The Psyche of the psycho (part 2 of - we reached it - 2)
Let's diverge from the path (Adam is dead, we can do that)
I want to take a break from the comparison between Sakamoto's work and his mind for a while and talk about the Metroid
Manga. Yes, it is a thing!
Officially released only in Japan (which means there are quite a number of English versions on the internet) back in 2002, the Metroid Manga tells the story of 3-years-old Samus Aran and how her parents were killed by Ridley, how the Chozo found her being the sole survivor of the attack and infused her with Chozo DNA so she could live in Zebes. While that part is known to be canon (because Nintendo had stated Samus's backstory even before this manga was released), the manga itself cannot be considered canon due to inconsistencies in the plot!note
Here is what WikiTroid says on the matter:
''"While the content of the manga would be acceptable on its own, there are several inconsistencies between it and the main story of the Metroid games which hurts its standing as a canon source, such as Samus' relation with Adam, as in the games Samus is under his command for several missions while in the manga, she is only under him for a few minutes.
"Another notable contradiction is Other M stating that Zebesian Pirates being incapable of working intelligently as a sentient species unless led by Mother Brain despite the manga featuring them actively and strategically attacking Galactic Federation-controlled planets long before they met the Chozo's central computer (However, it should be noted that this also contradicted other games that depicted the Space Pirates being quite capable of working intelligently as a sentient species even after Mother Brain and Ridley's destructions, such as the Prime games and even Zero Mission)."''
Of course, WikiTroid treats Other M and Samus's PTSD as canon, but being a Wiki, it's their job to relay the information as told by Nintendo.
Either way, the reason I mentioned this manga is because it's somewhat tied into Other M. Remember the opening scene? Before the fight with Mother Brain. After the meteors destory the pointless debris in space. What, you don't remember? I'm talking about that Star Child! It's the scene where Samus is being infused with Chozo DNA from the manga!
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Within the context of the game, from start to end, that scene has no connection whatsoever to anything. At all. So, what was the point of showing that?
To create a connection with older players. The most hardcore fans who have seen the manga, be it the official Japanese print or the fan-translated version across the internet, will know what that scene is about! With that scene, Yoshio Sakamoto tried to capture the hearts of the most assiduous fans and raise Suspension of Disbelief! Suspension of Disbelief that the Samus we are going to see from that point on is in fact the Samus we've known for 25 years!
But then, this works against him! We know what's happening in that scene - Samus is receiving Chozo DNA. Chozo DNA! For the "Adam is my fatherly figure" bullshit work, Samus cannot have any other fatherly figure present in her life! Long term fans know for a fact that Samus sees the Chozo as her parents! We know that she wasn't a fragile and susceptible to abuse frail-looking girl! Heck, she tried to '''befriend Ridley''' despite his looks (before he ''Batmanned'' her parents)!
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The point is, if we know Samus's story, then we simply will not accept she sees Adam as a fatherly figure! Sakamoto wrote off the Chozo race (it's the only game in the franchise to not have a single Shout-Out to the Chozo - even Fusion had a Fake Chozo Statue) for that exact purpose, so what was the point of having that scene? It only raises even more the Suspension of Disbelief towards Samus's relationship with Adam!
Hell, I'm going to contradict what Other M proved and say it, but Yoshio Sakamoto has proved to be a good writer! He directed and/or wrote the scripts for most of the 2D tiles, Zero Mission and Fusion especially! He would know better than to create those inconsistencies!
Well, to Sakamoto's defense, it's been stated in various interviews that there was so much content originally, that they had to cut a lot in order to make it fit into the dual layered 8.5GB DVD. Probably that scene would have tied with another couple of scenes in order to make sense.
But if that were true, then yet again Sakamoto's writing skills would prevent him from leaving that scene on! If he had no choice but to remove that scenes that would tie in with that opening, then there's no way he would have left it alone! For what he's proven to be capable of, it just doesn't make any sense!
And talking about things that don't make any sense, the Concentration BS! We're told Samus's suit only works as long as she's conscious and fulling it with willpower, and the moment she gets mentally disabled her Magitek Armor goes bye-bye. Corruption and Fusion, and even Other M itself, need that to be untrue in order to work! Two of his works rely on that information being false! His own work!
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where it all leads to:
"Why did you shoot me?"
Adam shooting Samus in the back! This is the scene that killed off Samus Aran as a character in her own game. And this is also the scene that explains everything!Yoshio Sakamoto shot Metroid in the back! Yoshio Sakamoto shot us in the back!
Just remember, what happened prior to the Sector 0 scene? There was a build up to it. The Metroids that were nowhere to be seen were (supposedly) all located within Sector 0! And it's a long trip between Sector and Sector 0 - you must go through Sector 2, first, face off against Nightmare without the Gravity Suit, and only then we are (supposed to be) granted access to the most dangerous are of the BOTTLE SHIP, where Metroids and the Mother Brain are! I remember when I first played this atrocity of a game - it was the only part of the game that got me pumped! I would finally get to see those Metroids and face off against Mother Brain yet once again!
Then, Samus gets shot in the back! Adam did it! He then says those Metroids are even deadlier than the ones we knew, and only raises even more the bar! I WANT TO FIGHT THOSE METROIDS! And then... he denies you the level. Adam explodes Sector 0 and leaves Samus thanking him for it!
Adam, thank you...
WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO SAMUS THANKING HIM FOR ANNIHILATING THE ONLY POSSIBLE REDEEMING FACTOR THIS CRAP COULD EVER HAVE! AFTER BUILDING IT SO MUCH!!
How does this tie in with Sakamoto's psyche? The build up to this atrocity!
In case you don't know, Other M was the most marketed Metroid game EVER! Nintendo marketed it as the second coming of Michael Jackson! Earlier trailers made Shout Outs to all 2D titles, starting from the original 8-bits to Super Metroid (Fusion happens after Other M, so it couldn't be mentioned); there was even a [[www.youtube.com/watch?v=53PSPFE07Hw Live Action trailer for it that recreated the famous scene of Child Samus and Ridley]]! And during interviews, we were promised we'd see a lot about Samus's past and her personality!
We got hyped for it! If the ads alone had the balls to remove the Prime series from the canon (as no mention of it had been done whatsoever), this game should be FREAKING AMAZING! Prime was great, so if this game says Prime didn't happen, it must be so perfect it will make Prime look bad in comparison!
Then, we get this. We got Other M! We got shot in the back! By the person we trusted the most - Yoshio Sakamoto himself, the man who gave us Metroid: Zero Mission, Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion! We believed him, we bought the hype, we trusted Other M would be great! But what he did was this...
In the story, Adam controls Samus's every movement. She has no choice but to obey him. We, as the players, have no choice but to obey Adam - and thus Sakamoto's will. We can only go forward. We can only go to point B from where we stand if we ever want to complete this game.
Samus can only get shot down and thank him for that. We can only watch as an NPC walks away with the last dungeon.
Samus can only watch as everyone else in the room kills the "last boss" and Anthony saves the day. We can only watch as Samus's character gets destroyed in front of our very own eyes.
And what happens to Adam? He is a hero! The ending credits paint him as the best possible kind of human being in the entire universe! All the horrible things he did to Samus, all those abuses, the death glare, shooting her in the back, none of those have any consequence! He will be forever a hero in Other Samus's heart! He doesn't face the consequences of his actions! And what of Sakamoto? He will be forever a game designer! Everything he did prior to Other M was well-received. Every single Metroid game to date carries his name, even the Prime games! And we love them! His name will forever be in the ending credits. Whenever we finish the games we love so much, we'll see his name. And where will he be? At Nintendo, making more games. He won't have to face the consequences of making one bad game! He has much more great games to back him up!
The truth (maybe?)
The first time I played this game, I thought it was horrible. But it was only after reading Korval's and MenTaLguY's analysis that I realized how twisted it truly was! And for a while, I believed Sakamoto had projected himself in Adam, and Samus was his ideal of a woman. But after giving it a bit of thought, I realized that may not be true.Here's a piece of interview that will provide a bit more of context:
In yet another interview, Sakamoto says:
''“It is quite obvious why Other M did not succeed when compared to other Nintendo games; it features a female main character. Mario, Link, Kirby. Those are all male Nintendo characters that never fail to generate good sales.
“It’s not just about the sales either. The game as a whole was received fairly poorly compared to other hit Nintendo titles. I personally wrote the story for the game so I know it can’t be that. I mean, I created a strong, female character that people just could not accept. I apologize if gamers feel like they were emasculated playing the game, but that shouldn’t affect your judgment of everything else.
“Most people who play that game are completely unaware that the main character is a female. This is why it avoided what hurt Other M the most. I believe that if Other M had disguised Samus’s gender like in Metroid Prime, Other M would have surpassed the entire Metroid series."''
Edited for the sake of this dissertation. Click here for the entire interview
It's obvious what Sakamoto intended to do with Other M - get rid of Prime! But it's surprising to see how he reacts to the success of Prime! He claims Retro disguised Samus's gender, and that's why it sold well! And he goes on to say that the story can't be the issue, because he wrote it himself!
As I said before, I used to believe Sakamoto wrote himself as Adam and Samus as his ideal of woman. His work does point to that direction, and his interviews back up on this! But after giving it some thought, and seeing how he speaks of the Prime series like that, I have another theory: that he knew very well what he was doing!
That's right! It may seem crazy, but I feel like Sakamoto couldn't possibly have written Other M's plot without understanding the consequences of that atrocity!
Again, with Zero Mission and Fusion, he's proved to be a competent writer! He couldn't have possibly not realized all the inconsistencies, all the implications of the dialogue; he couldn't have possibly not seen what he created!
But the final piece of this puzzle isn't present in Other M, nor Zero Mission, Fusion, Prime, or even any of his interviews. It's in his actions: Yoshio Sakamoto stepped down from the Metroid series!
Despite saying he could not wait to write the story of Adam Malkovichnote , Yoshio Sakamoto actually quit producing Metroid!
But why?!
The reason for this may lie in the ending of Fusion. Being the last game in the series, the ending to Fusion is, well, the ending to the Metroid franchise. It's the last ending, there's no See You Nest Mission!note But Nintendo handled Metroid to Retro Studios, and they made a successful game. So much that it rendered many more! If this were to keep up, someday Nintendo would continue his story! the story that was supposed to have ended.
So, in order to give Metroid the rest (he thinks) it deserves, Yoshio Sakamoto shot it in the back - he killed it! He had to kill the Metroid franchise in order to make it stop!
It all makes sense (to me, at least)!
Why would he write such an atrocity when he did so many great things before?! Why would he step down when he clearly stated he would want to keep writing Adam's story? Why would he go to such lengths as to assassinate Samus Aran?!
Because he wanted it to stop! he wanted Metroid to stop!
If people were to keep loving and asking for more, Nintendo would eventually heed that call (I don't know where he got that, though)! And he had to stop it from happening! And so he did!
Well, I guess his plan didn't go very well, because Nintendo decided to milk the Prime series now, with Federation Force! Will it work? That lightsaber on the trailer video's like/dislike bar says it won't, so perhaps Nintendo will give the final blow.
But nonetheless, I believe Yoshio Sakamoto truly wanted to kill off Metroid!
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