this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2025
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I like you.
It's interesting how the western-made Prime trilogy treats Samus as an independent, capable professional who makes her own decisions on what course of action to take, and faces foes head-on.
But the Japanese-made games produced after Super Metroid treat her as weak-willed, dependent on male superiors for support and orders and authorizations, and more often hiding from powerful enemies instead of fighting them.
RIGHT!? Ok, you want to make a game dealing with Samus's insecurities and developing her character, so you tie in some folks loosely mentioned in the lore and show her as someone who's unaccustomed to her suit, her abilities, and showcase her PTSD fears from her childhood. Sure, lock the powerups on "orders" so she doesn't inadvertently kill everyone on the ship since planet-cracking is not out of the question. Sure, have her freeze up when the dude who ate her parents shows up, makes sense.
BUT DON'T SET IT CHRONOLOGICALLY AFTER SHE KILLED HIM (Metroid-Zebes); killed his robo-clone (zero mission-Zebes); ancient laser blasted his cybernetic resurrection to an explosive disney death (prime-tallon IV); dodged, fought (corruption-norion), and radiation-overload-exploded that incarnation when it got better and gained superpowers while it was mind controlled by her radioactive alternate universe clone (corruption-pirate home world);^1^ fought him to a draw over her adopted metroid (Super Metroid-station), then killed him again and blew up the planet where he died (Super Metroid-Zebes).
"Oh shit it's Ridley my fiercest nemesis whom I have battled on seven distinct occasions and witnessed return from certain death four times! I, Samus Aran, to-this-point-silent professional badass with three destroyed planets painted on the nose of my gunship, am rendered into a helpless little girl while this obviously mindless clone squawks at me without actually attacking for 85 goddamned seconds"
Fuck Other M.
Also they did Samus dirty by making her a 5-fucking-4 waif when we all know real Samus is a 6'3" 200 lb brick house#notmybountyhunter vs Peak Samus
1. Proteus ridley wasn't in the original Metroid II, only the remake, and is left out of this rant
I'll admit that I never played Dread so I can't comment on how she's portrayed in that.
The only reason I never played Dread was because I dislike stealth games. Nothing against those who do enjoy them of course.
Oh, if you're not gonna play it, spending an hour watching the cutscenes would not be wasted time. Dread definitely did Samus justice.
ACTUAL SPOILER don't read if you're gonna watch or play it's cool as hell
She ends the game as a very literal rage monster that Metroid-sucks the life force out of a space stationAnd, mild encouragement to give it a shot though it may not be your vibe: I feel it would be more accurate to compare the EMMI segments in Dread to the survival horror genre than to the stealth genre. You're really only hiding from the first couple, after that it was frantic fearful parkour. I remember the stress more than the sneak. But I may be remembering incorrectly.
Edit: and they are just segments, very clearly delineated. Most of the game was actiony metroidvania fare.
Thanks! I'm not worried about spoilers, I won't be playing it. I mentally just lump survival-horror in with stealth games. I don't want to hide from monsters. I want to leap into the fray. Just a personal preference thing. But it's nice to know she got a good portrayal in Dread.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Dread isn't a stealth game there are light stealth elements. But even the EMMI zones aren't so much stealth as running away sections. Samus is portrayed fucking perfect in Dread. It's a really really good game
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2: