Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Jan. 24th, 2016 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingSome poor UPS courier made their way through #Snobama to deliver this game to me, so I honored their courage and sacrifice by staying up all night playing it.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is a cute game that fixes all of the annoying bullshit people hated about Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team and introduces a few new mechanics, such as the ability to dash. In comparison to the previous games, the textures are cleaner, the color palette is brighter, and the music is ridiculously catchy. The battles move faster, and the player can now skip most of the dialog.
Also, someone at Nintendo apparently decided that what this series needs is two Bowsers snarking at each other. As usual, Bowser gets the best lines in the game, and I suspect that at least one of the localizers has a crush on him. Very early on, one Winged Koopa says to another, "Welcome to Team Bowser, new recruit," and I was just sitting there, like, "Oh my."
Surprisingly, the reviews I've read haven't been that positive, with people complaining that the game is too easy. I mean, yes, there are new features that allow the player to adjust the difficulty level of battles (such as a system that specifies the target of an enemy attack in advance), but you can turn most of them off and then never worry about them again. Since enemies drop more money than they did in previous games, the player can buy more recovery items, which encourages the use of special attacks. Special attacks involve quick skill-based minigames, so I don't see how this is a bad thing, as it gives battles more variety – or not, if you don't care and can't be bothered.
I am of the opinion that the shaming of "casual players" (or, as I suspect is often the case, younger players) is boring and stupid and needs to stop. When I read a professional review of a game, I really don't care about how hardcore the reviewer is. Cthulhu bless Nintendo for doing their thing and not giving a damn about the cesspit that is English-language gaming journalism.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is a cute game that fixes all of the annoying bullshit people hated about Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team and introduces a few new mechanics, such as the ability to dash. In comparison to the previous games, the textures are cleaner, the color palette is brighter, and the music is ridiculously catchy. The battles move faster, and the player can now skip most of the dialog.
Also, someone at Nintendo apparently decided that what this series needs is two Bowsers snarking at each other. As usual, Bowser gets the best lines in the game, and I suspect that at least one of the localizers has a crush on him. Very early on, one Winged Koopa says to another, "Welcome to Team Bowser, new recruit," and I was just sitting there, like, "Oh my."
Surprisingly, the reviews I've read haven't been that positive, with people complaining that the game is too easy. I mean, yes, there are new features that allow the player to adjust the difficulty level of battles (such as a system that specifies the target of an enemy attack in advance), but you can turn most of them off and then never worry about them again. Since enemies drop more money than they did in previous games, the player can buy more recovery items, which encourages the use of special attacks. Special attacks involve quick skill-based minigames, so I don't see how this is a bad thing, as it gives battles more variety – or not, if you don't care and can't be bothered.
I am of the opinion that the shaming of "casual players" (or, as I suspect is often the case, younger players) is boring and stupid and needs to stop. When I read a professional review of a game, I really don't care about how hardcore the reviewer is. Cthulhu bless Nintendo for doing their thing and not giving a damn about the cesspit that is English-language gaming journalism.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-24 05:05 pm (UTC)"Hardcore" players tend to be very hostile to optional gameplay mechanics meant to increase ease of access in newer games. Fast travel, auto-mapping, multiple difficulty modes, and so on never seem to go over well with that crowd.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-24 06:20 pm (UTC)I guess I should say something to the effect of "not all gaming journalism." I'm a big fan of Gamasutra, but I tend to read their editorials, not their reviews. For instance, this recent piece about how the successful elements of Final Fantasy VII are still relevant is making me particularly happy right now: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/263174/The_afterimage_of_Final_Fantasy_VII.php