve! Get back in that d@Mn kitchen, Samus Aran! I didn't authorize shoes!

They decided the manga, where she has "emotions!" was a better template to follow than the awesome, no-nonsense, butt-kicking bounty hunter that people who've played all the games up until now got to know. A little added emotional depth is nothing to complain about, but they went WAY overboard.

This game turned the only cool lead female videogame character (seriously name another one, and NOT Bayonetta) into yet another over-emotional, psychologically fragile female stereotype with cliche Freudian daddy/maternal issues. And she comes off as an idiot at times too. And you're darn right we are p#ssed about it, I was looking forward to this game so much!

Amelius

This is a prequal. All impressions you got from previous games have not happened yet.
It's just like people complaining about how she froze up when she saw Ridley despite the fact she's fought him a hundred times before! I guess the idea of a prequal goes flying over their heads and in to a dark locked basement.

Um, no it is NOT a prequel, it takes place after Super Metroid and before Fusion. The end of the game leads into Metroid Fusion. There are 7, count that, 7 games that take place CHRONOLOGICALLY in the story before other M. Since you obviously think I'm shooting my mouth off without doing research or perhaps having been a longtime fan of the series, why not look at the Wikipedia page? Metroid Article
And if you are gonna pull the "Wikipedia is never right!" thing, check TvTropes.

The latest game, Other M (Wii), was released at the end of August 2010, and combines elements from both series. It was worked on by the unusual combination of the inhouse team responsible for the Metroid series and none other than Team Ninja... It takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, making it the only game since Fusion to take place after Super.

All previous impressions HAVE happened, therefore it is character derailment. She's not even a whiny $%^# in Fusion, which takes place after this game!

Besides, how does that even factor into my argument that she's a petulant, sexist stereotype when she used to come off as a no-nonsense, stoic bad@$s warrior?

She was the only female video game character I actually liked, and now she talks like she's reading Twilight out loud and has baby rabies. Goody-gumdrops.

I figured someone would vehemently bring up Samus' new portrayed personality at some point. I've been astounded at the amount of fans to the series that completely turned on this game just because of that fact.

Personally, I've finally put in about ten or so hours into the game, and I can sympathize with some of these complaints...for the most part. But are they really game breaking? Hardly.

So yeah, everything that Samus talks about does sound like a stupid, stereotypical clueless blonde (partly to blame for the poor voice acting). The writing was rather terrible. She basically was turned into an anime girl. But honestly I didn't expect anything more out of the developer - take a look at their other games. If you study the women in them, it will make sense why they gave her such a character.

The glaring plot failure to me had more to do with how she acquired her powerups. Apparently she already has her suit/weapon upgrades equipped, it's just the captain needs to activate them?! That just seems a little contrived - might as well just activate them from the beginning! What a lousy captain he is.

But after all that, this still makes for an awesome game. And that's due to the gameplay - it's great. They incorporated the usual Metroid stuff we know and love as well as some new perspectives to change up the angles of approach. And I mean that literally - some parts have that nice psuedo-2D feel like you get in Shadow Complex.

Anyway, it just pains me to see people dismiss this game due to some character flaws before even mentioning the gameplay whatsoever.

And I'm wondering how "derailed" her character really is. I mean, before Other M, what moments of personality have we really seen from Samus?

- Metroid 2: When faced with eradicating the last metroid in existence, Samus for some reason declined to kill the baby metroid, which saw her as its mother.

- Super Metroid: In the intro, Samus gives us a rote rundown of the events leading up to the game. Except for a few unnecessary exclamation points, she's rather emotionless... until telling us that the station holding the baby metroid is under attack, where her eyes seem to indicate that she's worried for that baby metroid.

- Metroid Fusion: Samus' internal dialogue keeps her thinking about Adam Malkovich, her former commanding officer. She obviously saw him as surrogate father, even then.

All the rest of the time? Samus is either a power suit under your control or a sexy undressing icon rewarding you for beating the game quickly. How do you derive personality from that?

This brings up some other factors important to Other M:

- At the time, Samus is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. So this is not Samus at her normal operating capacity.

- Samus still seems pretty badass for many parts of the game. I was rather impressed with her handling of the end boss.

Here's a pretty good discourse on whether or not they've really ruined Samus:
http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2010/09/episode-40-heavens-to-metroid.html
It's a bit long, but I think it makes some very good points.

As far as sexism is concerned, I'm afraid that I can never fully understand that because I am a man. A girl will get that better than I do.

But it doesn't even seem like Samus was thinking of having babies... just thinking of the thing that considered her "mother" and gave its life for her. It's not too much of a stretch think that a woman whose parents were killed and who was raised by the marines would fixate on the closest thing to a parent she's had (Adam) and the closest thing to a child she has had (baby metroid). These were plot points before Other M. In a way, she betrayed that one thing that loved her by handing it over to the federation, and this complex situation shouldn't be considered sexist just because the word "baby" is being thrown around.

Obviously, Team Ninja could've handled Samus better, seeing as how divided people are. But I think the way they did it still made for an engaging game and I'm shocked to see people treating Other M like the videogame Holocaust.

blindsk
But after all that, this still makes for an awesome game. And that's due to the gameplay - it's great. They incorporated the usual Metroid stuff we know and love as well as some new perspectives to change up the angles of approach. And I mean that literally - some parts have that nice psuedo-2D feel like you get in Shadow Complex.

Anyway, it just pains me to see people dismiss this game due to some character flaws before even mentioning the gameplay whatsoever.

That's precisely how I feel. Story ALWAYS comes second to gameplay in my mind. I think the game has to be fun FIRST, and if we enjoy the story then all the better. And to me, Metroid: Other M was fun. I thought it retained a lot of the great 2D gameplay mechanics while drawing us into rich 3D environments.

Well, looks like I'm going to get links to strawman arguments (yes I've seen that link already today while doing research). I didn't link all of the sites I've been to that are backing me up because I figured I could make my point myself.

Look, it's fine if you enjoyed the game. I'm in no way saying that the gameplay experience and mechanics are a bad thing to experiment with in any given franchise. I was really looking forward to the new things they added myself, I'm in no way saying that you should hate the gameplay itself for what the crappy characterization (not the story, the characterization) does to Samus. You're a gameplay gamer, and bad story/character doesn't break it for you. I accept that.

But I feel like you're dismissing things that not only fans have said, but reviewers, feminists, columnists and even people who don't particularly like Metroid or Samus Aran have said: Samus had a well established, or at least accepted, personality without us having had dialogue and backstory shoved down our throats. She is like a female Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name. She is like Boba Fett with a conscience. She is arguably, a blonde Ellen Ripley, since she was pretty much based on her. People who never played Metroid still knew who she was.

And the character we get in Other M is "Bella Swan, in spaaaaace!"

The fact that you do not see how she is derailed, or even sexist/misogynist, and you don't see the jackhammered "Baby" issues and obvious Electra Complex between her and Adam makes me wonder if you weren't just so immersed in the gameplay that you failed to notice all this.


Also, Hawk, you're letting Other M's "story" retroactively influence your impression of Samus in Super Metroid. She's not worried in the least about the "baby" Metroid, she's worried about the scientists she gladly handed it over to!

Even the Captain N comic had a more believable portrayal of the character as conniving and mercenary. At least the fans didn't rise up en masse with rage over it, which should at least say something about Metroid's fanbase.
But the universally accepted impression? "deadly quiet, contemplative Samus who fights for truth and justice".

Food for thought, they haven't pulled this crap with any of the male characters like Megaman who are arguably just as much a "blank slate" as Samus. There were MUCH better ways to portray her as a character without falling back on lazy cliches, stereotypes, retcons, and causing plotholes galore, along with making references to previous games in a lame attempt to shoehorn this stuff in.

And that PSD excuse is BS, and I think everyone knows it. They just wanted Samus to be a damsel in distress for the men to save, and throw in some truly contrived drama as her comrades get killed due to her inability to perform. It's ripped off wholesale from the (non canon) manga. But that's a matter for other discussion.
It's a good thing male game protagonists never suffer from PSD, they'd be so useless wouldn't they? And it's a darn good thing there's men there to tell Samus how to use her weapons!

Hawk
How do you derive personality from that?

Well I'd start off by saying having a functioning imagination helps, Samus really worked best as a character in the fifth dimension who had her mysteries. Even if you want to argue that fans basically came up with her personality, which I'll grant you that; it was universal enough that it should be obvious why there is backlash that BellaSamus is not what people wanted because Sakamoto ripped it off from a manga that wasn't even published in the US instead of taking account of what people really thought of the character.

Tell me, did you enjoy finding out that the Force is Space Bacteria in Star Wars? For that matter, that Darth Vader was a whiny emo before he donned the black helmet? This is similar.

She has been stripped of her mysteries. And yeah, there's been cheesecake of her at the end of the games before, and I feel like you brought that up only to jab at the feminist elements of this argument (and I'll be quick to point out that I am no feminist either). Despite those ending credits, the gameplay itself was in her bulky suit, making her the least sexualized female character in video games. Now with Other M, that got tossed right out the window. I'm sure you didn't mind the butt-cam view, but as a straight female, I certainly don't appreciate being treated to a face full of Samus Aran's buttocks. I'm not playing freaking Tomb Raider here...

Now tell me, if Samus Aran wasn't just female, but also African, and her attitude was portrayed with obvious racial stereotypes instead of just female ones, would you still excuse it because the game was fun to play? That's fine if the swiss-cheese story doesn't matter to you over game playability, but acting like this sexist portrayal of a once-great female game hero isn't something to make a big deal about is frankly insulting and demonstrates exactly why people are pissed, it comes off as ignorant and dismissive of a real issue that's been present in games for a long time now. If there was a dearth of strong, positive and awesome female MAIN characters that weren't there to present T&A to drooling basement dwellers, the dethroning moment of Suck that is Other M's Samus would probably have generated less furor than it does now. I'm not telling you to hate the game, I'm saying don't dismiss its obvious flaws and its very unfortunate implications just because you had fun playing it.

(urgh, there was just no way I could keep this short, my apologies)

I'll admit it's possible that you're right about the fun of the game clouding my judgment of the story, and Other M possibly making me retroactively think Super Metroid Samus was upset about the pirates. I did really enjoy the game.

It's also possible that my judgment of Other M was affected by reviews. I read/watched PLENTY of mixed reviews before playing it because Amazon took so long to deliver the game. So as I played it expecting the worst (as schlock review sites like G4 would have me believe) I kept thinking, "This isn't nearly as bad as they're saying! That's actually kind of cool!"

But in the end we don't know. All I can tell you is when it was done, it was a game I enjoyed, and I'll probably play it again.

Amelius
She is like a female Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name. She is like Boba Fett with a conscience. She is arguably, a blonde Ellen Ripley, since she was pretty much based on her. People who never played Metroid still knew who she was.

And the character we get in Other M is "Bella Swan, in spaaaaace!"

I think you run into problems when you try to fill in the missing parts of Samus' personality with other existing characters. As much as we like to connect Metroid with the Aliens movies (and the connections are there), Samus isn't Ellen Ripley. She never has and she never will be.

Amelius
The fact that you do not see how she is derailed, or even sexist/misogynist, and you don't see the jackhammered "Baby" issues and obvious Electra Complex between her and Adam makes me wonder if you weren't just so immersed in the gameplay that you failed to notice all this.

It's not that I don't see them. It's that I accept them. The lady whose parents were killed is still trying to earn the validation of a man she views as her surrogate father? What's so weird about that? A man could feel that way, too.

I don't think the "baby issues" are that big either. I just don't connect them with Samus wanting to have babies. It's like a few years ago when I saved an abandoned kitten's life and nursed it back to health. It followed me around all day and spent the nights sleeping right on top of my chest. Then I went back to college without it, and a month later my mom called me to tell me the cat had died. I thought about the poor thing for weeks, wondering if I couldn't have taken it along with me or done something different. THAT'S what Samus' dilemma was like to me. I didn't see anything about pregnancy, gender roles, or biological clocks. To me it was an issue of responsibility and abandonment.

I don't know, maybe from a female point of view it is sexist. But it's a point of view I'll never really be able to see. I'm truly sorry I can't experience this game as a woman.

When Mr. Incredible had a midlife crisis, lied to his wife, and endangered his family, I wonder if women saw that as sexist. Men sometimes do have a midlife crisis. Women sometimes think about babies. Men sometimes think about babies. I have.

Amelius
And it's a darn good thing there's men there to tell Samus how to use her weapons!

That's a gameplay mechanic to teach new players how to play, not actually a plot point.

Amelius
Well I'd start off by saying having a functioning imagination helps, Samus really worked best as a character in the fifth dimension who had her mysteries. Even if you want to argue that fans basically came up with her personality, which I'll grant you that; it was universal enough that it should be obvious why there is backlash that BellaSamus is not what people wanted because Sakamoto ripped it off from a manga that wasn't even published in the US instead of taking account of what people really thought of the character.

Unfortunately our imaginations aren't canon and Sakamoto can't read our minds.

But one very valid point you have is that Sakamoto should have played to fans' expectations and clearly he did not.

I'm not trying to tell you his portrayal of Samus was good. I'm trying to say that it wasn't game-killing. And also I don't believe Sakamoto changed who Samus was. I think he filled in her blanks with things fans didn't like.

Also, I didn't even notice the butt-cam. Isn't she wearing a suit, anyway? Nathan Drake showed me his butt for hours in Uncharted, but I was looking at the enemies and scenery, just like in Metroid.

Amelius
Tell me, did you enjoy finding out that the Force is Space Bacteria in Star Wars? For that matter, that Darth Vader was a whiny emo before he donned the black helmet? This is similar.

I honestly didn't care. Those movies were ruined by CGI-reliance, poor pacing and anachronism, not mischaracterization.

Amelius
Now tell me, if Samus Aran wasn't just female, but also African, and her attitude was portrayed with obvious racial stereotypes instead of just female ones, would you still excuse it because the game was fun to play?

That situation is so hypothetical, it would be pointless to answer. If Samus was obviously a tricycle, would you think she was a tricycle? I guess maybe you're trying to ask me how offensive a game must get before it outweighs the fun gameplay?

In my opinion, far worse than Other M.

Amelius
If there was a dearth of strong, positive and awesome female MAIN characters that weren't there to present T&A to drooling basement dwellers, the dethroning moment of Suck that is Other M's Samus would probably have generated less furor than it does now. I'm not telling you to hate the game, I'm saying don't dismiss its obvious flaws and its very unfortunate implications just because you had fun playing it.

There definitely is a shortage of good female videogame characters, and that needs to change. But Samus was never free of being a sexual icon, from the moment we found out who she was. Look into Alyx Vance, Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, or Elena Fisher. None of these women stripped down for our amusement.

Really, we should be more upset at the fact that between Metroid Prime 1 and Metroid Prime 2, Samus went from being a realistic-looking woman to the flawless porcelain anime doll we see to day. That scarless beauty is a bounty hunter?

Don't take this all the wrong way. I still think she's awesome. I just feel like you've somehow created your own Samus.

Hawk
Really, we should be more upset at the fact that between Metroid Prime 1 and Metroid Prime 2, Samus went from being a realistic-looking woman to the flawless porcelain anime doll we see to day. That scarless beauty is a bounty hunter?

Don't take this all the wrong way. I still think she's awesome. I just feel like you've somehow created your own Samus.

Yes, I agree, the developers seemed to have simply slapped on the wrong characterization. What I don't like is how this is turning into a politically correct battle because she appears subservient to everything else in the game, particularly her male superiors.

Take a look back at their previous titles: Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive are the most notable ones. Play through them, examine the dialogue. Now come back and tell me they have an amazing team of writers. It's terrible! But they're still great games, it's just that writing was never their hallmark. I don't believe TN threw in some subtle message about women and how they're supposed to portrayed as second in command to men. I honestly think it's just a product of their poor writing team. I'll say this again: no one plays their games for the story.

This sort of echoes the uproar with Resident Evil 5. The protagonist running around in an African country suddenly can't kill zombies derived from African descent. But are they really a person if they're a zombie? Sweet Moses, this is going to turn into a philosophical debate that no one will win!

Everything that Hawk has mentioned can pretty much be said about the typical gamer: they don't really care about some deep underlying message in the story. Maybe they'll notice it, smirk at the thought, but they're not going to go around preaching its agenda to the world.

I'm really sorry if this comes off as harsh, but I just want to emphasize how pointless arguments like this are when it comes to video games. Maybe in the future when the margin between reality and a virtual world become blurred will things like this become an issue, but for now most people can discern between the two.

My experience with Metroid: NES Metroid, SNES Metroid, Nintendo Power Metroid comics.

I read this thread, and I watched that Game Overthinker video.

My Opinion: Game Overthinker and Hawk are right. Samus was basically a Boba Fett, a blank slate for gamers to project into it a badass lone-wolf action heroine. HOWEVER, just because Samus' badass personality was projected, doesn't make what Team Ninja did right or excusable.

It's time people stop apologizing for game stories with "It's only a game" or "You want a good story go read a book" or "The gameplay is more important." That's the type of thinking that leads to Uwe Boll movies. The game industry has long since matured, and we demand good story AND gameplay from high-caliber games.

Secondly, don't screw with us gamers. You and I would be paying $50 USD for this game. So why shouldn't we get what we want, especially when (1)it doesn't impact gameplay and (2)it's a positive role expectation? That's what Eidos(?) intelligently did, for Lara Croft. That's what George Lucas arrogantly did not do, for a whole slew of things. Do we apologize for Lucas? Our voices should matter as consumers. Why should we be apologists for the developer who said "To hell with you I'm gonna do what I want with this franchise"?

So yes, it was gamers' projections that gave us an imaginary badass lone-wolf action heroine like Ripley. Is that bad now? Is it somehow impossible to write an engaging story when a heroine is female-empowering (trust me, it's not)? Why apologize for a subversion of what we want/expect? Team Ninja wants a subservient female character with PTSD, go screw with their own characters from DOA or something. Not Samus Aran.

If there is anything to be argued about, it should be whether Team Ninja could have known what the player base expects of Samus' potential personality. It should be whether her current personality/story in MOM is a positive one for a heroic female character.

It should NOT be whether or not gamers have any factual basis for their expectations of Samus as a positive self-empowered heroine. That's what we want; we don't need to explain it. Especially if it's a good thing.

mlai
It's time people stop apologizing for game stories with "It's only a game" or "You want a good story go read a book" or "The gameplay is more important." That's the type of thinking that leads to Uwe Boll movies. The game industry has long since matured, and we demand good story AND gameplay from high-caliber games.

While I'd agree that shining jewels of the gaming industry do have a healthy mix of good gameplay and good story, I still think gameplay is more important. Yes, I'm in the camp that believes video games can be an art. And that's found more in the story it can tell than anything else.

But story vs. gameplay seems to be a "squares and rectangles" sort of debate to me. Games with little to no story whatsoever still can stand up as amazing titles, and that's all due to the gameplay styles they have to offer. But I've rarely seen a good story in a game become the saving grace to balance out the gameplay. Yes, there was Heavy Rain, but wasn't that more of an interactive movie than anything else (or what defines a video game, anyway?).

Maybe it's just a traditional thought here, but I always felt a video game is nothing without the gameplay. A good story is there to supplement it, enhance the experience. Gameplay can be seen as that juicy steak on your plate, the meat of the experience. A good story will be that seasoning making it that much better.

Gameplay is important, but in modern games so is atmosphere. Truly great games allow the player to lose themselves in the role of the main character. I hesitate to use the word "story" here since atmosphere doesn't always refer to story (look at games like Minecraft for examples of games that have atmosphere, but don't rely on story). Story CAN be an important element in establishing atmosphere, but is not always rquired.

That said, this partcular game is presented as a story based game. You are working towards goals based on the established storyline. A very large part of the atmosphere of Metroid is found in its story. Challenging people's expectations when it comes to character personalities and story events will only pull people with a greater dedication to the series out of the overall experience.

Amelius

Buh. I heard there was Adam in it and was like "Hey that's before Fusion, thus it must be the very first Metroid game chronilogically", and that fact stayed hammered in to my head, so sorry.

Hawk
Don't take this all the wrong way. I still think she's awesome. I just feel like you've somehow created your own Samus.

I'm not going to entirely discount that possibility but even if Amelius has created her own Samus she's far from the only person with that idea about her. Hell, her idea of the Samus as a character is almost exactly the same as mine.