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I don't as yet own this game, so my presence here is probably pointless. But your conclusions seem well-founded. I think the problem sometimes lies with not so much the presentation of the character but the maturity of the audience.
Young people, especially adolescents, are intimdated by their own strong emotions. So often we all felt like our emotional responses were out of our control at that time, didn't we? Our parents and teachers would shake their heads in shock and disbelief at our actions and reactions. Its something we go through in every stage of our development: babies shriek, toddlers throw things, children provoke, and teenagers rebel. All of this is due to the frustration with thoughts and feelings that are simply too big or too deep to express with our current degree of comnunicative skill.
Therefore, young people are usualy admiring of stoic heroes. Such an individual has gained mastery over emotional response. The less emotion communicated, either verbally or otherwise, the more appealing the character. When such a person 'breaks' their fascade, it ruins the fantasy for the immature audience. They are instantly critical, because now this icon has been tumbled off its pedastal down to the pedestrian level.
Its not until one has gained an appreciation for one's own sensitivity that such a momentarily lapse in control can be found appealing. One must first learn to value emotions, their own as well as others, thereby empathasizing with the pain of their fellowman. Unfortunately, not everyone gains this degree of self-awareness. A great many people, for a variey of reasons, live their lives believing emotional response to convey inner weakness. Such an audience does not yet have the maturity to understand why a stoic character has need to show any emotion at all, whether its a logical byproduct of the story or not.
Again, as I haven't yet played Other M, this is not a commentary on its quality, simply my observations on why certain characterizations are criticized in similar fiction.
Young people, especially adolescents, are intimdated by their own strong emotions. So often we all felt like our emotional responses were out of our control at that time, didn't we? Our parents and teachers would shake their heads in shock and disbelief at our actions and reactions. Its something we go through in every stage of our development: babies shriek, toddlers throw things, children provoke, and teenagers rebel. All of this is due to the frustration with thoughts and feelings that are simply too big or too deep to express with our current degree of comnunicative skill.
Therefore, young people are usualy admiring of stoic heroes. Such an individual has gained mastery over emotional response. The less emotion communicated, either verbally or otherwise, the more appealing the character. When such a person 'breaks' their fascade, it ruins the fantasy for the immature audience. They are instantly critical, because now this icon has been tumbled off its pedastal down to the pedestrian level.
Its not until one has gained an appreciation for one's own sensitivity that such a momentarily lapse in control can be found appealing. One must first learn to value emotions, their own as well as others, thereby empathasizing with the pain of their fellowman. Unfortunately, not everyone gains this degree of self-awareness. A great many people, for a variey of reasons, live their lives believing emotional response to convey inner weakness. Such an audience does not yet have the maturity to understand why a stoic character has need to show any emotion at all, whether its a logical byproduct of the story or not.
Again, as I haven't yet played Other M, this is not a commentary on its quality, simply my observations on why certain characterizations are criticized in similar fiction.
In many respects, the "Ocarina" generation of Metroid rans - those that started with Metroid Prime - came to infer things about Samus in the same way that those that grew up with the original trilogy.
The difference? Age and internet access. That and a ridiculous loyalty to console gaming.
Anyone who played Metroid Fusion eight years ago saw these characterizations become part of Samus. The narrative style, the outbursts, her desire to prove herself. And even the game itself follows a very similar flow to fusion, particularly because of the setting and other characters which appear in it.
So I had no illusions about this being a vast, interconnected world seen in other games. This was the prequel t0 Fusion, not the second coming of Super Metroid.
And oh, I had some childish outbursts about Fusion at the time. You can have childish outburst in your early 20s. But upon reflection I realized that Samus wasn't unlike other characters I liked, such as Batman.
I mean, Batman has feelings, he does express them. He's lost people, those he loved, his parents and so on. And he uses the cape and cowl just the same as Samus uses the powersuit - something to hide emotion.
But he's gotta be Bruce Wayne sometime. He'd love it if Bruce Wayne really was the mask, but he's not.
I do think Samus was written in a way of overexplaining things, but I think this is a symptom of this being Nintendo's first big voice-over production and also due to their knack of worldwide simultaneous releases. Without that deadline pressure, I'm sure what came off as narrative padding could have had some more substance.
I'm willing to give them a pass, though, because this was their first time producing a game in such a way and that otherwise, the characters, story and acting were good.
As for the PTSD thing, its in the mangas. If anything, I think Other M presented it in a more realistic way. I mean, Ridley back from the dead after Samus was sure she sent him to oblivion. I'd kinda freak out.
Plus, they had to do that whole thing where he picks her up and scapes her across the wall. Anything that happens in Smash Brothers has to make its way into a game.
The difference? Age and internet access. That and a ridiculous loyalty to console gaming.
Anyone who played Metroid Fusion eight years ago saw these characterizations become part of Samus. The narrative style, the outbursts, her desire to prove herself. And even the game itself follows a very similar flow to fusion, particularly because of the setting and other characters which appear in it.
So I had no illusions about this being a vast, interconnected world seen in other games. This was the prequel t0 Fusion, not the second coming of Super Metroid.
And oh, I had some childish outbursts about Fusion at the time. You can have childish outburst in your early 20s. But upon reflection I realized that Samus wasn't unlike other characters I liked, such as Batman.
I mean, Batman has feelings, he does express them. He's lost people, those he loved, his parents and so on. And he uses the cape and cowl just the same as Samus uses the powersuit - something to hide emotion.
But he's gotta be Bruce Wayne sometime. He'd love it if Bruce Wayne really was the mask, but he's not.
I do think Samus was written in a way of overexplaining things, but I think this is a symptom of this being Nintendo's first big voice-over production and also due to their knack of worldwide simultaneous releases. Without that deadline pressure, I'm sure what came off as narrative padding could have had some more substance.
I'm willing to give them a pass, though, because this was their first time producing a game in such a way and that otherwise, the characters, story and acting were good.
As for the PTSD thing, its in the mangas. If anything, I think Other M presented it in a more realistic way. I mean, Ridley back from the dead after Samus was sure she sent him to oblivion. I'd kinda freak out.
Plus, they had to do that whole thing where he picks her up and scapes her across the wall. Anything that happens in Smash Brothers has to make its way into a game.
Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly. Fantastic job on this blog... I'm writing something similar and completely agree with what you're saying here.
I disagree with you, and as stated in my just-posted review, found Other M's presentation of Samus to be rather misjudged and over-the-top compared to what has gone before and what fans like about the character. With regard to being stoic, many of the flashbacks show her revealing her emotions and being stroppy around others, from the whole 'girl who thumbs down' situation to her questioning her CO's judgment when he had to make his big decision (I don't want to spoil it, but I trust you'll know what I mean). Anyway, you argued your case pretty well and it's always good to read a different perspective on a game that is likely to prove divisive.
You have my support, if for no other reason than the fact that this is a non-whining post about Metroid Other M on Destructoid. Should I just start calling Whinetoid? This site is turning into Whineo9, I mean io9.
This is exactly how I felt while I played the game. The script was really the only big downfall for me. But like Silent Protagonist said, this is the first time Nintendo has attempted to tell a deep narrative like this, so it's very much a learning process for them.
I'm glad I finally see someone else on the interwebs defending Samus instead of calling her a crybaby. The PTSD issue is an interesting take on the Ridley encounter. It's a shame more people don't think about that way.
If anything, I think Samus has now become one of the more realistic video game characters in existence. Take away the space bounty hunter and you're left with a normal girl with normal emotional issues. She isn't the "damsel in distress who can't do anything unless a man saves her" and she isn't the "emotionless kick-ass super warrior girl" (who almost always ends up being some kind of science experiment).
I'm glad I finally see someone else on the interwebs defending Samus instead of calling her a crybaby. The PTSD issue is an interesting take on the Ridley encounter. It's a shame more people don't think about that way.
If anything, I think Samus has now become one of the more realistic video game characters in existence. Take away the space bounty hunter and you're left with a normal girl with normal emotional issues. She isn't the "damsel in distress who can't do anything unless a man saves her" and she isn't the "emotionless kick-ass super warrior girl" (who almost always ends up being some kind of science experiment).
It's the pseudo hardcore Metroid fans who are shocked and appalled by Samus' "new" character. Metroid newcomers don't mind Samus' character in Other M because they never formed their own vision of Samus (ie a robot chick), and hardcore Metroid fans already knew Samus was like this. If you knew anything about the manga, and if you played Fusion, you'd this has been her character since 2002.
Very well written. I loved this game and thought it was a push in the right direction for a game series that seems to be very narrative driven.
Several issues have driven me mad about the accusation pointed at Other M.
1) Why is femininity regarded as weak?
I think people have ousted themselves as sexist whenever they state that it was Samus' more feminine side that makes her weak.
2) Why character development is bad?
As mentioned, this game ties together Fusion to the rest of the series quite nicely.
3) Samus has always followed orders in every single game, why is it bad now?
Especially considering that Samus disobeyed orders by sparing the baby the resulted in Super Metroid. This game and Metroid II are like the only game where Samus every break an order.
I think people are afraid of different and can't understand what isn't directly in front of them.
Several issues have driven me mad about the accusation pointed at Other M.
1) Why is femininity regarded as weak?
I think people have ousted themselves as sexist whenever they state that it was Samus' more feminine side that makes her weak.
2) Why character development is bad?
As mentioned, this game ties together Fusion to the rest of the series quite nicely.
3) Samus has always followed orders in every single game, why is it bad now?
Especially considering that Samus disobeyed orders by sparing the baby the resulted in Super Metroid. This game and Metroid II are like the only game where Samus every break an order.
I think people are afraid of different and can't understand what isn't directly in front of them.
When playing that game and after that reading all the negative comments about it, I remembered Metroid Prime 3.
In Metroid Prime 3 we had just an exposition of the problem in the beginning of the game and nothing after that, we went on a quest to deal with this problem.
No one bitched so much about the story or any other aspect, they just said "Meh, ok".
When I compare the two latest Metroid games, Metroid Other M is so much better, it isn't perfect but it did new things and at least it provoked a strong reaction (positive or negative) and will somehow stick.
I loved the characterisation of Samus, I myself always portrayed her in a similar way so I agree completely with your aricle.
The supporting characters lack a bit of charm and depth, and I thought the plot was too similar to Metroid Fusion (mainly the location is pretty much the same); these things dragged the story down.
In Metroid Prime 3 we had just an exposition of the problem in the beginning of the game and nothing after that, we went on a quest to deal with this problem.
No one bitched so much about the story or any other aspect, they just said "Meh, ok".
When I compare the two latest Metroid games, Metroid Other M is so much better, it isn't perfect but it did new things and at least it provoked a strong reaction (positive or negative) and will somehow stick.
I loved the characterisation of Samus, I myself always portrayed her in a similar way so I agree completely with your aricle.
The supporting characters lack a bit of charm and depth, and I thought the plot was too similar to Metroid Fusion (mainly the location is pretty much the same); these things dragged the story down.
