I don't really post on Smashboards anymore but I think I will stop by this thread on occasion.
The Mario Party box art looks nice and I love how big Rosalina is, though she looks a bit odd in the face. I seem to hold the unpopular opinion that the game actually looks like a lot of fun, being more like a Mario RTS than a traditional Mario Party, at least as far as Toad Scramble is concerned. I'm totally down with that. I might pick it up.
I do need to vent though.
I've become really bothered with Rosalina's portrayal in the Rio Olympics on Wii U.
Her model may be sexy and all that, but they make her sound as weak and delicate as rice paper in this game. Their excuse for her not being able to compete in other events besides gymnastics is that they're "too difficult for her".
I know it's just an arbitrary way of justifying why she isn't in other events, just like how her stats are non-sensical due to the fact they really don't matter for her in this game. But they could have handled it much better. You could also interpret this as her just being modest, but even that doesn't work. Rosalina is supposed to be confident yet modest - she's able to do amazing things and she knows it, and won't back down from a challenge, but will not get in your face if you lose and will commend your efforts regardless of the outcome. She's not even being modest here, she's flat out too nervous to participate in the first place. Seems really off to me, especially considering stuff like this:
If they really needed an explanation for why each character isn't playable in every event, Rosalina's should have been "I'd love to try my hand at more events, but I'm far too busy right now. As fun as the Olympics are, I've got Lumas to feed and galaxies to protect! I'll warp down here whenever I get a free moment, though, and cheer everyone on from the spectator's stand!".
Something like that would have been much more in character and wouldn't require arbitrarily making her a wimp. I just really don't like handling her character like this, it's literally the stereotype less informed Mario fans make about her, where she's this weakling, anorexic shy girl who can't even take on a Goomba, let alone Bowser (just because of how she arbitrarily sits on the sidelines in Galaxy), and needs Peach and Daisy to escort her around everywhere like a little kid (despite the fact she's a literal mother herself).
I mean she is clearly more physically built than Peach and Daisy and most other characters in the game. And in Ultra Smash, she's a Power Class who can break real life serving speed records.
Yet SEGA sincerely expects me to accept that even Table Tennis would be "too difficult" for her?
SEGA is normally pretty good with actually making Mario characters pretty interesting in these games and staying true to their characters while expanding upon them. But with Rosalina, they did the opposite. They just took a misinformed fandom stereotype and rolled with that.
This is why Rosalina really needs her own game, if not to be segregated from the Mario franchise altogether. Her bios consistently paint her as an OP goddess in both magic and physical strength. But her in-game portrayals don't always match up with this, because they're afraid of her actually looking more powerful than other characters, or they want to glorify another character (Bowser in MP10, for example).
Outside of fan-art, I've been less interested in Rosalina as of late. Granted, that is partly because I've had other things going on, and there hasn't been a super compelling game featuring her recently, but I just want both a solid and fleshed out portrayal for her, for once to really ignite that spark in me again.
I'll still buy three of her amiibo, though...