re: lisalover's signature

[Gamerforlife]

Mr. Tomonobu Itagaki... You have been compared to George Lucas for your ability to destroy once beloved franchises with terrible sequels.

I present to you, exhibit A:


How do you plead against these allegations?

"Um, no more questions your honor"

[final fight cd]

But, most people just get far too hung up on the story to care about seeing any good in the game.

i haven't played this game - and i probably never will - but i can't believe people don't like this entry all because of the story. crazy.

Part of it is how heavy handed and ham fisted it is. The presentation is also an issue - a lot of times when the action is getting REALLY intense, it will stop you dead in your tracks and demand that you watch an unskippable cutscene or search an area for a minute, teeny, weeny little item that is hidden in the distance or behind a fucking rock.

The story literally holds the rest of the game hostage.

i have seen gameplay footage of the game and thought it looked fun. but, from what you said that probably would piss me off.

[Erik_Twice]

Does her character restrict her from doing anything that might be considered feminine? It shouldn't.

I have never been a huge Metroid fan but the way many people talked about Samus when it was released was incredibly troublesome and very sexist.


You see people complaining that she takes orders from a man. Not from a superior, which may be a legitimte complain, about a man. About a penis, if you will. As if women are a failure to feminism if they
take orders or are submissive or that somehow men and women are so different that taking orders from one is sexist and the other isn't.

It's like those who look down on women who like to wear dresses even if they fucking like them. Many people, specially many self-proclaimed feminists, are starting to make politically incorrect for women to be femenine instead of trying to allow them to be whatever they want.

In the end, people don't talk about Samus as a character, they talk about her as a symbol, which is crude and quite bothersome.



Too many people are talking about gender roles instead of wondering if a cutscene of several minutes to introduce a boss is necesary.

[AmishSamurai]

I'll be honest- what bugs me more isn't Samus taking orders, regardless of the gender of the person giving them. It's that her suit already has all the damn weapons and even if the situation got too desperate you, the player, can't use them until some arbitrary point. That's idiotic. It gives the feeling that the game is holding the weapons just out of my reach and telling me to jump to get them. I could see upgrading them between levels, but waiting for the game to say "Okay, we prepared a scenario that this weapon can't completely wreck, go for it!" is stupid.

[AppleQueso]

Wait wait wait a second.

...you mean the whole "OTHER M SUCKS WHY IS SAMUS TAKING ORDERS FROM A MAN!?" thing isn't just a strawman? I thought most people hated the portrayal because she was made overly whiny and it contradicted what we were shown in previous games, not because they thought she should be some kinda misandrist symbol.

[Xeogred]

I'll be honest- what bugs me more isn't Samus taking orders, regardless of the gender of the person giving them. It's that her suit already has all the damn weapons and even if the situation got too desperate you, the player, can't use them until some arbitrary point. That's idiotic. It gives the feeling that the game is holding the weapons just out of my reach and telling me to jump to get them. I could see upgrading them between levels, but waiting for the game to say "Okay, we prepared a scenario that this weapon can't completely wreck, go for it!" is stupid.

I heard there's a portion in the game where you're burning up and need the Varia Suit but it doesn't get "approved" until later. That totally makes sense! ...

[J T]

"Um, no more questions your honor"

[MrEco]

I once got into a "discussion" (Argument) with a friend over whether or not it's right to treat Samus as a sex symbol. He said that Metroid: Other M was terrible simply because it showed Samus in skin tight clothing and had a quite large number of shots where the camera seemed to be focusing on her ass.
I then pointed out the fact that Super Smash Bros. Brawl let's you play as Zero Suit Samus (Basically an excuse to show her in seductive clothing), that Metroid Zero Mission and Fusion both for the GBA allow you to unlock picture galleries of Samus sitting around in her zero suit and some extremely revealing orange getup, and that the fuckin' original Metroid games for the NES and SNES allow you to unlock alternate costumes of Samus in a bikini.
He then basically plugged his ears and denied the existence of everything I said. To this day he still insists the Nintendo never intended Samus to be a sex symbol of any kind and that Team Ninja completely ruined her character just because of that.

[brunoafh]

I don't think I'd go as far as calling Samus an intentional "sex symbol", like Lara Croft or something.

[equalsign]

I'll be honest- what bugs me more isn't Samus taking orders, regardless of the gender of the person giving them. It's that her suit already has all the damn weapons and even if the situation got too desperate you, the player, can't use them until some arbitrary point. That's idiotic. It gives the feeling that the game is holding the weapons just out of my reach and telling me to jump to get them. I could see upgrading them between levels, but waiting for the game to say "Okay, we prepared a scenario that this weapon can't completely wreck, go for it!" is stupid.

I heard there's a portion in the game where you're burning up and need the Varia Suit but it doesn't get "approved" until later. That totally makes sense! ...

That fire part lasts for like 5-10 minutes. I died once, and then beat it the second time. It was about as frustrating to me as having to wait half way through a boss battle to get an item needed to get defeat him or only getting an energy tank after an incredibly difficult area. It makes that part of the game more interesting and memorable than it would have been. Unless you're looking for a reason to hate the game, that portion shouldn't bother you very much when you play it.

I greatly preferred having all my weapons already. I think it's a really weak plot device in Metroid games to always lose your power ups or just not have them in the first place when I did in a previous game. THIS is MUCH lamer to me than having my weapon use restricted: Metroid Prime 2. That crap bothered me the ENTIRE game. Samus get tapped and then suddenly half her upgrades are gone. Having a weapon unlocked when you need it is no different mechanically than finding a weapon when you need it. I personally liked them making this a more solid part of the plot.