Samus has issues? Duh!

[DaMullet]

So, just finished Metroid Other M and I see all the issues with the game.

Not here to defend the strange controls, the monotone dialog, or anyother problems with it.
Even though I loved the game never the less. Metroid fan boy here.

But the one thing I don't understand is the surprize that Samus has issues. I soon as I heard that, I'm like 'duh'.

Let's look at Samus' past and see if you would grow up without issues;

First off, no parents. Instead, you're raised by bird like aliens.
Second, you're given a super powerful suit and then told to go save the universe at a young age.
Third, in saving the universe you're sent into hellish pits of all kinds to face giant aliens that want to eat you. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Is it a surprize to me that Samus grew up to be a loner with parent issues? No. If she didn't have issues then I'd be like WTF?

So why are people surprized that Samus isn't the most stable person in the world? I dont' get it

 

[Mstrswrd]

So, just finished Metroid Other M and I see all the issues with the game.

Not here to defend the strange controls, the monotone dialog, or anyother problems with it.
Even though I loved the game never the less. Metroid fan boy here.

But the one thing I don't understand is the surprize that Samus has issues. I soon as I heard that, I'm like 'duh'.

Let's look at Samus' past and see if you would grow up without issues;

First off, no parents. Instead, you're raised by bird like aliens.
Second, you're given a super powerful suit and then told to go save the universe at a young age.
Third, in saving the universe you're sent into hellish pits of all kinds to face giant aliens that want to eat you. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Is it a surprize to me that Samus grew up to be a loner with parent issues? No. If she didn't have issues then I'd be like WTF?

So why are people surprized that Samus isn't the most stable person in the world? I dont' get it

For the longest time, because Samus had little to no characterization other than "almost faceless Space Warrior, who si on again, off-again silent hero (silent in Metorid, has dialogue in Super Metorid, etc)" people projected a personality onto her, without actually remembering that it wasn't, you know, canon. Well, that, and a lot of people felt that making her take orders from a male character (who, remember, was her commanding officer) was a... how do I put this, "Japanese" thing to do (people used this game to make excessively racist remarks about Japanese culture demanding women be second-class citizens, etc). Really, they were just trying to not have her lose all of her powers so tht you can find convientently placed uprades that just happen to work with your one of a kind alien suit, and they stumbled upon the fact that, if you've played the GBA Metroid, that Samus had a storied past with her commanding officer, so much so that her computers AI was actually based off of him. Not only that, but it also included (in the japanese version, at least), a Manga covering the events of Samus being orpahned; we actually got to see her with her parents, her parents being slaughtered, her being rescued by the Chozo, etc.

A lot of people decided, basically, that it was out of character for a character whose only characterization has taken place in things that people haven't partaken of, so when characterization, and things like PTSD seem to have an affect on her, people freak the fuck out.

What I want to know is, if Adam Malcovich had been a woman, would people have still freaked out as much? I think the overall amount of rage would be the same, but it would be focused on different aspects; people would still be pissed about Samus being subservient, but they wouldn't be able to claim sexism, so they would dlaim somethign else so they could cintinue to rage.

Actually, scratch that, it would be worse, because then we'd get about a million sexist comments about Lesbians, whether or not it had anything to do with the series.

 

[TheAmazingHobo]

Yeah, I don´t mind her having issue.
Nor do I think do most people.

What I mind is how her issues were presented in the game, how she behaved not as a well-rounded, relateable character, but as a complete cipher.

Character (even strong characters) can have all the issues they want.
But they should still try to behave like they have a functional brain and/or spinal column.

I think it is rather unfair to imply that the very fact that she had emotions was what anoyed people.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

I think if it was presented WELL, people would have a problem. If she was still a badass while explaining how these issues shaped her life, that would be OK. Take Woody Harrelson from Zombieland (this was the only example I could think of), he's a badass but his life was turned upside down when the zombies came and took something he loved. He had one moment of sensitivity in a two hour movie. That's a good balance. You can't just have someone known for their badass-ness just change into a whining *****.

 

[Palademon]

From what I played at my friend's house it's an interesting game, that I'll definately be getting. I even liked most of the voice acting and story. I didn't see her as a subserviant person in the flashbacks.

 

[icame]

As a huge metroid fan I can safely say this is the second worst game I have ever played (Next to FF13). For the wii the graphics were nice though...

 

[Peter Manning]

I think if it was presented WELL, people would have a problem. If she was still a badass while explaining how these issues shaped her life, that would be OK. Take Woody Harrelson from Zombieland (this was the only example I could think of), he's a badass but his life was turned upside down when the zombies came and took something he loved. He had one moment of sensitivity in a two hour movie. That's a good balance. You can't just have someone known for their badass-ness just change into a whining *****.

I agree. However, one could make the argument that, in gameplay, she still is a badass. She's running around the space station, killing EVERYTHING, costing the Galactic Federation millions in scientific specimens. Classic badass behavior. That said, it's entirely true that cutscenes tend to derail that aspect of her character.

 

[Irridium]

If I had to go through all the shit Samus did, I'd be in some asylum, writing on the walls with poo and muttering incomprehensible garbage.

What the problem was is how they presented all of it. Thats what I think people are angry about, they're just yelling at the wrong stuff. They should be pissed that it was presented in such a dull and uninteresting way, instead of it being presented at all.

 

[Vrex360]

To be fair though, I don't really think that the outrage came from the fact that Samus had emotions. Rather it's that, like it or not, people could spot some rather unsettling things about it that would be considered sexist, regardless of wether it were Samus, Lara Croft, Cortana, Alyx Vance, Jill Valentine or any number of female characters in games.

I think that, for the most part, what was said in this article:
http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html

Is the basis of most of the anger, especially from the more vocal of the community. I certainly think it's very unfair to just announce that everyone is mad at the Metroid developers for giving Samus a personality that conflicted with their view, so they responded with 'Japan-a-phobe' remarks about Japan's views on women. That's a textbook 'strawman argument', making a misinterpretation (or oversimplification) of your opponents argument that you can then knock down easily.


Similarly, while I'm here, I don't think it's fair to accuse the Metroid team of being a bunch of misogynists with an agenda to make the mainstream view of women return to being that of a submissive slave or whatever. Odds are a lot of this might just be errors of judgement or just not well thought out writing that has the accidental implication of sexism rather than true intent.

Finally, I just thought I'd add that I am not a huge fan of Metroid in general. I've only ever dabbled occassionally in the games and I learned most of it by reasearching on the web, talking to people who are die-hard fans and of course, observing the arguments about this game both for and against. So with that in mind I openly acknowledge that I am not really an authority on this, more like an observer stating an opinion. I mean no offence to anyone.

I also don't think that the article I posted is 100% fact either (again, given my lack of foreknowledge I can't make solid claims), I just thought I'd present it as the more likely reason that people are mad at the developers.

 

[TheAmazingHobo]

If I had to go through all the shit Samus did, I'd be in some asylum, writing on the walls with poo and muttering incomprehensible garbage.

What the problem was is how they presented all of it. Thats what I think people are angry about, they're just yelling at the wrong stuff. They should be pissed that it was presented in such a dull and uninteresting way, instead of it being presented at all.

Yes, I think this is a serious case of rage-target-confusion for many people.
There are a ton of games that also had a "damaged" protagonist, but were still fun to play and had an excellent narrative going on.
Issues alone do not ruin a character, only if they are handled stupidly.

I agree. However, one could make the argument that, in gameplay, she still is a badass. She's running around the space station, killing EVERYTHING, costing the Galactic Federation millions in scientific specimens. Classic badass behavior. That said, it's entirely true that cutscenes tend to derail that aspect of her character.

Never thought of that, but I think this is also a good point.
There is a serious narrative discrepancy between her presentation in gameplay and in the cutscenes, which can be really jarring.

 

[Gahars]

The problem isn't that she has issues, it's that she went from "bad ass who can save the world by herself" to "shrieking barbie doll that needs a man to protect her".

Most evident in the part where she fights Ridley, and is so in shock she can't move until the black guy comes and saves her. Despite the fact that by this time in continuity, she's already killed Ridley several times without freezing up.

 

[DaMullet]

Hm. I see, to sum it up the narrative took Samus' power away.

Yeah, that sucks.

I can Kinda, maybe see the whole Ridley thing. I mean its a hellish beast that won't die no matter how many super missiles she pumps into it.

In super metroid I remember that I kept running out of ammo while facing him. That bastard was hard to take down!!

I can kinda see how Ridley being alive... again, would scare the shit out of you since suddenly you're faced with the realization that it can't die, but you can.
I know when I first played it I was freaked out that it was Ridley! But her turning into a kid definatly ruined the moment.



Hopefully from this people will learn what NOT to do with Samus and I hope for Other M 2 that gets her badassness back and uses the nunchuck again!

Thanks peeps!

 

[JediMB]

As far as Ridley goes, you really can't count the Prime games. They're not part of the narrative created by the Japanese team at Nintendo.

So what you have is the initial encounter in the first game, the two encounters in Super Metroid (the first of which had Samus failing to defeat him), and then... after blowing Zebes to pieces... Ridley still managed to return in Other M.

Samus' reaction could be justified by that she thought he would finally be gone for good, but to be honest I think it would have fit better into the first battle in Super Metroid.

I think Other M is a solid game, but that the narrative of the Metroid series is suffering from various issues that would really best be dealt with through a complete reboot of the series. Also, the game needed better voice directing, since Jessica Martin's performance was completely ruined by Sakamoto.

 

[KuwaSanjuro]

Samus was always characterized as a somewhat cold hearted badass but bringing up all these issues of hers makes less of the character that she was and more of a fairly stereotypical character, such as the daddy issues she has with characters, which I think was all Team Ninja because they always have a slightly (not sexist) but distorted image of women. The issue is that she was a hardened soldier who stood up to Ridley, whilst in Other M she goes mental when she sees him even though she's met him before. Team Ninja made the character more of a stereotype against the original heroine she started out as.

 

[HellsingerAngel]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.233898.8276274

My entire review of what's going on, why certain things are portrayed as they are, and what becomes of Samus as a character in my opinion. It's a bit of a read, but I think it's a good one if you want to know why Samus isn't ruined (in my eyes).

However, I would like to address one point here and now, and that would be Ridley.

Ridley, as we know him, was the one who killed Samus's parents and basically destroyed her life pre-Chozo. He's been a thorn in Samus's side ever since she began investigating Zebes and has been defeated on several occassions. Now, as is mentioned in the beginning cut-scene of Other M, Ridley is said to be dead because of the explosion of Planet Zebes. Now, through-out the game, one slowly learns that Ridley is not dead. In fact, he regenerated from a single-cell organism, followed Samus to the space station and begins to terrorize her and her friends once more.

Now we have a villain, who's known to cause every pain Samus has ever felt, that can regenerate from a planet's core causing a massive, supernova-esque explosion back to full strength in roughly the same time period it takes Samus to get her suit fixed up from the battle with Mother Brain. Quite honestly, it could very well be argued that the only reason Samus was so brave in the face of Ridley before was that he was still mortal. Now, Samus has the knowledge that no matter what she does, no matter what hits Ridley, no matter how long she waits, the terror of her existance will never die. EVER!

If you can say that the sudden realization of that truth would not make you fall to your knees in utter futility and make you blubber like a child, you truly have no soul.