First off, I want to say that I agree this game is the weakest of the Metroid games. Does this really mean much? No, it's still a great game, it's just that in a sea of other great games, it happens to be the one that is the least great. The control was fluent, the story interesting, and, of course, Anthony Higgs, enough said- I think even the game's most avid detractors would admit this CMOA in one character was one of the game's main saving graces. In regards to a lot of the game's criticism, I disagree with a lot of it- Samus's monotone voice, for example, seems to primarily be when she's the narrator- when she's speaking as her actual character, she emotes a lot more. Lots of stories have that. In regards to the Story:Gameplay ratio, I find it's actually a pretty good balance- kind of like Metal Gear, though the cutscenes aren't that long, and that was a great series too. I think the main reason people rebel against that is that it wasn't what they were expecting from a Metroid game- and to be fair, it is pretty jarring, but it doesn't make the game bad- just different from what we've seen before, or are likely to see after. I could go on for hours about how people have reacted to Adam, but there's a word limit, so I'll just go ahead and say that I found his character a lot better than most did and move on. Ridley- I can see both sides of this argument, but personally, I think Samus's reaction is perfectly justified, and certainly not demeaning. Overall, what I see with this game is a game that really does break the mold quite a bit from previous games- it's a different Metroid game. It's unlike what has come before, and honestly, I think that's where most of the hate comes from. Again, straying towards a topic I could write a whole book about, but long story short, I think the game gets a lot of undeserved hate. While it is still the most underwhelming Metroid game I've played (haven't played 2 or Hunters,) and I would say that the game should go back to how it was before for the next game, that's mostly because the other ones are just that much better, and this one is, at the very least, an interesting experiment in making Metroid in another genre- it doesn't have to be anything more than that, and in that respect, it's a success- except for the pixel-hunting segments, I really did hate those parts.
The Weakest Metroid Game, but Still Good
First off, I want to say that I agree this game is the weakest of the Metroid games. Does this really mean much? No, it's still a great game, it's just that in a sea of other great games, it happens to be the one that is the least great. The control was fluent, the story interesting, and, of course, Anthony Higgs, enough said- I think even the game's most avid detractors would admit this CMOA in one character was one of the game's main saving graces. In regards to a lot of the game's criticism, I disagree with a lot of it- Samus's monotone voice, for example, seems to primarily be when she's the narrator- when she's speaking as her actual character, she emotes a lot more. Lots of stories have that. In regards to the Story:Gameplay ratio, I find it's actually a pretty good balance- kind of like Metal Gear, though the cutscenes aren't that long, and that was a great series too. I think the main reason people rebel against that is that it wasn't what they were expecting from a Metroid game- and to be fair, it is pretty jarring, but it doesn't make the game bad- just different from what we've seen before, or are likely to see after. I could go on for hours about how people have reacted to Adam, but there's a word limit, so I'll just go ahead and say that I found his character a lot better than most did and move on. Ridley- I can see both sides of this argument, but personally, I think Samus's reaction is perfectly justified, and certainly not demeaning. Overall, what I see with this game is a game that really does break the mold quite a bit from previous games- it's a different Metroid game. It's unlike what has come before, and honestly, I think that's where most of the hate comes from. Again, straying towards a topic I could write a whole book about, but long story short, I think the game gets a lot of undeserved hate. While it is still the most underwhelming Metroid game I've played (haven't played 2 or Hunters,) and I would say that the game should go back to how it was before for the next game, that's mostly because the other ones are just that much better, and this one is, at the very least, an interesting experiment in making Metroid in another genre- it doesn't have to be anything more than that, and in that respect, it's a success- except for the pixel-hunting segments, I really did hate those parts.