Soooo yeah, I beat the game. =D I don't plan on doing this very often, but since this is a recent game that's been stirring up some controversy among fans, I might as well give some of my thoughts on it. Nothing much, just a quick overview of my likes and dislikes. Having not played many Metroid games, this is mostly evaluating it as a stand-alone game and not a part of a larger series, but I do draw a few comparisons to other Metroid games when I feel the need to.

LIKE

• Graphics - Okay, before you get on me about "gameplay > graphics," I need to give it credit here. Metroid: Other M is easily one of the best-looking Wii game I've played, rivaling Super Mario Galaxy. Very rarely will you ever notice a blurry texture, low-poly model or a framerate drop. The load times are also surprisingly fast. There's no need to shoot doors and wait for them to open, they just open automatically as you approach them (but at the end, when the game is less linear, you may notice more short loading screens). This polish is mostly made possible by clever graphic techniques. The fixed camera is usually zoomed far out, so for most of the game you're too far away to notice technical weak points (though certainly not to far to see properly). Cutscenes are almost always pre-rendered, but the transition is usually seamless, which is an impressive feat considering how long they take to load in theater mode. The only gripes I had in this area are the abundance of dark areas in the beginning of the game which hurt my eyes, and also the large amount of areas you can't interact with that are for show only.
• Action - This is probably where Team Ninja was most influential in the game's direction. The game is really more of an action game than an adventure game, which I realize has upset some long-time fans. There's a lot of combat and boss battles in this game, and they're often fairly cinematic too, but not to the point of being dull "Quicktime events." There have been some complaints about combat being watered-down button mashing, which is true in some ways, especially with the auto-targeting (more on that later), but the intensity of combat, especially with larger enemies and bosses, makes up for that by keeping you on your thinking on your feet as you try to dodge attacks while still aiming properly.

• Progression - Okay, maybe I'm nit-picking here, but I'm very picky over the flow of a game. Being used to the segmented progression of series like Zelda or Pokémon, Other M just felt awkward. There are three areas, which you occasionally switch back and forth between to complete missions. Exactly how far you go through each zone before being assigned to a mission in another one is hard to judge, and sometimes (though not often) you feel like you're going places or fighting bosses just to set up action sequences (Goyagma, the first Sector 3 boss, is a big offender of this). The biggest annoyance of this game's progression is its linearity. While I don't usually demand an open-world in games (even though I understand Metroid is best known for exploration), this feels very restrictive. It's very strange when doors lock behind you simply because the game doesn't want you to return to an area at that moment. Considering the plot-driven structure of this game, a linear approach makes sense, and you can explore the ship with almost no restrictions after the game ends, but before that it just doesn't feel right.
• Music - I love Metroid music so much, but this soundtrack just didn't impress me. The orchestrated quality felt great, and there was some cool Super Metroid orchestrations, but most of the soundtrack is very subdued. It's very much like a typical Valve soundtrack, so if you like that kind of low, ambient music, you might like this. I usually do like that, but frankly I don't think this soundtrack was very interesting. There are some more pronounced tracks, and they set the mood for combat nicely, but they sound very much like generic Star Wars-like music, which was a disappointment. There were some new tracks I liked, though, like the Sector 2 ambiance track. That one was very nice.

• Gameplay - It's not bad, it's just ... odd. The idea of a 3D-environment game controlled with the Wii remote alone, switching between first- and third-person perspective sounded like a combination that wouldn't work out, but in my opinion, it more or less succeeds. It doesn't come without sacrifice, though, which is mostly in the form of auto-targeting. Though it did make some combat feel like simple button-mashing, auto-targeting was an understandable inclusion, since not having a simple targeting system in this 3D environment would make playing the game a nightmare. Also, I know I will be burned at the stake for this, but I thought the authorization of suit upgrades was just fine. In essence, it was no different from most games, where you get to a point in the game, attain an item, and then you can progress further. Was it as fun as the early Metroid games where you had to search an open map to find an item? No. Did it make a lot more sense for Samus to have all her upgrades on hand and unlock them when needed, rather than happen to lose them like she does in many previous games? Absolutely, but it still did lack the joy of achieving an item for yourself. Although Samus does occasionally pick up dropped beam upgrades, and at one point, even begins to unlock powers herself ("Any objections ... Adam?" *unlocks Screw Attack* Lol'd so hard at that).
• Plot - Note that the following does not contain any specific details about the story, at least not beyond anything Nintendo had revealed prior to the game's release, but it does allude to some happenings. I don't think it's enough for a spoiler tag, but if you still don't want to know the following, skip over this. In general, I liked the plot. It was certainly enough to remain interesting through the entire game, but it was nothing very special either. You'll find a lot of story throughout the game, presented by well-done cutscenes, which are often about 5-10 minutes long. But the main hook of the story, it seems, is the backstory, which explains some of Samus' early experiences with the Galactic Federation. While not necessarily bad, it doesn't feel very related to the plot of the game's current events, except for the fact that most of the backstory is related to some of the Galactic Federation members she reunites with in the game. In general, it does not distract you very much from the main plot, but it still feels like it could have fit into any game in the series just the same. As for the main plot, it's pretty good. Some parts are predictable, but at the same time there are quite a few twists in the game, so you should find yourself surprised at one moment or another. There are some parts that just don't seem right, though. I heard a lot of people disliked the maternal overtones of Samus' character. They didn't bother me much (after all, didn't she call the infant Metroid a child in Super Metroid as well?), but it is true that the baby Metroid thing became a little overused (although it does have plot significance). Also, most emotional scenes were kind of overplayed, and sometimes just outright irrational, and didn't captivate me very much. The ending is less climatic than it could have been, though still a fitting end, and some plot details weren't given as much attention towards the end than you might have expected, though nothing is really left unresolved. In general, I mostly liked the cinematic quality of the story, even if that kind of experience can be found elsewhere.

Okay, this turned out to be much more long-winded than I intended, sorry about that. So in general, I did have a lot of fun with it, and I would recommend it to some groups of gamers. If you're a Nintendo fan in general, you should probably check this out, since it's a pretty unique title for a Nintendo game. Metroid fans may not like all the changes made, but they should probably check it out anyway to see what's different and have their own opinion on it. People who enjoy action games may like it to, since it's pretty unique, but it may not become a favorite within the broad action genre.

I promise this will be the last Other M related entry for a while. Maybe.