The doctor is here, and I'm preparing my thesis.
It's finally here, playable for you, it's the newest 3D Mario game...crew. Mario Odyssey is out! Also out this week, Greg and Jon. We decided to save our mostly spoiler-free discussion of Mario Odyssey for the second segment, so the show kicks off with NWR News Editor Donald Theriault and his impressions of Fire Emblem Warriors. He too has now had to do the rushed review, and it turns out he still enjoyed hacking down thousands of nameless soldiers. Guillaume has impressions of the New 3DS version of Fire Emblem Warriors (it runs well) and much more, fresh from the Nintendo of Canada holiday event. He also got his hands on: Doom, Skyrim, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, and Snipperclips Plus. James had nothing but Mario to talk about, so he reads an email about unpopular opinions.
In the second segment, former host and notorious Regulator Jonny Metts joins the trio to talk Super Mario Odyssey. As Jon so neatly summarized last week, it is an "absolute delight". They talk about the game's structure, its humor, and its overall feel. We'll have a more detailed conversation in the near future, but for now we try to avoid talking about specific details of the game.
Thanks to Donald and Jonny for joining us on short notice.
Lastly, we have some news! It's time for RFN's next RetroActive: The WiiWare Farewell Tour. On the verge of the service's demise, we've taken your suggestions for unforgettable WiiWare and built a poll. Voting closes at the end of our next recording session (11/9), so vote NOW.
Our candidates are:
We'll be doing our RetroActive as part of the NWR 8th Annual Telethon in Support of Child's Play Charity, on Saturday, Dec. 2. Full details will be available on NWR soon.
Shout Out to Clex Yoshi for all but dooming us to a retroactive of LA Mulana. How is it it's always people who are wrong who get a fanbase?
Whow, the La Mulana fans are really in sync there. 30 people voting at the exact same time :O xD
Allow me to explain that in detail.
When I found out this poll went live, I went to several discord servers I frequent, my tumblr, and other forms of social media I have and told folks I really want to hear RFN talk about one of my all-time favorite games, and maybe have an excuse to properly revisit it after all this time!
Allow me to explain that in detail.
When I found out this poll went live, I went to several discord servers I frequent, my tumblr, and other forms of social media I have and told folks I really want to hear RFN talk about one of my all-time favorite games, and maybe have an excuse to properly revisit it after all this time!
I hope the people who voted actually listen to RFN and didn't just vote because you asked them to. That'd kind of suck otherwise. If not, James, start your FFCC campaign so we can get advice/commands from the oddly-dressed chancellor/prime minister.
A much more interesting Blaster Master game already had a (Somewhat) recent retroactive a couple of years back
the only game I kinda feel bad about rallying the base for the democratic process over is Contra Rebirth, because that game is kinda doomed, especiallyb ecause... yes, it was sandwiched between the much better Contra 4 and the XBLA Hard Corps remake/reboot/sequel thing. I still think of the rebirth games, Gradius and especially Castlevania the Adventure are the two more deserving games.
So we had a chat in RFN back-channels. I'll admit, I'm not in love with how that went down, but it is what it is.
So if it wins, it wins. HOWEVER anyone out campaigning for this game should campaign just as stridently to get those same people to attend, spread the word, and donate.
That said, I'd have preferred this go without people feeling put-out. And we're going to have the chance for that, with our first stretch goal: a second RFN WiiWare RetroActive. $4k is the goal for the telethon. Right now we're looking at either 4.5k or 5k.
And there will be no brigading this time. Donations will help drive the vote. Details tbd
La Mulana 2 is also kinda stuck in developer hell as is?
Wario Land 1 on the gameboy is absolutely the best Wario Land game. No question about it.
Even back in the 90's when i went to buy Wario Land 2 i was sooooo disappointed in it. Still own it and still am.
This is by far the most negative Mario odessey podcast I’ve listened too. Attack me for this comment but true.
This is by far the most negative Mario odessey podcast I’ve listened too. Attack me for this comment but true.
Game club run by Shesez, Beta64, and A+Start on Youtube was harsher, ragging on things like artistic inconsistency and how they like Galaxy better and such.
This is by far the most negative Mario odessey podcast I’ve listened too. Attack me for this comment but true.If you insist. Comrades! We strike at dawn.
This is by far the most negative Mario odessey podcast I’ve listened too. Attack me for this comment but true.
Sometimes I think people forget that these games are made for a wide wide range of people. The Co op mechanic is amazing with my kids because I can help with cappy or I can control Mario in harder sections and have them help with cappy and they love it. Much more than the Galaxy coop.
Also having a bunch of moons and some being super easy to get is perfectly fine. My kinds (4 and 6) find some moons way way too hard but some of the easier ones that are just “laying around” they love cause they still are having fun and they still get that sense of reward from getting a moon and it keeps them going instead of hitting a brick wall and just running around for an hour without getting one moon because adults complained that every moon should be a challenge.
Sometimes I think people forget that these games are made for a wide wide range of people. The Co op mechanic is amazing with my kids because I can help with cappy or I can control Mario in harder sections and have them help with cappy and they love it. Much more than the Galaxy coop.
That's the problem, isn't it? These games are made for a broad audience, as you say, and the yet the co-op mode only seems to be useful for people with young children. I'm fairly certain that Guillaume's partner is not a 6-year-old, so you should understand why they didn't find it as enjoyable (especially coming off a game like Super Mario 3D World, which had great co-op for experienced players).Also having a bunch of moons and some being super easy to get is perfectly fine. My kinds (4 and 6) find some moons way way too hard but some of the easier ones that are just “laying around” they love cause they still are having fun and they still get that sense of reward from getting a moon and it keeps them going instead of hitting a brick wall and just running around for an hour without getting one moon because adults complained that every moon should be a challenge.
Yeah, it is fine for the main game. The problem is that there are many superfluous post-game Power Moons as well. Just as it isn't unreasonable to expect Mario games to be very accessible for children or less experienced gamers during the main game, it's not unreasonable to expect that the game sheds the fluff and delivers a more lean platforming challenge after the credits roll. Having Power Moons that are in plain sight, require no platforming challenge to get to, and marked on the map as post-game content does make it seem like they were just trying to get the Power Moon count up.
I do think the RFN crew sometimes comes across as more critical of a game than they intend to, but this episode didn't really feel like one of those weeks. I was actually surprised at how effusive James was in his praise for this game, and the discussion felt pretty balanced overall.
Are you saying that you're not enjoying coming across as overly critical and negative, and that before you even said anything you knew people would make a big deal out of your light criticism and would act overly defensive? That you're a big fan but had some issues with the latest that came out, and it brought you down?
I can't imagine what that's like.
Look, I'm sorry for being snarky but I tried to be mostly positive, it's just that no one else seemed to have the same feelings about the game as I did, so I had to express them. I know some listeners feel the same way I do, and I don't see a reason to not express that point of view. The alternative would have been to shut up, which is largely what I did for the one hour Odyssey conversation between James and Greg on 547, so go ahead and enjoy that.
I may have some more positive things to say in future episodes, as I find aspects of the game I like more. But the collectathon nature of the game isn't something I enjoy, and unfortunately it's prevalent and unavoidable when playing through the game.
Kobeskillz, out of curiosity, how long have you been listening to RFN? They have had a tendency to spend a lot of time nit-picking flaws in a game that they overall largely love, spanning as far back as I remember (Dr. Metts days).
You had two people on the podcast who both summarized that they had effusive praise for the game, and one who didn't say he didn't like the game, but wanted to provide input as to why he wasn't enamored with it at the same level as Jonny & James.
Additionally, while this is a matter of personal preference, RFN's podcasts are often conversational when touching upon a larger game or topic, which can cause uneven flow. I personally like it, but understand it's a matter of personal taste.