Board 8 > Super Mario Odyssey was kind of disappointing...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Finished getting all the moons finally, just kind of feels underwhelming compared to the better 3D Mario games. Mainly because it went for a pure quantity over quality mindset. At least half the moons are just sitting in arbitrary spots on the map either in rabbits on a pole or in the ground. Half is probably being generous here.

Moons that actually gave a sense of accomplishment for finding them probably sat in the 5% range. The game is simply too easy. Mario has all these neat new platforming moves with cappy but they just make what are already easier sections even easier. The gold Koopa sections are prime examples of this. They are almost all meant to be beaten without marios best platforming techniques. Use them and you just win, it won't even be close, even with multiple mistakes.

The game is just afraid to challenge the player. The Perfect Run equivalent is more a test of patience than of any sort of precision platforming.

At a certain point, you definitely get tired of playing Wheres Waldo with power moons. the game just leans heavily on that type of game design.

Its definitely not a chore to play like Sunshine, but i finish it with the impression that it just never hits the highs of 64 or either of the Galaxy games.

But Sunshine was great
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I'll agree to disagree
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I'm excited for more exploratory Mario gameplay, even if many moons are just a checking of the box.
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To me it wasn't very disappointing because I had low expectations and it surprised me with its controls. Level/moon design was almost entirely bad, yeah, but I did expect that.

Post-game was REALLY disappointing though. I always enjoy the "2nd half" of Mario games but this one I had absolutely no desire to go hunt for all these dumb moons. Most of the "super hard" levels were just super frustrating, unlike Galaxy 2 where difficulty was very well done. The 250 moon boss rush was especially horrible, absolutely zero new content or real challenge, just pure tedium.

That being said, Galaxy 1 was kinda the same way, which means Odyssey 2 is gonna be insanely good. Looking forward to that.
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I set my expectations super low and was still disappointed
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Also the most disappointing thing was seeing the game make some damn good open/exploration levels (New Donk and beach level), but the rest were still largely linear. If the whole game was like that, the lack of well-designed moons would've been more excusable.
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Game was baller
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Nah it was great
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Tears of joy came out of my eyeballs the whole time playing it
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What was you guys' favorite moment from the game? Mine was the 8-Bit platforming during the New Donk City concert.
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When it turned into a 3D Sonic game the final five minutes of the main story
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Final sequence being Bowser
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What the previous two gentlemen said.
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Also one of my bigger gripes is that many moons are inaccessible your first time in an area for no reason. There are some moons where this makes sense, you look at the area and see that its changed as a result of your actions, so you want to go explore. There are some where nothing has changed but now there is suddenly a moon there because reasons. Many of the timer challenges are especially guilty of this.

You are basically being punished for exploring your first time in an area, because you are just going to be made to do double work.

MrSmartGuy posted...

What the previous two gentlemen said.

I will also back this. Easily the most fun main sequence conclusion in a 3d mario.

GANON1025 posted...

Nah it was great

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Mario is an effortless amazing game, but if you think Mario is better that Nier: Automata, you're a cop.
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Leafeon13N posted...

Also one of my bigger gripes is that many moons are inaccessible your first time in an area for no reason. There are some moons where this makes sense, you look at the area and see that its changed as a result of your actions, so you want to go explore. There are some where nothing has changed but now there is suddenly a moon there because reasons. Many of the timer challenges are especially guilty of this.

You are basically being punished for exploring your first time in an area, because you are just going to be made to do double work.

Yes this same feeling happens AGAIN after you beat the game. So there's really no point in exploring until you've completely finished the game and you're revisiting levels which doesn't seem like great design in a game sold on exploration.
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Odyssey's a great game, but it's wearing me out trying to get all the Moons because I'm not a completionist by nature but I enjoy getting all the Stars/Moons in Mario games usually. It's just too much random stuff, but otherwise, it's excellent.
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I only have the playable sample display Switches offer and found 3 of those Moons almost immediately. It's about what I expected it would be though the Switch joystick controller things are kinda small and I literally didn't even notice the two buttons on top of both of them until like 10 minutes after holding them

I love Odyssey. I'm not someone who is a completionist, even in 3D Mario games. Having to double back was a little annoying, but I saw it as an opportunity to revisit old kingdoms and enjoy them again.
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Some of the levels were my favorite experiences in any Mario (particularly the beach level), but I think Galaxy 2 was better overall (and the best Mario game imo).

Similar to foolmo, I hope they make Odyssey 2.
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LapisLazuli posted...

Mario is an effortless amazing game, but if you think Mario is better that Nier: Automata, you're a cop.

Officer SHINE reporting for duty
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100%'d the game and loved every second of it. People who want Galaxy style design are missing what the game is about. World design is outstanding with a few misses that still end up being good.

Easily my favorite Mario game and my game of the year. More games could takes notes from this on actually making their world's feel full - almost every single thing you'd think to do will be rewarded. That really blew me away compare to, say, BotW, which while praised for its open world was more empty space than anything else.
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There's a lot of great elements but overall I think it's too light on challenge and there are a good chunk of moons that are lazy and/or make little sense. The world designs are good and it does the open world well, but honestly I just prefer the 3D Marios with more emphasis on platforming.

Hat jumping is godlike though
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I wish the alternate costumes did more than unlock random doors

Seginustemple posted...

I wish the alternate costumes did more than unlock random doors

I wish they were just alternate costumes and didn't unlock random doors. Having to go back and fetch a costume wasn't fun.

GANON1025 posted...

Nah it was great

Tons of games are great. Mario is supposed to be better.
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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

Hat jumping is godlike though

Without the hat tricks the game would be a 5/10 tops
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foolm0r0n posted...

Tons of games are great. Mario is supposed to be better.

This is basically where i am at.

I still find it so odd when people try to use Mario 64 as some bastion of good Star design when most of those stars are "Get to this arbitrary place. Oh, except what you need to get here may not be available until you actually select this star when you enter for no reason whatsoever."

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
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Leafeon13N posted...

I wish they were just alternate costumes and didn't unlock random doors. Having to go back and fetch a costume wasn't fun.

True, but I think the solution to that would be to let the player swap costumes at any time. I'd rather have more accessibility and functionality than less.

Seginustemple posted...

Leafeon13N posted...

I wish they were just alternate costumes and didn't unlock random doors. Having to go back and fetch a costume wasn't fun.

True, but I think the solution to that would be to let the player swap costumes at any time. I'd rather have more accessibility and functionality than less.

You lose a little bit of immersion this way.

HashtagSEP posted...

still find it so odd when people try to use Mario 64 as some bastion of good Star design when most of those stars are "Get to this arbitrary place. Oh, except what you need to get here may not be available until you actually select this star when you enter for no reason whatsoever."

Definitely dumb but the level within a level philosophy of Mario 64 was generally done really well. And Bowser stages in particular are usually really good, crisp platforming. Still some of the best to this day.

Also it had little to do with enjoyment of the game but Odyssey was further proof that motion controls still suck.

Also spinning cap had no excuse to not be executable with a standard spin attack motion. That move was really dumb.

HashtagSEP posted...

I still find it so odd when people try to use Mario 64 as some bastion of good Star design when most of those stars are "Get to this arbitrary place. Oh, except what you need to get here may not be available until you actually select this star when you enter for no reason whatsoever."

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug

I mean it's usually just "get the first Star, which we made the most clearly obvious one to get." The only thing I recall being particularly bad was not giving you the shell in the lava world.
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I'm just going to say that after a gaming slump, Super Mario Odyssey is the game that had reminded me of why I liked playing video games and since playing it, I've become more interested in gaming overall. Not even BotW did that for me.

Super Mario Odyssey is easily my 2017 game of the year.
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HashtagSEP posted...

I still find it so odd when people try to use Mario 64 as some bastion of good Star design when most of those stars are "Get to this arbitrary place. Oh, except what you need to get here may not be available until you actually select this star when you enter for no reason whatsoever."

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug

I've never played it so I need to try it and see if it truly lives up to the hype
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HashtagSEP posted...

I still find it so odd when people try to use Mario 64 as some bastion of good Star design when most of those stars are "Get to this arbitrary place. Oh, except what you need to get here may not be available until you actually select this star when you enter for no reason whatsoever."

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug

As someone who played SM64 much later than everyone else, I will echo this big time. A lot of levels aren't intuitive beyond the first star or two.
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skullbone posted...

Leafeon13N posted...

Also one of my bigger gripes is that many moons are inaccessible your first time in an area for no reason. There are some moons where this makes sense, you look at the area and see that its changed as a result of your actions, so you want to go explore. There are some where nothing has changed but now there is suddenly a moon there because reasons. Many of the timer challenges are especially guilty of this.

You are basically being punished for exploring your first time in an area, because you are just going to be made to do double work.

Yes this same feeling happens AGAIN after you beat the game. So there's really no point in exploring until you've completely finished the game and you're revisiting levels which doesn't seem like great design in a game sold on exploration.

Actually the moons that are unlocked after you've finished the game, get shown on the map. So when those are added, you shouldn't feel like you have to re-explore previously explored areas.

(But besides those moons, I agree that one of the main flaws in the game is trying to explore and some stuff is unavailable for no reason (like many hat doors for example).)
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Epyo posted...

Actually the moons that are unlocked after you've finished the game, get shown on the map. So when those are added, you shouldn't feel like you have to re-explore previously explored areas.

It's not just the moon rocks. There are plenty of moons that don't show up until you finish an area and come back
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Yep totally agree, that is an annoying feature, just pointing out that the huge mass of moons unlocked by the cubes are not the annoying ones, since those do not punish you if you've already explored an area. (they're on the map, so they need no re-exploration)
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It's sad but the cube moons felt way more fun on a second run through than missed non-cube moons because of the map
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Epyo posted...

Yep totally agree, that is an annoying feature, just pointing out that the huge mass of moons unlocked by the cubes are not the annoying ones, since those do not punish you if you've already explored an area. (they're on the map, so they need no re-exploration)

Those moons are more lazy than they are punishing. Very few that feel rewarding in the slightest. The dumb birds flying around may be the worst. Their paths are way too large.
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Also upon checking apparently I am missing a capture.

I am not quite sure what it is.
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Super Mario 64 isn't that amazing no. B-K did it better.
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red13n posted...

Also upon checking apparently I am missing a capture.

I am not quite sure what it is.

Piranha Plant?
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Murphiroth posted...

red13n posted...

Also upon checking apparently I am missing a capture.

I am not quite sure what it is.

Piranha Plant?

I think I need a second variant on this. Apparently I only have the poison variety.
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red13n posted...

Murphiroth posted...

red13n posted...

Also upon checking apparently I am missing a capture.

I am not quite sure what it is.

Piranha Plant?

I think I need a second variant on this. Apparently I only have the poison variety.

Yes, there are fire pirahna plants. In the luncheon kingdom?
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