o.o Other M's Narration isn't worse than the other games

[galdon2004]

Don't get me wrong here; I hated the narration in Other M. The only Metroid game I had played though was Super Metroid. Recently however, I got Metroid Fusion which is considered to be a really good game.

Something that I noticed though, is that Samus monologues in that game as well. A lot. At one point, she actually has a screen long text mope about if she can trust a computer she nicknamed Adam as well as she could trust the real Adam. After dealing with a few screens of this text that largely was irrelevant to my goals, I just stopped reading it.. which is when it hit me.

Other M's portrayal of Samus is spot on. The only difference is, you can't just 'not read' a vocalized narration. So, losing the ability to just tune her out and pretend that she's the badass from the gameplay, her whiny monologues and speech is forced on you unless you mute the TV, which is a far more conscious action than passively ignoring the text that pops up on the screen during her alone time.

So, I'm wondering, do you guys see what I'm seeing here when you think about it; or am I just suffering from reading the text wrong because I'm hearing it in her Other M voice?

 

[Kahunaburger]

That just goes to show how much of dialogue is in the delivery, I guess. Never played fusion, but I'd imagine that at the time, people were reading the dialogue in their heads in a badass bounty hunter voice. I think your version is actually closer to the way it was intended to be read, since Sakamoto wrote Metroid: Fusion.

 

[Flac00]

Maybe the problem is this: Fusion was a handheld game, Other M is a console game. In a console game, you are supposed to have a higher fidelity in storytelling and acting than in a handheld. Not to mention that there really is no excuse for making Samus really faux feminine. Seriously, her redeeming factor for being characterless in the first place was that there were really no other female characters that were not oversexualised. She was a generic bad-ass, falling into line with all the other male bad-asses. Now she just mopes about puppies and baby metriods and stuff.

 

[hazabaza1]

Maybe it was her shit voice acting. That seems to make people hate her.

 

[galdon2004]

Maybe it was her shit voice acting. That seems to make people hate her.

That makes me curious what it would sound like if a good voice actor dubbed over the Other M opening to see if it would sound more natural not being in total monotone

 

[krazykidd]

That just goes to show how much of dialogue is in the delivery, I guess. Never played fusion, but I'd imagine that at the time, people were reading the dialogue in their heads in a badass bounty hunter voice. I think your version is actually closer to the way it was intended to be read, since Sakamoto wrote Metroid: Fusion.

It's basically this it's all in how it's voice acted , but in metroid other M i think she was whining all the time

 

[Kahunaburger]

Maybe it was her shit voice acting. That seems to make people hate her.

That makes me curious what it would sound like if a good voice actor dubbed over the Other M opening to see if it would sound more natural not being in total monotone

The weird thing was that was the voice direction she was given. It's possible that cultural/linguistic differences give that type of monotone a different significance in Japan and America, and it's also possible that the direction there was just a bad call.

 

[him over there]

Metroid fusion before other m was considered the black sheep of the bunch because of it's focus on story using characters and more linear gameplay. These were also the low points among most of the fans. Also the man who wrote for fusion and other m: Sakomoto was less involved with the story elements with the other games. Also fusion is last and other m is second last in the timeline. It isn't so much that other m was right all along it was more that fusion and other m messed up equally. Also everyone in this thread has already touched on the voice acting better than I could have so I'll leave that alone.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

The Voice acting is the primary culprit, they got some random woman instead of a talented and experianced VA to do the english voice and there is a cultural difference to consider re: monotone delivery.

Writing and pacing still a disaster.

I for one loved Fusions focus on story. Too bad other M didn't have a good one.

 

[repeating integers]

I love those parts of Fusion, actually. Samus was nicely characterised in that game (and it was a rather brilliant game anyway).

 

[FalloutJack]

-Texto!-

As a player of Metroid Fusion, I would say that the reason you read it as a mope (the text monologue) is because of your experiences with Other M. I haven't played that game. I read the monologues from Fusion as professional-sounding personal logs, like Jean-Luc Picard jotting down his personal opinions of the latest mission orders or some-such like that there. It's a bit of background. The problem people have with Other M is that it's NOT the same. One is cold hard words and the other is a real account of Samus' feelings.

I reserve judgement for Other M. Haven't played it, haven't actually seen much of it. Just know some things. That's a case of mileage varying on what people say or think about it. I think the overall setting of Metroid Fusion with a bit of internal monologue along with that creepy setting of the station slowly being overwhelmed by the X Parasites worked out well.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I'm pretty sure that if Jennifer Hale had done the VA for Samus, instead of some monotone nobody, it wouldn't have been so bad.

 

[Worgen]

The thing that made it really horrible was the fact that she is stunned by fear in the face of ridley, the fucken boss she has killed like 4 times before this, its bull shit, plus the whole waiting to be allowed to use her stuff is just stupid. They should have left the story in the hands of retro, I liked the new gameplay but the story was such shit.

 

[VoidWanderer]

I never played Other M, because I will ONLY buy a Wii Console if Nintendo ever releases a sequel to Pokemon Snap.

However, I did play the GBA Metroid games and while I am not entirely sure how Other M fits into the timeline, is it wrong for a person who essentially bottles up all emotions and supresses any negative event to have overwhelming flashbacks?

While Samus may not have been portrayed as a 'Lone Wolf', is it a bad thing? It adds depth to a character that was as deep as the 2 dimensions we piloted her on.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Snip!

I don't know; it seems to me that the reason why Other M didn't succeed as much as it could have is mostly due to the storytelling mechanics, and not the voice acting. First off, Samus has always been characterized as a generic Bad-Ass. She's basically Ellen Ripley if you ripped all human features away from her.

In Other M, Samus consistently defers to a male authority as to when and how she should activate her suit's upgrades. That... clashes with how she's usually portrayed, to say the least. Not to mention that Other M's Samus is uncharacteristically whiny and emotionally vulnerable.

So Other M's story might not be quite as bad as it's been described, but it absolutely fails in regards to characterization. They've retooled Samus to correspond to the stereotypical Fragile Japanese Flower with Occasional Asskicking Moments, and that's what's infuriated fans, for the most part.

 

[Palademon]

Samus acted exactly like I expected her to in Other M.

I was not disappointed, because I did not expect an upbeat attitude from a woman who is constantly alone, and has to face the alien that killed her parents.

Although freezing when seeing Ridley was a bit too much, but I could put that down to the other games not trying to characterise her enough and her just acting exactly as the player does.

 

[striderkiwi]

the narration wasn't my big problem with other M. My problem(s) with it were as follows: Terrible story, reducing the powerful Samus into a weak and helpless character who needs big burly space marines to save her from the monster she has killed countless times, terrible controls, boring gameplay, bad dialogue for all characters etc. Really the only thing that's good about the game is the visuals, the cutscene graphics on Other M were so great they rivaled the graphics on ps3 and 360 games which is no small feat.

 

[Freaky Lou]

-Texto!-

As a player of Metroid Fusion, I would say that the reason you read it as a mope (the text monologue) is because of your experiences with Other M. I haven't played that game. I read the monologues from Fusion as professional-sounding personal logs, like Jean-Luc Picard jotting down his personal opinions of the latest mission orders or some-such like that there. It's a bit of background. The problem people have with Other M is that it's NOT the same. One is cold hard words and the other is a real account of Samus' feelings.

I reserve judgement for Other M. Haven't played it, haven't actually seen much of it. Just know some things. That's a case of mileage varying on what people say or think about it. I think the overall setting of Metroid Fusion with a bit of internal monologue along with that creepy setting of the station slowly being overwhelmed by the X Parasites worked out well.

^^This, except I HAVE seen the cutscenes and heard the narration from Other M and I can tell you it's a million times worse than Fusion. Metroid Fusion is the reason I was excited to hear that Other M was going to be characterizing Samus more and delving into her backstory, because I loved those elements in Fusion.

In Fusion, Samus isn't whiny or angsty. She certainly isn't thoughtlessly obedient like in Other M. Samus goes directly against Adam's orders several times in Fusion, and always comes across as a strong, independent character. That's the main difference.

EDIT: Man, I said the word "Fusion" a lot of times in that post.

 

[Grygor]

I'm pretty sure that if Jennifer Hale had done the VA for Samus, instead of some monotone nobody, it wouldn't have been so bad.

I wouldn't be so sure about that - anyone in theater or film will tell you that good acting cannot save bad writing.