There will be Spoilers from the Adventure Mode World of Light in this thread.
I posted the picture with covers on the "Spoiler-y" indicators in case someone still manges to accidentally tumble into this thread. I will re-post the image with all numbers further down as it is needed too give a final word on this game mode.
(Just posted the picture too let people know that I did the whole thing - Sorry for potato quality, I don't know how I take a screenshot on the Switch and then somehow port that image over to my PC so that I could upload it - I suppose it's possible with some USB trickery but screw that)
Review is put in brackets because some people may look upon this as more of a criticism than a review. Each too their own.
World of Light VS it's predecessors.
World of Light is without a shadow of a doubt a welcome addition too Smash Ultimate considering how Smash 4 had no Adventure mode which was a huge let down considering how awesome the Subspace Emissary from Brawl was. But how does World of Light stack up VS the Adventure modes of Melee and Brawl?
To put it short and simple; with World of Light in the mix we can just eliminate Melee's adventure mode from the list. Seen as Subspace now has something else it can be compared too, we can just toss out Melee's Adventure Mode immediately as it does not hold a candle to either of these two. As for how it stacks up VS Subspace - I'd say they are somewhat equal in rough overall quality. That may sound wishy washy but I will better detail further down what I mean by breaking the different parts of World of Light into chunks. As for that I will make no comparisons between World of Light and Melee's Adventure mode and only compare it too Subspace when I feel it should be done.
The Spirit System:
I know this is a thing people most likely either will love or hate so this may be a huge let down too some people but I got very little too say here. While it sure was a nice new addition that had more interaction than the Trophy system from the past few games; it also failed too have much of an impact too me. I found spirits, I gathered Spirits, I used spirits by spamming "Randomize" before each battle until I saw perks from Main and Support spirits which I felt would benefit me the most in the upcoming battle.
I never destroyed or summoned Spirits as I never understood why it should be done, I felt fine with the ones I had.
I used my level up candies after I hit my first brick wall and suddenly sat with like 16 max leveled spirits and after that I felt no difference. It was more of a "Huh, suppose I should've done that more actively along the way.
I just think this system is a game mechanic that I A: Care little about but also B: Don't mind that exists. It did little too me and I did not hate it so it served a meager purpose when I needed a bit of a boost in battle and that's about it.
The Fighter System:
How the game starts you off with Kirby alone and has you unlock challengers along the way was alright. Kirby is a well all around character that can gimp SO many matches with the "Suck n c**c" tactic for those that just can't be bothered - and the way you unlocked fighters along the way was a welcome addition. If one feels that the "order" the fighters was unlocked in was lackluster or not all comes down to personal preference so I got nothing too say on that. I personally played Kirby for about 85% of the entire World of Light campaign and did not change characters until I got my hands on Meta Knight which for those of you who have completed the mode; knows that is a fair distance into the game.
The Skill Tree System:
This like the Spirit System was something I did not mind too much. I spendt points pretty much as soon as I got enough to work my way to the "end" points I wanted. They give players options to spec better into things they may know are their weak points and they CAN make of break certain fights but those are so few and far in between so they are not really worth mentioning. It as the Spirits; server it's purpose and was a nice addition that added "options" which is something many games lack now a day.
The Map:
The Map in World of Light comes broken into 3 separate chunks. I will now speak about each one of them individually further down.
I did not like that you could not "look around" while inside the "Dungeons" I suppose we could call them. (You know, the Swirlies on the map that prevents you from using the "map" once inside) the size on most of them was good. Not too big nor too smal and they all looked decent and thematically mostly slotted well inn too the area they were placed within.
The Caves, Shops and Dojo's was all pretty good. That you also can access them all from the menu after unlocking them just makes it all so much better so I got nothing more to say. They were nice too have, the Gym especially - wish there was maybe ONE more Gym but I can understand why they would not add it so - not really a point too make here.
Map 1 - Getting too Galeem:
The first map in World of Light is a tad too large in my opinion. Despite how I love the way it grants you extreme free will in terms of what path you wish too go and with how certain Spirits is needed in order too traverse specific parts of the map - I think that they put too much stuff onto this map. Not details as I do belive the later maps is more detailed in the overall sense but they lack a lot of the spirit interactions which this first map has. It did look pretty however and you could SEE the paths which won't be the case for every map.
Map 2 - Into the darkness:
The second map was pretty decent in size but this is where I feel like the Dungeons became too big, the paths became a bit too clunky too see and the lack of spirit interactivity became a soar miss. If they had ported like 20-33% of the content from map 1 over too map 2 or just kept map 2 the same size while giving it 20-33% more content; I'd say that this map would be pretty close too perfect (If they also at least added some Spirit interactivity) Doing this would also justify reducing the dungeon sizes as again; they were a tad too big. This map however looks by far the best and the dungeons too had some riddles and mysteries too solve which was a really nice and welcome addition. Not that I feel it is enough to "replace" the need for Spirits but it ALMOST make it worth it.
Map 3 - Choose your side:
This map does not really have much that can be said about it other than that it really looks neat. The way it pulls one way or the other is pretty neat depending on how many spirits you defeat. It's size was good and it did not FEEL like a map that needed Spirit interaction or dungeons so that both of them was missing did not make much of a difference. The number of fights on this map too was spot on for a finale - overall really great but I can't give it the "You win because it thematically looks swell" pass since I still think map 2 looks the best.
The Fights:
This is where this game mode fals apart. There is a total of 615 matches too be had in this game mode and approximately 500-550 of them goes in between being "Cannon fodder" too "This was a decent" challenge. But it has those few last, those few last rage inducing matches that just made me want too toss my controller into the wall, it left a taste in my mouth so bad that I just wanted to exit the mode as clearly not all of these matches have been play tested. It really kicks you in the nuts when you play like 30-50 challenges and are having a really good time then you meet this one challenge that just breaks the game. NPC's had questionable uses of; Grab Range, Hyper armor frames, Negation of players armor / invulnerability frames, ignoring of "weight of attack" priorities, recovery speed, attack damage, launch power and so on and so on.
While I do know that mostly all battles have rules too them and that these can be read before entering (Don't you worry, I read them all) I still thin some of these matches is grossly overturned. The best examples I can come with is the Sonic and Assist Trophy fight at the lower middle section too the left of map 1 that guards the mine shaft with the Rayman Spirit and the 8x Metal Mega Man fights with a final doctor Mario inside the dungeon at the lower left side of map 1. These fights were so overtuned, had NPC's that ignored the games rules time and time again and just in general had me tilt more than I wanted too.
These overtuned fights alone break so much of this game mode as if they had been removed or just tuned down; i'd call out World of Light for being close too perfection for what it sets out too be. I would like too note that even with the right Spirits; these fights was a mess. I tuned the Metal Mega man one donw too easy and it stands as the only challenge I did not beat on Normal.
But apart from the broken challenges that left a bad taste here and there; most of them was as mentioned good. It's just so sad too see a game mode so close to being prefect getting ruined by challenges with artificial difficulty.
The Bosses:
I fee like World of Light could do with 2-4 more bosses but that would perhaps have made the last run of the True Ending a bit too long. The bosses the game mode had was all decent, not too much health on any of them although some of them should have been a bit more reactionary as especially Galleom was a bit too slow too turn after you but then again he hits for a fair bit when he first hits. I suppose most of these bosses are just how they need to be on Hard in my book.
The re-use of Master and Crazy hand could be limited too once and not twice. Al tough the last encounter with them was nice with some additional changes, I do feel like it would have been enough to do this once and just add 2 additional bosses rather than having Master and Crazy as "main mini" bosses on so many occasions.
The bosses of Galeem and Dharkon was decent and the upgrades they got later on was spectacular additions that made me love these fights more than I should.
The True ending was the first ending I reached. When I went too map 3 I purposefully went back and forth too keep the map in balance as I did not want too "side" with either of the flying turds and the path down the middle of the top of the map was where I naturally ended up and with that let me say:
The True ending fight of this game gave me the most chills I have had in a game in a long time.
The Master Hand VS Fighter was just a big "OH MY GOD" moment. We have modded and messed around with smash for years too let us "play" as Master and Crazy hand and here it is handed too us. This part of the ending was just epic, it was truly a "OH LORD YES" moment for Smash players.
The climb up as Galeem and Dharkon assaults you and destroys the map. Item challenges and Fighter brawls where Light fought Dark: all too reach the top where the two giants was fighting in the background as you had to re-challenge all bosses in a Boss-Royale game that felt so in-place.
The final fight VS both Galeem and Dharkon was the best, THE BEST! How they could damage one and other and also had fighters from each side spawn in just made this one of the best endings I could imagine for this game mode. Nintendo may have had a wobble with the early part of this game mode but the nailed the landing so good that it may as well almost not even matter. Truly a spectacular ending too this game mode.
Overall World of Light is a sold Adventure mode experience that would be perfect if map 1 and 2 were more evenly balanced and had some of the extremely overtuned matches been balanced out a bit. I don't belive in 10/10 scores so a 9/10 is the best I can give yet World of Light does in my book despite some hits and misses land on a solid;
7.5 / 10 - Because some of those broken a** fights just for real had me flip out and lose my interest for periods of time.
Oh yeah music. There was some music. I don't take note of music. But the World of Light soundtrack is kicka**.
I posted the picture with covers on the "Spoiler-y" indicators in case someone still manges to accidentally tumble into this thread. I will re-post the image with all numbers further down as it is needed too give a final word on this game mode.
(Just posted the picture too let people know that I did the whole thing - Sorry for potato quality, I don't know how I take a screenshot on the Switch and then somehow port that image over to my PC so that I could upload it - I suppose it's possible with some USB trickery but screw that)
Review is put in brackets because some people may look upon this as more of a criticism than a review. Each too their own.
World of Light VS it's predecessors.
World of Light is without a shadow of a doubt a welcome addition too Smash Ultimate considering how Smash 4 had no Adventure mode which was a huge let down considering how awesome the Subspace Emissary from Brawl was. But how does World of Light stack up VS the Adventure modes of Melee and Brawl?
To put it short and simple; with World of Light in the mix we can just eliminate Melee's adventure mode from the list. Seen as Subspace now has something else it can be compared too, we can just toss out Melee's Adventure Mode immediately as it does not hold a candle to either of these two. As for how it stacks up VS Subspace - I'd say they are somewhat equal in rough overall quality. That may sound wishy washy but I will better detail further down what I mean by breaking the different parts of World of Light into chunks. As for that I will make no comparisons between World of Light and Melee's Adventure mode and only compare it too Subspace when I feel it should be done.
The Spirit System:
I know this is a thing people most likely either will love or hate so this may be a huge let down too some people but I got very little too say here. While it sure was a nice new addition that had more interaction than the Trophy system from the past few games; it also failed too have much of an impact too me. I found spirits, I gathered Spirits, I used spirits by spamming "Randomize" before each battle until I saw perks from Main and Support spirits which I felt would benefit me the most in the upcoming battle.
I never destroyed or summoned Spirits as I never understood why it should be done, I felt fine with the ones I had.
I used my level up candies after I hit my first brick wall and suddenly sat with like 16 max leveled spirits and after that I felt no difference. It was more of a "Huh, suppose I should've done that more actively along the way.
I just think this system is a game mechanic that I A: Care little about but also B: Don't mind that exists. It did little too me and I did not hate it so it served a meager purpose when I needed a bit of a boost in battle and that's about it.
The Fighter System:
How the game starts you off with Kirby alone and has you unlock challengers along the way was alright. Kirby is a well all around character that can gimp SO many matches with the "Suck n c**c" tactic for those that just can't be bothered - and the way you unlocked fighters along the way was a welcome addition. If one feels that the "order" the fighters was unlocked in was lackluster or not all comes down to personal preference so I got nothing too say on that. I personally played Kirby for about 85% of the entire World of Light campaign and did not change characters until I got my hands on Meta Knight which for those of you who have completed the mode; knows that is a fair distance into the game.
The Skill Tree System:
This like the Spirit System was something I did not mind too much. I spendt points pretty much as soon as I got enough to work my way to the "end" points I wanted. They give players options to spec better into things they may know are their weak points and they CAN make of break certain fights but those are so few and far in between so they are not really worth mentioning. It as the Spirits; server it's purpose and was a nice addition that added "options" which is something many games lack now a day.
The Map:
The Map in World of Light comes broken into 3 separate chunks. I will now speak about each one of them individually further down.
I did not like that you could not "look around" while inside the "Dungeons" I suppose we could call them. (You know, the Swirlies on the map that prevents you from using the "map" once inside) the size on most of them was good. Not too big nor too smal and they all looked decent and thematically mostly slotted well inn too the area they were placed within.
The Caves, Shops and Dojo's was all pretty good. That you also can access them all from the menu after unlocking them just makes it all so much better so I got nothing more to say. They were nice too have, the Gym especially - wish there was maybe ONE more Gym but I can understand why they would not add it so - not really a point too make here.
Map 1 - Getting too Galeem:
The first map in World of Light is a tad too large in my opinion. Despite how I love the way it grants you extreme free will in terms of what path you wish too go and with how certain Spirits is needed in order too traverse specific parts of the map - I think that they put too much stuff onto this map. Not details as I do belive the later maps is more detailed in the overall sense but they lack a lot of the spirit interactions which this first map has. It did look pretty however and you could SEE the paths which won't be the case for every map.
Map 2 - Into the darkness:
The second map was pretty decent in size but this is where I feel like the Dungeons became too big, the paths became a bit too clunky too see and the lack of spirit interactivity became a soar miss. If they had ported like 20-33% of the content from map 1 over too map 2 or just kept map 2 the same size while giving it 20-33% more content; I'd say that this map would be pretty close too perfect (If they also at least added some Spirit interactivity) Doing this would also justify reducing the dungeon sizes as again; they were a tad too big. This map however looks by far the best and the dungeons too had some riddles and mysteries too solve which was a really nice and welcome addition. Not that I feel it is enough to "replace" the need for Spirits but it ALMOST make it worth it.
Map 3 - Choose your side:
This map does not really have much that can be said about it other than that it really looks neat. The way it pulls one way or the other is pretty neat depending on how many spirits you defeat. It's size was good and it did not FEEL like a map that needed Spirit interaction or dungeons so that both of them was missing did not make much of a difference. The number of fights on this map too was spot on for a finale - overall really great but I can't give it the "You win because it thematically looks swell" pass since I still think map 2 looks the best.
The Fights:
This is where this game mode fals apart. There is a total of 615 matches too be had in this game mode and approximately 500-550 of them goes in between being "Cannon fodder" too "This was a decent" challenge. But it has those few last, those few last rage inducing matches that just made me want too toss my controller into the wall, it left a taste in my mouth so bad that I just wanted to exit the mode as clearly not all of these matches have been play tested. It really kicks you in the nuts when you play like 30-50 challenges and are having a really good time then you meet this one challenge that just breaks the game. NPC's had questionable uses of; Grab Range, Hyper armor frames, Negation of players armor / invulnerability frames, ignoring of "weight of attack" priorities, recovery speed, attack damage, launch power and so on and so on.
While I do know that mostly all battles have rules too them and that these can be read before entering (Don't you worry, I read them all) I still thin some of these matches is grossly overturned. The best examples I can come with is the Sonic and Assist Trophy fight at the lower middle section too the left of map 1 that guards the mine shaft with the Rayman Spirit and the 8x Metal Mega Man fights with a final doctor Mario inside the dungeon at the lower left side of map 1. These fights were so overtuned, had NPC's that ignored the games rules time and time again and just in general had me tilt more than I wanted too.
These overtuned fights alone break so much of this game mode as if they had been removed or just tuned down; i'd call out World of Light for being close too perfection for what it sets out too be. I would like too note that even with the right Spirits; these fights was a mess. I tuned the Metal Mega man one donw too easy and it stands as the only challenge I did not beat on Normal.
But apart from the broken challenges that left a bad taste here and there; most of them was as mentioned good. It's just so sad too see a game mode so close to being prefect getting ruined by challenges with artificial difficulty.
The Bosses:
I fee like World of Light could do with 2-4 more bosses but that would perhaps have made the last run of the True Ending a bit too long. The bosses the game mode had was all decent, not too much health on any of them although some of them should have been a bit more reactionary as especially Galleom was a bit too slow too turn after you but then again he hits for a fair bit when he first hits. I suppose most of these bosses are just how they need to be on Hard in my book.
The re-use of Master and Crazy hand could be limited too once and not twice. Al tough the last encounter with them was nice with some additional changes, I do feel like it would have been enough to do this once and just add 2 additional bosses rather than having Master and Crazy as "main mini" bosses on so many occasions.
The bosses of Galeem and Dharkon was decent and the upgrades they got later on was spectacular additions that made me love these fights more than I should.
The True ending was the first ending I reached. When I went too map 3 I purposefully went back and forth too keep the map in balance as I did not want too "side" with either of the flying turds and the path down the middle of the top of the map was where I naturally ended up and with that let me say:
The True ending fight of this game gave me the most chills I have had in a game in a long time.
The Master Hand VS Fighter was just a big "OH MY GOD" moment. We have modded and messed around with smash for years too let us "play" as Master and Crazy hand and here it is handed too us. This part of the ending was just epic, it was truly a "OH LORD YES" moment for Smash players.
The climb up as Galeem and Dharkon assaults you and destroys the map. Item challenges and Fighter brawls where Light fought Dark: all too reach the top where the two giants was fighting in the background as you had to re-challenge all bosses in a Boss-Royale game that felt so in-place.
The final fight VS both Galeem and Dharkon was the best, THE BEST! How they could damage one and other and also had fighters from each side spawn in just made this one of the best endings I could imagine for this game mode. Nintendo may have had a wobble with the early part of this game mode but the nailed the landing so good that it may as well almost not even matter. Truly a spectacular ending too this game mode.
Overall World of Light is a sold Adventure mode experience that would be perfect if map 1 and 2 were more evenly balanced and had some of the extremely overtuned matches been balanced out a bit. I don't belive in 10/10 scores so a 9/10 is the best I can give yet World of Light does in my book despite some hits and misses land on a solid;
7.5 / 10 - Because some of those broken a** fights just for real had me flip out and lose my interest for periods of time.
Oh yeah music. There was some music. I don't take note of music. But the World of Light soundtrack is kicka**.
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