Kingdom Hearts 3: A Rushed Disappointment

            Everyone these days has an opinion on KH3, so I figure, why not revive this old, withered blog and just throw mine out there?  I finished KH3 yesterday and despite having not played the other games in at least a good 7 years, I remember them very fondly. Vexen was my favorite organization member in terms of design, voice, and weapon(C’mon, a shield as a weapon? Awesome, plus it’s cool as heck.) It sold me on the idea that a Final Fantasy and Disney crossover would work. It’s how I met my current girlfriend. I have a lot of heartfelt memories for the KH series. That said, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a failure.  Long story short, as a game, divorced of story, it’s pretty good and very fun. As a game with story, it is a convoluted, poorly paced mess. As a KH game, Kingdom Hearts 3 is woefully inept. As the finale to the Xehanort, seeker of darkness saga…it’s just an embarrassment.

I’ll go into gameplay and graphics first, then we get into spoilers.

Gameplay

From a gameplay standpoint, KH3 is at its strongest, with some very cool additions. Flowmotion can be hard to understand, as the tutorial doesn’t really go into it, but once you hit your groove, running up walls, rail sliding, and air dashing is pretty cool. The ability of every keyblade to weapon change ala Bloodborne is pretty spiffing awesome and each has a different moveset to accommodate to different players, be they physical, balanced, or magical. Your partners are smarter. The team choreographed attacks are fun and flashy. The…Disney theme park rides are out of nowhere and make the game stupidly easy, however.

The combat in Kingdom Hearts 3 is mostly good, but feels a bit stiff at times, like when you get combo locked, it is easy to just be air juggled and killed in the final stretch. It feels just a smidge like you have less control than in KH 2 or Birth by sleep, which is a disappointment.

There’s a lot to say about the gameplay outside of battles, but not much of it is good. There are minigames in this setup, but they feel…oddly soulless compared to previous KH games. Some are a blast, like dancing in Corona or the cooking, which can be charming. However, most of them feel like, why did you bother? Couldn’t this time have been spent improving what we already have? The game and watch extra games, Classic kingdom SHOULD have been a one off joke, rather than over a dozen extra games that few people will ever play and even fewer will actually enjoy. The scavenger hunt for crabs in Pirates of the Carribean is tedious and though ship combat is pretty fun, it loses its luster fast. The scavenger hunts for pictures with your phone to make new synthesis items is a cool idea, but synthesis is way more boring and I barely used it. And hunting lucky emblems gets tedious fast unless you just do it as you go. There isn’t much to like outside of combat. Exploring some of the beautiful worlds is fun, more on that with graphics, but it’s…ultimately pointless. Oh, and don’t forget Gummi ships. God, I know you tried. They’re back, and they’re a giant waste of time.

KH3 has barely any secrets or extra content. Only about a dozen battle arenas AFTER you beat the final boss with ONE secret boss. No, it’s not Sephiroth. A stark contrast to the 5 super hard secret bosses of KH 1. There isn’t even an arena here to grind or win cool prizes from.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, the game has an uncanny valley feeling to it. The unreal engine…works pretty good for the pixar worlds and the overall KH-centric worlds, but anything meant to be 2-d, like Hercules and Olympus are…a bit weird. You get used to it though, and it’s got a ton of detail. The pixar worlds are pretty lush and even Pirates of the Caribbean looks decent. Some worlds, however, are noticeably duller and emptier than others, like Arendelle being a boring frozen trek up a mountain. That doesn’t detract from the visual splendor of battle, though. The keyblades, are another matter. Almost all of them are garishly ugly, which is a shame, considering how interesting the alternate modes are. You don’t even get a cool Keyblade for the final stretch, like Oblivion or Oathkeeper.

Sound wise, the music is excellent and most the soundtrack and sound effects hit a sweet spot that KH has always occupied for feeling good while playing. The voice acting…is often hit or miss, as Haley Joel…kinda outgrew Sora in the 13 years since KH 2. It feels weird, like he’s stuck in that high pitched puberty phase. And other line reads are very wonky, such as with the new Mickey actor or some of the characters later.

The Missing

This leads into why I called this a rushed game. This has some spoilers, so if you’re iffy about anything, turn back here.

There is a ton of stuff here that hints at a bigger game, what KH3 was supposed to be. Maybe it will be remade in one of the dozen or so re-releases we can expect before the next big thing, but…plot points are introduced and dropped as setup and bait for sequels. Potential chances to revisit the Disney worlds are also wasted here. Most critically, are the wasted opportunities. Castle Oblivion, World of Departure, and Radiant Garden, as well as Dark World, are ALL shown in the game in CUTSCENES. You cannot visit them. These were some of the most beautifully rendered and amazing worlds in past KH games, with Dark World being an opportunity to see what was beyond the door of light. None of the are utilized, but the assets are all there…it feels like they were GOING to be utilized, but time, money, or interference kicked them to the curb. And we get only one reference to our past Final Fantasy friends. The rest of the game ignores them completely. This is shameful. Kingdom Hearts was sold as a crossover of the epic stories and melodrama of Final Fantasy with the light hearted whimsy of Disney. And to remove one half of the equation? It wastes characters we’ve come to know throughout the other games. If we HAD been allowed a tournament mode, to visit Radiant Garden, or hell, a new FF world, we could have seen them all again. Even Twilight town, which you do get to visit, is HUGELY downsized, basically made into one town square, and a forest path(Also missing all its FF characters who were regular residents there). No mansion to explore, no train station, hell, the iconic clock tower of the town cannot even be approached in this game. Let’s not even get started on Yen Sid’s tower, which we visit like half a dozen times, but can never explore. Winnie the Pooh gets three short minigames, all the same kind of game, then his world is over. What. A. Load. Also, finish Olympus. Go on, I’ll wait. See that black box Pete digs up? Looks spooky, don’t it? Like maybe we come back for a second act surprise in Olympus to deal with it? Nope! Gets totally ignored. This game feels rushed and empty compared to previous entries. You don’t need a huge Final Fantasy cast to make it good, Birth By Sleep got away with a single Final Fantasy cameo and it was fine, but you rushed this game out the door and it shows. You had 13 years and it still felt rushed.

Plot and Writing

And now, we get to major spoilers. Turn back now, lest you have the whole plot revealed to you. I do want to say, the opening movie and the framing device of Eraqus and Xehanort playing a chess game is kinda cool. It would be even cooler if it had more parallels to the game at large, but…it all comes back in the end, to some rather unsatisfying results.

Okay, first, the Disney worlds come in two flavors. Retellings of old stories, and fun new side adventures. Big Hero 6, Monster’s Inc. and Toy Story are excellent self contained adventures, because they do something new or different with the material. Tangled, Frozen, and Pirates are boring, lifeless wastes of time, because they rehash and rush you through the movie stories where you do almost nothing and are just there because you have to be. The writing is almost always a bit wonky, though. Buzz Lightyear feels overly paranoid, and the re-hash worlds are really lifeless with scripts lifted straight from the movies, but I do like the Monsters Inc. world and The team dynamic of Big Hero 6 in San Fransokyo was a lot of fun.

Pacing-wise, the story is atrocious. You have a plot dump of cut-scenes after every two or so worlds, but it never feels organic or natural. It feels like a bad fanfic writer was hired to do the plotting and character writing throughout, with the world running on, BECAUSE I SAY SO, OKAY? There is no real pacing until the ending. Up until that point, you just go from world to world, dealing with their barebones story and lackluster bad guy cameo, then you get all the spoilers and plot details at the very end, with no build up, emotional pay off, or really, any characters beyond Sora. There are people there, but they may as well be card board cut outs.

The story also feels highly contradictory when it comes to gameplay vs cutscenes. The Organization routinely throws Sora and co. around in cut scenes, but get wasted in the actual gameplay. This feels very much like it runs on BECAUSE. The player feels divorced from the story as a whole. The big bad, Xehanort, in our final confrontation, has the strongest Keyblade, can control time, space, and even reality to a degree in our final battle…and yet, we trash him. How does that work?! Larxene tosses me down a mountain, twice, but she’s the first to go out when I face her in the final battles. We get the villains withering on about how evil and powerful they are and all these minor plot points that NEVER pay off. Pete and Maleficent are USELESS in this game and do little more than cameo.

Now, let’s get to the heart of the issues here. We do not get a chance for other characters to breathe. We see them in cutscene after cutscene after cutscene, but it’s like watching a bad movie to another game, we don’t get a good feel for them. We are told they’re strong or important, but that buildup is universally betrayed by the end of the game. There are a few moments, a few brief bright moments where characters can be themselves…and this is what gave me the most joy in the game. Vanitas being scared by Sully and tossed into three doors and a wood chipper? Hilarious. Demyx being strong armed into helping out the good guys after a shouting match with Vexen? Wonderful. Saix and Axel sharing ice cream on the Twilight Town Clock tower before the climactic battle? Where. Was. More. Of. This? We get the game withering on about the importance of the 7 guardians of light and 13 darknesses, but…save for these brief moments, we get no feel for who anyone is, beyond Sora. And we might know who Riku or Kairi are historically, but they feel flat, empty, and pointless in this story. Characters are plot devices here rather than living breathing entities. Even Sora falls prey to this. This is a kid, who’s saved the entirety of creation two times over. But he sees a giant heartless tornado, (Bear in mind that at this point, he’s trashed four titans in Olympus, WITHOUT his other keyblade buddies as backup) and suddenly, “There’s no hope! I’m weak without my friends! Everything’s over!” It feels so out of character and tone deaf, servicing one scene rather than the story as a whole. Wasted time all around. Axel and Kairi get benched because “Ooooo, they’re training to be keyblade masters!” but Axel gets chumped almost immediately in the final battle and Kairi gets…are you ready for this?  Kidnapped and killed at the end of the game. Kairi, I barely knew ye…no, literally, I think I saw you hold a keyblade in like…one scene? You weren’t in this game. Speaking of not in this game, Xion and Roxas come back…for like a minute…with almost no explanation for Xion and a blink and you miss it explanation for Roxas. What a disservice to all these characters.

The end of the game feels like a stitched together Frankenstein of cutscenes. We get Organization members dropping humanizing secrets never before explored or hinted at in other games to try and make us feel the feels when…they’ve been as pointlessly evil or under utilized as anything else. We have an ENTIRE SECTION where Sora dies, has to scavenger hunt HIMSELF back to reality, and then, the scene where he dies plays, AGAIN, but THIS time, there’s something different…you could have excised that entire section, but “Ooops, we didn’t have time to finish it, rushed game, throw it in anyway and stitch it together!” We also have stuff that feels like it was retconned and added in, like a sub plot of a girl who used to be in Radiant Gardens that is important and that Ansem is looking for, but…who is she and why is she needed? Never answered. And then the three giant battles against a heartless swarm all back to back at the end of the game, culminating in a character we’ve never seen before offering us help and then a giant keyblade swarm saves the day…look, I get what you were trying to do. These were keyblade masters from the past, laid to rest in the graveyard, with each of their names being a reaction command to help us fight, but…it feels so out of place, not built up or explained properly, and…just running on BECAUSE.

There are also so many moments of stupidity that come about from trying to make something cool, but which don’t make sense. Why can Sora summon Disney rides? How about, Master Yen Sid says, this is because of your training to be a master. You can call on the power of other worlds, or some BS? Never explained. Why do we go to Disney worlds when the power of waking is never hinted at being released in them? It was in us all along? Makes no sense! Xehanort in his final battle says you need darkness and light to clash to make keys…why not get one guardian, throw your followers to them to die, then kill the last one to make your super duper mega key? Makes no sense! You have been shown to kidnap people for your purposes, and TRAVEL THROUGH TIME for some reason, but…you can’t just take Kairi, or Aqua, or one of the isolated guardians(We see Ansem visit, chat with, and try to kill Aqua, BTW, guess you didn’t need ALL those guardains), send them through a gauntlet, and not bother with Sora, who has TOTALLY wrecked your plans twice already. Then, there are the smaller moments. Xigbar is about to die, so he teleports up to a high ledge, then falls off a cliff…if you had enough juice to teleport…why not LEAVE?! Terra gets whooped up, but then his heartless is suddenly holding his heart, what happened to the lingering spirit armor we saw fighting?! Plot points dropped just to force us through to the end of the game. Why do we say that evil Riku is a time traveler when he’s really a replica? Was that needed? Call him a replica! And why does good Riku have his replica’s ghost? Ugh…The plot confusion isn’t helped by like three versions of Riku, Sora, and Xehanort all existing at once and looking very, VERY similar to one another.

Now, for the ending. After all I’ve said, I must hate it, right?  Actually…not really. Listen, I think the storytelling has been shit, but I do actually like the resolutions we get, barring one thing. So, they show Kairi dying(Yeah, I’m so sure, after Sora and Riku have died like twice each) and Sora has to go save her…we don’t see any of that. That’s stupid. That’s a waste of Kairi, disempowering her completely and, like so many other characters, making her a plot object rather than a person. BUT…and this is what matters, the ending does give us a satisfying conclusion to all the plot threads, for the most part. We see all the Disney worlds resolved peacefully, we see Radiant Gardens returned to glory, Ven, Terra, and Aqua pay their last respects, Axel, Saix, Roxas, Xion, and the Twilight town gang get to all hang out, Sora and Kairi are together on Destiny Islands, Mickey returns home, Riku takes a revived Namine(Yeah, she only appears in the ending, another wasted character) going out to explore the universe.  If you wanna nitpick, we don’t see a happy ending for Demyx, which is kind of a bummer, as all his scenes are actually pretty fun, but overall…yeah, this resolves everything. And I’m mostly content with it. A lot from the baddies’ perspective is unexplained, but…they’re dead, what do I care? And the teaser ending with Xigbar not being who he appeared…is kinda cool, as he always seemed to have more going on than anyone else. We needed more with the organization members, honestly. I wanted to know who Demyx and Luxord were before…and it’s clear the writers wanted to do something with Marluxia and Larxene, but…well, guess we’ll never know now.

Kingdom Hearts 3 made me feel like I was wasting my time for about twenty of the twenty seven hours I was playing. It’s a rushed disappointment that MIGHT be fixed in subsequent releases or DLC…but I won’t hold my breath. It’s not a bad game, as far as games go, but it is a waste for KH fans. I don’t regret playing it, because I did get my resolution and endings, but I doubt I will ever play it again. KH1, three times, KH2, three times, Birth by Sleep, three times, but KH3? Yeah, no. I’d rather replay KH 2 and dream of what might yet have been.

Rakuen Review

Rakuen Review

            I’ve been away for a long time.  I prefer to play games more than review them these days.  Some games are special, though.  They may not be among my favorites or even games I had a great time with.  They may not stand out like a AAA title would.  But there is something in them that…drives me to finish them, I suppose.  So, I want to share one of those with you.  This is Rakuen.

            Rakuen is the child of Laura Shigihara, one of the most emotionally powerful video game composers of recent memory.  Without exaggeration, her music, while uniquely her own, has the kind of emotional connection you might think when you hear the names Uematsu, Mitsuda, or Shimomura.  Rakuen is more like pictures and a story that match the music and the emotion of what Laura herself wants to convey.

Get ready for a storybook journey

            With minimal spoilers, Rakuen is a story about a boy and his mother in a hospital.  There are people all around them suffering from their pasts with no one to support them.  So, the boy and his mother try to be that support and by visiting a magical world, they hope to make these people’s lives better and…maybe find a way to keep going with their own lives.  Saying anymore would ruin the impact.  The story has nuances that surprised me in ways that other games who try to be mature…simply lack.  It is charming and whimsical, but also dark and adult.  Within this story, we touch on hope and despair.  Fears of abandonment and the importance of the time spent with others.  Racism and guilt.  Loneliness.  Most importantly, the game wants you to remember that even if you feel these things, if you feel like you can’t keep going…you can.  The boy in the game has a mother to help him and we…even if we have no one else, we have Rakuen and its music to help us.

Enter the Leebles

            Now, graphically, the game is a mixed bag.  The character portraits and design of the world are very whimsical and pleasant, with sky islands, Japanese and European tea houses, a forest of cute creature’s begging to have plushies made of them and even festival grounds.  The stories you dive into in the world tend to have a mix of fantasy and realism to them, being more rooted in the person they are affecting…and while they aren’t graphically impressive, they get the job done.  This is an RPG maker style game and as such, some of the tiles feel repeated and the game itself, while original in many design choices, does feel a bit amateuristic in terms of actual presentation.

Floating islands will never not be beautiful

            Gameplay is impossible to rate here.  This is meant to be a story/experience that you go through, like a point and click adventure game.  It has no real challenge and there is only one way to die in the game…which surprises me, as it seems very out of place.  Perhaps foreshadowing towards the ending?  Anyway, while the game is an experience, I do feel it is a bit slow paced at times, as your characters cannot run, and that there is some unneeded padding. None of this is deal breaking, but it again shows off some lackluster design decisions.

Bit amateur hour, but still charming

            Sound design is where Rakuen shines, honestly.  It’s not just the music or what little voice over there is,(though those are excellent) it’s the total package.  I remember distinctly one scene where I was looking through a deserted hospital and all I could hear was the slow, methodical ticking of a clock.  That tiny touch added a lot more tension and suspense to the scene than many modern survival horror games could manage.  Most of the music is very charming and while not all of it is bubbly, it is all appropriate for the mood, pleasant to listen to, and…at times very emotional.  The most powerful moments in the game are the montage moments where Shigihara and some of her contemporaries sing to help convey the emotion of a scene that would otherwise probably be a bit banal.  Shigihara did this in To The Moon, and it made me cry.  Rakuen didn’t hit me that hard, but…well, we’ll get to that.

This doesn't sound tragic or anything...prepare to cry.

            Technical issues I should mention.  All my desktop icons get shuffled each time I load up the game and the controller support, while it does work, does not have any in-game prompts, so you’re on your own for that.  There are no real options here to speak of, however it does have an auto save feature which is handy. 

            Rakuen is a flawed title.  For those who appreciate games which are more experience and story than anything, it’s hard for me to not recommend it.  For those seeking fast paced action, you might want to pass on it, but…then again, maybe you shouldn’t.  I’ll say this.  Rakuen didn’t exactly make me feel good.  But it did make me FEEL.  Like To The Moon and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, sometimes the most important thing you can do is be reminded that…we are all human and we can feel.  Shigihara’s music does that in ways that will make you smile and cry.  The only reason Rakuen’s ending didn’t get me to bawl the way To The Moon did was because To The Moon hid its emotional sucker punch better.  Rakuen gut punches you emotionally every step of the way.  I do mean that.  You feel through the game for each scenario.  Sometimes hopeful.  Sometimes sad.  But you feel.

The boy has his mother to help him.  And if we have no one else, we have Rakuen to help us

            This is clearly a labor of love.  While amateur in many ways, I can’t help but be glad I played it and find it charming in its own way.  This is a game I feel everyone should play, but not everyone will be ready for because of how it will make you feel.  Even if you think you might not like it, if you can get through the 6-8 hours, it may change you.

            Tragedy striking is not the end of our story.  So long as we keep on going, we’ll be alright.  Everything’s alright.

            A bit old, but if you want my personal opinion on Laura Shigihara from a few years back, the link is here.

            Laura Shigihara’s music can be found here and you would be foolish to not give it a listen.

            Finally, Rakuen can be bought here on steam.

Video review of Sang-Froid

Hello!  I know, I know, I promised a creator spotlight soon, but I got enamored with the idea of making my own video review for a game I dearly love, Sang-Froid.  So, I did.  It's amateuristic, certainly, and has the fraps watermark because I'm just a cheap bastard with no good equipment, but I did this because I wanted to give it a try.  So, please give it a look.  It's basically one of my discussions, but in video form.

Will I do any more of these?  Probably not, as even this short, 5 minute video took up almost 5 gigabytes of video data before I got it trimmed down to where it is.  It's just too time, processor, and space intensive for me to do it regularly.  Still, I might give it a shot again.  Who knows?  Not like I'm doing this for profit, so I could care less about the amateur quality of it.

Anyway, hope everyone got a kick out of this.  Till next time.

Diminutive Diatribes: In Defense of Metroid: Other M. What can we learn from it?

Unlike a large majority of the Metroid fans, I'm one of the few people who actually enjoyed playing through Metroid: Other M on the Wii.  While I think it is remarkably flawed, I also saw flashes of brilliance in the narrative.  And while it failed on a number of levels I did enjoy PLAYING the game...for the most part.  So, with Metroid receiving some new attention due to the recent Kotaku article on thehistory of the series, minus Other M, I think it might be important to examine Other M, both what it did right and what we can learn from it about Metroid and video games in general.

Alright, let's do this.  Let's examine Other M, flaws and all.

            First, let's talk about what Metroid: Other M does very well.  Body language.  While the script and the internal monologues are...flawed at best, the body language of the series is actually done pretty well.  My favorite example of this is the epilogue, which has very little spoken or monologued speech.  However, near the end, our heroine, Samus Aran, finds the helmet of her former comrade, hugs it close and then carries it out with her before setting it on the seat of her gunship and leaving.  This speaks volumes about the respect and meaning this one person had for her.  Likewise, throughout the game, you will see subtle movements by the character, like a bowed head or reaching out in concern that, while different from previous Metroid games, speaks to the spirit of the series of showing rather than telling.  We learn Samus is compassionate or strong through her movements.

That pose and that expression say all we need.  Words at this point would only cheapen the moment.

            The script, while flawed, isn't necessarily as bad as people think.  The real problem with it is the internal monologue.  Throughout the series, Samus has spoken very little, giving her the feeling of a solemn, thoughtful individual.  She has spoken in Metroid Fusion and I don't mind her speaking in Other M, as real humans, especially those who have to interact with others, have to talk.  The real problem is that the internal monologue paints her as a submissive, weak, childish girl rather than a strong, solemn, mature woman.  Now, whether or not Samus has these thoughts in the midst of her hunting, I don't know, but if she does, we don't need to know it.  The dialogue itself is actually not that bad.  It's a bit dry, but it feels very much like the movie Alien, with a crew of people, some very close, exploring an abandoned/infested space station.  It plays to the environment.  Take away the internal monologue and the dialogue here is actually much closer to Metroid Fusion and not nearly as bad as people think.

When we're not listening to the dreadful internal monologues, we've actually got a decent script.  Samus and a group of soldiers exploring a hostile environment full of alien monsters and an unknown agenda...draws heavily from the Aliens series and that's not a bad thing by any means.

            The gameplay is stellar, for the most part.  The 2-d side scrolling uses 3-d models, but still holds very true to the feel of Super Metroid.  It's fast, fun, and very easy to pick up and play.  The controls are fluid and the shifting from 2-d to a 3-d viewpoint, while a bit clunky, makes excellent use of both control modes of the Wii-remote.  It offers a new dimension of gameplay, but still stays true to the spirit of the original.  The graphics are beautiful, with impressive particle effects and stellar designs overall for monsters and characters.  The environments also offer both familiar and unique environments that Metroid fans will eat up.  Music is also competently done, with a re-worked Metroid theme and sound effects as well as nice ambient sound and music throughout.

Dear lord is this game a feast for the eyes and a real treat to actually play.

            So, the game has a passable script, excellent graphics, gameplay, sound, and some blocking(character movement) that feels very close to the original series.  The game is enjoyable to play...but let's not give it too much credit.  The game, in Team Ninja's hands, made several key mistakes. 

No, really, they gave Metroid: Other M to Team Ninja.  The breast physics guys...oh dear...

            First, is the portrayal of Samus.  This includes the script and some specific moments of blocking.  Metroid has never been a series which relied heavily on cut-scenes, however Other M does to an extent...and this isn't necessarily a good thing.  Normally, a Metroid game focuses on organic gameplay for storytelling and character development.  We become closer to Samus by playing her.  However, the organic gameplay runs counter to the constant internal monologues and a few key scenes.  The most egregious of these is when Ridley appears and Samus freezes up, morphing out of her suit in a panic.  Samus has killed Ridley four times.  This runs counter to our knowledge and Samus's experiences.  Likewise, flashbacks showing Samus's past are not really necessary.  They use the internal monologues to try and build a set of traits to make it appear as if Samus has a deep relationship with another character, however, we don't need that.  We know who Samus is by now and trying to shoe horn anything in, after almost six adventures previously, will ring false.  For example, a thumbs down signal introduced in Other M is supposed to be endearing because of Samus's past...but it isn't, because it is shoe horned in and runs counter to what we know about Samus.

Yeah...not endearing, not charming, not relevant.  This character bit was never mentioned in previous Metroid games and is barely relevant here.  Samus has depth...you don't need to needlessly shoe horn any in.

            Next, trying to railroad the plot through interactive cut scenes.  Other Metroid games have railroaded the plot organically, by creating areas that cannot be accessed without powers from an area that will be easier to surmount.  However, in Other M, many elements of the plot cannot progress unless you go into first person mode and look at one specific patch of screen.  It's very difficult to actually find the right patch of screen, because there are no indicators and the game doesn't make it clear what you should be looking for.  This is a large problem because it not only breaks the flow of the game, it also can be game breaking, if someone does not find the exact spot the developer programmed to move the plot along.

While First Person Mode seems like a good idea on paper, forcing us to look at a very specific patch of grass to advance the game is...just stupid.  Be honest.  It is.

            Finally, just general laziness when it came to scripting and story development.  There are some interesting ideas in this game.  Making Mother Brain, a largely organic super computer, into a human is an intriguing idea.  The use of cloned Metroids by Samus's employers opens up new ground for emotional development through body language and initiating doubt or concern that could tie into Metroid Fusion, making the transition much smoother.  The inclusion of a character who's goal was to kill the others show shades of Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Fusion and offered opportunities for inventive boss battles and tension...which were not used and feels completely wasted, as the plot thread is largely forgotten mid way through the game.  This kind of waste...of squandering potential...is rife throughout the game.   

This is what we could have gotten in Other M.  A pitched battle with an intelligent opponent on par with ourselves.

Instead, we got the Eraser...whom you never fight in-game and who only serves to pick off the less developed members of your group.  Huzzah...

         For example, all Metroid games need a reason for Samus, who at the start is very powerful, to be weak so the players can have a feeling of progression.  Some have Samus getting damaged in blasts or radiation, having to get new suits due to infection or what have you...Other M just has Samus deciding not to use her powers because a man she respects, but who has no power over her as she is an independent agent, might not want her to.  This is lazy.  Have her activate an EMP trap, or have the traitor attack her, or have something to make her lose her abilities and regain them.  It's not hard to write them in.  When you are making a Metroid game, you cannot afford to half ass it, as the series depends so much on organic gameplay and a good set up.

Hand to god, Samus has the ability to withstand lava but doesn't use it until her superior gives her permission, right at the start of this boss fight.  Seriously.  That's the best you could come up with, Team Ninja?  Making her get "permission?"

            So, what can we learn from this?  Well, for starters, do not take a character in a radically different direction because you want to "Appeal to a wider audience" or make them "Hip" or try and put your vision over a well established character.  Fans of that character will call bullshit and be very, very angry.  Also, rigorously test the game so that you do not find an area that is game breaking or which is too byzantine to understand.  You need to make a game flow smoothly and trying to force a detective section in an action game is just out of place and will break the flow.  Try and match the gameplay styles together rather than forcing something in where it doesn't belong.  Finally, if you are going to make a game, put your all into it.  Don't settle for a weak script due to deadlines, don't introduce an idea that has potential, then drop it down the line, don't try to reinvent the wheel...if you have a good formula, stick with it.  To that end, learn from your successes as well as from your flaws.  Body language can be used to great effect.  Merging styles can be an effective tool and you shouldn't be afraid to try, just don't implement it if it's going to break the flow.  Take the good parts of your script, such as those featuring Samus acting in character, and use those as building blocks for future scripts with her.

Dialogue in a Metroid game.  Metroid Fusion proved it can be done well.  Take what you learned from Other M and do it RIGHT next time.

            Now, I know all these things can be difficult to implement, but if another Metroid game were made, hell, even if it were put into Team Ninja's hands again, I think that if they learned from their mistakes, it could be a fantastic title.  Metroid: Other M plays very well and if you can get past the flaws, and ignore the internal monologues, then even hardened Metroid fans can still find the game enjoyable.  However, that doesn't excuse its flaws.  I say, Metroid: Other M is a decent and fun game, but it's important to take a game, even one we might enjoy, and hold up the flaws so that they can be learned from.

Don't give up on Metroid because of Other M, Nintendo.  Learn from it's flaws, build on it's successes, and you will have a WiiU game like no other.

For those who can't guess, I probably won't move into reviews in my spare time, because there doesn't seem to be an interest, however I may give certain games special examination if they have something that they can teach.  And, I think Other M can teach through its flaws as well as it's successes.

Question to any readers I have. Would you like to see game reviews here?

Okay, fans...all...five of them, yes I'm kidding, relax, I've been thinking alot about games lately.  And not in the brain hurtey editorial meat grinder way where all I do is grouse about the video game industry and how much it was so much better when I was a kid.  More specifically, I've been thinking about individual games.  Games I'd love to spotlight, for good or for ill, and remembering my days of freelance review work.

No doubt fans of my blog have had it made clear that, while I recognize Splatterhouse's flaws, I love the game itself.  I'd love to get a chance to explain that and to actually show the audience that, even if it is shite, you can still enjoy it more than say, Fuse which I am thunderstruck was made by the sacred studio that Spyro and Ratchet built.  More than just defending games though, I'd kinda like to sit down and explain why a game may not work for some, but might work for others.  I did not like Bioshock Infinite.  However, I recognize that it's a damn fine game.  There are problems, certainly, but a lot of people enjoyed it and I do understand why.

Now, here's the kicker.  I want feedback.  Anyone who thinks that might be cool or who might want to hear my opinions, god help you, I'd like to hear a yay or nay in the comments.  I mean, I've got a full plate already, but I can bust out a review pretty easily if it's not as polished as my other posts.  But I didn't envision this blog as doing that.  It's a commentary on the good, the bad, and the future of the games industry.  So...if you want reviews, let out a shout, otherwise I may just squelch the urge to start writing them up again.

Please, leave a message in the comments if you'd like to see some written reviews or not.