Patrick’s Blog

This email contains spoilers for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Don’t read it if you want to play the game.

Email is as follows:

If you can get this tossed at the Retro team, that’d be great.
I picked up Metroid prime 2 right when it came out, went through it, scanned everything, the works.
I never played it again until just last night.  I suspected I missed something the first time, but I didn’t.

Why on earth are the Ing the villains? I don’t think they’re bad at all. I might be reading into your story too much, but seriously, hear me out on this. There might be other people with this opinion.

The story, so far as I understand it.

We have a cast of characters here:
Samus
Metroid Prime (who is dark samus here)
U-Mos and the Luminoth.
And the Ing (the actual name is never given, as the word “ing” is the demonization word given to them by the Luminoth)

Aether was a nice place inhabited by insects and other lower life forms. The Luminoth were drifters and were looking for a place to settle down. They land, they build a happy networked city of sorts, and things are good. They develop the planetary energy controllers, and things are great. This is called the “Golden Age” by the Luminoth, and is the time period most of the architecture comes from.

Things get sour. A meteor with phaeton in it impacts Aether (the luminoth weaponry wasn’t able to deflect the thing from hitting) This effectively splits the planet into two parts and messes up the environment. The Luminoth hide for a while, and come back to find the energy controllers have been messed with. They attempt to rebuild, and have first contact with the alien race of “Ing” It’s also on this meteor Metroid Prime, looking akin to Samus, lands on the planet and continues what she was doing on the meteor: eating phazon.

The Luminoth launch a counter offensive, develop new weaponry and tactical equipment, but ultimately lose the war. The remaining Luminoth hide up in a tower in cryo-stasis, and leave U-Mos to stand around outside just incase somebody comes by to save them. They can’t call for help (friends like the Chozo) because the atmospheric conditions don’t allow for radio communications.

The space pirates, noticing the phazon on the planet, land and establish a base. They seek mostly to get some phazon to use on their projects.  They also have an issue with the Ing,  and are losing the war of attrition. They have definite concerns about Metroid Prime, but continue working on the planet hoping they might be able to become friends.

Marines are dispatched to the planet, but they are quickly eliminated by the Ing.

Samus is contacted to investigate the disappearance, she crashes on the planet, and learns all about the whole situation. She meets up with U-Mos, sides with the Luminoth and proceeds to commit genocide against the Ing

What’s missing here? Motivation. The Ing have the same motivation the Luminoth do. They want to live. Based on the story, it seems like the entire war was based on a miscommunication. The ing can’t speak in the same way the Luminoth do. They seem to interact simply based on birthright. They also have a unique ability to bond with other beings in a symbiotic relationship. This occasionally kills the animal they attempt to merge with, but it effectively makes them the same being. Either through this method, or by another unmentioned method (telepathy? Ultrasonics?) they can organize into groups and even make tactical plans and develop advanced technology (the dimensional portals, not made by a machine, and they made them before the Luminoth did)

There’s no excuse for this war.

Orson Scott Card, a science fiction author wrote about this exact type of situation. In his world, they even established some clear rules about aliens and alien interaction. It uses two words to describe different aliens. “Raman”, and “Varelse.” Raman aliens are aliens that though different, you can communicate, and forge an understanding. There’s no excuse to have war against Raman aliens, because every animal is going to think rationally, and a communication can eventually be reached.

Varelse aliens, on the other hand, are  so alien and dangerous that you can’t know them and can’t reach an understanding with them. The only solution to this is war. Communication is not possible.

Ing are not Varelse. They’re Raman. They’re Raman because they have the ability to create technology, can communicate internally, work together, and enforce a social class system.

To make this story work, I feel like something was missing to establish the Ing as Varelse.  They may have shot first, but that alone isn’t enough to eliminate an entire species. Where’s the “smoking gun” that makes them so evil? I felt a major lack of motivation playing this because I didn’t agree with what I was doing.  Samus isn’t supposed to be a bad guy (girl.)

Anyway, Thanks for hearing me out. I do love everything you’ve done, and you can be sure I’ll pick up Prime 3 shortly after it’s available.

Thanks

–Patrick

This game still doesn’t make any sense. The story is all kinds of messed up. I’m so irritated with nintendo for doing it like this. It’s such a rush-job. They did so much good stuff, but so far as the story, there’s no reason to help Brad (U-mos, but I call him brad because the story is so arbotrary it doesn’t matter what his name is) wake up his buddies.

The black aliens are bad because…? They’re black I guess. There’s no reason they’re the bad guys. They have the same stake in the planet that brad does, so what gives? Why does brad get priority? Because he speaks english?

Bah.

Appears to take place in midgar.

Oh, oddly enough I went to the dentist today because of the severe pain in my teeth. Barely anything’s wrong with my teeth. I have a very small minor cavity between two teeth I wasn’t aware of. The -real- problem is *drumroll*

I grind my teeth at night. The pointy spot on my back right 2nd molar? It’s pointy because it’s not all ground away like my other teeth.

Isn’t that crappy? Grrr!

Oh well. I’ll sleep with a mouth protector then. Honestly, with sleeping next to veronika at night it’s a wise safety measure.

Aaah It’s satisfying to look through Oregon’s laws and statutes and find many many laws broken by the temp agency that screwed me over.

Did you know it’s illegal to call a job a “temporary” job if it is expected to last more than 90 days?

It’s not just amoral, it’s fucking ILLEGAL (with a 10,000 dollar fine) to post false information about a job offer.

Of course we knew about the one where they have to pay you like, immediately. They violate that one too, but some weasle snuck in a law in 2k2 that says the fine paid to the employee can’t exceed the ammount of wages earned (curses!)

I went through handel on the law’s website and submitted my case to the lawyers in that network. I suspect I’ll get a call tomorrow. Satan’s heating up his pokers!
…*smiles at his pokers*

has reached outrageous new heights. I’m awake at 2:am and for just a moment there (it was brief) I got totally excited because “Cool Runnings” is on

*sigh*