Topic: So, where does Metroid go?

They could always say Other M was Federation propaganda, with Samus's view on things different similar to the Halo fan base said Reach was propaganda in terms of canonical status.

Not sure if that would work with like 90% of the script being inner monologue.

But I guess that could fit with a post Fusion story, as long as it was just given a hand wave. We don't really need a story arc dedicated to fixing Other M, let alone an entire game.

But there are Marvel fans who have come up with all sorts of weird headcanon to explain why Edward Norton looks an awful lot like Mark Ruffalo these days, and none of it needs to be addressed by Marvel themselves.

I don't really get the fuss about Other M, because the entire story happened without affecting the story arc; The Metroid, Mother Brain and Ridley were all dead before Other M happened, and they are after Other M happened. Nothing crucial happened that affects the story arc. They can just continue the series without adressing the game if that makes everyone happy.

"The crops would be pillaged, homes burnt, and the women and children, the women and children!!!"

Anyway, you can tell a traditional story in any sort of game, except maybe a rogue-like, by just having scripted sequences, cutscenes, and... pacing. I never said we have to watch Samus go to parties (did the chozo even have parties?), but Samus' origin would be ripe territory for a game.

I think that the Metroid Manga already covered her childhood plenty.

Now I'm imagining Samus in her Chozo High prom, sitting alone in a table, hoping Johnny McChozo (the leader of the Choball team) will invite her to dance.

But all the cool kids think she's a weird freak of nature.

@Morpheel
So it's like a reverse twilight basically?

Is Johnny McChozo trying to pick between Samus and Ridley

Still sounds better than Other M's story I suppose

Let's not forget Chocolina Chozoboko, the evil leader of the cheerleaders, who hates Samus for unknown reasons.

And Miss MB, the mysterious principal of Chozo High. Nobody has ever seen her in person.

More like starts on her home planet, living ala Heavy Rain's start, and that is destroyed. She goes to train with the chozo, gets back on her feet, then they are destroyed / disappear. Then she sets out for revenge as a bounty hunter.

So basically her home planet is the story intro / tutorial, the first half of the game takes place on the planet the chozo take her in at (Zebes?), calamity strikes, and the last half of the game sees Samus flying between a few other planets / spaceships.

I think a framework like that could make a really good game if executed well (it's all in the execution).

@CaviarMeths: I didn't qualify my statement that well, but you took it far out of context. I don't want them to spend a game explaining why Samus was behaving as she did in Other M, just make a game which characterizes her much more like how she seems in previous games. I thought observing her early days would be the most interesting way of doing this.

Non-Directed Remainder of Comment: They could also make attempts to flesh out the world of Metroid a bit more, for narrative purposes. The story of each Metroid game revolves around the potential use of highly devastating weaponry (Metroids, Phazon, and the X-Parasite) to attain power. Nintendo needs to show what's at risk is Samus fails. They've done this to a degree in each game, but outside of Prime 3, the actual scale is never really depicted. The dried out corpses in Super Metroid we're a good, as was the dark world of Prime 2, and essentially all of Prime 3 and Fusion.

I have 2 suggestions... It should go the route of the Tomb Raider reboot but in space.
OR.........
It can do a Kid Icarus: Uprising.

No, they already made Other M.

I say, start the game in a flash back. You play as Samus as a child, and you get to witness first hand the events of her home planet getting destroyed. Then you fast forward to present day. The story would have no continuity with any of the other games, and would be a "soft reboot" of the franchise. The game would be very similar to Metroid Prime, but instead would be in third person. You would not be as agile as in Other M, but more similar to Dead Space or the Last of Us. In this way, they can create more tension in combat.

Personally, I'd like to see an ammo system put in place, or at least an overheating system like in Mass Effect 1. This would be another way to make combat more tense, and really make it feel like you are all alone with limited resources. Also, you can level up different upgrades individually for Samus as she gains experience in combat. Each upgrade could have a skill tree. For example, do I want my ice beam to have more power and shorter range, or less power and longer range? Do I want a bigger radius for bombs and a slower morph ball form, or a faster morph ball form, and a smaller bomb radius? You could also partake in side missions by visiting the Hub World and talking to civilians and other alien creatures.

Great ideas but at least the way you are describing them sounds a bit too much like the Tomb Raider reboot and with the next game coming the end of this year (I think?), the similarities could dampen Metroid hype.

Or how about Dark Souls/Bloodborne type combat? I don't mean really hard, but slow and tense. Also, imagine a fully orchestrated soundtrack for a Metroid game! That would be so fantastic!

Edit: For clarification, David Cage's writing is OK, as far as video game stories go and I liked them (I actually have the paper crane as my lock screen on my laptop), but someone at Nintendo picking up a controller, playing through one of his games, and saying "Boy, I really want to make a game like THAT," is about the last thing that needs to happen to the Metroid series right now.

I don't care what they do with the story, it's a lot like Zelda at this point, the timeline makes no sense what-so-ever and to make any sense out of it you need a Wiki. I just want Metroid dammit.

The series definitely needs another push as it is really amazing. If Nintendo wanted they could make the whole thing free-roam in space going from planet to planet, with Metroid being known for its back tracking to unlock new areas, having to traverse new parts of each planet would be fantastic and give the whole game a whole new level. So fingers crossed for that.

Hopefully Metroid will be able to crawl in future games. Also, Other M 2 is the future of Metroid.

In all seriousness, I'd like to see Metroid go back to 2D but I wouldn't be against a Metroid Prime first person game or even a game that features Other M-type gameplay. I do not care about story at this point. Just strip Samus of all her weapons, scatter them all across some vast, mysterious planet, put a bunch of baddies everywhere, and have her get to explorin'!!!

Bayonettroid. Samus dances around naked making witty comments while smacking pirates over their heads, right in the morph balls.

I don't think that is the solution to everything...