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Saxxon — Samus and THE FAT WAVE
Published: 2012-04-22 22:30:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 62696; Favourites: 578; Downloads: 1213
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A commission [link] featurin' good ol' Samus Aran!Remember how awesome she was before Other M? Let's remember the good times!
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Comments: 36
Sorry I only like the 2d Metroids (sure I missed out on prime but at least I dont have to play other m!) P.S 5th sentence translation
I fought Ridley/Meta Ridley, Metroids (Motroids in the case of Super Metroid), Kraid, Phantoon, and Mother Brain... [I'm too lazy to copy the rest down]
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Samus remains awesome. I do not know of this 'Other M' of which you speak. ((Translation: I despised how she was characterized in Other M and wrote my own version of the game's script in my head where she ISN'T a weepy, needy wuss. I'm not against her being womanly, I'm just against her being a WUSS.))
Fat Samus is also awesome Samus.
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The best thing about Other M was her ass.
Which I am sure was designed for the possibility that nickle cannons became popular.
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Personally, I think Other M is one of those cases where those who preferred Samus as a power-armored Rorschach test took unto themselves the mantle of 'true fans' and ranted loudly enough about it that the hatedom drew a disproportionate amount of attention.
Much like how Team Ninja had a lot less to do with that game, especially in the characterization and story direction, than people attribute to them.
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finally someone with a brain
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No, just someone else who's convinced themselves that Samus was never actually characterized as brave or strong at all.
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No, Other M is one of those cases of blatant misogyny and character assassination in one man's attempt to put Samus in what he believes to be her proper place as a woman and attract more older Japanese men to the product.
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And... who is that 'one man'? *gasp* is it THE Man?
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Yoshio Sakamoto, the guy responsible for the story and characterization throughout the whole game, who refused to let Team Ninja have any say in anything besides gameplay and graphic design.
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Alright, and I'll lay off the snark from here on since this is apparently something you take seriously. I don't even entirely disagree with the points made about Other M's flaws, though I don't share the vehemence of them. I just find it hard to believe that Nintendo would take one of their most beloved properties and intentionally release it as some sort of vile misogynistic propaganda. I see it more as an attempt to humanize Samus that faltered due to various factors.
The first is obviously the image of her that players had formed over the decades when she was essentially a badass power-armored Rorschach test. The only glimpses into her personality that we had before were her actions and very few snippets of text. As such, pretty much ANY character-focused story was doomed to backlash.
Then, of course, there's her relationship with Adam. Players see her being deferential to him, and see it as diminishing her since they saw her as a stoic one-woman army who doesn't answer to anyone. But getting away from that, let's consider his role in her past. He wasn't just her superior officer, but he was like a surrogate father, filling a void that was there since she watched her own parents get brutally murdered as a child. Being in the presence of someone so important to your life tends to cause a certain amount of regression. It doesn't have to be "she's a woman so she has to be subservient to the big strong man," but rather could be simply a natural desire for approval from someone she deeply respects. Also, consider how alone Samus must be, most of the time. Raised by Chozo after being orphaned, spending most of her time vaporizing the scum of the galaxy, doesn't it make sense that she would crave a connection to one of the few people she actually spent enough time around that he really get to know her?
Of course, that leads to the 'Varia Suit' argument. Personally, this one I see as a simple case of clumsy gameplay/story integration. They wanted to have a sequence where Samus would be in danger due to environmental conditions, but didn't want to do the same old "her equipment gets busted" routine as was done in the first two Prime games, so they just went ahead and did it in a way that makes gameplay sense, but not narrative sense. In a more pure game without the heavy narrative, it wouldn't be considered nearly so bad, but with the narrative frame it developed some unfortunate implications, intentional or not.
As for her breakdown seeing Ridley, that's an easy one: PTSD. He murdered and ate her parents right in front of her, she trained and got strong enough to fight him multiple times, and blew up the freaking planet his remains were on. And after that, he STILL came back from the dead to stalk her. Who WOULDN'T be freaked out, even without the boatloads of psychological trauma one should expect someone who's been through a hundredth of the crap she's gone through to have? And guess what. She STILL thrashed him to Hell's doorstep, and would've booted him through if the Queen Metroid hadn't done it first.
Anyway, I could go on, but that's the gist of my take on it. The game's flawed, yeah. It didn't take the transition from pure gameplay to a narrative-heavy character focus as well as it could have, but I don't think its flaws are a result of malice.
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"I just find it hard to believe that Nintendo would take one of their most beloved properties and intentionally release it as some sort of vile misogynistic propaganda."
Well, they did. And now they're actually regretting letting it happen.
"The first is obviously the image of her that players had formed over the decades when she was essentially a badass power-armored Rorschach test."
...Except that that's what Nintendo consistently portrayed her as {minus this clumsy Rorschach test metaphor you're tacking on}. And then we get to Other M and Samus is doing her little emo "Confession Time" monologues and going on about how weak and indecisive and pants-pissingly scared she was during every last one of the previous games, and talking about THE BABY, and whining about how she needs Adam to tell her what to think.
"Then, of course, there's her relationship with Adam."
Don't get me started on that. It's a power game for Adam and an unrequited Bella-esque love for Samus. And that surrogate father BS Sakamoto pulled out for Other M? Yeah, Old Bird was there first, described in everything before this as having raised Samus to adulthood. Hell, he GAVE Samus the Power Suit. But as of Other M, it's like he and the Chozo in general never even existed.
"Of course, that leads to the 'Varia Suit' argument."
The Hell Run actually makes a scary amount of sense when you take Samus' relationship with Adam into account, really.
"As for her breakdown seeing Ridley, that's an easy one: PTSD."
No. Sorry, but no. She fought him FIVE TIMES BEFORE THIS and didn't break down crying and helpless. This is a lame excuse that Other M apologists latch onto to make the game's disgusting assassination of Samus' character and the clumsy visual metaphors employed in the process {we see her LITERALLY turn into a scared little girl, as if we're too stupid to grasp what's happening} seem more legit. Fuck that noise.
"I don't think its flaws are a result of malice."
Except that Sakamoto outright stated that he wanted Samus to be like what he considers a more traditional Japanese woman inan attempt to attract more older Japanese males to the product.
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Well, I don't see either of us changing the other's mind on this subject, but there's no reason we should walk away angry, so can we at least agree that Nintendo should authorize a fourth Prime game for the Wii-U?
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They should, but with Sakamoto heading the Metroid side of things now, I bet we never will. He openly tried to have the Prime trilogy removed from canon.
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Great job on this rendition of Samus. Also, let us burn down Team Ninja for ruining a great female character.
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Team Ninja had nothing to do with the characterization of Samus in that game.
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Well, someone has to hang for what happened to Samus in that game.
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Then hang Yoshio Sakamoto, the guy who wrote every single line of dialogue and every plot point and piece of shit characterization. Team Ninja wanted a Samus more like the past games indicated, but nope, Sakamoto insisted on writing Samus as he personally viewed her, which is apparently a traditional Japanese housewife mixed with Bella Swan.
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So a writer overruled a design team on this one? -_- Surprised she wasn't cooking us pancakes and looking like June Cleaver just to placate the American audience.
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Oh, Sakamoto has made it abundantly clear that he wasn't aiming to please the American audience. Hell, he even tried to get the Prime trilogy removed from canon because it was made by Retro, an American developer.
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This man must suffer...
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Ya mean back when she had the characterization of a wet paper towel?
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Would be nice to see the effects of this energy on the rest of the universe
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Some say Samus was awesome before Other M, but I tend to disagree. She had absolutely no character or personality, so people just projected their expectations onto her.
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Absolutely no character or personality. Uh huh. That's why she revealed through text in Super Metroid and through expressions and reactions in the Prime triolgy her character and personality.
What she had before was still better than "Confession time, I'm such a naive, foolish girl, I'm so helpless and emo, I can't do anything without hesitation, I was so scared and weepy during all my most famous badass moments, if only Adam was here to tell me what to think."
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you try staring your parents murder in the eye when 5 minutes ago you thought he was dead try realizing that your basically reliving your worst nightmare and no one of the few friends you have is dead and odds are the closest thing you dad to a parent will shortly follow along with you and guess what? if it exist your probably not going to heaven
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"you try staring your parents murder in the eye when 5 minutes ago you thought he was dead"
You mean like all 4 other times she saw him revived?
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I think they more mean the game did a not-at-all-good narrative job with her. And after playing Other M, I have to agree. I could go into it but I know you don't want me nagging at you. I'll give a link to a video you may find informative (or at least something to think about).
[link]
Saxxon if you haven't you may learn something yourself. If nothing else you can yell at me because hold a grudge over things that I really shouldn't hold a grudge over.
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That why they liked her.
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I actually like that the zero suit still held up so well, much better then her armor would have anyway.
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Whoops a daisy! I hate it when that happens too, unexpected rapid weight gain >w<
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