Date played: August 30th
Platform: Switch
I think I really like this game... I've played a bit more, still in the first world, and faced a mid-world boss as well as a bunch of regular battles. One thing that really makes this game work is the great music. Ubisoft took many classic Mario songs and have remixed them masterfully. My favorite is a beautiful rendition of the Princess Castle theme from Mario 64... It weirdly made me want a remake of the N64 classic. The graphics are really good too, considering the power of the Switch, with great animation, bright colors and good performance.
The game is easier than something like XCOM, but it's not a cakewalk either... This became apparent when I faced off against the mid-world boss, a weird fusion of a Piranha Plant from Mario, and a Rabbid. This was one of the largest battlefields yet, and for good reason. The damn plant can cover long distances with his movement and attack. He was accompanied by a large number of regular enemies too...
I had to use positioning as my main weapon. High ground provides a bonus to damage, so I tried to stay at a higher position than the boss, but his fireball attacks would often destroy my cover. Their burn effect makes it even worse as it will make my party members move out of position as they try to put out their fiery clothes. Mario died in this battle, my first death, but Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Luigi were able to complete the battle successfully.
After the battle, we found Luigi! He has joined our team, so I now have 4 party members to choose from. Luigi is focused on long range combat, being a sort of sniper, and that seems very useful, so I swapped him in instead of Rabbid Luigi. I love Luigi so far...
I've also gotten a few new abilities that can used once every few turns. For example, Rabbid Peach has a bubble shield that will reduce damage taken for one turn, so if you know you're in bad position and the she will get hit, it's a good way to mitigate the damage. My favorite of these is Mario's and Luigi's, as it's basically the "overwatch" feature from X-COM. This means that during the enemy turn, any enemy that runs through the hero's line of sight will be shot. This allows for many, many strategic decisions.
I'm really surprised at the depth of combat so far... I even just unlocked the game's skill tree, which allows for some character customization a bit. For example, I focused Mario on "movement" skills, but Luigi on "attack". For example, Mario can now stomp on an enemy after being launched by a team jump. The skill trees seem very simple, but there's still enough there to make big differences in gameplay. I love this game a lot, and I want to just go back and play it right now!
Platform: Switch
I think I really like this game... I've played a bit more, still in the first world, and faced a mid-world boss as well as a bunch of regular battles. One thing that really makes this game work is the great music. Ubisoft took many classic Mario songs and have remixed them masterfully. My favorite is a beautiful rendition of the Princess Castle theme from Mario 64... It weirdly made me want a remake of the N64 classic. The graphics are really good too, considering the power of the Switch, with great animation, bright colors and good performance.
The game is easier than something like XCOM, but it's not a cakewalk either... This became apparent when I faced off against the mid-world boss, a weird fusion of a Piranha Plant from Mario, and a Rabbid. This was one of the largest battlefields yet, and for good reason. The damn plant can cover long distances with his movement and attack. He was accompanied by a large number of regular enemies too...
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| Combat is very good... |
After the battle, we found Luigi! He has joined our team, so I now have 4 party members to choose from. Luigi is focused on long range combat, being a sort of sniper, and that seems very useful, so I swapped him in instead of Rabbid Luigi. I love Luigi so far...
I've also gotten a few new abilities that can used once every few turns. For example, Rabbid Peach has a bubble shield that will reduce damage taken for one turn, so if you know you're in bad position and the she will get hit, it's a good way to mitigate the damage. My favorite of these is Mario's and Luigi's, as it's basically the "overwatch" feature from X-COM. This means that during the enemy turn, any enemy that runs through the hero's line of sight will be shot. This allows for many, many strategic decisions.
I'm really surprised at the depth of combat so far... I even just unlocked the game's skill tree, which allows for some character customization a bit. For example, I focused Mario on "movement" skills, but Luigi on "attack". For example, Mario can now stomp on an enemy after being launched by a team jump. The skill trees seem very simple, but there's still enough there to make big differences in gameplay. I love this game a lot, and I want to just go back and play it right now!
