This is very good; I think it’s definitely true that it took an external team to go for ideas EAD had already rejected. I don’t think any of their games have been as successful as Mario 64/Sunshine but that well had been exhausted; they drop the exploration and freedom but as they moved closer to action they showed how boring the movement is in comparison to the 2D games (and the earlier 3D games) and how spacious the action is. To compensate they codified ‘secrets’ present in the early Mario games – small meaningless winks, but, you know, nice.
i can hear that a bit. i think it’s also just a type of melodic arc koji likes, maybe. it doesn’t reference it explicitly enough to make me think it’s intentionally linked to that tune specifically
They are all descriptors you used to describe what you felt was worth describing about the game, all of which (except for a positive note about traversal) was critically negative, and it damningly ended with “fuck sunshine.” I mean, I can quote the original post and I don’t think it will change the context much. Like, I can’t tell if you’re backing up on your position or if “fuck [videogame]” isn’t actually your final position on this. It’s just a lot of incredibly strong and condemnatory language, and I guess I don’t know how to reconcile it with this other viewpoint you’re now offering.
I can craft a post sometime this week maybe explaining what I think is good or interesting, but not now.
fuck [videogame] is a throwaway stinger. literary catharsis. i’m a little taken aback at how those two words can override the much more detailed paragraphs i’ve written elsewhere in this thread, but i suppose i can understand the confusion now. apologies if i’ve not been clear.
This and other conversations lately have gotten me thinking about how “fuck [thing]” is used and decided in pretty different ways. To some it’s a throwaway shot that doesn’t shut down anything–a fun, cathartic punctuation mark. To others (myself included), it tends to be read as the Final Word. It overrides anything that comes before and says “I’m done with this shit, it’s garbage, and I know I was just talking about it but it’s unworthy of any engagement or discussion now or in the future.” Not saying this to attack anyone, but I think these are two common but ultimately really conflicting ways that phrase gets used.
Yeah you should. Switch lacks the seriousness of PS4 but has a certain charm that draws you to it. The only game with trophies on it is Disgaea 5, which I bought again. Get a switch, do it! Gamestop is getting some stock soon.
Yeah, to soften my snarky dismissal earlier, I can see that, even though personally I didn’t feel much gameplay value from it because I eventually found it more trustworthy to rely on Mario’s shadow for depth perception even in 3d land.
The strongest argument I can formulate in favor of 3D Land is that it’s much more coherent, cohesive and at peace with its nature than 3D World. Just as SMB3’s style was inspired by cutout puppet plays, 3D Land is inspired by dioramas and the 3D stereoscopy truly sells that. Further, the linearity of 3D land is in tune with its “smallness”.
On the other hand, 3D World, what is it? It’s certainly not a “World”, allowing so little exploration. Odyssey will much better fulfill the promise of that word (even as it also commits to peripatetic variety and disjointness in tune with its own title).
[quote]Dracula: Hi all I am 50 shines into Sunshine and the FLUDDless sections are unambiguously the worst part of the game. Goodbye
Slouch: what the…
Conn: you are correct. i’ve always hated those levels and been baffled that they were singled out with praise
ij: I skimmed through a speedrun as a reminder of “stereotypical complaint” stuff comparisons (reticule-less shooting-from-a-rollercoaster ride boss, the hotel being awkward at ghost-housing, the fragility of watermelons). then I saw the fludd-less section with the chucksters
Conn: the chuckster level is the best one in the game
Dracula: I’m on that stage right now. It’s not good?
ij: ideologically I would agree if not for the last part
Dracula: It’s just kind of weird simple trial and error where the error is you dying immediately
ij: where you wait for two npcs to walk back and forth and - yes. you don’t even die immediately, you have to watch mario be flung off into the void
Dracula: The last FLUDDless stage I did was a nightmare bc it has a part with a rotating nubby cylinder that goes over a void very slowly and half of the time the slippery mechanics send you sliding down a slight incline into the void. The stages just pull on the least flattering subtleties of the mechanics and exacerbate the camera issues
Juts: the fludless sections of the game are my fav but they also probably only are bc they’re placed within the context of the rest of the game
ij: time to break the channel apart
Dracula: No, they’re the worst BECAUSE they are set against the rest of the game!!!
Juts: i always felt like they were the only sections that really really let me play around with the regular movement mechanics mario has. at least, when they were well-designed
ij: I would think you still get to flex normal athletic physics on, like, the harbour’s big railing construct or the big cliffside climbs in the bay, even if those are delineated Actually Jump Around zones
Dracula: You can also do so in Mario 64 and the Galaxy games. I think there are enough 3D Mario games with Pure Mario Mechanics to let the addition of the FLUDD not be an impediment
ij: “if you want a fluddless section just go replay 64’s bowser stages”[/quote]
