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The Nintendo "Off My Chest" thread (BE CIVIL)

fogbadge

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I would like to see a Pokémon game where the player is sent to an alien world. See some of the extraterrestrial Pokémon in their home
 

Torgo the Bear

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I would like to see a Pokémon game where the player is sent to an alien world. See some of the extraterrestrial Pokémon in their home
We almost had this with Ultra Space in Gen 7. Personally, I feel like the best bet we’d have to see something like this would be in a Legends game taking place in Ultra Space. You’d likely get Poipole as a starter option, and they could introduce new Ultra Beasts while also having a focus on Pokémon known or believed to be alien in origin.
 

HyperSomari64

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I'm only person in this planet that think Oogtar from DIC's Super Mario World TV show is an underappreciated character.
He's what SML's Jeffy could never be, he at least has the best intentions, even if sometimes the justice falls over him or in the worst of the cases be a Karma Houdini. I saw all 13 episodes of the series and i can say he's a little likeable. (except for his voice in the original versions, at least some foreign dubs fix this problem)
 
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Quillion

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We almost had this with Ultra Space in Gen 7. Personally, I feel like the best bet we’d have to see something like this would be in a Legends game taking place in Ultra Space. You’d likely get Poipole as a starter option, and they could introduce new Ultra Beasts while also having a focus on Pokémon known or believed to be alien in origin.
It should be called Pokémon Dimensions then.
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Wind Waker feels so conclusive and final for a Zelda game, as if it was everything the series (or at least Ocarina of Time and on) was working towards.

In fact, it's so conclusive and final, that in hindsight, it feels like anything short of a big reboot or retool would feel unnecessary with Wind Waker's "let go of the past" message. It pretty much gimped any chance for the usual Zelda tropes to be played again and be received well. I think this is a major reason why the games after it and before ALBW or BotW are so divisive, as they do feel like unnecessary followups/prequels to things that didn't need any more.
 

fogbadge

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We almost had this with Ultra Space in Gen 7. Personally, I feel like the best bet we’d have to see something like this would be in a Legends game taking place in Ultra Space. You’d likely get Poipole as a starter option, and they could introduce new Ultra Beasts while also having a focus on Pokémon known or believed to be alien in origin.
well that's a parallel dimension not quite the same thing

Wind Waker feels so conclusive and final for a Zelda game, as if it was everything the series (or at least Ocarina of Time and on) was working towards.

In fact, it's so conclusive and final, that in hindsight, it feels like anything short of a big reboot or retool would feel unnecessary with Wind Waker's "let go of the past" message. It pretty much gimped any chance for the usual Zelda tropes to be played again and be received well. I think this is a major reason why the games after it and before ALBW or BotW are so divisive, as they do feel like unnecessary followups/prequels to things that didn't need any more.
burn the heretic

Knee jerk insanity aside the very fact that you’ve posted this here surely disproves it? This is the unpopular opinion thread after all so you know that not many people share this feeling and therefore can’t really be the reason they argue all the time. Besides the argument is always is the game any good not should the series have continued. And that argument extends to the entire series, none of them are immune
 
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WeirdChillFever

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It should be called Pokémon Dimensions then.
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Wind Waker feels so conclusive and final for a Zelda game, as if it was everything the series (or at least Ocarina of Time and on) was working towards.

In fact, it's so conclusive and final, that in hindsight, it feels like anything short of a big reboot or retool would feel unnecessary with Wind Waker's "let go of the past" message. It pretty much gimped any chance for the usual Zelda tropes to be played again and be received well. I think this is a major reason why the games after it and before ALBW or BotW are so divisive, as they do feel like unnecessary followups/prequels to things that didn't need any more.
With the lack of dungeons and general content padding with the Triforce Shards I can’t see the final Wind Waker game as anything definitive or final, but I do feel Nintendo shouldn’t have tried to redo Ocarina of Time again to compensate for it in Twilight Princess.
 

Quillion

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Besides the argument is always is the game any good not should the series have continued.
Bruh, I know the series would continue after Wind Waker.

That's why I said whatever would follow it should've been a retool or reboot in hindsight, not unnecessary sequels like PH and ST, unnecessary cliché piles like TP, or unnecessary prequels like SS.
 
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fogbadge

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Bruh, I know the series would continue after Wind Waker.

That's why I said whatever would follow it should've been a retool or reboot in hindsight, not unnecessary sequels like PH and ST, unnecessary cliché piles like TP, or unnecessary prequels like SS.
there's no such thing as an unnecessary zelda game
 

LiveStudioAudience

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I agree with Quillon to point, but I'd say the issue for me wasn't so much the finality of Wind Waker (the split timeline element alone means there's still more interesting stories to explore), as much as it it felt like post WW pre BotW, Zelda largely struggled in balancing its experimentation vs. appeal to mass audiences.

Twilight Princess is a fine title, but its the Zelda release that feels most designed to cater to a very specific fan demand; "give us the darker and more mature LoZ game we were promised". The narrative for the most part works while unfortunately paired with aesthetics that feel very baked into the time of its release and it doesn't come off like something that fully explores its gameplay pillars. It has a gorgeous overworld that doesn't feel like it has much to do in it (or having the first time novelty of Ocarina's), interesting tools/weapons that are inconsistently utilized after their respective dungeon, and Wolf sections that fun while unfortunately lacking the variety of their Hylian counterparts. There's bit of that classic Zelda magic to it and it is competently designed, but it feels outweighed by a sense that it was the game Nintendo felt they had to make more than the one they had loads of ideas for.

The other titles ironically suffered from the opposite problem. The company dived right into very ambitious waters for the various games of the time (particularly handheld ones) however they lost the plot in some ways and produced games that while novel, seemed designed to turn off loads of potential fans in their inherent concepts. Having to move Link with the stylus in Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks was a very telling sign of the insistent controls that Nintendo would begin ramping up in the Wii/Wii U era and it rendered a very solid pair of games of little interest to many possible players because it felt like an unnecessary barrier. The DS specific aspects being front and center (constant drawing, blowing into the mic, etc) also seemed to underline the point that some restraint in the wackier developer proposals may have been warranted.

Skyward Sword would be the culmination of both extremes, with puzzles/combat now entirely centered around a motion control experiment while also going much too deep into linearity and handholding in order to keep it approachable to the broad audience. The creeping Zelda formula that started becoming apparent in Twilight Princess and the increasingly unnecessary feeling gimmicks of the DS duology more or less merged into a game that, while fun, didn't overtly please either those wanting a traditional gameplay experience or those sick of the reused Zelda tropes.

Fittingly enough, Link Between Worlds was a triumph largely because it was the inversion of that particular hybrid. That game took the traditional (& fan sacred) Link to the Past setting and made it incredibly refreshing simply with an enjoyable mirror world, one well executed wall mechanic, and a much needed injection of non-linearity. You didn't need to control Link in a special way or utilize a ton of 3DS gimmicks, but you could effectively progress in your preferred way; with even the choice of temporarily renting or permanently buying weapons/tools being entirely up to you. It was a Zelda release that was inviting to everyone while still respecting your time, skill, and sense of exploration. BotW may have brought the series to new heights and effectively restarted its momentum, but it was LBW that effectively laid the groundwork.
 
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Quillion

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I agree with Quillon to point, but I'd say the issue for me wasn't so much the finality of Wind Waker (the split timeline element alone means there's still more interesting stories to explore), it was that it felt like post WW pre BotW, Zelda largely struggled in balancing its experimentation vs. appeal to mass audiences.

Twilight Princess is a fine title, but its the Zelda that feels most designed to cater to a very specific fan demand; "give us the darker and more mature LoZ game we were promised". The narrative for the most part works, but the aesthetics feel very baked into the time of its release and it doesn't feel like something that fully explores its gameplay concepts. A gorgeous overworld that doesn't feel like it has much to do in it (or having the first time novelty of Ocarina's), interesting tools/weapons that are inconsistently utilized after their respective dungeon, and wolf sections that fun while unfortunately lacking the variety of their Hylian counterparts. There's bit of that classic Zelda magic to it and it is competently designed, but it feels outweighed by a sense that it was the game Nintendo felt they had to make more than the one they had loads of ideas for.

The other titles ironically suffered from the opposite problem. The company dived right into very ambitious waters for the various games of the time (particularly handheld ones) however they lost the plot in some ways and produced games that while novel, seemed design to turn off loads of potential fans in their inherent design. Having to control Link with the stylus in Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks was a very telling sign of the insistent controls that Nintendo would begin ramping up in the Wii/Wii U era and it rendered a very solid pair of games of little interest to many possible players because it felt like an unnecessary barrier. The DS specific aspects being front and center (constant drawing, blowing into the mic, etc) also seemed to belie the underline the point that some restraint in the wackier developer proposals have been warranted.

Skyward Sword would be the culmination of both extremes, with puzzles/combat now entirely centered around a motion control experiment while also going much too deep into linearity and handholding in order to keep it approachable to the broad audience. The creeping Zelda formula that started becoming apparent in Twilight Princess and the increasingly unnecessary feeling gimmicks of the DS games more or less merged into a game that, while fun, didn't overtly please either those wanting a traditional gameplay experience or those sick of the reused Zelda tropes.

Fittingly enough, Link Between Worlds was a triumph largely because it was the inversion of that particular hybrid. That game took the traditional (& fan sacred) Link to the Past setting and made it incredibly refreshing simply with an enjoyable mirror world, one wall mechanic, and a much needed injection of non-linearity. You didn't need to control Link in a special way or utilize a ton of 3DS gimmicks, but you could effectively progress in your preferred way; with even the choice of temporarily renting or permanently buying weapons/tools being entirely up to you. It was a Zelda release that was inviting to everyone while still respecting your time, skill, and sense of exploration. BotW may have brought the series to new heights and effectively restarted its momentum, but it was LBW that effectively laid the groundwork.
Yeah, the Wii/DS era of Zelda was just a stumble from grace. Not a full-on fall from grace like say early Gen 8 Pokémon, but it got out of touch at the time.

But you put a lot more thought into the reasons why instead of most fans who just blame linearity or the formula instead of looking at a lot of other factors. Now that you mention it, Skyward Sword feels like a very "compensating with extremes" sort of game, and the era as a whole does seem like a "compensating with extremes" taking TP, PH, and ST into account. Kinda like Super Paper Mario as I said before.

There's also the fact that WRPGs were rising in popularity thanks to their deeper item systems, character building, and branching stories among other things. BotW essentially had to take elements from that genre to keep up, and now BotW itself feels like a sweetspot between simplicity and complexity while a lot of recent WRPGs and WRPG-like games feel so bloated in terms of content and mechanics both.
----
On the Mario Movie, I like that they toned down the exaggerated voices for the characters. At least they know that because the characters are talking constantly, there's no need for their over-the-top deliveries that the games' grunting needs.

...but that doesn't excuse a lot of the characters sounding way too "normal". Come on, give the delivery at least some cartooniness!
 

LiveStudioAudience

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Yeah, the Wii/DS era of Zelda was just a stumble from grace. Not a full-on fall from grace like say early Gen 8 Pokémon, but it got out of touch at the time.

But you put a lot more thought into the reasons why instead of most fans who just blame linearity or the formula instead of looking at a lot of other factors. Now that you mention it, Skyward Sword feels like a very "compensating with extremes" sort of game, and the era as a whole does seem like a "compensating with extremes" taking TP, PH, and ST into account. Kinda like Super Paper Mario as I said before.

There's also the fact that WRPGs were rising in popularity thanks to their deeper item systems, character building, and branching stories among other things. BotW essentially had to take elements from that genre to keep up, and now BotW itself feels like a sweetspot between simplicity and complexity while a lot of recent WRPGs and WRPG-like games feel so bloated in terms of content and mechanics both.
We'll never really know how much other series influenced BotW specifically, but its not to imagine the near simultaneous release of Skyrim and the latter game completely outselling and overshadowing Skyward Sword had an impact on the Zelda developers in some fashion. Just as Sonic 1 taking the spotlight from Mario World (in the West) I suspect led to really interesting platformer shakeups from the Big N via Donkey Kong Country & Yoshi's Island, that 2011 event might have also been the splash of cold water that Nintendo desperately needed to rethink their strategy on LoZ.

Obviously the subsequent output wouldn't immediately reflect that, but it its telling that the stream of releases shifted to relatively risk free remasters (OoT & MM for 3DS, WW & TWP for Wii U) to make money while the thrust of major development went to game changing titles like LBW & BotW. In that sense TriForce Heroes was essentially the last gasp of the hit and miss ambitions of years previous, one final out there experiment that (no matter how much Nintendo stated was a mainliene title) felt marketed as a wacky gaiden game that even now lacks the legacy of an actual spin-off like Hyrule Warriors does.

Essentially while the series was both still playing it safe via remakes and doing questionable ventures into niche gimmick concepts , the necessary post 2011 changes to the IP were already starting to take shape, and really came into their own 2017 afterwards.
 
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Quillion

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We'll never really know how much other series influenced BotW specifically, but its not to imagine the near simultaneous release of Skyrim and the latter game completely outselling and overshadowing Skyward Sword had an impact on the Zelda developers in some fashion. Just as Sonic 1 taking the spotlight from Mario World (in the West) I suspect led to really interesting platformer shakeups from the Big N via Donkey Kong Country & Yoshi's Island, that 2011 event might have also been the splash of cold water that Nintendo desperately needed to rethink their strategy on LoZ.

Obviously the subsequent output wouldn't immediately reflect that, but it its telling that the stream of releases shifted to relatively risk free remasters (OoT & MM for 3DS, WW & TWP for Wii U) to make money while the thrust of major development went to game changing titles like LBW & BotW. In that sense TriForce Heroes was essentially the last gasp of the hit and miss ambitions of years previous, one final out there experiment that was (no matter how much Nintendo stated was a mainliene title) felt marketed as a wacky gaiden game that even now lacks the legacy of an actual spin-off like Hyrule Warriors does.

Essentially while the series was both still playing it safe via remakes and doing questionable ventures into niche gimmick concepts , the necessary post 2011 changes to the IP were already starting to take shape, and really came into their own 2017 afterwards.
You know, considering how Wii/DS era Zelda tried to combine tired, overused tropes and conventions with half-done and/or outlandish gimmicks, I'm surprised Pokémon fell into those exact traps starting from the 3DS era.

Really, the backlash to Pokémon's own misguided combination of old conventions and outrageous gimmicks reminds me a lot of Wii/DS era Zelda. Oddly enough, while there are countless articles and professional videos analyzing the former, there aren't that much for the latter; just a bunch of forum threads.
 

fogbadge

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See this why I don’t get in with other Zelda fans cause all the rest of you do is talk about how much you hate certain games
 

LiveStudioAudience

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I don't think any of us are talking about how we hate certain games, merely a discussion about why some felt the series lost its way for a while. All the games I've mentioned have great qualities that deserve being utilized again. Twilight Princess has the second strongest narrative behind Majora's Mask, Phantom Hourglass gives real depth to ocean exploration, the Tower of Spirits in Spirit Tracks is wonderful central temple to go continually go back to, Skyward Sword has some of the best boss battles in the series, and even TriForce Heroes manages a good variety of player experimentation via the various outfits. They all have value; its just that for some, there's a sense that had their central game philosophies been different then they could have been more.
 

Troykv

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You know, considering how Wii/DS era Zelda tried to combine tired, overused tropes and conventions with half-done and/or outlandish gimmicks, I'm surprised Pokémon fell into those exact traps starting from the 3DS era.

Really, the backlash to Pokémon's own misguided combination of old conventions and outrageous gimmicks reminds me a lot of Wii/DS era Zelda. Oddly enough, while there are countless articles and professional videos analyzing the former, there aren't that much for the latter; just a bunch of forum threads.
Well I can see why, Pokémon has a bigger fanbase but Zelda's fanbase is filled with older people that is far more likely to be into criticing aspects of game design.
 

Wario Wario Wario

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I thought the Grinch leak was real, but didn't want it to be. What we got (Incineroar and Plant) is 100% better than the character lineup the leak promised, even if I do have my reservations about how Plant was presented and would like a Rhythm Heaven rep if Smash continues it's focus on Nintendo.
 
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Aligo

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I am going to start a super wacky conspiracy theory that XC3 is
I thought the Grinch leak was real, but didn't want it to be. What we got (Incineroar and Plant) is 100% better than the character lineup the leak promised, even if I do have my reservations about how Plant was presented and would like a Rhythm Heaven rep if Smash continues it's focus on Nintendo.
I would personally disagree. By having banjo in base, sufficient complaint about his moveset may have resulted in him being improved.
 

LiveStudioAudience

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In regards to the Grinch Leak, I think it gets brought up more often than it really warrants. Much of the time its revived to poke fun at overzealous Smash fans; a chance to take a controversial fandom down a peg via pointing out its gullibility and/or excess wishful thinking. And while the obnoxious behavior by some in insisting on it being real (to the point of attacking anyone that was doubtful) was genuinely toxic, quite frankly the industry and broader video game culture has been so rife with dubious behavior in regards to leaks that singling out the Grinch example begins to feel petty after a while.

Especially in an era of actual journalists have insisted on the reality of Metroid Prime Trilogy ports and Switch Pro hardware, online Smash fans giving into their hopes than their own skepticism starts to look a bit quaint. As noted I'm not saying certain fans didn't act badly and that there wasn't a genuine lesson to learn about the extent people will go to fake leaks, but to treat the Grinch incident as extraordinary (other than the spotlight it had from being associated with a mega popular game) doesn't feel proportional to its reality.
 

Quillion

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I can't shake the feeling that Mario Odyssey has just too much optionality, as if it goes beyond my limit for how much optional content a game can have.

It can't be that it's easy, since the game has great movement depth and I like deep and easy games like Kirby. It can't be that it's repetitive, since most of the moon challenges (even the post-game moon rock ones) are varied, with "repeats" throwing in a lot of twists too.

I can only conclude that it's the near-lack of requirements, as if it gives me the message, "If all of this is optional, what's even the point?"

It's actually affecting my views on games, as I've been preaching a lot about games needing more choice (without necessarily turning into open world), but is there really a point where optionality turns into a monkey's paw?
 

LiveStudioAudience

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Honestly Odyssey is Sunshine esque in that I recommend to all but the most hardcore Mario fans to finish it, not complete it. Game is a hell of an experience, its just that the enjoyment really starts to go down if you go for all the moons and the "meh" nature of getting some of them becomes apparent. I 100%'d the Galaxy titles and largely enjoyed the complete journey on both, while I eventually hit a point with SMO where I just stopped caring. Its nice that there's various difficulty types in getting moons, but if you're any sort of completionist it hits the point of diminishing returns hard; not unlike Crash 4 in that respect.
 

Quillion

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Honestly Odyssey is Sunshine esque in that I recommend to all but the most hardcore Mario fans to finish it, not complete it. Game is a hell of an experience, its just that the enjoyment really starts to go down if you go for all the moons and the "meh" nature of getting some of them becomes apparent. I 100%'d the Galaxy titles and largely enjoyed the complete journey on both, while I eventually hit a point with SMO where I just stopped caring. Its nice that there's various difficulty types in getting moons, but if you're any sort of completionist it hits the point of diminishing returns hard; not unlike Crash 4 in that respect.
It's rather strange that both Odyssey and Sunshine are on different ends in terms of difficulty yet suffer from differing degrees of that problem.

I will say however that Sunshine at least uses the "episode" structure to its advantage, letting the player see the progression of each level and requiring every Shadow Mario episode to be completed. Odyssey just has barely any impetus to go and do its content.
 

Quillion

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I think we need a mainline Zelda game like Sonic Generations, Kirby Star Allies, and/or Fire Emblem Engage that brings together elements from many different main Zelda games.

Keyword: MAINLINE.
 

Laniv

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Here's a spicy Mario take: as much as I liked the older Paper Mario games, Super Paper Mario was thoroughly unpleasant to play and I do not blame the devs for steering away from it in particular.
 

Aligo

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Here's a spicy Mario take: as much as I liked the older Paper Mario games, Super Paper Mario was thoroughly unpleasant to play and I do not blame the devs for steering away from it in particular.
The story was good, the gameplay was not.
 

Aligo

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The story was good on its own but it really didn't need to be attached to Mario.
I suppose, but arguably only the first paper mario needs the mario setting for the plot. The others could probably work without it, with super being especially detached.
 

Quillion

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I suppose, but arguably only the first paper mario needs the mario setting for the plot. The others could probably work without it, with super being especially detached.
Thing is, while Paper Mario 64 and TTYD feel like they explore different sides of the Mario universe, SPM feels like an original story with Mario elements slapped on.
 

Quillion

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I think Nintendo is good at storytelling. Sure, they may suck at "conventional" cutscene/dialogue-driven storytelling, but they really excel at making worlds where you figure out the context and take in the atmosphere for yourself.

I think that's great, especially since "conventional" storytelling, at least from my perspective, has no choice but to make handholdy games even at their best.
 

Quillion

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might i ask for a game you would cite as an example for this?
A game as early as EarthBound and a game as recent as Mario Odyssey.

Both of these are great at lore and world building you take at your own pace rather than stringing you along a plot.

They aren't plot/character-driven yarns that play with and subvert expectations, but they use story elements that are more in line with the medium.
 

fogbadge

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A game as early as EarthBound and a game as recent as Mario Odyssey.

Both of these are great at lore and world building you take at your own pace rather than stringing you along a plot.

They aren't plot/character-driven yarns that play with and subvert expectations, but they use story elements that are more in line with the medium.
Some how I thought that’s what you’d say. Well the first one at any rate
 
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Swamp Sensei

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Mario Party is not and has never been ''the same thing every game'', that was a lie made up by idiot game journalists.
Oh. This one's interesting because I kinda do and don't agree.

On one hand, new boards, characters, minigames and modes were really all you needed for a new Mario Party. But at the same time, the things I cherish the most were when Mario Party experimented with certain style while still keeping that core experience in tact (7,8,Super).
 

Quillion

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I feel like too many folks overvalue change alongside people who hate it. Change (and staying the same) is just an objective neutral thing that can be good, bad, or anything in between, not unilaterally good or bad.

Mario Party is indeed a good example of having good change and bad change, with board-building in the GCN era being good and all-players-to-an-endpoint boards in the later Wii era being bad.

Now, compensating with extremes in change/keeping the same, like Star Fox Zero retreading 64 but with gimmicky new controls or Skyward Sword pushing for motion controls while doing nothing new with the level settings or progression structure... that is never a good thing.
 

LiveStudioAudience

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There's no generalization that wholly sum up Nintendo's shifts in gameplay design, but I would say that they have a better track record with progession rather than outright reinvention. Outright big experimentation can deliver some solid stuff and pay with being reincorporated later sure, its just the strongest runs of various franchises come from entries building on top of each other.

Just as an example Kirby Super Star really put forth a strong formula for Kirby that then went largely ignored in the decade after despite the strong success of that game. However many good games that experimental period yielded, it was not really until Return to Dreamland (itself interestingly coming after the Super Star Ultra remake) that the series starting getting consistently strong results, culminating in arguably the strongest mainline game with Planet Robobot.

Conversely something like Star Fox has ironically stagnated because constant reimagingings of its core gameplay have prevented it from building upon the successes it did have. Its lacked any stable foundation to work off of and now finds itself without identity the general public doesn't even have an idea or expectation about what a SF game is. Paper Mario arguably never had the chance to genuinely grow its core ideas after the second game because it shifted into a platformer for Super and afterwards stripped away elements to become an okay Adventure game with RPG concepts practically as an artifact.

Heck Breath of the Wild, arguably the most visible break from tradition any major Nintendo IP has had recently, can be still argued as standing on top of elements that Skyward Sword and Link Between Worlds did; taking the former's intriguing ideas and the latter's non linear structure and simply going big with both. Even in a game boldly striving out a new direction is still supported by the ideas introduced by its predecessors (and even the structure of its contemporaries like various Ubisoft games).

Basically Nintendo revolution is nice, but a Nintendo evolution tends to be nicer.
 
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