Other M was an utter joke. Samus, having Chozo (enlightened alien race) genes, and years of intense mental and physical training for just been able to wear her suit, cannot possibly be as unstable as she's portrayed in the game. Its even implied that she's the strongest bounty hunter in the galaxy. Btw your 3 history of metroid videos were great!
Personally, I'm not against fleshing out Samus' character and show that she is indeed affected by her terrible life, but Other M shows us what happens when you try too hard. Extra Credits went into more details about it, and while I have neither played the game, nor seen cutscenes from it, I think the biggest problem is the mountains of monologue. Personally, the way I would have shown that Samus has been morally shaken from the infant's death, while still giving her a voice, would be making her talk little. Not like Squall's obsession for ellipses, but rather have her be very concise and to the point. Basically, start off by following part of the personality established in Fusion, mainly she takes her duties very seriously, have her be straightforward, but as the plot goes on and the body count starts to raise, then she starts acting more and more strangely, prone volunteering to do the dirty work so the other troopers are more likely to live, and when finally confronted about the way she's been acting, she reveals how she can't take people dying around her so often. Of course, it also take good cinematography and voice acting to pull that off without wandering into super angst territory, but I think that would be a start. About Samus freaking out when seeing Ridley again, I think Samus should have been enraged instead, cause if you think about it, he's single-handedly responsible for the worst events in her entire life.
I still like Other M a lot! I don't feel much problem with the controls, sure it could be improved with the nunchuck, but overall the idea of controling her as its a sidescrolling game, as the older games, it feels quite nice for what it is. Her personality is actually what I've always pictured, being a strong person, but still emotional. I feel like people who complains about "The Baby" situation didn't really saw the connection between Samus and the baby metroid during Super Metroid, and it was a pretty traumatic situation. I feel the Ridley reaction was a little overboard for sure, but I think if it was a case of a real person, she would probably feel that way everytime she sees that god damn thing, I mean, that thing killed her family, so yeah, I understand.
I think you SHOULD be afraid to explore. Things can be dangerous. Even if you are a bad ass bounty hunter, there should be some bad ass lifeforms... or deathforms (like robots and ghosts). The feeling of desolation and isolation... you are alone, and there are dangerous things around. That is a wonderful emotion to experience. When you are exploring Norfairs, you should be terrified! I often waited before I entered the scary places, trying to find as many optional upgrades first. And in Metroid Prime, when the lights goes out in Phendrana... JEEBUS!!! Scary shit! I love it!
Some of the criticisms of Other M aren't even valid. Saying "Samus isn't a normal person, she is the number one bounty hunter" doesn't change the fact that she is human and has the same emotions as anyone else. Making her relatable and emotional does nothing to detract from her strength. People can only be courageous and brave when they are afraid. Emotionally cold does not equal strong. Furthmore,the criticism that she is afraid when facing Ridley even though she has experienced him "a thousand times before" is not a valid criticism. We don't KNOW how she felt in other games. It was the player's emotions that drove the story before, not the plot or cutscenes. According to the story and her past, she had every reason to have an emotional response due to past trauma. It doesn't make her weak. Vulnerable heroes are often the best kind. Other M has a number of problems, but Samus's character isn't one of them.
I can understand that. And I don't mind herhaving emotions at all. Otherwise she won't be interesting and will feel like a robot. It's just that they took it too far. She should be atleast mildly used to fighting monsters like these. I expect her to act brave and strategically think of what is the best way to attack at the same time as she does the actions (eventhough we control her in the games, I am just saying if she was free, as in a movie) and not back abit and make a scared sound. otherwise with all of that wasted time she wouldn't have gone to the top. it is the same as parkour or doing tricks with bikes or skateboards. If you are scared or slow and don't know how to use your body and vehicle, then you will mosly fail. Only the ones who deeply think of how to do it and know how to fully control their body's athletic abilities and speed with almost no fear will become great.
Yes it's true that being Emotionally cold does not equal strong. But Samus is both Emotionally cold AND strong. THATS Her character, and it's what people want to see in Her.
SuperStupidy Completely false, if you have read the comics, you'll know that she is not cold at all. She has strong attachments to people she cares for, she likes cute things and suffers from loneliness and PTSD.
i guess i should continue the series history with this comment and clear up some left out details and others stuff during the N64 era nintendo tried to hire a different studio to make a game for the n64 in 3d, they declined due to the fact they felt they couldnt live up to super and wouldnt handle the pressure of doing so, which sakamoto took as a compliment, after prime 2 retro wanted to step away with from metroid, they pitched DKC returns, and a spin off zelda game that would focus on playing as a shieka durring their genocide, however nintendo wanted the prime series to be a trilogy. retro's concept for prime 3 was quite ambitious, planning it as an openworld game with bounty hunting side quests that would reward u with upgrades. however nintendo's idea of a bounty hunter was very different from how retro saw it (which ties into her saying sakamoto gave them dos and donts with her character) thus they didnt like the bounty hunting side quest idea, nintendo saw her more as a contractor, while retro saw her more like bobba fett. nintendo also didnt think metroid as an open world game would work either. the sole reason prime 3 was delayed was due to the motion control aspect of the wii as retro had some issues implementing them and getting them to work properly. now for the continued history. at e3 2005 Nintendo would show journalists the games to be revealed at their conference the following day, one of which was on the list but ended up as a no show, that being a ds title called metroid dread to which came to a surprise to the NOA staff. this wouldnt stop game informer from putting it on their list of upcoming ds title in their post e3 issue. this left fans confused as they didnt know about this game and couldnt find info on it. the ign co-founder would eventually tell the fans the game was real and to expect it next year. according to sakamoto dread at that time was simply just ideas and design docs that never made it into pre production. however this was never communicated with the public until 2021. then in prime 3 there was an easter egg where a scannable panel read "... metroid project dread is nearing the final stages of completion" followed by another panel saying the project was a failure. this sent the fandom into a frenzy thinking dread was either almost done or cancelled. the was later to be revealed as a coincidence as not only did retro have no knowledge of dread but nintendo was very strict with easter eggs like that and wouldnt have let that slide. in 2008 dread would reset development but this time not as dread but just as a 2d game with only a working title, few were able to see it at e3 2009 and said it looked more like a ds port of fusion. but once again it dropped off the radar and was again shelved. in 2021 sakamoto would reveal this was due to the ds hardware not being powerful enough and too limiting to achieve his vision which was for some over powering foe to constantly stalk samus through out her mission. after other M, sakamoto still wanted to keep 2d metroid going on the 3ds but just couldnt find the right team to do it keeping it in limbo........ during the 3ds era next level games would try and pitch their own 2d game but nintendo would have them do a 1st person co op shooter for the 3ds titled metroid prime federation force which was revealed at e3 2015 and would release the following year. fans went into an uproar due to the fact this was coming after (the grossly overhated) other M and didnt have a traditional game since prime 3 in 2007. fans would go as far as signing a petition to have the game cancelled. the game would release to good reviews but poor sales leaving faith in the franchise bleak. until e3 2017 that is.... in 2016 after over 10 years of development AM2R would be completed to wide spread acclaim being considered one of the best games in the series. it had plans to continue to support and add to the game. however a couple months later the game would receive a Cease and desist from nintendo resulting in the game being removed from the official AM2R website and the cancelation of the future support. this didnt stop fans from picking up where DrM64 left off as they would see through the plans he had for the game and are continuing to support the game today with fixes and extra content being added over the years. DrM64 would be recognized for his hard work by moon studios, known for their metroidvania series, ori. they would offer him a job to work there as a level designer to which he accepted. hes credited as a level designer in their newest game ori and will of the whisps which saw widespread acclaim. enter MercurySteam whose claim to fame was their castelvania reboot series, lords of shadows which saw 2 games on console and 1 spin off on the 3ds mirror of fate. the 2 console games would adopt a more god of war like style and structure while the 3ds game would adopt the more traditional 2d metroivania style. lords of shadows 1 would end up being the highest selling game in the franchise but the the over all reception of the games were luke warm with the other 2 games not seeing the success of the 1st game. in the mid 2010s theyd pitch a 1st person wiiu metroid title with a 3ds companion game. nintendo would shoot this down but this would get the attention of sakamoto. interested that the castlevania studio were interested in making a metroid game he decided to give mirror of fate a shot and was rather impressed. he would meet with the team directly in spain where mercurysteam would pitch a fusion remake to him . sakamoto told them hed be more interested in a remake of metroid 2 as he was not personally involved in that game. the game would be revealed at e3 2017 (along with an announcement trailer for the development of metroid prime 4) and would release in the coming months to acclaim and success. fan reception was mixed however. its enjoys like the added mechanics, emphasis on combat and deeper and more complex bosses, however its descenders feel the new mechanics didnt work as well/were poorly implemented and criticized the lack of exploration and open-endedness and felt it wasnt very faithful the og taking too many liberties and not replicating its atmosphere and tone. in 2019 a reputable leaker would reveal that nintendo were working on a super metroid remake and that metroid prime trilogy was finished on switch and all nintendo had to do was release it. as of writing prime trilogy on switch hasnt been revealed leading to massive speculation on it even being labeled as the the modern day metroid dread. right before e3 2021 a leaker would reveal what Nintendo was gonna cover and show in their presentation. 1 game caught the eyes of fans, a new 2d metroid game. the leaker was right and nintendo revealed metroid 5 at their presentation, but most importantly to alot, it was titled metroid dread. it was revealed by sakamoto that samus returns was a trial run for mercurysteam to see if they were the right pick to continue the series and revive dread. sakamoto made this decision before SR was even finished as getting 100% in it would reveal a hidden chozo memory depicting what looked like a hostile militaristic faction of the chozo that was never established. this was alluding to events that we would see in dread. dread would release in oct 2021 to unprecedented acclaim and success, being nominated for game of the year and out selling prime 1 making it the highest selling game in the series. fan reception was overwhelmingly positive too with fans holding in the same regard as super and prime 1. in early 2019 nintendo would reveal that metroid prime 4 had completely reset development going from Bandai Namco back to retro studios. very little would be mentioned about it again until dread's reveal in 2021 where they specified the game was still in active development. as of writing this that was the last we heard of prime 4 but 2 new recent developments have been made. 1st being the game is using an in house engine from retro themselves, and that amazon has listed the game for preorder with a release date set for sometime in 2023. many are speculating a holiday 2023 release along with the prime trilogy on switch. some are also speculating its gonna be a launch title for either a new enhanced switch pro or a flat out next generation switch/ console.
You say that Prime 3 is a good way for newcomers to get into the series, and you are absolutely right. Prime 3 was the first Metroid game I ever played and I got it back in 2007, and I loved it so much that i got the other two primes, and then I delved into the rest of the series and turned into the mega fan I am today. Thank god for Prime 3 randomly waltzing into my life.
Hi, Patricia. I'm Tim Rickman, an origamist currently designing a model of the space pirate Ridley. Your Metroid videos helped to further inspire me (as well as inform me as I have only played the side scrolling titles.) Can't wait to tell my other video game friends about your channel. Many thanks - Tim
I had the good fortune to interview Tanaka-san about the game's music as he's my first inspiration for writing game music. In addition this has to be my favorite game series. I will probably play any and all Metroid game ever made. Having said all this, this is an awesome, AWESOME retrospective. Thanks so much for doing it! I laughed quite heartily at the humor and learned a lot, when in my ego driven ignorance I thought I knew it all :)
I personally enjoyed other M, yes the upgrading restrictions are a bit dumb, but most fans who complain about this ALSO complains about the metroid prime copout where an explosive accident takes away her powers, and as for people complaining about her new personality where shes been pussied out, EVERY hero/heroin has moments like these, batman has had plenty of vulnerable moments in the animated series, and hes everyone's favorite badass hero, samus should also be allowed to have a moment of vulnerability, and as for the ridley thing, my theory why she got scared was that shes killed ridley so many times and he keeps coming back, maybe suddenly she came to a realization that he may not be killable and that started to give her doubts
The reason why people did not like this "vulnerable" Samus is probably because of the consistency with the timeline. Think about it, Samus has gone through Metroid, The Prime trilogy, Metorid 2, Super metroid and only now do we start seeing her soft side? Like what the hell was up with that. Her interactions with Federation soldiers and most of all Adam showed a lack of respect for the number 1 hunter in the Galaxy. Who, by this game, has defeated mother brain, foiled dark samus (prime series), destroyed every last metroid, and killed mother brain again along with her new officers. Her Confidence in herself was also sorely lacking as well as a fragile emotional state given all of her prior accomplishments and couragous moments. In Prime 3 corruption you were able to see her compassionate side by seeing her remember her fallen comrades and without words you can see ingame how she wanted to avenge them (eg. Ghor boss, you see samus shooting a dark samus echo after the fight). Going back to adam you get to experience what he sort of was like in Fusion. Someone who greatly respected Samus, someone who knew right from wrong (going against federation orders) and finally someone who had a sassy side (calling Samus "Lady"). I am not saying I do not want to get to know this side of Samus, I just felt that making this a prequel to metroid (game or movie) would have been a better choice. I mean, imagine, a much younger Samus' first encounter with Ridely Seeing her break down mid combat or her meeting with a human she views as her equal not in terms of combat prowess but in terms of ones morals and attitude in life (Adam).
jerard po "I just felt that making this a prequel to metroid (game or movie) would have been a better choice." YES. This would have been perfect... like her first mission as an independent hunter... coming up against the Space Pirates for the first time and running into Ridley... barely escaping with her life. THAT would've made perfect sense! Hell, that would've worked as a character arc. Put that encounter at the beginning of the game, have her get saved by her old platoon, and make her work her way up to finally beating Ridley at the end of the game... leaving off with a tip about the Space Pirates finding and experimenting on Metroids on Zebes. Of course, the rest of the weird emotional attachment to Adam should've been cut out entirely, too... and the "Any objections, Lady?" stuff. She's a soldier, not a child. Any military officer should: 1. Know better. 2. Give orders, not ask "Is this okay, guys?". Seriously, what's up with that thumbs up stuff? It should've never been a thing to begin with. 3. Have more respect for those under them. Officers may be hard, but they don't demean their soldiers for the hell of it. If your CO is harping on you, you need to get your ass in gear and pull your load. If that's not the reason, he's just a bad CO with disciplinary action just waiting to happen.
The purple font and the fact that it's been requested a billion times was kind of a giveaway =P Amazing video series for the Metroid franchise! I look forward to the Spyro the Dragon series =D
I thought it was great that you covered EVERYTHING. Most people skip over Hunters and Pinball. As a huge Metroid fan, I really like that you took the time to cover all of it.
Riddle answer: Spyro the dragon. I'm looking forward to it because I loved the Spyro series a lot. This was a good retrospective on Metroid, thanks for sending me the video earlier this year.
I can definitely see why people don't like Other M. However, while the d-pad controls were a little odd at first, once you get used to them, it makes exploration a lot of fun. And the simple button layout made it easier to remember how to preform things like the morph ball and dodge tactics. And the charge shooting was considerably easier than in the Prime Trilogy as all you had to do was hold down the 1 button for five seconds. Samus's voice didn't seem monotonous to me at all. It sounded more like she was making a report to someone rather than just describing the events to the player. The tone she used in her narration of the story was the exact tone that someone would use if they were describing the events to a superior officer or someone of higher power than herself. Her reaction to Ridley was really more surprise to see him, as she had most likely thought she destroyed him in Super Metroid, rather than a fear response. And the authorization of weapons, rather than simply taking away Samus's weapons and then having her find them again, was a much more clever way of doing it. Authorization of weapons gives the player a sense of accomplishment and progress. All in all, I can see why people don't like Other M, but I personally think that, and I know that I will get flamed for saying this, it is the strongest game in the series.
Play Corruption on Hypermode, fight Gandrayda/Mogenar/Dark Samus, then come talk to me about it being an easy game. btw there definitely needs to be a remake of Return of Samus. I think that game deserves more recognition as it explores the Metroid's life cycle and home planet.
Did that. And while I agree that Mogenar was freaking difficult on hypermode difficulty, the rest really wasn't so difficult because I had accumulated so many energy tanks that I could utilize the over powered hypermode frequently.
I hate how Metroid Other M because of how they took a headstrong Samus and pretty much turned her into a whipped woman. Yes, I know they wanted to give her a more humanistic personality, but acting like a silent lovestruck doll for Adam like he's a god or something and freaking out at Riddley's appearance is the wrong way to go about it.
i honestly might have to watch a playthrough of other M considering that ive seen a lot of people call a character 'too whiny' just for not being a stone cold motherfucker. On the other hand, Sakamoto's description of other m's samus gives me the feeling that samus's character was written and portrayed poorly in other M, because of all the comments he made about wanting to make her more attractive and feminine. To begin with, im not quite sure how feminine or masculine someone raised by super advanced space birds could possibly be. In addition to that, i'd say it wouldn't be unrealistic to assume that Sakamoto doesn't understand gender well enough to make a compelling female character, particularly one whose femininity is expressed in their personality or conflicts.
To me, the only thing that need fixing is Samus daddy issues, authorization system, allow use of nunchuck, and a new model for ridley.. Beside all that, I liked the game..
The way Other M treated Samus, wasn't horrible. Samus is a human being. If they added more strength in her and lessing the weak emotion, Samus would be a perfect chatecter. I would crap myself if I saw Ridley though. xD
Tell me you're joking. The problem with Other M isn't if Samus is given "Emotions" or not. It's not a black and white issue. The problem is that Other M's story is fucking awful. All characters do is spout exposition and make illogical choices. Samus in particular comes off like a bastardization of Ripley in Aliens. Ripely has been through some traumatic shit, seeing her crew killed, barely surviving, awakening like 50 plus years to a world where everyone she knew (including her own daughter) and now she's accused of being crazy etc etc Ripley is still a "strong"...Fuck that - a Good Character. As she actually manages to overcome this in the end and accomplish something. Tell me what Samus does in M? Nothing. That's what. She merely drones on about her relationship with Adam and what it means to her etc A prime case of a story that tells when it should fucking show something. In this day in age, with Mass Effect, Half Life, Portal, Bioshock, even other Nintendo Games which all provide good storytelling and characters. Other M is a fucking joke.
CPGamer2908 The problem is that they went way too far out of their way to disempower Samus at every possible turn. There's nothing wrong with writing Samus as vulnerable, but at the same time we as an audience need to believe she's capable. I like to think of Samus as a character like Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise.
Wow...great narrating and a very comprehensive history. I'm a huge Metroid fan and recently I purchased Other M because though the game is mired in controversy, as a Metroid fan, I owe it to myself to experience it for myself and make my own opinions. A new Metroid game in the spirit of the Prime series is the only thing that could get me to buy a WiiU.
No other Nintendo game has more potential to be an awesome dual-screen experience than a Metroid Prime game. I would love looking at a huge and detailed 3D map in real time on the Gamepad screen, or scan the enviroment with it, or choose upgrades to turn on and off, or hack stuff, or read log entries, command the ship.... By the way, the videos were awesome, thank you so much!
My major problem with Other M wasn't Samus's personality (beyond her whole "Ridley" flashback which, like you said, seemed out of place given she's taken him on several times... If anything it should have been more "How many times do I have to kill you before you STAY DEAD?!?") it amounts to me imagining Adam falling asleep while Samus is jumping around like a maniac cause she can't use the OBVIOUS thing she already has that can help keep her alive cause she wasn't "Authorized" to use it... I mean, heck, he could have just sped things up, and not waited until she's half dead.
I really liked Other M and was really glad it wasn't an FPS. I enjoyed the story as well. I didn't feel like it 'destroyed' who Samus was. All in all, highly enjoyable for me. I loved the use of the morph ball in that game. Keep Samus as a platformer, and keep the game in full 3d environments (just work on that lame missile control.) Thanks for these 3 vids. It was fun to go back and reminisce about all the past Metroids!
Yeah, I really would have liked Other M with nunchuck. However, Other M is NOT as bad as a lot people say it is. I think it's a great action game and it got me hooked.
I would recommend a Mega Man History, mainly because that's MY favorite series ever and I love it, but that would span multiple episodes considering the huge amounts of games released XD
I actually appreciate Other M, not for it's gameplay obviously. I miss the first person shooter. But I like it for it's story. Yes, Samus acting surprised to see Ridley seems odd but honestly we never were able to personally understand her emotions before. I get why it wasn't first person now. I think people thought she was always just silent and reserved. But not having her talk in the game wasn't a choice on her personality. It was about how own experience in a shooter game, it's why a lot of main characters in older games specifically don't talk. So the fans can project their selves onto the character easier. Especially since she is a female so they didn't wanted to limit how much fans could make a connection with her if her personality was too specific. Fans complained Samus was too vulnerable, but to me it was just our first time getting to understand what goes on through her mind. It was just a sudden change, not necessarily a bad one. She may be the top bounty hunter and have chozo DNA, but she is still human and Other M made her relatable and I think a more developed character. You don't have to like it, but this game actually gave her personality more details instead of just finishing missions and wondering what the heck is she thinking in that suit. The gameplay in the past games were never boring but Samus as a character kind of came off that way in the past. I love her because she is so skilled, but acting like a robot is just something I didn't realize had been a major wall that stopped me from truly loving her. I actually love her more now after Project M (again the gameplay itself is lame personally, but not the story of her character). I appreciate that they broke her cliche hero image of being just a bad ass. She is still that but more. Heroes become heroes due to their past.
While I agree in most parts there are things that I personally don't like about Other M. First of all, for me this game should be a prequel ala Tomb Rider, when I see as a prequel the character, the decisions and the trauma of seeing Ridley makes sense. The second I understand that the director of the game wanted to give us a vulnerable Samus but one thing is to put her that way in flashbacks and other that Adam doesn't allow Samus to use her gravity suit and burn herself to death because reasons, that is poor writing, missiles, ok I get it, she could damage the ship and kill everybody inside but her suits? Third, is over the top on mother- daughter stuff. Fourth, the voice work, I watched the cutscenes from the game in Japanese and the voice actress gives Samus emotion, just watch the Ridley scene in Japanese, then watch it in English, the English actress did a lame job. I liked Other M, a lot, but there are things that doesn't make sense or are out of place or time.
sorry but nintendo has characterized her a ton in fusion, corruption in game actions and directly by themselves out of the game through manuals of the game and official statements(and she was directly what most people fannoned her to be a tough reliable bounty hunter who doesnt like being told what to do and with a fair sense of justice and further development such as being a risk taker) she was never just a blank slate or even a robot heck she has shown anger and emotion to ridley in the prime series and a mix of shock and fear zero mission through body language and by fusion any fear she would have of him isnt even worth mentioning and of course fusion was character based. the other m interpetation of her relationship of ridley doesnt make sense. Would you be paralyzed in fear of a guy you have beaten to death or seemingly to death on multiple occasions or would you have you gotten over your fear of him after a certain point. i mean yeah she could of been afraid mother brain cause mother brain did just almost kill her and mother brain did just kill the metroid she did just become the greatest mom ever to with and that had a ton of set up but seriously the ridley freak out is out of place but the game doesnt really take this route. Of course this also ignoring all the plot holes in other m story like why didnt the federation build their MB with an off switch, why did adam feel the need to off himself on metroids that MIGHT be ice immune if samus had killed ice immune metroids in metroid 2, why is the secret system of building wmds not so secret, why did the deleter's attack adam during the ridley fight and ever get brought up, why did samus become all obsessively motherly to a bio-weapon of mass destruction that she turned into scientists to experiment freely upon not long before, and more.
Cap. Orange Soghda McGuffiepans exactly, Nintendo gave Samus a personality since Super Metroid, we got to see her reactions and emotions every once in a while and for a lot of people that was enough to know how she is. I think they overuse the mother-daughter topic, to the point that Samus stands still watching a Metroid while it was preparing for attack, Samus. What I really dislike is her extreme obedience to Adam, and I also agree that there are lots of plot-holes. I insist, for me it would have been a good prequel, instead is a very problematic sequel
I'm sorry, manuals and statements shows that we couldn't solely rely on the games themselves to understand her. It shows hat the games weren't enough. The manuals are a guide for the game and a game shouldn't rely on a manual to make it feel complete. The emotions you get in those games, although yes true, are still flat due to one dimensional restrictions. And if that's enough for you, then you're not in it for characterizations, therefore you make yourself out to be an unreliable source to criticize the structure of storytelling in Other M. In this case, a lot arguments are "different=bad." Yes, her obedience to Adam was annoying but that was more a technical feature in terms of her weapons. Which is what I have admitted is a flaw. But other than that, it makes sense. Relying on body language? Yes I know that says a lot but not nearly enough of what a character truly feels. It just seems desperate now.
Because newcomers wouldn't get the concept of it at first. Be like "oh, this game looks appealing!" And then they play it "oh, it's fucking pinball!!!!!"
Other M did a number of things incredibly wrong; they broke canon, they entirely misdirected the protagonist, they hand held, they removed exploration, they restricted access to chartered areas, they overloaded the story with inner monologue, they made the controls unintuitive and clunky, they made characters dumb and disconnected and the backstories were needless exposition. In the arts we have a saying; show, don't tell. Retro did a fantastic job creating Samus; they don't even really give her expressions and they don't need to, since you are the one who's playing her. You can get some scripted idea of what Samus is by what she does and who she is; a galactic bounty hunter raised by ancient alien birds; kind of bad ass.
they basically segmented the ATB Gauge they normally used into 3 parts (expandable to 5/6 parts) with a basic ability to move your character around to dodge attacks. so you can chain multiple hits, multiple skills, spells, or a combination of such. attack/fira/thunder/blizzara (of course more powerful skills use more slots) and you don't have to wait for it to fully charge, you can make one attack with only 1 segment full.
Retro Studios just announced plans for a new Metroid game, a remake of Metroid Fusion (still a side scroller) but will 3D shapes and environments, on the 3DS
Oddly Other M is my favorite metroid by far, it seemed the least gimmicky, and was an absolute blast to play through, in fact it was only one I wanted to play through more than once.
The inconsistency regarding Ridley has been addressed, considering that in Samus's mind, any trace of Ridley got blown up along with Zebes. However, to be that traumatized for so long was a bit much. I mean, sure, she might be scared stiff for a short time (a matter of seconds) from shock, but then her survival instincts would kick in and she'd start fighting.
I love Other M. As a little girl Samus froze in her first encounter with Ridley. Her parents dying in front of her sets her up to develop PSTD Later in her multiple encounters she never actually succeeds in killing him until she detonates an entire planet. So fast forwarding to Other M. she now believes one crucial thing, he is dead. This allows her the freedom to start to grieve and process all that happened as a child. Add the ambiguity of his juvenile forms, seeing him again triggers her PTSD
According to this wiki (metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Ridley), Other M explains the death of Ridley in Super Metroid as a true death. This Ridley is a juvenile clone of the beast. This would probably explain her problems coping with the 'return' of her legendary nemesis.
I so totally agree. For me the Metroid series died as soon as I heard about Samus going FPS. Its truly a game that belongs in platforming 2D. I ofcourse was very happy to play fusion and zero mission. (which were both amazing games). I'd love to see another platformer Metroid and seeing as those types of games are getting alot of attention again it doesn't feel too unreal. Hopefully we'll atleast have Project AM2R soon :)
I've read somewhere that some people consider Samus in Other M to be "not in the right mind." This'd make more sense when she locked up when running into Ridley, since she beat him several times.
I genuinely don't understand why Metroid II it's such an underrated game. I am currently playing it on my Gameboy and it is an extremely fun game that I enjoy playing. Some people might say that " it lacks music", but I can tell that this was intentional, as it adds to the atmosphere of loneliness. It also shows you the Metroid's life cycle in detail, which I think is cool. I still prefer the sidescroller Metroid games over the prime games.
i just watched all 3 of your videos and it really did help me understand some unknown things about the series.also im going to check more of these videos so please make more.the first one im checking out is going to be paper mario.thanks again.-Tim
YES, thank you for mentioning the sequence-breaking/speed-running in the Prime games. I know they had to fix the games and mistakes, especially when i could leave some boss rooms cause the door "forgot to lock" in Prime 1. Yeah...Retro, yer supposed ta lock the doors in both minor and major boss battles. |D
Metroid Prime 3 is actually to me the most difficult of the 3 because I never use Hyper mode unless the enemy does or if I am in a very dire situation.
Funny thing is I played a little bit of all the games but once Other M came out I beat it and then thought It would be neat to finish the others. In that way, it has been my favorite so far. I'd like to see a game that takes Other M's visual perspective, or even a third person perspective, on the Wii U. I do think that the aiming was the worse downside in Other M. Personally, I like 3D platformers and want to see even more Metroid games go that direction. 3rd person shooting I think would allow the best of Prime and Project M if they made it.
As OP as hypermode was it also had this kind of Ring of Power aspect. That is, using it gave you a superhuman ability but it was also something that took control of you at least as much as you were controlling it. You are losing energy when you switch it on and it can go out of control if you don't manage your firing correctly. Watching your energy levels to make sure you didn't drain out and shooting off your blaster enough to keep you from going into overload while still doing what you needed to do during the time limit gave hypermode a very dangerous last resort feel that inhibited its overuse.
I'll go on record to proudly state that I love metroid other m. I get why people were turned off but I thoroughly enjoyed it and now that we have the controls of the Wii U a Metroid game would be even greater. After all look what the Wii U did for Ninja Gaiden 3. Turned it from a mainstreamed shell of its former glory back to the frustrating masterpiece we know and love.
The one thing that disappointed me the most about Other M is the quality of the writing. I'll say this with complete honesty when I state that Metroid FUSION had better writing. Seriously, you learned a lot about Adam Malkovich in Fusion and how deep his relationship was with Samus without even meeting the guy. Samus even had monologues in Fusion, and while they were shorter, they were also much more meaningful. Here's a good example; at the beginning of the game, Samus reveals that Adam Malkovich was one of the few people that she willingly obeyed to and let them order her around, so she named the ship AI that now commands her after him, out of both irony and respect. This means that, in her heart, it's still "Adam" that orders her around, and no one else. Just form that little thing you already understand that there's a big relationship of trust between them. You also later learn that he would affectionately call her "Lady", and end every briefing with "Any objections, lady?", knowing that she would never object, but they did it as a token of trust. Simple, but powerful and very meaningful things. In other M on the other hand, you have long, drawn out monologues and cutscene that barely scrap the surface of their relationship. In fact, in Other M, Samus's trust seems completely one sided, Adam sees her as a nuisance most of the time. Funny enough, he also never calls her "Lady" like he was said to in Fusion, nor did he ever use the famous quote, "Any objections, lady?". Basically, in Fusion, they managed to set up a deep, understandable relationship of trust (and perhaps even more) with a few meaningful quotes, and in other M they just drop the ball. You'd think that with longer cutscenes and monologues, the relationship and development between the two wouldn't be so god damn shallow. I urge you to go ahead and look up those "cutscenes" or monologues from metroid fusion. They're few, but just after looking at those, you can actually take a liking to Adam. Nintendo had a great setup to work with and it got completely botched. Moral of the story: Never let Sakamoto work on metroid's writing again.
I'd like to see a direct sequel to Other M that finds a middle ground between what Other M was and what the fans wanted. Also put it on the 3DS. Controls will be better with the control pad. Use better localization (like Nintendo normally does) and make Samus more badass. It'd go a long way toward repairing the franchise. Maybe the plot could be that Weavel took over a Federation station, cloned Kraid, killed Adam and uploaded Mother Brain into the station's AI to take over the Armada and control the galaxy.
Which was the interview that Sakamoto said that h was proud of the final version of Other M. If I'm correct, it came out about a month or two after the game's release, which should be before anyone gave a thorough examination of the game and it's faults.
Prime was an interesting experience because I started with the side scrollers. But I did give the benefit With Other M... I know the mix reaction to it by everyone, but my opinion was I liked it, and it was BECAUSE of the story, none of the Metroid games did go to that depth that Other M (Fusion maybe, but no cutscenes) and the show that Samus did have moments where she was weak and crushed when dealing with the ghosts of her past was good to me, I'm not going to bash strong women, But showing weakness and emotion in a hero/ine does make an interest feat to them... and I personally like it, a Hero with no weakness does get dull, boring and OP Maybe the reason she didn't use her upgrades at first at Adam's request may have been in act of respect due their history during her time in the GF before becoming a Freelance Bounty Hunter (could be a dumb way to see it... but respect for her former is a good thing, despite Adam being an asshole in Other M... But hey, you get hard and strong types in the military and his virtuous act did deepen the respect). And the bit about Ridley... Ridley is like a nightmare to her that never knows when to die and Other M was the only game to tell that and show her falling to pieces (Like the Joker continuous return is to Batman), cause hey, you see a villain come back after countless death... doubt anyone would keep their sanity in check (Sorry for the biased comment, but I had to share it ^^; ) I do feel upset that the mixed review of Other M would kill the Metroid series, but I will love the series to the end and I would love to a continuation of Fusion
Very good work, I like how thorough you were to even include glitches and speedrunning although it was a bit weird to see TAS'es of SM64. Either way, keep it up, I look forward to more videos.
Metroid is the best thing that happened to me since I was 8.I'll never forget metroid fusion when I was trying to run from that messed up x version of metroid.;-) just make another one already!
You know, I understand some people were upset with Samus character in Other M, but I understand why she was vulnerable, facing Adam, the baby's death... Also, the fact that she was still willing to fight after Adam's death, a situation were many others would totally break down, she is still resilient and continues her mission! So, despite its flaws, I still enjoyed Other M to an extent.
In defense of the Other M Ridley encounter, Zebes was destroyed in Super Metroid. Ridley has regenerative powers, so they mention that this is the first "true" death of Ridley. Samus has every right to experience some PTSD here, no matter how badass she is, because for all intents and purposes, she's fighting an immortal who survived the destruction of a planet.
You forgot to mention one thing about the Metroid games, there are only a few actual cannonical games in the metroid series. Metroid 1, Zero Mission, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Other M. This has been confirmed by Miyamoto, Iwata, and several of the other creators of Metroid. The other games such as the Prime Saga are in alternate universes, never in the same cannonical timeline.
As far as Samus's freak out is concerned, I have four words: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When given the general backstory of the Metroid series, an expert on PTSD confirmed that this was an entirely natural reaction. Heck, what with Ridley's uncanny ability to survive seemingly unsurvivable scenarios, he could have subconsciously gained the distinction of unkillable at that point, which makes the monster all the creepier.
I think I remember reading that Nintendo said they are going to ask Retro Studios to produce their next Metroid game if they decide on another (Which I imagine will be some time after the whole Other M thing).
I agree, I at first questioned the fact that this game wasnt a first person shooter but grew to like the fresh new controls. I would like for Nintendo to revisit the Metriod Prime series and provide gamers with a more interactive experiance (like other world travel) and first person shooter game play. I felt trapped in the BottleShip and stuck in a Metroid Fusion enviroment, I mean really? Could'nt they have taken the time to create different creatures for each enviroment....
I heard that in an interview, he was asked about all the people that didn't like Samus' personality in Other M and he said that people should just accept that this is who Samus is and get over it. I haven't been able to find said interview, so i'm not sure if it's true.
Well, from where I stand, the Other M problem is that the fact that what little we know her is from a series of Mangas and Metroid Fusion... with Zero Mission nodding to the Manga. @ the 'Adam asking to remove her upgrades' part is simple from an in-universe and thematic perspective: Adam finds Samus on a ship/station that he was investigating on. Right now this is too much of a coincidence that Samus might have been hired by said owners. Think of the entire thing as a trust exercise.
Actually if you play Prime 3 in the hardest difficulty it is a really great challenge because Hyper Mode isn't OP, as nearly every enemy goes into it as well.
Nice Retrospective! I absolutely loved the prime series, it even inspired me to start creating reviews. Although I do wish that prime 3 took greater advantage of the gunship's capabilities, such as being able to assist in bombing enemies while in battle, would have made it that much more satisfying! Any plans for a Kirby retrospective in the near future?
It's been three years since Other M was released, I'd like to think he's taken all of the criticism, good and bad, into account for the next game. Besides, the interview was held about 2-3 days after Other M was released, I don't think anyone had made much meaningful criticism by that point, other than the reviews and most of them weren't that bad if I remember correctly.
Being number one bounty hunter isn't normal. You have to be seriously F'd in the head to do this kind of work and sleep at night. Seeing Samus is disturbed by all this makes sence. But scared is not an emotion becoming of someone who destroys platoons of mutant badguys on alien planets. If this is ber true personality, I'm surprised she hasn't gone awal crazy by now. some of the stuff in this series especially the early stuff is DOOM like. minus the demonic background story, These are not your average enemies. Most "Normal" people get messed up in the heas just fighting wars against other humans.
That doesn't excuse how fucking horrible the storytelling is in M. There are plenty of other characters out there with "issues" that are considered to be great characters- be they female or not. Other M Samus doesn't do much other than monologue in a monotone voice. Which is a laughable and a insulting way to depict a character who's dramatized. Not to mention the number 1 way to NOT tell a story.
-In the first metroid prime Samus looked like Samus. -In the following games she looked like a sweet little girl, but somehow was still Samus. -In Other M she looked like a sweet little girl... and was a sweet little girl. She is cute and I like her, but the first Samus was awesome.
Metroid Fusion 2, Please? (or the name of sequel of Metroid Fusion 2), Seems Nintendo was right about Metroid being a...Western game, first time they decided to make a Metroid Game in a while (Metroid other M) they seem to doom the Metroid Franchise...I hope they do not...Metroid fusion was one of my childhood games and would love to see metroid 5 where she continues her adventures in her new fusion suit.
I think that a game set after Fusion is the most probable since: 1. The Timeline is already straight forward that I don't think it's possible to squeeze another entry inbetween any other games. 2. After Fusion, Samus is a fugitive since she destroyed the research station.
TobiasHawk I actually have an idea for a sequel and its also in part of your 2nd idea since... well of course Samus will be rogue after doing something like that. (I do apologize if this is a bit long but I'd like to go into detail of what my idea is.) But my idea is that when Samus is going rogue, she drops off on a planet and also becomes ambushed by space pirates, due to having high numbers and overwhelming her. They capture her and later take her inside their ship and fly off the planet. While they're inside, they also striped her of her powersuit and lock it up for safe keeping. After a few days, they also take away some of the upgrades that the power suit has, aside from the morph ball and the long beam. Then, the space pirates bring her to a cell and strap her down because... its freaking Samus Aran, the bounty hunter. As they bring her into a cell, they also manage to get a sample of her blood. The blood is studied by the space pirates and they realize that it has Metroid DNA in it. So they separate the DNA in two categories. One with Samus's DNA and the other with the Metroid's DNA. So my idea is that they clone another metroid but into its first form, an egg. But instead of cloning Samus, they decide to hold onto it and send it off to another colony of space pirates for safe keeping . So now that they have no use for her anymore. They send a few space pirates in her cell to kill her. But as they try to do so, they accidentally break one of the straps to one of her arms... lets just say she manages to break out. So she later recovers her powersuit and rightfully destroys most of the pirates on board. But as she explores more of the ship, she spots an egg and immediately realizes what it is and backs away as the egg begins to shake. When the egg hatches, it reveals a baby Metroid. When she approaches the Metroid, it grows fond of her since the metroid see's her as no threat because she has metroid DNA in her makeup. Now here is the idea I have, PARTNERS! Yeah, you now have a Metroid as a partner, and like in Metroid II, it later evolves becoming stronger and more of a threat. However it see's Samus as its mother so it never harms her. So let me know what you guys think. I'm willing to hear criticisms and how it could also be changed up making it seem metroidy... m-me-me, playable. You know what I mean. :3
Yea GI Jane, sorry about that. To clarify I'm not saying Samus shouldn't have flaws. After all, a character without flaws is a bad character. But with that being said the game shoves down our throats so much dialogue that doesn't match up with the Samus we were led to believe in other games. Have Samus's actions define her, not her dialogue.
I would love another 3D Metroid game. Originally, I was interested in Other M due to its gameplay style. I was reminded of Devil May Cry, a hack-and-slash series. But I remember playing a demo of it at Best Buy and I lost interest. I have no plans to ever play it because of its story. In my opinion, if a game is going to have a significant story, effort should be made to make it a good one. Samus' attempted portrayal as a "normal" human being (even though she's not even fully human), unjustified restrictions, and Samus' PTSD upon seeing Ridley despite having defeated him 5 times prior are all major turn-offs for me.
That's the thing, there might actually be another First Person Metroid game. Recently Nintendo renewed the "METROID PRIME" trademark. Plus Retro Studios has remarked that if the Metroid Prime Fanbase continues to clamber for yet, another chapter in the METROID PRIME Saga, we might actually get it. Since the ending of METROID PRIME 3 CORRUPTION, fans of the series and of the PRIME SAGA in general have been up in arms for a fourth installment. This leads me to believe, if Nintendo renewed the METROID PRIME trademark and Retro Studio's would be true to their word, we might actually see yet another first person shooter taking place in the METROID PRIME storyline. Some more reasoning behind why this is highly possible: Due to the "hate" behind METROID OTHER M and to how well the METROID PRIME SAGA was respected by the fanbase, they should really look into developers when it comes to making the series. Retro Studios seems like the best possible candidate for the series due to the fact that METROID PRIME, METROID PRIME 2 DARK ECHOES, and METROID PRIME 3 CORRUPTION we're some of the best titles released in the Metroid series in a whole. Meanwhile the most recent game, METROID OTHER M, cost the series greatly. Switching developers while the series is finally getting on it's feet was just a stupid idea. Also, if samus should ever have PTSD after seeing Ridley, she should ATLEAST have it in METROID PRIME. In that game, she was just fucking pissed. You could just TELL she wanted to kick his (her, its?) ass right then and there! I think the reason Team Ninja made the PTSD in METROID OTHER M was due to the fact that Samus fought him MULTIPLE times (4) before, she thought she would never face him again and (unfortunately) had to. But that still wouldn't make sense since she would have PTSD in METROID FUSION as well (since chronologically, Fusion is the most recent game in the timeline). Since it isn't shown in METROID FUSION, it's pretty much assured that METROID OTHER M is either not cannon to the series OR possibly a split timeline of the ending of SUPER METROID (Timeline 1 ending with METROID OTHER M, Timeline 2 ending with METROID FUSION).
Soapy Skywere We don't see mention of the events of Other M in Fusion because Fusion came out before Other M did. By that logic, the Metroid Prime is in an alternate universe or non-canon because there's no mention of Phazon, Tallon IV, Aether, or w/e in Super Metroid and Fusion. And no, it would not make sense for Samus to have PTSD of Ridley in Metroid Prime because she already killed him, and a robot look-alike, before on Zebes. And how is Samus pissed in Prime, and how does anger lead to PTSD? Also, chill with the all-caps with the Metroid titles....
Did you see the look on her face? I mean seriously, she looked like she was about to say "I already killed this bitch once, how the fuck is he back". I mean you could tell she was pissed! The only time we didn't see her pissed in the PRIME saga was in mp3 but that's because we didn't get a clear look at her face before the battle.
Soapy Skywere Actually no, I didn't see the look on her face. I mainly just see her body language. And I'd say the "how the fuck is he back" reaction is more of confusion than anger. In Metroid Prime 3, Samus doesn't really give a shit, though I imagine that when Ridley swoops down and crashes through the generator, taking you with him, Samus is probably thinking "shit shit shit shit shit shit shit".
Yeah, in the cutscene on the frigate when she's trying to escape and makes the encounter with meta ridley, right as meta ridley escapes and the camera pans around samus's visor, her facial expression goes from a semi- calm demeanor to a pissed/ irritated demeanor.
Samus has the DNA of both the Chozo and the Metroid, by definition, SHE IS NOT A NORMAL HUMAN! And like you said, Top Bounty Hunter, she's not a normal human WITHOUT the non human DNA. Sakamoto clearly doesn't understand why people liked Samus so much.
one thing i'm still wondering...the game's name is an hybrid describing the feel of the environment and the nature of Samus(more or less).then how come the creatures got the same name?there's a hole that needs filling.did you overlook that?
If Nintendo doesn't know what to do with the Metroid franchise, I sure do. A few options that fans would enjoy and would likely be profitable: 1) Super Metroid HD. License to print money. You have to be very careful here - the nuance of the controls has to be replicated 100%. 2) Metroid Prime 4. 3) Metroid Prime Trilogy HD. Think of all the cool stuff you could do with that Wii U GamePad. Any other ideas?
She watched Ridley kill her mom right in front of her as a kid. Seeing Ridley, no matter how many times she sees him would still cause extreme emotion, such as fear from that memory. Plus the psychological problems that would cause from such memories. No excuses for the poor Other M game, just putting this point out there.
Also, like any (well, mostly) hardcore fan, I was infuriated at how weak Samus (her personality) was in Other M, as well as the control scheme. I agree with your assessment of Other M and consider it the only game I'd rather not play again in the series.
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Other M was an utter joke. Samus, having Chozo (enlightened alien race) genes, and years of intense mental and physical training for just been able to wear her suit, cannot possibly be as unstable as she's portrayed in the game. Its even implied that she's the strongest bounty hunter in the galaxy.
Btw your 3 history of metroid videos were great!
Personally, I'm not against fleshing out Samus' character and show that she is indeed affected by her terrible life, but Other M shows us what happens when you try too hard. Extra Credits went into more details about it, and while I have neither played the game, nor seen cutscenes from it, I think the biggest problem is the mountains of monologue. Personally, the way I would have shown that Samus has been morally shaken from the infant's death, while still giving her a voice, would be making her talk little. Not like Squall's obsession for ellipses, but rather have her be very concise and to the point. Basically, start off by following part of the personality established in Fusion, mainly she takes her duties very seriously, have her be straightforward, but as the plot goes on and the body count starts to raise, then she starts acting more and more strangely, prone volunteering to do the dirty work so the other troopers are more likely to live, and when finally confronted about the way she's been acting, she reveals how she can't take people dying around her so often. Of course, it also take good cinematography and voice acting to pull that off without wandering into super angst territory, but I think that would be a start.
About Samus freaking out when seeing Ridley again, I think Samus should have been enraged instead, cause if you think about it, he's single-handedly responsible for the worst events in her entire life.
I still like Other M a lot! I don't feel much problem with the controls, sure it could be improved with the nunchuck, but overall the idea of controling her as its a sidescrolling game, as the older games, it feels quite nice for what it is.
Her personality is actually what I've always pictured, being a strong person, but still emotional.
I feel like people who complains about "The Baby" situation didn't really saw the connection between Samus and the baby metroid during Super Metroid, and it was a pretty traumatic situation. I feel the Ridley reaction was a little overboard for sure, but I think if it was a case of a real person, she would probably feel that way everytime she sees that god damn thing, I mean, that thing killed her family, so yeah, I understand.
I feel that Other M is criminally underrated for the same reasons.
I think you SHOULD be afraid to explore. Things can be dangerous. Even if you are a bad ass bounty hunter, there should be some bad ass lifeforms... or deathforms (like robots and ghosts). The feeling of desolation and isolation... you are alone, and there are dangerous things around. That is a wonderful emotion to experience. When you are exploring Norfairs, you should be terrified! I often waited before I entered the scary places, trying to find as many optional upgrades first. And in Metroid Prime, when the lights goes out in Phendrana... JEEBUS!!! Scary shit! I love it!
Some of the criticisms of Other M aren't even valid. Saying "Samus isn't a normal person, she is the number one bounty hunter" doesn't change the fact that she is human and has the same emotions as anyone else. Making her relatable and emotional does nothing to detract from her strength. People can only be courageous and brave when they are afraid. Emotionally cold does not equal strong. Furthmore,the criticism that she is afraid when facing Ridley even though she has experienced him "a thousand times before" is not a valid criticism. We don't KNOW how she felt in other games. It was the player's emotions that drove the story before, not the plot or cutscenes. According to the story and her past, she had every reason to have an emotional response due to past trauma. It doesn't make her weak. Vulnerable heroes are often the best kind. Other M has a number of problems, but Samus's character isn't one of them.
I can understand that. And I don't mind herhaving emotions at all. Otherwise she won't be interesting and will feel like a robot. It's just that they took it too far. She should be atleast mildly used to fighting monsters like these. I expect her to act brave and strategically think of what is the best way to attack at the same time as she does the actions (eventhough we control her in the games, I am just saying if she was free, as in a movie) and not back abit and make a scared sound. otherwise with all of that wasted time she wouldn't have gone to the top. it is the same as parkour or doing tricks with bikes or skateboards. If you are scared or slow and don't know how to use your body and vehicle, then you will mosly fail. Only the ones who deeply think of how to do it and know how to fully control their body's athletic abilities and speed with almost no fear will become great.
Yes her character is a flaw because she is overly feminized in Other M, and the Ridley encounter still does not make sense even with your argument.
Yes it's true that being Emotionally cold does not equal strong. But Samus is both Emotionally cold AND strong. THATS Her character, and it's what people want to see in Her.
SuperStupidy Completely false, if you have read the comics, you'll know that she is not cold at all. She has strong attachments to people she cares for, she likes cute things and suffers from loneliness and PTSD.
HTakara82 Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about those. One thing we can say about Samus is, She's tough to read. :)
11:29 begins the segment I like to call "How Sakamoto Fucked Up".
about ridley, probably why samus freaked out was because she had killed him(finally) and thought that he was the only(or last) one of his kind.
i guess i should continue the series history with this comment and clear up some left out details and others stuff
during the N64 era nintendo tried to hire a different studio to make a game for the n64 in 3d, they declined due to the fact they felt they couldnt live up to super and wouldnt handle the pressure of doing so, which sakamoto took as a compliment,
after prime 2 retro wanted to step away with from metroid, they pitched DKC returns, and a spin off zelda game that would focus on playing as a shieka durring their genocide, however nintendo wanted the prime series to be a trilogy. retro's concept for prime 3 was quite ambitious, planning it as an openworld game with bounty hunting side quests that would reward u with upgrades. however nintendo's idea of a bounty hunter was very different from how retro saw it (which ties into her saying sakamoto gave them dos and donts with her character) thus they didnt like the bounty hunting side quest idea, nintendo saw her more as a contractor, while retro saw her more like bobba fett. nintendo also didnt think metroid as an open world game would work either. the sole reason prime 3 was delayed was due to the motion control aspect of the wii as retro had some issues implementing them and getting them to work properly.
now for the continued history.
at e3 2005 Nintendo would show journalists the games to be revealed at their conference the following day, one of which was on the list but ended up as a no show, that being a ds title called metroid dread to which came to a surprise to the NOA staff. this wouldnt stop game informer from putting it on their list of upcoming ds title in their post e3 issue. this left fans confused as they didnt know about this game and couldnt find info on it. the ign co-founder would eventually tell the fans the game was real and to expect it next year. according to sakamoto dread at that time was simply just ideas and design docs that never made it into pre production. however this was never communicated with the public until 2021. then in prime 3 there was an easter egg where a scannable panel read "... metroid project dread is nearing the final stages of completion" followed by another panel saying the project was a failure. this sent the fandom into a frenzy thinking dread was either almost done or cancelled. the was later to be revealed as a coincidence as not only did retro have no knowledge of dread but nintendo was very strict with easter eggs like that and wouldnt have let that slide. in 2008 dread would reset development but this time not as dread but just as a 2d game with only a working title, few were able to see it at e3 2009 and said it looked more like a ds port of fusion. but once again it dropped off the radar and was again shelved. in 2021 sakamoto would reveal this was due to the ds hardware not being powerful enough and too limiting to achieve his vision which was for some over powering foe to constantly stalk samus through out her mission. after other M, sakamoto still wanted to keep 2d metroid going on the 3ds but just couldnt find the right team to do it keeping it in limbo........
during the 3ds era next level games would try and pitch their own 2d game but nintendo would have them do a 1st person co op shooter for the 3ds titled metroid prime federation force which was revealed at e3 2015 and would release the following year. fans went into an uproar due to the fact this was coming after (the grossly overhated) other M and didnt have a traditional game since prime 3 in 2007. fans would go as far as signing a petition to have the game cancelled. the game would release to good reviews but poor sales leaving faith in the franchise bleak. until e3 2017 that is....
in 2016 after over 10 years of development AM2R would be completed to wide spread acclaim being considered one of the best games in the series. it had plans to continue to support and add to the game. however a couple months later the game would receive a Cease and desist from nintendo resulting in the game being removed from the official AM2R website and the cancelation of the future support. this didnt stop fans from picking up where DrM64 left off as they would see through the plans he had for the game and are continuing to support the game today with fixes and extra content being added over the years. DrM64 would be recognized for his hard work by moon studios, known for their metroidvania series, ori. they would offer him a job to work there as a level designer to which he accepted. hes credited as a level designer in their newest game ori and will of the whisps which saw widespread acclaim.
enter MercurySteam whose claim to fame was their castelvania reboot series, lords of shadows which saw 2 games on console and 1 spin off on the 3ds mirror of fate. the 2 console games would adopt a more god of war like style and structure while the 3ds game would adopt the more traditional 2d metroivania style. lords of shadows 1 would end up being the highest selling game in the franchise but the the over all reception of the games were luke warm with the other 2 games not seeing the success of the 1st game. in the mid 2010s theyd pitch a 1st person wiiu metroid title with a 3ds companion game. nintendo would shoot this down but this would get the attention of sakamoto. interested that the castlevania studio were interested in making a metroid game he decided to give mirror of fate a shot and was rather impressed. he would meet with the team directly in spain where mercurysteam would pitch a fusion remake to him . sakamoto told them hed be more interested in a remake of metroid 2 as he was not personally involved in that game. the game would be revealed at e3 2017 (along with an announcement trailer for the development of metroid prime 4) and would release in the coming months to acclaim and success. fan reception was mixed however. its enjoys like the added mechanics, emphasis on combat and deeper and more complex bosses, however its descenders feel the new mechanics didnt work as well/were poorly implemented and criticized the lack of exploration and open-endedness and felt it wasnt very faithful the og taking too many liberties and not replicating its atmosphere and tone.
in 2019 a reputable leaker would reveal that nintendo were working on a super metroid remake and that metroid prime trilogy was finished on switch and all nintendo had to do was release it. as of writing prime trilogy on switch hasnt been revealed leading to massive speculation on it even being labeled as the the modern day metroid dread. right before e3 2021 a leaker would reveal what Nintendo was gonna cover and show in their presentation. 1 game caught the eyes of fans, a new 2d metroid game. the leaker was right and nintendo revealed metroid 5 at their presentation, but most importantly to alot, it was titled metroid dread. it was revealed by sakamoto that samus returns was a trial run for mercurysteam to see if they were the right pick to continue the series and revive dread. sakamoto made this decision before SR was even finished as getting 100% in it would reveal a hidden chozo memory depicting what looked like a hostile militaristic faction of the chozo that was never established. this was alluding to events that we would see in dread. dread would release in oct 2021 to unprecedented acclaim and success, being nominated for game of the year and out selling prime 1 making it the highest selling game in the series. fan reception was overwhelmingly positive too with fans holding in the same regard as super and prime 1.
in early 2019 nintendo would reveal that metroid prime 4 had completely reset development going from Bandai Namco back to retro studios. very little would be mentioned about it again until dread's reveal in 2021 where they specified the game was still in active development. as of writing this that was the last we heard of prime 4 but 2 new recent developments have been made. 1st being the game is using an in house engine from retro themselves, and that amazon has listed the game for preorder with a release date set for sometime in 2023. many are speculating a holiday 2023 release along with the prime trilogy on switch. some are also speculating its gonna be a launch title for either a new enhanced switch pro or a flat out next generation switch/ console.
Other M was my first metroid game. And I absolutely loved it.
You say that Prime 3 is a good way for newcomers to get into the series, and you are absolutely right. Prime 3 was the first Metroid game I ever played and I got it back in 2007, and I loved it so much that i got the other two primes, and then I delved into the rest of the series and turned into the mega fan I am today. Thank god for Prime 3 randomly waltzing into my life.
Hi, Patricia. I'm Tim Rickman, an origamist currently designing a model of the space pirate Ridley. Your Metroid videos helped to further inspire me (as well as inform me as I have only played the side scrolling titles.) Can't wait to tell my other video game friends about your channel. Many thanks - Tim
I liked Other M. Not because of the story, but because of the gameplay and how different it was from the Prime games.
I had the good fortune to interview Tanaka-san about the game's music as he's my first inspiration for writing game music. In addition this has to be my favorite game series. I will probably play any and all Metroid game ever made. Having said all this, this is an awesome, AWESOME retrospective. Thanks so much for doing it! I laughed quite heartily at the humor and learned a lot, when in my ego driven ignorance I thought I knew it all :)
I personally enjoyed other M, yes the upgrading restrictions are a bit dumb, but most fans who complain about this ALSO complains about the metroid prime copout where an explosive accident takes away her powers, and as for people complaining about her new personality where shes been pussied out, EVERY hero/heroin has moments like these, batman has had plenty of vulnerable moments in the animated series, and hes everyone's favorite badass hero, samus should also be allowed to have a moment of vulnerability, and as for the ridley thing, my theory why she got scared was that shes killed ridley so many times and he keeps coming back, maybe suddenly she came to a realization that he may not be killable and that started to give her doubts
The reason why people did not like this "vulnerable" Samus is probably because of the consistency with the timeline. Think about it, Samus has gone through Metroid, The Prime trilogy, Metorid 2, Super metroid and only now do we start seeing her soft side? Like what the hell was up with that.
Her interactions with Federation soldiers and most of all Adam showed a lack of respect for the number 1 hunter in the Galaxy. Who, by this game, has defeated mother brain, foiled dark samus (prime series), destroyed every last metroid, and killed mother brain again along with her new officers.
Her Confidence in herself was also sorely lacking as well as a fragile emotional state given all of her prior accomplishments and couragous moments. In Prime 3 corruption you were able to see her compassionate side by seeing her remember her fallen comrades and without words you can see ingame how she wanted to avenge them (eg. Ghor boss, you see samus shooting a dark samus echo after the fight).
Going back to adam you get to experience what he sort of was like in Fusion. Someone who greatly respected Samus, someone who knew right from wrong (going against federation orders) and finally someone who had a sassy side (calling Samus "Lady").
I am not saying I do not want to get to know this side of Samus, I just felt that making this a prequel to metroid (game or movie) would have been a better choice. I mean, imagine, a much younger Samus' first encounter with Ridely Seeing her break down mid combat or her meeting with a human she views as her equal not in terms of combat prowess but in terms of ones morals and attitude in life (Adam).
jerard po "I just felt that making this a prequel to metroid (game or movie) would have been a better choice."
YES. This would have been perfect... like her first mission as an independent hunter... coming up against the Space Pirates for the first time and running into Ridley... barely escaping with her life. THAT would've made perfect sense! Hell, that would've worked as a character arc. Put that encounter at the beginning of the game, have her get saved by her old platoon, and make her work her way up to finally beating Ridley at the end of the game... leaving off with a tip about the Space Pirates finding and experimenting on Metroids on Zebes.
Of course, the rest of the weird emotional attachment to Adam should've been cut out entirely, too... and the "Any objections, Lady?" stuff. She's a soldier, not a child. Any military officer should:
1. Know better.
2. Give orders, not ask "Is this okay, guys?". Seriously, what's up with that thumbs up stuff? It should've never been a thing to begin with.
3. Have more respect for those under them. Officers may be hard, but they don't demean their soldiers for the hell of it. If your CO is harping on you, you need to get your ass in gear and pull your load. If that's not the reason, he's just a bad CO with disciplinary action just waiting to happen.
The purple font and the fact that it's been requested a billion times was kind of a giveaway =P Amazing video series for the Metroid franchise! I look forward to the Spyro the Dragon series =D
This us the best metroid series on TH-cam. Thank you
I thought it was great that you covered EVERYTHING. Most people skip over Hunters and Pinball. As a huge Metroid fan, I really like that you took the time to cover all of it.
Riddle answer: Spyro the dragon.
I'm looking forward to it because I loved the Spyro series a lot.
This was a good retrospective on Metroid, thanks for sending me the video earlier this year.
I can definitely see why people don't like Other M. However, while the d-pad controls were a little odd at first, once you get used to them, it makes exploration a lot of fun. And the simple button layout made it easier to remember how to preform things like the morph ball and dodge tactics. And the charge shooting was considerably easier than in the Prime Trilogy as all you had to do was hold down the 1 button for five seconds. Samus's voice didn't seem monotonous to me at all. It sounded more like she was making a report to someone rather than just describing the events to the player. The tone she used in her narration of the story was the exact tone that someone would use if they were describing the events to a superior officer or someone of higher power than herself. Her reaction to Ridley was really more surprise to see him, as she had most likely thought she destroyed him in Super Metroid, rather than a fear response. And the authorization of weapons, rather than simply taking away Samus's weapons and then having her find them again, was a much more clever way of doing it. Authorization of weapons gives the player a sense of accomplishment and progress. All in all, I can see why people don't like Other M, but I personally think that, and I know that I will get flamed for saying this, it is the strongest game in the series.
Play Corruption on Hypermode, fight Gandrayda/Mogenar/Dark Samus, then come talk to me about it being an easy game. btw there definitely needs to be a remake of Return of Samus. I think that game deserves more recognition as it explores the Metroid's life cycle and home planet.
Take a look at "Another Metroid 2 Remake". It is a fan made remake of Metroid 2 The Return of Samus. Although not finished, it is looking amazing,
You might say that there should be a Return, of return of Samus.
Did that. And while I agree that Mogenar was freaking difficult on hypermode difficulty, the rest really wasn't so difficult because I had accumulated so many energy tanks that I could utilize the over powered hypermode frequently.
Years later you got exactly what you wanted 😁
I hate how Metroid Other M because of how they took a headstrong Samus and pretty much turned her into a whipped woman. Yes, I know they wanted to give her a more humanistic personality, but acting like a silent lovestruck doll for Adam like he's a god or something and freaking out at Riddley's appearance is the wrong way to go about it.
i honestly might have to watch a playthrough of other M considering that ive seen a lot of people call a character 'too whiny' just for not being a stone cold motherfucker.
On the other hand, Sakamoto's description of other m's samus gives me the feeling that samus's character was written and portrayed poorly in other M, because of all the comments he made about wanting to make her more attractive and feminine. To begin with, im not quite sure how feminine or masculine someone raised by super advanced space birds could possibly be. In addition to that, i'd say it wouldn't be unrealistic to assume that Sakamoto doesn't understand gender well enough to make a compelling female character, particularly one whose femininity is expressed in their personality or conflicts.
Here's a thought: Let Retro studios "fix" Other M.
To me, the only thing that need fixing is Samus daddy issues, authorization system, allow use of nunchuck, and a new model for ridley..
Beside all that, I liked the game..
fickminne Thats almost all of the game...and don't forget she accomplishes nothing herself!
That was pretty much the point of my post..
The way Other M treated Samus, wasn't horrible.
Samus is a human being. If they added more strength in her and lessing the weak emotion, Samus would be a perfect chatecter. I would crap myself if I saw Ridley though. xD
Tell me you're joking.
The problem with Other M isn't if Samus is given "Emotions" or not. It's not a black and white issue. The problem is that Other M's story is fucking awful. All characters do is spout exposition and make illogical choices.
Samus in particular comes off like a bastardization of Ripley in Aliens. Ripely has been through some traumatic shit, seeing her crew killed, barely surviving, awakening like 50 plus years to a world where everyone she knew (including her own daughter) and now she's accused of being crazy etc etc
Ripley is still a "strong"...Fuck that - a Good Character. As she actually manages to overcome this in the end and accomplish something.
Tell me what Samus does in M? Nothing. That's what.
She merely drones on about her relationship with Adam and what it means to her etc A prime case of a story that tells when it should fucking show something. In this day in age, with Mass Effect, Half Life, Portal, Bioshock, even other Nintendo Games which all provide good storytelling and characters. Other M is a fucking joke.
Let me have an opinion. I don't care if you think its wrong. I'm entitled to an opinion. :/
Whatever, I'm just baffled when people tell me that Other M has a "good story" among other things and would like to see more of that.
I never said it had a good story, just saying if they added more strength in Samus.
CPGamer2908
The problem is that they went way too far out of their way to disempower Samus at every possible turn. There's nothing wrong with writing Samus as vulnerable, but at the same time we as an audience need to believe she's capable. I like to think of Samus as a character like Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise.
THE BEST METROID DOCUMENTARY I HAVE EVER SEEN! AND THE DEEPEST! PLUS, THE PRITIEST GAME NARRATOR EVER!!! ALL THE 3 PARTS ARE SUPERB!
beautifully done. best in depth look i've ever seen for a classic franchise. can't wait to watch the rest of your work.
Wow...great narrating and a very comprehensive history. I'm a huge Metroid fan and recently I purchased Other M because though the game is mired in controversy, as a Metroid fan, I owe it to myself to experience it for myself and make my own opinions.
A new Metroid game in the spirit of the Prime series is the only thing that could get me to buy a WiiU.
No other Nintendo game has more potential to be an awesome dual-screen experience than a Metroid Prime game. I would love looking at a huge and detailed 3D map in real time on the Gamepad screen, or scan the enviroment with it, or choose upgrades to turn on and off, or hack stuff, or read log entries, command the ship....
By the way, the videos were awesome, thank you so much!
My major problem with Other M wasn't Samus's personality (beyond her whole "Ridley" flashback which, like you said, seemed out of place given she's taken him on several times... If anything it should have been more "How many times do I have to kill you before you STAY DEAD?!?") it amounts to me imagining Adam falling asleep while Samus is jumping around like a maniac cause she can't use the OBVIOUS thing she already has that can help keep her alive cause she wasn't "Authorized" to use it... I mean, heck, he could have just sped things up, and not waited until she's half dead.
I really liked Other M and was really glad it wasn't an FPS. I enjoyed the story as well. I didn't feel like it 'destroyed' who Samus was. All in all, highly enjoyable for me. I loved the use of the morph ball in that game. Keep Samus as a platformer, and keep the game in full 3d environments (just work on that lame missile control.)
Thanks for these 3 vids. It was fun to go back and reminisce about all the past Metroids!
Yeah, I really would have liked Other M with nunchuck. However, Other M is NOT as bad as a lot people say it is. I think it's a great action game and it got me hooked.
Loved this retrospective video! Very informative to a franchise that is dear to my heart. Keep up the good work! :D
the fact that you guys played TASes makes this 10000000 times better
It's great that you can find such specific, well-made, niche videos on youtube!
You know I remember in metroid Fusion she talks about the guy who says she can't use her suit abilities or something
are you kidding, I LOVE that samus talks in Metroid other m! and I just love her character in that game
I would recommend a Mega Man History, mainly because that's MY favorite series ever and I love it, but that would span multiple episodes considering the huge amounts of games released XD
skrface13 it may be not as mature as metroid but its still very good
Great series Patricia! Thank you for your work on these videos. Loved them!
I actually appreciate Other M, not for it's gameplay obviously. I miss the first person shooter. But I like it for it's story.
Yes, Samus acting surprised to see Ridley seems odd but honestly we never were able to personally understand her emotions before. I get why it wasn't first person now. I think people thought she was always just silent and reserved. But not having her talk in the game wasn't a choice on her personality. It was about how own experience in a shooter game, it's why a lot of main characters in older games specifically don't talk. So the fans can project their selves onto the character easier. Especially since she is a female so they didn't wanted to limit how much fans could make a connection with her if her personality was too specific.
Fans complained Samus was too vulnerable, but to me it was just our first time getting to understand what goes on through her mind. It was just a sudden change, not necessarily a bad one. She may be the top bounty hunter and have chozo DNA, but she is still human and Other M made her relatable and I think a more developed character. You don't have to like it, but this game actually gave her personality more details instead of just finishing missions and wondering what the heck is she thinking in that suit.
The gameplay in the past games were never boring but Samus as a character kind of came off that way in the past. I love her because she is so skilled, but acting like a robot is just something I didn't realize had been a major wall that stopped me from truly loving her. I actually love her more now after Project M (again the gameplay itself is lame personally, but not the story of her character). I appreciate that they broke her cliche hero image of being just a bad ass. She is still that but more. Heroes become heroes due to their past.
That is so true I'm glad someone gets that a lot of people just want the hero just being open and not be so emotional.
While I agree in most parts there are things that I personally don't like about Other M. First of all, for me this game should be a prequel ala Tomb Rider, when I see as a prequel the character, the decisions and the trauma of seeing Ridley makes sense. The second I understand that the director of the game wanted to give us a vulnerable Samus but one thing is to put her that way in flashbacks and other that Adam doesn't allow Samus to use her gravity suit and burn herself to death because reasons, that is poor writing, missiles, ok I get it, she could damage the ship and kill everybody inside but her suits? Third, is over the top on mother- daughter stuff. Fourth, the voice work, I watched the cutscenes from the game in Japanese and the voice actress gives Samus emotion, just watch the Ridley scene in Japanese, then watch it in English, the English actress did a lame job. I liked Other M, a lot, but there are things that doesn't make sense or are out of place or time.
sorry but nintendo has characterized her a ton in fusion, corruption in game actions and directly by themselves out of the game through manuals of the game and official statements(and she was directly what most people fannoned her to be a tough reliable bounty hunter who doesnt like being told what to do and with a fair sense of justice and further development such as being a risk taker) she was never just a blank slate or even a robot heck she has shown anger and emotion to ridley in the prime series and a mix of shock and fear zero mission through body language and by fusion any fear she would have of him isnt even worth mentioning and of course fusion was character based.
the other m interpetation of her relationship of ridley doesnt make sense. Would you be paralyzed in fear of a guy you have beaten to death or seemingly to death on multiple occasions or would you have you gotten over your fear of him after a certain point. i mean yeah she could of been afraid mother brain cause mother brain did just almost kill her and mother brain did just kill the metroid she did just become the greatest mom ever to with and that had a ton of set up but seriously the ridley freak out is out of place but the game doesnt really take this route.
Of course this also ignoring all the plot holes in other m story like why didnt the federation build their MB with an off switch, why did adam feel the need to off himself on metroids that MIGHT be ice immune if samus had killed ice immune metroids in metroid 2, why is the secret system of building wmds not so secret, why did the deleter's attack adam during the ridley fight and ever get brought up, why did samus become all obsessively motherly to a bio-weapon of mass destruction that she turned into scientists to experiment freely upon not long before, and more.
Cap. Orange Soghda McGuffiepans exactly, Nintendo gave Samus a personality since Super Metroid, we got to see her reactions and emotions every once in a while and for a lot of people that was enough to know how she is. I think they overuse the mother-daughter topic, to the point that Samus stands still watching a Metroid while it was preparing for attack, Samus. What I really dislike is her extreme obedience to Adam, and I also agree that there are lots of plot-holes. I insist, for me it would have been a good prequel, instead is a very problematic sequel
I'm sorry, manuals and statements shows that we couldn't solely rely on the games themselves to understand her. It shows hat the games weren't enough. The manuals are a guide for the game and a game shouldn't rely on a manual to make it feel complete. The emotions you get in those games, although yes true, are still flat due to one dimensional restrictions. And if that's enough for you, then you're not in it for characterizations, therefore you make yourself out to be an unreliable source to criticize the structure of storytelling in Other M. In this case, a lot arguments are "different=bad."
Yes, her obedience to Adam was annoying but that was more a technical feature in terms of her weapons. Which is what I have admitted is a flaw. But other than that, it makes sense. Relying on body language? Yes I know that says a lot but not nearly enough of what a character truly feels. It just seems desperate now.
Why wasnt it called... Metroid Primeball
Because newcomers wouldn't get the concept of it at first. Be like "oh, this game looks appealing!" And then they play it "oh, it's fucking pinball!!!!!"
Other M did a number of things incredibly wrong; they broke canon, they entirely misdirected the protagonist, they hand held, they removed exploration, they restricted access to chartered areas, they overloaded the story with inner monologue, they made the controls unintuitive and clunky, they made characters dumb and disconnected and the backstories were needless exposition. In the arts we have a saying; show, don't tell.
Retro did a fantastic job creating Samus; they don't even really give her expressions and they don't need to, since you are the one who's playing her. You can get some scripted idea of what Samus is by what she does and who she is; a galactic bounty hunter raised by ancient alien birds; kind of bad ass.
they basically segmented the ATB Gauge they normally used into 3 parts (expandable to 5/6 parts) with a basic ability to move your character around to dodge attacks. so you can chain multiple hits, multiple skills, spells, or a combination of such. attack/fira/thunder/blizzara (of course more powerful skills use more slots) and you don't have to wait for it to fully charge, you can make one attack with only 1 segment full.
Retro Studios just announced plans for a new Metroid game, a remake of Metroid Fusion (still a side scroller) but will 3D shapes and environments, on the 3DS
Oddly Other M is my favorite metroid by far, it seemed the least gimmicky, and was an absolute blast to play through, in fact it was only one I wanted to play through more than once.
The inconsistency regarding Ridley has been addressed, considering that in Samus's mind, any trace of Ridley got blown up along with Zebes. However, to be that traumatized for so long was a bit much. I mean, sure, she might be scared stiff for a short time (a matter of seconds) from shock, but then her survival instincts would kick in and she'd start fighting.
I love Other M. As a little girl Samus froze in her first encounter with Ridley. Her parents dying in front of her sets her up to develop PSTD Later in her multiple encounters she never actually succeeds in killing him until she detonates an entire planet. So fast forwarding to Other M. she now believes one crucial thing, he is dead. This allows her the freedom to start to grieve and process all that happened as a child. Add the ambiguity of his juvenile forms, seeing him again triggers her PTSD
other M wasn't incredible but I liked it.
***** this literally has no barring on if he likes this game or nor, wtf. those games are nothing like metroid other m, atleast stay consistant.
According to this wiki (metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Ridley), Other M explains the death of Ridley in Super Metroid as a true death. This Ridley is a juvenile clone of the beast. This would probably explain her problems coping with the 'return' of her legendary nemesis.
And she has pdsc an I saying that right m was made of the manga
Finally some one get it !
It may be a bit late to consider answering the riddle. But it's Spyro.
I understood it by " nothing like barney"...
Nice to see someone do an actual retrospect without half assing it (exuse my language) but this is one of many gaming videos I enjoy :)
I so totally agree. For me the Metroid series died as soon as I heard about Samus going FPS. Its truly a game that belongs in platforming 2D. I ofcourse was very happy to play fusion and zero mission. (which were both amazing games). I'd love to see another platformer Metroid and seeing as those types of games are getting alot of attention again it doesn't feel too unreal.
Hopefully we'll atleast have Project AM2R soon :)
I think Metroid Prime 3 does one of the best uses of Motion Controlls on the Wii ^^ That controlls feel so perfect!
I've read somewhere that some people consider Samus in Other M to be "not in the right mind." This'd make more sense when she locked up when running into Ridley, since she beat him several times.
I enjoyed this video series, thank you for making it.
You the real MVP TheGameDirect on your opinion of Other M.
I genuinely don't understand why Metroid II it's such an underrated game. I am currently playing it on my Gameboy and it is an extremely fun game that I enjoy playing. Some people might say that " it lacks music", but I can tell that this was intentional, as it adds to the atmosphere of loneliness. It also shows you the Metroid's life cycle in detail, which I think is cool. I still prefer the sidescroller Metroid games over the prime games.
i just watched all 3 of your videos and it really did help me understand some unknown things about the series.also im going to check more of these videos so please make more.the first one im checking out is going to be paper mario.thanks again.-Tim
YES, thank you for mentioning the sequence-breaking/speed-running in the Prime games. I know they had to fix the games and mistakes, especially when i could leave some boss rooms cause the door "forgot to lock" in Prime 1. Yeah...Retro, yer supposed ta lock the doors in both minor and major boss battles. |D
Metroid Prime 3 is actually to me the most difficult of the 3 because I never use Hyper mode unless the enemy does or if I am in a very dire situation.
Funny thing is I played a little bit of all the games but once Other M came out I beat it and then thought It would be neat to finish the others. In that way, it has been my favorite so far. I'd like to see a game that takes Other M's visual perspective, or even a third person perspective, on the Wii U. I do think that the aiming was the worse downside in Other M. Personally, I like 3D platformers and want to see even more Metroid games go that direction. 3rd person shooting I think would allow the best of Prime and Project M if they made it.
As OP as hypermode was it also had this kind of Ring of Power aspect. That is, using it gave you a superhuman ability but it was also something that took control of you at least as much as you were controlling it. You are losing energy when you switch it on and it can go out of control if you don't manage your firing correctly. Watching your energy levels to make sure you didn't drain out and shooting off your blaster enough to keep you from going into overload while still doing what you needed to do during the time limit gave hypermode a very dangerous last resort feel that inhibited its overuse.
I'll go on record to proudly state that I love metroid other m. I get why people were turned off but I thoroughly enjoyed it and now that we have the controls of the Wii U a Metroid game would be even greater. After all look what the Wii U did for Ninja Gaiden 3. Turned it from a mainstreamed shell of its former glory back to the frustrating masterpiece we know and love.
The one thing that disappointed me the most about Other M is the quality of the writing. I'll say this with complete honesty when I state that Metroid FUSION had better writing.
Seriously, you learned a lot about Adam Malkovich in Fusion and how deep his relationship was with Samus without even meeting the guy. Samus even had monologues in Fusion, and while they were shorter, they were also much more meaningful.
Here's a good example; at the beginning of the game, Samus reveals that Adam Malkovich was one of the few people that she willingly obeyed to and let them order her around, so she named the ship AI that now commands her after him, out of both irony and respect. This means that, in her heart, it's still "Adam" that orders her around, and no one else. Just form that little thing you already understand that there's a big relationship of trust between them. You also later learn that he would affectionately call her "Lady", and end every briefing with "Any objections, lady?", knowing that she would never object, but they did it as a token of trust. Simple, but powerful and very meaningful things.
In other M on the other hand, you have long, drawn out monologues and cutscene that barely scrap the surface of their relationship. In fact, in Other M, Samus's trust seems completely one sided, Adam sees her as a nuisance most of the time. Funny enough, he also never calls her "Lady" like he was said to in Fusion, nor did he ever use the famous quote, "Any objections, lady?". Basically, in Fusion, they managed to set up a deep, understandable relationship of trust (and perhaps even more) with a few meaningful quotes, and in other M they just drop the ball. You'd think that with longer cutscenes and monologues, the relationship and development between the two wouldn't be so god damn shallow.
I urge you to go ahead and look up those "cutscenes" or monologues from metroid fusion. They're few, but just after looking at those, you can actually take a liking to Adam. Nintendo had a great setup to work with and it got completely botched.
Moral of the story: Never let Sakamoto work on metroid's writing again.
I'd like to see a direct sequel to Other M that finds a middle ground between what Other M was and what the fans wanted. Also put it on the 3DS. Controls will be better with the control pad. Use better localization (like Nintendo normally does) and make Samus more badass. It'd go a long way toward repairing the franchise. Maybe the plot could be that Weavel took over a Federation station, cloned Kraid, killed Adam and uploaded Mother Brain into the station's AI to take over the Armada and control the galaxy.
Which was the interview that Sakamoto said that h was proud of the final version of Other M. If I'm correct, it came out about a month or two after the game's release, which should be before anyone gave a thorough examination of the game and it's faults.
Make a 3DS Metroid game already!
Brian Adams ;( shouldn't have wished for that
Nintendo: Have two
Good job on this,Natalie,Thank You.
Great job on the Metriod series! Can't wait to see more! Subscribed!
Prime was an interesting experience because I started with the side scrollers. But I did give the benefit
With Other M... I know the mix reaction to it by everyone, but my opinion was I liked it, and it was BECAUSE of the story, none of the Metroid games did go to that depth that Other M (Fusion maybe, but no cutscenes) and the show that Samus did have moments where she was weak and crushed when dealing with the ghosts of her past was good to me, I'm not going to bash strong women, But showing weakness and emotion in a hero/ine does make an interest feat to them... and I personally like it, a Hero with no weakness does get dull, boring and OP
Maybe the reason she didn't use her upgrades at first at Adam's request may have been in act of respect due their history during her time in the GF before becoming a Freelance Bounty Hunter (could be a dumb way to see it... but respect for her former is a good thing, despite Adam being an asshole in Other M... But hey, you get hard and strong types in the military and his virtuous act did deepen the respect).
And the bit about Ridley... Ridley is like a nightmare to her that never knows when to die and Other M was the only game to tell that and show her falling to pieces (Like the Joker continuous return is to Batman), cause hey, you see a villain come back after countless death... doubt anyone would keep their sanity in check
(Sorry for the biased comment, but I had to share it ^^; )
I do feel upset that the mixed review of Other M would kill the Metroid series, but I will love the series to the end and I would love to a continuation of Fusion
Very good work, I like how thorough you were to even include glitches and speedrunning although it was a bit weird to see TAS'es of SM64. Either way, keep it up, I look forward to more videos.
Metroid is the best thing that happened to me since I was 8.I'll never forget metroid fusion when I was trying to run from that messed up x version of metroid.;-) just make another one already!
Loving your channel! Your retrospectives are awesome! Please keep them coming!
You know, I understand some people were upset with Samus character in Other M, but I understand why she was vulnerable, facing Adam, the baby's death... Also, the fact that she was still willing to fight after Adam's death, a situation were many others would totally break down, she is still resilient and continues her mission! So, despite its flaws, I still enjoyed Other M to an extent.
how the hell samus have the time to sleep, eat and crap?!
She does that all in her suit
Or maybe it's the Chozo DNA.
In defense of the Other M Ridley encounter, Zebes was destroyed in Super Metroid. Ridley has regenerative powers, so they mention that this is the first "true" death of Ridley. Samus has every right to experience some PTSD here, no matter how badass she is, because for all intents and purposes, she's fighting an immortal who survived the destruction of a planet.
You forgot to mention one thing about the Metroid games, there are only a few actual cannonical games in the metroid series. Metroid 1, Zero Mission, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Other M. This has been confirmed by Miyamoto, Iwata, and several of the other creators of Metroid. The other games such as the Prime Saga are in alternate universes, never in the same cannonical timeline.
As far as Samus's freak out is concerned, I have four words: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When given the general backstory of the Metroid series, an expert on PTSD confirmed that this was an entirely natural reaction. Heck, what with Ridley's uncanny ability to survive seemingly unsurvivable scenarios, he could have subconsciously gained the distinction of unkillable at that point, which makes the monster all the creepier.
I think I remember reading that Nintendo said they are going to ask Retro Studios to produce their next Metroid game if they decide on another (Which I imagine will be some time after the whole Other M thing).
I love all ur videos!!!
Will you add more parts to your retrospectives when new games are added to franchises?
I agree, I at first questioned the fact that this game wasnt a first person shooter but grew to like the fresh new controls. I would like for Nintendo to revisit the Metriod Prime series and provide gamers with a more interactive experiance (like other world travel) and first person shooter game play. I felt trapped in the BottleShip and stuck in a Metroid Fusion enviroment, I mean really? Could'nt they have taken the time to create different creatures for each enviroment....
I heard that in an interview, he was asked about all the people that didn't like Samus' personality in Other M and he said that people should just accept that this is who Samus is and get over it. I haven't been able to find said interview, so i'm not sure if it's true.
Well, from where I stand, the Other M problem is that the fact that what little we know her is from a series of Mangas and Metroid Fusion... with Zero Mission nodding to the Manga.
@ the 'Adam asking to remove her upgrades' part is simple from an in-universe and thematic perspective: Adam finds Samus on a ship/station that he was investigating on. Right now this is too much of a coincidence that Samus might have been hired by said owners. Think of the entire thing as a trust exercise.
i'm really impress with your story telling and the review, is very intretened and informative, i;m suscribing
Actually if you play Prime 3 in the hardest difficulty it is a really great challenge because Hyper Mode isn't OP, as nearly every enemy goes into it as well.
I got the Trilogy for $70 at GameStop after hunting it down forever, and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! Hellz yeah!
Nice Retrospective! I absolutely loved the prime series, it even inspired me to start creating reviews. Although I do wish that prime 3 took greater advantage of the gunship's capabilities, such as being able to assist in bombing enemies while in battle, would have made it that much more satisfying!
Any plans for a Kirby retrospective in the near future?
It's been three years since Other M was released, I'd like to think he's taken all of the criticism, good and bad, into account for the next game. Besides, the interview was held about 2-3 days after Other M was released, I don't think anyone had made much meaningful criticism by that point, other than the reviews and most of them weren't that bad if I remember correctly.
Metroid is one of my favorite series ever created even tho it's had it's up and down but at the end of the day.......Metroid came on top
Being number one bounty hunter isn't normal. You have to be seriously F'd in the head to do this kind of work and sleep at night. Seeing Samus is disturbed by all this makes sence. But scared is not an emotion becoming of someone who destroys platoons of mutant badguys on alien planets. If this is ber true personality, I'm surprised she hasn't gone awal crazy by now. some of the stuff in this series especially the early stuff is DOOM like. minus the demonic background story, These are not your average enemies. Most "Normal" people get messed up in the heas just fighting wars against other humans.
That doesn't excuse how fucking horrible the storytelling is in M.
There are plenty of other characters out there with "issues" that are considered to be great characters- be they female or not. Other M Samus doesn't do much other than monologue in a monotone voice. Which is a laughable and a insulting way to depict a character who's dramatized. Not to mention the number 1 way to NOT tell a story.
Love the metroid retrospective and first one I watched was your crash bandicoot retrospective.
Glad you enjoyed! =]
is the riddle about bowser
TheAuraMaster Oh so Im not the only person who thinks its Bowser.
TheAuraMaster No its about Spyro
-In the first metroid prime Samus looked like Samus.
-In the following games she looked like a sweet little girl, but somehow was still Samus.
-In Other M she looked like a sweet little girl... and was a sweet little girl.
She is cute and I like her, but the first Samus was awesome.
Metroid Fusion 2, Please? (or the name of sequel of Metroid Fusion 2), Seems Nintendo was right about Metroid being a...Western game, first time they decided to make a Metroid Game in a while (Metroid other M) they seem to doom the Metroid Franchise...I hope they do not...Metroid fusion was one of my childhood games and would love to see metroid 5 where she continues her adventures in her new fusion suit.
I think that a game set after Fusion is the most probable since:
1. The Timeline is already straight forward that I don't think it's possible to squeeze another entry inbetween any other games.
2. After Fusion, Samus is a fugitive since she destroyed the research station.
TobiasHawk
One can hope and dream my friend! X3
TobiasHawk
I actually have an idea for a sequel and its also in part of your 2nd idea since... well of course Samus will be rogue after doing something like that.
(I do apologize if this is a bit long but I'd like to go into detail of what my idea is.)
But my idea is that when Samus is going rogue, she drops off on a planet and also becomes ambushed by space pirates, due to having high numbers and overwhelming her.
They capture her and later take her inside their ship and fly off the planet. While they're inside, they also striped her of her powersuit and lock it up for safe keeping. After a few days, they also take away some of the upgrades that the power suit has, aside from the morph ball and the long beam. Then, the space pirates bring her to a cell and strap her down because... its freaking Samus Aran, the bounty hunter.
As they bring her into a cell, they also manage to get a sample of her blood. The blood is studied by the space pirates and they realize that it has Metroid DNA in it. So they separate the DNA in two categories. One with Samus's DNA and the other with the Metroid's DNA.
So my idea is that they clone another metroid but into its first form, an egg. But instead of cloning Samus, they decide to hold onto it and send it off to another colony of space pirates for safe keeping .
So now that they have no use for her anymore. They send a few space pirates in her cell to kill her. But as they try to do so, they accidentally break one of the straps to one of her arms... lets just say she manages to break out.
So she later recovers her powersuit and rightfully destroys most of the pirates on board. But as she explores more of the ship, she spots an egg and immediately realizes what it is and backs away as the egg begins to shake.
When the egg hatches, it reveals a baby Metroid. When she approaches the Metroid, it grows fond of her since the metroid see's her as no threat because she has metroid DNA in her makeup.
Now here is the idea I have, PARTNERS! Yeah, you now have a Metroid as a partner, and like in Metroid II, it later evolves becoming stronger and more of a threat. However it see's Samus as its mother so it never harms her.
So let me know what you guys think. I'm willing to hear criticisms and how it could also be changed up making it seem metroidy... m-me-me, playable. You know what I mean. :3
Hedgehog Incorporated but wha if the pirates didnt completely seperate the dna and it becomes a FUSION of samus' suit and a new born metroid
Comander Booster That... seems rather disturbing, but I think I'm gonna stick with the whole DNA separation route.
Yea GI Jane, sorry about that. To clarify I'm not saying Samus shouldn't have flaws. After all, a character without flaws is a bad character. But with that being said the game shoves down our throats so much dialogue that doesn't match up with the Samus we were led to believe in other games. Have Samus's actions define her, not her dialogue.
I would love another 3D Metroid game. Originally, I was interested in Other M due to its gameplay style. I was reminded of Devil May Cry, a hack-and-slash series. But I remember playing a demo of it at Best Buy and I lost interest. I have no plans to ever play it because of its story. In my opinion, if a game is going to have a significant story, effort should be made to make it a good one. Samus' attempted portrayal as a "normal" human being (even though she's not even fully human), unjustified restrictions, and Samus' PTSD upon seeing Ridley despite having defeated him 5 times prior are all major turn-offs for me.
That's the thing, there might actually be another First Person Metroid game.
Recently Nintendo renewed the "METROID PRIME" trademark. Plus Retro Studios has remarked that if the Metroid Prime Fanbase continues to clamber for yet, another chapter in the METROID PRIME Saga, we might actually get it. Since the ending of METROID PRIME 3 CORRUPTION, fans of the series and of the PRIME SAGA in general have been up in arms for a fourth installment.
This leads me to believe, if Nintendo renewed the METROID PRIME trademark and Retro Studio's would be true to their word, we might actually see yet another first person shooter taking place in the METROID PRIME storyline.
Some more reasoning behind why this is highly possible: Due to the "hate" behind METROID OTHER M and to how well the METROID PRIME SAGA was respected by the fanbase, they should really look into developers when it comes to making the series. Retro Studios seems like the best possible candidate for the series due to the fact that METROID PRIME, METROID PRIME 2 DARK ECHOES, and METROID PRIME 3 CORRUPTION we're some of the best titles released in the Metroid series in a whole. Meanwhile the most recent game, METROID OTHER M, cost the series greatly. Switching developers while the series is finally getting on it's feet was just a stupid idea.
Also, if samus should ever have PTSD after seeing Ridley, she should ATLEAST have it in METROID PRIME. In that game, she was just fucking pissed. You could just TELL she wanted to kick his (her, its?) ass right then and there! I think the reason Team Ninja made the PTSD in METROID OTHER M was due to the fact that Samus fought him MULTIPLE times (4) before, she thought she would never face him again and (unfortunately) had to. But that still wouldn't make sense since she would have PTSD in METROID FUSION as well (since chronologically, Fusion is the most recent game in the timeline). Since it isn't shown in METROID FUSION, it's pretty much assured that METROID OTHER M is either not cannon to the series OR possibly a split timeline of the ending of SUPER METROID (Timeline 1 ending with METROID OTHER M, Timeline 2 ending with METROID FUSION).
Soapy Skywere We don't see mention of the events of Other M in Fusion because Fusion came out before Other M did. By that logic, the Metroid Prime is in an alternate universe or non-canon because there's no mention of Phazon, Tallon IV, Aether, or w/e in Super Metroid and Fusion. And no, it would not make sense for Samus to have PTSD of Ridley in Metroid Prime because she already killed him, and a robot look-alike, before on Zebes. And how is Samus pissed in Prime, and how does anger lead to PTSD? Also, chill with the all-caps with the Metroid titles....
Did you see the look on her face? I mean seriously, she looked like she was about to say "I already killed this bitch once, how the fuck is he back". I mean you could tell she was pissed! The only time we didn't see her pissed in the PRIME saga was in mp3 but that's because we didn't get a clear look at her face before the battle.
Soapy Skywere Actually no, I didn't see the look on her face. I mainly just see her body language. And I'd say the "how the fuck is he back" reaction is more of confusion than anger. In Metroid Prime 3, Samus doesn't really give a shit, though I imagine that when Ridley swoops down and crashes through the generator, taking you with him, Samus is probably thinking "shit shit shit shit shit shit shit".
Yeah, in the cutscene on the frigate when she's trying to escape and makes the encounter with meta ridley, right as meta ridley escapes and the camera pans around samus's visor, her facial expression goes from a semi- calm demeanor to a pissed/ irritated demeanor.
Samus has the DNA of both the Chozo and the Metroid, by definition, SHE IS NOT A NORMAL HUMAN!
And like you said, Top Bounty Hunter, she's not a normal human WITHOUT the non human DNA.
Sakamoto clearly doesn't understand why people liked Samus so much.
one thing i'm still wondering...the game's name is an hybrid describing the feel of the environment and the nature of Samus(more or less).then how come the creatures got the same name?there's a hole that needs filling.did you overlook that?
If Nintendo doesn't know what to do with the Metroid franchise, I sure do. A few options that fans would enjoy and would likely be profitable:
1) Super Metroid HD. License to print money. You have to be very careful here - the nuance of the controls has to be replicated 100%.
2) Metroid Prime 4.
3) Metroid Prime Trilogy HD. Think of all the cool stuff you could do with that Wii U GamePad.
Any other ideas?
I really hope they make an awesome Metroid game for the Wii U, the first Metroid game in HD.
She watched Ridley kill her mom right in front of her as a kid. Seeing Ridley, no matter how many times she sees him would still cause extreme emotion, such as fear from that memory. Plus the psychological problems that would cause from such memories. No excuses for the poor Other M game, just putting this point out there.
Also, like any (well, mostly) hardcore fan, I was infuriated at how weak Samus (her personality) was in Other M, as well as the control scheme. I agree with your assessment of Other M and consider it the only game I'd rather not play again in the series.