It should come to no one's surprise that Metroid Fusion, a game where Samus Aran fights a horde of parasitical organisms, conveys the themes of symbiosis spectacularly.
Parasitism is often defined as a symbiotic relationship where one party benefits, while the other is harmed. This theme is ever-present throughout the entire game, with the most obvious example being Samus' X infection that nearly costs her life.
But then there's the more subtle instances of parasitism - and one of them is the very game itself. It's been discussed to death how Metroid Fusion swings its unprecedented linear level design to its favour, by rivalling Metroid II's atmosphere, albeit to a larger extreme. Without her Varia Suit Samus takes higher damage from hits, and yet it is those same monsters that produce the parasites that she requires to restore her health. Samus benefits, the monsters are harmed. Parasitism. This sense of vulnerability is akin to the feeling of not knowing when a Metroid is going to show up the last time you were here - but this time, it's far, far worse. The enemies are much more hostile and threatening, and the linear design ends up dragging you through these sub-stations against your will. For the first time in Metroid, the true narrative of the game isn't that the monsters are stuck with you, moreso the inverse -
You're stuck with the monsters. And there's no escape until you get the job done.
Speaking of the job, Federation constantly jostles and orders Samus around the BSL station, leaving Samus to risk her life constantly while they sit back and collect data for their own selfish gains. Federation benefits, Samus is harmed. Parasitism. The Federation are also incredibly stingy with their map distribution, with most sub-sections having almost half the map hidden away for one to explore. And yet, this works in the favour of Metroid Fusion, because it ends up compensating for the linear level design by providing the player with much more secrets to discover within the levels.
All of these instances of parasitism also incidentally results in an unforeseen consequence - the loss of Samus' freedom and agency. For the most part. This is pretty self-explanatory, with Samus no longer having the license to roam a planet at free will and pick up hidden items whenever she wants to. There is only one chartered course from start to finish, and if Samus breaks order by any means, the superior authorities that bind her tighten the rope.
However, there is one thing that shines through within the bleak themes of parasitism - Samus' compassion. That same compassion that made her spare the Metroid hatchling's life, which ended up being the main reason she lives to experience the events of Fusion. Samus survives, and its because she helped that Metroid survive. That same compassion also made her spare the endangered animals in the habitation deck, despite them not being the human survivors she was tasked with searching for. And it's those animals that end up saving Samus' life when she's facing the brink of death. Samus survives once more, and the animals are saved, too. Both of these acts of kindness fall under this specific term:
Mutualism. The symbiotic relationship in which both parties benefit from one another.
By the end of the game, Samus is practically back to her prime (pun intended), and while in some cases this might be a cop-out in comparison to the bleak, horror-esque atmosphere the game had fostered before that, it feels more than justified. That's because when Samus sends BLS Station on a crash course with SR388, she regains her agency, doing the right thing and finally going against Federation orders to annihilate the X parasite. By doing so, she finally breaks away from the absurdly unfair odds stacked against her by both the station and the authorities.
Freedom at last.
Final score: 9.5/10
Focus: How Metroid Fusion explores the themes of parasitism... and mutualism.
Theme: Symbiotic relationships.
Parasitism is often defined as a symbiotic relationship where one party benefits, while the other is harmed. This theme is ever-present throughout the entire game, with the most obvious example being Samus' X infection that nearly costs her life.
But then there's the more subtle instances of parasitism - and one of them is the very game itself. It's been discussed to death how Metroid Fusion swings its unprecedented linear level design to its favour, by rivalling Metroid II's atmosphere, albeit to a larger extreme. Without her Varia Suit Samus takes higher damage from hits, and yet it is those same monsters that produce the parasites that she requires to restore her health. Samus benefits, the monsters are harmed. Parasitism. This sense of vulnerability is akin to the feeling of not knowing when a Metroid is going to show up the last time you were here - but this time, it's far, far worse. The enemies are much more hostile and threatening, and the linear design ends up dragging you through these sub-stations against your will. For the first time in Metroid, the true narrative of the game isn't that the monsters are stuck with you, moreso the inverse -
You're stuck with the monsters. And there's no escape until you get the job done.
Speaking of the job, Federation constantly jostles and orders Samus around the BSL station, leaving Samus to risk her life constantly while they sit back and collect data for their own selfish gains. Federation benefits, Samus is harmed. Parasitism. The Federation are also incredibly stingy with their map distribution, with most sub-sections having almost half the map hidden away for one to explore. And yet, this works in the favour of Metroid Fusion, because it ends up compensating for the linear level design by providing the player with much more secrets to discover within the levels.
All of these instances of parasitism also incidentally results in an unforeseen consequence - the loss of Samus' freedom and agency. For the most part. This is pretty self-explanatory, with Samus no longer having the license to roam a planet at free will and pick up hidden items whenever she wants to. There is only one chartered course from start to finish, and if Samus breaks order by any means, the superior authorities that bind her tighten the rope.
However, there is one thing that shines through within the bleak themes of parasitism - Samus' compassion. That same compassion that made her spare the Metroid hatchling's life, which ended up being the main reason she lives to experience the events of Fusion. Samus survives, and its because she helped that Metroid survive. That same compassion also made her spare the endangered animals in the habitation deck, despite them not being the human survivors she was tasked with searching for. And it's those animals that end up saving Samus' life when she's facing the brink of death. Samus survives once more, and the animals are saved, too. Both of these acts of kindness fall under this specific term:
Mutualism. The symbiotic relationship in which both parties benefit from one another.
By the end of the game, Samus is practically back to her prime (pun intended), and while in some cases this might be a cop-out in comparison to the bleak, horror-esque atmosphere the game had fostered before that, it feels more than justified. That's because when Samus sends BLS Station on a crash course with SR388, she regains her agency, doing the right thing and finally going against Federation orders to annihilate the X parasite. By doing so, she finally breaks away from the absurdly unfair odds stacked against her by both the station and the authorities.
Freedom at last.
Final score: 9.5/10
Focus: How Metroid Fusion explores the themes of parasitism... and mutualism.
Theme: Symbiotic relationships.
spiderfreak1011
9 months ago
Metroid in general has a lot of very great themes/symbolism in regards to Samus's overarching journey and how her compassion clashes with and is at odds with her missions oftentimes. Like you said, she can be very compassionate which has saved her life again and again, but by the same token, you can also argue her committing genocide on the Metroids is what caused her to suffer so much and get placed in the harsh situations she faces in Super and Fusion. In Super she has to brave Zebes once more to rescue the Baby Metroid she saved because Ridley and Mother Brain took advantage of her kindness to try and use the baby for their own ends, and she ultimately fails to achieve her mission. In Fusion, she's essentially forced to endure her own dark past in the manner she inflicted upon her victims. She's given Metroid DNA and is incredibly weakened, and is hunted by the SA-X, who is essentially a twisted dark version of her old powerful self, who hunts her down and tries to freeze her like a Metroid in the same manner that she hunted the Metroids down herself.
Metroid's narrative of Samus suffering karmic retribution for her sin of genocide and how she regrets her action and works to accept the karma she's received and still do what's right is very poignant and carries through from game to game in great ways, and I think it's incredibly well written. Glad to see you also enjoy the thematic genius of this awesome series!