March 7th
Today's challenge is: You like, but everyone hates.
Okay, soooo... Today was actually pretty difficult to figure out. I had two options: The first was going for a specific game that people disliked that I think is great or at least has some redeeming qualities that makes it more enjoyable. Stuff like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on NES, which people hate for valid reasons, but actually don't know about some of the secrets in the game, like how to get the true ending with the boss fight, which is actually kinda cool! My second option was to pick from a well established franchise, in a scenario where I'd really like a certain title that everyone else considers the weakest. That's what I went with today. For example, I could have picked Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, which people dislike for being clunky and having nothing to do with other Final Fantasy games (on top of not being the upgraded FFVII everyone wanted) while I personally loved it. But I'm not sure if people really dislike it for what it is.
So instead, I went with
Metroid: Other M, my favorite game in the franchise so far. I've actually played VERY LITTLE from this game, but I've at least watched a playthrough in the past. People have criticized it for playing weird (it's the Wii, so par for the course in general), for ruining the ambience and feeling of solitude, for being much more linear, and most of all, for ruining Samus' character. But the thing is... None of these things particularly bothered me.
While I can see why people feel so let down by this title, Metroid in general, for me, has been a mixture of boring, frustrating and annoying. I also understand why people love the series so much, but even though I've genuinely tried to get into it, I just can't. There's too much backtracking, too much “where the fuck do I go?”, too much “why am I even here”, too much inconsistent pacing. The bosses and general ambience are cool, but the latter wears out once I start feeling too much like a rat in a maze. It's just my personal taste. The only one I managed to finish was the first Prime game, and finding all the damn Chozo artifacts made me despise an otherwise interesting title.
But Other M came to me like a breath of fresh air. I'm not saying Nintendo should just scrap the old ones because I preferred this one, but it gave me a fair chance to get into a lot of iconic Metroid stuff simply because the game felt like something I could appreciate for what it is. Just straight up guns blazing with cool abilities, and while I agree Samus kind of has an uninspiring personality, I'm not super fond of silent protags I'm supposed to project into (Prime did her far better however), and, at least, they didn't give her a gasp syndrome, which tends to be a pet peeve of mine.
I know that some people will want to give me an earful about how Super Metroid is so much better or whatever, but frankly, Other M has opened a door for me to enjoy the rest of the franchise, and that's why I've picked it today.
Out on Wii, and apparently on the Wii U's virtual console as well? Interesting...
