Metroid Other M

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

There's finally some gameplay footage. It looks quite cool, but I wonder how well the hybrid between 2D platforming and first person shooting will work. When in 2D, it looks like Samus is auto-aiming, which will probably make things too easy and automatic and all I have to say is meh to that. If I wanted to play a game where you keep the right direction pressed and occasionally jump or attack, I'd play Sonic. Switching to 3D to aim looks kind of useless, imo. Why the hell do that when the game already aims for you in 2D? For puzzles? Why not auto-aim you the answer to those too?

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gamep ... ther/63873

I like the new aesthetics since it feels like the Metroids of yore again. Only much more action oriented. I don't mind that, but then, I love the excessiveness of games like God of War 3, so other people will probably be crying foul.

[kengou]

I'm sure I'll love it, but I too question some of the design decisions, especially around the controls. Hopefully the exploration will make up for the combat; deep combat has never really been what Metroid is about, anyway. Remember how Metroid Prime 1 and 2 had auto-aiming? Not too many people complained about that. That being said, the sideways wiimote controls seem sort of restrictive, I would have thought the game would need more buttons. And the inability to move while in first-person mode also seems restrictive. Why not just do nunchuk+wiimote controls like they did for MP3, or the GC/classic controller even.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Prime 1&2 had auto-aiming because of control restrictions and I still wasn't much of a fan. The later 2D Metroids had 8-direction manual aiming that worked well, so I don't understand why they're suddenly taking control away from the player. As for not being able to move and shoot at the same time, Resident Evil 4&5 are like that but they are not in first person and there's no need for awkward transitions as you rotate your wiimote.

[Drum]

The lock on in Prime was fine - it made it feel more like the 2D games which only had to deal with gunplay in two dimensions.
This autotargeting is awesome - finally the cross between Thexder/Alisia Dragoon and Metroid I've always wanted.
Everything else about the game looks ... pretty bad, though. I'll wait for impressions of the finished version.

[Strider77]

I'm very excited for this.... action looks very fast paced. I am a team ninja fan due to ninja gaiden so I am very pumped for this and have alot of faith in it.

[Skykid]

This actually looks great. Samus gets Team Ninja's T&A treatment. Nice.

[Zeether]

I love it. Looks awesome, going to try and pick this up sometime.

[dial911]

Honestly looks like fan service 101 to me. Metroid Other M appears to be the true next gen spiritual sequel of Super Metroid. I can't friggin wait - definitely a first day buy for me.

[undamned]

Honestly looks like fan service 101 to me. Metroid Other M appears to be the true next gen spiritual sequel of Super Metroid.

Exactly what I was thinking.
-ud

[chempop]

Damn that looks incredible. Earlier on I had my doubts about M:OM... not anymore though!

[Jockel]

Damn that looks incredible. Earlier on I had my doubts about M:OM... not anymore though!

my thoughts exactly.

[JoshF]

deep combat has never really been what Metroid is about

Hence they kinda suck. Super Metroid is an okay game but not game of the millenium. With enemies that try to stop your progress by doing such things as moving? The IGA Castlevanias do combat ten times better, and might even have the best combat of any side-scrollers. Anyway Team Ninja rocks, and I'm real curious to see if they can eke out a substantial action game controlled by DVD player remote (I'm hoping they just forgot to show the classic controller in that demo,) it's definitely visually entertaining so far, especially Samus wrestling with aliens.

The lock on in Prime was fine - it made it feel more like the 2D games which only had to deal with gunplay in two dimensions.

With auto-aim there's gunplay in NO dimensions. In 2D Metroids you still have to align your shots. Prime was a circle-strafe-fest, minus the precision you'd need to do that in any other FPS. Face it, the Gamecube controller sucked. If only that second analog stick (nub) got more oxygen before it was born.

[Square King]

I came in here to say that Other M looks decent and Prime ruined the franchise, but now I have to turn on the 'someone on the internet is wrong' alarm.

deep combat has never really been what Metroid is about

Hence they kinda suck. Super Metroid is an okay game but not game of the millenium. With enemies that try to stop your progress by doing such things as moving? The IGA Castlevanias do combat ten times better, and might even have the best combat of any side-scrollers.

Nope. Not talking about Prime because I don't consider them canon (just as I don't consider Castlevania 64 to be canon). The Castlevanias from SotN onward borrow rather heavily from the Super Metroid formula, hence the whole metroidvania thing. I love Castlevania and Metroid dearly, but the Iga vanias are essentially reskins of each other with mild tweaks in gameplay. To say SM's combat is 1/10th of the combat from a string of games that borrow heavily from SM is preeeety much rampant fanboyism. It's one thing if you prefer the universe/lore of one over another, but the combat is not markedly different, yo. If Metroid is jumpblastrollrepeat, Castlevania is jumpslashmagicrepeat.

[JoshF]

I'm not an IGA fanboy. I don't even like the non-linear format in general, as I don't fancy myself in the boots of a brave adventurer or lore by back-tracking for an hour because I forget to check one square of the map on the other side of the castle, but first I gotta check all these other squares to see if they're the solution. I'm also not a fan of the level system, since it feels like shit to keep getting hit by powerful things in higher levels and basically have no consequence, though I've heard this problem was somewhat alleviated in the DS games with level caps or something. Still, the actual combat is amazingly varied with all the weapons, special moves, sub-weapons, and whatever the supplementary system of the particular game is. If that were ever applied to a more straightforward action game it would require a change of pants on my end (literally, ON MY END.) Super Metroid's collect super missiles, then spam super missiles is clearly not on the same level, also the enemy/pattern design. Maybe the GBA sequels are better. If so youtube me.

[Klatrymadon]

Without wanting to be utterly humourless about it, Other M appears to have really bland environments and daft wrestling moves all over the place, and the same misguided emphasis on goofy NPCs that plagued the last two titles. It looks like it's going to be an excellent action game, but at this point it's hardly proven itself as a strong example of what Metroid is about, or used to be about. The most heartening aspect of its metastructure so far has been that it doesn't appear to have an overbearing map function, and I'm hoping this isn't just because of a total lack of intricacy and interconnection between its areas.

(By the way, despite having played through Super Metroid on an almost monthly basis since 1994, I have never once felt that I would benefit in any meaningful way from spamming super missiles, and in fact there is a specific encounter that very directly punishes you for attempting to...)

[Drum]

deep combat has never really been what Metroid is about

Hence they kinda suck. Super Metroid is an okay game but not game of the millenium. With enemies that try to stop your progress by doing such things as moving? The IGA Castlevanias do combat ten times better, and might even have the best combat of any side-scrollers. Anyway Team Ninja rocks, and I'm real curious to see if they can eke out a substantial action game controlled by DVD player remote (I'm hoping they just forgot to show the classic controller in that demo,) it's definitely visually entertaining so far, especially Samus wrestling with aliens.

The lock on in Prime was fine - it made it feel more like the 2D games which only had to deal with gunplay in two dimensions.

With auto-aim there's gunplay in NO dimensions. In 2D Metroids you still have to align your shots. Prime was a circle-strafe-fest, minus the precision you'd need to do that in any other FPS. Face it, the Gamecube controller sucked. If only that second analog stick (nub) got more oxygen before it was born.

shit post

[chempop]

Last few posts have been filled with complaints about the combat system in Metroid games...(Must be april 1st)
Do you realize that it is an adventure game? Combat systems only need intricacies in action games, which metroid has never really been, until now.
To me it looks like Other M has a nice balance of adventure and action, hopefully there is still a slick map which connects the environments. I'm not wild on the wrestling moves but the transitions from 3D -> 2D -> 1stPerson are something that will offer quite a unique experience.

[ZacharyB]

I'm glad we're getting something. Seems like a 2D exploratory Metroid is no longer commercially viable. But you can make your own with SMILE and a Super Metroid ROM.

Edit: 2D, as in sprite-based 2D.

It's a shame, because what with downloaded content, it could be made and distributed pretty easily these days. Maybe the Samus concept is just worn out?

[dial911]

The Japanese trailer was released today. It shows some additional footage that was not in the original trailer around 1:04

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/japan ... ther/63921

[Square King]

Still, the actual combat is amazingly varied with all the weapons, special moves, sub-weapons, and whatever the supplementary system of the particular game is. If that were ever applied to a more straightforward action game it would require a change of pants on my end (literally, ON MY END.) Super Metroid's collect super missiles, then spam super missiles is clearly not on the same level, also the enemy/pattern design. Maybe the GBA sequels are better. If so youtube me.

First and foremost, Metroid is definitely an adventure game. If you're looking for a combat-centric experience, pick up Abuse or Metal Slug or Doom. If weapon variety is what you want, stuff like Diablo/Torchlight is perfect. But Metroid is all atmosphere. Don't forget about the other weapons in SM: ice beam, screw attack, grappling hook, etc. Seems to me you would benefit from a real SM playthrough with a different mindset. Instead of youtube, listen to this:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/retroforcego/rfgo98.mp3

I thought Shadow Complex was a decent update to the SM formula, though. Also worth your time if you have a 360.

[KindGrind]

Not talking about Prime because I don't consider them canon (just as I don't consider Castlevania 64 to be canon).

Wow, this is the most unfair quote I've seen in a year. Castlevania 64 is to the Castlevania franchise what Prime is to Metroid? Cheap shot, everyone knows C64 sucked hard.

Super Metroid is bar none one of the best games of all time, and Symphony of the Night was pretty "inspired" by it. Of course the 2d games are tops when it comes to these 2 franchises, but Prime (first game) is a fresh, thoroughly enjoyable experience. I admit they made a mistake with Prime 2 when they tried to nerf the sequence breaking, which lead to the most tedious game of the entire Metroid franchise (and an extremely buggy game, too). The first Prime did not destroy the franchise, but the second game made it quite impopular. The third installment on Wii is one of the 3 games worth playing on the system.

Not too sure what to think of Other M. The switching between 2 control schemes seems a bit gimmicky.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I gave up understanding people long ago because I would ponder how people could like trash like Devil May Cry 2 and Mega Man X6 and yet despise the better entries in the series or other better games. Not to say that any of the Metroid series are bad or anything, just that people have their idiosyncrasies.

[Square King]

Not talking about Prime because I don't consider them canon (just as I don't consider Castlevania 64 to be canon).

Wow, this is an opinion.

Fixed

Castlevania 64 is to the Castlevania franchise what Prime is to Metroid? Cheap shot, everyone knows C64 sucked hard.

that's not what I said, but that's how I feel about it. The prime series is a spinoff from the Metroid titles, an ugly stepchild no one should really acknowledge; an abomination -- in my opinion. Metroid is about visual narrative and solo discovery, not mission-based objectives and extensive dialogue. There was no need to "blockbuster" it up. Ok, it's a decent series, but it fails to embody the spirit of metroid. It's like making an fps Metal Slug with puzzle elements.

[Pirate1019]

Metroid is about visual narrative and solo discovery

I'm pretty sure the first Prime had a lot of this.

not mission-based objectives and extensive dialogue

And my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I also don't remember any of that. Just a lot of optional scan entries that I thought were very interesting.

Prime 2 had more of the etc you don't like, and I can't comment on 3, but you're treating all 3 games as a single entity.

[kengou]

Metroid is about visual narrative and solo discovery

I'm pretty sure the first Prime had a lot of this.

not mission-based objectives and extensive dialogue

And my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I also don't remember any of that. Just a lot of optional scan entries that I thought were very interesting.

Prime 2 had more of the etc you don't like, and I can't comment on 3, but you're treating all 3 games as a single entity.

The only games I can recall NOT having solo-discovery/exploration gameplay were Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime 3, and to a much lesser extend Metroid Prime 2. These games all had people giving you missions to tell you WHERE to explore, even though you were still exploring and discovering, which made them all still great games.

Metroid Prime is probably my favorite game of the series. It's a beautiful and masterfully-designed game.

[Drum]

All Square King's crits apply much, much more to Metroid Fusion than any of the Primes - I'm guessing he doesn't consider Fusion canon either, though it's clearly called 'Metroid IV'. Looks like he'll exclude Other M from canonicity too.

EDIT: You can probably add Zero Mission to the list of games with a mission-based structure too - the statues tell you where you need to go.

[KindGrind]

The prime series is a spinoff from the Metroid titles, an ugly stepchild no one should really acknowledge; an abomination -- in my opinion. Metroid is about visual narrative and solo discovery, not mission-based objectives and extensive dialogue.

I respect your opinion, but I think Prime is exactly about that: solo discovery and visual narrative. It contains no extensive dialogue -none- and practically no mission-based objectives (apart from one much loathed fetch quest). In my opinion, Retro captured the essence of the previous, most beloved Metroid games perfectly with the first Prime. The game is wonderfully broken, full of tricks, surprises and treats for fans of the franchise...

[Square King]

The first Prime is likely exempt from most of my criticism -- I haven't played it since launch and I got halfway through it, so I'm not really qualified to slam it as much as I am. But I finished 2 and recently played Corruption, so they're fresher in my mind and take the brunt of my comments. Contrary to Drum's comment, I really dug Fusion (and I'm going through Zero now). It's a decent precursor to the Prime formula and a great way to depart from Super Metroid, keeping the series pretty fresh (I can't really say the same for Castlevania, but I always jump at the chance to play a new one because I enjoy the mechanics). I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not in accord with the design and gameplay elements in the Prime series and I feel they've moved away from what makes Metroid what it is. I'm the first to admit that I'm a jaded 'retro-'centric type of gamer and I really miss pixel art, etc. I'd be less cynical if Nintendo would release a 2D supplement of some kind in tandem with the Prime games. Other M is shaping up to be a compromise for both crews and I'll certainly try it out as I did with the Prime series.

Really though, the mp3 link I posted is a great podcast from the Destructoid Retroforcego crew on Super Metroid. They touch on the SM vs. Prime thing a little and I think there's an entire episode where Chad and Dyson go back and forth regarding the validity of Prime as an actual Metroid title...gets pretty intense.

Maybe I'll give Prime another shot. I'm getting mild flashbacks of the Magmoor Caverns...

[KindGrind]

Do play it again; it's a game that definitely grows on you.... much like SM in fact. While many fun tricks -mostly used for speedrunning... something I've done quite extensively with that game- are out of the Wii remake of the first Prime, it still plays like a charm.

Thanks for posting the link about Other M. For some reason I had completely forgotten about it since it was first announced. Quite excited with it, despite minor reserves I may have about the controls.

[TigerCraneFist]

Im not sure how I felt about what I saw from the trailer(s)-- but I am sure I will pick this up and play it. I like that they seem to be trying some new stuff out with the game despite how much I love the old 2D variants of the game... regardless of how repetitive and by the books they may have been. I have such fond memories of playing Super Metroid... that game will forever be one of my favorite gaming memories.