Phantoon
I cuss you bad
This, all day every day. She's fought eldritch horrors in alien hellscapes. A digging robot is nothing
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Metroid Dread is finally real
I'm pretty hyped that this is an actual SEQUEL following Fusion. I thought the series would be stuck in interquel hell forever.
I think it's a false equivalence to draw that if vapid, contextless violence and directorially reveling in that via deliberate framing were absent it would result in a portrayal like Other M, a game that indulged in its own way in Samus as a performatively violent character anyway, in addition to what it's regularly narratively criticized for. Neither is particularly compelling characterization in a vacuum or contrasted with each other.
Counterpoint: The action-hero stuntwork is perfectly congruent with Other M's characterization of her, which really liked to play up a contradiction between her tough, steely exterior and her soft, """feminine""" interior. The operative difference between that and the more recent two games is that now they've just given up providing her with any meaningful interiority (which tbqh is an understandable (but not ideal) decision (if taken as an acknowledgement of their creative weaknesses)).
Anyhow, regarding the weaker, more vulnerable side of Samus' characterization in Other M: that actually has its roots way back in this Japanese-only promotional video (of course Other M, being itself, made this clumsily handled idea markedly worse). I'm pretty sure that there is still a yearning to try going back in that direction, judging by the Treehouse presenter who said something like "I like to imagine that beneath the armor she's as scared as I am right now," but this is tempered by the fact that they know the majority of the fanbase would revolt against anything in that direction.
I personally would like a Samus where there is at least a suggestion of a deeper internal life than just being flattened into displays of performative superhero violence and speedrunner antics --- full of curiosity and wonder and care and (sometimes) dread --- but of course knowing who is currently at the helm of the series I know better than to actually ask for that right now.
I'd give them more credit for that if it weren't for the shoehorned in post-queen battle (which evaporated a good chunk of my goodwill towards the game).
Still, with all of that said I think Dread looks much more interesting than SR. As long as the other areas of the game look more interesting I think I'll enjoy this.
Still, with all of that said I think Dread looks much more interesting than SR. As long as the other areas of the game look more interesting I think I'll enjoy this.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
To be honest, if Other M had been a Kubrickian work of genius in its portrayal of Samus it still would've gone down badly. Samus is a 1980's video game character with less characterisation than even the likes of Mega Man. She'd been a blank slate for 20(?) years before they decided to give her a voice, and it was probably a bit too late to do that. Death of the author is a thing, and shoehorning characterisation in now only tells players that "no you're wrong, Samus isn't like that".
My Samus is stoic and determined. She's ruthlessly efficient, but not callous. My Samus doesn't fit Samus Returns or Other M but that's fine.
nosimpleway
(he/him)
You're right. "Sure has been a long time since the last Metroid game like this" could have been said in a much less shitty way than I did.
I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about this. For all that Prime kind of plays up that her enemies think she's an unstoppable killing machine, and Other M going with the brilliant take that she's just a meek soldier following even the dumbest of orders for the sake of some choice developer objectification, between the end of Super Metroid and Fusion Samus seems to otherwise actually be going through some significant personal growth? She's gone from trying to kill every metroid she can find to being saved by them, to refusing to follow orders and becoming disillusioned with the Federation. She has to defend herself from one metroid in Fusion, but otherwise their deaths aren't on her hands for once.
I'm cautiously hopeful that these devs appearing to make a good choice on atmospheric design for Dread implies they might also choose a half-decent approach to her character development (assuming there will be any). But I also didn't play the other game they made so that could just be incredibly naive of me.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I think Fusion fits my characterisation fairly well, actually, although it spends far more time on Adam than Samus.
I don't particularly care about any game in the series past the original trilogy, and provisionally Fusion depending on how it's read (I think it's restrained and saliently executed for the most part), and a big part of that is that I think the developmental arc of Samus as a protagonist and a character does exist strongly in the events of those games in a way that creates investment and engagement. I don't think it was something that was masterminded from the start, but the reactionary chain of each successive game riffing on the previous one does create the impression of an interiority and shifting personal values and priorities even outside of the explicit narrations the character expresses herself through--especially outside of them, even.
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
I don't know what to think about this. On one hand, it's great to see a Metroid game that's willing and able to shake up series conventions and iconography again: Samus' new suit, an apparent emphasis on the mechanical and industrial, a distinct survival-horror influence. On the other hand, it's from MercuryStream again, and this looks to have many of the same issues I had with Samus Returns: a heavy emphasis on combat, a bland aesthetic, and no real mood or atmosphere to speak of. Even the "Metroid 5" reveal has me unsure: I'm glad to see the series finally move beyond Fusion and tackle the aftermath of those events, but at the same time it looks to be walking some of them back— no fusion suit to be seen.
So I'm very skeptical. I'm a mark, so I'll still play it, but I'm already tempering my expectations.
So I'm very skeptical. I'm a mark, so I'll still play it, but I'm already tempering my expectations.
The new suit has a lot of similarities to the Fusion suit. The blue straps on her arms and legs are reminiscent of the more organic look of the outer Fusion layer. The visor shape is very similar. I see it as an iterative step forward instead of a step back.
Yeah the suit seems to be an evolution of the Fusion suit. I'm still unsure about it (the shoulderpads in particular remind me of the suit she had in Prime 3, which I didn't really care for) but I'm glad they're trying something new instead of just going back to her classic Varia suit look.
As for characterization, well I feel like 'Samus nonchalantly headshotting a giant robo without even looking in its direction' was an obvious reaction to complaints about Other M, and neither really fit. However this seems to be the direction they're taking Samus, and if the choice is between Stoic Action Badass Samus and whatever Other M Samus was then this is the lesser of two evils, at least.
But she still deserves better. You absolutely could show a vulnerable Samus without the implication that vulnerable = weak. Hell, some of the broader elements of Other M's story (Samus dealing with a former commander, and Samus facing her trauma from Ridley killing her parents in front of her when she was like 3) are elements that absolutely could be told well if written by the right person. Unfortunately it was Sakamoto, and Nintendo seems to have taken the wrong lesson from that whole mess and now all we get is Stoic Action Badass Samus.
Anyway. I'm reminded of that one comic Deptford did a few years back about a sleep-deprived Samus keeping a vigil over Ridley's corpse in order to prevent him from ever regenerating, Ridley gets away when she finally does nod off, but then she learns that he straight up fled that galaxy because he was terrified of her and she finally is able to sleep.
Man, whatever happened to Deptford?
As for characterization, well I feel like 'Samus nonchalantly headshotting a giant robo without even looking in its direction' was an obvious reaction to complaints about Other M, and neither really fit. However this seems to be the direction they're taking Samus, and if the choice is between Stoic Action Badass Samus and whatever Other M Samus was then this is the lesser of two evils, at least.
But she still deserves better. You absolutely could show a vulnerable Samus without the implication that vulnerable = weak. Hell, some of the broader elements of Other M's story (Samus dealing with a former commander, and Samus facing her trauma from Ridley killing her parents in front of her when she was like 3) are elements that absolutely could be told well if written by the right person. Unfortunately it was Sakamoto, and Nintendo seems to have taken the wrong lesson from that whole mess and now all we get is Stoic Action Badass Samus.
Anyway. I'm reminded of that one comic Deptford did a few years back about a sleep-deprived Samus keeping a vigil over Ridley's corpse in order to prevent him from ever regenerating, Ridley gets away when she finally does nod off, but then she learns that he straight up fled that galaxy because he was terrified of her and she finally is able to sleep.
Man, whatever happened to Deptford?
I don't like the new suit. The visor design carries on the qualities of the Samus Returns version in that it's very narrow and all hard, pointy edges--aggression above all. The visual carryover from the Fusion suit exists, but it doesn't go as interestingly for organic shapes, and the distinctions it does have are sexualized in ways that usually are reserved for Samus's undergarments: removal of sculpted musculature from the armour, the adjustments of the leg patterns to more clearly evoke garters via shape and palette, and the total skintight appearance of the midsection, additionally coloured a plain white so no detail goes unobserved.
The iconic Super Metroid varia suit, for reference:
and the Gravity Suit from Samus Returns:
I'm with Patrick here; I just don't see it.
and the Gravity Suit from Samus Returns:
I'm with Patrick here; I just don't see it.
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conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
As the immediately-above posts show, the new suit looks decidedly more mechanical— check all those seams and LEDs!— and more closely resembles the classic construction and silhouette than it does the fusion suit; it also doesn't have the bulbous, curvy look, nor its Metroid-esque details (the spikes on the arm, the nucleus on the back). The new suit is obviously lifting some design cues from the fusion suit (such as the prominent use of blue, and how it sort of wraps around and snakes up the legs), but I'd liken it to a sort of missing link between the classic varia and the later fusion suit. So, yes, in that sense it is a step back.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I really like it. It splits the difference between the sinuous Fusion suit and the more brute force Super suit. It's not a regression, it's something new that keeps the same silhouette.
The muscle fibres are a great touch; the Fusion suit was always meant to be more organic.
The muscle fibres are a great touch; the Fusion suit was always meant to be more organic.
Regulus
Sir Knightbot
Yeah, those "garters" look more like the rectus femoris than, uh, fetishwear. Come on.
There's an illustration of a redesigned Fusion Suit in the game's intro flashback. You can see it for a sec in this video. It looks to me like the new suit is intended to built on top of this design. I'm not completely sold on the color scheme, but I think the Dread version of the suit works as an evolution of the Fusion Suit (which is kind of ugly, IMO).
There's an illustration of a redesigned Fusion Suit in the game's intro flashback. You can see it for a sec in this video. It looks to me like the new suit is intended to built on top of this design. I'm not completely sold on the color scheme, but I think the Dread version of the suit works as an evolution of the Fusion Suit (which is kind of ugly, IMO).
You are invited to my birthday party, whereas Kazin and Patrick are not.
I think the new suit is neat, but mostly I just like that it's not yet another spin on the classic varia suit. I mean, I know the classic, Prime, Other M, and SR takes on the varia suit have their differences, but in general they're so similar that my head starts spinning any time people argue over the minutiae of the designs (most of the differences just blur together in my head unless I'm comparing them side by side). At least with this suit there are, like, substantial differences to get mad about or appreciate.
