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Other M made a lot of mistakes as a game, but it's not quite as horrible as people make it out be. It should also be noted that, like it or not, it is the only game that fleshes out Samus's personality. And it's part of the canon. So rather than ignore it and stick your fingers in your ears, it's better to try and figure out how to work with it and do so in a way that's constructive. There are two articles I'd suggest reading to give a better perspective on Other M's story than trying to ignore it:

- http://www.endoftheweekpodcast.com/apps/blog/show/4796504-the-psychology-of-samus-and-the-roles-of-adam-and-ridley
- http://lordnot.tumblr.com/post/15161702748/other-m-revisited-a-partial-defense-of-the-gaming

That said, I won't deny Other M had its bad points. Honestly, I find her final scene with Adam to be worse than her scene with Ridley. Whereas the scene with Ridley showed her freak out at first and that may bother people who like to think of Samus as a powerful and unrelenting badass, I think her scene with Adam is worse because it portrays her as being weak, rather than someone who has legitimate issues from having a giant space pterodactyl kill her parents. Also, those high heels in the Zero Suit. I shake my head.

All in all, I think you should try to work in Other M as much as you can. At least try to take in the basic skeleton of the game. The backstory it gives for Samus is pretty decent and better than the manga, honestly. In dealing with Adam, her perception of him should remain one of respect and that of a semi-father figure. He's the kind of guy that she would take orders from most of the time, not just because of her respect for him, but because she's a professional. After all, she never has problems taking orders from Admiral Dane. Or orders from the Federation for other things, like wiping out the Metroid species in Metroid II. While she wouldn't be as strictly protocol as in Other M, mostly Samus is still a soldier, even if she does it under the facade of being a bounty hunter.

But taking in the overall character arc of the game (dumb as it is tbh), remember that a post-Super Metroid Samus would be in a bad place emotionally, whereas post-Other M she's much stronger and has resolved her issues (which we see in Metroid Fusion). So if you want to avoid messing with all those and just have CR with Adam Malkovich, I'd suggest you just app from post-Metroid Prime 3. Samus basically will still have CR with any castmate she can get (including Anthony!), but without having to get involved with everything that happens with MOM. And she'd still know Adam Malkovich, which I'd say is good enough for you guys to interact with.

Also, of course, you should just talk to the player in question. They might be willing to work with you in regards to Adam and Samus's interactions in Other M. Hopefully there would be a willingness to keep true to what Other M was trying to get across, but sort of headcanon it in a way that isn't stupid. Ideally you guys could find some sort of middle ground that doesn't make Samus look weak and obedient and doesn't make Adam look like an abusive, dictatorial asshole.

Sorry, I took a bit to check out the two things you linked. The first one managed to make me like OtherM even less, especially due to the comments :/
First, thanks for the long writeup and the effort you put into this. I appreciate this, and apologize for my negativity.

but it's not quite as horrible as people make it out be.

Yeah, I agree, in so far as that I consider it to be even worse than what most people say :P. I honestly don't dislike any videogame more than this. It may be a silly reaction, I admit this.
Samus is kind of my childhood heroine, so the game felt like someone taking a dump on her, then setting her on fire.

It's not that she showed any sort of weakness, that's fine - it's that her character is completely broken the way OtherM portrayed her. It breaks any sense of enjoyment immediately because I know that a male character would never end up with changes like this. Ever. No japanese writer would give Link scenes like this. The contrast between how Link's getting his personality fleshed out slowly, and Samus getting trampled on, is extremely jarring. The two arguably had very similar roles, just that it was a different link during most games, and it's pretty clear that Samus is the one that wound up with the short end of the draw.

Honestly, I find her final scene with Adam to be worse than her scene with Ridley.

I agree entirely. Ridley's scene could be understandable, if we ignore the sexism. If that had been all, it'd be ignorable, would have chalked it to "lol, Japan". The panic attack alone really isn't the problem.

Her entire relationship with Adam is what really bugs me, because it reads as a really, really bad relationship to me. From "Lol, I won't use the anti-fire armor due to him ;_;" down to him shooting her and her basically crying over the glorious sacrifice of his Gary-Stu self. If OtherM had been a fanfic, it'd have been panned for a blatant Gary-Stue selfinsert.

That really was what killed the game for me. All the time I had been playing this independent explorer, through games upon games, and then I end up with this relationship, and I was apparently supposed to find Adam's death tragic and root for him, man figure that he is.

I'll have to stress that it's really not Samus showing weakness that bugs me in itself. In roleplaying, I'd have no problem in having her have weaknesses (for example, in a jamjar, she might end up failing to protect someone she considered to be 'under her guard', so to say, and I'd not have an issue to have her shed tears over this.).

I'd see no issue having Link act that way either, after all. I would not have her break down sobbing at a hard foe. Link never would. Why should she? Tits don't cause a higher weakness to panic!

Adam not look like an abusive, dictatorial asshole.

That'd help. A lot. I'm just a bit worried if the other Mun even considers the possibility that game-Adam could be understood that way. I sure saw him that way.

Post Metroid Prime 3 probably really would work best for me. And yes, I probably really need to talk to the mun and be extra sure to be careful.

The whole "respect him" would not really be an issue for me - superior officer, no issue. Following him so slavishly, though, is a different thing and I really don't see that making much sense. zombielike obedience just doesn't really fit, I think, if that makes sense (not sure if the word exists like this in english)

Anyway, thanks. You did help me and gave me food for thought, although I really can't say that you endeared OtherM more to me. It's just such a mess!

I think, for me, what I take from Other M is a 'challenge' to make it mesh with the rest of the series. I'm a Zelda fan who actually cares about timelines, so it's always been one of those things where I go, "How do I make this fit with my understanding of the series?" Well, that has an official timeline now. So that's resolved.

So making Other M fit is my fun challenge. Because while it does horrible things for Samus's characters, it does lots of interesting things for the Metroid universe. And also Ridley. I initially hated what they did with Ridley, but the game added such an interesting layer to Ridley that just made him that much more terrifying a menace. He definitely lives up to his role of "Cunning God of Death" given that it's established that he never died until Super Metroid. Scary.

But I understand of course that Other M is kind of a blow for people who played Metroid for such a long time. I didn't really get into the series until Metroid Prime/Fusion (though I had played Metroid II a few years previous) and never really built up any particular idea of what Samus would be like. She was always in her suit, so she was always sort of this distant emotionless warrior that happened to be incredibly attractive if you were a good enough player.

Her entire relationship with Adam is what really bugs me, because it reads as a really, really bad relationship to me. From "Lol, I won't use the anti-fire armor due to him ;_;" down to him shooting her and her basically crying over the glorious sacrifice of his Gary-Stu self. If OtherM had been a fanfic, it'd have been panned for a blatant Gary-Stue selfinsert.

The entire weapon authorization thing is a very iffy thing and while I think it was a neat idea in theory, as opposed to Samus randomly losing all her stuff again, it was mishandled. There's some ways to try to cobble together explanations. Like, maybe Federation protocol really is that strict. Possibly Adam wasn't keeping tabs on Samus every single second since he was doing research into the mainframe, so he only would authorize stuff when Samus was at a dead end or in serious danger. Or maybe it was a cheap game mechanic and it's best to give it about as much thought as you would Save Stations. There's a lot of ways to look at it as a Samus RPer to make it a little easier to swallow as a whole.

That really was what killed the game for me. All the time I had been playing this independent explorer, through games upon games, and then I end up with this relationship, and I was apparently supposed to find Adam's death tragic and root for him, man figure that he is.

As for Adam's sacrifice... so could have been handled better. Honestly I think they just wanted an excuse for Samus to not be in her armor during it. (How the hell did Adam get a gun that could disable Samus so easily? Good thing the Space Pirates never had that!) But it could have been done so much more better if they took an approach like Spock's death. Which I think they were sort of trying to do, but they botched it completely. A waste of what could have been a great character. How much more poignant would it be if Adam had headed her off and already locked himself in before he explained what he was doing? He wouldn't have to shoot Samus in the back, she wouldn't be stumbling around looking weak, and... well basically, it would make the scene so much more worthwhile!

I would not have her break down sobbing at a hard foe. Link never would. Why should she? Tits don't cause a higher weakness to panic!

Well, partially, it's just difference circumstances. Ridley has a much more personal history than Link does with his foes. But one way I like to look at that scene is that Samus has *always* had an emotional response to Ridley. He will always be the embodiment of her fears, but what's great is, she always conquers it. I like to imagine that in her previous encounters, these emotional responses came out as sort of a violent anger. In Zero Mission, we can see her putting on a sort of grim expression before walking in to face Ridley. In Metroid Prime 3, she's so absorbed in trying to kill Ridley in the bazillion meter deep shaft that Rundas needs to come and rescue her. She probably could have done that herself, but Ridley just presses the 'rage' button. Other M (and the manga actually) show us an instance where her reaction is different due to circumstances being different. Which is something that, I think, is something to toy around with. It certainly makes Samus and Ridley a more dynamic and interest set of arch enemies than you get with Link and Ganondorf.

That'd help. A lot. I'm just a bit worried if the other Mun even considers the possibility that game-Adam could be understood that way. I sure saw him that way.

If someone is playing Adam, they're probably going to be somewhat sympathetic to his characterization. So unless they just really like playing him as a jerkass, then they'll probably WANT a positive relationship between the two. If you just look at some of his threads, you'll probably be able to get an idea of how they want to portray him.

The whole "respect him" would not really be an issue for me - superior officer, no issue. Following him so slavishly, though, is a different thing and I really don't see that making much sense. zombielike obedience just doesn't really fit, I think, if that makes sense (not sure if the word exists like this in english)

I get what you mean, yeah. And she'll be in a game where he won't likely be ordering her around anyway. At best, he can authorize her to open a can of whoop-ass against the bad guys.

In any case, I hope it all works out for you! I'd be interested in seeing how it all plays out. I'd especially love to see a Metroid cast form somewhere. I'd probably not be able to resist.

You really got some good points there, so let me thank you again for giving it so much thought, anon!

The cunning Ridley part really is scary, and would probably be appreciated a *lot* more if it had not been done in OtherM(which really seems to have shellshocked the fandom a bit, haha). I hadn't even considered this as noteworthy until you pointed it out.

How much more poignant would it be if Adam had headed her off and already locked himself in before he explained what he was doing? He wouldn't have to shoot Samus in the back, she wouldn't be stumbling around looking weak, and... well basically, it would make the scene so much more worthwhile!

I can't disagree at all - it'd also have made a lot more sense. The Spock comparison is a good one, that one was handled and written a lot, lot better from what I remember of Khan.
It'd just not have given us buttshots. Team Ninja can't have that!

It certainly makes Samus and Ridley a more dynamic and interest set of arch enemies than you get with Link and Ganondorf.

And this is another good point, actually. Which is interesting considering that Ridley never even talks, and Ganondorff gets monologues and even character development (well, in Wind Waker, at least. Somewhat. Poor Ganondorff).
Seeing all the Ridley's upthread (never thought there were so many), that'd actually be something interesting to explore in a game. Might even have a chance of happening.

I'd especially love to see a Metroid cast form somewhere. I'd probably not be able to resist.

It still surprises me that it rarely happens, it's a really popular series of games, isn't it? I see more people online that know it than, say, the Tales series, and yet you can't throw a cute mascot character without hitting a game with a Tales cast.

Probably because those are easier to RP, due to more characterisation, but still. (No, I don't hate Tales, I own two versions of Tales of Phantasia, it's just...)

The downside is that for the most part, Samus is really the only character that is easily playable, which is surprising since she's perceived as a silent protagonist (in spite of her speaking roles). Beyond them, only Adam and Anthony have any character development to speak of. The Prime 3 Hunters have a little work with, but not a lot and we know so little of their background. The Hunters from MPH have no speaking roles at all, so any personality for them is entirely guesswork.

So when it comes down to it, you have a playable cast of Samus, Adam, Anthony, Ridley, U-Mos, Dane, Gandrayda, Rundas, and Ghor. Not a whole lot to work with, unless you start drawing from the manga too. Which is too bad, because I really love the Metroid universe (can you tell?) and love to see it explored more.

Not involved in this discussion, but I'd love to see more people draw from the manga. I'd pick Samus up again in a heartbeat if I had the chance to play with a Kreatz and Mauk.

This isn't really related, but the problem I always have with the Ridley scene was that it was executed really badly. The way the scene is framed, it makes it look like Samus is freaking out for a lot longer than she actually is (making her look exponentially more incompetent than she should) and it never bother to tell you why Samus is freaking out. Western audiences have no official way of knowing that, and considering how integral it is to her backstory and how obsessed Other M is with her backstory, it is a massive oversight to not just say at some point "Ridley fucking ate Samus' parents right in front of her when she was 3 years old and it messed her up!" It's paced badly, it deprives you of integral information, it doesn't make any effort to convey why Samus is freaking out as opposed to all those other times Ridley showed up...

There are other scenes that are way worse (the "Any objections, Lady?" scene and Adam's sacrifice come readily to mind) but that one actually could've worked if anybody had known what the hell they were doing when they did the cutscene, which is equally irritating.

This, +1 agreed, etc.

It's just a mess. Not every japanese person read the manga, either, and it's just bad storytelling to skip things like this.

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Just another part of how much of a mess Other M was. They were able to do a flashback for Adam's brother, would a flashback for Samus's childhood have been too much to ask for?

In fact, it would've been incredibly cool to see.

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tl;dr anon