Gralian said:
MovieBob points out that we shouldn't be mad that Samus now has actual feelings and characterisation beyond "Oh look, she has boobs and she can kick ass!"
She was never just a "strong girl" (and It's a mistake to listen to MovieBob at any rate).
She's always been portrayed as stoic, but she's had a consistent characterization throughout the series. Soparing the hatching in Metroid 2 and donating it to science in Super Metroid demonstrated her compassion. And don't forget that she was visibly saddened by the destruction of the Chozo Temple at the end of the first Metroid Prime game, and mourned the deaths of her fellow bounty hunters at the end of Prime 3. She's always been shown as a strong and compassionate character, who certainly wouldn't break down in front of Ridley and need a token black sidekick to save her. That characterization via her actions, not to mention the backstory-via-scans in Prime, were a much better way to tell a story in a Metroid game, and it worked.
For all the talk about how it's "evolving" the series, there's nothing new about Other M's gameplay. It's really just a dumbed down Ninja Gaiden without camera control. Auto-targeting is dodgy, and switching to an immobile first person perspective is just jarring, especially when then game forces you to do a pixel hunt and scan for some obscure clue in the background.
I think it's more than fair to compare If Nintendo really wanted to make a next gen Metroid, then why not take advantage of the nunchuck?
The exploring feels tacked on, and there's no sense of "iceberging" like there is in 1, Super Metroid, or Metroid Prime. Now you just follow painfully linear directions and maybe go to a bonus room. The level design is also pretty bland, and it isn't helped by the boring ambient sounds. Combat is also a chore, especially when you kill all the enemies by jumping on them and shootting their heads, and don't forget that you can't use your missiles without that awkward first person switch. And because of regenerating health, there's no real tension to the fights.
What upsets me is that people are praising these just because they're different from the other Metroid games, and calling it "innovation". Nintendo didn't innovate with Other M, they borrowed well-worn elements from other 3rd Person 3D action titles and diffused some Metroid elements within them, at the expense of a richer, more idiosyncratic experience that is synonymous with the name "Metroid".
I refuse to believe it's because the traditional Metroidvania formula is stale. Shadow Complex, the recent Castlevania titles, and scores of popular indie games like Cave Story and VVVVVV prove that you can still create an exciting Metroidvania without unnecessary change and still deliver riveting experience. This was Nintendo's chance to give Metroid a return to form after the linear nature of Prime 2 and 3, and they blew it.
I can't wait for Nintendo to sweep it under the rug and make a proper side-scrolling Metroid for the 3DS.
