mentioning Other M still metroid fanatical is almost like bringing up a personal tragedy. YouTube essays are still being done today on what went wrong with this game and why so many fans were disappointed by it. However, upon replay, there is a section of the game that is really fun to play.
The gameplay in Metroid: Other M it’s a stark contrast to almost every other entry in the franchise. Throughout the game, players are able to explore the mysterious Bottle Ship, but they have to do so in a very linear fashion, unlike other games in the franchise, which generally allow more freedom of exploration. With Metroid: Other Mhowever, it is not until players finish the game and play the Epilogue that the map really opens up.
A great gaming feature that is present in most metroid games is the ability to travel to older areas on the map with new power-ups. Players can not only find some secret energy tanks and missiles this way, but they can also stumble upon new areas that they haven’t seen before. One of the biggest complaints fans have with Metroid: Other M is that players never really get that freedom. In the game, Adam Malkovich basically tells Samus where to go. This is what makes the game linear, as there is a set path that players must follow through the Bottle Ship.
This certainly had gamers scratching their heads when the game was released. No part of Bottle Ship is really locked behind item upgrades – Adam just locks them himself. So if a player sees a hard-to-reach item in an area, they won’t really be able to back up to it, as Adam will tell Samus to move forward. This greatly contributed to the game’s poor reception. To make matters worse, the game also features a convoluted story that is told through extended cutscenes, which greatly interrupt the flow of the game.
However, after finishing the game, a new epilogue mission opens up. Samus realizes that he left “something special” on the Bottle Ship and wants to get it back before the ship self-destructs. Once he returns and gains access to his suit, he can finally use those tremendously destructive power bombs that Adam told him not to use during the game.
In this post-game mission, players are supposed to explore a newly opened area of the ship. However, on their way, they can return to all three sectors (Biosphere, Pyrosphere, and Cryosphere) and explore the world properly. At this point, the player should have the Bolt Attack, as well as all the beams and missiles that Samus can use. Basically, this means that no height is too great and no enemy is too strong for Samus. Also, this is finally where Other M it becomes a metroid game, offering players an experience they can explore at their own pace and let their curiosity guide them.
Another nice game addition that Metroid: Other M provides points on the map that show rooms with items that have not been picked up. This makes 100% completion of the game very viable for many players who are not usually looking to fully complete the game. Other metroid the games feel impossible to complete 100% without a guide. Having the dots on the map gives players a clue as to at least the general location of each item. This way, from there, they can figure things out for themselves.
Exploration has always been a cornerstone of metroid experience, and this final part of the game is incredibly fun as it allows players to do just that. The developers actually hid a lot of details in Bottle Ship, and there are plenty of secrets to be found in each of the three main areas. Players can simply have fun using the Bolt Attack to hit the ceilings in areas or shoot with the Shinespark to get power-ups found on top of rooms.
To complete this epilogue, players must win a surprise fight against the Phantoon, and it’s not an easy fight by any means. This variant of the Phantoon is at least 10 times larger than its predecessor in super metroid. It also fires projectiles that spread across the width of the room, restricting the player in terms of movement.
Smart players will take the opportunity to return through the Bottle Ship and collect as many power-ups as possible. As it turns out, however, this little side quest is arguably more fun than the rest of the game. Best of all, there is a minimal amount of cutscenes. This final mission finally allows players to stretch their legs, something that was stolen from them in the main game.