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[AlleeCat]

http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html

This basically sums up everything wrong with Other M. Except the one other slight problem I have in that they actually took Samus' height from 6'3" to 5'1". They literally shaved a foot and some change off her. Because apparently girls can't be tall, OR independent.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

That's not a slight problem, that's a severe problem. I think I might hate that about Other M more than the removal of the Scan Visor.

[Bauglir]

I demand pics one the thing has passed. This stone must go down in B12 history as the largest stone birthed by a man here.

it's 2 millimeters, bub, i'm sure there's at least one other forum member who's had worse

it just managed to get itself stuck somehow, but not by virtue of size

[Yoink]

Oh man, I've woken up very early compared to what I expected, after a having a very interesting, dramatic dream, feeling very tired and unable to remember said dream properly. It had drama, character development, spooky shit, action, conspiracy, a long-unsolved murder and even a musical number, and yet here I can't remember shit when it comes to details.

Also I'm way too tired to keep typing right now, oh man.
I need to fix my sleeping pattern so I have at least a chance of remembering dreams, becauce forgetting dreams is just way too drepressing when they're really inteteresting.
Anyway. Going to sleep now. Can't type any more.

[Graknorke]

they actually took Samus' height from 6'3" to 5'1"

Wait what. I've not played Other M so have no idea, do they mention it or just change it silently?
Video games already have a shortage of properly tall characters, usually they're sort of on the tallness border or average, but here they decided they should make her outright short. Why.

[AlleeCat]

they actually took Samus' height from 6'3" to 5'1"

Wait what. I've not played Other M so have no idea, do they mention it or just change it silently?
Video games already have a shortage of properly tall characters, usually they're sort of on the tallness border or average, but here they decided they should make her outright short. Why.

In the player's guide for Super Metroid, her official height is listed as 6'3", and her weight is listed as 198 pounds. (Without her Power Suit, even.) On the Metroid wiki, her height is listed as "Approximately 5'1" in Other M," which I'm not sure if they got from character bios or comparing heights with other characters.

[Tiruin]

Have been having annoying net instability lately (turns off/'dis'connects every few several or so minutes, with the rare lapse of 'able to connect'...when I'm not using it >_> as the router is visibly seen), and yay breakdowns--dear goodness I'm glad I've friends to talk this out to, but ugh.

[Rolan7]

Good luck with your connection Tiruin...  Being cut off from people sucks ):

they actually took Samus' height from 6'3" to 5'1"

Wait what. I've not played Other M so have no idea, do they mention it or just change it silently?
Video games already have a shortage of properly tall characters, usually they're sort of on the tallness border or average, but here they decided they should make her outright short. Why.

"Silently", kinda...  She's still tall in the suit.  But in flashbacks (suitless) she's short.  It's not... super emphasized?
...Until the ending cutscene, where she's standing next to Anthony.  The camera angle very deliberately emphasizes that she's like 2 feet shorter than him.  And Anthony is actually a decent character who treats Samus as a peer (he teases, but like an equal).

It also doesn't make any sense, of course.  You can see her eyes and tell where her feet are, in the suit.  They deliberately made her incredibly short (literally) to emphasize her feminine weakness goddamnit I hate this game so much.

If it was just sexist (and it is VERY) I would probably be over it, maybe bringing it up in relevant discussions.  But it also romanticizes the abusive relationship, using a character I used to have a strong connection with... still do to some extent.  It's telling me to give up on being my own person and just take the easy appeasement path.  Giving up my weird half-baked self-identity which I'm pretty ashamed of.  That's terrifyingly attractive sometimes.

[Amperzand]

I've never even played a Metroid game, but that's not how you female protagonist.

Of course, the same relationship with the gender roles switched would be just as bad, if not quite as culturally controversial.

[Tiruin]

[snips]

I wonder if there're mods to replace the model in-game with the other side of the story to see how it looks like with roles reversed.
...
This is me not-so-subtly saying that 'there are many things I see in the new game that are...off, or rather, very peculiar in their delivery.'

I've never even played a Metroid game, but that's not how you protagonist.

This. You. Yes. This. SOmuch.
Also snipped a bit there.

[AlleeCat]

Other M is pretty much the death of the series for me. How has our depictions of female characters in games actually taken steps backwards in the past few years? The recent Tomb Raider games are another example of turning a snarky, confident, sexy heroine into a whiny, helpless little girl we're supposed to feel sorry for, rather than admire.

Here's a comparison:
Think about Uncharted's Nathan Drake. He's put into situations that are just as, if not more dangerous than the situations Lara is put into in the newer TR games all the time. So why is the tone so much different? Because the whole time, Lara is crying and whining and screaming, while Nate laughs it off and cracks wise.

If Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider reboot laughed and made jokes about falling off of collapsing ruins and nearly being impaled on spikes for the 15th time, she would be a lot more likable of a character. Instead she constantly cries and complains about situations she puts herself into.

[Amperzand]

I honestly prefer it that way.   

But yeah, I mean, that really is not the way to write an action-protagonist. Sure, an erotic-fic character or something, but a person whose sole interesting feature- that I've heard of plsnolynch -is that they're mentally and physically capable of all kinds of heroism, should not suddenly be turned into a helpless, infantilized wreck, apparently as the "New official characterization". Maybe as an April Fools thing, or temporarily for a sudden horror sequence where the protagonist suddenly starts undergoing mental breakdowns for no adequately explained reason, but, seriously, Metroid?

Edit for ninja: The same applies to Tomb Raider, another franchise I've never played a game from. Just, no.

[Rolan7]

@AlleeCat
Well to be fair, it was released 5 years ago.  And when it flopped (it did flop, thankfully!) they basically "retired" the designer Sakamoto who seems to be responsible for most of the unfortunate bits.

I guess the official word is still that Other M is canon and the excellent Prime series isn't...  But I still hold hope that they'll softly reverse that.  Sweep Other M under the rug.  It was almost universally panned, after all.  If Sakamoto hadn't designed the earlier Metroids as well, it would be as forgotten as Hunters.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It should also be noted that Samus' fuckhughness is also essentially a plot point, as while it is not stated even the most casual look at things suggests the genetic modifications she received from the Chozo as a child are responsible. In everything that considers it other than Other M, Samus is freakishly, inhumanly fast and strong. That's before the Phazon corruption, the X-parasite, and the Metroid DNA to nullify the X-parasite.

I guess the official word is still that Other M is canon and the excellent Prime series isn't...  But I still hold hope that they'll softly reverse that.  Sweep Other M under the rug.  It was almost universally panned, after all.  If Sakamoto hadn't designed the earlier Metroids as well, it would be as forgotten as Hunters.

As I told you a year ago the last time we collectively hated on Other M, that idea is mistranslated. Nothing has been booted out of canon, what Sakamoto said was that he didn't consider the Prime series while making Other M, something which is rather obvious from the end product.

On the other hand, the next Metroid game isn't even going to be about Samus, so...series in limbo, really.

[AlleeCat]

On the other hand, the next Metroid game isn't even going to be about Samus, so...series in limbo, really.

They said that Samus "will make an appearance," but that could very well just be a two second cameo. So yeah, unfortunately not much hope for the series.