*This post contains Metroid: Fusion and Metroid: Other M spoilers*
Honestly, I don't remember the game as well as I make out, including just how bad the linearity was. I've finished it once. I found it disappointing but I did ultimately decide it was enjoyable. It is unfortunate that the linearity directly flies in the face of what so many people love about the series, and, the gameplay structure that its name has come to exemplify. That's the main problem, I think.
But, many of the individual pieces are there. The setting is compelling and rich with Metroid/metroid lore. It has continuity with previous games. There are nifty powerups that give a sense of progression - if not as much as they should, with exploration so tightly regulated - and are tied plotwise to the continuing struggle against the X.
Adam's problems aside, a voice in your ear is an interesting, not-too-intrusive way to support the plot. At this stage the series remained committed to showing, instead of just having Samus clumsily narrate everything. And again the lift-shaft monologues were a nice, short (I think?) and well-timed window into Samus' thoughts. Even if Adam was too prevalent in them.
I'd forgotten how heavily his interference was tied to the game's linearity. It's doubly unfortunate that his debut had him not just as an (unprecedented) bureaucratic authority figure, but actually, physically limiting the player. He went on to be, by all accounts, even worse in Other M - the most ridiculous example being him "authorising" her to use the Varia suit, which she already possesses, after a considerable time spent taking damage in a super-heated area!
Coupled with the well-crafted atmosphere of the game, the AI - "Adam" - with its ability to control and obstruct your progress, had the potential to be a very chilling villain, and it certainly seemed to be going that way. But then he calls you "Lady" and suddenly you're supposed to forgive the fact that he's an obnoxious twat and more than a little creepy.
The navigation rooms - I'm starting to remember how badly they boxed you in. Yes, that definitely was a bad design decision. But I still think there's some merit to the game, even with the linearity. But you say Zero Mission is much better? I'll give that a shot.
(I didn't mind the doors in Maridia because it was a one-off instance. It was really just tying several powers to one boss. You get the space jump directly after beating him, then you get to collect the plasma beam too. And whatever was through the other door. The rest of the game is so clever with its sequencing and rewarding exploration that I didn't think it was lazy to put a couple of items behind boss-locked doors. It's a bit of a mix-up and brings variety.)
As for Samus being vulnerable, I'm all for that. I and seemingly everyone else in the world didn't like how it was handled. I don't think its quite as character-wrecking as many suggest, but wasn't very good. Vulnerability is supposed to make a character human and sympathetic, and in an action game, facing the projected fears by blasting the crap out of them cathartically tends to be a nice metaphor for character-development. But when introducing vulnerability you need to respect the character and her prior characterisation, not just shove in whatever emotional state you think makes for good drama.
Paralysing Samus in the face of a foe she's canonically killed god-knows how many times and then having the nearest man rescue her (this part would be fine if done better) is not really doing her characterisation any favours. Not at such a late point in the supposed timeline, when she's (by implication) gone through all this catharsis and development already.
Add in all the heavy-handed "THE BABY THE BABY THE BABY" whining and the eager-to-please, near-suicidal adherance to power-up "authorisations", and damn, I can see why so many fans despise the game To accept it as canon forces us to completely reinterpret the character we thought we knew, and canon additions that involve heavy retconning - even if it's only implied - are not usually a good idea. From what I've seen it also seems to be about as linear as Fusion and nowhere near as interesting.
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Date: 2013-06-03 02:50 pm (UTC)Honestly, I don't remember the game as well as I make out, including just how bad the linearity was. I've finished it once. I found it disappointing but I did ultimately decide it was enjoyable. It is unfortunate that the linearity directly flies in the face of what so many people love about the series, and, the gameplay structure that its name has come to exemplify. That's the main problem, I think.
But, many of the individual pieces are there. The setting is compelling and rich with Metroid/metroid lore. It has continuity with previous games. There are nifty powerups that give a sense of progression - if not as much as they should, with exploration so tightly regulated - and are tied plotwise to the continuing struggle against the X.
Adam's problems aside, a voice in your ear is an interesting, not-too-intrusive way to support the plot. At this stage the series remained committed to showing, instead of just having Samus clumsily narrate everything. And again the lift-shaft monologues were a nice, short (I think?) and well-timed window into Samus' thoughts. Even if Adam was too prevalent in them.
I'd forgotten how heavily his interference was tied to the game's linearity. It's doubly unfortunate that his debut had him not just as an (unprecedented) bureaucratic authority figure, but actually, physically limiting the player. He went on to be, by all accounts, even worse in Other M - the most ridiculous example being him "authorising" her to use the Varia suit, which she already possesses, after a considerable time spent taking damage in a super-heated area!
Coupled with the well-crafted atmosphere of the game, the AI - "Adam" - with its ability to control and obstruct your progress, had the potential to be a very chilling villain, and it certainly seemed to be going that way. But then he calls you "Lady" and suddenly you're supposed to forgive the fact that he's an obnoxious twat and more than a little creepy.
The navigation rooms - I'm starting to remember how badly they boxed you in. Yes, that definitely was a bad design decision. But I still think there's some merit to the game, even with the linearity. But you say Zero Mission is much better? I'll give that a shot.
(I didn't mind the doors in Maridia because it was a one-off instance. It was really just tying several powers to one boss. You get the space jump directly after beating him, then you get to collect the plasma beam too. And whatever was through the other door. The rest of the game is so clever with its sequencing and rewarding exploration that I didn't think it was lazy to put a couple of items behind boss-locked doors. It's a bit of a mix-up and brings variety.)
As for Samus being vulnerable, I'm all for that. I and seemingly everyone else in the world didn't like how it was handled. I don't think its quite as character-wrecking as many suggest, but wasn't very good. Vulnerability is supposed to make a character human and sympathetic, and in an action game, facing the projected fears by blasting the crap out of them cathartically tends to be a nice metaphor for character-development. But when introducing vulnerability you need to respect the character and her prior characterisation, not just shove in whatever emotional state you think makes for good drama.
Paralysing Samus in the face of a foe she's canonically killed god-knows how many times and then having the nearest man rescue her (this part would be fine if done better) is not really doing her characterisation any favours. Not at such a late point in the supposed timeline, when she's (by implication) gone through all this catharsis and development already.
Add in all the heavy-handed "THE BABY THE BABY THE BABY" whining and the eager-to-please, near-suicidal adherance to power-up "authorisations", and damn, I can see why so many fans despise the game To accept it as canon forces us to completely reinterpret the character we thought we knew, and canon additions that involve heavy retconning - even if it's only implied - are not usually a good idea. From what I've seen it also seems to be about as linear as Fusion and nowhere near as interesting.