Metroid: Other M after game impressions.
Just finished the main part of the game. Haven't gone through the after credits stuff yet. Just completed the after-credits stuff. Got 100% completion. Probably will wait a while before playing it again on the unlocked Hard difficulty.
Here's what I have to say about it. To all of those out there (and there seem to be a lot of them, from what I've observed) who are bawwing about WORST GAME OF THE YEAR, METROID IS RUINED FOREVER, THE FRANCHISE WILL NEVER RECOVER, COMPLETE AND THOROUGH BETRAYAL OF THE ENTIRE SERIES and other such ludicrous nonsense, there is only one very simple thing that I have to say:
Ess Tee Eff You.
No, really. You are being utterly ridiculous. This isn't even open for debate here.
Is Other M the best Metroid game ever? No, I don't think so, since I think that honor still belongs to Super Metroid for the SNES. I'd say it's at least on par with the Prime games, though. Is Other M the WROST GAEM EVAR that has dealt a crippling death blow from which the Metroid series will never, ever recover? Of course not, don't be completely asinine.
Man, seriously, Samus opens her mouth and actually talks in this game (OH CRAP!), revealing that she is not, in fact, just Jason Voorhees with boobs or whatever it is that everyone seems to have built her up as. And people simply can't handle the fact that their preconceived notions were shattered, apparently, and they get their undies all twisted over it. She is still, by far, one of the most badass characters in the entirety of video game history. This game did absolutely nothing to change that.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
I'll touch on the part that seems to get people the most bent out of shape: the Ridley encounter. Ridley appears and Samus freezes for a moment, giving Ridley the chance to get the drop on her.
Okay, this is NOT Samus going, "OMG IT'S RIDLEY I'M SO SCARED HELP ME I'M A LITTLE GIRL WHO NEEDS RESCUING!" This is Samus going, "WTF?! I killed you already! Multiple times! I blew up the frickin' planet that you were on! How are you here?!" It was a momentary Heroic BSOD, nothing more.
Also, it's made pretty clear that Samus is still torn up over the death of the baby Metroid in the SNES game (which occurred shortly before Other M took place), and as players of that game will recall, it was Ridley who stole the baby in the first place, and there was nothing Samus could do to stop it from happening. So that's another reason she might not react well to seeing Ridley just appear out of the blue, especially if she thought he was dead and gone.
And yet, right after that, she still pretty much just mops the floor with him once again, of course. Oh, but the irreparable damage had already been done: Samus had dared to show a glimmer of emotion. Totally sexist, amirite? RUINED FOREVER.
END SPOILER
Also, I would recommend that anyone playing this game also take a look at this* as well, since the game apparently draws from that, at least a little (as evidenced by the spoiler content above).
* - Second link added because the first link, contrary to what I originally thought, doesn't have nearly the whole thing.
(EDIT)
Also, "the game is too short" is not a valid complaint, imo. Metroid, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion can be beaten in, what, 2-4 hours if you just rush through it (and that's not even talking crazy speedruns). It took me around 10 or so hours to beat Super Metroid the first time, and it took about the same to beat this one. Well, I haven't actually finished it yet, as I'm still going through the post-credits stuff. Playtime, as of finishing the post-credits stuff: 13:02:52. Which is roughly the time it took me to collect all items in Super Metroid, if I recall correctly, give or take an hour or so.
(/EDIT)
Here's what I have to say about it. To all of those out there (and there seem to be a lot of them, from what I've observed) who are bawwing about WORST GAME OF THE YEAR, METROID IS RUINED FOREVER, THE FRANCHISE WILL NEVER RECOVER, COMPLETE AND THOROUGH BETRAYAL OF THE ENTIRE SERIES and other such ludicrous nonsense, there is only one very simple thing that I have to say:
Ess Tee Eff You.
No, really. You are being utterly ridiculous. This isn't even open for debate here.
Is Other M the best Metroid game ever? No, I don't think so, since I think that honor still belongs to Super Metroid for the SNES. I'd say it's at least on par with the Prime games, though. Is Other M the WROST GAEM EVAR that has dealt a crippling death blow from which the Metroid series will never, ever recover? Of course not, don't be completely asinine.
Man, seriously, Samus opens her mouth and actually talks in this game (OH CRAP!), revealing that she is not, in fact, just Jason Voorhees with boobs or whatever it is that everyone seems to have built her up as. And people simply can't handle the fact that their preconceived notions were shattered, apparently, and they get their undies all twisted over it. She is still, by far, one of the most badass characters in the entirety of video game history. This game did absolutely nothing to change that.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
I'll touch on the part that seems to get people the most bent out of shape: the Ridley encounter. Ridley appears and Samus freezes for a moment, giving Ridley the chance to get the drop on her.
Okay, this is NOT Samus going, "OMG IT'S RIDLEY I'M SO SCARED HELP ME I'M A LITTLE GIRL WHO NEEDS RESCUING!" This is Samus going, "WTF?! I killed you already! Multiple times! I blew up the frickin' planet that you were on! How are you here?!" It was a momentary Heroic BSOD, nothing more.
Also, it's made pretty clear that Samus is still torn up over the death of the baby Metroid in the SNES game (which occurred shortly before Other M took place), and as players of that game will recall, it was Ridley who stole the baby in the first place, and there was nothing Samus could do to stop it from happening. So that's another reason she might not react well to seeing Ridley just appear out of the blue, especially if she thought he was dead and gone.
And yet, right after that, she still pretty much just mops the floor with him once again, of course. Oh, but the irreparable damage had already been done: Samus had dared to show a glimmer of emotion. Totally sexist, amirite? RUINED FOREVER.
END SPOILER
Also, I would recommend that anyone playing this game also take a look at this* as well, since the game apparently draws from that, at least a little (as evidenced by the spoiler content above).
* - Second link added because the first link, contrary to what I originally thought, doesn't have nearly the whole thing.
(EDIT)
Also, "the game is too short" is not a valid complaint, imo. Metroid, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion can be beaten in, what, 2-4 hours if you just rush through it (and that's not even talking crazy speedruns). It took me around 10 or so hours to beat Super Metroid the first time, and it took about the same to beat this one. Well, I haven't actually finished it yet, as I'm still going through the post-credits stuff. Playtime, as of finishing the post-credits stuff: 13:02:52. Which is roughly the time it took me to collect all items in Super Metroid, if I recall correctly, give or take an hour or so.
(/EDIT)