10 Years Ago, “The Baby” Happened.

[qaopjlll]

Solid 8/10 from me. They took the gameplay in a lot of interesting directions and most of them worked out way better than they had any right to. The only mechanics that I thought didn't work well were pointing at the screen to enter first person/preventing movement in first person/requiring first person to fire missiles. Oh and I guess the pixel hunting segments were kind of annoying. Aside from that, the classic Metroid movement options and powerups were all implemented really well and put to use in a lot of really interesting environmental puzzles. Combat-wise the game did a really good job making you feel like a badass with powerful attacks and flashy moves, while also throwing in hard-hitting, fast-dodging enemies that forced you to strategize and react to their movements carefully in order to actually hit them without taking damage. I did wish the game opened up with a bit more opportunities for exploration prior to the end game. Didn't care about or pay much attention to the story.

 

[purseowner]

The misguided attempt here at 'strong female lead' that ends up being misogynistic with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer is so bizarre in nature it feels as if Lars von Trier wrote it. I'm still amazed this is a real videogame.

I thought it played fairly well though, and I liked the atmosphere and environments. Never finished it, mind.

 

[RocketDarkness]

Forgot to post this

Click to shrink...

I love this. So perfect.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Forgot to post this

Click to shrink...

This is fantastic. Any objections, Alan?

 

[cyrix]

Revisiting the narrative of Other: M again thanks to this thread has made me realize just how far general "culture" (and myself personally) have come in terms of recognizing how harmful this stuff is and was. I remember what "discourse" was like around release, and while the sexism did get called out and videos were made and whatnot, nothing really came of it, and just as many people were quick to just hand wave away the story as unimportant cause they still enjoyed the game play.

So this might be a Hot Take but, I think we need to reevaluate when its appropriate to say things like "if you ignore the the story" when the narrative is harmful.

I want to be clear: I DO NOT think people in this thread, or in the past that made such comments are bad people. I think discarding the narrative when game play is "good" is a very common thing in the discourse around games. However this isn't a case where the writing is just poor quality (it is that too though) or the plot doesn't make sense. Samus' entire characterization through cutscenes, dialogue, monologue, everything* reinforces gross, harmful, sexist streotypes and beliefs of how women "should" be.

*except maybe the VERY beginning with the missile door where she is competent and independent for a second before adam glares at her.

Also i do think that society, and games/gamers in particular are desensitized so much to sexism that it's our default mode to just sweep it under the rug and pretend its not there. I don't believe for a second that if this was a game starring a PoC and the narrative was as openly and clearly racist as O:M is sexist that people would be so quick to act like the story can just be ignored.

 

[Chumunga64]

Low-key best Metroid game since Super Metroid.

Yeah I said it. Fuck the Prime games.

Click to shrink...

I usually let opinions be opinions but you have awful tastes

 

[SparksterMeta0]

It was an OK game but, yeah, some weird decisions for Samus.

 

[DragonKeeper]

It was a mediocre metroid game with a control scheme that functioned. Those are the nicest things that can be said about it. The narrative of this game was full on insulting. I very much got the feeling the writer hated Samus and really, really wanted Adam to be the main character, and did everything they could to enlarge his character while diminishing Samus.

 

[Lork]

I give this thread a thumbs down to acknowledge that it has been understood while also expressing my disapproval of the subject matter.

 

[Aostia82]

I enjoyed the way the game played quite a lot. Plot was a mess.

Click to shrink...

I agree
Was very satisfying to play

 

[Pancakes R Us]

I honestly didn't feel the game was as bad as people made it out to be. It wasn't the best, but the complete hate it gets is unwarranted, IMO. I would've preferred better controls (pro controller or nunchuck), no pixel hunts, no forced over the shoulder walking segments (what was the point of these?) and no pointing for missiles...but I think other than these and some other minor issues I had, Samus moved around in third person as I expected she might in a 3D game like this.

 

[Watershed]

Such a flawed game in so many ways. Even setting aside the absolutely awful narrative and narrative conceits, the somewhat sterile aesthetic, the biggest flaw with Other M is the controls. The decision to restrict everything to one Wiimote but still have 3d gameplay just ruined the game at the outset.

 

[spman2099]

I honestly didn't feel the game was as bad as people made it out to be. It wasn't the best, but the complete hate it gets is unwarranted, IMO. I would've preferred better controls (pro controller or nunchuck), no pixel hunts, no forced over the shoulder walking segments (what was the point of these?) and no pointing for missiles...but I think other than these and some other minor issues I had, Samus moved around in third person as I expected she might in a 3D game like this.

Click to shrink...

You could fix all the issues people have with gameplay and it would still have one of the worst stories in a video game (that does substantial damage to the character of Samus). No matter how well it played, the game would still be steeped in misogyny.

 

[Anidav]

The baby.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

You could fix all the issues people have with gameplay and it would still have one of the worst stories in a video game (that does substantial damage to the character of Samus). No matter how well it played, the game would still be steeped in misogyny.

Click to shrink...

Agreed about the story being bad. I think the issue was we also went from masterpieces of Metroid Prime 1 and 2, to a good 3 but very hand-holdy and Halo wannabe, to Other M. People had gotten used to a certain level of expectation for Metroid and then we got the last two.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

Low-key best Metroid game since Super Metroid.

Yeah I said it. Fuck the Prime games.

Click to shrink...

Glad you enjoyed it, but LMAO NO

 

[Big G]

Such a flawed game in so many ways. Even setting aside the absolutely awful narrative and narrative conceits, the somewhat sterile aesthetic, the biggest flaw with Other M is the controls. The decision to restrict everything to one Wiimote but still have 3d gameplay just ruined the game at the outset.

Click to shrink...

Bingo. I think the game is fine for the most part; the story is whatever, and while there are some laughable game design choices, overall the core Metroid experience was fine. But the control scheme was absolutely idiotic. It was at the height of Nintendo's mantra of doing things because the hardware allowed for it, and not because they improved the gameplay experience (along with Spirit Tracks and, to a more mixed degree, Skyward Sword).

 

[Deleted member 21326]

Enjoyed the game, the plot not so much.

 

[Hieroph]

I honestly didn't feel the game was as bad as people made it out to be. It wasn't the best, but the complete hate it gets is unwarranted, IMO. I would've preferred better controls (pro controller or nunchuck), no pixel hunts, no forced over the shoulder walking segments (what was the point of these?) and no pointing for missiles...but I think other than these and some other minor issues I had, Samus moved around in third person as I expected she might in a 3D game like this.

Click to shrink...

The over the shoulder walking segments were both great and sad because they showed how good a third person Metroid game could be, and how totally that potential was wasted in Other M.

 

[Anteo]

I got the game for like 5$ and i fucking hated it lmao

Wasnt there a review of this game that showed a picture of short hair samus and put something like "Can you have sex with a gif?" below it
thats like the other thing i remember about the game

 

[Handicapped Duck]

Utter shite.

It beggars belief that the game looked inferior, sounded inferior, suffered inferior level design, had grossly inferior mechanics and controls, and was by every measurable criteria inferior to Metroid Prime, a game that came out an entire hardware generation before it.

Utter, utter shite.

Click to shrink...

They should put your quote on the cover!

Pray to the chozo gods that the next 2D Metroid is good.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

The over the shoulder walking segments were both great and sad because they showed how good a third person Metroid game could be, and how totally that potential was wasted in Other M.

Click to shrink...

I just remember being forced to use it to enter the toilets or something. It's been such a long time since I played it. I hope to revisit the game somedasy, maybe via Dolphin.

 

[ClickyCal']

Revisiting the narrative of Other: M again thanks to this thread has made me realize just how far general "culture" (and myself personally) have come in terms of recognizing how harmful this stuff is and was. I remember what "discourse" was like around release, and while the sexism did get called out and videos were made and whatnot, nothing really came of it, and just as many people were quick to just hand wave away the story as unimportant cause they still enjoyed the game play.

So this might be a Hot Take but, I think we need to reevaluate when its appropriate to say things like "if you ignore the the story" when the narrative is harmful.

I want to be clear: I DO NOT think people in this thread, or in the past that made such comments are bad people. I think discarding the narrative when game play is "good" is a very common thing in the discourse around games. However this isn't a case where the writing is just poor quality (it is that too though) or the plot doesn't make sense. Samus' entire characterization through cutscenes, dialogue, monologue, everything* reinforces gross, harmful, sexist streotypes and beliefs of how women "should" be.

*except maybe the VERY beginning with the missile door where she is competent and independent for a second before adam glares at her.

Also i do think that society, and games/gamers in particular are desensitized so much to sexism that it's our default mode to just sweep it under the rug and pretend its not there. I don't believe for a second that if this was a game starring a PoC and the narrative was as openly and clearly racist as O:M is sexist that people would be so quick to act like the story can just be ignored.

Click to shrink...

Yep, great post.

 

[Whitemex]

The game was very ok. Story kind of sucked, but gameplay was nice. Could've benefitted greatly from analog control and no pointer controls. It's a solid 7/10

 

[Hieroph]

I just remember being forced to use it to enter the toilets or something. It's been such a long time since I played it. I hope to revisit the game somedasy, maybe via Dolphin.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, they were totally underutilized and even then in a pointless way. It's so weird of them to give you this glimpse of a much better Metroid game and then completely fail to make use of it.

 

[mael]

Yeah, they were totally underutilized and even then in a pointless way. It's so weird of them to give you this glimpse of a much better Metroid game and then completely fail to make use of it.

Click to shrink...

I found them entirely pointless.
Textbook example of something an editor should have cut.
In practice, by the 2nd time it's used you realize that you can't actually shoot or jump in these sequences so you're entirely safe.
They're literally the safest place in the entire game, the world could end and if the camera took that position I knew I could relax and zone out because nothing can happen during these sections.

Revisiting the narrative of Other: M again thanks to this thread has made me realize just how far general "culture" (and myself personally) have come in terms of recognizing how harmful this stuff is and was. I remember what "discourse" was like around release, and while the sexism did get called out and videos were made and whatnot, nothing really came of it, and just as many people were quick to just hand wave away the story as unimportant cause they still enjoyed the game play.

So this might be a Hot Take but, I think we need to reevaluate when its appropriate to say things like "if you ignore the the story" when the narrative is harmful.

I want to be clear: I DO NOT think people in this thread, or in the past that made such comments are bad people. I think discarding the narrative when game play is "good" is a very common thing in the discourse around games. However this isn't a case where the writing is just poor quality (it is that too though) or the plot doesn't make sense. Samus' entire characterization through cutscenes, dialogue, monologue, everything* reinforces gross, harmful, sexist streotypes and beliefs of how women "should" be.

*except maybe the VERY beginning with the missile door where she is competent and independent for a second before adam glares at her.

Also i do think that society, and games/gamers in particular are desensitized so much to sexism that it's our default mode to just sweep it under the rug and pretend its not there. I don't believe for a second that if this was a game starring a PoC and the narrative was as openly and clearly racist as O:M is sexist that people would be so quick to act like the story can just be ignored.

Click to shrink...

Don't mind me, I'm just saying that this is a great post.

 

[Red]

Other M ain't a bad game. At the same time, it deserves criticism. The script is trash.

 

[stefanomusilli96]

I watched a play through out of curiosity, just to see how bad the story was. Honestly I don't get how it was approved by Nintendo. They don't usually make games with a strong narrative focus but they generally maintain a certain level of quality in their games. This game's script is something that I would expect from Square Enix, right next to The 3rd Birthday and The Quiet Man. It's so weird that this was a big flagship title for Nintendo. Is it still considered canon?

 

[Hieroph]

I found them entirely pointless.
Textbook example of something an editor should have cut.
In practice, by the 2nd time it's used you realize that you can't actually shoot or jump in these sequences so you're entirely safe.
They're literally the safest place in the entire game, the world could end and if the camera took that position I knew I could relax and zone out because nothing can happen during these sections.

Click to shrink...

They're the best part of the game. This being Other M, the best part of the game may be totally pointless, but it's all downhill from there.

What I'm saying is, that style of gameplay had real potential. Add in that action and Metroid gameplay into that and you could have had a really great game. That is the 3D Metroid game I want. But this being Other M, nothing like that was going to happen, not even close. It just adds insult to injury to have something like that hinting of a much better way to present a 3D Metroid game, compared to the game we got.

 

[mael]

They're the best part of the game. This being Other M, the best part of the game may be totally pointless, but it's all downhill from there.

What I'm saying is, that style of gameplay had real potential. Add in that action and Metroid gameplay into that and you could have had a really great game. That is the 3D Metroid game I want. But this being Other M, nothing like that was going to happen, not even close. It just adds insult to injury to have something like that hinting of a much better way to present a 3D Metroid game, compared to the game we got.

Click to shrink...

I'm not the most positive person to talk about Other M but seriously the engine could work wonder with some competent level design and a proper focus.
Remove autoaim and add aiming to the wiimote and add the nunchuck because current control scheme is utter shite.
Entirely rework the map to be non linear and have a standard Metroid progressions, add item drops from monsters and you would have something decent.
You would need to cut entirely most bosses, the pixel hunt sections and the over the shoulder parts as well.

Fixed camera or over the shoulder could work for Metroid....not with the baggage of crap that Other M would bring but it definitely could work.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

Unpopular opinion, but I liked some aspects of Other M. I loved Samus' physics and the way she moves/controls, and Other M nails the atmospheric elements of horror and isolation despite Samus not technically being alone on the Bottle Ship. The visuals were strong for their time too, especially considering the Wii's limitations.

But yeah, the plot and especially Samus' characterization were all kinds of awful. I like the idea of delving into Samus' past and what makes her tick + hearing her inner thoughts, but Fusion did those things right while Other M just blew it (and that's being kind).

Spoiler

It also didn't help that Other M's plot was, in a general sense, pretty much the exact same as Fusion's in terms of what's going on with the Galactic Federation and what it was trying to do behind the scenes.

 

[Pascal]

The borrow a phrase from Jeff Gerstmann, I don't know you go about fixing Other M other than putting a bullet in it.

and Other M nails the atmospheric elements of horror and isolation despite Samus not technically being alone on the Bottle Ship.

Click to shrink...

It really doesn't though. Not when you're always being interrupted by melodramatic cutscenes with bad writing or awful pixel hunts. I also think that the dark and moody soundtracks of past Metroid games really added to their atmosphere and Other M completely fails in this regard.

 

[ClickyCal']

Is it still considered canon?

Click to shrink...

Yes, but fortunately is essentially irrelevant to the big picture of the series. It's now just this midquel game that won't be touched on again.

 

[Barn]

So this might be a Hot Take but, I think we need to reevaluate when its appropriate to say things like "if you ignore the the story" when the narrative is harmful.

I want to be clear: I DO NOT think people in this thread, or in the past that made such comments are bad people. I think discarding the narrative when game play is "good" is a very common thing in the discourse around games. However this isn't a case where the writing is just poor quality (it is that too though) or the plot doesn't make sense. Samus' entire characterization through cutscenes, dialogue, monologue, everything* reinforces gross, harmful, sexist streotypes and beliefs of how women "should" be.

Click to shrink...

Well said, and certainly a sentiment I agree with.

Metroid: Other M and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 have been my deepest disappointments as a lifelong Nintendo fan -- that's over 30 years. And both for the same reason. The gameplay of both games is fine despite some flaws, both games have nice visuals, both games have things in them that I enjoy. But the narratives and characterizations are so overbearingly misguided and rotten that they transcend beyond "this is a bad story" (which is a thing I sometimes enjoy) into "this is harmful, it's regressive and it's a taint on the entire game." It goes well beyond ignoring flaws; all games have flaws and most flaws aren't harmful, but Other M's narrative is harmful and it's part and parcel of what it is. I'm not looking past it. It's gross and it fucking blows that it's associated with one of the most prominent and powerful (fictional) women in the entire medium.

 

[ThatNerdGUI]

This game was a terrible mess. Nintendo should just do a 2.5D Metroid game and call it a day. 2D Metroid >>>>>>> 3D Metroid

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

The borrow a phrase from Jeff Gerstmann, I don't know you go about fixing Other M other than putting a bullet in it.


It really doesn't though. Not when you're always being interrupted by melodramatic cutscenes with bad writing or awful pixel hunts. I also think that the dark and moody soundtracks of past Metroid games really added to their atmosphere and Other M completely fails in this regard.

Click to shrink...

I agree with you about being interrupted by melodramatic cutscenes and pixel hunts (and I say that as someone who loves melodramatic cutscenes!), but there were indeed some extended sequences of downtime where it was just pure gameplay, and it was during those times that I felt Other M nailed the atmosphere. The soundtrack was definitely forgettable and unremarkable as well, though.

But the hate for Other M in general is just a bit overblown, I think, despite its legitimate and well-documented problems. It's not as though it does literally everything wrong, even if it screws up a lot.

 

[mael]

It's not as though it does literally everything wrong, even if it screws up a lot.

Click to shrink...

It really depends on expectations really.
I mean we were sold this sequel to Super Metroid and re imagining of "like Metroid 1 but for the current generation" through interviews and marketing.
We got none of that.
Xenoblade 2 for all its flaws at least was pretty upfront about what it was.
If you take it as a Metroid game, it fails at nearly ALL levels.
Nothing in the game manages to provide a good experience, multiple systems actually harm the experience and some render other systems obsolete.
In a way I think it actually benefitted from its story being so offensively bad as it made its gameplay more palatable in some ways.
IMO you would need to do deep cuts and tweaks to the gameplay to make it decent, the foundation is here but messed up in so many ways.