Metroid:Other M Mumblings - Emotional Woman huh?

Much has already been complained about this game. With "fans" of the Metroid series blasting off about how unbelievably lame Samus is in the game high up on the list.


And it kind of gets my back up.


The game is not the crowning achievement Ninja Theory hoped it would be but neither is it a bad game, and the real fans of the series would see exactly how it DOES fit in with Samus' story arc throughout the nine games made so far. So this is my series about how Metroid: Other M is a good addition to the Metroid franchise. 


Let's first tackle the moans about Samus being an emotional hazard. 


Ridley


This girl has been through a lot. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes by Ridley - who quite honestly would scare the pants off me now as a grown woman, so I can hardly imagine what long-scarring effect he had on an infant girl! Psychologists would no doubt term it post-traumatic stress disorder. Add to that, the fact that every time she kicks his scaly ass, he somehow seems to be regenerated or survive. So I'm not surprised that she freezes upon meeting him again. It's happened before!


In Super Metroid - when Ceres station is attacked and Samus goes to the Hatchling's room, Ridley shows up. And for a few minutes she just stands there. Stock still. Watching as he picks up the baby and flies off. Only after the initial shock of seeing him does she even attempt to fire at him. And by the time she meets him again, she's got over the initial shock and just wants to kick his ass. But who's to say what exactly went through her mind at that first point? Maybe it was just for dramatic effect that meant the player could do nothing? Or maybe it was put in because the director - Yoshio Sakamoto - actually understood her history? Not having Samus voicing her opinions before now means it's something that is open to speculation really, unless you ask Sakamoto himself. 


Daddy Issues


"Adam Malkovich was probably the only person who ever really understood me."
Being raised by a bunch of alien birds (Chozo) could not have been easy for a human girl. Being raised as "the chosen one" - the saviour of their entire race is enough to give anyone responsibility issues. So, where most people would laugh at it, I'm not surprised Samus latches onto the one person who takes this aspect of her seriously. Adam could probably be the only human who doesn't find the concept of a young female human being a species' saviour absolutely unbelievable!
She lost her father when she was young, true, and whilst she does refer to Adam as a "father figure" - she also refers to him as a friend - which is a little bit more likely in my opinion. A friend that understood her need to rebel, because most likely she never could under such pressure and responsibility with the Chozo. And it seems, from a certain conversation in Other M, that Adam believes in her responsibility to the Chozo as much as she does. 


So why does she blindly follow his orders to not use her suit upgrades? Out of respect? Yes, but this is the one gripe that I agree with other reviewers and bloggers. Restricting the more powerful weapons - fair enough. But why restrict defence items - such as the Varia suit's ability to lessen heat damage? I don't care who you are - if I'm slowly burning alive inside a metal suit that has air conditioning - I turn on the air conditioning - orders be damned! But this minor point isn't about Samus' character - it's just the standard "recover your upgrades" game design prevalent in all Metroid games. It kind of works up until you hit the introduction of Sector 3. 

Mumblings Temporarily Silenced

As you can tell, the Mumblings have been quiet of late.

Due to several life-changing events over the past few weeks the Mumblings will be on a temporary hiatus.

Hopefully once the dust settles I'll be able to blog more frequently.

Thanks!

E3 Mumblings - Part 1 - The Dark Side

Ah the sweet promise of this image...

So E3 is over again for another year and further promises of an inspired future of gaming were abundant. But is there any real cause to celebrate and be excited at the prospects shown? Let me take you on a tour over a few blog posts of my top moments of interest/uninterest from the 2010 mega-expo. So let's start with the disappointments first and then we can move on to the happy stuff!

Epic Mickey - Epic Fail

Unbelievable that Disney is finally producing a stand-alone Mickey-centric title for the first time this generation. Sure, you had his cameos in the Kingdom Hearts series but now Mickey gets to take centre stage. When I first saw the initial concept art for this game I was really excited. It looked like a dark Okami-style game where Mickey had to restore colour to the Disney realm.

Watching the E3 footage has confirmed my worst fears though. Whilst the graphics look promising the concept seems to be too much like the Disney films of old - I was expecting a more adult platformer, not an adult idea put forward through a child's view of the Disney realm. I know that Disney is a happy studio, but there just seems to be a complete lack of darkness...and now, from me, a complete lack of interest. At least there was real darkness in the Kindgom Hearts games...

Final Fantasy XIV - 360 Owners Not Allowed

Devastation.

Robbed.

Are the two words that I felt following Square-Enix's announcement that they would not even be considering porting the latest online FF game onto Microsoft's console of online joy. How many players are signed up to live compared to the PS3 online? How much of a missed opportunity is this for Squeenix to really make some money? I shouldn't really complain as I haven't bought a PS3 as of yet due to the fact that there's only a handful of games I would consider buying, and no one I care about actually owns one and would play online with me on it. What annoys me is that they've proven they can port the FF games onto the 360 with FFXIII retaining most of its graphically capability. So why stop there?

Saints Row The Movie - Exactly what I wanted

*sigh*

Fact One: Videogame movie adaptations are generally not good. They generally please only the fans and often times they fail to do even that.

Fact Two: The "more serious" the game - the less successful the movie. Max Payne = complete unbelievable b*llocks. Prince of Persia = not as bad as it could have been thanks to light-hearted drivel.

So when THQ announced that they were commissioning a Saints Row movie to coincide with the release of the third game, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Another gangster film. Roll out the red carpet! I wonder if it will be a slapstick version starring Damon Wayans...or a more serious film featuring the likes of Jamie Foxx...

Surely there are much better IPs out there to turn into films then such a been-there-done-that formula as this?

Give your old games a bit of love.

Recently I've been in a bit of a gaming funk.

After finally defeating the last boss in Final Fantasy XIII, nothing new has really caught my eye enough for me to part with cash for it.

So after being inundated with trailers for the new Prince of Persia movie I decided to go back over the 2008 re-envisioning on the 360. And was surprised by my reaction to it. I became immersed in the world all over again and truly enjoyed hunting down the last few remaining light seeds in this great action game. But this was only to spark off a chain of Old Game Love.

I attacked a few arcade games for merciless achievement hunting purposes and have now moved onto the not-so-bad Force Unleashed to try and get my head round some of the holocron hunting that I completely bypassed the first time round.

In between I've been rediscovering Dissidia on the PSP. I still don't think I've got the gist of the game but it is pretty and the button-mashing has been doing wonders for my frustration levels!

I've discovered that whilst there is always joy in revisiting the retro classics such as the early Final Fantasies, Zeldas, and Marios of my youth, there is also a level of joy to be found replaying through slightly older games of this generation too.

So go ahead and give some of your old games some love too!

Nier-ly but not quite there?

I still own Drakengard (and its sequel) on the PS2. Not because the games are amazing, iconic set-pieces, but solely because I’m one of those few people that can’t bear to trade-in or throw out old games any more.

That’s not to say that I hated the game. The storyline was actually quite interesting and hell, there were dragons in it! But it was the jarring voice acting and terrible, repetitive gameplay that let the series down. Add to that some insane musical choices for the background and all-in-all you had a game that was just screaming for improvement.

Fast forward six years and developer Cavia has crashed into the next generation with RPG/Platformer: Nier.

Nier is set after the destruction of humanity, with the last humans seeking to survive against terrifying creatures known as Shades. So already - it sounds promising. Nier is desperate to find a cure for the disease known as the Black Scrawl as his young daughter has fallen victim to it, and so he sets off on a quest destroying all Shades that get in his way. He is then joined by Grimoir Weiss - who is exactly what his name suggests - a talking book - which allows him to use magic to aid him. Then along comes Kaine, who has something of a Tourettes issue but that could be largely down to her “split-personality” for reasons that will become clear, and finally he hooks up with a young boy called Emil, who quite literally petrifies whatever his eyes look upon.

So it sounds like a great set-up. Characters striving against a great evil, and personal turmoils on a variety of levels. A new and interesting take on an apocalyptic world. Hack and slash action guaranteed.

Or not.

I just can’t shake the familiarities with Drakengard. From the first screenshot, to the battle gameplay, I can remember turning to a friend and saying with a disappointed air;

“It looks exactly like Drakengard…”

The graphics don’t seem to have improved much despite the PS3 and Xbox 360’s capabilities. The gameplay is once again hack and slash but from what I’ve read it still doesn’t have a decent lock-on system, meaning that unless you’re facing an enemy head on only 1 out of every 2 hits is going to land.

Jim Sterling at Destructoid.com enthuses about Nier’s storyline being one of the “best videogame narratives I’ve had the pleasure to experience,” and I can well believe that. As I mentioned before, Drakengard’s storyline had serious potential and if now that Nier’s voice acting is 100% better than its predecessor then I’m sure it would be engrossing. But I think I will stick by his useful advice and either rent it or wait until it appears in bargain bins across the country, and I’m sad to say if it continues to follow in Drakengard’s footsteps I won’t have long to wait.

MTV Movie Bloggers Re-Create Prince of Persia LEGO

The guys over at MTV have spent three whole weeks transforming Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and the rest of the new Prince of Persia movie cast into LEGO blocks. Can't help but admire the time, dedication and sheer nutty brilliance of it really. Click on the really long title below to bask in the glory:

Yeah, We Spent Three Weeks Re-Creating The ‘Prince Of Persia’ Trailer Out Of Legos — So Watch It Now! » MTV Movies Blog

Final Fantasy XIII - Final Thoughts

Yep, well I already told you this post was coming. And here it is. My unofficial, non-licensed thoughts on the whole game in an overall capacity.

Overall, I liked the game a lot. By this I mean that I was compelled to reach the game's conclusion, the music was awesome, the visuals were stunning, and some of the battles were good fun.

But more than any other recent FF game it frustrated the hell out of me with it's bizarre difficulty curves, more-than-normally-loopy story, and annoying misuse of certain parts of the battle system. Plus as I mentioned, I just couldn't connect to the characters in the same way as I did with previous FF games. I think it was this fact alone that puts the game further down my FF list than perhaps a lot of people would argue it should be.

Trouble is, if I'm spending a good 75 hours with 6 characters, I want to be able to feel concerned for their safety. I want to be happy for them. Cry with them. Kick ass with a purpose. I do not want to look at them with disconnected eyes, seeing only the occasional spark of interest amidst a sheet of blandness.

Perhaps, my thoughts on the game have been tainted by the disappointment of other RPGs recently? Perhaps I put too much hope into FFXIII being the saviour for me? And therefore have judged it too harshly.

The one thing I do know is that it's not a BAD game. I enjoyed it a lot. I put 75 hours of my life into it whereas Infinite Undiscovery got 1 hour and that was just because the opening sequence had lots of dialogue. FFXIII just feels rushed to me. The focus seems to have been placed on the graphics and the new battle systems. Everything else seems to me to have been less of a priority. Some people are ok with this. They can play an RPG just because it looks good and has an interesting battle system, others, like myself are looking for more of a complete and immersing game.

So, to put this game into context, my numbered FF game standings currently are:

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Final Fantasy X
3. Final Fantasy VIII
4. Final Fantasy VI
5. Final Fantasy IX
6. Final Fantasy XII
7. Final Fantasy XIII
8. Final Fantasy IV
9. Final Fantasy V
10. Final Fantasy X-2

LadyManix points out that all the comments in the Final Fantasy XIII - Breakdown series are opinions and as such should be taken with large pinches of salt. Everyone should play the game and formulate their own opinions. and if they so wish, they may comment it at the end of this post.