Topic: Terribad gaming guilty pleasures.

Other M is actually one of the few Metroid games I've yet to play. I won't cast judgment on something I've yet to play, and I'll go into it with an open mind, but I will say this: I don't think there's necessarily any benefit to developing Samus Aran as a character. She's a power fantasy, and that's all she needs to be, because Metroid games are all about the player (assuming the avatar of Samus Aran) exploring hostile alien environments and gradually becoming stronger and more capable.

Metroid Prime was basically that, but from a detailed, first-person perspective, which is why the first game in particular is so wonderful.

I think there's something to be said for enjoying games that have clear flaws. Personally if I play a game I know is a bit rubbish then I tend to take it less seriously, and maybe that results in me having dumb fun with it. I haven't played Other M but I have heard people say it can be enjoyable if you don't get offended over the writing and Samus, etc., etc.

Sometimes it's just a case of allowing yourself to enjoy something, I suppose, although that's obviously not always an option.

@KratosMD She's not necessarily meant to be a character you're supposed to grow attached to. She's an avatar that represents the player in the in-game environment. In most of the Metroid games, at least. Whether she's a good person, likes ice cream, or has traumatic childhood memories is beside the point in games that are almost entirely gameplay-driven.

This is particularly true of Nintendo games, which is why I have always thought that complaints about The Legend of Zelda's mute protagonist kind of miss the point.

@Ralizah I guess this is a little like having a first or third person narrative in a way. If you are the character and they have a storyline and some sort of inner monologue or dialogue then the player is engaged with the character. Of course, there is a risk with this is that the gamer might not like the character or their choices because it is far more linear.

I personally prefer to have a character respond rather than being a mute protagonist because when you interact with NPC's they do still kind of assume your response. I enjoyed Aloy more, as a well crafted character, then I do Samus or Link. User preference though!

@ZurapiiYohane

I love the Hatsune Miku games, although they are far from being bad games. They usually review around the 80 mark and the amount of care and polish they put to the videos, coreographies, animations show a lot of quality and a team who love what they are doing. Not to mention the infectiously cheerful songs themselves.

I have platinums in all the games. I guess they could be considered guilty pleasures because of how niche they are in the West, ,and the whole dressing up, head patting and games with the vocaloids. Even more in Project Mirai DX since they look like kids. Still my favorite though.

@Rudy_Manchego It's absolutely a preference thing. On the NPC thing, though, I think that's actually a good argument for why Metroid DOESN'T need some kind of established personality: in most of the games, you never see another person. You're trapped in a hostile alien environment. There's no reason to explore Samus as a character.

Even in RPGs, though, I still prefer "mute" protagonists to the Chatty Cathies you find in some Sony exclusives like Nathan Drake or Aloy. Again: personal preference. I think a lot of it comes down to the importance narrative and character development often have in Sony exclusives. The majority of Nintendo games don't have that, and, honestly, I wouldn't want that. I don't know or care about Mario's personality: I just want to use him to jump on stuff and explore fun environments.

@KratosMD This reminds me of the discussions I've had with people about to what extent Link from TLoZ should be considered an avatar and how that consideration ties into the possibility of customizing Link's gender. Look, you can have a character be an avatar for the player without the character being a complete, 100% customizable tabula rasa. That's what most Nintendo characters are: fun character designs that represent the player in the in-game environment, but that come with some level of in-universe grounding.

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting a more characterful Metroid game, but what I will say is this: the last thing Nintendo should make is another experimental Metroid. After Other M, years of radio silence, and Federation Force, Nintendo would be foolish not to make Prime 4 a more traditional experience that'll make almost everybody happy. I'd prefer something like the older games, where you're alone the entire time: a return to basics.

@Ralizah I love looking at narrative design and choices so could wobble on all day about it. As you said though, all preference.

One thing I think is true is that a lot of games put characters into ridiculous situations and it is hard to have a character have a voice where they then need to pass comment on it. Take Bloodborne (as I am playing it at the moment), you play the slient protagonist which makes sense because if you did have the character voice emotions it would be 'what the hell am I doing here, there are scary monsters everywhere'. In Far Cry 3 your character, an average rich kid from the US suddenly becomes an unstoppable killing machine and the acting/writing is laughable. He literally makes one remark about how he can't believe he is doing this and then he kills everything on the island.

It works in games like TLOU and Horizon because the story is about the character and they have an arc and what happens to them in the gameworld makes sense in the context of the story.