Poll: Metroid: Other M killed Samus
- Thread starter sargeant15
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I've read that article, and I think the author misses some rather obvious counterpoints to his conclusions.
1) Adam disables Samus so that she can't stop him from sacrificing himself. It's a common enough trope -- more frequently seen in shounen series, it does feel out of place in a Metroid game.
2) Adam does answer Samus as to why he shot her. He just did it in a typically indirect Japanese way, by starting his explanation with background details ("Those metroids can't be frozen, therefore you can't stop them, therefore I ..." etc) rather than starting with the main thrust and reasoning backwards from it, which is what English-speakers are more used to.
3) Many instances the author points out of Adam being verbally "abusive" or dismissive of Samus are clearly just him being all, for the lack of a better word, tsundere. Adam's personality is a fairly common archetype: a man who expresses his guarded emotions indirectly by kind of picking on the ones he cares for but in an endearing way. (Like the main character from Kanon.)
But other than that, the author makes a convincing case -- entertainingly so, because it shows just how bad the writing is. I don't believe for an instant that Adam and Samus had an abusive relationship, but the fact that someone could so convincingly interpret it that way was worth a good laugh or two, much like a Cracked article.
But what is up with this quote?: "If the game?s creators think that there is more to the experience of being a woman than being an emotionally-driven womb with legs, the game doesn?t really seem to acknowledge it." Are you kidding me? All of the women in the story are successful career women who outshine all their male counterparts, in fields typically dominated by men, and are the main drivers and foci of the story to boot, while the men are basically expendable. As soon as I see the author write a rant about how sexist One Piece is for portraying all men as over-emotional sentimental idiots who fight each other at the drop of a hat, then we'll talk.
I mean, just look at how men are portrayed in Other M. They get picked off like flies and we're not supposed to shed a tear for them -- the women at least get to be the objects of sympathy and tragedy. They get the sympathetic spotlight, while the men as a class seem outright sinister: that evil doctor in the beginning... the evil colonel at the end... heck, all the men Samus is with except Anthony seem shady enough to credibly be the assassin. And if the women have "catastrophic failures of judgment", what about the overarching massive failure of judgment by the GF male hierarchy that is the decision to replicate metroids and space pirates in the first place?!
I just ... don't think there's a case here. Samus's portrayal may be disappointing relative to what she seemed to be built up as by previous games, but can't we just leave the sexism card at home?
1) Adam disables Samus so that she can't stop him from sacrificing himself. It's a common enough trope -- more frequently seen in shounen series, it does feel out of place in a Metroid game.
2) Adam does answer Samus as to why he shot her. He just did it in a typically indirect Japanese way, by starting his explanation with background details ("Those metroids can't be frozen, therefore you can't stop them, therefore I ..." etc) rather than starting with the main thrust and reasoning backwards from it, which is what English-speakers are more used to.
3) Many instances the author points out of Adam being verbally "abusive" or dismissive of Samus are clearly just him being all, for the lack of a better word, tsundere. Adam's personality is a fairly common archetype: a man who expresses his guarded emotions indirectly by kind of picking on the ones he cares for but in an endearing way. (Like the main character from Kanon.)
But other than that, the author makes a convincing case -- entertainingly so, because it shows just how bad the writing is. I don't believe for an instant that Adam and Samus had an abusive relationship, but the fact that someone could so convincingly interpret it that way was worth a good laugh or two, much like a Cracked article.
But what is up with this quote?: "If the game?s creators think that there is more to the experience of being a woman than being an emotionally-driven womb with legs, the game doesn?t really seem to acknowledge it." Are you kidding me? All of the women in the story are successful career women who outshine all their male counterparts, in fields typically dominated by men, and are the main drivers and foci of the story to boot, while the men are basically expendable. As soon as I see the author write a rant about how sexist One Piece is for portraying all men as over-emotional sentimental idiots who fight each other at the drop of a hat, then we'll talk.
I mean, just look at how men are portrayed in Other M. They get picked off like flies and we're not supposed to shed a tear for them -- the women at least get to be the objects of sympathy and tragedy. They get the sympathetic spotlight, while the men as a class seem outright sinister: that evil doctor in the beginning... the evil colonel at the end... heck, all the men Samus is with except Anthony seem shady enough to credibly be the assassin. And if the women have "catastrophic failures of judgment", what about the overarching massive failure of judgment by the GF male hierarchy that is the decision to replicate metroids and space pirates in the first place?!
I just ... don't think there's a case here. Samus's portrayal may be disappointing relative to what she seemed to be built up as by previous games, but can't we just leave the sexism card at home?
Samus is always supposed to be a silent protagonist!! Giving her a voce would'nt have been so bad if she did'nt monolouge about everything! Also, notice how even when Samus is wearing her armor, you can tell she's a girl. They slimmed it down like every new console and it is'nt that surprising especially since you see her in the opening cut scene without her armor!
There should really be a "Sort of" option here.
I don't think Other M killed Samus. It's just a bad title in the series. Any character can recover from a bad title. Legend of Zelda recovered from those unspeakable abominations released in 93. If you don't believe me or haven't heard of them watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibK0Nj0sjyU (Don't watch too much of it. It's awful.). Then a few years later the Zelda franchise released Ocarina of Time, one of the best of the entire series.
So yes, I believe that Other M was at least a major blow to the Metroid series, but I think Metroid can recover from it.
I don't think Other M killed Samus. It's just a bad title in the series. Any character can recover from a bad title. Legend of Zelda recovered from those unspeakable abominations released in 93. If you don't believe me or haven't heard of them watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibK0Nj0sjyU (Don't watch too much of it. It's awful.). Then a few years later the Zelda franchise released Ocarina of Time, one of the best of the entire series.
So yes, I believe that Other M was at least a major blow to the Metroid series, but I think Metroid can recover from it.
Samus has had dialog and opinions for over 16 years, since as far back as Super Metroid, and fully expressed in Metroid Fusion. What do you mean she was always supposed to be a silent protagonist? Samus has had a voice ever since there were other people around for her to talk to! (And an awesome one at that, at least before Other M!)Priest of Lies said:
Clearly, Metroid Prime has screwed up Samus's characterization for a generation of gamers by silencing her and stuffing her back into the proverbial kitchen where nobody wants to hear her opinions or see her personality. (j/k, I'm just letting off steam.) And that's a shame, because her characterization in Fusion was so awesome, too, 100% spot-on, (I've been replaying it recently and can see just how awesome it would have been if it had been kept for Other M). Metroid Prime wasn't even made by Nintendo anyway, and is of ambiguous canonical-ness.
When I said she was a silent protagonist, I was refering to the origanal Metroid games on the NES and Game Boy, back when it was just side scrolling action. It was a simpler time then seeing as all you had to was keep hunting down the metroids. You're right, I did forget to include the part from Super Metroid(I never got to finish it because my older brothe would'nt share the SNES at the time, but before that point, Samus did'nt talk. But I have'nt played to many recent installments in the metroid series. And like I said before, Samus talking would'nt be so bad if they picked a different voice actor.