Gaming Metroid: Other M

[Magus]

Surprised there's no topic on this already.

[center][img]http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/object/143/14354733/metroid_otherm_esrbtboxart_160w.jpg[/img][/center]

[quote]Metroid Franchiseâ??s Heroine Gets Personal. For decades, Samus Aran has been known as one of the first female protagonists in video games and one of the most enigmatic. Having traded her haunted past for the solitary life of a bounty hunter, Samus finally tells her own tale in this revealing, personal story of her failings, her flaws and ultimately her motivation. Metroid: Other M is an unprecedented collaboration that blends the slick, action-packed production of the world-renowned Team Ninja development team with the game design talents of the creators of the original Metroid. Metroid: Other M is a dramatic new direction for a legendary franchise and a bold new blend between cinematics, storytelling and the best in interactive entertainment.[/quote]

I've never played the Metroid games and am not quite sure if I want to play this one just yet. (don't even own the Wii, what am I talking about) Team Ninja being onboard certainly made things look fairly interesting, but when watching videos of it I gradually lost interest in it.

IGN: 8.5/10
Gamespot: 8.5/10
1 Up: B-
[b]Xplay: 2/5[/b]

I find the review Xplay gave the game rather interesting. [url="http://g4tv.com/games/wii/61992/Metroid-Other-M/review/"]Morgan Webb goes off[/url] (in the video that is... Well not really, I just like to exaggerate a lot ). The written review was done by Abbie Heppe and she's been getting all sorts of backlash for it. (Fans can be both funny and annoying... Got a little bit of both)


Anyway, like I said, I'm not certain If I'm gonna attempt to play this, but I am curious about other input. Edited September 2, 2010 by Phenom

[Sangome]

[color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]I kinda stopped taking X-Play seriously once it became obvious [and they later admitted such] that Adam and Morgan don't always play the games they review, and I question whether their writers have, too. Their Tales of the Abyss review comes to mind in particular. [Why they keep making them review JRPGs when it's obvious they have it out for them is beyond me.]

Anyway, I've only played small portions of Metroid here and there, but this one actually has me interested quite a bit. I think it's because it's actually got a focus on [i]story[/i], which is more than welcome from me.

Also, Samus, from female to female, keep that short hair! You look really cute with it~[/font][/color] Edited September 2, 2010 by Sangome

[Magus]

[size=1]You're not suppose to take any reviews seriously. [strike]at least not too seriously[/strike][/size]

I also watched Feedback (their little internet streaming thingy thing) and Abbey seemed rather passionate about the game [series]. I don't know if I'd say she hasn't played it. Anyway, it's the story in particular that seems to have Xplay upset with the game lol. Reading/watching the review definately has me questioning a lot of things about that [i]story[/i]. Then again I have no rights to say much of anything considering I haven't played a single game in the series. Edited September 2, 2010 by Phenom

[The Tentacle]

[quote name='Phenom' date='02 September 2010 - 04:37 PM' timestamp='1283459837' post='700164']

I've never played the Metroid games and am not quite sure if I want to play this one just yet. (don't even own the Wii, what am I talking about)[/quote]

This pretty much sums up my feelings on things.  The last Metroid game I played was Super Metroid on the SNES.  I lost interest in the series afterwards, especially with some of the later games going FPS, but I do admit that this latest sequel (or prequel?) does look pretty sweet.  If I had a Wii I'd be tempted to buy it but I'm not about to run out and buy a Wii just to play it.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I'm a big fan of the 2D Metroid games and I really liked the first Prime game, but my interest in the Prime trilogy fizzled out after that. (Though that was due in part to annoying game design choices in Prime 2 and getting tired of auto-targeting. Maybe I'd enjoy Prime 3 more.) So, I was initially really interested in a third person 3D Metroid game. The more I see of Other M, though, the more doubts I have.

Nintendo really just needs to make another 2D Metroid already.[/color]

[PiroMunkie]

[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I've been looking forward to this game since I heard about it, though I'm pretty much broke at the moment so probably won't get a chance to play it any time soon. I keep trying to get a friend of mine to lend it to me since he beat it already, lol.

I was never really a fan of the Prime series. To me it just looked like someone was trying to bank off Metroid's name and Halo's popularity. I've never imagine Metroid as an FPS, and even trying to play those games I just get irritated at the slow controls â?? and by that I just mean that FPS's just really aren't meant for console gaming, in my opinion. The Prime series would probably be a lot more enjoyable if it was made for a PC.

When I saw that they were making a new Metroid from a third-person adventure perspective, I was relieved. I always thought that's how Metroid should have made the switch from 2D to 3D. The introduction of 'melee'/'grapple' moves was pretty exciting to me. The gameplay looks pretty fun, I'm mostly just curious as to how it translates to the Wii controller.

My friend said he enjoyed it a lot, and might even give it another play-through, and that it contends with Super Metroid as to which of the games is his favorite. I look forward to getting a chance to play it whenever that may be.[/font][/color]


[quote name='The Tentacle' date='02 September 2010 - 04:57 PM' timestamp='1283464620' post='700169']
I lost interest in the series afterwards, especially with some of the later games going FPS, but I do admit that this latest sequel (or prequel?) does look pretty sweet.[/quote]
[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I think I remember reading that it's supposed to take place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion (Other M even features a boss from Fusion, and my favorite one at that, lol). As to the complete chronology of Metroid, I have no idea.[/font][/color] Edited September 3, 2010 by PiroMunkie

[Desbreko]

[quote name='PiroMunkie' date='03 September 2010 - 01:11 PM' timestamp='1283544671' post='700212'][color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I was never really a fan of the Prime series. To me it just looked like someone was trying to bank off Metroid's name and Halo's popularity. I've never imagine Metroid as an FPS, and even trying to play those games I just get irritated at the slow controls â?? and by that I just mean that FPS's just really aren't meant for console gaming, in my opinion. The Prime series would probably be a lot more enjoyable if it was made for a PC.[/font][/color][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]Well, the Prime series doesn't really play anything like Halo. For better or worse, the lock-on targeting system in the first two make them completely different from other FPS's. Can't comment on the pointer aiming in Prime 3 and the Trilogy collection, though, since I've not played those.[/color]

[quote name='PiroMunkie' date='03 September 2010 - 01:11 PM' timestamp='1283544671' post='700212'][color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I think I remember reading that it's supposed to take place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion (Other M even features a boss from Fusion, and my favorite one at that, lol). As to the complete chronology of Metroid, I have no idea.[/font][/color][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission > Metroid Prime > Metroid Prime Hunters > Metroid Prime 2: Echoes > Metroid Prime 3: Corruption > Metroid II: Return of Samus > Super Metroid > Metroid: Other M > Metroid Fusion

You can get more details about the timeline on [url=http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_timeline]Wikitroid[/url].[/color]

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='Desbreko' date='03 September 2010 - 08:05 PM' timestamp='1283562312' post='700221']
[color=#4B0082]Well, the Prime series doesn't really play anything like Halo. For better or worse, the lock-on targeting system in the first two make them completely different from other FPS's. Can't comment on the pointer aiming in Prime 3 and the Trilogy collection, though, since I've not played those.[/color][/quote]
[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I couldn't respond to this in-depth without feeling like I'd be going way off-topic (talking about the wrong game in conjunction with the relationships between PC and console gaming), but I guess my TL;DR version is that I feel FPS's simply play better on a PC than on any console. I remember reading a few articles about how Microsoft was trying to bridge XBox Live with their Windows Live or whatever their PC counterpart is, but they had to can it because even average PC gamers could annihilate seasoned console gamers (testing FPS's). Whether that was the sole reason the idea was shut down or not, I don't know.

I've played the Primes, only took the time to beat the second one, but I could just never get into the whole first-person view. Maybe I've just played too many third-person games, or ... maybe third person is just a lot better than first person when it comes to a console now that I think about it, lol. One of the biggest things that bugged me with Prime was the inability to look around [i]and[/i] strafe at the same time. You would have to Stop. Look around. Lock on. Strafe and pray you don't lose your lock. Also the inability to toggle your "Lock" between objects/mobs within your field of view (constantly locking on to a piece of the environment when your trying to get the mob right next to it). In third-person, however, your field of view is a lot bigger and you're not forced to stop and look around for anything flying above or below you. Other M pretty much does this for you with it's auto-targeting system, which I honestly had mixed feelings for at first but I can sort of see how it benefits the game.

Even if you look at a game like Castlevania, though, which shares a lot of similarities with Metroid (and god help us if they ever remake Kid Icarus), when they took it out of a side-scroller into a 3D environment they put it in the third person. Metroid is a lot more about solving the puzzles and finding secrets than it is just a straight shoot-'em-up, which is why I was just so ... uncomfortable(?) playing Prime, and was so relieved to see Other M in third-person. Watching videos of Other M, has me pretty excited to play it.


Really my only beef with Other M from what I've seen of it so far is it's lack of Kraid. Poor guy has only been in three games which were sort of all re-tellings of the same story. :P[/font][/color]

[Jagan00]

Just for clarification the Metroid Prime series are NOT FPS games

They are FP Adventure games

Comparing them to Halo is absurd

[Heaven's Cloud]

[quote name='PiroMunkie' date='04 September 2010 - 01:52 AM' timestamp='1283579558' post='700225']
[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I
Even if you look at a game like Castlevania, though, which shares a lot of similarities with Metroid (and god help us if they ever remake Kid Icarus), when they took it out of a side-scroller into a 3D environment they put it in the third person. Metroid is a lot more about solving the puzzles and finding secrets than it is just a straight shoot-'em-up, which is why I was just so ... uncomfortable(?) playing Prime, and was so relieved to see Other M in third-person. Watching videos of Other M, has me pretty excited to play it.[/font][/color]
[/quote]

[color=indigo]I had mixed feelings about Metroid: Prime. In some ways I really liked the series, in some I didn't. I was excited to see Metroid move a third-person type game as well, however, I got to play a little of the game yesterday and I really didn't dig it all that much. I'll even go a step further and say that the X-Play review (link posted earlier) was pretty dead on concerning game play. I wish they would have tried to mimic more of a Devil May Cry or God of War type of game play. [/color]

[James]

[quote name='Jagan00' date='07 September 2010 - 06:36 AM' timestamp='1283801766' post='700276']
Just for clarification the Metroid Prime series are NOT FPS games

They are FP Adventure games

Comparing them to Halo is absurd
[/quote]

[font=palatino linotype]I agree with you, except that I can see how, if you've been a big Metroid fan and played the third person titles, a first person title might throw you a little.

I never had that kind of connection to the Metroid series, so I was able to appreciate Metroid Prime for what it was. And even though I haven't played the series in a while now, I still remember how masterful it was. Metroid Prime was very much about puzzle-solving and exploration (and even platforming, really) - it's just that it had a first person perspective.

I don't ever remember the controls being difficult (in terms of turning and strafing...I could have sworn that was possible, especially since I don't remember it being an issue for me - but I am happy to stand corrected). I do remember specifically that Metroid Prime 3 had absolutely sublime controls. The Wii Remote integration was nothing short of brilliant, especially with the first person perspective. And the ability to literally reach forward and grab/turn knobs and switches was incredibly tactile and intuitive. I can't really think of another game on Wii that was actually able to match that degree of interactivity with the game world.

At the moment I'm not sure if I'm going to get Metroid: Other M or not. I'm happy enough with what's been said about it [i]in theory[/i], but I suspect that the biggest issue for me could be the D-Pad control. And I say that simply because a lot of people have complained about the fact that Samus pretty much runs everywhere and it feels a bit awkward.

I would say that Metroid is very well-suited to either first or third person perspectives, but I think Team Ninja generally had the right idea by trying to go back to the 2D roots and branch out a bit from that. I just wonder if by forcing everything onto just the Wii Remote, they haven't limited the game in an artificial way that need not have been the case. I'd love to see some reviews from OBers about this one.[/font]

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='Jagan00' date='06 September 2010 - 02:36 PM' timestamp='1283801766' post='700276']
Just for clarification the Metroid Prime series are NOT FPS games

They are FP Adventure games

Comparing them to Halo is absurd
[/quote]
[font="Arial"][color="#006400"]They're first-person, and you spend a hell of a lot of time shooting things. It's just as much a shooter as it is an adventure. Metroid and Halo settings are also generally similar. Similarities can be drawn between the races present in both games. The Prime series (Hunters and Echoes) introduced a multiplayer "battle your friends" mode which I found a bit ridiculous considering how poorly they were done (in comparison to multiplayer modes of games [i]like[/i] Halo, which imo were the best part of those games), and just that Metroid never really struck me as any sort of multiplayer game to begin with. Why would anyone think to put a multiplayer battle into what's always been a solo adventuring game unless they saw the success of multiplayer in a certain other space-shooter title? Thankfully they didn't waste time with multiplayer past Echoes. There are a lot of differences in how they're set up for sure, but to think either of those games (Prime series specifically out of Metroid) never had any influence on each other is pretty absurd, imo.[/color][/font]

[quote name='James' date='07 September 2010 - 03:02 AM' timestamp='1283846550' post='700291']
[font=palatino linotype]I just wonder if by forcing everything onto just the Wii Remote, they haven't limited the game in an artificial way that need not have been the case.[/font]
[/quote]
[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]Thanks for reminding me about that. I keep forgetting Other M is all on the Wii remote and always imagine it with the nunchuck extension, which is probably why I have/had a hard time understanding the need for auto-targeting.

From what little I played of Corruption I enjoyed being able to use the Wii remote to look around at any time (as opposed to being forced to stop and hold the R-Button in the earlier games). Having watched a Let's Play of Prime done on the Wii Trilogy edition almost made me hate the GameCube just to see how much more convenient that free-aiming ability is in most cases, and not to mention having access to the Spring Ball (though that has nothing to do with controls, just extremely convenient). I just sort of assumed the remote/nunchuck would carry over into Other M. It's actually a pretty comfortable set-up compared to the GameCube controller which has it's limitations as to what button combination you can press without being a contortionist. I loved the Seeker Missile in Echoes, but you had to pretty much do the whole 'stand still and hold R to look around' on top of the fact that you also can't jump while using them because the B-button is in an awkward place compared to the Y-button which you're holding to charge your Seekers. With the Wii remote and nunchuck you have all buttons available to you without much fuss.

So I could definitely see where the control system would be awkward in being limited to only the remote, and having to switch from its horizontal and pointed positions.[/font][/color]

[James]

[font=palatino linotype]I just bought Other M today, so I'm pretty eager to see how it plays. I'll put some impressions up here soon.

As far as the whole FPS thing, the only point I'd make is that it's a little difficult to really include Metroid Prime: Hunters in the mix, in part because it [i]was[/i] very much akin to an FPS by virtue of the handheld/DS format. In other words, it was a deliberate departure from the console series.

I personally think that Metroid is very well-suited to a first person perspective and it's kind of a shame that more adventure games don't use that format. I know Miyamoto once said that the "ideal" Zelda would be a first person game - the difficulty, of course, is that it is very difficult to get a sense of your character's body in a first person game (that is, relative to platforms and objects). So with Zelda it'd be a bit tricky I guess.[/font]

[CaNz]

it looks very tempting to get... the comercials look really good.

[James]

[font=palatino linotype]So, I had about an hour with the game last night. Still very early, but I do have a couple of thoughts already.

First and foremost, the presentation is definitely miles ahead of the previous Metroid games (and pretty much most games Nintendo develops). There's a healthy mix of fantastic quality FMV littered throughout and there are semi-regular cut-scenes as you actually progress through the adventure.

The plot is certainly nothing incredible, but then again, Team Ninja didn't have a huge amount to work with in this regard. That is to say, they've kept a lot of the cheesiness and simplicity, but they've also attempted to add in quite a bit of back story and character interaction. I'm not a huge fan of Samus's voice, though. She sounds pretty soulless so far. Ironically it's the characters around her that give the game a sense of life and personality. But we'll see; perhaps that will change.

I was a little bit worried that the injection of other characters as part of Samus's mission would actually result in the game losing its feeling of isolation (which, for me, was one of the major aspects that helped to define that "Metroid feel"). But not so. There are other characters around Samus during the game (again, so far) but they aren't intrusive. And the actual scenario regarding Samus not using all of her weapons out of "respect" for Adam Malkovich is actually quite reasonable and plausible (I think IGN was quite wrong about this - when you guys play I'm eager to know what you think).

In terms of gameplay, I've been pleasantly surprised. The D-Pad movement is absolutely fine. Yes, there's no real way to "walk" - Samus is essentially running all the time. But this absolutely suits the pace of the game. You'll find yourself running and jumping frequently, both to navigate the levels and when fighting enemies.

Speaking of which, the auto-targeting also doesn't feel out of place. The reason for this is, I think, that this is not strictly a 2D game with 3D graphics. It's a bit difficult to explain. In a game where you're always running left to right, auto-targeting may seem a bit cheap because it's pretty easy to jump and shoot, or to aim up and down and shoot.

But in Other M, the perspective changes regularly. So you'll be running left to right for a while, then you'll be running forward "into" the screen. The feeling is very akin to those 2.5D levels on Super Mario Galaxy. I think some of the reviews gave the impression that you're almost on-rails, which is not the case at all.

Due to this situation, though, you'll often run into large areas where you're literally surrounded by swarms of enemies. And because many of them are shooting at you, you'll need to frequently jump out of the way (there's a special "dodge" action for this, which works really well). It can get a little haywire, like an old-school arcade game. In this context, the auto-targeting actually works quite well. The [i]only[/i] issue I have is that you need to be facing your target to aim at them - when you're in a room full of baddies, that can sometimes be a bit tough to manage, because you're having to jump away from enemies, only to turn and face them again so that you can hit them.

I'm not sure how much that makes sense. It's a difficult format to describe.

At any time you can point the Wii Remote at the screen to move into first-person view. This is mostly useful for exploration purposes (especially picking up items), but it can also be useful occasionally for fighting bosses and other enemies.

It isn't quite as limiting as you may think, though. For one thing, the map will always highlight (with a blue dot) that there is an item in the room. In this way, you don't have to constantly jump into first person view in every single room just to check that you haven't missed something. This is something I was a bit worried about at first, but the game design handles it elegantly. The map may show you, via the dot, where the item is...but you still have to actually go into first person view to work out how to retrieve it. Often you'll have to roll into Morph Ball mode and go through some vents, or you might have to break a panel with a missile or something like that.

Very occasionally this switch between first person and third person can be jarring, especially when you have to kill some enemies in third person and then switch to first person to destroy, for example, their nest (some enemies just keep coming until you destroy their nest with some missile strikes).

As I said, I'm still early in...but so far my experience has been very positive. I'm finding that the issues mentioned by some reviews are really not big issues for me at all. For the most part, I'm finding the controls to be very smooth and responsive, the level design has so far been fantastic and everything else (graphics and music) has been very true to Metroid's roots, while still coming across as very modern and updated.

So far, so good. I've already come across a couple of really beautiful surprises and I'm only at Sector 1! So I'm pretty eager to see what'll come next.

I'm sure I will post more about this as I get further. Maybe some of the minor frustrations will get bigger as time goes on, but at this point I'm very happy with how Other M has turned out.[/font]

[PiroMunkie]

[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I've been following an Other M video "walk-through" (albeit incomplete) because I don't really care about spoilers, but it's good to hear the gameplay has been positive. From the commercials and previews I definitely liked the coloration and overall design of the game. Though, when watching the walk-through I was a bit disappointed in the lava areas, in that the lava has no dynamic to it. It's just remains flat, never waving or anything when creatures pop out of it (aside from arbitrary splashes, but the base of the lava stays the same). A small detail, but one I thought was kind of disappointing.

And as for Samus' VA, 'soulless' is right, heh. This was probably one of the most frustrating things for me when watching the game. Not only the VA, but a lot of the dialogue and her reactions to certain things [spoiler](cowering in fear of Ridley, for example)[/spoiler] just make her so emotionally fragile and pathetic, when even in earlier games, despite her silence, she always exuded a sort of confidence and vindication at all times, even in the face of what might be her biggest nightmares [spoiler](when she first encounters Ridley in Metroid Prime she's [i]angry[/i], not afraid)[/spoiler]. It really made it hard for me to believe that the Samus in Other M can just turn around and be the kick ass bounty hunter we all know and love her to be after displaying so much insecurity. Though most of this just falls back on her VA. I felt a lot of her dialogue would have carried a lot better if she had a strong, mature voice. Just changing how she says things would have made them completely different.

As for her holding back on her weapons, I agree that it didn't seem [i]too[/i] unbelievable in the way it was presented (Adam does indeed have a commanding presence, and obviously the respect of Samus). Though as a whole the game seems to undermine Samus' level of experience. It almost would have been nice to see her maybe [i]call[/i] for permission of use of different functions at times. Maybe even giving the player the option to try to call for different functions and open the dialogue of Adam saying "Yes or No" would have been cool. Even if they were still set to be activated only at certain times, giving the player the illusion of control would be a bit satisfying (at least the first time through, lol).

Which bring me to my next point: the game seems painstakingly linear. Other M definitely seems to take a different turn from previous titles as there seems to be very little free exploration and pretty much a complete inability to break sequence (primarily having to do with getting your upgrades when Adam says it's okay), which has basically always been a hallmark of Metroid. I know Retro Studios also tried to take away a lot of the sequence breaking in the Prime series (especially when they released the Trilogy edition for the Wii) and even Fusion was more linear than most games but you still had a little leeway (and a nice little bonus if you were pro at the Shine Spark), but Other M seems to take it to a whole new level.

I can understand wanting to prevent people from exploiting terrain glitches and general [i]faults[/i] to cheese their way into certain areas, but I think intentionally designing surprises in the game to reward people who get creative with the game and its exploration isn't too much ask. In the case of Other M, for example, if you managed to find a hidden room that had extreme heat (for whatever reason), Adam would allow you your Varia Suit function earlier in the game than you normally would, or even just hidden dialogue or cut-scenes like in Fusion. Super Metroid really shined in this department whether it was intentional or not. Aside from maybe the "Mockball" (which rides a fine line of being a glitch, or just skill, lol), you can access a lot of things earlier than you normally would just by being good at, and creative with, the game. It adds a lot of fun and definite replayability to the game to give the player different options in how to progress through it.

Lastly, I agree with you on the 'isolation' factor. Aside from the first boss, it's not like you're running around with a team of space marines at your back, and your encounters with them after that are often brief and limited to cut-scenes. Without wanting to spoil much (though I'll still use tags just to be fair), [spoiler]events in the game definitely create a sense of isolation even when among peers[/spoiler]. The game definitely creates a good dynamic in that regard, and I'm intrigued to see how it pans out.


Overall I'm satisfied, I sort of expected a little more from it, and at first it was definitely hard for me to look past their characterization of Samus. While I think there's plenty of room for improvement, I'm still very eager to play it myself.[/font][/color]

[James]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]The more I play, the more I agree that Samus's voice acting is actually very detrimental to the story. They just chose the wrong actor. I agree that Samus requires a slightly deeper voice - a more authoritative tone.

On the question of using upgrades, I felt that IGN were pretty harsh about this. Thinking about it logically, [spoiler]Samus has arrived at the alien vessel well after the Federation troops. It is [i]their[/i] mission. If she had walked around constantly requesting permission to use her weapons, or simply using them anyway, I think this would make her seem childish and unprofessional. Samus clearly respects the mission and she respects Adam's authority. Given that she is essentially on a team, rather than being a lone bounty hunter, I think it's completely fitting that she's taking direction from Adam.[/spoiler]

For me, the relationship with Adam and the use of upgrades is one of the few things that gives Samus any quality of patience, maturity or professionalism. Team Ninja could have used some very lame excuse, like...her suit got broken in a crash or something (you know, the stuff we've all heard before). But integrating upgrades into this kind of hierarchy works pretty well, I think.

In regard to linearity, I haven't really had a problem with it. I haven't played Super Metroid in a while, but even compared to the Metroid Prime series, I think Other M is pretty true to series form. You frequently encounter a lot of stuff that's just out of reach or unobtainable and you have to go back to those areas later on. This two steps forward, one step back approach is classic Metroid. Admittedly, Other M regularly confines Samus to tighter locations (lots of corridors, for example), but even then there's plenty of variety involved - and some pretty neat little secrets to be found, even during the course of regular gameplay.

And Samus has always progressively unlocked her weapons, giving her the ability to re-visit previously locked areas and so on. Other M's handling of that seems very canon to me.

Other M does have a number of little intentional surprises that aren't immediately apparent - I've noticed a few of these as I've been playing. But even some of the things you have to do that are part of the regular experience are pretty surprising, anyway [spoiler](e.g.: the way you have to access terminals to de-cloak parts of the ship, being one example)[/spoiler]. I don't know if I'd want those secrets that border on glitches, especially in a modern game.

I think Other M sometimes borrows from Half-Life 2's playbook, in terms of creating "spontaneous" elements that are actually scripted. A lot of games do this now, but Other M seems to put a greater emphasis on this than even the Metroid Prime series.

I'm getting a little further in now and I'm definitely finding that, very occasionally, the controls can be an issue. The biggest problem for me is still those moments where it is helpful to jump in and out of first person mode quickly - that can be a little bit awkward, but only when it has to be done very quickly. Luckily the game doesn't seem to place too much emphasis on that, or at least, it tends not to bank up too many similar experiences in the same area.

You've probably seen more of it if you've seen the walkthrough, Piro...but as much as I'm liking the ship's design, I'm kind of hoping that I keep seeing those different "outdoor" areas. They really help to break things up and keep things fresh.

[b]Edit:[/b] I have to admit, from the point of view of atmosphere and such...I still think Metroid Prime trumps Other M. I'm talking about the original MP, as well (I've not played Echoes and I only played a little of Corruption). In some ways, Other M feels more similar to the 2D games, which is good for purists...but I really think MP set a very, very high standard for things like music and art design. I wonder if I'll feel different as I get closer to the end of Other M.[/font]

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='James' date='10 September 2010 - 02:45 AM' timestamp='1284104716' post='700368']
[font="Palatino Linotype"]And Samus has always progressively unlocked her weapons, giving her the ability to re-visit previously locked areas and so on. Other M's handling of that seems very canon to me.

Other M does have a number of little intentional surprises that aren't immediately apparent - I've noticed a few of these as I've been playing. But even some of the things you have to do that are part of the regular experience are pretty surprising, anyway [spoiler](e.g.: the way you have to access terminals to de-cloak parts of the ship, being one example)[/spoiler]. I don't know if I'd want those secrets that border on glitches, especially in a modern game.[/font][/quote]
[color="#006400"][font="Arial"]I definitely agree on not wanting the "glitches," which is why I was leaning more toward designing [i]intended[/i] secrets in the games instead of just completely stripping players of their free roam. Backtracking isn't quite the same thing, but I understand what you mean. Most of what you could do in Super Metroid or other games was more just being really good at wall jumping or bomb jumping to get into areas you'd normally need one of your later upgrades to get, which leads to saving time, and then leads to people doing speed runs and people competing to see who can beat the game the fastest and/or with the least amount of items. Or, for example, in the original Metroid, you could get the Varia Suit before ever stepping out of Brinstar (your starting zone), which involves you finding a secret location of the Ice Beam and just a little non-glitchy creativity (aside from a mob getting stuck when break-away blocks respawn if you can really call that a glitch back then) on top of that. Normally you'd need the High Jump boots before you could get the Varia Suit, which if I remember right was in Norfair (Ridley's area, sort of the 'second' dungeon of the game, though most people hit it up first because it has pretty much all the good upgrades).

The [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N025nnrcGrc]Shinespark Secret[/url] in Metroid Fusion is probably the best example. You get out of an area before getting the upgrade you would otherwise need to do so, and it's actually designed in the game, no exploit. It doesn't have to be such an extreme feat as that (I don't even know how people even come up with being able to do that), but just having hidden rewards for people who make creative or advanced use of their surroundings, without hindering those people that don't.

While I've seen some energy tanks or other pick-ups in some pretty ridiculous areas, there isn't much of anything that let's you [i]advance[/i] (not backtrack) off the beaten path.[/font][/color] Edited September 10, 2010 by PiroMunkie

[James]

[font=palatino linotype]Yeah, I definitely see your point. I think what you're describing is one of those magical elements that tends to make Nintendo games so good. I'm thinking about the Warp Zones in Super Mario Bros., for example (or the flute in SMB 3).

I've just passed the wasp hive today. I'm inching forward slowly! So far, so good. There have been a couple of tough moments, but nothing that makes me want to throw the controller. I've been pretty happy with the pacing and difficulty in general.

But, yet again, Samus's voice... argh. :\[/font]

[oxic_berry]

i played all the gameboy versions (metroid: zero mission, super metroid, and metroid fusion) and i have to agree with any of you that enjoyed the solitary gameplay. i've always loved the stories to the games and never thought they needed that much re-vamping, and although i'm not a huge femenist or anything i am super disappointed to hear that [the most badass chick ever] samus, is taking orders from a guy! and then i feel like the story doesn't really describe her accurately, she's not needy (attention, direction, motives or otherwise) until this game.

i'm kinda biased though, cause i'm not a huge fan of the wii. the controllers just don't do the trick, i like at least a joystick to do all the fine controlling and such pretty much the only thing i ever use the wii for is smash bros (with the regular controller) and hacking it so i can watch ungodly amounts of anime from an external hard drive :3 hahaha

my final words: metroid should go back to the more traditional storylines - if you ask people how many of them played metroid games solely for the storylines, you'll end up with a pretty small-ass group of people :\

[James]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]The 2D Metroids have always used a D-Pad; I think the only difference here is that you can move Samus around in 3D. I can see how that would bother some people though; I was honestly surprised at how smoothly Samus moves.

I definitely took issue with Samus's emo persona in this game, although I really have no trouble with her "taking orders" from Malkovich. I think that has kind of been blown out of proportion. If Samus had disobeyed Malkovich, I'd have actually been very annoyed - I think that would have been a cheap way to portray her as some kind of badass. [/font]