08-29-2012, 11:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2012, 11:13 PM by Zero Kirby.)
Spoilers in this post for Other M but to be honest I'd be saving you fifty dollars better spent on something good
What I Love
Story-Telling in Gameplay - By this I mean a number of things, but basically it's when the story isn't told through another cutscene, but through gameplay. Take Metroid Prime, for example. The entire story and mythos of that game has to be discovered, by you. You become a detective, uncovering the past of a lost civilization, the insane machinations of the Space Pirates, the battles of a war fought long ago between two worlds, the horrors a group of troops face as they're caught in the middle... Uncovering the stories yourself and being able to piece them together bit by bit not only made the story interesting in that you wanted to find more, but also a part of the game, as opposed to just the backdrop of it. Another good, if somewhat short, example would be right after the final boss of Metal Gear Solid 3. New Game Plus - When the game's over, the game really isn't over. You can play through the game using new stuff, or have all your powerups carry over to a harder difficulty mode, or whatnot. Like in Batman: Arkham City, which rearranged most of the game to let you play it again with all your old tools, and made it a much more difficult experience. Replay value's essential to a game!
What I Hate
Telling, not Showing - Other M is a huge offender in this department in regards to story telling. You don't infer that her feelings are hurt, she straight up tells you. You don't learn that there's a saboteur, she straight up tells you. You don't figure that the main villain gained a soul, she straight up tells you. The only thing you can infer yourself is the identity of the saboteur - and by that time he's already been killed, and it doesn't matter anymore, and you're not even the one who killed him, he's killed off-screen. But then you have a character like Fi from Skyward Sword, and as much as I love that game, the fact that she outright spoils a number of (often quite good) puzzles is infuriating. There should've been an option to shut her up.
When You Really Weren't That Important - Again, Other M is a huge offender. What do you do in the game that has permanence? You kill a Queen Metroid. (And even then, the BSL Station in Fusion had the same Metroid cells, and you fight an Omega Metroid at the end of that game, so they were getting close anyway.) Who kills the main villain? Not you. Who kills the saboteur? Not you! Who kills Ridley? Certainly wasn't you! Who rescues the Galactic Federation guys? You do it, what, once? They rescue you more times than you rescue them! Who destroys the Metroid research facility? Again, wasn't you. Who stops the Bottle Ship from crashing into the Galactic Federation, rescues Madeline Bergman from the Federation, and destroys the ship in the end? Not you, not you, not you! But hey, you blow up that Nightmare thingy from Fusion? You didn't do a good enough job since he still shows up in Fusion! You don't do anything of import in the game! It's ridiculous! Metal Gear Solid 4 is also kind of an offender here - Snake just guards Otacon's robot to save the day, though the final fight with Liquid Ocelot is pretty awesome.
Changing the Rules Without Telling You - Hey it's Other M again! Remember when the game tells you that you're allowed to use the Power Bombs to blow up the Queen Metroid at the end of the game? I don't! Because until you fight the Queen Metroid, you can't use Power Bombs! Heck, you're allowed to CHARGE THEM UP TO NINETY-NINE PERCENT CHARGE yet still aren't allowed to use them, so it's not like you could accidentally hold the button down an extra second and realize, "Wait, it's charging now! That must mean I can do it!" You can't rely on nostalgia goggles, because there weren't Power Bombs in Metroid II! It's horrible, cryptic, poorly-designed gameplay. Plain and simple.
In this post I dislike Other M immensely.
What I Love
Story-Telling in Gameplay - By this I mean a number of things, but basically it's when the story isn't told through another cutscene, but through gameplay. Take Metroid Prime, for example. The entire story and mythos of that game has to be discovered, by you. You become a detective, uncovering the past of a lost civilization, the insane machinations of the Space Pirates, the battles of a war fought long ago between two worlds, the horrors a group of troops face as they're caught in the middle... Uncovering the stories yourself and being able to piece them together bit by bit not only made the story interesting in that you wanted to find more, but also a part of the game, as opposed to just the backdrop of it. Another good, if somewhat short, example would be right after the final boss of Metal Gear Solid 3. New Game Plus - When the game's over, the game really isn't over. You can play through the game using new stuff, or have all your powerups carry over to a harder difficulty mode, or whatnot. Like in Batman: Arkham City, which rearranged most of the game to let you play it again with all your old tools, and made it a much more difficult experience. Replay value's essential to a game!
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
SpoilerWhat I Hate
Telling, not Showing - Other M is a huge offender in this department in regards to story telling. You don't infer that her feelings are hurt, she straight up tells you. You don't learn that there's a saboteur, she straight up tells you. You don't figure that the main villain gained a soul, she straight up tells you. The only thing you can infer yourself is the identity of the saboteur - and by that time he's already been killed, and it doesn't matter anymore, and you're not even the one who killed him, he's killed off-screen. But then you have a character like Fi from Skyward Sword, and as much as I love that game, the fact that she outright spoils a number of (often quite good) puzzles is infuriating. There should've been an option to shut her up.
When You Really Weren't That Important - Again, Other M is a huge offender. What do you do in the game that has permanence? You kill a Queen Metroid. (And even then, the BSL Station in Fusion had the same Metroid cells, and you fight an Omega Metroid at the end of that game, so they were getting close anyway.) Who kills the main villain? Not you. Who kills the saboteur? Not you! Who kills Ridley? Certainly wasn't you! Who rescues the Galactic Federation guys? You do it, what, once? They rescue you more times than you rescue them! Who destroys the Metroid research facility? Again, wasn't you. Who stops the Bottle Ship from crashing into the Galactic Federation, rescues Madeline Bergman from the Federation, and destroys the ship in the end? Not you, not you, not you! But hey, you blow up that Nightmare thingy from Fusion? You didn't do a good enough job since he still shows up in Fusion! You don't do anything of import in the game! It's ridiculous! Metal Gear Solid 4 is also kind of an offender here - Snake just guards Otacon's robot to save the day, though the final fight with Liquid Ocelot is pretty awesome.
Changing the Rules Without Telling You - Hey it's Other M again! Remember when the game tells you that you're allowed to use the Power Bombs to blow up the Queen Metroid at the end of the game? I don't! Because until you fight the Queen Metroid, you can't use Power Bombs! Heck, you're allowed to CHARGE THEM UP TO NINETY-NINE PERCENT CHARGE yet still aren't allowed to use them, so it's not like you could accidentally hold the button down an extra second and realize, "Wait, it's charging now! That must mean I can do it!" You can't rely on nostalgia goggles, because there weren't Power Bombs in Metroid II! It's horrible, cryptic, poorly-designed gameplay. Plain and simple.
In this post I dislike Other M immensely.
![[Image: StickerStageItems.png]](/image.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fpile.randimg.net%2F1%2F70%2F80012%2FStickerStageItems.png&hash=0fb1d1be2b76b6888412543a6e6718e7)