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Metroid: Other M (Nintendo Wii) discussion [game]
 
  Matthew T  
Metroid: Other M on the Wii
8.16/10 from 55 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for Metroid: Other M on the Wii!

To start, please add this game to your log, add it to your collection (if applicable), and (when you are ready) rate it using the link above!

...seeing as you're the group of gamers whose opinions I trust the most.

Picking up Other M today was a bit of a strange experience--the guy at Play-N-Trade revealed that one of his coworkers mistakenly told everyone that the game released today, so the store had preorder folks coming in all day to try to get it. However, this particular employee was pretty upset about the whole ordeal and decided to sell it to me anyway...then promptly called his manager and quit. I told him I didn't want to cause a fuss and would come back Tuesday for it, but he took a devil-may-care attitude and let me buy the game regardless (he was actually quite friendly to me, just upset about the mistake the coworker made).

So that interesting story of acquisition aside, I now have the game and have played roughly 40 minutes or so (just beat the first boss). It's quite early so my previews aren't going to be very in-depth, so I'll make this quick for now:

-Controls are better than expected, feels fun and pleasantly quick like Samus should
-Voice acting better than expected; the ancillary soldiers and such sound pretty good
-Samus herself seems to be directed to sound fairly cold and emotionless, which usually works, but sometimes her delivery is stilted (so far)
-I'm kind of missing Retro's attention to environmental detail, but the areas still look decent enough
-Killing classic Metroid enemies like Geemers and Rios in 3rd-person is somewhat cathartic. They made a 3rd-person Metroid feel work rather well, and I like the Wiimote so far
-You can't seem to wall-jump off every wall, just select surfaces
-Not sure what to make of the story yet, I kinda like a lot of it and some of it is sort of overbearing; we'll see. The direction and transitions are pretty nice though
-Pretty cool first boss
-Casper's right, it needs more music during gameplay

That's all for now. I mainly made this thread for everyone else to post their impressions too, but I wanted to give a few of my own first.

URL to share (right click and copy)
08/30/10, 01:20    Edited: 08/30/10, 01:31
 
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  Pandareus  
Well, ignoring the "can they be compared" debate, can we at least agree that Other M is a more interesting game than another Prime would have been?

Or maybe I'm the only one who thinks that, as someone who took 3 years to finish Corruption.
09/03/10, 20:37   
  Zero  
I'm going to have to actually dive into it to see how interesting I think it is. The whole focus on story yada yada is very NOT interesting to me, and I really haven't heard many specific praises of interesting gameplay mechanics so far.

I do feel like the Prime trilogy is "complete" and adding more just to add more would've gotten into rehash territory. Plus it'll be nice to see what Retro can do with Donkey Kong Country.

I'd like to see another Retro Metroid someday though.
09/03/10, 21:01   
  TriforceBun  
I'll back up Other M on that ground--it definitely takes some big risks in the gameplay, and most of them pay off. In fact, gameplay-wise, the only real, major issue I have with the game isn't risk-related at all, but rather something the game takes from Fusion (the linearity). Otherwise, I quite like the auto-aim, FPS mode, and Wiimote-only controls.

That said, I do agree with Zero's most recent post about the Prime trilogy feeling "complete." I'd like to see Retro do another Metroid game eventually as well, but I'm not sure yet if it should still be in first-person.
09/03/10, 21:36   
  Anand  
I think it's fine to compare stuff. Oranges are better than apples. There, I said it. They just fucking ARE.

(Actually, I love both, even though in recent years, I find, like, 90% of the fruit I eat to be disappointing in terms of quality. Seriously, WTF, farmers? I can't even remember the last time I had an amazing orange. It must have been 6-7 years ago.)

People always like one thing better than another. Parents will always prefer one child, deep down inside. That's just the way it is. Now that preference may (and often DOES) primarily come down to a difference of priorities (like with the Zelda series), but we each still have our preferences. It isn't an absolute, objective universal statement. It's a subjective personal one.

@Zero
Why didn't you call it a Retroid?

@Pandareus
You are not alone. I'm just happy to be getting something so weird and wacky and experimental in a flagship Nintendo franchise. It's been a while since we had a Zelda II/Doki Doki Panic-esque discontinuity like this.
09/03/10, 21:43   
Edited: 09/03/10, 21:49
  Zero  
Well there was Super Paper Mario. Love it or hate it, it was a pretty weird experimental title. And Kirby Canvas Curse was pretty experimental. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Etc.

Oh and 100% agreed about fruit. I dunno what happened but fruit was definitely better years ago. Maybe it is nostalgia speaking, but I don't think so. More likely farmers just started using more chemicals and more cheap labor and lowered standards and such to survive in bad economic times...
09/03/10, 22:08   
  Hinph  
Places like Wholefoods and Trader Joe's often have some decent quality fruit, but you have to pay more...
09/03/10, 23:07   
  Zero  
Hmm, I think it is tough to say that in regards to any comparison though? Like I can try to make an objective fact list between the first 3 Prime games (all similar in concept) but in the end, the facts are only going to say so much about the "overall" experience. When I say (and even saying so, I know you disagree) that Prime > Prime 2 > Prime 3, I can't really point to some list of facts for why I feel this way. I can point to a list of facts as evidence towards why I feel this way, but it's just a small part of it.

I guess in the end I think it's not so much a point to point comparison as just a raw assessment of quality. If I say I think Metroid Prime is better than Dokapon Kingdom it's not like I've ever directly compared the two in my mind. It's more like I have this idea in my mind of how high of a quality product each game is, and I'm comparing that "quality level" of one against the other. And I think I can do this with any two games, really.
09/03/10, 23:55   
  GelatinousEncore  
Geez this has been one busy week. Looks like I'll finally be able to spend some quality time with Samus tonight. No, not in that way, unfortunately.

Will report back with impressions. And hopefully answer my question lolz

btw, Panda: No, I wouldn't want a Metroid Prime 4. But I don't want a Metroid game with little exploration, either. We will see.
09/04/10, 00:36   
  Zero  
I dunno, I kind of think the first Prime was a step above the others. But this is where it does get a bit subjective.

I don't know for sure that we would all agree that Sunshine is less good than Galaxy either. And where do you put Galaxy 2 into this mix? Because MOST would say from the "facts" standpoint that it beats out Galaxy. But there are other elements like presentation... things get a bit subjective there...

Anyway that is kind of a strange example because Sunshine and Galaxy are two very different games to me, at their core. One is more a non-linear, collecting platformer and one is a linear, environmental-challenge based platformer.
09/04/10, 00:39   
  GelatinousEncore  
Has anyone noticed how in the "if you like Metroid Other M, check out these other great games!" thing they actually recommend some niche hardcore games? - Samurai Warriors 3 and Sin & Punishment 2, alongside Mario Galaxy 2 of course. Pretty cool. Not like that's gonna help their horrible sales but it's something. (actually, I dunno if SW3 is any good)
09/04/10, 01:01   
  GelatinousEncore  
@Simbabbad

lol, level pack. Mario Galaxy is a mish mash of brilliant, varied gameplay ideas. You can make a second game out of more brilliant, varied gameplay ideas. It's not more of the same.
09/04/10, 01:16   
  GelatinousEncore  
Because not one level is similar to the next in the craziness that is the Mario Galaxy games. You can put anything in a level. Plus, playing through, I never got that "more of the same" feeling. It felt like the continuation of one huge package, so huge they couldn't fit it into one disc.
09/04/10, 01:20   
  Zero  
Well, all of the countless new gameplay mechanics for one. The Nuts and Bolts DLC doesn't have new mechanics on pretty much every stage. But we got into all of that before.

Anyway, I haven't played Other M but it does sound like it has a lot of deep flaws to a lot of reviewers, and even some of the members here.
09/04/10, 01:21   
  TriforceBun  
What makes Galaxy 2 a level pack versus, say, Prime 2, Prime 3, Metal Slug 2 through 6, Trauma Center: New Blood, Resident Evil 0, Paper Mario:TTYD and every Mega Man game ever made (and these are just Nintendo-system titles I'm listing)? SMG2 introduces new gameplay elements, new power-ups, refines aspects of the original game (like navigation and co-op), and has a 95% original, mostly orchestrated soundtrack.
09/04/10, 01:26   
  Zero  
@Simbabbad But it wasn't made from the Super Mario Galaxy level editor. The majority of the levels have new gameplay elements not seen before, which had to be programmed into the game. I'd argue that it has more new than most sequels. How do sequels become sequels and not level packs, in your eyes?
09/04/10, 01:27   
Edited: 09/04/10, 01:27
  GelatinousEncore  
Simbabbad said:
GelatinousEncore said:
It felt like the continuation of one huge package, so huge they couldn't fit it into one disc.
That's called a level pack.
Fair enough. Doesn't mean it's any worse than the first, it's actually on the same level or even better.
09/04/10, 01:28   
  GelatinousEncore  
Damn, I just can't get over that "Galaxy 2 = soulless" thing. Like, how? To each his own, though.


Rotozoa ftw
09/04/10, 01:41   
  Zero  
@Simbabbad I don't know where you read that, but I recall reading that this is how development STARTED when they planned a 1 year in development game. And it expanded into something much, much bigger, and they ended up eventually following a fairly standard development process and adding like 90% new assets or something.

Anyway, we already had this discussion and I doubt we will ever see eye to eye, my only point in bringing that game up is that many (myself included) would say that "objectively" it is a superior game to the first and almost every level (minus presentation), but clearly there are other ways of looking at that. I don't think there will ever be a concrete consensus on what makes one game better than the next.
09/04/10, 03:30   
Edited: 09/04/10, 03:31
  Pandareus  
Oh god, what is wrong with me? I am hopelessly stuck... in sector one, after getting the dispersion gun. I've run around for the better part od an hour, but it seems I need the speed booster to take what appears to be the only way out. There are also a couple of doors I could open IF I had super missiles, but I don't. Have I really lost all my Metroid skills?

If anyone knows what to do, I am open to receiving advice or being told what to do next.
09/04/10, 04:21   
  OrbitalBeard  
I've put around nine hours into Other M and I absolutely LOVE it. It went from a "meh" experience for me to one of my favorite games of 2010. I really, really love this game and am so very glad Retro took some time away from the series. I don't like Other M as much as the Prime trilogy, but that doesn't really matter, as this game is really great.

I actually LOVE how linear it is, because it gives Nintendo and Team Ninja plenty of opportunities for really cool scripted, blockbuster moments. And I'm really enjoying the story. It's not amazing or anything, but it's very entertaining.

I think I'm nearing the end. There's some total fanservice approaching, I can just feel it....and I'm getting very excited.
09/04/10, 04:24   
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