I've just finished my first playthrough of Metroid: Other M's hard mode and, let me tell you, it was a brutal and unrelenting lover. I've never attempted a no-upgrade run through any Metroid-style game—where the goal is to complete the game with the bare minimum of status-enhancing items like energy tanks and missile expansions—but Other M's hard mode forces you to play this way. 99 energy units and 10 missiles will have to last you through every single boss encounter and environmental hazard, and most things will kill you in one or two hits.
But I'm not typing in order to regale my experiences with the game. That's just a handy excuse to bring up something I've been discussing about Other M lately. Some people have called it a bad game, and they have their reasons—many of which I'd agree with—but overall I really like it. I know this because, so far, every time that I've seen the credits go by I immediately follow up by starting a new game. It's my ultimate test to see if the money I spent on a game (though, in this case it was a gift) was worth it. A game that I'll only play once isn't worth sixty dollars, even if they are Canadian dollars. I'm currently on my third playthrough of Other M, so it passes the test. It's now a fully-fledged citizen and is entitled to all the rights entailed therein, like driving a car and paying for sex.
Whether or not I like it, however, I sincerely doubt that Yoshio Sakamoto will be given the opportunity to direct any future Metroid games. A harsh prediction, but hear me out.
The overwhelming consensus is that most of the changes that were made to the classic Metroid recipe impacted negatively. And, by that, I really mean that the story sucked Kraid-sized nards. To be fair, some of the voice acting is pretty good and even portions of Samus's dialogue come across well. But the bulk of the narration, which accounts for the huge majority of recorded voice work in the game, should have been either re-recorded or written out entirely before the game was launched. It's mechanical, redundant and drags the cinematics—which are otherwise very well presented—through miles of shit.
Yoshio Sakamoto is the one responsible for this. He is credited, among other things, as the game's designer and writer. Other M is his baby: he's even referred to Samus as his "daughter," and it was his idea to bring her story forward in this way.
There's an anecdote about a member of the cinematic team showing a sequence to Sakamoto for his approval, and the developer turned around to see tears welling in the director's eyes. Now, even though there were some poignant moments to the story, there is nothing on that disk that's moved me to tears.
Sakamoto obviously cared more for this project than anyone else, so it's a shame that poor sales (just under 500K as of October 19) and mixed critical reception probably mean that he won't be trusted with leading the next Metroid title. Sure, he also directed Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission, but Gunpei Yokoi created the motherfucking Game Boy and Nintendo still threw him out on his ass after the Virtual Boy debacle.
So, in the event that I'm right, I'd like to wish a fond farewell to Sakamoto-san and hope the best for his future. He needn't worry about Samus—I'm sure Shigeru Miyamoto will take good care of her [cue ominous music].
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