Metroid: Other M
Game » consists of 8 releases. Released Aug 31, 2010
Set between the events of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, Other M follows Samus Aran on a rescue mission to a derelict ship in deep space where she encounters her former commanding officer and a whole host of old and new trouble.
Nintendo trying to figure out what went wrong
They let Team Ninja write a video game story.
Because even though I am interested in the game, Nintendo has alienated me to the extent that I don't even look at the Wii or DS sections when I walk into a game store. I'm assuming that this applies to most of Metroid's audience.
" @MisterChief said:Who wrote it? From what I've heard the main complaints lie with the story." They let Team Ninja write a video game story. "Uh...no they didn't. "
Inb4womenjokes.
" @KingBroly said:" @MisterChief said:Who wrote it? From what I've heard the main complaints lie with the story. "" They let Team Ninja write a video game story. "Uh...no they didn't. "
The story was conceived by Metroid creator Yoshio Sakamoto. Scripting and cutscenes were all handled by D-Rockets, the comany which did all of the work on the game's narrative presentation. Team Ninja only worked directly on the gameplay aspects of Other M.
And I never found anything dreadfully wrong with the game or its story. It's disappointing that it didn't sell gangbusters because I think it really does deserve it. And the user comments attached to that Kotaku article are all over the damn place. Outside of the relatively few, calm posts that either give reasoned critique of the game's faults or praises of what the game did right, it's a lot of posts written by people that never had any intent in playing the game, posted to say that they would have bought the game if it wasn't on the Wii, or use absurdist hyperbole in exaggerating what the game did wrong, or making statements that are just completely 100% inaccurate. (There aren't any Metroids in the game? Really, guy? You obviously didn't beat it.)
In short, there are myriad reasons why people either loved or hated the game, but they get lost in the white noise of retarded internet commentary. Other M may not be the best game ever, or even the best Metroid ever, but it's not an abomination of gameplay or presentation. The truth of its quality lies somewhere in the middle, and Nintendo would be foolish to base their analysis on the bleeting herds of internet assholes raging on the internet about it.
Its not because anyone who owns a wii only plays wii bowling?
" The BIG problems with the game is the story and dialog. There are a lot of plot points that go nowhere and are unexplained, sometimes even unapologetic, and the dialog is extremely cheesy at times to the point of Resident Evil on Playstation, maybe even more. "Such as?
Also, if you're comparing the voice acting to the Playstation version of Resident Evil, you haven't played Resident Evil in a long time. You're overreacting and resorting to ridiculous hyperbole.
Almost no exploration/discovery made it nearly exempt from being a Metroidvania styled game. The only thing that did make it one was the "abilities as keys" element, which neither recent Castlevanias have even had.
Lords of Shadow and Castlevania HD are not Metroidvania games and that is why they specifically can be passed on. At least Other M tried.
I loved the gameplay except for the weird photo hunt parts. As for the story it did kind of ruin the mythos behind Samus and made her less of a bad ass kind of like when Wolverine got his memories back and then was in one the worst movies ever made.
I thought Metroid never did well in Japan but was huge in the States so Nintendo and their infinite wisdom handed off development to the very Japanese Team Ninja.
Other M's manner of progression actually isn't all that dissimilar from Metroid Fusion. Like Other M, it restricted where Samus could go at any given time for the purposes of the narrative." Almost no exploration/discovery made it nearly exempt from being a Metroidvania styled game. The only thing that did make it one was the "abilities as keys" element, which neither recent Castlevanias have even had. Lords of Shadow and Castlevania HD are not Metroidvania games and that is why they specifically can be passed on. At least Other M tried. "
@bartok said:
" I loved the gameplay except for the weird photo hunt parts. As for the story it did kind of ruin the mythos behind Samus and made her less of a bad ass kind of like when Wolverine got his memories back and then was in one the worst movies ever made. I thought Metroid never did well in Japan but was huge in the States so Nintendo and their infinite wisdom handed off development to the very Japanese Team Ninja. "
Team Ninja was selected specifically by Yoshio Sakamoto for developing the game because of their action game pedigree. He felt that they were a studio well suited to the type of game he wanted to make. Nationality of the developer was not a consideration.
" @KingBroly said:First off, not the voice acting, the LINES. "I Knew it to be true but I couldn't help but look to my palm for a sign." "Peoples' memories of Metroids and Space Pirates grew nebulous over time...I altered the course of my ship as if this was already part of my flight plan." "The Deleter." Seriously? Seriously? That plot line goes nowhere. Then there's questions about how the old General knew Samus was on the ship and performed "admirably." After that, there's the issue about tying all of the themes together, which isn't done, but could easily be done." The BIG problems with the game is the story and dialog. There are a lot of plot points that go nowhere and are unexplained, sometimes even unapologetic, and the dialog is extremely cheesy at times to the point of Resident Evil on Playstation, maybe even more. "Such as? Also, if you're comparing the voice acting to the Playstation version of Resident Evil, you haven't played Resident Evil in a long time. You're overreacting and resorting to ridiculous hyperbole. "
" @Hailinel said:As clunky as the English dialogue may be, there is nothing, nothing in the game that is as hideously awkward or absurd as the Jill sandwich line or any of the other ineptly translated dialogue that Resident Evil is known for. Once again, you're overreacting." @KingBroly said:First off, not the voice acting, the LINES. "I Knew it to be true but I couldn't help but look to my palm for a sign." "Peoples' memories of Metroids and Space Pirates grew nebulous over time...I altered the course of my ship as if this was already part of my flight plan." "The Deleter." Seriously? Seriously? That plot line goes nowhere. Then there's questions about how the old General knew Samus was on the ship and performed "admirably." After that, there's the issue about tying all of the themes together, which isn't done, but could easily be done. "" The BIG problems with the game is the story and dialog. There are a lot of plot points that go nowhere and are unexplained, sometimes even unapologetic, and the dialog is extremely cheesy at times to the point of Resident Evil on Playstation, maybe even more. "Such as? Also, if you're comparing the voice acting to the Playstation version of Resident Evil, you haven't played Resident Evil in a long time. You're overreacting and resorting to ridiculous hyperbole. "
And the Deleter plotline was resolved. It isn't spelled out in an "Aha!" moment that Phoenix Wright would be proud of. It occurs through the process of elimination that we as the player are to interpret by paying attention to how things play out.
The GF officer likely knew Samus was on board because her ship was in the Bottle Ship's docking bay. She had also found Madeline and MB, effectively performing all of the hard work and allowing him and his men to sweep in and take what they were there for without a fight.
As for the themes, the most dominant theme of the game is motherhood. It's prevalent throughout the story, from Samus's relationship with the baby Metroid to Madeline's relationship with MB to MB's relationship with the research Metroids. In the end, MB spares Madeline and throws her gun to her out of a sense that she still sees Madeline as her mother, even after the pain she thought she had caused her. After MB's death, Madeline still treats MB like a daughter.
As for the themes, the most dominant theme of the game is motherhood. It's prevalent throughout the story, from Samus's relationship with the baby Metroid to Madeline's relationship with MB to MB's relationship with the research Metroids. In the end, MB spares Madeline and throws her gun to her out of a sense that she still sees Madeline as her mother, even after the pain she thought she had caused her. After MB's death, Madeline still treats MB like a daughter.
My biggest problem with the game, from what I saw, really, was the missile thing an how you had to be stationary and the fact that a lot of the shots homed.
" My biggest problem with the game, from what I saw, really, was the missile thing an how you had to be stationary and the fact that a lot of the shots homed. "I have never once understood the "ZOMG why can't I fire missiles and move at the same time?!" argument. The game was designed in such a way that firing missiles from a stationary position is a viable action that doesn't hinder combat. You just need to be sensible and not stand right next to the boss when you're trying to light him up.
I didn't realize anything had gone wrong... The game seemed pretty awesome to me...
" I didn't realize anything had gone wrong... The game seemed pretty awesome to me... "I think the "gone wrong" statement is just Kotaku's wording for the sake of attracting clicks.
@Romination said:
" @Hailinel: I'm thinking that complaint only exists because Prime exists. "
True, though everyone should realize that Other M isn't trying to be a Prime game. It's a different style of game with its own set of gameplay rules.
It actually makes me sad to think of how many Metroid fans out there may have only touched the Prime series and have never so much as touched even the more recent 2D entries like Fusion or Zero Mission.
The game was pretty good, but I feel like it was too damn experimental for most people. It's not really a shooter, not really a pure action game, and not even a strictly Metroid-esque game, even though at the end of the day it is Metroid. Not as good as Prime by any means.
" The game was pretty good, but I feel like it was too damn experimental for most people. It's not really a shooter, not really a pure action game, and not even a strictly Metroid-esque game, even though at the end of the day it is Metroid. Not as good as Prime by any means. "By what criteria do you compare Other M to Prime?
" @KingBroly said:It's bad storytelling, plain and simple. As far as I'm concerned, Other M's main theme should've been REDEMPTION. After inadvertently getting a whole bunch of people killed at the start of Super, Samus now seems to reclaim her lost identity as a hero somehow. Adam then guides her back to that shining city on a hill after telling her that a hero does what is necessary to preserve life." @Hailinel said:As clunky as the English dialogue may be, there is nothing, nothing in the game that is as hideously awkward or absurd as the Jill sandwich line or any of the other ineptly translated dialogue that Resident Evil is known for. Once again, you're overreacting." @KingBroly said:First off, not the voice acting, the LINES. "I Knew it to be true but I couldn't help but look to my palm for a sign." "Peoples' memories of Metroids and Space Pirates grew nebulous over time...I altered the course of my ship as if this was already part of my flight plan." "The Deleter." Seriously? Seriously? That plot line goes nowhere. Then there's questions about how the old General knew Samus was on the ship and performed "admirably." After that, there's the issue about tying all of the themes together, which isn't done, but could easily be done. "" The BIG problems with the game is the story and dialog. There are a lot of plot points that go nowhere and are unexplained, sometimes even unapologetic, and the dialog is extremely cheesy at times to the point of Resident Evil on Playstation, maybe even more. "Such as? Also, if you're comparing the voice acting to the Playstation version of Resident Evil, you haven't played Resident Evil in a long time. You're overreacting and resorting to ridiculous hyperbole. "
And the Deleter plotline was resolved. It isn't spelled out in an "Aha!" moment that Phoenix Wright would be proud of. It occurs through the process of elimination that we as the player are to interpret by paying attention to how things play out.
"The GF officer likely knew Samus was on board because her ship was in the Bottle Ship's docking bay. She had also found Madeline and MB, effectively performing all of the hard work and allowing him and his men to sweep in and take what they were there for without a fight.
As for the themes, the most dominant theme of the game is motherhood. It's prevalent throughout the story, from Samus's relationship with the baby Metroid to Madeline's relationship with MB to MB's relationship with the research Metroids. In the end, MB spares Madeline and throws her gun to her out of a sense that she still sees Madeline as her mother, even after the pain she thought she had caused her. After MB's death, Madeline still treats MB like a daughter.
" @Hailinel: Those 2D ones were great. And the 2D parts of Other M seemed great too, whereas the 3D parts didn't seem bad. I think that a lot of the press' views on the game came off as overly-negative to how they actually felt about it, so it made people reading go "oh so I can skip this then" "True. Brad's review was a positive one, and even he seemed to have trouble succinctly describing how the game played and how it felt to play it. And the preview articles on the internet didn't do it any favors either, given that many of the editors responsible seemed baffled by what they were playing. I remember Jeff's preview had the tone of "I was expecting Metroid Gaiden and what is this?"
@Apathylad said:
" Not this debate again...I'm still confused how people argue that Samus was a strong female character prior to Other M, when most games didn't flesh out much of a persona (like most Nintendo characters). "
Also true. Some people can't seem to separate their imagined perception of what they thought Samus was from the creator's own vision of who she actually is. And when Samus didn't turn out to be the tough-as-nails space warrior that they envisioned, it summoned an internet shitstorm.
" @moelarrycurly said:Atmosphere and gameplay, mostly." The game was pretty good, but I feel like it was too damn experimental for most people. It's not really a shooter, not really a pure action game, and not even a strictly Metroid-esque game, even though at the end of the day it is Metroid. Not as good as Prime by any means. "By what criteria do you compare Other M to Prime? "
The Prime series has undoubtedly some of the greatest atmospheric settings of any series. The landscapes are totally varied, but none seemed arbitrary. The lighting was impeccable, and Retro did a great job of emoting that old Metroid vibe while still delivering a new experience in every way. Sure, the formula got a little stale by 3, but that was still an amazing game by any metric (or at least mine).
The gameplay in the GameCube Primes took a bit of getting used to because of the single-stick first-person control. I still think that it was better than Other M though, which basically involved tapping the d-pad as rapidly as possible in order to dodge everything. My biggest beef with Other M was flipping the Wiimote in order to shoot missiles in first-person. The game should have used the nunchuk, period. Then you could just press a button to go into first person, and it would a smoother experience overall. Out of any of the 3D Metroids, Prime 3 definitely has the best control, but that's mainly due to the use of the Wii as a pointer (and I assume the other Primes play just as well on the Wii too).
Finally, I thought that Other M, while unique, looked ugly compared to the others. Prime 1 and 2 still look really good, and 3 is straight-up gorgeous despite the fact that it's only 480p. I thought that Other M had a lot of aliasing and a bland color scheme. It was still a decent game, but not as good.
Feel free to disagree though. Other M isn't by any means bad, just... different.
After all, if previews get into "WHY ISN'T THIS JUST NINJA GAIDEN" like that, it proves that their other efforts made people think they were only able to do one thing, and were then confused when it wasn't that one thing and weren't able to adjust.
" @Hailinel: Would you say development by Team Ninja hurt it then? After all, if previews get into "WHY ISN'T THIS JUST NINJA GAIDEN" like that, it proves that their other efforts made people think they were only able to do one thing, and were then confused when it wasn't that one thing and weren't able to adjust. "No, I wouldn't say that. I feel that Team Ninja did a fine job. It's just that people went in with preconceived notions of how the game played that turned out to be completely inaccurate. The game plays just fine; if people couldn't adjust to the fact that it isn't Ninja Gaiden or that it isn't Metroid Prime, that's not Team Ninja's fault. If Bungie's next game isn't a first-person shooter, should people necessarily flip the hell out? No, of course not.
@moelarrycurly: Fair enough. Your thoughts on this matter are far more organized and reasoned than many when it comes to this subject.
" @Hailinel said:Why? Samus did nothing to kill the researchers at the Ceres Space Colony. Did she perform an illegal act in transporting the Metroid? Yes, but she didn't mean anything hostile by it. The scientists willingly took on the task of looking after and researching the Metroid, and if the Galactic Federation government really wanted to, they could have prosecuted Samus for her breaking the law then and there, but they chose to look the other way on that matter. The Galactic Federation had the ability to stop the research then and there, and they chose not to." @KingBroly said:It's bad storytelling, plain and simple. As far as I'm concerned, Other M's main theme should've been REDEMPTION. After inadvertently getting a whole bunch of people killed at the start of Super, Samus now seems to reclaim her lost identity as a hero somehow. Adam then guides her back to that shining city on a hill after telling her that a hero does what is necessary to preserve life. "" @Hailinel said:As clunky as the English dialogue may be, there is nothing, nothing in the game that is as hideously awkward or absurd as the Jill sandwich line or any of the other ineptly translated dialogue that Resident Evil is known for. Once again, you're overreacting." @KingBroly said:First off, not the voice acting, the LINES. "I Knew it to be true but I couldn't help but look to my palm for a sign." "Peoples' memories of Metroids and Space Pirates grew nebulous over time...I altered the course of my ship as if this was already part of my flight plan." "The Deleter." Seriously? Seriously? That plot line goes nowhere. Then there's questions about how the old General knew Samus was on the ship and performed "admirably." After that, there's the issue about tying all of the themes together, which isn't done, but could easily be done. "" The BIG problems with the game is the story and dialog. There are a lot of plot points that go nowhere and are unexplained, sometimes even unapologetic, and the dialog is extremely cheesy at times to the point of Resident Evil on Playstation, maybe even more. "Such as? Also, if you're comparing the voice acting to the Playstation version of Resident Evil, you haven't played Resident Evil in a long time. You're overreacting and resorting to ridiculous hyperbole. "
And the Deleter plotline was resolved. It isn't spelled out in an "Aha!" moment that Phoenix Wright would be proud of. It occurs through the process of elimination that we as the player are to interpret by paying attention to how things play out.
"The GF officer likely knew Samus was on board because her ship was in the Bottle Ship's docking bay. She had also found Madeline and MB, effectively performing all of the hard work and allowing him and his men to sweep in and take what they were there for without a fight.
As for the themes, the most dominant theme of the game is motherhood. It's prevalent throughout the story, from Samus's relationship with the baby Metroid to Madeline's relationship with MB to MB's relationship with the research Metroids. In the end, MB spares Madeline and throws her gun to her out of a sense that she still sees Madeline as her mother, even after the pain she thought she had caused her. After MB's death, Madeline still treats MB like a daughter.
There was nothing about her identity as a hero that was lost. We see as much at the start of Other M. She destroyed Mother Brain, stopped the space pirates, and to her knowledge killed Ridley and saw the last Metroid die. Mission complete. The Galactic Federation gave her what she was due for her success, and she moved on with her life. If anything would potentially cause trouble for her, it's the threat of an investigation and possible trials that could result in the aftermath of Fusion, which chronologically takes place after Other M. Samus went against the Galactic Federation's desires in crashing the space station into SR388.
And once again, why? You say it's bad storytelling based on my previous explanation, but you fail to elaborate and only state what you personally felt that the story should have been.
If Yoshiro Whateverthefuck wanted a template for a strong female action hero, he should've looked no farther than Ripley. She was quite feminine, but hot damn if she couldn't stomp bugs like nobodies business.
That said, Japanese culture is incredibly oppressive towards women, so it doesn't surprise me to see Samus as a repressed and submissive person.
" If Yoshiro Whateverthefuck wanted a template for a strong female action hero, he should've looked no farther than Ripley. She was quite feminine, but hot damn if she couldn't stomp bugs like nobodies business. That said, Japanese culture is incredibly oppressive towards women, so it doesn't surprise me to see Samus as a repressed and submissive person. "So emotions = weakness and oppression?
What.
Sakamoto's vision of Samus isn't Ripley. It's Samus. If people playing the games want Samus to be more like Ripley, maybe they should just watch the Alien movies instead.
" @KingWilly said:They don't want Ripley, but that archetype. A strong woman, in other words." If Yoshiro Whateverthefuck wanted a template for a strong female action hero, he should've looked no farther than Ripley. She was quite feminine, but hot damn if she couldn't stomp bugs like nobodies business. That said, Japanese culture is incredibly oppressive towards women, so it doesn't surprise me to see Samus as a repressed and submissive person. "So emotions = weakness and oppression? What. Sakamoto's vision of Samus isn't Ripley. It's Samus. If people playing the games want Samus to be more like Ripley, maybe they should just watch the Alien movies instead. "
Seriously, she had plenty of emotions in those movies, and they made her all the more gripping. Samus in Other M was creepily submissive to a man who was a complete sociopath both in his actions as well as how he treated her. I understand you really like MOM, but come on man, you have to see it.
This is how Other M's script should have been written. They could re-write it that way right now and not change a thing going on in the story and re-release it and it'd explain EVERYTHING.
When you advertise a story-driven Metroid game, you better well make sure the story is good and told well. But since it wasn't...
" Its not because anyone who owns a wii only plays wii bowling? "Wait, it plays more than just bowling? I bought it on the premise that it was the best bowling simulator out there
Okay, I'll just post it in a spoiler tag then.
Metroid: Other M has received a lot of flak and a lot of praise for it’s re-envisioning of iconic bounty hunter Samus Aran. On one side fan believe that the game undermines Samus’ as a courageous hero. Her admiration of Adam (a man of all things, amirite?) and obeying his orders is seen as reinforcing an old stereotype that a woman needs a man and that her infamous freeze up against monster space pirate leader Ridley is a massive character derailment for the once fearless mercenary. On the other side though are those who can now relate to Samus and like the fact that she no longer is just an emotionless killing machine. She has problems like everyone else and so to many she has become less of a mary-sue type character but someone you could actually care for.
As some warning, there will be spoilers in this article. The thing with Ridley seems to be pretty common knowledge by now, same with Adam, but just in case it wasn’t and you don’t want anymore spoiled you have been warned.
Metroid: Other M’s is billed as looking at Samus’ with a new perspective. One of those new perspectives is her relationship with the real Adam Malokovich. Adam was introduced in Metroid Fusion as a computer program named after someone significant to Samus and in Other M, we find out just how significant he is.
The game starts off with Samus’ recapping the ending of Super Metroid where the baby metroid sacrificed itself to protect Samus and give her the power to destroy Mother Brain. When recovering in a Federation base she seems very depressed and many people were stunned at the fact that someone like Samus Aran would be “depressed” over something that should seem trivial to Samus. Even I who enjoyed this new more “tragic” Samus was a bit curious as to why the baby’s death would cause her so much guilt.
After refreshing myself on Samus’ earlier exploits I think I came to a reasonable conclusion. The baby, the events of Super Metroid, and the baby’s death were all her fault and she knows it. Chronologically, every game except Fusion is before Other M in this order: Metroid, the Prime Trilogy, Metroid II: The Return of Samus, then Super Metroid. In the first Metroid game she was ordered to destroy the space pirate’s based on Zebes. In the first two parts of the Prime Trilogy Samus was simply ordered to investigate the planets Tallon IV and Aether and while removing the space pirates and various baddies weren’t explicitly part of the mission eliminating the space pirates is always on the Federation agenda.
Metroid Prime 3: corruption is probably the best example of Samus’ being a stickler for orders. This time she was under the direct orders of the Federation and she followed her orders to the letter. She even included killed her friends and fellow bounty hunters Rundus, Ghor, and Gandrayla for the sake of the overall mission. The ending for the game had Samus silently reflecting on them and show signs of remorse and while people have expressed their dislike for how chatty Samus is in Other M, it becomes pretty easy to imagine the massive monologue Samus was having to herself at that moment.
Metroid II: The Return of Samus is the first game showing Samus violating Federation orders in that it introduces a baby metroid that Samus is unable to kill. This sets up the events of Super Metroid where the baby under Federation care is stolen by Ridley during a space pirate raid. This time she is ordered to retrieve it and the end results include the destruction of the planet she was raised on and the death of the baby metroid she grew attached to who sacrificed itself to save her.Her disobedience had really messed things up and has resulted in a loss of identity. While surely we all consider her to be the great galactic hero, she isn’t so sure. Is she a hero? She obeys orders so that means she is doing what’s “right” but obeying these orders has resulted in the death of friends from Prime and the destruction of Zebes. Is she a villain? Zebes is gone because she disobeyed orders and would have been spared perhaps if she had just killed the baby metroid.By the start of Other M, she is just exiting the competence stage of Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development and is now entering the next stage of “fidelity” stage of identity confusion. Samus knows what she is good at, but is now wondering what should she do with that talent as both sides haven’t proven to be absolutely right.
Here comes Adam Malkovich, a character who Samus explicitly stated she viewed as a father figure (get the Biblical reference?) and provides her with a guiding voice, both figuratively and literally as he gives orders to Samus via the command deck.
When Samus meets up with up with Adam and the rest of platoon 7 ( a holy number for those wanting to play the religious reference drinking game) it becomes clear that subconsciously she feels like she needs to reconnect to her roots in order to find out who she is. To Samus, that means working together with a squad, following the orders of Adam, and no powers unless authorized as that seems to be standard Federation protocol (which quite frankly is the only reason I can think of for Samus not simply turning on her varia suit in the lava sector).
In various flashbacks we discover what Samus was like in her Federation days and she compares herself to what boils down to a spoiled, bratty teenager towards Adam. Acting rebellious in small ways like giving the thumbs down instead of the thumbs up and begging Adam to order her to save Adam’s little brother.Keep in mind that Samus does in fact say “order” as she is fully engrossed in her in “competence” stage and stays there for quite a while. She even mentions that it was bratty of her to try and defy Adam while he stood there making probably the most difficult decision of his life by letting his little brother die in order to save everyone else. That particular event is even implied to be why Samus left the Federation and that from the first game all the way to Other M we are looking at bratty, spoiled Samus and a possible interpretation could be that she is going out of her way to do the “right” things in her various games as an attempt to continue to defy Adam.
By the end, Adam defies the Federation in order to save it. The Federation wanted to use unfreezeable metroids as bioweapons which the vengeful MB was going to unleash to destroy them and Adam foils her plan by sacrificing himself and ridding the universe of metroids…again. Before he does though, he provides the catharsis that Samus needs. He reaffirms her that she is a galactic savior, a hero, a good guy (er…girl, er…person).
At this point, Samus has already abandoned the use of authorization to save the ones she cared about and Adam has proven to her that she doing the right thing isn’t about following orders but it is simply doing what you can to preserve life. Adam was strongly against the use of bioweapons because he felt like it was an exploitation of life and as mentioned, saving his little brother would have endangered the lives he was sent to save which could ended up killing everyone. This sets up for Metroid Fusion where Samus actively works against the Federation who was trying to use the X-parasite and SA-X as a replacement bioweapon for the metroids.
Adam however isn’t the only major significance in Samus’ past. If Adam represented where Samus would be in the future, Ridley of course represents the demons of Samus’ past. When he re-emerges into Samus’ life as the creature that haunts her, he literally appears as a demon walking out of the flames of Hell. Here is where Samus freezes-up.
Samus suffers from a condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder. As Dr. Grohol, a mental health expert stated when asked about the scene in question: “Mental disorders like PTSD are recognized disorders of brain and behavior that have decades worth of research and are based upon thousands of peer-reviewed studies. It is no different than having a disease like diabetes or Parkinson’s.” When asked about why can’t Samus just “get over it” his response was: “One does not simply ‘get over’ a mental disorder because these are not choices we make in the first place. Who would consciously choose to be depressed, or to have PTSD? It’s an absurd argument.”
However some still argue that Samus has fought Ridley before and never suffered this so why now? The answer is quite simple when looking back at Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. In those stages, a person has to choose between either a positive or a negative aspect of each stage and Ridley has represented the negative aspect of each and every stage.
The first stage of development is trust vs. mistrust. When Samus was a child and the space pirates invaded, this is of course in the manga, she went up to Ridley and offered to his friend, not frightened by his appearance. Ridley returned the kindness by killing her parents and implanting her PTSD. It can be reasoned that her Chozo training has taught her to repress it, as contrary to what Dr. Grohol has stated, but we don’t really know the effectiveness of the fictional Chozo training.
The second stage deals with autonomy vs. shame and doubt or asking yourself if you can do something on your own or will you always need people. While Samus did defeat Ridley in the first Metroid game, his constant resurrection is forcing Samus to analyze whether or not she can really defeat him on her own. So far in the Metroid games before Fusion, whenever Samus defeated Ridley, he always came back stronger. In fact, once in Prime 3 and twice in Other M her life is owed to a team mate; Rundus and Anthony Higgs respectively. Again in Prime 3 she even needed the aid of Phazon to defeat Omega Ridley. By the time he is back in Other M, Samus has doubts if she could really defeat Ridley on her own.
By Other M, Samus had thought she had finally defeated him by not only destroying the remnants of the Space Pirates, the one’s responsible for rebuilding Ridley each time, but also blew up the planet with his remains. She could have never thought that the Federation would clone Ridley from tissue splattered on her suit and I think it is safe to assume that Samus’ freeze up was caused by her having let her guard down against the fearsome space pirate leader.
Which leads into stage 3: questioning whether you are good or bad. It is possible to believe that Samus blames herself for the events of Super Metroid. By saving the last baby, she violated orders (which in her own view is bad) and allowed the Federation to start researching them as bioweapons (which is bad in both her’s and Adam’s eyes). Also, to Samus the baby metroid was the last survivor of an attack on its planet and in Samus’ eyes that made her Ridley. Not only that, who of all things should steal the baby metroid? Ridley. Ridley in this case is representative of Samus’ guilt. Whenever Samus seems to mess up, Ridley is there to remind her of it.
Stage 4 of Erikson’s developmental stages deals with questioning whether you are successful or worthless. While Samus is definitely a very competent warrior and bounty hunter, Ridley will forever remain that unchecked mark on her kill list. I think what hit Samus the hardest in Other M was Ridley’s return from Hell even though he has lost his main way of coming back, the space pirates.
The fifth stage, where Samus is currently at in Other M, is asking the question “who am I and where am I going?” As Adam sacrifices himself he tells her that only she can defeat Ridley. Whether or not this is because Samus is the strongest warrior in the galaxy or it is because Ridley is her demon and no one but her can defeat him is up to you, but if one thing is for certain it reaffirmed Samus that she is a hero, someone who is good, and now it was time to put the past behind her.
Sadly, for Samus that day will come for her much later in Metroid Fusion.
So take it as you may, because of Metroid: Other M, many things have been revealed about Samus. I don’t think she is or ever was how some people projected her to be. While she definitely has a lot of positive things going for her that have helped her become iconic in the gaming universe, she did so mostly by keeping quiet and letting the players place her thought in by proxy. Other M finally lets us see who Samus really is as a human being.
I think the realization of Samus’ psychology can also give us insight into ourselves much better than other game characters can. How independent are some of us really? Only doing anything of importance because someone told us to? How many of us try to look like we’re doing “good” because that’s who we are trying to be instead of actually “being good”?
Samus Aran and the Metroid series pushed boundaries by having the first female action hero and so it continues to by offering one of the most down to Earth, human characters in a video game. Whether that is a good thing because it pushes games as a storytelling medium or a bad thing because it takes away some sense of immersion, is entirely up to each person. I however, like this “flawed” Samus over “perfect Samus” any day and would be overjoyed if more games really took a focus in giving us more flawed heroes instead of the pantheon of static heroes who always do the right thing no matter what.
" @Hailinel said:Sociopath? What are you talking about? He's a military officer there on a mission. When officers are in command of a mission, they generally don't act like everyone's best friend. Samus's supposed submissiveness isn't creepy or weird. She agreed, for the purposes of the mission, to obey Galactic Federation protocol in order to assist Adam's team. That means following orders, a concept that isn't alien to her, given her military experience, nor to anyone else that has ever served within a chain of command." @KingWilly said:They don't want Ripley, but that archetype. A strong woman, in other words. Seriously, she had plenty of emotions in those movies, and they made her all the more gripping. Samus in Other M was creepily submissive to a man who was a complete sociopath both in his actions as well as how he treated her. I understand you really like MOM, but come on man, you have to see it. "" If Yoshiro Whateverthefuck wanted a template for a strong female action hero, he should've looked no farther than Ripley. She was quite feminine, but hot damn if she couldn't stomp bugs like nobodies business. That said, Japanese culture is incredibly oppressive towards women, so it doesn't surprise me to see Samus as a repressed and submissive person. "So emotions = weakness and oppression? What. Sakamoto's vision of Samus isn't Ripley. It's Samus. If people playing the games want Samus to be more like Ripley, maybe they should just watch the Alien movies instead. "
Once again, Samus isn't Ripley, or more precisely, the same sort of strong woman as Ripley. She's still a strong woman, but strength comes in different forms for different people, and different people handle their emotions in different ways.
" @KingWilly said:Adam shot Samus in the back. No warning, no reason. Just... blam. Right in the back. He then watched her writhe around on the floor in agony and didn't express any concern or remorse over what he did." @Hailinel said:Sociopath? What are you talking about? He's a military officer there on a mission. When officers are in command of a mission, they generally don't act like everyone's best friend. Samus's supposed submissiveness isn't creepy or weird. She agreed, for the purposes of the mission, to obey Galactic Federation protocol in order to assist Adam's team. That means following orders, a concept that isn't alien to her, given her military experience, nor to anyone else that has ever served within a chain of command. Once again, Samus isn't Ripley, or more precisely, the same sort of strong woman as Ripley. She's still a strong woman, but strength comes in different forms for different people, and different people handle their emotions in different ways. "" @KingWilly said:They don't want Ripley, but that archetype. A strong woman, in other words. Seriously, she had plenty of emotions in those movies, and they made her all the more gripping. Samus in Other M was creepily submissive to a man who was a complete sociopath both in his actions as well as how he treated her. I understand you really like MOM, but come on man, you have to see it. "" If Yoshiro Whateverthefuck wanted a template for a strong female action hero, he should've looked no farther than Ripley. She was quite feminine, but hot damn if she couldn't stomp bugs like nobodies business. That said, Japanese culture is incredibly oppressive towards women, so it doesn't surprise me to see Samus as a repressed and submissive person. "So emotions = weakness and oppression? What. Sakamoto's vision of Samus isn't Ripley. It's Samus. If people playing the games want Samus to be more like Ripley, maybe they should just watch the Alien movies instead. "
You think that makes him cuddly? Or do you think that is SOP in any military (newsflash: it isn't)?
Well outsourcing the game is probally the first thing I have in mind.
Hey guys I heard Hailinel likes Metroid Other M. And if you don't like Metroid Other M, you're wrong.
" Hey guys I heard Hailinel likes Metroid Other M. And if you don't like Metroid Other M, you're wrong. "Hey guys, I heard people are entitled to their opinions, but that doesn't mean that discourse should be discouraged. Also, cry me a river, davidwitten22.
@KingWilly: We didn't see Adam's immediate reaction after shooting Samus. We only see her get knocked out. Adam doesn't appear until after Samus awakens, by which point he's already by her side and waiting for her to regain consciousness. Why did he shoot her? One possibility: He had no way to communicate with her via the Bottle Ship's communication system, and knew that she had been given reason to suspect him as being behind the Metroid project. If he made his presence known, she might have drawn him into a confrontation that would have cost them valuable time.
" @Hailinel said:It's not necessary, but then, why not? At no point does a cast member of Other M stand up and deliver a monologue about the virtues of motherhood in and of itself. The theme makes its presence known through the context of the story, and it's a strong presence." @KingBroly: That's not a rewrite of the story. That's simply another person's interpretation of the events as they exist. Themes don't need to beat you over the head to be present. "Themes shouldn't be beaten into your head. "
" @Hailinel: Nintendo are only concerned with Other M's poor sales performance. You think it's a good game, they know it isn't because the sales are indicative that it isn't a good game. Your fanboy excuses are obviously getting out of hand when you disagree with the company who made the game. "Troll harder. I'm not getting into a fight with your complete lack of logic.
Either way, sales figures in and of themselves are not indicative of quality.
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