50 replies to this topic

[TheLegend_njf]

According to the Metroid timeline released by Nintendo, Other M is the fifth time she fights with Ridley. Why would in the world would she have PSTD when seeing Ridley when she "killed" him four times? By this point she should be annoyed the fact that he can't seem to die. The PSTD was stupid and contrived.

 

 

Then again, Other M seems to disregard a majority of the stuff that happened before, so what do i know?

 

I don't think that's how it works. PTSD, similar to most anxiety disorders is not so easily treatable with exposure. The effect Ridley would have on her if he indeed killed her parents in front of her would be so hard wired that she would probably experience that same level of fear with every Ridley encounter. You just didn't see it before because this is the first time we get to experience what it is like being Samus. 

 

Granted, most people are calling bull on Other M's perspective of the Metroid lore, so there's no sense of me in defending it years after it's released, but I feel it being completely reasonable for her to have a deep routed fear and hatred towards Ridley. 

[Moonbread]

I don't think that's how it works. PTSD, similar to most anxiety disorders is not so easily treatable with exposure. The effect Ridley would have on her if he indeed killed her parents in front of her would be so hard wired that she would probably experience that same level of fear with every Ridley encounter. You just didn't see it before because this is the first time we get to experience what it is like being Samus. 

 

Granted, most people are calling bull on Other M's perspective of the Metroid lore, so there's no sense of me in defending it years after it's released, but I feel it being completely reasonable for her to have a deep routed fear and hatred towards Ridley. 

Pretty much this.  Like, I actually have minor PTSD around people who get overly angry (especially if they throw things or slam things, that will instantly trigger an anxiety attack) because I grew up abused by a parent who had a really bad temper.  Growing up with that didn't prepare me for dealing with angry people in the future, it just makes confronting them about it all the harder because I have to compartmentalize really bad memories and my anxiety going through the roof.  With all due respect, Norzan, I think you're reallllly underplaying how bad PTSD can be (and you seem to misunderstand what it's like because it's not just something you "get over").  If anything, the fact that she had killed him 4 times and he still came back a 5th time would strike a "Why can't this nightmare ever die" panicked reaction making the most sense.  The only reason we never really saw that beforehand is because most of the time, the games don't emphasize Samus' feelings but are just purely focused on gameplay.  I think a modern remake of Metroid 1 would possibly give us a more detailed scene of how Samus is feeling, facing him down for the first time.

[Matthew]

I didn't ever have a problem with Samus' PTSD flashbacks. I just found the game boring. :/

[TheLegend_njf]

(and you seem to misunderstand what it's like because it's not just something you "get over").

 

While I agree with everything you just said, this I don't fully agree with because sometimes it does happen. Some people do in fact just get over it. I grew up with some serious problems that I dwelt on for years, and they were quite traumatic to me, creating a lot of moments of excessive anxiety. But one day I really just got over it. I dunno really what else I can say about that other than it does happen. 

 

The best way to explain this though while still agreeing with your side of the argument is that some people just may not be ready to just get over it until they actually are ready to get over it, and this is something you can't solve by telling somebody to "get over it".

[Anthus]

I feel like the Metroid series lost it's focus as the series evolved. It was made by Japanese people, but it wasn't big as in Japan. This is true, as well as it being a bigger hit in the west, so that was their target market. The games became more and more story driven as the series went on, but that's not a bad thing at all. We know the Japanese love their stories, and trying to add more in terms of story to the series isn't bad in itself, but I feel that it also impacted the general direction of the gameplay too. I actually kind of liked Other M's story, but kinda like Matthew said, the game was just boring. I also wan't a fan of using my giant, Reggie Fils-Aime thumbs to play on the Wii's d-pad. I feel like during the development, they thought stuff like "How can this story work", "Get that eye texture on fleek!", "Oh, what if we did that with the story?", "Okay, let's spend a few months on these cut scenes", and the actual game design itself took a backseat, and the game became a vessel for a plot no-one really asked for, even if it was decent in its own right (like as an OVA or something).

 

Bottom line, stories are fine in Metroid as long as the game is still a Metroid game. I think Nintendo might have learned this, and with a fanbase that is even more fickle than Zelda fans, this can be a hard balance to find.

[TheLegend_njf]

Team Ninja just generally had a real issue with good gameplay anyways. This is coming from a guy who loves their Ninja Gaiden games, but I'm not above seeing problems with games I like. 

 

Ninja Gaiden, what's supposed to be their best games generally has problems with camera control, game design, game mechanics, and overall focus. They made Ryu so OP that they had to compensate this by creating a game full of complete crowd control, kinda sounds like another one of their games series, but much much harder. Crowds are more than just cannon fodder, but they are still a problem with the company's overall philosophy behind game design. They just don't understand it. Ninja Gaiden also had interesting platforming which I personally appreciate, but most people I feel found it a frustrating experience. Sometimes the platforming just doesn't work right. Also, these games are heavy cutscene and story focused as well, despite just being average at best. I believe Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox was probably one of the most beautiful games that generation. But overall they were a very sloppy game developer that mostly made their way to fame by making most of their female characters extremely large chested, sexualized, and very unnatural looking. Bottom line, I feel what Team Ninja done to Ninja Gaiden is not much different than what Sega done to Sonic. It was a very surprising and exciting formula, but people lost interest very fast, which is why Ninja Gaiden is kinda dead today. 

 

So given that Team Ninja couldn't even get one of their main series right, could you really trust them overall with a Metroid game? 

 

With that said, Team Ninja has taken a few hits to their confidence I believe with these failures I listed above and I believe they are trying harder. Hyrule Warriors was received pretty well, and Nioh, a new game they have released which taken a more Dark Souls-ish approach seems to have had the advantage of correcting many of their past mistakes. I'm curious to see how well this company has matured given the current reception of Nioh right now. 

[The Satellite]

Ninja Gaiden, what's supposed to be their best games generally has problems with camera control, game design, game mechanics, and overall focus. They made Ryu so OP that they had to compensate this by creating a game full of complete crowd control, kinda sounds like another one of their games series, but much much harder.

Technically Dynasty Warriors is a different developer, but both developers are divisions within Tecmo Koei.

 

That aside, I have to agree about the gameplay of Other M just being boring. Talking about the story would be pretty redundant at this point, it's the common punching bag, but few people touch on the gameplay and how utterly bland it is. Not bad, just uninteresting, boring, repetitive, and bland. And automatic; I hate fighting enemies in this game because it never feels like a challenge. It's not as big of a complaint with more complex and tougher monsters you fight in smaller numbers, but in rooms full of fodder, it's just... boring. Just walk through and mash the fire button, no challenge whatsoever. At least in previous games you had to actually aim at the fodder. Plus, switching between first- and third-persons I'd argue helps to ruin the game and they should have picked one or the other. Also there's no real exploration, it's all boring, the story is garbage Other M sucks.

 

I begin to wonder whether F-Zero is being seen as "redundant" to Nintendo because they have Mario Kart for their racing gimmicks. Why is this relevant? Because if so, I start to wonder if they feel the same about Metroid, seeing as now Zelda is the company's exploration-focused beast.

[thepsynergist]

If Zelda went more Sci-Fi than BotW is getting, then that just might be the final nail...  I hope not...  I love the environments in Metroid games.

[The Satellite]

I'd like to think of it like the difference between Elder Scrolls and Fallout, both being first person adventure RPGs with similar engines but different settings and combat, except Metroid is far more of a leap from Zelda than Fallout is from Elder Scrolls.

 

Basically Nintendo could make both succeed. Just make a good game, show it off to the world, market it well... it could turn out fine. Assuming Switch succeeds.

[TheLegend_njf]

One of the big factor I read about Metroid not being that popular in Japan is mainly due to it's sci-fi theme. Apparently Japan isn't a big fan of science fiction? I can hardly believe that considering some of the anime I've seen, so don't quote me on that, because it's something I read, and I'd say take it with a grain of salt because I don't really have the sources on me. 

[The Satellite]

I read the same thing and I also find it difficult to believe for the same reasons, but come to think of it... I can't really name many big sci-fi video game series that come from there.

[Anthus]

Hm.. Metal Gear Solid, kind of? Ghost in the Shell? Xenoblade Chronicles X is kind of scifi-y. But yeah, not a whole lot. They like mechs, but that's not exclusively scify.

[The Satellite]

Metal Gear isn't really sci-fi... at least not in the sense I'm thinking of. I suppose there's pretty much every Xeno game except the original Xenoblade, as that's more science fantasy. Also Ghost in the Shell is anime, unless there were games I'm missing. 

[Anthus]

There were a couple games. My friend had one on the PS2.

[TheLegend_njf]

Ghost in a Shell was an anime before a video game I believe. Apparently that doesn't count I guess? lol

Metal Gear isn't really sci-fi... at least not in the sense I'm thinking of. I suppose there's pretty much every Xeno game except the original Xenoblade, as that's more science fantasy. Also Ghost in the Shell is anime, unless there were games I'm missing. 

 

The Metal Gear Solid series had a lot of sci-fi themes. Not very much in those games were based on any form of reality I know. lol