I’d like Metroid gore to hit a middle ground between Halo and Doom. Not ripping aliens in half like doom, but maybe seeing some nasty corpses like the mission 343 Guilty Spark from Halo CE. Nintendo could really capitalize on an adult audience right now with the ongoing success of the switch. They just need to tap into it.
I feel like it could go a little further if you're fighting Space Pirates however, there would be more of a purpose to it then as opposed to everything.
Maybe you could be in a game where Samus loses her suit, and she is only armed with a pistol. You could be hunted down by a great alien beast. Your goal: To regain your suit and take out the creature. Until then.. you'd have to hide, scrounge for materials for survival. And only shoot your pistol at environmental areas like perhaps certain toxic flora of the alien planet, or maybe you're in a decaying outpost, and you can shoot electrical wiring to stun the creature to allow you to make a quick escape. You wouldn't have that much ammunition either (even if it's an energy pistol since energy isn't infinite and you'd have to recharge it at some point), so you'd have to be strategic with it's use. Do I shoot now.. or save it for an emergency later. That kind of thing. Also it'd be nice if whatever character you'd play(I think it'd be great getting to see Samus explore some genuine horror/survival situations), could find a melee weapon. Say you search a Federation soldier and you pick up a knife from him, or maybe you find a tool lying around left by a deceased technician, like a plasma soldering iron. Metroid was based much in it's conception from the Aliens franchise, so I got this idea from Alien: Isolation. Though this idea is also partly based on Tomb Raider. Metroid has always had an exploratory atmosphere to it, and elements of archeology in a way. So I thought exploring some exotic world and making discoveries on ancient extraterrestrial species while being hunted by a relentless creature would be nice. Also, as mentioned before, there'd be toxic or extreme conditions areas where it wouldn't be safe to be in a regular suit. So wether you'd be a surviving Federation soldier, or Samus or someone else.. you'd have to find equipment to help in your survival. A pack to hold all your gear(which would also be used in crafting), a filtration mask to make sure you don't asphyxiate on fumes, a holster for your pistol and melee weapon, and an environmental coat to wear over your suit(the coat would be make of a material that insulates depending on the environment you're in). So it'd be a game with exploration, horror and survival. In a sense bringing Samus back to her basics, if that's who would be the main character.
I've made statements on Federation Force in the past on how the game really should have taken the opportunity of a co-op shooter with Federation soldiers and made one of the most unsettling metroid games. It would ideally feel like playing as the federation troopers on aether, feeling really hopeless and frightening, a real survival horror esque game where you and your band of utter underdogs, have to complete missions in a seemingly inevitable and hopeless setting. After all, these are just grunt soldiers, yet they're stuck going up against threats that Samus would eat for breakfast. If anything that should be frightening and ominous, as they are facing terrible odds. We can have them stranded on a planet with space pirates and other threats, and thus retain some of the metroid identity of isolation and dread, while allowing for the linear co-op mission structure, while maybe having some moments of levity. Visually the game should absolutely follow other metroids with a grittier, more realism style graphic look. None of this nonsense chibi crap. The game could ideally be on par with fusion in atmosphere and darkness, instead of the silly kiddy, tonally off balance game we got. Playing as a group of much weaker soldiers waging war on space pirates and the other horrors Samus faces, should be a frightening and tall task. Its literally regular soldiers at war against a monstrous faction that is normally only beaten by the greatest bounty hunter. I'd love it to have had the linear story structure of fusion, have some scripted sequences in its missions, have an expanding story, and have you get attached to fellow soldiers, only to lose them in this bleak battle against the space pirates. This is after all what would happen in a galactic war with space pirates. There are consequences, and its a grim situation. Have stakes, consequences, and dread in the setting, take advantage of these underdog soldiers in over their head in a survival horror co-op shooter setting. Samus appearing would represent a turning of the tide, as Samus is sent in to help the soldiers, with Samus perhaps tackling one task while the soldiers have to take care of a different mission. No nonsense of samus losing to pirates and being a final boss, only to be left to die after being defeated. Samus is an ally, a badass, and a hero brought in to help you, after you've been able to survive for long enough against the pirates. She doesn't do your job for you, she just does one mission, like perhaps going off to take on the space pirate leader while you infiltrate their base to end them once and for all. Its not like Samus hasn't already been sent to planets to investigate Federation troopers and to help them out. Shame we just got a silly chibi shooter that was inconsistent and disrespectful of what metroid is, instead of a game accurate to the feel of Metroid. It doesn't have to play like a metroid game, it can absolutely be a co-op shooter spinoff, but it should certainly adhere to and respect the setting it is in. It should look and feel like its tied in to metroid, it should under no circumstance look like a cheap eshop game with metroid slapped onto it.
Yea, I agree, fusion was scary, but exhilarating, and the phazon mines always had me on edge in prime.. Stealth troopers and metroids… and dark aether was scary thru and thru, but loved it and wanted more... I've always felt this was not a franchise for kids, so more horror and gore is welcome...and more upgrades...to combat it with..
I think horror can be done in a way that doesn't Nessaliry have to be blood & gore, perhaps something like what we've seen prior, but more visceral, for example little nightmares came to the switch last year & is classed as a horror game, however it wasn't about blood letting but rather had sections that were unsettling or sudden sections of death, specifically some boss sqeunecs, Over all I'd like to see some sorta of expansion of the things you mentioned, some good analysis here
I'd made a fanfic sequel to the Tom Cruise Mummy/prequel to the Metroid franchise called THE MUMMY SURVIVES, where the hero of that story, the Prodigium agent, face horrors that are far more worse than Samus herself had went through (yet, made it out alive, though), with the story itself having most of the horror elements you'd mentioned in this video, except I cranked them up to 13, and made them much more gruesome than usual.
the last time i played corruption, i decided to actually read the logs on the pirates. i hadnt before and the whole environment generally creeped me out. how the prime trilogy is ported to the switch so i can experience it in hd to make the scene more tense because it was probably my second favourite part of corruption.
horror =not gore, nor is gore a requisite for horror, whereas there are plenty of cases where there is gore without horror, and instead of frightening turns out digusting. That said, I too would love Metroid to introduce mode horror. The problem is how can it last? Most of Metroid games make me anxious, but only at the beginning, 1h or so. How can fear prevail when you have blasted trhough that room 20 times or killed that enemy entire population? Have to try yet Dead Space. Maybe they could learn?
Great vid, going back to more horror would be great. I think adding an unbeatable for most of the game type of enemy like the SA-X would be pretty great. The dynamic adds so much additional fear. Prime 2 actually scared me so much as a kid I didn’t get past the first portion lol. Adding an archetype of enemy that elicits fear like the Ing would be great. Never thought about gore actually, that’s an interesting idea. I certainly wouldn’t mind but I’m more concerned with adding the horror elements back. It would add to the ambience and realism of the game though
@ 7:14: You hit the nail right in the head, on why I agree with you. Nintendo needs an ip to break free from the "kiddy" stereotype, especially in the West where Metroid is even more known than in Japan. Also, why the hell isn't the Metroid Manga localized in the West? Especially since Metroid is more widely known and sold better than in Japan.
I'm surprised you didn't touch on Phaaze from the Prime series. As a living planet that twists every life form on planets its seeds touch across the galaxy, it's an excellent touch of cosmic horror. Though the Ing in Prime 2 also gave us a healthy dose of cosmic horror as well, being infectious gaseous nightmare life-forms from a dark parallel dimension that twist the creatures of Aether to attain material bodies.
A lot of Manga's are both gory and violent. Just take a look at the Pokémon Manga where Pokémons are killed by decapitation. However Metroid does have their root in horror being inspired by the Alien Franchise after all. I'd argue that Metroid has always had horror elements since the original game on the NES. A lot of it is displayed in the music alone but it's an easy thing to overlook. I don't think gore would do Metroid any major favors honestly. The human mind get used to it very easily after all and an over saturation of it would soften the blow. The reason why these moments are so impactful in the game; Crocomire, Nightmare, Space frigate, Valhalla, echoes opening sequens is because it's so out of place compared to the rest of the game. To be honest what scared me more with Super Metroid as a kid was never Crocomire's skin melting of in the acid as I never really connected the dots, was that I never really knew what waited in the next room. I could suddenly run into a mini boss or boss without knowing it. Super Metroid is a very gory and horrefying game but its very subtle about it and I think that is what Metroid need if they are going to delve deeper into horror. In fusion you are on edge because the game build up SA-X like it's something you can run into at any given time as well as the game world evolving as you play, you have areas destroyed and bosses suddenly jumping in on you (read Security B.O.X.). Other M is a great example of the developers trying their hand on horror and failing emmensly. The game lacks music for the most part using ambience sounds instead, the world was build up around horribly vicous creatures that could attack at any given time. You had gruesome and gory deaths. It didn't work because nothing of it was subtle. It was always in the face. I have a hard time seeing Nintendo having it in them making a horrifying Metroid game anymore but hey I'd love being proven wrong. In the end as long as they put out quality games I will keep enjoying Metroid games.
I definitely see your point. Although I would like more gore than previous entries. With aftermaths of creature attacks, firefights, deadly accidents and anything that is believable or practical to enhance the atmosphere. There really has to be rythm to such shock tactics. I cant help but think of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot; which started out strong with a legitimatly gut wrenching/gory first kill that has majot plot and character significance. Then there is the jolt of seeing the protagonist die graphically if you fail at platforming. But towards the latter half of the game there is just chopped up bodies everywhere to the point of being more campy than scary. DOOM can get away with excessive gore because its meant to be fun and over the top rather than shocking. Funny enough, the most disturbing things in that whole gore fest of a game are the bloodless holographic scenes that depict a ritual sacrifice and a troop getting torn in half by a Hell-Knight. With the actual gore being left for the player to find on thier own afterwards without it being shoved in your face (unlike everything else in the game).
I understand your point. I do agree that "gore" in these games should be a given and more of ity should be used. Just in a subtle way. If we take the opening of MP3C. When people are thrown out into space it's pretty horrefying but it's a bit suptle because the first thought won't be "oh he will sufficate in the cold empty void of space". Because my first thought is "well he just died". In Super Metroid you have plenty of corpses throughout the game which is gruesome but it's also pretty subtle. I do feel that if Nintendo were to do it on their own they would fail with the sublety and have a more "in your face" approach they had with Other M. Of course I would happily be proven wrong about that with future Metroid titles. :)
for a while I have had quite a few ideas for making a Metroid horror game. or rather remaking one of the main games with a more amped up and fleshed out horror style and feel. I personally think Echoes is the perfect candidate. there was so much the creators of echoes wanted to do like making dark aether darker. of course this could work to the game's detriment if done incorrectly. that said darkness alone shouldn't be the sole factor. terrifying audio cues, rooms unusually vacant and accompanied by ghostly or demonic whispers or sounds similar to the vibe the chozo ghosts would give in prime 1 before fighting them. imagine the ing in more gruesome detail and actually witnessing the amorphous parasite taking over living hosts. imagine seeing gf troops you are trying to save only to have all of them become infected by the ing and brutally transformed into their dark counterparts which will then proceed to slaughter the remaining marines. the ing (much like the flood) is an intelligent blight which only grows stronger with the more creatures or machines it infects. The game should be made more difficult by adding more enemies, increasing ai competency, and inserting some new enemies which can overpower you at earlier stages and which you can quietly avoid if you chose (assuming you are stealthy enough). Dark aether should always make you feel tense even in quiet rooms devoid of enemies. the time you travel back to light aether will serve as more of a rest from that horror in many respects and going through a light portal should make the player heave a sigh of relief every time they go back to the light world. I know my thoughts are a jumbled mess and I have much more to say but right now im exhausted. maybe ill edit this comment later and make it more coherent.
Also a good way to incorporate "gore" meaningfully would be to have body damage during combat that effects enemy behavior. Same would go for any mechanical armor. Violence as a tool rather than spectacle. Contrast to traditional shooters like Doom.
The PTSD in Other M DOES make sense. Chronologiclly she had only defeated him before, not killed him, Ridley never dies until Super Metroid, because of Planet Zebes exploding. Samus states this in the opening of Other M by saying, "And the explosion that followed destroyed Planet Zebes, along with the remains of Mother Brain, the Space Pirates, and my long-standing nemesis, Ridley." In Other M she was tracking and expecting the Mystery Creature, instead Ridley (a clone which she doesn't know about) shows up instead. She even says "No! It can't be!" before the fight. Ridley murdered her parents when she was a child, over the years she fights him several times, he finally dies and now she can be relieved of him. She no longer has to face the monster that murdered her parents, but now all of a sudden, he's back. Her PTSD is a reasonable reaction at that point. Also in an interview conducted by vgchartz, a real life ex army veteran and a psychologist said the scene was realistic. The psychologist also said one can't simply "get over" PTSD.
I think a little more horror and violence in metroid would be great. Not to the level of something like DOOM, but enough to sell the idea that Samus' journeys are dangerous and involve a lot of horrifying creatures and experiences that only someone like her could deal with.
Msybe a rebuilt Mother Brain consisting of patchwork brain tissue of brains of Space Pirate prisoners ripped forcibly and violently from their heads while still alive and screaming. Don’t have to necessarily show it but allude to it via system scans or something.
@@ThatMetroidGuy Funny you mention, thats also a big reason Other M bugged me. The environments looked realistic, monsters looked kinda cartoonish (those stupid death "poofs" didnt fit either, especially why Lyle kills that bug in a cutscene), and the people look like anime characters save for Samus and Anthony. The inconsistency really took me out of the experience.
@@ThatMetroidGuy the tone and artstyle of federation force was insulting to metroid and its setting. It was so out of place and contrived in general, and made things look like a joke. When Samus was brought into that game, it also made her look like a joke with her jobbing to space pirates, becoming that atrocious final boss fight. and just visually looking laughable, while narratively making samus look worse. Metroid's tone, atmosphere and feel is a very big part of it, the game can't just go towards a light and kiddy feel when it involves Samus, the federation, and space pirates. It does not work, and only serves to disrespect the story of samus.
It's not the best game in the series of course, but I remember first playing Other M and thinking that the Ridley Rabbit thing was kind of creepy. Seeing its corpse torn open just elevated the chills. And the way it stares at Samus in its introduction is sort of ominous in a way.
Horror is definitely an under-utilized element of the Metroid franchise, the NES game originally was teeming with it, the GB and GBA one's rather frightening as well; but much like how the Alien Franchise (which inspired Metroid) gradually shifted more into the action genre; Metroid followed in suit, and I don't think it's as good without it, Echoes had one thing superior to me in my eyes and that were the darker and more horrific elements of the story; and we never see it again, not even in Corruption (at least not on the level of Echoes). That said, I don't think it needs to go as dark or gore on the levels of a Roger Corman film from the 1970's, but the type of stuff we see in Echoes would be good enough. I'd also be okay with some monster/alien designs being inspired by some Eldrich Horror design, maybe make a new series of bad guys that follow this design motif?
This is the only part about the essence of Metroid games I don't like. I wish I could have the gameplay and the exploration without the horror or the 'atmosphere'. Horror isn't something I like to feel, and I can't understand why so many people think the opposite. Well, thinking a little bit more, Frigate Orpheon was a good opening to Metroid Prime, but I didn't feel horror, I felt interested in the experiments that the space pirates had been doing there and how they didn't end quite well for them. That part was dark, but there were no humans involved, and it was more interesting than horrifying for me. I must admit I felt a little wrong, but that was because I was playing at night, and, at night, the minimal thing that might be able to cause someone a little bit of fear makes me nervous.
I’d like Metroid gore to hit a middle ground between Halo and Doom. Not ripping aliens in half like doom, but maybe seeing some nasty corpses like the mission 343 Guilty Spark from Halo CE. Nintendo could really capitalize on an adult audience right now with the ongoing success of the switch. They just need to tap into it.
I feel like it could go a little further if you're fighting Space Pirates however, there would be more of a purpose to it then as opposed to everything.
I feel like Dead space 1 kind of got there, idk
Maybe you could be in a game where Samus loses her suit, and she is only armed with a pistol. You could be hunted down by a great alien beast. Your goal: To regain your suit and take out the creature. Until then.. you'd have to hide, scrounge for materials for survival. And only shoot your pistol at environmental areas like perhaps certain toxic flora of the alien planet, or maybe you're in a decaying outpost, and you can shoot electrical wiring to stun the creature to allow you to make a quick escape. You wouldn't have that much ammunition either (even if it's an energy pistol since energy isn't infinite and you'd have to recharge it at some point), so you'd have to be strategic with it's use. Do I shoot now.. or save it for an emergency later. That kind of thing. Also it'd be nice if whatever character you'd play(I think it'd be great getting to see Samus explore some genuine horror/survival situations), could find a melee weapon. Say you search a Federation soldier and you pick up a knife from him, or maybe you find a tool lying around left by a deceased technician, like a plasma soldering iron. Metroid was based much in it's conception from the Aliens franchise, so I got this idea from Alien: Isolation. Though this idea is also partly based on Tomb Raider. Metroid has always had an exploratory atmosphere to it, and elements of archeology in a way. So I thought exploring some exotic world and making discoveries on ancient extraterrestrial species while being hunted by a relentless creature would be nice. Also, as mentioned before, there'd be toxic or extreme conditions areas where it wouldn't be safe to be in a regular suit. So wether you'd be a surviving Federation soldier, or Samus or someone else.. you'd have to find equipment to help in your survival. A pack to hold all your gear(which would also be used in crafting), a filtration mask to make sure you don't asphyxiate on fumes, a holster for your pistol and melee weapon, and an environmental coat to wear over your suit(the coat would be make of a material that insulates depending on the environment you're in). So it'd be a game with exploration, horror and survival. In a sense bringing Samus back to her basics, if that's who would be the main character.
3:28 A beautiful moment that's often overlooked, a rare moment that we see Samus's humanity, I was always found that section very moving
I think we'll have another sprinkle of horror mixed into the Metroid franchise with Metroid dread! Can't wait for that game
I've made statements on Federation Force in the past on how the game really should have taken the opportunity of a co-op shooter with Federation soldiers and made one of the most unsettling metroid games.
It would ideally feel like playing as the federation troopers on aether, feeling really hopeless and frightening, a real survival horror esque game where you and your band of utter underdogs, have to complete missions in a seemingly inevitable and hopeless setting. After all, these are just grunt soldiers, yet they're stuck going up against threats that Samus would eat for breakfast. If anything that should be frightening and ominous, as they are facing terrible odds.
We can have them stranded on a planet with space pirates and other threats, and thus retain some of the metroid identity of isolation and dread, while allowing for the linear co-op mission structure, while maybe having some moments of levity.
Visually the game should absolutely follow other metroids with a grittier, more realism style graphic look. None of this nonsense chibi crap.
The game could ideally be on par with fusion in atmosphere and darkness, instead of the silly kiddy, tonally off balance game we got.
Playing as a group of much weaker soldiers waging war on space pirates and the other horrors Samus faces, should be a frightening and tall task. Its literally regular soldiers at war against a monstrous faction that is normally only beaten by the greatest bounty hunter.
I'd love it to have had the linear story structure of fusion, have some scripted sequences in its missions, have an expanding story, and have you get attached to fellow soldiers, only to lose them in this bleak battle against the space pirates. This is after all what would happen in a galactic war with space pirates. There are consequences, and its a grim situation.
Have stakes, consequences, and dread in the setting, take advantage of these underdog soldiers in over their head in a survival horror co-op shooter setting.
Samus appearing would represent a turning of the tide, as Samus is sent in to help the soldiers, with Samus perhaps tackling one task while the soldiers have to take care of a different mission. No nonsense of samus losing to pirates and being a final boss, only to be left to die after being defeated.
Samus is an ally, a badass, and a hero brought in to help you, after you've been able to survive for long enough against the pirates. She doesn't do your job for you, she just does one mission, like perhaps going off to take on the space pirate leader while you infiltrate their base to end them once and for all.
Its not like Samus hasn't already been sent to planets to investigate Federation troopers and to help them out.
Shame we just got a silly chibi shooter that was inconsistent and disrespectful of what metroid is, instead of a game accurate to the feel of Metroid.
It doesn't have to play like a metroid game, it can absolutely be a co-op shooter spinoff, but it should certainly adhere to and respect the setting it is in. It should look and feel like its tied in to metroid, it should under no circumstance look like a cheap eshop game with metroid slapped onto it.
Yea, I agree, fusion was scary, but exhilarating, and the phazon mines always had me on edge in prime.. Stealth troopers and metroids… and dark aether was scary thru and thru, but loved it and wanted more... I've always felt this was not a franchise for kids, so more horror and gore is welcome...and more upgrades...to combat it with..
I think horror can be done in a way that doesn't Nessaliry have to be blood & gore, perhaps something like what we've seen prior, but more visceral, for example little nightmares came to the switch last year & is classed as a horror game, however it wasn't about blood letting but rather had sections that were unsettling or sudden sections of death, specifically some boss sqeunecs,
Over all I'd like to see some sorta of expansion of the things you mentioned, some good analysis here
I'd made a fanfic sequel to the Tom Cruise Mummy/prequel to the Metroid franchise called THE MUMMY SURVIVES, where the hero of that story, the Prodigium agent, face horrors that are far more worse than Samus herself had went through (yet, made it out alive, though), with the story itself having most of the horror elements you'd mentioned in this video, except I cranked them up to 13, and made them much more gruesome than usual.
the last time i played corruption, i decided to actually read the logs on the pirates. i hadnt before and the whole environment generally creeped me out. how the prime trilogy is ported to the switch so i can experience it in hd to make the scene more tense because it was probably my second favourite part of corruption.
horror =not gore, nor is gore a requisite for horror, whereas there are plenty of cases where there is gore without horror, and instead of frightening turns out digusting. That said, I too would love Metroid to introduce mode horror. The problem is how can it last? Most of Metroid games make me anxious, but only at the beginning, 1h or so. How can fear prevail when you have blasted trhough that room 20 times or killed that enemy entire population? Have to try yet Dead Space. Maybe they could learn?
Great vid, going back to more horror would be great. I think adding an unbeatable for most of the game type of enemy like the SA-X would be pretty great. The dynamic adds so much additional fear. Prime 2 actually scared me so much as a kid I didn’t get past the first portion lol. Adding an archetype of enemy that elicits fear like the Ing would be great.
Never thought about gore actually, that’s an interesting idea. I certainly wouldn’t mind but I’m more concerned with adding the horror elements back. It would add to the ambience and realism of the game though
Hey man, awesome video😊 can’t wait for prime 4!
How to do a brilliant metroid trailer: show one of villians kill off characters in honorific ways
@ 7:14: You hit the nail right in the head, on why I agree with you. Nintendo needs an ip to break free from the "kiddy" stereotype, especially in the West where Metroid is even more known than in Japan.
Also, why the hell isn't the Metroid Manga localized in the West? Especially since Metroid is more widely known and sold better than in Japan.
It's quite a shock that Metroid hasn't gone down this route yet because of it.
I know right? It's daft.
Exactly, hopefully Prime 4 dives into this.
I'm surprised you didn't touch on Phaaze from the Prime series. As a living planet that twists every life form on planets its seeds touch across the galaxy, it's an excellent touch of cosmic horror. Though the Ing in Prime 2 also gave us a healthy dose of cosmic horror as well, being infectious gaseous nightmare life-forms from a dark parallel dimension that twist the creatures of Aether to attain material bodies.
A lot of Manga's are both gory and violent. Just take a look at the Pokémon Manga where Pokémons are killed by decapitation. However Metroid does have their root in horror being inspired by the Alien Franchise after all. I'd argue that Metroid has always had horror elements since the original game on the NES. A lot of it is displayed in the music alone but it's an easy thing to overlook. I don't think gore would do Metroid any major favors honestly. The human mind get used to it very easily after all and an over saturation of it would soften the blow. The reason why these moments are so impactful in the game; Crocomire, Nightmare, Space frigate, Valhalla, echoes opening sequens is because it's so out of place compared to the rest of the game. To be honest what scared me more with Super Metroid as a kid was never Crocomire's skin melting of in the acid as I never really connected the dots, was that I never really knew what waited in the next room. I could suddenly run into a mini boss or boss without knowing it. Super Metroid is a very gory and horrefying game but its very subtle about it and I think that is what Metroid need if they are going to delve deeper into horror. In fusion you are on edge because the game build up SA-X like it's something you can run into at any given time as well as the game world evolving as you play, you have areas destroyed and bosses suddenly jumping in on you (read Security B.O.X.).
Other M is a great example of the developers trying their hand on horror and failing emmensly. The game lacks music for the most part using ambience sounds instead, the world was build up around horribly vicous creatures that could attack at any given time. You had gruesome and gory deaths. It didn't work because nothing of it was subtle. It was always in the face. I have a hard time seeing Nintendo having it in them making a horrifying Metroid game anymore but hey I'd love being proven wrong.
In the end as long as they put out quality games I will keep enjoying Metroid games.
I definitely see your point. Although I would like more gore than previous entries. With aftermaths of creature attacks, firefights, deadly accidents and anything that is believable or practical to enhance the atmosphere. There really has to be rythm to such shock tactics. I cant help but think of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot; which started out strong with a legitimatly gut wrenching/gory first kill that has majot plot and character significance. Then there is the jolt of seeing the protagonist die graphically if you fail at platforming. But towards the latter half of the game there is just chopped up bodies everywhere to the point of being more campy than scary. DOOM can get away with excessive gore because its meant to be fun and over the top rather than shocking. Funny enough, the most disturbing things in that whole gore fest of a game are the bloodless holographic scenes that depict a ritual sacrifice and a troop getting torn in half by a Hell-Knight. With the actual gore being left for the player to find on thier own afterwards without it being shoved in your face (unlike everything else in the game).
I understand your point. I do agree that "gore" in these games should be a given and more of ity should be used. Just in a subtle way. If we take the opening of MP3C. When people are thrown out into space it's pretty horrefying but it's a bit suptle because the first thought won't be "oh he will sufficate in the cold empty void of space". Because my first thought is "well he just died". In Super Metroid you have plenty of corpses throughout the game which is gruesome but it's also pretty subtle. I do feel that if Nintendo were to do it on their own they would fail with the sublety and have a more "in your face" approach they had with Other M. Of course I would happily be proven wrong about that with future Metroid titles. :)
for a while I have had quite a few ideas for making a Metroid horror game. or rather remaking one of the main games with a more amped up and fleshed out horror style and feel. I personally think Echoes is the perfect candidate. there was so much the creators of echoes wanted to do like making dark aether darker. of course this could work to the game's detriment if done incorrectly. that said darkness alone shouldn't be the sole factor. terrifying audio cues, rooms unusually vacant and accompanied by ghostly or demonic whispers or sounds similar to the vibe the chozo ghosts would give in prime 1 before fighting them.
imagine the ing in more gruesome detail and actually witnessing the amorphous parasite taking over living hosts. imagine seeing gf troops you are trying to save only to have all of them become infected by the ing and brutally transformed into their dark counterparts which will then proceed to slaughter the remaining marines. the ing (much like the flood) is an intelligent blight which only grows stronger with the more creatures or machines it infects.
The game should be made more difficult by adding more enemies, increasing ai competency, and inserting some new enemies which can overpower you at earlier stages and which you can quietly avoid if you chose (assuming you are stealthy enough). Dark aether should always make you feel tense even in quiet rooms devoid of enemies. the time you travel back to light aether will serve as more of a rest from that horror in many respects and going through a light portal should make the player heave a sigh of relief every time they go back to the light world.
I know my thoughts are a jumbled mess and I have much more to say but right now im exhausted. maybe ill edit this comment later and make it more coherent.
Also a good way to incorporate "gore" meaningfully would be to have body damage during combat that effects enemy behavior. Same would go for any mechanical armor. Violence as a tool rather than spectacle. Contrast to traditional shooters like Doom.
The PTSD in Other M DOES make sense. Chronologiclly she had only defeated him before, not killed him, Ridley never dies until Super Metroid, because of Planet Zebes exploding. Samus states this in the opening of Other M by saying, "And the explosion that followed destroyed Planet Zebes, along with the remains of Mother Brain, the Space Pirates, and my long-standing nemesis, Ridley." In Other M she was tracking and expecting the Mystery Creature, instead Ridley (a clone which she doesn't know about) shows up instead. She even says "No! It can't be!" before the fight. Ridley murdered her parents when she was a child, over the years she fights him several times, he finally dies and now she can be relieved of him. She no longer has to face the monster that murdered her parents, but now all of a sudden, he's back. Her PTSD is a reasonable reaction at that point.
Also in an interview conducted by vgchartz, a real life ex army veteran and a psychologist said the scene was realistic. The psychologist also said one can't simply "get over" PTSD.
I think a little more horror and violence in metroid would be great. Not to the level of something like DOOM, but enough to sell the idea that Samus' journeys are dangerous and involve a lot of horrifying creatures and experiences that only someone like her could deal with.
Msybe a rebuilt Mother Brain consisting of patchwork brain tissue of brains of Space Pirate prisoners ripped forcibly and violently from their heads while still alive and screaming. Don’t have to necessarily show it but allude to it via system scans or something.
Well you're probably going to enjoy dread then.
NOTHING IS SCARIER THAN METROID CRAWLING
It should be impossible, but when it's seen...
I think youre suggestions are very possible. Especially after the backlash Fed Farce got for looking like a kiddie game.
That's the main reason why I don't like it, the art style. If it had Echoes' or Corruption's aesthetic, I would've appreciated it more.
That's the main reason why I don't like it, the art style. If it had Echoes' or Corruption's aesthetic, I would've appreciated it more.
@@ThatMetroidGuy Funny you mention, thats also a big reason Other M bugged me. The environments looked realistic, monsters looked kinda cartoonish (those stupid death "poofs" didnt fit either, especially why Lyle kills that bug in a cutscene), and the people look like anime characters save for Samus and Anthony. The inconsistency really took me out of the experience.
@@ThatMetroidGuy the tone and artstyle of federation force was insulting to metroid and its setting.
It was so out of place and contrived in general, and made things look like a joke. When Samus was brought into that game, it also made her look like a joke with her jobbing to space pirates, becoming that atrocious final boss fight. and just visually looking laughable, while narratively making samus look worse.
Metroid's tone, atmosphere and feel is a very big part of it, the game can't just go towards a light and kiddy feel when it involves Samus, the federation, and space pirates. It does not work, and only serves to disrespect the story of samus.
I feel like it'd me a bit much...
Please no large amounts of gore - that would detract younger teens
It's not the best game in the series of course, but I remember first playing Other M and thinking that the Ridley Rabbit thing was kind of creepy.
Seeing its corpse torn open just elevated the chills. And the way it stares at Samus in its introduction is sort of ominous in a way.
😂
Horror is definitely an under-utilized element of the Metroid franchise, the NES game originally was teeming with it, the GB and GBA one's rather frightening as well; but much like how the Alien Franchise (which inspired Metroid) gradually shifted more into the action genre; Metroid followed in suit, and I don't think it's as good without it, Echoes had one thing superior to me in my eyes and that were the darker and more horrific elements of the story; and we never see it again, not even in Corruption (at least not on the level of Echoes). That said, I don't think it needs to go as dark or gore on the levels of a Roger Corman film from the 1970's, but the type of stuff we see in Echoes would be good enough. I'd also be okay with some monster/alien designs being inspired by some Eldrich Horror design, maybe make a new series of bad guys that follow this design motif?
This is the only part about the essence of Metroid games I don't like. I wish I could have the gameplay and the exploration without the horror or the 'atmosphere'. Horror isn't something I like to feel, and I can't understand why so many people think the opposite.
Well, thinking a little bit more, Frigate Orpheon was a good opening to Metroid Prime, but I didn't feel horror, I felt interested in the experiments that the space pirates had been doing there and how they didn't end quite well for them. That part was dark, but there were no humans involved, and it was more interesting than horrifying for me. I must admit I felt a little wrong, but that was because I was playing at night, and, at night, the minimal thing that might be able to cause someone a little bit of fear makes me nervous.
No