Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

[Ronnie]

Just now, Ashley said:

@Ronnie not sure if you've tried them yet but the secret door levels are very Captain Toad. 

Thanks, yeah I'm about to do my third secret door level. First one was a bit meh, the second was a lot more fun having to puzzle your way through it.

 

[Ronnie]

There's one side mission at the end of world 3 where the first half is just tedious fetch quests/busywork, but the actual battle at the end of the mission is one of the best in the game so far. 

[Ashley]

47 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Thanks, yeah I'm about to do my third secret door level. First one was a bit meh, the second was a lot more fun having to puzzle your way through it.

 

I did it the other way round; did the second one first. But yeah the second was definitely more mentally taxing, the first was more just about annoying camera movement. 

Plan to finally move onto the third world tomorrow. 

[Ronnie]

Finished this just now. Fantastic overall.

Positives
- The battles themselves are great fun, I always enjoyed them be it a random battle in the overworld or a story one. The various Sparks, abilities and power-ups give you so much freedom and the skill tree is actually really great. You can't max everything out so you have to decide what you want to prioritise. 
- Humour is great. The Rabbid characters are fun, Peach and Mario especially. 
- Exploring the overworlds is fun, lots to find and puzzles to solve.

Negatives
- The voices and dialogue in general of the two AI companions is horrendous. Beep-o himself is the most obnoxiously voiced character I think I've ever experienced in a game.
- Some serious frame-rate drops, tons of texture/geometry pop-in, and overall the game just doesn't look particularly great. The art direction does work a lot of the time though, especially in worlds three and four. 
- It potentially over-stays it's welcome a tad, but I was pretty much 100%-ing every planet before moving on so maybe that's why.

Had a great time. Worth it after a 5 year wait.

Spoiler

Using the Spark that attracts enemies to you (levelled up to the maximum) + levelling up Rabbid Mario's attack to it's max is pretty much a guaranteed win a lot of the time. Helped me out a lot.

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by Ronnie

[Ashley]

I'm still barely started world 3 and think I've glitched it. Pushed a box off a ledge but can't now move it. Hoping going out of the area and back in will reset it but will try another time. 

I'm still enjoying it. The battle where you get Bowser was the first time I failed one and that is the only time I used that spark you mentioned (and realised it was not the right time for it). 

I've not actually used Rabbid Mario much as I'm not a close combat kind of person. Mostly been using the Peaches, Mario and Luigi. Maybe I should experiment more!

Oh and it was only in the third world did I realise they were saying "dark mess". I just assumed it was darkness. 

[Ronnie]

With Rabbid Mario you can often do like 2000 damage to 5 or 6 enemies at the same time, especially if you use the Spark that powers up attacks as well. But if you're more long range then fair enough

[Ashley]

I'll give it a try for sure, but yeah my habit tends to be long range. Typically use a spark on Luigi and get him to fire from long distance to do big damage. 

[Ashley]

On 08/11/2022 at 6:04 PM, Ronnie said:

There's one side mission at the end of world 3 where the first half is just tedious fetch quests/busywork, but the actual battle at the end of the mission is one of the best in the game so far. 

Part way through the third world and just completed something I thought may be this (forgot the details, just knew it was world three) but it's not but thought I'd share anyway. 

Spoiler

It's that thing and the bottom of the well where you start off on the floating platform. 

Thankfully on my team each person had a spark which affected a radius, so used that to get rid of the first tentacle thing and just happened to be able to collectively firepower the waves of enemies so that only twice did I take damage. Then at the end where you had to hit the three things again I used jumping/an extra movement item to get them all into their different sections and complete that part within one move so all in all i only took two hits. 

As you can tell, I'm working my way through this very slowly

[Ronnie]

That was a great setpiece battle. There's a few good ones like that in the game.

[Ashley]

Just read back what I wrote and God that was terrible grammar. You can tell I was distracted and writing on my phone. 

Anyway, yes it was a good set piece. And it was nice to go in worrying it may be difficult but I ended up doing it relatively easily. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Traded in The Last of Us Part I and picked this up.

I look forward giving it a whirl this weekend.

[Ashley]

I have had it since launch and I don't doubt that you'll have it finished long before me. 

Hell, probably long before I finish posting this. 

[Ashley]

On 08/11/2022 at 6:04 PM, Ronnie said:

There's one side mission at the end of world 3 where the first half is just tedious fetch quests/busywork, but the actual battle at the end of the mission is one of the best in the game so far. 

I assume this is the axe one? If so I've just finished that (did the fetch quest last night and the battle today). The reach the goal part was a lot of fun, in part because I managed to keep the enemies in each area at bay (think I only took damage once) so it made me feel smart 😅

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

I assume this is the axe one? If so I've just finished that (did the fetch quest last night and the battle today). The reach the goal part was a lot of fun, in part because I managed to keep the enemies in each area at bay (think I only took damage once) so it made me feel smart 😅

That's the one! Yeah it's fun to manage each section as you go through it. The endless fetch quests leading up to it was a bit weird and tedious though.

[Ashley]

10 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

That's the one! Yeah it's fun to manage each section as you go through it. The endless fetch quests leading up to it was a bit weird and tedious though.

Yeah I looked online for parts of the fetch quest because I just didn't care but the battle was fun. As you say, having different sections made it interesting like a series of challenges. 

[Ashley]

Done most of the fourth world now and going to go back and do some of those challenges that require a certain amount of sparks. 

I'm enjoying the game but I think the biggest downsides to me are some of the puzzles are ambiguous and/or i don't care so I just look online (such as the potion one in world 4, i had no desire to decipher it and it was long-winded in the end) and i find navigating around the worlds pretty confusing. It feels like there's not enough landmarks or identifiable things so I'm running around a lot and constantly opening and closing the map. 

The main gameplay (the battles) are still great though and I enjoy the variety of them and the sparks do add a good new twist to it all. 

[Ronnie]

9 minutes ago, Ashley said:

and i find navigating around the worlds pretty confusing. It feels like there's not enough landmarks or identifiable things so I'm running around a lot and constantly opening and closing the map. 

Yeah agreed. This game is particularly bad at that, but it's a problem with a lot of openworld games these days I think, where I'll struggle to make a mental image of what the map looks like. Horizon Forbidden West is another example. It's something I think Nintendo are good at though, they did a Game Dev Conference talk on Breath of the Wild and it was really interesting how they level-designed the openworld to be memorable and so you always had reference points where you where so wouldn't get too lost.

As for Mario + Rabbids, I could take or leave the wandering around being so open, but yeah like you say the battles are the actual enjoyable part of the game.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Ronnie

[Ashley]

I think the last open world game I played was Arceus and don't recall having the same issues, but maybe because there was so little in the world that it was easier in a way. The worlds here are a bit too cluttered. 

It's funny really; the last game was criticised for being too corridor-ey and now this. Maybe third times a charm. 

[Julius]

According to Ubisoft, the game has underperformed (so did Just Dance, but...eh):

Quote

Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said "We are clearly disappointed by our recent performance. We are facing contrasted market dynamics as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and everlasting live games, in the context of worsening economic conditions affecting consumer spending."

Despite excellent ratings and players' reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by Mario + Rabbids®: Sparks of Hope underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January. Just Dance® 2023 underperformed as well.

I can't say that I'm all that surprised, but it is unfortunate for the team. I say that I'm not surprised not because of the game's perceived quality, but rather because: it's a sequel to a game which has been on sale very frequently since launch; it launched during one of the busiest periods of the gaming calendar (oh, and during an economic crisis to boot); and is a sequel to a game in a relatively niche genre which feels like it's released long enough after that they were doing anything but striking while the iron was hot, some what, 5+ years after the launch of Kingdom Battle?

Again, huge shame for Ubisoft Milan. Hopefully sales pick up as the year goes on and we hear about it. 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Julius

[Dcubed]

Yeah, it's a damn shame.  But ultimately, it's a more-of-the-same sequel being released for the same console as its predecessor.  It's fundamentally too similar to the original game to have the same level of impact.

That and the constant bargain basement discounts of Ubisoft games (including Kingdom Battle) no doubt trained people to wait it out for the inevitable 80-90% off sale.

[MindFreak]

At the time the first game came out, there wasn't that many other games on Switch, it was just coming out. It was a totally new game with Mario in a previously unseen setting that was reviewed really well. 

The second came didn't have enough marketing up to the release and it was a very busy period with lots of high quality games coming out. 

I still intend to pick up the game but as I haven't got the time for it just now, I can just as well wait for a nice discount. 

So yeah, basically totally agree with @Julius. 

[Ronnie]

Yeah lots of reasons for the underperformance. I did think it was a strange time of year to release the game and whilst the overworld changes are substantial it still feels like a very iterative game. Really surprising it took 5+ years to make. 

Another example of why Nintendo games don’t often go on sale. Gamers have been trained to just wait for sales, especially in Ubisoft titles. 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Ronnie

[Glen-i]

I probably would've been more interested in either of the games if the Rabbids weren't in it.

They're just thoroughly unappealing to me. Kinda like realistic Pokémon.

If Ubisoft had to do a crossover thing, I would've preferred just Rayman. Cartoony enough to not be out of place, and a million times less annoying.

[darksnowman]

There was no big Nintendo game for Christmas this year and I still passed up on this, despite loving the first. I want it but getting Kingdom Battle on the cheap has played into my decision to hold off. 

Any chance of a Rabbids Go Home remaster and follow-up next?

14 hours ago, Dcubed said:

But ultimately, it's a more-of-the-same sequel being released for the same console as its predecessor. 

RIP Fire Emblem Engage.

[Julius]

Not a dedicated Ubisoft thread I know, but given the reported underperformance of Rabbids yesterday, think it needed to be highlighted that Yves seems to be putting the responsibility of Ubisoft's recent slips (and three titles being delayed) squarely on the shoulders of employees. 

From Kotaku:

Quote

"Today more than ever, I need your full energy and commitment to ensure we get back on the path to success," Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, wrote in an email to staff, a copy of which was viewed by Kotaku. "I am also asking that each of you be especially careful and strategic with your spending and initiatives, to ensure we're being as efficient and lean as possible."

[...]

Guillemot laid responsibility for this at the feet of staff, writing, "The ball is in your court to deliver this line-up on time and at the expected level of quality, and show everyone what we are capable of achieving."

urgh.gif