Super Mario Odyssey

I picked up Super Mario Odyssey on release day because, while platformers are not my favorite genre, Mario games are a genre unto itself. I played through Super Mario Galaxy twice because it was an awesome game: the gravity mechanic was cool without being overwhelming and the music was equally amazing.

To be honest, I wasn’t super excited about the Cappy mechanic (i.e. throwing your hat at things to become them) when I first heard about it. But playing the game, I found the experience buttery smooth and allowed presenting new challenges that leveraged the mechanics of the captured creature. By the end of the game, I even had favorite type of creature to capture: any that let me glide or fly around because I suck at platforming so flying/gliding was liberating.

All in all, Odyssey is an amazing game and while it could be seen as just another iteration on the Mario series it makes some meaningful departures into new areas. For example, the New Donk City segment and the finale to that area was mind-bogglingly cool and jazzy! 🎺🎸🥁🎤

I was planning to have Odyssey tide me over through December 1st – when Xenoblade Chronicles 2 comes out – but I hit the “first ending” of the game after week. Fortunately, the game doesn’t end there and while collecting more moons sounds like a chore, it really, really isn’t! I think I can squeeze enough out of this one to get me close to the most magical day of 2017!