I found a video that kinda made an interesting point on Metroid:OM... And one that the biggest problem may have been cultral diffrences/translation that messed up some of the things.
Sorry, bro. One thing I do like about this particular analysis, is how the person examined the story structure, and how the structure itself destroyed the integrity of Samus as a character. It's not the typical fan ranting that, while understandable, contributes little. For example- In a flashback we see how Samus wanted to save Ian, Adam's brother, but was ignored. The scene ends with Samus unable to do anything and Ian dies (all the while Adam ignoring her pleas to let her try to save him). In the present, a similar situation arises, and again Samus wants to fling herself into a fatal situation. The structure of the story shows that she hasn't grown any. She acts exactly the same now as she did in the flashback. And in both instances, the decision is made by Adam, who likewise takes the responsibility for his actions with no regard for her opinion on the matter. In this way, Adam is given more agency as a character, while Samus is given less. Choices are taken out of her hands routinely throughout the story. The more times that other people come in to take charge of the situation, the more times her agency is reduced. Like at the end, where she's about to shoot MB, but the GF guys storm the place and take control of the situation. The choice to end MB's life (or not) and the weight of that choice are taken away from Samus. She no longer has to make that decision. She no longer has agency as a character in that moment. That kind of analysis intrigues me. It's like, even if all instances of Samus saying "The baby," were taken out and her meltdown in front of Ridley were taken out, the structure of the story itself strips her of her integrity. The story effectively reduces her to a supporting character in her own game, making Adam the true protagonist instead. (I'm paraphrasing the analysis btw) Oh yeah, and it totally destroys the notion that Samus suffers from PTSD.
Well there's that and the fact that Sakamoto simply isn't a good writer. Or voice director, for that matter. Which is sad. He had good intentions going in, based on interviews. But he didn't have any other writers on board with him--no one to make adjustments, no one to veto bad ideas, no one to just plain make the story work. What he wrote felt like a rough draft, and I guess he figured that was good enough. Spoilers, it wasn't. I really like the ideas that were presented, just not the way they were used. A lot of potential in the story and it went to waste because he couldn't just let some other people work on the writing... Interesting analysis. Never really thought about those aspects of the story. Nice that for once it wasn't the standard ranting and beating of a dead horse that I normally see.
Korval (the author of the analysis) also gave us this gem. "I want you to remember this picture every time someone tells you that this game is subtle."
Honestly I thought the gameplay wasn't that bad. The story? Yes. But the new take on the game itself was pretty decent, especially boss battles.
From what I've seen, the "pixel hunt" bits (especially the last one!) are total bullshit as you don't even know what you're looking for most of the time.
Plus controlling with the wii-mote made the game difficult to control and limited our inputs and moves.
I quite enjoyed playing Other M, not quite as much as Prime or the "main" series's play styles but I wouldn't mind another game that played similarly to Other M. Not respawning all the way back at a save point is a godsend. And, as fanwanky as they were, the bosses were fun. Mostly. But there are some supremely bullshit aspects: - not giving you any hint of what you're supposed to look for in those "pixel hunts"; I don't need the relevant object to glow or have an exclamation mark on it or anything, but if I'm supposed to find out who owns a space ship please tell me that when I'm looking at an entire docking bay (especially when this happens at the very beginning of the game!) - not giving you any hint of how to defeat the Metroid Queen; nothing alerts you to the fact that you've recovered an attack you haven't been able to use since the tutorial (Queenie's basically the final boss), meanwhile you're being digested so you're not in a experimental mood - doors locking on you preventing the whole "re-explore past levels with new gear" thing that makes Metroid Metroid. Especially annoying post-story; there are only 2 locked doors but they force you to take an asininely long detour throughout basically the entire ship
Yeah, a Nunchuk control option would have been nice. Than maybe Samus wouldn't have been stationary in First Person Mode.
The stationary part in first person was really the only thing I didn't like about the gameplay. I died a few times while strenuously switching back and forth.
Every time I hear about Metroid: Other M, I always refer back to the Zero Punctuation awards of 2010 description of it: To be up front, as a non-Wii owner, I've never played it but everything I hear about it doesn't sell it to me.
Yeah, okay, the writing is pretty bad, but...Well, that has got to be the biggest exaggeration of the problems I've seen. Seriously, the way people act about this game they seem to think Samus screamed in horror and broke down at everything, even though there only two scenes featuring any sort of simpering and breaking down (those being the Ridley Scene and the Sector Zero Scene). The rest was just poorly written monologues and badly handled flashbacks. I know that still doesn't speak very well for the game, but still. I played the game and there's an awful lot of exaggeration in that statement.
Exaggeration for comic effect is his thing; aside from Ride to Hell: Retribution, I always take into account the rule of funny when watching these reviews. Metroid Other M | Zero Punctuation Video Gallery | The Escapist Here's his full review if its of interest.
He's funny when you first find out about him and are new to the whole "angry reviewer" trope but it becomes boring later.
The general rule of zero punctuation is that he's funny when he's talking about a game you don't like or don't care about but annoying when it's something you DO like. He never really has persistent reasoning to his critiquing, so I assume he really is just trying to be funny. As for the game, the story arc with Samus as a character was bad, and the reasoning behind her holding back on her powers was just kind of senseless and lame. Overall though, I still enjoyed exploring and finding secrets just like any Metroid game. It's maybe the worst of the series, but you're talking about a triple A series IMO.
The story was ass, gameplay was good reflex based combat with light navigation puzzles. If this game was a new IP and most of it was kept in tact, I think people would have liked it more.
