[PATV] Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 2, Ep. 14: Learning from Other M

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[PATV] Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 2, Ep. 14: Learning from Other M

This week, we discuss some of Metroid: Other M's failings, and how similar games might avoid them in the future.

Read the full story here

FrostGiantLibrarian

I just finished watching your presentation on Metroid Other M, and I gotta comment on it now. Thanks for that.
I think, more so than any fanboy rant out there, it does the series, that I've loved since Super Metroid, and the game, true justice. Thanks again!

skellyton3

We know even more than what you have mentioned about Samus. We know how she was found as a newborn by the Chozo and that her parents were killed by the space Pirates. We know that her Armour was created by the Chozo.

Dallen9

Okay first off you guys made a great presintation but you missed the elephant in the room. Other M based on everyone's Option of why it was a bad game was all due to one cutscene. And you guys know the one I'm talking about cause evryone who knows what people rant about in this game it's that one cutscene. The one thing I can say is Look at Spec Ops: the line and then look at other M and tell me what the real Epic Fail was for other M. cause I'll say this Other M was a great game the only thing was the execution of that one Cutscene made the whole experience go down the toilet and made what's a great game not even worth the dollar to pick it up in the bargin bin. And I believe you guys will agree on that note cause I have a feeling Spec Ops: the Line is the spirtual sucessor to Other: M and we all just missed it cause of one bad exicusion in Video game cinema.

Nixitur

And let's not forget the other time Link was given a character.
Hint: "I can't WAIT to bomb some Dodongos!" and "How about a kiss, for luck?"

DrainGored

Dallen9 wrote: »

Okay first off you guys made a great presintation but you missed the elephant in the room. Other M based on everyone's Option of why it was a bad game was all due to one cutscene. And you guys know the one I'm talking about cause evryone who knows what people rant about in this game it's that one cutscene. The one thing I can say is Look at Spec Ops: the line and then look at other M and tell me what the real Epic Fail was for other M. cause I'll say this Other M was a great game the only thing was the execution of that one Cutscene made the whole experience go down the toilet and made what's a great game not even worth the dollar to pick it up in the bargin bin. And I believe you guys will agree on that note cause I have a feeling Spec Ops: the Line is the spirtual sucessor to Other: M and we all just missed it cause of one bad exicusion in Video game cinema.

I am a bit confused when you call Spec Ops a spiritual successor: were they both developed by people from Team Ninja (previously or otherwise)? All I can see in the wiki is that it was inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which now actually kind of makes me want to play it)

DrainGored

Hyperbole often turns me away from even trying games like this for a while (not that I am accusing EC of it, but it was rampant).

I have never played Other M. I think part of this is how quickly internet evaluations of a game will taint the waters before a remotely casual fan even gets a chance to play it, and may even aid in someone coming in with a bit of a chip on their shoulder based on what they heard. I know I've played a lot of games that received poor scores long after the fervor died down and I said to myself "not spectacular, but not an failure by any means--too bad that overreaction meant no sequel"

Removing the flaws in story as a specific symptom for a moment, this can be attributable in what we want a game to "be." Just for one (rather closed) example: do we want it to fulfill our daily obsession with the exact build that kills the raid boss with random gear, or do we just enjoy the game world and think it's cool when we get cool stuff? Do we just use to chat or vent with friends while playing a game?

From a purely pragmatic angle, I think if you wouldn't like a Metroid game with more cut scenes than it has game play, that's pretty direct and I can certainly agree with that!

Drascin

Dallen9 wrote: »

Okay first off you guys made a great presintation but you missed the elephant in the room. Other M based on everyone's Option of why it was a bad game was all due to one cutscene. And you guys know the one I'm talking about cause evryone who knows what people rant about in this game it's that one cutscene. The one thing I can say is Look at Spec Ops: the line and then look at other M and tell me what the real Epic Fail was for other M. cause I'll say this Other M was a great game the only thing was the execution of that one Cutscene made the whole experience go down the toilet and made what's a great game not even worth the dollar to pick it up in the bargin bin. And I believe you guys will agree on that note cause I have a feeling Spec Ops: the Line is the spirtual sucessor to Other: M and we all just missed it cause of one bad exicusion in Video game cinema.

No. No it wasn't. It was due to terribad acting, rampant misogynism, blatant Martystuzation of Adam Malkovich, extremely questionable inter-character and intra-character writing (the biggest problem by far. Samus's characterization, Adam's characterization... holy hell it BURNS), a continuous feeling of exclusion and anticlimax towards the player (culminating in a pants-on-head ending where you don't even get to fight the final boss, you just wait until some mooks take it down for you after an hour of buildup) that reminds more of a bizarro 8-Bit Theatre where Brian Clevinger somehow took the continuous anticlimax seriously and artistically instead of using it for humour than of a Metroid title, a linearity that makes Fusion look like Just Cause 2... I could go on here for a while :P.

That cutscene was a symptom, not the cause.

p4rn

First of all: Thank You! This video was amazing and I just signed in to say thank you.
Back when I played Other M, disappointment and denial made me avoid anything about it, so now I am really shocked, that some people are actually defending the game.
To argue, that Samus has no characterisation prior to Other M is not just wrong but insulting to the character and especially the writers who brilliantly conveyed her feelings and thoughts through her body language, actions and camera placement "alone".
For example in Metroid Prime after defeating the titular enemy Samus takes her helmet of and looks around, this action can tell us a lot. She is not jumping back into her ship flying towards the next enemy she can screw with like a crazy Spartan looking to measure her skills with every living being; no, she is standing there, relieved that she managed the beat Prime, and reminiscing. She shows that she too is vulnerable, not so much to the Beams and Explosions from her foes but to the fate of the Chozo.
To think that characterisation can only happen by the character shouting in your face what she thinks, is actually disrespectful to the audience
On a side note, Metroid Prime is a prime example of how story-telling can be weaven into gameplay. In the same manner one explored Tallon IV, the game conveyed its story through exploration of Logs.
Anyway I am off now watching more Extra Credits, I just got hooked.
One last notion, I really felt sadness at 7:46 "Well... Because it's Samus" and 8:47 "There's a character in there"... so true.

KingStarscrea,

Both Sakamoto and Team Ninja have, since, owned up to Sakamoto being in charge of script writing. He was also the one that made Samus's new voice actor, Jessica Martin, deliver the narrative lines in such a dead voice. The short story here is, any issues you have can be largely placed on Sakamoto's shoulders. Team Ninja just did the graphical and physics work.