Topic: So, where does Metroid go?

I say let her unlock new abilities by leveling up. Throw in skill trees for each one too.

What I would also like to see besides a fresh story, much like Hunters, where it's a new threat, new planet/galaxy, new race and a majority of new upgrades, is for speed running to be a part of the experience. Too often I see ideas that seem counter to that element whenever the idea of a new Metroid is discussed, and I hope Nintendo doesn't stray that far from how most of the series' games are designed. Honestly, Metroid Prime, a game I can beat in 3-4 hours now is too slow for me based on the standards I have for the series. A Metroid game with skill trees, complex planet hopping, free roam, "deep" storytelling through cutscenes and/or any number of RPG aspects would be a tough pill for me to swallow anymore than once if that. I love taking Metroid games in a blaze of glory and seeing Samus out of her armor in any number of attire in better endings.

One thing I don't really get that's been suggested here is that having a Metroid game pre-Metroid is somehow a correction of Samus's characterization in Other M. It's not. It's showing a character at a different time and different way of thinking. Samus when the Space Pirates are a major threat in the galaxy should not have the same mindset as Samus after she just saw their top stronghold blow up into a million pieces. A Samus living in a time where the Space Pirates are a constant worry compared to a Samus in a time where the pirates are becoming forgotten. Time should change the shape of any character, and it did for Samus. You're not thinking the same way you did at 13 as you do when you're 23, do you? There's no "correction" in this route. The best way to go about Metroid 5 is to show that Samus has gone back to the mindset she had when the Space Pirates were a threat now that the Galactic Federation is really showing its messy hands.

Metroid 5 is another title I'm not really that into if all it's going to go off of is Metroid Fusion, a game going on 13 years. To me, it needs to involve more modern corrupt Federation plotlines. Hunters, 2006, introduced Sylux, Shock Coil, Lockjaw and the Delano 7, the first being the character that stole the following three Federation tech. Considering its Metroid-like ability to leech energy at rapid rates, Sylux and the Shock Coil line right up into the arc of the Federation breeding projects. Other M provides an interesting way Samus can be impacted in Metroid 5, the telepathy of a Mother Brain A.I. Hopefully in Metroid 5 it's something more gruesome than Melissa Bergman's appearance.

Again, if you'd reread and not take my post out of context you'd realize that I wasn't asking for Quantic Dream gameplay. Only a similar concept to Beyond 2 Souls, in that the game spans a character's childhood into adulthood.

I think it'd be cool if they did a third person action / shooter Metroid where the power armor is literally powered. Power being a survival horror-like resource management task and, as it goes away parts of Samus' armor will break for the near future. Not in an exploitative way, but in such a way that you feel vulnerable without the armor, as attacks do much more damage and certain attacks will 1-shot kill Samus as they infect her with space virus'.

In a Dark Souls-ish way the less armor Samus wears the faster she could move too.

That sounds fantastic.

@I-U: It's meant to repair her image in fan's eyes. From everything I've read, fans didn't like her portrayal (I haven't actually played Other M, but plan to at some point.). Just portraying Samus in more of her usual way would restore fan's confidence in her character. I just thought an interesting way to go about it would be to see her rise to esteem she has in the events of Metroid.

Samus portrayed in her "usual way," is when each fan has an opening to interpret nearly all of Samus' character through mainly gameplay elements. Anything more than that, no matter if it's Other M or a pre-Metroid game, is Samus portrayed unnaturally. Her character is mostly a blank canvas. At least in 8 of the 10 Metroid games (excluding Prime Pinball), that's Samus. Though I don't have an issue with Samus's portrayal in Metroid Other M overall given that it occurs between Super Metroid and Fusion, I do think the biggest mistake made with that title was that it gave so much definition to Samus's character. I would prefer Nintendo not repeat that and have Samus go back to being a mystery for the player to unravel.

The biggest mistake was a bad writer. Do not mistake the lack of information for a mystery; as a mystery with no concealed truth is nothing but a lie.

And I won't let you appropriate the Prime games as part of your boring plot proliferation scheme. They are quite different from the 2D games, that had not the technology to do much of a story, in that you see Samus a lot in cutscenes and through a first person perspective. By seeing her body language and mirroring her actions you develop a sense for her character that none of the previous games managed.

Further development, if not done by dummies, could be great. You just need talented writers and possibly voice actors.

Jennifer Hale. Jennifer freaking Hale.

Sounds good to me. I've always wanted Metroid to tap more into its obvious horror influences. I just think any more exploration of her past, this far into the series, is going to bog down the story.

Where ever a Metroid wants to, that's where.

Story-wise, show us what happens after Fusion.

Surely Samus would be a fugitive to the GF after destroying (yet another) one of their mad science, cloning, space stations.

Far, far away from Sakamoto's hands.

The crazy thing is is that I think Metroid is way better than Alien(s). I just like the setting a lot more; it seems more novel. So, yeah, I'd love to see Metroid's version of a biological horror theme.

I would like to see a really Metroid prequel at least once. I don't really know what story there's to bog down right now, as with all of the jumping around, both with the timeline and the developer, there is no apparent plot thread. Hence this thread.

And on Jennifer Hale, I think she could do a good Samus. She voiced fem Sheppard who you could basically play as Samus; fridge family and all. The only thing is to sort out would be renaming the 'space pirates' to something that sounds less incredibly, terribly on-the-nose in the voice acting.

I agree. Clearly the glory days are long gone from that dude.

Metroid needs to return to its roots of a passive narrative with lots of exploration and creative environments. The first step towards that would be to give Sakamoto some other project to handle, and leave things to Miyamoto and Yamamoto.

The best way for the Metroid saga to continue, would be to somehow circumvent the implications of Fusion's ending. Corrupt government stories are so painfully worn-out and lazy, and were the most generic and predictable element in both Fusion and Other M.
My idea would be that the corrupted parts of the Galactic Federation cause some chaos before being caught (serving as some sort of MegaMan-esque tutorial section where Samus helps apprehending the military threats from the corrupt groups), causing the righteous Federation to be too busy with investigations to hand Samus any job assignments. Right afterwards, Samus should return to what she set out to do all the time: search ruins in hopes of finding Chozo survivors, and kill Space Pirates so hard, they die to death - even though the Pirates aren't even a threat anymore.
Also: no Ridley this time. He's deader than dead, and bringing him back yet again through some Deus-ex Machina bull is only gonna make him come off as increasingly dull and uninvolved.

@U-I: I'd argue Samus isn't a blank slate. She's designed to let the player project his or her own self onto her, but she does have some character. Actions that she makes throughout the game's story, sparing the Infant Metroid and destroying BSL at least display some of her perceived morals. I'm not familiar with her portrayal in the manga, but I feel like they could build some aspects from that when she's acting on her own, but still leave enough of her personality undefined (especially when suited) to still serve her in-game purpose.

@Kaze_Memaryu: There's one aspect of post-Fusion narrative that I would like to see preserved. The ending of Fusion, assuming there were no other samples of Metroid DNA created a fairly interesting dynamic. Samus would be the only reason that Metroids could be brought back. Metroids are necessary to control the X-Parasite population, but are also have to potential to be used as a devastating bioweapon. I think the best depiction they could give the Galactic Federation would not necessarily be as a corrupt, power-seeking group, but as people whose ambition in experimenting with Metroids, Space Pirate Weapons, Shock Coils, Mother Brain, X-Parasite, etc. for potential defensive capabilities do not realize the dangerous potential of their actions.

I agree, this would be an interesting plot element. Because with Samus being the only Metroid left, it further stresses her importance in the storyline as being the only one who can stop galactic threats like the X.

Is there any concrete proof that there are no more Metroids after the end of Fusion?

I mean sure, the remnants of the space station (that was filled with Metroids and X parasites, including extra copies of the SA-X) burned up in that planet's atmosphere that it was falling into, but I had always assumed that any potential sequel would just go with the narrative that a few of each threat had survived the impact, and now have populated said planet plentifully.

@CaviarMeths Here's the thing though, she actually already has voiced Samus in the Prime games! Those grunts you hear Samus make when she is injured? That's Jennifer Hale even BEFORE Mass Effect! Pretty cool.

I think you're @'ing the wrong person. I never mentioned VA for Samus.