Characterizing Samus in Other M

In the lead-up to Metroid Other M, Yoshio Sakamoto had various interviews with publications discussing how he was going to characterize Samus in Other M. Now on paper, these sound exactly like what Samus should be in my opinion at least, although a couple of them do need clarifications as to their meaning for some people. However, the end results led people to become mixed over her characterization. This could be attributed to a few reasons: The bad story, the complex nature of the writing/dialog which does not turn out strong, bad localization, bad voice acting, etc. Some things that were explained here did not come out in Other M, or at the very least, come out very well.

The intent of this article is to show you how Sakamoto, during cutscenes would show specific traits of Samus. Sakamoto definitely has thrown a lot of it out there, mainly leading to a lot of vagueness about what he was trying to achieve both in her character as well as the story. While Sakamoto may view this as a success, the audience is left wondering what he was doing, and in some cases, wondering if he hates the character that he has so passionately talked about in the past. In doing so, the results have given us impressions about Samus we never thought of, those being whiny, submissive, shallow and over-analytical to some. However, when you take a look at the scenes individually, you can hopefully understand the meaning behind each scene, not in terms of the story, but in terms of character traits and development. From the interviews presented, the various key terms and traits were presented to us:

- Cool
- Kindness
- Sympathetic
- A little immature in her passion/earnestness/professionalism
- Introducing her past/characters that influenced her
- Inner Fortitude
- Compassion
- Woman who has been fighting the whole time
- Heart of Steel/Purity
- Strong Woman
- Eager to Face Challenges/Overcome them
- Unburdened by Doubt, which allows her to grow
- Flexible Strength to allow her to learn from mistakes
- More than the sum of her vulnerabilities
- Power Suit is like an armor, but also shields her vulnerabilities from the world
- Charming and Attractive

The depth that he comes up with those traits is a bit more than I anticipated, and maybe slightly more young in his description than I originally thought, but that’s still okay. Here are a couple of points I’d like to clarify first:

- A little immature in her passion/earnestness/professionalism
This is basically her ‘I can’t take this anymore’ or ‘good intentions’ side. A trope for this is the hero who goes against orders for the right cause. We saw this in Metroid II/Super Metroid where she keeps the Baby Metroid alive for scientific research, but was still done with compassion.

- Unburdened by doubt, which allows her to grow as a person
When playing Other M, you get the feeling that Samus does have a lot of doubts. While she never explicitly uses the word, it comes across that way, either intentionally or not. But looking at the way he says it, I would guess he mans ‘she has doubts, but they don’t affect her job or her outlook on life.’

With that being said, it’s time to look at those traits, shall we? Now keep in mind that this is JUST from the cutscenes, not gameplay. I will discuss each trait, mention a couple of scenes for each trait, try to give examples of these traits seen in previous Metroid games, and explain how successful or not Sakamoto was in pulling off each of these traits.

Cool
The opening cutscene is a good start, showing off an awesome recreation of the ending of Super Metroid. Afterwards, her transforming into her Power Suit is the epitome of awesome, no matter of how stupid you think a “Magic Suit” is. A couple of other scenes throughout the game show her combat skills, namely the scene after the Avalanche chase, when she is protecting the mysterious woman in Sector 2 where she activates bullet time, and near the end of the game where she takes matters into her own hands to defeat the final boss. As for her being cool in other titles, I’ll simply look to any of the Leviathan bosses in Corruption or the end of Echoes and say that’s where she is “cool” or as we would say “badass.”

While I think they got this across, it seems to have been drowned out by all the negativity the game has gotten.

Kindness
This tries to come out a few times in the game, namely during a flashback where she is shown rescuing the Baby Metroid. Other implementations are when she is tracking the mysterious woman in Sector 2 and asking her to calm down. Another example is where instead of pounding on the window, she taps on the glass to try and not startle Madeline Bergman in the Research Lab, even though it petrified her all the same. Other games that show Samus’ kindness are really down to Echoes and Corruption. In Echoes, she closed the eye of a dead soldier and in Corruption she saved troopers from being sucked out into space.

So yes, I would say they got this across, even though they didn’t really need to.

Sympathetic
In Other M, they try to relate Samus to various characters. Samus sees Adam as her father figure, her closest friend, the person who knew her best, etc. Anthony is shown as a close friend, maybe even a brother given how they interact with one another. The game also tries to correlate MB to Samus in terms of experiences with Metroids and gaining emotions. The final one is the Baby Metroid, but the relationship, while seemingly an open mother-child relationship, seems to have some more depth behind it. The only other character interaction Samus has had so far is in Corruption and in Fusion. In Corruption you can see her anger and regret at the loss of certain characters and in Fusion you get the sense of joy with her being reunited with Adam post-mortem.

I definitely think they got this one across the best, with Anthony’s relationship being the best. While Adam’s relationship was the most prominent, it didn’t feel natural, which is the same way I can describe the Baby Metroid. As for MB’s relationship, it’s very distant, but it’s there.

A little Immature in her passion/earnestness/professionalism
Again I’ll start with the end of Metroid II since motherhood is a theme of this game. It shows Samus being compassionate for the baby Metroid, even though it went against what she went there to do. Other examples of this trait are “Any Objections, Adam?” as well scenes involving her wanting to save people that seem important her. This also happens when she uses Power Bombs against the final boss despite knowing that a survivor is in the next room when she knows the dangers of them. The closest guess I could make about this in relation to the other games is the final ending of Corruption where she gives an angry face.

I think they got this one across since it shows a side of Samus that we like. The rulebreaker, her wild side; it’s her throwing the rules out the window and saying it’s a my time to shine sort of thing.

Inner Fortitude
This comes down to the Sector Zero scene. While agonizing in pain and barely able to stand, Samus still tries to prevent Adam from marching to his death in Sector Zero. This trait is also portrayed in Corruption where on Norion after get blasted by Dark Samus, Samus somehow finds the strength to get up and fire the laser before going into a coma, saving the day.

I don’t think this comes across all that well given the context of the scene. It makes Samus look sort of helpless and at the same time people call attention to her being “whiny” during this scene even though it should be a very touching scene. Also given that it’s a major fuck you to the player it gives them more the reason to be critical.

Compassion
This is once again done through her keeping the Baby Metroid alive, as well as her friendliness towards Ridley’s first form with her smiling and admiring its’ creepy cuteness.

This kind of ties into kindness, so I’ll say they got this across. Something like this isn’t that hard to get across, mind you.

A woman that has been fighting her whole life
This is shown once in a cutscene where she first mentions she was in the Galactic Federation army. It’s also implied that she’s led a rough life because Samus says her parents were lost when she was young. In Zero Mission, you’re given flashes of her as a child on Zebes, but that’s about it.

This one definitely needed more emphasis. By showing her growing up on Zebes and showing Ridley killing her parents, even if done vaguely would’ve been sufficient to get us to understand she’s had a hard life. At the same time, it would answer if she was strong at her core.

Heart of Steel/Purity
The idea here is that Samus has a strong will as well as someone who can’t be corrupted by evil, maybe even to a point of her being naïve given the situation. I would guess this is shown in the Sector Zero scene where Adam shoots her, but at the end of the day is thankful for his sacrifice because it seems like he has good intentions. In terms of her being “uncorruptable” I’d say Corruption fits this quite well since on Phaaze she fought through the power of Phazon to stop Dark Samus.

I want to say this didn’t come across, but I’m scratching my head as to what he meant about it at the same time as well.

A Strong Woman
Samus is shown to have some determination and eagerness to save others throughout the game. Whether it is from the Incident, or Adam or Madeline or MB, she seems to want to put herself in front of others to take a bullet so to speak. It seems like he was trying to show you she had a lot of will and determination and that equates to strength.

In terms of getting this across, I’d say this is mixed at best. You get the idea she’s physically strong in her Power Suit, but the game has a hard time showing you her inner strength. A common complaint is that she is not shown as strong/implied to be strong in her Zero Suit in any fashion, or at least very clearly.

Eagerness to Face and Overcome Challenges
This is mainly her rushing into situations where she may or may not be readily prepared. Enter the approach to Sector Zero and the possibility of her facing Unfreezable Metroids, an enemy she can’t beat. But she’s unaware of them being that way when she goes there. In relation to other games, you can say this fits in with the opening of Echoes pretty well. At the start of Echoes, Samus heads down to Aether unaware of atmospheric danger of the planet, causing her ship to become damaged. Not only that, she follows Dark Samus into Dark Aether recklessly, causing her power-ups to be stolen.

In terms of getting this across, I’d say yes, but very lightly.

Unburdened by doubt, which allows her to grow as a person
As presented in elevator monologues we get to hear Samus’ doubts about the current situation of things. I can’t point out specific events since they’re basically all the same, but I can say we never get the sense that she’s unburdened by them, but instead quite the opposite. I can’t help but think this is one of those lost in translation things where it actually means ‘it won’t stop her from trying to do the right thing’ which would result in the end of the Ridley scene where she starts to fight and get revenge for Anthony’s death and the Sector Zero scene where she doesn’t believe Adam has to die. We never get the sense that she has doubts in previous games, so this one is sort of new.

Overall, I’d say this is the thing that this is the biggest thing he failed to get across.

Flexible strength that allows her to learn from her mistakes
This really comes back to keeping the Baby Metroid alive again. We learn throughout the game that she realizes the mistake of her keeping the Baby Metroid alive. In Super Metroid, we see the grim results of that first-hand: Scientists are killed at the hands of Ridley, and eventually her home of Zebes is destroyed. When she encounters a Baby Metroid in Sector Zero in Other M, she struggles with what she’s done in the past, but comes to the conclusion that blasting it is the best course of action.

I think they got this one across pretty well as I’ve seen numerous people say how they like the idea of her admitting her mistakes.

More than the sum of her vulnerabilities
This is something that’s not really shown or done outright, but implied. If not actually mentioned in an interview, I never would’ve guessed that’s what he was going for. In Other M, a lot about how she acts, feels and thinks are shown. Most of these are negative and give players a bad impression about her. However, in gameplay she portrays her fighting spirit as well as a few cutscenes. If Sakamoto was really going for this, he needed to be a bit more explicit about it. In the other games, we don’t see any of her vulnerable side outside of Zero Mission where she infiltrates the Space Pirate ship with nothing more than an emergency pistol. But we saw there that she’s still willing to fight to the death.

My guess was that he was trying to say ‘despite all of her vulnerabilities, she still is awesome’ which is a noble idea, but it kind of needs help in coming across. So I would say a big fat NO to this one coming across.

Power Suit is not only a physical armor, but it hides her vulnerabilities/self from the outside world
Essentially, her Power Suit is two-way toll bridge. It stops her from being damaged from outside elements, and at the same time stops her real feelings and emotions from coming out. It doesn’t say that she’s a weak person underneath, nor does it say she is not powerful underneath. Instead it’s supposed to show that you wouldn’t know this person has frailties underneath, even though they’re there. Because she’s a loner, it allows her to keep to herself for the most part without giving the impression of her weaknesses/vulnerabilities. The only other game which Samus talks during gameplay is in Fusion. There she reflects on Adam and the situation at hand, but instead of talking about her reactions to events in Other M, it’s more of a recap of what just happened.

I guess I can say they got this across, but I’m sure it came off as more negatively in the eyes of most than they would’ve wanted. Instead of her talking about how much she’s going to enjoy blowing up the place, she talks about the current state of the mission and how she may or may not react to them.

Charming and Attractive
Throughout Other M you’re treated to some “visual delights” of Samus, both in and out of her Zero Suit. She does look really good overall, but there’s nothing really more I need to say about that. Her charming side is her personality, or it’s supposed to be. You hear her thoughts mostly, and while she does talk to people, there’s not a lot of it. It mainly comes down to the dialog writing here. I can guess that Japanese people like what they hear, due to the poor localization of the game, English speakers aren’t really too happy to hear lines like “confession time” and “it pierced my heart”, especially when those lines only appear in the English version of the game.

So let me put this as mixed. Good looks, but the personality needs some better writing/localization, at least on the thoughts category. When she talks, it is simple speech, and not a lot of it, and sometimes a little forceful.

Recap
So what can you say about Samus’ characterization now? Were any of the ideas behind this characterization wrong at their core? Or maybe they were just executed poorly? Or perhaps no video game character should be anything more than a space marine with a gun? I can respect the ideas behind her characterization and I think they are correct, but at the same time I think Sakamoto spread himself a bit too thin on this one. There were clearly parts of her characterization that didn’t need to be reinforced like kindness and compassion since they were done in other games. I can understand clarifying the ending of Metroid II, but beyond that it seemed a bit redundant.

On the flipside, there are parts of her characterization that REALLY needed to backed up better, namely her being unburdened by doubt, her being stronger than her vulnerabilities, and her being strong at the core of her being. There’s a saying that I heard somewhere or I just made up that goes like this: “On the side of caution, do something awesome.” Other M takes that caution and remains cautious. If Other M had presented these traits in a more video game style manner where lots of stuff is happening around you and Samus did it in her old, natural way of doing things, I’m sure it’d be received a lot better.

Looking back, here’s what I think Sakamoto got across from best to worst:
Hit
- Sympathetic
- Compassion/Kindness
- Immaturity in her professionalism
- Eagerness to face and overcome challenges
- Flexible Strength
- Power Suit is a two-way vessel

Mixed
- Attractive and Charming
- A woman who’s been fighting her whole life

Weakly
- Cool
- A Strong Woman
- Inner Fortitude

Missed
- Heart of Steel and Purity
- More than the sum of her vulnerabilities
- Unburdened by Doubt

I would say that everything below flexible strength needs to be worked on in some way because those are probably supposed to be the strongest parts of Samus’ characterization. Without focusing on those, a lot of people have been given the impression that Samus is a weak person at heart. Some of these could’ve easily been overcome by adding a little bit of Samus’ Chozo upbringing, which would fill in a gap between her being a child and joining the Galactic Federation, but it would show that she was strong at her core, a person willing to fight. With that, the other strong pieces of her would fall into place. But because the story is paper thin, most of the stronger aspects of her character fell by the waist side in favor of her gentler side, something that really didn’t need to be focused on given previous entries in the series.

Conclusions
Metroid Other M’s characterization of Samus Aran was an interesting one. By deciding to bring everything to the table at once, it took the core ideas behind Samus’ character from previous games and defined them. Some were defined well, some were not, and some resulted in mixed success. It doesn’t mean however that the traits that came out the weakest to the audience are not there. It simply means that they need to be brought out stronger in future installments. Only taking Other M into account for Samus’ characterization would be a bad idea since Other M is not the entire body of work, but instead it is more like her table of contents.

2010 NFL Weekly Picks: Week 8

MIA @ CIN
JAC @ DAL
WAS @ DET
BUF @ KC
CAR @ STL
GB @ NYJ
DEN @ SF (London)
TEN @ SD
TB @ ARZ
MIN @ NE
SEA @ OAK
PIT @ NO
HOU @ IND

World Series of Woes

For the past two seasons baseball fans have been treated to outstanding post-season baseball, each culminating in two great World Series match-ups, one involving the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies, while last year we had those same Phillies defending their Championship against the Yankees. While seeing Philadelphia win against an upstart team was satisfying, the way it was done couldn't have been better.

Because of a rain delay, the final few innings of the eventual final game were delayed for two days. The result was roughly 90 minutes of the most exciting baseball you could ever lay your eyes on. While we still scold Bug Selig for questionable decision to not put the game in a rain delay sooner, he actually gave us something that was something you don't see in baseball: Non-stop excitement. For those final four innings, we were at the edge of our seats and we couldn't turn away.

Last year's series didn't feature much in the way of excitement, but it did feature the Yankees, the team everyone loves to hate. Watching them, whether you want them to win or lose in the World Series is somehow always a treat. It went six games, and ended with the Yankees winning of course, but overall you couldn't help but feel satisfied, and we couldn't wait to see a rematch of this one a year later.

We didn't get our rematch, but it was close. Instead we got the San Francisco Giants, a team using a 3-man rotation for the playoffs as well as a crazy closer against the Texas Rangers, a team that before entering this post-season hadn't won a single playoff series, let alone a Championship. Needless to say ratings for the series so far have been lackluster at best, being way down from last year since it doesn't feature a "marquee" team despite having a very strong pitching lineup, for one team at least.

What we've been treated to so far has been extremely disappointing. In Game 1, the Giants tore apart the formerly invincible Cliff Lee with the addition of a few errors were able to manhandle Texas in Game 1, 8-2. In Game 2, it was the Texas bullpen that folded, issuing at one point 11 straight balls, which allowed at least two runs to be walked in. I stopped watching at that point because it became ugly, but needless to say in ended up being a 9-0 win for the Giants.

Going into the series I didn't have high expectations for it being decent, and so far I can say I'm vindicated. I believe Texas' stage fright may have finally gotten the better of them here, as it looks like they'll be swept unless something is done immediately. It took Texas 50 years to finally reach the World Series since moving there from Washington, but it hopefully won't take them another 50 to get back. I'm sure next time however that they'll put on more of a game than a circus act.

Blog Mission Statement

The purpose of this blog will be to write down my own thoughts on various matters including politics, sports, video games and other daily activities that I participate in.