Fixing Metroid Other M's Plot

 

 

Calling Metroid: Other M's story "bad" would be like calling being set on fire by fascists "slightly uncomfortable". Most people agree that the actual gameplay of Other M, while restrictive, is fine for an action game. But the actual story is seen as utterly rancid and bordering on character assassination for series protagonist Samus Aran.

Metroid Other M is almost impressive in that it drew the hatred of both people who saw Samus as a feminist icon and those who despise anything "SJW." And having recently replayed Other M in the build up to Metroid Dread, I can firmly say that both groups are correct to hate this game's story and yet I can see how to fix it with one small change.

For Those Just Joining Us

Before I do tell you how I'd fix Other M, let's go over the plot and it's problems. Not long after failing to save the last Metroid and blowing up Planet Zebes during Super Metroid; Samus Aran finds herself drawn to the Bottle Ship, a Galactic Federation research station in distress.

Just after landing Samus quickly finds that a Galactic Federation squad led by her old commanding officer and mentor, Adam Malcovich, is on the station. Samus and Adam agree to work together to figure out what happened to the researchers on the station. However, as thigns go with mystery plots, things aren't what they seem.

Things Get Out Of Hand

It's a decent setup but the issue is that Other M is the first game in the series with something resembling cutscenes. As a result the writers felt like using the mentor/student relationship between Samus and Adam to explore Samus' backstory and what led her down the path of the bounty hunter. 

However instead of natural dialogue that hints at a past between Samus and Adam, Samus just monoglouges for what feels like hours on end. I seriously felt like ripping out my hair when Samus went on a five minute monolgoue after the games tutorial, and I'm bald. You will be screaming "shut the hell up!" at certain points in this game, it's bad.

Now this would have been tolerable but the problem quickly arises that Samus' character feels all wrong here. Past games didn't have much dialogue from Samus but there was enough from motivations and pantomine to get a decent read on her character. What we did see from Samus showed a taciturn character who remained unflinching in the face of danger but also cared about others and could get heated when lives were on the line.

In Other M however, Samus feels overly emotional, clingy, and weirdly submissive to Adam. At one point Adam tells Samus not to use her armor's super cool powers and Samus just doesn't even object to it, which feels wrong. In fact Samus goes above and beyond and has to be reminded to turn on her armor's cooling function after boiling alive for 15 minutes.

Oddly, that's not even the worst of it; no, the worst of it is when Samus suddenly has a mental breakdown at the sight of Ridley. Ridley being the giant space dragon who Samus kills in almost every game in the franchise without ever losing her stride. So Samus suddenly breaking down and needing to be saved from her most common Big Bad makes absolutely no goddamn sense to a casual fan.

And that's the key here, casual fan. If you're a causal fan who only plays the games it makes no sense. But if you're a hardcore fan who read the Metroid Manga this makes some sense, Samus' story is shown to be practically defined by trauma at the hands of Ridley when she was child. Other M doesn't explain that, at all, and it dooms this story to being non-sensical to the casual fan.

One Small Tweak For Woman...

 Yet the whole emotional crux of this story could have been saved with one small adjustment. It's something that would have had to be deicded early on in the story's development but it would have major consequences for how Samus' character in Other M is viewed. Replace what Samus spends the entire game mourning.

A problem with Other M that I haven't explained is that tries this other really dumb overarching theme of motherhood and as a result Samus spends the whole game mourning the death of that Baby Metroid from Super Metroid. Is that weird? Yes, yes it is.

Honestly if I were more cynical I'd argue it's a tad mysoginsitc to have your first exploration of gaming's most iconic female hero to focus around babies; even if they were weird floating alien parasite larva. Granted it's not the only example of the theme of motherhood in Other M but it is the most blatant.

However what Other M glances over as a result is that Samus also blew up the planet Zebes at the end of Super. This is important as, if we're taking elements from the manga, Samus was adopted as a child by the alien Chozo and raised to be a warrior on Zebes. So to me it makes more sense that Samus would be more heartbroken about blowing up her adopted homeworld as opposed to a floating parasite larva. 

...One Giant Leap For The Plot

Changing the source of Samus' angst is a small tweak, but it changes everything about Samus' arc in Other M. Instead of going on and on about that Baby Metroid, we instead see Samus trying to internally cope with the destruction of Zebes; spiraling downward mentally as she relives her childhood on Zebes with the alien Chozo. Maybe even show Samus blaming herself for destroying Zebes, feeling like she's failed her adoptive fathers. 

It also means that parts of the Bottle Ship recreating Zebes, a plot point mentioned as throw away dialogue, actually has meaning. It could be a searing and scathing reminder to Samus of her failure, causing her to spiral further downward mentally.

For example you add a scene where a part of the Bottle Ship looks too close to an area of Zebes that Samus was fond of and show her reacting to it. There's a lot of potential to explore Samus' trauma and guilt that Other M doesn't take care of.

This also explains the subservience to Adam; as Samus unravels she might resort to old habits from her time as a soldier as a result of her old CO's presence. It even would explain why Samus needs to be reminded to activate her abilities, unable to focus properly unless someone reminds her. Suddenly none of this feels like character assassination but rather a character undergoing a mental collapse as a result of latent trauma.

But most importantly it explains Samus shutting down when she sees Ridley, as when explaining Zebes and the Chozo you'd have to explain why Samus was even in a position to be on Zebes as a child. Which means you cut to the source of Samus' trauma; watching Ridley raze her home and murder her parents in cold blood when she was three.

With this small change, Samus shutting down at the sight of Ridley goes from a bizarre freakout for no reason to Samus reaching her emotional and mental rock bottom and mentally breaking. All the training, coping, and victories over Ridley forgotten under the weight of a severe panic attack. 

Samus being only shaken out of her stupor when one of her teammates dies trying to save her and causing her sadness and despair to become the usual burning hatred. A reminder to Samus that her weakness might get her killed but it will get other people killed.

You can even have a final flashback to Samus' past, showing her leaving Zebes and explaining to the Chozo why she was leaving. A moment where Samus regains her will and remembers why she chooses to fight in spite of her pain, to protect others. Instead of feeling like a poorly written mess, Other M would be a deconstruction and rebuilding of a previously unexplored character.

This Goose Would Still Be Cooked

Would this fix the entire plot of Other M? Hell no. Most of the characters are still slaughter fuel, Adam and Samus needed to talk more instead of Samus monologuing, the whole plot gets too convoluted by the end if you're not keeping up, and the voice acting is complete ass. 

But it would be more tolerable and would make Samus' character more consistent. Consistency through explained inconsistency, it's a weird idea but it makes sense if we're doing a character study of Samus and what drives her.

But that's what could have been, at the end of the day Metroid: Other M is still a game weighed down by the story we got. A lot of people may hate it but I can see what could have been in terms of an examination of a character with a lot of emotional baggage. So I'm not angry at Metroid: Other M, I'm dissapointed. Which may be the worst feeling of all.