Metroid: Other M is the ninth game in the popular Metroid series from Nintendo. Other M was developed in tandem between Nintendo of Japan and Namco's Team Ninja, the latter responsible for games such as the Ninja Gaiden series and the Do A games. The game was released in 2010 to some initial fanfare, which quickly degenerated into hellish flamewars and a cacophony of Ruined FOREVER chants. Much has been said about this game, some in bestial rage, others in impassioned defense.
And now I'm going to look at it. But not all of it; just the story. Why?
Because I'm not playing this game. It's that simple.
To play this game would ultimately mean giving financial compensation to Nintendo for it in some way, shape, or form. That would mean tacitly rewarding them for having produced this game. And I will not do that. Buying something, or not buying it, is the only real means of control consumers have over those who produce things in a capitalist society. To purchase a product is to give approval to the producer for that product. To not purchase it is the only means of saying "DO NOT WANT!"
Yes, I could buy it used or something. But I'm still not going to do that.
This all being said, I also refuse to discuss the game based entirely on online play-throughs, Let's Play's, and other such freely available material. To do so would be entirely unfair; watching a game is a fundamentally different experience from playing it.
And that is why this is just a look at the story of Other M, because watching a story is no different from playing it. The game has a special Theater Mode that shows off the story. The game designers have clearly gone through the trouble of making it into an actual first-class mode. They stitch the various cutscenes together with enough "gameplay" for you to understand what's going on. And since it clocks in at a bit more than 2 hours in total, that makes it the equivalent of a feature-length movie.
Now, you might say that it's unfair to discuss a game's story based on just watching cutscenes. I disagree, if for no other reason than that the game developers created Theater Mode. This isn't some people online shoving the cutscenes together. The game developers themselves thought that people would enjoy the story outside of the gameplay; they felt that the story was strong enough to stand up without gameplay. They were so certain of this that they spent time and effort building this special viewing mode just to promote such behavior.
Consider how few game developers think their story is strong enough to work outside of the gameplay.
That being said, and in all fairness to Other M, I do recognize one simple fact: Theater Mode is still just a bunch of cutscenes stitched together. Therefore, I'm making some ground rules about what I can't complain about, in order to at least be somewhat fair to the game.
Ground Rules
No pacing: Many of these cutscenes were intended to be viewed with significant time between them, representing various bits of gameplay. But Theater Mode sticks these cutscenes right next to each other. While Theater Mode may be a legitimate form of experiencing the story, that doesn't change the fact that the game, the primary mode of play, puts significant gameplay between some of these scenes.
Since I am not playing the game, and therefore cannot accurately gauge how much time has passed, I will not make any significant comment on the pacing between cutscenes. For example, if there is repetition among cutscenes that have gameplay between them, I will ignore it. That's simply the nature of videogame storytelling; the user could have stopped playing between then and now. So you need a way to get them back up to speed. Even if they didn't actually stop play, that could still have been hours ago.
Do note what I said: "pacing between cutscenes." Pacing within a single, continuous scene is fair game. And yes, I do know which scenes are continuous and which aren't; I may not have played this game, but I am familiar with it.
No gameplay: I am covering Other M's story, and only the story. Gameplay will be mentioned in the event that it actually directly affects the story narrative in some way. And even then, it will be limited to how it affects the story narrative; how it affects the player will be irrelevant.
No visual storytelling: Metroid is a series that's known for finding unusual ways to do storytelling. Dialog is generally not the go-to place for Metroid storytelling. Indeed, the Metroid game (before Other M) that had the most dialog was Fusion, and that's something quite a few fans hold against it to this day. The developers at Retro Studios came up with the scanning mechanic as a way to have exposition without having to have dialog. In general, Metroid games tend towards visual storytelling when possible. Even Fusion. By visual storytelling, I mean using the environment and aspects of the visuals besides text as a storytelling device.
I've seen a lot of Other M. I've seen it several different people play it from beginning to end. I don't feel that it does visual storytelling very well (or at all, really). But at the same time, I haven't played it. So I don't feel comfortable calling the game out for visual storytelling or any lack thereof.
No Yoshio Sakamoto: Yoshio Sakamoto was the director behind Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid: Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission. So basically, almost all of the 2D Metroid games were done under his direction. And he was the director of Metroid: Other M as well.
Much has been said of his involvement in the process of making the game. Some of it is conjecture, some backed up by evidence from interviews, etc. And if you want to read that, that's great. But that's not what this is about, so I'm not going to say the man's name. I will talk about the makers of the game, but only in a vague "the writers" sense, which I would do for any other story.
So if you're looking for a personal hit-piece*, search elsewhere.
Comments
, if you will. If one of the parties in a debate disagrees that the subject of a debate even exists, then no debate can be had until that point is resolved. I make this declaration because quite frankly, proving that sexism exists is a long, drawn out argument. To present such an argument here would easily double the size of an already long essay. And odds are good that anyone who was of the opinion that sexism didn't exist would not be convinced.
Item 2 is a declaration that, given that I just declared standing without proof, I am not going to similarly declare victory without proof. That is, while I have the standing to argue that Metroid: Other M is sexist, I am not going to say that I am right. This is a declaration that I am going to bring forth evidence of my assertion, not merely declaring it to be true by fiat.
Item 3 is a variation of item 1. It is a universal non-argument that can be used to derail any discussion of sexism against women. It therefore falls under the question of standing of the topic of sexism.
Item 4 is a declaration of the scope of the argument. The argument is about the work, not its maker. This isn't personal, nor is it an attack on the person who made it. I'm saying that I am attempting to classify the work; whatever someone chooses to infer from that classification is their business.
Item 5 is a refinement of the question of standing. Item 1 defines that sexism exists. Item 5 defines the parameters for finding it. I justify this in the same way as Item 1: it detracts from the main point of the work: presenting an argument about whether Metroid: Other M is sexist.
. And I could say the same for the women in Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur, Tekken, King of Fighters, etc. They do lots of fan service but are treated with the same amount of respect the men are treated with. Except for by some certain audience members who cry foul at fan service everywhere they go. And no, I've heard plenty of reasonable arguments pointing out that Bayonetta isn't sexist. She does lots of fan service, we have lots of reminders of her being a woman, but she's always portrayed as always taking on the world, always acting on a whim, and never giving a rat's ass about another person's approval.
[ a blog right here on Samus in the new Smash Bros defending the Zero Suit Samus]] and at one point it said this:
“Okay fair enough, Other M was a terribly sexist game, i give you that much. I mean the chickifcation of one of the most badass female characters in the world is something we honestly didn't need to see and really Evan, you should rant on that game’s bad storytelling.
I'll get to that eventually, i have a lot of shit to work on. Though trust me, i can't wait to tear apart the lazy writing and the sexist overtones within that game.
Still even then, this bitch loses her argument when she starts claiming that the real problem is the fanservice of her. Granted Other M was a shit game, i'll gladly admit that but that doesn't mean the artwork and style wasn't good. If anything i prefer this style of Samus over the one from Brawl.”
[ a blog right here on Samus in the new Smash Bros defending the Zero Suit Samus]] and at one point it said this:
“Okay fair enough, Other M was a terribly sexist game, i give you that much. I mean the chickifcation of one of the most badass female characters in the world is something we honestly didn't need to see and really Evan, you should rant on that game’s bad storytelling.
I'll get to that eventually, i have a lot of shit to work on. Though trust me, i can't wait to tear apart the lazy writing and the sexist overtones within that game.
Still even then, this bitch loses her argument when she starts claiming that the real problem is the fanservice of her. Granted Other M was a shit game, i'll gladly admit that but that doesn't mean the artwork and style wasn't good. If anything i prefer this style of Samus over the one from Brawl.”
