Super Mario Odyssey - Not so Timeless 4 Years Later | Retrospective, Video Essay & Review
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Super Mario Odyssey - Not so Timeless 4 Years Later | Retrospective, Video Essay & Review
Chapters:
Introduction - 0:00
Pre-Release Hype - 1:56
Movement - 7:19
Captures - 9:50
Kingdoms - 12:33
OST - 15:33
Moons - 15:56
Post Game & Final Thoughts- 18:22
Bowser's Fury - 20:39
Conclusion - 21:29
I feel like the proper way to start a retrospective on the going on 4 year old Super Mario Odyssey would be to present a big spiel on Mario’s history leading up to its release. After all, Super Mario Odyssey’s whole thing is that it was a celebration of Mario’s history throughout the years. However the keyword there is “was” because we’re now at the point where Super Mario Odyssey is also a part of Mario’s history… Super, Odyssey… for the sake of not saying it a million times I’m going to be referring to Super Mario Odyssey as Odyssey so just know I’m not talking about assassin’s creed… or honda. Anyways the joke machine is on low battery after that nonsense so let me be serious. Super Mario Odyssey might be my favourite game. It’s just so nostalgic to me because I’m a dumb teenager but is it deserving of such a title? I suppose that’s why I’m making this video and maybe I’ll feel differently by the end of the script. So I’m not going to break down who Mario is because we all know what we’re here for but before we dive into the deep end let's start at the beginning of Odyssey’s history.
Thanks for watching!
A collection of videos/video essays on game design in the platforming genre. From Mario to Shovel Knight, Metroid to Castlevania and Kirby to Hollow Knight; it's all here on Platformer Game Design. Platform games provide some of the greatest gaming experiences so let's celebrate it! I'm your host Alex T. and I hope you enjoy yourself on the channel!
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All music used is from Super Mario Odyssey and belongs to its respective owners.
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Finally finished this bigger video. Hopefully you all enjoy this walk down memory lane. While you're here why don't you hop on over to my discord (link in the description). Super casual and I'm always up for answering questions. Sorry this video is so compressed by the way. I would turn on 1080p for a decent experience. Well I hope you all enjoyed! Take care!
Damn you showing everything leading up the release of the game was a trip down memory lane thank you for that 😢
I hope we get some news on a new 3D Platformer at Nintendo’s E3. It’s been too long since Odyssey!
I personally love odyssey, but I can understand where you’re coming from- love the video!
I played through this game for the first time this year and I loved it. Definitely one of the best platformers I've ever played.
have you played...literally any highly reccomended platformer?
odyssey is the barest of bare bones when it comes to platformers, with cappy seemingly being built specifically to skip the platforming
collectibles being more of a nuissance than a reward, terrible level design, set dressing and cappy possessions etc etc
other than masturbating to the mario brand i really don't see anything to like in odyssey outside of the controls i guess?..
@@fortnitesexman Damn, I really don’t like you’re attitude.
@@fortnitesexmanhave you.. ever thought that people like other things? The game isn't loved for no reason lol
I was a lonely edgy teen at high school when this game came out, so this was a nice breath of fresh air for me.
I can't believe 2017 is already so nostalgic to me, then again I can't believe it was already 4 YEARS ago.
It makes me happy that so many people have moved past blindly praising this game. I don’t think it’ll be enough to cause Nintendo to improve upon any of it’s many problems and missed opportunities in a sequel, but you never really know. Criticizing it is at least better than saying nothing.
lmao, everything he said was already said during the launch of the game, nothing new here. And bowser's fury already solved some of Odyssey's problems with the collectables
What do you mean “blindly praising”? People are allowed to have their opinions. If someone likes or hates odyssey, more power to them, it’s not blind praise if they like something
I think the quality of Nintendo videogames is not as good as it used to be, especially Mario games. There is still the great Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine to play on consoles so it's ok. I don't have high hopes for future Nintendo Mario games.
@@aspiknf most people that say this just grew up out of Mario games but remain the same opinions as they had for the games they played as children
@@TheCrazyfilmsincthey do blindly praise it. A lot of normies have completely taken over gaming and they'll almost praise anything nowadays and haven't really played the older games to tell these games are not that good. I miss back when people were mocked and made fun of for play games seem like games were much better and once it became mainstream it just went downhill from there cause normies kind of ruin everything
I actually think galaxy 2 is the best game in retrospect. Sure it's derivative but it has some of the best level design in the medium. And like galaxy 1, while the movement is limited the levels are designed around them so they're fine - and you can still pull off some great tricks when you're good at the game. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's pretty much a flawless game at what it's going for. Odyssey is a lot more ambitious but there's definitely some problems that should be ironed out in a sequel, kinda like galaxy 1.
In fact I'd say galaxy 2 only really has 2 objective flaws: the down time after collecting a star, and maybe the final boss. The first one isn't a big deal on its own, but it really draws out the game once you unlock the green stars since they always kick you out of the level. The final boss is disappointing but it's satisfying enough in a vacuum, which is why I said 'maybe.'
Couldn't agree more. Galaxy 2 is my runner-up favourite.
@@platformergamedesign5286 that's cool. I actually think galaxy 2 could be considered the greatest game ever made depending on the metrics. It obviously isn't when talking about legacy, importance or innovation - but I think it might be design wise, though that's from the perspective of a platformer fan lol.
Tropical freeze is another game that is peak game design, though I think some people tend to undervalue it simply because it's 2D unfortunately.
@@callinater6133 I love the Galaxy 🌌 games.
@@traviscunningham7062 yeah. Though I wish 2 got talked about as well as it is probably the pinnacle of gaming when it comes to level design imo. For most people the games kinda blend together which is understandable, so they usually only talk about the first one.
Callinater. I think the reason why some people doesn't talk about Galaxy 2 that much compared to Galaxy 1 is because Galaxy 1 also has an interesting story telling ( Though they're optional in the Rosalina's storybook room if u wanted to see) & has better atmosphere and probably why some prefer Galaxy 1 over Galaxy 2
As someone who isn't a big fan of Odyssey, this was a really interesting video. You earned a sub!
I may or may not have my own video essay in the works that talks about Odyssey's boss fights as well, but it's also about a lot of other games. (=
Glad you enjoyed
Bowsers Fury still has the problem of padding out the stars though. They make you do the same level again but “collect blue coins” or “ find the key”. Just fix that aspect and it will be perfect.
While that is an issue bowser’s fury did find ways to mix it up and unlike odyssey, the game has different layouts and ways of getting these cat shines. For example the game if you leave an island and come back for the shine, you see a new shine pop up. Only one or so appears at a time so the game actively encourages you to go out of order if you want a change of island
That & the Bowser's Fury thing is annoying. Especially when there's some blocks that is required to have that only Bowser's Fury can destroyed.
Nintendo fans don’t like JRPGs? Maybe the younger ones. JRPGs were pretty much invented on Nintendo systems, son.
Thank you, father.
21:55 Yeah, the second playthrough made its flaws so much more obvious to me, and I personally just wasn't able to put b up with them. I actually traded the game in halfway through my second playthrough, while I was in the Wooded Kingdom.
Not for me. Every time I replay Odyssey it gets better and better.
keep it up bro your videos are quality
Thank you!
I have say, Super Mario Odyssey is one of favorite Video games.
My favorite thing being Mario's movement.
While the captures are fun mechanic, my favorite thing about them is skipping them with the Movement.
I like most of the Kingdoms.
Lost Kingdom Is my favorite if the bunch. mostly because the Movement makes it easy get from any point in the level to any other point.
Metro Kingdom Is my other Favorite for the same reason.
I think a lot of people often try to look at the moons as Individuum's While I think it is better to look at them as a collective.
Filler Moons aren't as big of problem for me, as it seems to be for a lot of other player,
Overall i think Super Mario Odyssey is one of the Top 2 3D Platformers with a big emphasis on headwear, that were released in October 2017.
Great video! Especially for a small channel
Thank you!
I do think this game received way too much praise. I don't think it's a _bad_ game, but there are parts of the game I have pretty serious issues with, and they led to me disliking the game overall. I still think Galaxy is the best Mario game while 64 has by _far_ the best movement mechanics. I actually really love the majority of the movement mechanics in Odyssey and I was so annoyed by how little the game pushes you to learn them.
Mario odyssey is not the best game I agree but it has the best mechanics
@@brazyfilmo3121 They're really good but I personally can't say they're the best overall. The vertical platforming is really good, but horizontal platforming sucks.
Great video. I remember Odyssey was the game I was most hyped for, finally Nintendo was making a true to form 3D-Mario game... or so I thought. I ended up getting bored and quitting my playthrough about 60% into the game, for me to be so excited to play a game but not even bother to finish it, goes to show that it was really underwhelming. While captures were interesting, captures replace power-ups. Mario's movement is part of the core of what makes Mario games so fun, and Odyssey has some of the best Mario movement, so the fact that captures take away Mario's movement whereas power-ups don't made me realize that captures were just power-ups but less fun. Captures would have been a lovely flavor to add in addition to power-ups, but I don't think it's a mechanic worthy of replacing power-ups. Captures also trivialize the threat of previously threatening enemies, such as chain chomps.
I totally agree with moons being bloated and how despite the freedom of collecting moons, the freedom of which order to do levels is strangely limited. Honestly, there were too many annoying moons, and that's probably why I stopped playing the game. Odyssey isn't a "true" 3D Open-world Mario without a hub area IMO, the Odyssey ship was somehow a downgrade from Galaxy 2's "hub". Galaxy 2 gets away with it because the levels always feels so fresh and meaningful, but I can't say the same for Odyssey. Something about Odyssey felt empty, like the game was pandering to the short-attention span mobile audience, and sorta forgot to let the game breathe to create atmosphere and a sense of adventure. I feel like the greatest example of this is the purchase moons. I can't think of anything more indicative of Odyssey's lack of soul than the fact that you can literally purchase a moon at a shop... in every kingdom. To me stuff like that is just sad. As much as I enjoy minimalism, Mario is one of the few games I hope wouldn't adopt the minimalist artstyle for the UI, unfortunately it's happened and Nintendo games are further homogenized. The style works wonders for BOTW... not for Mario though. The UI is so cold.
I'm probably more critical of most than the game, but all I hope is that Nintendo doesn't take the initial positive response to the game as motivation to make a direct sequel. If Odyssey gets a direct sequel I will probably stop following the Mario 3D game franchise.
"I'm a Nintendo fan so I don't like JRPGs" LOL that's a very relatable quote.
Odyssey really is a true 3D open world game. And it IS a great game, one of my most favorites of all time! I have no idea why you would hate it.
I know this comment is ancient, but as someone looking back on one of my favourite games ever, i do disagree.
Captures *do* limit marios amazing movement, but also improve it at times as well. Trying out the many wacky ways to control and change how the core gameplay works keeps the game feeling fresh and add another layer of depth to an already fleshed out movement system. It also function beautifully thematically, allowing you to get immersed in the different environments as you traverse them in numerous different ways. Plus if you don’t like em, not use em! Some times it works as a new challenge compared to the intended routes.
Now yes, the moons can be pretty over done at times, especially the repetitive ones. They still give the player incentives to mess about the many different locations and rewards them for curiosity. Sure you can buy moons at the shop, but they are really just an extra and aren’t normally what most players chose to do. Also if you think they make the game to empty and distracting, that’s seems like more on you and the mindset to only focus to grind them instead of actually trying to feel a sense of adventure.
Now up until now I had been really understanding. But heres where I get baffled. You saying this game has “no soul”! Like HUH, this games probably one of the Mario games with the most soul. Each environment is plentiful through each nook and cranny and are brimming with so many easter eggs and creative details. Steampunk jungles, samurai themed castles, a goddamn metropolitan city!!! It far out classes many of the repetitive slop you find in a lot of the other 3d Mario’s.
Crazy how you frame something which had almost single handedly reignited the Mario franchise as a downer for Mario’s 3D scene. You don’t have to enjoy the game, but this comment just felt straight-up disrespectful to the world built up by the game.
Super Mario Busywork!
Your absolutely right. Super Mario Odyssey isn’t timeless yet because it’s only 4 years old!
I think the moment is a mixed bag. I mean, Mario controls well and all, but many of his moves are locked behind motion controls, which don't actually work a surprising amount of the time. Then, the ground pounding or long jumping diving Cappy bounce is basically the only extra move in the game, rendering it very basic and other ways to use cappy useless. None of the level design utilizes this mechanic either, making it mostly broken! The more I think about it, the more I grow to believe that this game has the worst movement in any 3D Mario game. Maybe 3D Land is worse, but at least there were power ups, whereas in this game there aren't any power ups, and the capture system isn't very impressive limiting Mario's moves rather than enhancing them like a power up would.
That Mother 1 music 🙂 I like it.
it feels like everyone forgot joseph anderson covered all this shit and more 5 years ago
they hated him cause he spoke the truth
No, it’s his OPINION. People are allowed to like this game.
@@benmalsky9834 i never said people weren't allowed to like the game
how good a game is and how much you enjoy it aren't always 1 to 1
i love flash games for example, despite a vast, vast majority of them not exactly being a mona lisa of gaming
@@fortnitesexman I don’t understand you people are so harsh on Odyssey. It really is a great game.
@@benmalsky9834 if listing all the issues the game has doesn't make it clear to you that the game is flawed then you're simply illiterate to reason 🤷♂️
we're harsh on games because we want them to be better, for example, with plants vs zombies, i don't critique the game because i want it to fail or anything, i critique it because i want to play the best version of pvz possible, and if people just mindlessly consume products like odyssey then they'll just get worse and worse overtime as studios stop trying, this has already reached it's apex with pokemon, where the games look like indie games made in a 24 hour unity challenge
in the movie industry it's also happened, except we're reaching a breaking point where the bigger boys have no choice but to improve the quality of their movies if they wish to keep afloat
so, TLDR, don't settle for mediocrity, it might seem good from ones own pov, but the skys the limit
Tbh I don’t think the game has to be “timeless”. Video games have one goal, and that’s to be fun. And to me, no matter what others say, Mario Odyssey was indescribably fun. Maybe it isn’t going to stand the tests of time. But the memories of my parents surprising me with a switch and opening up this magical world will suffice.
I remember the hype of the game due to going back to the openess/collecthon that we haven't seen since 64. Well that and Sunshine. But Sunshine was too lineal to be an another openess/collecthon Mario game. As someone who prefers linear style 3D Mario games like the Galaxy games & 3D series over the open sandbox ones; collecthon or not, this was the first that's going in that route for about 21 years since 64. So it was nice to see it comeback, even though it's not my cup of tea. I kinda prefer the linear 3D platforming games ( like Crash Bandicoot or others ) over the open ended sandbox/collecthon. But if I want an 3D platforming game that does the openess/collecthon alot better than Mario's, I prefer the likes of Sypro or others. But that's just me. As for Odyssey, it is an great game and the best openess/sandbox 3D Mario game we have yet. More so than 64 & Sunshine. But the game does have flaws that could be more refined, not feel repetitive and not too overbloated with stuff. It's an step of an right direction for sure. Just needed to town down the moon by halve and have better platforming designs. Bowser's Fury kinda follows that footstep. But even that game has it's problems compared to Odyssey. Hoping we get something like these two, but improved on.
This game is Super Mario 64 with a better gameplay but a lot less difficult, your mission is to find all the moons of a kingdom to unlock the next kingdom, in other words, the same core mechanic as Banjo-Kazooie and Mario 64 which you can describe as "Collect everything for no reasons, because it's your mission", the problem is if you put an easy core mechanic like this, you would need to increase the difficulties of the game a lot more or it will get boring, Mario Odyssey failed where Banjo-Kazooie and Mario 64 succeeded because instead of increasing the challenge to create balance with the easier core mechanic, the game designers have chosen to decrease it, (don't ask me why they did that with the easiest core mechanic ever created), even if Odyssey have the same core mechanic as the games i mentioned above, you are not afraid to die in Odyssey because you literally have 10% chances of dying (hard to fall, no timer, no dangerous enemies, no hard boss) and even if you die you literally have nothing to lose (no 1up so no game over, no lost of moons, only a useless coins lost). If they had increased the difficulties of the game by creating more ways to die more often and make you lose moons with a game over, the game would already have been less boring and more impactful on the player's emotion.
But there is also a lot more problems that make this game less enjoyable than the others: The emptiness of the kingdoms, the lack of creativities in terms of level design, the lack of satisfying things to do, the lack of a story in the vein of Mario Galaxy or Sunshine, the lack of a thematic (Galaxy was in space and you were asked to explore dozens of galaxies, Sunshine was on a tropical island and you were asked to clean the island, but Odyssey was.... I don't remember), the lack of memorable characters to interact with, the lack of a hub world, the lack of epic music, the lack of memorable enemies and boss, etc…
In the end i think the game development was indeed rushed for various reasons and i hope they won't make these mistakes again for the next one. Fact is, Super Mario Odyssey has no identity, has no ambition, has no challenge and is a forgettable 6,5/10.
I hate how the Diddy Kong costume and others are locked until you beat the game or have the amiibos. This game would’ve been better if we could’ve used them at the start.
They are optional.
I miss 2017
This game should have more quality over quantity
Agreed. Bowsers Fury fixes that
It IS a quality game!
fun game on its own merits but forgettable compared to its predecessors
No, it’s one of the best Mario games EVER
Perchance.
Bowser's Fury looks like a fun time, but I already have 3D World, and don't want to spend 60 bucks just for a new, 4-hour mode...
How many copies did it sell again?
25.76.
I think overall main story wise, I prefer odyssey over 3d world despite my nostalgia favoring 3d world more, just as I find it entertaining with stoping the wedding, which feels like a plot from paper Mario (infact from super paper Mario, despite the seeming impact it left on the series currently, but I digress lol)
Holy shit Is that Mario?!!!
No it's not actually
@@livelaughlarken8922 it’s Luigi!
i lost it at the sound effect
Comedy Gold my man
the game event of a lifetime
This game is great, but I have never understood why people liked it nearly as much as they do. Best Mario game? No way, not even close. Best switch game? No way, botw and ssbu are leagues better, and Bowser's fury is basically just a better version of this game. It is very flawed and I don't understand the extreme praise for it. Still a great game, but so flawed.
If anything, Super Mario Galaxy and it’s sequel are the best Mario games.
@@traviscunningham7062Yeah!! Definitely
Do you like 3D World because your into cats?
You habe to keep in mind that Odyssey is the first Super Mario game that really feels Big and Important since probably the Wii. On the Wii and Wii U fans only got very bland and small Mario games. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 2 and U, Super Mario 3D Land and World.
We basically got the same game 5 times in succession. Same art style, same world, same powerups, same moveset and same stroy, all very linear.
Odyssey is not my Favoriten Mario game (Galaxy and Sunshine are) but it is a Breath of fresh air.
@@traviscunningham7062 I do like 3D world but still not as much as Galaxy
“I’m a Nintendo fan so I don’t like JRPGs”
Excuse me, WHAT????
Nintendo is literally the grandfather to JRPGs, the snes is pretty much where all the hype started.
Chronotrigger
Earthbound
Illusion of Gaia
Final Fantasy
Legend of Mana
Dragon Quest
The list goes on and on and on and on...
Probably your young age showing with that statement or maybe it was a joke that I just didn’t get.
Good video otherwise but that statement triggered something evil in me lmao
Yes it was a joke lol. Stems from the modern "disinterest" in fire emblem smash characters.
@@platformergamedesign5286 Oh my bad then lol. Enjoyed the video tho!
@@moonsoon1038 you’re absolutely right. My memory has failed me. Thanks for correcting
Games like this are examples of something that receive too much praise for the mere concept alone so you have so much filler added. More than anything, I want odyssey 2 to fix the big issues of the game.
Breath of the wild is another example of this. The game really is 4 mediocre dungeons,120 boring shrines with 900 korok seeds and a nice golden poopie for your reduce for collecting them all.
i hope the sequal to breath of the wild actually fixes it's issues aswell, although i highly doubt it
so i'll still be waiting for a proper reason to actually buy a switch 🫠
@@fortnitesexman it fixed some but added added so many more
They took a few steps in the right direction in some, and some steps back in other areas
You guys are such a minority
objectively wrong tho
Mario Odyssey IS timeless!
How?
@@traviscunningham7062 Don’t force me to tell you how, I can’t explain it in words!
@@benmalsky9834that’s okay if you have that opinion! I disagree but all power to you
I don't like the fact that you have to possess other animals like frogs and dinosaurs...it's weird...you're possessing them without the permission of those animals. Imagine if Mario possessed (captured) your body with your permission for a few minutes or some hours, just to achieve his objective. How would you feel about that? I wouldn't like it.
Tbh i don’t think they know english
1:16 oh wow its soo Nostalgic that must mean the games is a perfect 10/10 and everyone loves it becomes its a perfect 10/10 oooohhhhhh mmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy gggggggggooooooooooddddddddddd
Nostalgia means nothing objectively it says nothing about a piece of entertainments quality all it says is "you liked it as a kid" so what? That doesn't tell me anything its just white noise
Fun fact; you re wrong
bruh
Yes. This game is one of the best Mario games ever!
This game sucked - I've been playing Mario games my entire life and this is honestly the first one that truly wasn't engaging - the hat mechanic sucked; it was a gimmick to possess things but it never really went anywhere. Sure, possessing a T-Rex is kinda cool but what was the point? The moons were painfully underwhelming - some of the stars/sprites in 64 and Sunshine were pretty easy too but in each level collecting them became progressively harder. In this game, it was like "check behind that corner, look behind that rock". Dumb game and this is coming from someone who has been playing Mario games for over 30 years and has really enjoyed most of them.
Dark souls is a better platformer anyway
Yeah it's too bad that these smaller companies like Nintendo can't keep up with Dark Souls
@@platformergamedesign5286 disagree. That game gives me nightmares.
Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 are much better platforming games.
No, this game is better
for odyssey 2 to be good they'd need to
lower the amount of moons drastically, drop the "got a moon!" animation for the love of fucking god, make them tied to challenges of some kind instead of "see the moon > get it"
make the captures better, none of them really work mainly because they're a replacement for mario's moveset, but that can still potentially work if they actually made them interesting in any way besides "woahhh dude i'm like, playing as a goomba"
make the bosses WAY harder and avoid the "my turn > your turn" design, it sucks
and there's probably a lot more shit i can't be assed to write down rn
so basically put, if odyssey 2 comes out, it will be a massive fucking failure in terms of being a good game, cause nintendo is nintendo and doesn't give a shit what people think as long as it sells
I'm usually a nice guy but I really think your life is worth nothing and you serve 0 purpose.
You are so out of touch with what people like.
This channel and these comments really don’t understand why people love Odyssey. It seriously is a great game. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best Mario games ever made and my ultimate comfort game.
They DO really work.
Look up all the lovers of this game and you will understand why it does work for them.
For a Mario game to be timeless, it has to be kind of bad. This game is almost too good.
Maybe Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine are better than Odyssey.
No, I think Odyssey is better.
Still aged better than Mario 64
Mother 1 is better than Super Mario Odyssey, in my opinion.
Galaxy is, in my opinion, the best 3d mario. 64 is overrated. Sunshine is janky. I haven't played Galaxy 2, but I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Also, I haven't played 3d land. 3d world is also very good, I just prefer galaxy. Odyssey has too many dumb side objectives for moons that, after a while, don't mean anything until you get them all to unlock the final, final boss (the harder bowser fight).