Metroid: Other M - The CAG Thread

I'm pretty sure there's some deviation from that later (not sure about that). Also, Metroid Prime's "abilitease" was pretty stupid too.
 
Eh, I've never played a Metroid game I didn't absolutely love. Metroid is the only videogame franchise I have blind faith with. I'll pick it up ASAP, reviews be damned!
 
I don't take much stock in review scores, but from what I've read in the reviews themselves, there's a high probability of me enjoying the hell out of this game. I look forward to picking this up on Tuesday.
 
A buddy of mine managed to get it early, and we played the first hour or so. The first thing I noticed is that the controls are definitely going to take some time to get used to. Using the d-pad to navigate a 3d game isn't ideal whatsoever. Although, the auto aiming does its job pretty damn well so it isn't too bad. It works so well, you can run through a corridor and spam the shooting button and pretty much take care of every enemy easily. And about shooting, I wished the lock-on aiming in FP view would allow you to shoot regular shots. For whatever reason, it would only allow missiles. Granted you essentially have unlimited ammo for standard missiles, but still, it would've been nice if they included it. And yeah, like shipwreck said, switching from 3rd person to first is instantaneous. No bad comments from me on that regard.

That said, I'll still be picking it up. I love me some Metroid. :D

[quote name='Lone_Prodigy']-finding hidden stuff: "it’s not quite exploration as much as it is “poking around a room to find a ledge or hole.”" (pray tell what the definition of exploration is then: Prime had everything mapped out too, it's just a matter of getting there)[/QUOTE]

I can see what they mean. When you complete a room of enemies, a dot on the map appears telling you where items, if any, are located. Its a hell of a lot easier than the audio cue you get in the MP games.
 
[quote name='eddie291']A buddy of mine managed to get it early, and we played the first hour or so. The first thing I noticed is that the controls are definitely going to take some time to get used to. Using the d-pad to navigate a 3d game isn't ideal whatsoever. Although, the auto aiming does its job pretty damn well so it isn't too bad. It works so well, you can run through a corridor and spam the shooting button and pretty much take care of every enemy easily. And about shooting, I wished the lock-on aiming in FP view would allow you to shoot regular shots. For whatever reason, it would only allow missiles. Granted you essentially have unlimited ammo for standard missiles, but still, it would've been nice if they included it. And yeah, like shipwreck said, switching from 3rd person to first is instantaneous. No bad comments from me on that regard.


I can see what they mean. When you complete a room of enemies, a dot on the map appears telling you where items, if any, are located. Its a hell of a lot easier than the audio cue you get in the MP games.[/QUOTE]


I have to agree, I was able to get this game early. My Wii is modded (not braging) and it takes alittle bit to get us to, its kinda like the other Metroids but different in ways. I have all the Metroids for the Wii and in my own view this is one of the best ones they've come out with. I would def advise anyone who is a metroid fan to go out and play/buy this.
 
[quote name='OneSickFX']I have to agree, I was able to get this game early. My Wii is modded (not braging) and it takes alittle bit to get us to, its kinda like the other Metroids but different in ways. I have all the Metroids for the Wii and in my own view this is one of the best ones they've come out with. I would def advise anyone who is a metroid fan to go out and play/buy this.[/QUOTE]

I don't want to be "That guy" but you might want to post a picture of your game's disc before people get suspicious.
 
[quote name='jaredstorm']You gotta know, Abby Heppe is an idiot. Just watch the 'Feedback' podcast.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but the person who does the review on the show isn't always the one who wrote it. Not sure if this was on the site or the show, so that may or may not pertain to this discussion.

KingBroly, it's probably a burned copy. if it was a legitimate retail copy, he wouldn't need a modded system.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Yes, but the person who does the review on the show isn't always the one who wrote it. Not sure if this was on the site or the show, so that may or may not pertain to this discussion.[/QUOTE]

Abby is the one who wrote the review. And she had to make 2 videos to justify her review. Pff, very lame
 
I'm providing a chance for him to show his game in-hand. It's fair.

Another thing on G4 is they had another 15 minute discussion video about how terrible the game was. I didn't see it, but from what I've gathered it's just as terrible, if not more terrible than the review video. But I'm not going to give it the time of day anymore. When you respond to critics of a review, especially without some sort of demeanor, you lose all credibility you think you had.

EDIT: Wait, it was 2? I thought it was just one.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']I don't want to be "That guy" but you might want to post a picture of your game's disc before people get suspicious.[/QUOTE]


No disc dude (Metroid.Other.M.NTSC.WII-XB3), Imma be honest. Modded Wii's are def FTW. Wii to me is kinda a joke in ways. not gonna spend money on "Kids" games. Sorry to say. But like I said before its def worth buy/rent for people who dont have there Wii's Modded. Not trying to start no arguements/brag/beef, just wanted to say that ive played it for a few days and I think better then the other Metroids in my opinion. If your a Metroid fan, its def worth it!
 
It is most definitely not "FTW" here on CAG, though. Please cease all discussion of modding, especially as a means to pirate games. Well, you won't have a choice for a week, anyway.
 
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[quote name='OneSickFX']No disc dude (Metroid.Other.M.NTSC.WII-XB3), Imma be honest. Modded Wii's are def FTW. Wii to me is kinda a joke in ways. not gonna spend money on "Kids" games. Sorry to say. But like I said before its def worth buy/rent for people who dont have there Wii's Modded. Not trying to start no arguements/brag/beef, just wanted to say that ive played it for a few days and I think better then the other Metroids in my opinion. If your a Metroid fan, its def worth it![/QUOTE]

Won't work quite as well, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEIzyhu5txE
 
The reviews are somewhat mixed, though plenty of outlets are giving it a perfectly solid 8/8.5. I will say G4 lost any and all credibility when they dropped most of their gamer-centric programming for crap like Cops 2.0. Even Attack of the Show has gotten pretty unbearable. I plan on getting it.
 
This is one STRANGE game. It seems like there's a handful of reviews in each camp. Good/Bad controls, good/bad cutscenes, character development, etc. They pretty much all contradict one another in one form or another. I honestly don't think I've seen anything like it before.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']This is one STRANGE game. It seems like there's a handful of reviews in each camp. Good/Bad controls, good/bad cutscenes, character development, etc. They pretty much all contradict one another in one form or another. I honestly don't think I've seen anything like it before.[/QUOTE]
Weird. It's almost like people can have different opinions.
 
In almost all reviews, there almost always seems to be a set consensus on what excels and what doesn't. They won't matchup perfectly all the time, but 99% of the time it's X, Y and Z are terrible and A, B and C are good/great/okay. You're not really seeing that here.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']This is one STRANGE game. It seems like there's a handful of reviews in each camp. Good/Bad controls, good/bad cutscenes, character development, etc. They pretty much all contradict one another in one form or another. I honestly don't think I've seen anything like it before.[/QUOTE]


There is definite weirdness. One of the podcasts I listen to is Weekend Confirmed with Garnett Lee. They talked about it on the Friday show and they brought up the awkwardness that I was talking about before when switching between holding the control like a NES controller and like a pointer.

I believe it was Jeff Canata (not sure if I spelled it right) that had some difficulty aiming with the pointer when you switched back and forth because he found it difficult to reacquire the location of the pointer on the screen when you had to switch back and forth. However, his experience like Ship's was that the transition occurred instantaneously it just seemed like he had difficulty quickly locating where the pointer popped up on screen and reorienting himself. For me, this wouldn't be a technical issue, just one of needing some practice to adjust.

In contrast, Garnett complained of actual technical difficulties with the game similar to what I had on Super Paper Mario where he had difficulties getting the machine to accurately make the transition. His description indicated that it would quickly flash to first person and then flash back to third person while the Wiimote tried to zero in on the sensor bar. However, the fact that Ship and other reviewers had no issues makes me wonder if there are environmental issues at work that caused my (and Garnett's problems) such as my sensor bar placement, the lighting in my room, or particular IR signatures of surrounding devices in my entertainment center and the TV itself somehow confusing the Wiimote's acquisition of the two IR lights in the sensor bar.

I know in my case that the simple option of going the Muramasa/Okami route of allowing the nunchuck for movement would go a long way towards ameliorating the issue, as my Wiimote would always be generally pointing at the sensor bar even when in 3rd person mode easing the hardware's acquisition process when the switch was made. (I'm assuming "C" or "Z" could then be used to trigger the transition to 1st person.)


A lot of the other points of disagreement in the reviews seem to rely on your particular tolerance for Japanese characterizations, Japanese artstyles, and comfort with using the Wii remote. At many sites there is a guy who generally is ok with Wii controls and gets most of the Wii reviews handed off to him. It must be pointed out that this is a Wii game series that cross appeals to other gamers/reviewers that generally don't like Wii controls and the reviews for this game have not all been handed off. (i.e. those people who like the core Nintendo franchises, bought the Wii at launch for them, and have generally complained about the dust on their Wii since then)
 
[quote name='Jasonofindy']A lot of the other points of disagreement in the reviews seem to rely on your particular tolerance for Japanese characterizations, Japanese artstyles, and comfort with using the Wii remote.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say "Japanese characterizations" necessarily, as for example I watch a decent amount of anime and am used to the characterization quirks, and yet I'm one of the people who finds it offensive how they've turned Samus into a submissive child.

Instead, I would say one point of disagreement in reviews depends on the gender of the reviewer, as most women and some guys are similarly put off, while most of the people defending this supposed realistic emotional portrayal of a woman (written by a bunch of guys) are guys.
 
I haven't seen for myself why people are saying she is a "submissive child", but I'll give my opinion on that once I see it. I'd like some proper context to go on, you know? I'm not saying it's not there, but I've been given the impression that she agrees to join Adam's mission and to follow his instructions for whatever reason, which COULD make sense. But does that automatically make her submissive? I would say no, but I'd like to see what reasoning they put in there.

In Fusion she followed the orders of a fucking AI, and people don't think that was submissive for whatever reason.

Oh, and one more positive review from a magazine I've never heard of: 4.5/5 from D-Pad Magazine. He says there's no other modes past the main adventure, but I'm guessing he means past the main mode (AKA no multiplayer)
 
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I was assuming that this game was going to be awful, since it seemed like it wasn't going to be very Metroid-like, however, the reviews have calmed my concerns about the game, which is why I ordered it from Amazon last night. There is one thing though that I'm still worried about, and hopefully it doesn't have a detrimental effect on me: the writing, specifically the dialog, seems terrible. If you watch the Gametrailers review, then you'll hear some of the lines of dialog that I'm referencing. It might just be a bad translation from Japanese to English, but that's still no excuse for the nonsensical English dialog that Samus speaks. Also, Samus' English voice actor sounds bad, which doesn't help.
 
My biggest complaint is the pronunciation in the trailer. I've always pronounced 'Aran' as 'uh-ran' as in 'he ran down the street'. Saying it like Aaron is just weird. Even worse, though, is Zebes. I've always thought it was pronounced 'Zeebs', not Zeb-Us'. Am I alone in this?

That aside I can't wait for it to come... I think my copy is going to show up while my girlfriend is visiting, though, so I'll likely have to delay playing it for a couple of days.
 
[quote name='johnnypark']My biggest complaint is the pronunciation in the trailer. I've always pronounced 'Aran' as 'uh-ran' as in 'he ran down the street'. Saying it like Aaron is just weird. Even worse, though, is Zebes. I've always thought it was pronounced 'Zeebs', not Zeb-Us'. Am I alone in this?

That aside I can't wait for it to come... I think my copy is going to show up while my girlfriend is visiting, though, so I'll likely have to delay playing it for a couple of days.[/QUOTE]

You're not, but you're certainly not in the majority. I've always said it as Erin and Zeb-us. Although the first game it's actually Zebeth, but that's for another argument. How would you say that anyway?
 
[quote name='KingBroly']You're not, but you're certainly not in the majority. I've always said it as Erin and Zeb-us. Although the first game it's actually Zebeth, but that's for another argument. How would you say that anyway?[/QUOTE]

Zebeth, eh? I assume like 'Zeb-eth', similar to 'Zeb-us'. Unless the emphasis is on the 1st syllable, as in 'Zee-beth' but that sounds kinda silly.

How did you arrive at the conclusion that 'Zebes' is 'Zeb-Us' since it's never been pronounced in-game? Aran/Aaron I can see... in fact I recall Aran Ryan in Punch-Out being pronounced the same way. I wonder if the spelling has more to do with a poor transliteration of the original pronunciation in Japenese, because phonetically I feel like 'Zeb-us' is just wrong. I realize it's of little concern now, since it's in-game and it's going to stay that way.
 
I arrived at Zeb-Us because it's "Zebeth" in the demo text of the original Metroid. I actually forgot about that part until a couple of months ago. It left an imprint on me I guess.
 
I thought "zeeb-us" but as far as Aran I thought it was "uh-rahn" like Iran or something. Maybe that sounded more spacey to me.
 
[quote name='Cheapskate']I wouldn't say "Japanese characterizations" necessarily, as for example I watch a decent amount of anime and am used to the characterization quirks, and yet I'm one of the people who finds it offensive how they've turned Samus into a submissive child.

Instead, I would say one point of disagreement in reviews depends on the gender of the reviewer, as most women and some guys are similarly put off, while most of the people defending this supposed realistic emotional portrayal of a woman (written by a bunch of guys) are guys.[/QUOTE]

Wait, are there really people upset about the emotional portrayal of a videogame character that curls up into a ball and shoots space bugs with a blaster?
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Wait, are there really people upset about the emotional portrayal of a videogame character that curls up into a ball and shoots space bugs with a blaster?[/QUOTE]

You should see the video/written review G4 has. If you can make sense of it.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']You should see the video/written review G4 has. If you can make sense of it.[/QUOTE]

Just read the first few paragraphs of it now. I don't need to read the rest. That's not a videogame review, that's some crazy rant.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Just read the first few paragraphs of it now. I don't need to read the rest. That's not a videogame review, that's some crazy rant.[/QUOTE]

Well, most of the negative response for the game thus far has stemmed mainly from that one rant, whether or not if people have the game.
 
I just want Tuesday to get here already so I can do this.

Side-note: I can't believe people are taking what G4's Abby Heppe said to heart. They are seriously idiotic over there.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Well, most of the negative response for the game thus far has stemmed mainly from that one rant, whether or not if people have the game.[/QUOTE]

G4's review isn't the only one bringing up these criticisms, it was just the only one to do it with an angry tone. Game Informer's review makes all the same complaints, just in a more restrained manner:

"Although you supposedly begin Other M fully-powered, Samus will not use her variety of missiles, advanced guns, or armor upgrades until Malkovich authorizes it. I refuse to believe that a badass bounty hunter would refuse to activate her armor’s heat-resistant Varia suit as she marches through the heart of a volcano with her health constantly draining -- an actual scenario from the game."
 
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Wow, G4 tore this game apart. I'm wondering if they even played the same game as Shipwreck?

The story critiques could be valid, especially the complaints of sexism and weakness for a character that's always been portrayed as a bad-ass, take-no-shit from anyone. But even if the other reviews voiced that complaint, it doesn't sound like the rest of the game is deserving of the 2/5 G4 gave it.

Most importantly... I'll decide for myself later this week =)

[quote name='Cheapskate']"Although you supposedly begin Other M fully-powered, Samus will not use her variety of missiles, advanced guns, or armor upgrades until Malkovich authorizes it. I refuse to believe that a badass bounty hunter would refuse to activate her armor’s heat-resistant Varia suit as she marches through the heart of a volcano with her health constantly draining -- an actual scenario from the game."[/QUOTE]

Yeah. That's fucking stupid, but it's not terribly different than the way Metroid Fusion was designed, and even then Adam (as an AI) is telling her where to go and what to do.
 
If your a true fan of Metroid and most of all Samus then the game is awesome. Playing it now and has taken up most of my weekend. Very few reviewers do I trust especially G4. Gametrailers.com has always hit the mark with reviews better then G4 I think ever will.

NO not pirated, buddy of mine owns his own gamestore and distribution house shipment came in on Friday.
 
[quote name='Cheapskate']G4's review isn't the only one bringing up these criticisms, it was just the only one to do it with an angry tone. Game Informer's review makes all the same complaints, just in a more restrained manner:

"Although you supposedly begin Other M fully-powered, Samus will not use her variety of missiles, advanced guns, or armor upgrades until Malkovich authorizes it. I refuse to believe that a badass bounty hunter would refuse to activate her armor’s heat-resistant Varia suit as she marches through the heart of a volcano with her health constantly draining -- an actual scenario from the game."
[/QUOTE]

I know that part is stupid, but I'm still waiting to see/hear what the initial context is in regards to her agreeing to Adam's terms.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Wait, are there really people upset about the emotional portrayal of a videogame character that curls up into a ball and shoots space bugs with a blaster?[/QUOTE]

Wait, are you saying you don't consider videogames a storytelling medium, and that anyone who analyzes a videogame story in the same manner that they would a book or film is being silly?
 
[quote name='Cheapskate']Wait, are you saying you don't consider videogames a storytelling medium, and that anyone who analyzes a videogame story in the same manner that they would a book or film is being silly?[/QUOTE]

I think he's saying that its hard to take Samus seriously, but I'll let him speak for himself.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']I know that part is stupid, but I'm still waiting to see/hear what the initial context is in regards to her agreeing to Adam's terms.[/QUOTE]
She considers that captain guy to be the closest thing to a father she ever had. So there's your reasoning.

[quote name='shipwreck']Wait, are there really people upset about the emotional portrayal of a videogame character that curls up into a ball and shoots space bugs with a blaster?[/QUOTE]
Nothing wrong with that criticism IMO. The game takes an unprecedented look(for a Metroid game) into the Metroid universe(Samus, what makes her tick, her missions, etc.). So its perfectly fair to complain about such things.

Personally, I didn't see such a thing when I played(and there's a lot of character exposition in the first hour). But I can see what they meant after reading some thoughts.
 
[quote name='eddie291']She considers that captain guy to be the closest thing to a father she ever had. So there's your reasoning. [/QUOTE]

I know, I've read the manga. Is it in the game though?
 
[quote name='jaredstorm']I think he's saying that its hard to take Samus seriously, but I'll let him speak for himself.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't blame you for having a hard time taking the character in Other M seriously...but I wouldn't say ia character that curls up into a ball and shoots space bugs with a blaster is any more difficult to take seriously than, say, a guy who dresses up in a bat costume to fight a clowns and scarecrows, for example.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']I know, I've read the manga. Is it in the game though?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, its in a flashback cutscene in the game. I didn't even know there was manga about the series anyways.
 
Yes, and I think it's a pretty good read, well as far as manga goes anyway. I don't know if I can share a link to it or not though. I don't want to get in trouble. Although if you search google for it, you'll probably find it very quickly.
 
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Here's the deal.

The "Man" she takes orders from is her former commanding officer in the Galactic Federation. He's also very much a father figure to her. She agrees to follow his orders since the game takes place on a Galactic Federation vessel and she is helping a squad from the Galactic Federation with their mission. There's also another "Man" in the squad that she's friends with. If she doesn't follow orders, she gets kicked from the mission.

Honestly, I say that it's silly how she doesn't use her powers in my review as well. I just point out that it's equally as silly that in past games her powers are stripped away (often times inexplicably) and coincidentally are scattered about planets she's never visited before in locations that are convenient for her to continue to progress through the environments. Metroid: Other M has the same convoluted game structure all Metroids do. They've just incorporated a melodramatic story this time around.

And, no, I don't take Samus serious as a character. She's a cool medium in which a successful game structure is centered around. Prior to this game, she hasn't been much beyond an emotionless space-robot-person... that you get to see in her panties if you beat Metroid II.
 
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Shipwreck, I thank you for providing that information.

Oh, and Edge got their review out for this game: Such a terrible score
8/10
For comparison's sake, Corruption got a 7.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']And, no, I don't take Samus serious as a character. She's a cool medium in which a successful game structure is centered around. Prior to this game, she hasn't been much beyond an emotionless space-robot-person... that you get to see in her panties if you beat Metroid II.[/QUOTE]

That's fine if you don't take Samus serious as a character. But just to explain why it's a big deal to some people: for female gamers who enjoy action/adventure rather than ponies and pink and what have you, there are very very few great female action heroes. Samus was the very first female videogame action hero, and has remained one of the least sexualized (even despite various speed run endings that show her in swimsuit or underwear), so she's become an icon to female gamers. You might not be able to understand or imagine what it's like having so few action characters you can identify with, because there are literally too many male videogame action characters to count, but that is what sparks the sort of rage you saw from Abby Hebbe and Morgan Webb.

Yes, the manner in which she's always losing her special items so that you can search for them again is always a bit contrived. But in previous games, it was done in a way that was silly but that could be ignored. In this case, not only does it change things from a "cool, I found a new item!" reaction to a "about damn time, you bastard!" reaction...but for many female gamers, "do what Daddy says, even if it doesn't make sense" comes off as a tad offensive. It would be like a Splinter Cell game where you're required to be stealthy instead of run-and-gun not because anything in the scenario requires it, but because a Mother-like figure to Sam Fisher tells him she wants him to.

It probably doesn't help that I'm also keenly aware of how behind the times Japan is when it comes to attitudes for women -- for example, you'd never hear about a company in the US telling an employee accusing someone of sexual harassment to "take care of it yourself," yet that's exactly what Tecmo did when a particular Team Ninja employee was accused a few years back -- so I'm able to recognize the cultural sentiment these ideas are coming out of.
 
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[quote name='shipwreck']Here's the deal.

The "Man" she takes orders from is her former commanding officer in the Galactic Federation. He's also very much a father figure to her. She agrees to follow his orders since the game takes place on a Galactic Federation vessel and she is helping a squad from the Galactic Federation with their mission. There's also another "Man" in the squad that she's friends with. If she doesn't follow orders, she gets kicked from the mission.

Honestly, I say that it's silly how she doesn't use her powers in my review as well. I just point out that it's equally as silly that in past games her powers are stripped away (often times inexplicably) and coincidentally are scattered about planets she's never visited before in locations that are convenient for her to continue to progress through the environments. Metroid: Other M has the same convoluted game structure all Metroids do. They've just incorporated a melodramatic story this time around.

And, no, I don't take Samus serious as a character. She's a cool medium in which a successful game structure is centered around. Prior to this game, she hasn't been much beyond an emotionless space-robot-person... that you get to see in her panties if you beat Metroid II.
[/QUOTE]

To be fair, the manga did a decent job explaining how her power-ups are scattered all over the place, at least for Metroid (with a little of this touched on in Zero Mission) and Super Metroid. Samus was supposedly orphaned and raised by the Chozo, the original inhabitants of Planet Zebes, and her power suit is of Chozo origin. So, all the tunnels that only her morph ball can pass through, and weapons being outfitted for her suit being placed throughout Zebes makes a lot of sense.

Now, when it comes to SR388 and the Prime series, well... I don't know what to tell you.
 
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