Metroid Other M (spoilers) Reviews

[King Joe]

I don't necessarily think Morgan Webb's (or any other female reviewer's) opinion on portrayals of women should be taken as gospel. Down that road too lies "this character's not offensive! I know a woman who totally thinks she's fine!" Having the conversation is important, among men as much as anyone.

All's I'm gonna say on the issue is that it proves that we need more female main characters, of all stripes. Samus is like our only legacy female who doesn't wear a frilly pink dress or short shorts. She has to be everything to everyone, so of course people are going to be at each other's throats over how she comes off.

You completely Ignoring Sarah Conner and Ripley

 

[KouAidou]

You completely Ignoring Sarah Conner and Ripley

I should have said "in gaming," as that is what I was referring to.

But the point holds true in all media. Sarah Conner and Ripley are two memorably strong female action heroes versus... how many umpteen male ones? Enough that they had a giant crossover movie this summer, at the very least. You can add in "every action role played by Angelina Jolie" and the numbers still won't compare.

 

[King Joe]

I should have said "in gaming," as that is what I was referring to.

But the point holds true in all media. Sarah Conner and Ripley are two memorably strong female action heroes versus... how many umpteen male ones? Enough that they had a giant crossover movie this summer, at the very least. You can add in "every action role played by Angelina Jolie" and the numbers still won't compare.

Ripley and Sarah Conner are true heroes, No other actress can be up to that bar. I hate Angelina Jolie, she's a terrible action star who's main abillity is that she's apparently "hot" Ripley and Sarah don't need to be "hot" to kick ass, They run circles around ANYTHING Jolie does and ever will do.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

I could buy Samus losing her cool. I could buy her getting upset at seeing Riddly being alive yet again and fighting far too recklessly so that it gets her in trouble and she needs a hand until she can regain her focus.

I cannot buy, "She is so helpless and paralyzed by fear that she breaks down crying and her terror causes her armor to start disintegrating."

There are just so many ISSUES with this game that it's hard to imagine how Samus' character can ever recover from this.

I point you right back to my Doctor example. The guy had faced down the same villains dozens of times, saw A DEACTIVATED ONE and screamed for people to get him away from it.

He saves creation once a year. Perspective.

Sidenote: If Sarah were a hero I wouldn't have to hear about Terminator 5.

BTW, Mario doesn't have a character so giving him one would be weird, and there are theories that Link's a different guy from game to game. Consistency isn't a huge issue.

 

[Skiks]

Well just pointing out that link is a different game every game....

 

[KingRanger]

The point of the X-Play review defenders of this game are trying their hardest to ignore, is that a notable female reviewer has come flat out and said, "This behavior is offensive to women. And it devalues a powerful female figure who was popular with fans for more than just the T&A factor."

Note: Morgan Webb is also not the only female reviewer to have said the same thing, but funnily enough, they get ignored too.

I don't care about the game one way or the other. It's not bad but nor is it good. That said, Morgan Webb is notable because she reads reviews on tv? Morgan Webb is the same as every other reviewer, they give their opinion. I don't put any weight in anything said on G4. If one finds it offensive to women, that is their own personal belief. I am not a woman so I don't know what is offensive to them. I just know the game is average. What I find really funny is the hate the game gets. It's pretty simple, if you don't like it then just play Super Metroid or something? This just seems like yet another fanboy war. Those for new Samus and those against new Samus.

 

[KingRanger]

Well just pointing out that link is a different game every game....

If you mean Link is a different character in every game, that is not quite true. The link in Links Awakening is the same Link from a link to the past. The Link from Phantom Hourglass is the same Link from Windwaker.

 

[FlashNeko]

If one finds it offensive to women, that is their own personal belief. I am not a woman so I don't know what is offensive to them.

That's part of the problem though. The fact people have been trying to marginalize it or just wave it off without really addressing it is part of why so many have been getting more and more frustrated about it.

It's the same sort of problem DC comics has been having recently when trying to bring back the "classic" versions of a lot of heroes... many of whom are white guys and the much more ethnically diverse characters who currently fill the roll are just getting slaughtered horribly so they're not in the way anymore.

And when people start raising objections there, they get much the same response given here: "It's just your opinion that it's offensive." and then nobody asks, "Why do you find this offensive?" and nobody looks into the issue and nothing gets done to try and take a step back and go, "... Huh, I could see how you could think that." and then here we are all yelling at each other with no answer to the problem.

It's pretty simple, if you don't like it then just play Super Metroid or something?

Sometimes you can't just ignore a problem, expecting it to go away. Sometimes you have to at least get people to ask "Why do a sizable number of people think this is a problem?" so that something like it never happens again.

This just seems like yet another fanboy war. Those for new Samus and those against new Samus.

I wish that was all it was.

When I'd first heard about this, I honestly did think it was just something people were blowing out of proportion in that way fanboys do when anything changes even slightly from the norm.

Then... I played the game... and saw the story... and... yeah, there's a problem here that a lot of people are just trying to brush off.

But... at this point, it's pretty obvious those who don't care will never care and those who are upset about the issue are just screaming at a wall, even if they do have legitimate complaints.

So... yeah, washing my hands of this.

 

[Kenori]

Yeah, everything I've seen about this game is just mysoginistic pigheadedness.

ITs really sad to see a character who I've always thought to be THE strongest female lead in gaming to suddenly turn into a whimpering panzy at the sight of her greatest foe.

I can understand being a little scared, and maybe wanting to show that fear here and there, but you dont freeze, not after what she's ALREADY BEEN THROUGH. You're forgetting, she's already faced Mother Brain, TWICE, Ridley TWICE, crazy mutated metroids. And if Metroid Zero Mission is canonical, she's had to sneak into the fucking Space Pirate ship, WITHOUT HER ARMOR, to try and stop them.

I'm sure there would have been a lot of times where she would have been scared out of her mind, but there are ways to show someone is scared without making them look like a complete panzy. You show their eyes widen through the vizor, have them take a step back, then you cut to their hand as they make a fist, then have them go into action. Its simple action directing 101. You make the hero look scared without devaluing the character.

Seriously, the one is a soldier turned hardass bounty hunter. She should know by now that in a situation like that, freezing is not an option. You grit your teeth, swallow the bile rising in your throat, and you do your job.

I would have expected something like this out of a newbie space cop, but not samus.

 

[wins2]

Actually there is a really good article explaining why she didn't shoot right here: http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/81909/ptsd-or-weakness-real-experts-on-why-samus-didnt-shoot/

To sum it up it says that Samus suffers from ptsd and it has quite a lot to support it too.