[Wii] Metroid: Other M - SHINESPARK IT

hueg box art:

Due to be released stateside this Tuesday, the next entry in Metroid series is returning to the classic two dimensional style while retaining some first person perspective that it's been showcased in lately. An early review is up on Gametrailers, and after viewing, I'm shaky about this being a day one purchase the way most big name Nintendo titles would be on this starving system drowning in overly casual games.

Well, for one thing, although Metroid immediately brings to mind the big N, the game was developed by a different group, like the Prime series before it. Team Ninja is at the helm for this one, and never having owned a Xbox, not sure what that implies given their track record, but if DOA: Beach Volleyball is any indicator, Samus' power suit will have jiggle physics.

Anyway, causes for concern. Third party developer, check. Having seen the above review, apparently the game is fairly narrative for a Metroid installment and Samus' constant voice acting is shockingly bad. Badly localized and performed dry. Even the isolation of space cannot still her tongue. She, plus the supporting cast, is going to get the bad kind of chatty.

The execution of design seems to be pulled off in tried and true fashion. The same ol' Metroid, you're stripped at the start of all your bad ass weapons and powers, you search to retrieve them, use them to open new areas. Yet the first person perspective comes off as useless in a heated battle, as you're rooted while in it, making its function more exploratory. The game disregards the analog attachment, taking the turn the Wiimote on its side approach, d-pad for movement, point to the screen to change to first person. It's reported that the transition between the two modes is fairly smooth.

I have no idea whether I should be excited about this game or not. All the window dressing is mildly off putting. It doesn't seem like anything new is being brought to the table. I mean, Metroid just being itself is awesome, but is it worth it to drop the fifty? Or am I some sort of heathen and should should have every reason to be giddy?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Reviews and impressions are allllll over the place on this one, and the mixed opinions have persisted with early copies getting out there (apparently Costco and some other retailer started selling them Friday?). No one seems to be totally shitting on it, but there's definitely some mixed feelings on it. I was holding off anyway since I still haven't gone through Metroid Prime 2 & 3 despite owning both on GC and buying Metroid Prime Trilogy day one :/. Curious to see how this pans out, but it already seems like there will be no general consensus on it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Everyone is focusing on the admittedly shitty characterization, and if even half of what's talked about regarding what they've done to the story is true, that part will seriously shit up much of the experience. But no one is talking about if it's following in the recent Metroid design philosophy of handholding and titty suckling, or if it's actually a return to form and a bit clever. I worry about that more than Samus shitting her pants at the sight of Ridley for some god forsaken reason.

I'm still going to be all over this like Mo0 dry-humping an elephant, so I'll report back.

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm staying cautiously optimistic about Other M. After skimming through a few reviews it sounds like this will be a game where every cutscene is worth at least one facepalm and I'll need to just pretend they didn't happen, but as long as the gameplay is enough fun I can deal with that. That's how it worked with Fusion to a lesser extent too. The only thing I've seen that really concerns me is a mention of being prohibited from backtracking much by the story.

In any case, I'll be waiting an extra week since I'm getting it through Amazon's free shipping. Their $20 credit deal made it worth betting on this being a good game. In the meantime I'm playing through Prime 3.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Agent Di Gun Him

no one is talking about if it's following in the recent Metroid design philosophy of handholding and titty suckling, or if it's actually a return to form and a bit clever. I worry about that more than Samus shitting her pants at the sight of Ridley for some god forsaken reason.

I'm still going to be all over this like Mo0 dry-humping an elephant, so I'll report back.

I have heard hearsay it's a bit like Fusion where you get cool shit but aren't allowed to go back and explore because GO HERE NEXT. If this is true I'm going to enjoy the shit out of you playing it. So much delicious rage.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I just watched the gametrailers review and the game sounds far more promising than I had been lead to believe judging by all the bitching. Nintendo games that attempt cinematics, always have weak voice acting and writing, so this isn't that big a departure. I'm pretty picky about my voice acting, and Samus' preoccupied narration doesn't sound nearly as bad as I expected. It could still be that it sounds better out of context and I'll hate it in-game.

Whatever, so far it sounds like I'll enjoy it greatly. It's no Metroid Prime 1, but then nothing is >=0

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, gathering other info about the game, things seem none too clear without a hands on session with it.

Obviously, cinematics, cringe worthy. Reducing a hero character down to a blithering fool, understandably contemptible. Looks like it's not just the quality of the performances but the intention of Samus' character development. Sexist is a word that's been thrown around, but getting the gist of what happens, maybe more plain insulting and amateur?

Important thing though, could have been off base with my initial post. GT's videos always come in a bit choppy for me, having seen some other videos and descriptions of the game, angled overhead third person and auto aim applies a fair amount the time, which is decidedly not a return to 2D classic form. Without any use of an analog stick, yikes?

I just started following the game a day ago, you in the know probably figured this already, probably the wrong person to make the thread.

FELIPE NO

Just finished watching the GT review, and it definitely put me at ease about how the game plays. The voice acting sounds pretty bad, but bearable. It looks like it'll be a blast as long as you can ignore their attempts to make Samus into a weak little girl story-wise. As Uzuki said, it's easy to call it sexist, but it seems like they just tried to make Samus more human and took it too far with bad writing. It's insulting, but not sexist.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Raptorfox

I have heard hearsay it's a bit like Fusion where you get cool shit but aren't allowed to go back and explore because GO HERE NEXT. If this is true I'm going to enjoy the shit out of you playing it. So much delicious rage.

If it comes to that, keep an eye out for stories about a Winnipeg man who drowned himself in his toilet, and cops found him pantsless with the TV on.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Watching the video, its neat that they're actually doing story with a metroid game, as opposed to the typical run around and collect items for no real reason system. I am concerned with how cheezy the script is going to be though. I also don't like the idea that first person mode does not allow you to move around. Outside of that, I'll more than likely get the game, and will be upset if its like Fusion, because lack of backtracking means NOT REALLY A METROID GAME.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

What the hell is it with complaining (or worries) about not being able to move in first person? I listened to the guys on Invisible Walls whining about the same inane bullshit. Can you name a single third person action adventure with a first person view button during which you can move? Ocarina of Time? Ninja Gaiden? Otogi? Assassin's Creed?

THE FUNCTION IS THE EXACT SAME










STOP THINKING ABOUT METROID PRIME


EDIT:
Also the Gametrailers review said there's tons of backtracking to do, so it's not quite like Metroid Fusion. As far as I understand, it's streamlined, with less actual discovery and exploration, but the actual structure is the same as before. I stopped looking at it as a regular Metroid game ages ago, I was even surprised it even has item pickups and backtracking.

I look at it the same way Four Swords Adventures reshaped Zelda into a co-op multiplayer - keeping some of the foundations but altering the pacing and structure - Other M reshapes Metroid into a Ninja Gaiden. An easy Ninja Gaiden, but still.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

What the hell is it with complaining (or worries) about not being able to move in first person? I listened to the guys on Invisible Walls whining about the same inane bullshit. Can you name a single third person action adventure with a first person view button during which you can move? Ocarina of Time? Ninja Gaiden? Otogi? Assassin's Creed?

THE FUNCTION IS THE EXACT SAME

Gears... of.. war? (EDIT: oh i didn't read the "action adventure" part. but my point below still stands :P)

I don't like having to stand still when I switch viewpoints. I didn't like it in the other games, and I don't like it now. That kind of control scheme basically means ONLY USE FIRST PERSON WHEN DOING LONG RANGE OR PUZZLE THINGS. I don't mind that too much in and of itself, but from the looks of the gameplay trailer, you'll spend a decent amount of time in first person while in the middle of combat. Reminds me of the people who play FPSes on the PC and stop to turn with their keyboards.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yes, there are sections in boss fights when you aim and shoot at a specific body part, but then there are sections like that in every third person action game ever and like the video says, the transition from third person to first person is super smooth. You just point and shoot, and it's back third person fighting.

They did say it's tricky to use in the middle of a battle with enemies all around, but then that's been around since forever as well. So you look for an opening, hey presto, it's part of the game.

Personally I would have loved for them to do this on the classic controller, but I don't think you should worry about the first person stuff.

I was more venting about the Invisible Walls stuff than you, btw. They talked about a lot of good things in Metroid, I don't get how they could get stuck on nitpicking on the first person view, as if it was a genuine horrible flaw in the game. They basically whined about the same thing that's in every third person action game ever AND then complained you can shoot enemies with the first person view from far away and it makes the game pretty easy. Not that Shane hasn't done this stuff before.

That their main gripe with Mafia 2 was that while the story and story missions are excellent, the game is somehow average because it doesn't have the excess things to do they "expect" from an open world games also made me facepalm through my skull.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Qwarky, every single person I've talked with and pretty much everyone who got the game early on GAF says the first person stuff says that it's super awkward and frustrating, and that the game makes you do it for basically every boss and you will pretty much always take hits while switching to that mode and getting your reticule sorted out. I think the problem is in your examples those games either are not super fast paced with giant bosses and/or swarms of enemies attacking you, OR they're specifically tuned for that, and nothing I'm hearing from anybody seems to indicate it's tuned well at all in this for bosses. Someone posted this over on GAF, and others have posted after him at 6+ hours into the game and are basically agreeing with this:

Quote:

I'm now about 8 hours in, and it's hard finding reasons to continue. I really wanted to like this, but eh. It's so boring The story doesn't make any sense, the dialogue and monologues are horrible written, the combat feels wrong, the exploration is almost gone (secrets on the map, wtf), music is not memorable or even present, controls leave a lot to be desired, voice acting is crap, enemies are not varied enough. Ugh.

And I just talked to two people (not in the GAF thread) who echoed similar sentiment about it getting more and more terrible, and I just listened to the last Weekend Confirmed where Garnett was saying he was consistently having issues with it not flipping into first person mode, or it would for only a split second then go back to 3rd person, even though the wiimote was still pointed at the TV. Also apparently pirates have gone through the sound files and there's only like 3 returning Metroid tracks in the whole game??

Part of me is enjoying the (apparent) trainwreck, the other part is dying a little on the inside :/. If it's any consolation apparently there are some hidden items that do NOT show on the map, but that it's also a super pain in the ass constantly switching to first person to look for secrets. I still don't understand why this could not have been a wiimote + nunchuk game.

I'm super interested to see what you guys think of it, at least from whoever's getting it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

Also apparently pirates have gone through the sound files and there's only like 3 returning Metroid tracks in the whole game?

That doesn't seem too unusual, how many returning tracks were in each individual Prime game?

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

I think the problem is in your examples those games either are not super fast paced with giant bosses and/or swarms of enemies attacking you, OR they're specifically tuned for that, and nothing I'm hearing from anybody seems to indicate it's tuned well at all in this for bosses.

Ninja Gaiden is not fast paced with giant bosses, what the hell are you smoking? Every action game with an optional first person aiming for some weapon has had the same thing, you essentially can't and shouldn't use the view in the middle of a swarm of enemies, as there's always that 1-2 seconds of disorientation, whether it's Zelda or Ninja Gaiden or Beyond Good & Evil. Why is this made into such a big deal now? "Forced" to do it in every boss? Like every similar game ever, only now the aiming is faster?

You clear breathing room to be able to aim, you've done this since Ocarina of time for goodness' sake. The reviews are complaining the generous autoaim can make the game too easy since you can just spam the laser and not get hit much. So which is it?

And why are you reading something someone on GAF says?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

Ninja Gaiden is not fast paced with giant bosses, what the hell are you smoking? Every action game with an optional first person aiming for some weapon has had the same thing, you essentially can't and shouldn't use the view in the middle of a swarm of enemies, as there's always that 1-2 seconds of disorientation, whether it's Zelda or Ninja Gaiden or Beyond Good & Evil. Why is this made into such a big deal now? "Forced" to do it in every boss? Like every similar game ever, only now the aiming is faster?

You clear breathing room to be able to aim, you've done this since Ocarina of time for goodness' sake. The reviews are complaining the generous autoaim can make the game too easy since you can just spam the laser and not get hit much. So which is it?

And why are you reading something someone on GAF says?

You don't understand; what people are saying is that in Other M that there aren't breathing room moments where going into first person mode is safe in this, but you still have no choice but to do it because the enemies/boss will continue to attack you no matter what. Again, you're even re-emphasizing my point for me that these other games are balanced to provide time to adjust for safety and re-orientation, and by all accounts Other M does not do this.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

And why are you reading something someone on GAF says?

GFF OPINIONS

[22:46] <&Colonel_Skills> part of me wants to blame other M for this headache too, was playing it earlier, very uhhh....yeah. Hmm.
[22:47] <@Tails> ahahahahahaha
[22:47] <@Tails> ahahahaha
[22:47] <@Tails> Details.
[22:47] <@Tails> Come on
[22:47] <+SimDaddyGT> having fun with it, I assume?
[22:47] <@Tails> I wanna hear the rage
[22:47] <+YouMad> haha so bad
[22:47] <+Denicalis> That is not a happy Skills reaction, Sim.
[22:48] <&Colonel_Skills> The beginning is drowning in awful VA, awful linearity, and god damn, a lot of cutscenes
[22:48] <@Tails> I warned you about Metroid bro
[22:48] <@Tails> I TOLD YOU DOG

Selling my Wii.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You should hold off and check it out first, the graphics are pretty good for a Wii game.

Most amazing jew boots

Yeah, you're right. It does look like it was made in 1998.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I've heard the game gets good after you finish with the story. Then it plays like a normal Metroid game and I hear there's a pretty awesome second ending.

I mean I can deal with shitty cutscenes if there's a halfway decent game underneath. I mean, isn't that the reason people play MGS?

I was speaking idiomatically.

You "play" MGS in about as much as you "play" 52 pickup.

This isn't anywhere near that level, but the cutscenes are god damn AWFUL and unskippable for some God forsaken reason. Apparently on subsequent playthroughs (provided you hate yourself enough to bother), you can ditch 'em, but the underlying game is probably the weakest Metroid out there. It's not so horrifyingly terrible that you're going to barf into your nice new shoes, but it's boring, the perspective switching eats my ass, it railroads you like no one's business and it seems to have taken a page from Shadow Complex and decided to treat the player like he or she had a single digit IQ.

I'm only 5 hours in so far, so I'm holding back the full extent of my =\ face until later but fffffffffffffff so far it's assey mcgee all over the place

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

MMMMooooooooMMMMM

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by NovaX

I mean, isn't that the reason people play MGS?

I don't know about everyone else, but I bought Twin Snakes for the cutscenes.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Jam it back in, in the dark.