Some Thoughts About 'Virtue's Last Reward'

Just recently, I played the PC remaster of the cult classic Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. On Steam, the game is actually sold with its sequel as a single game, so I went on to play that next with the first game still fresh in my memory. After playing through the whole thing and seeing every possible way the story can go, I have a lot of thoughts to share - but I do recommend reading my thoughts on the last game first, as I'll be doing a lot of comparing.

Fundamentally, Virtue's Last Reward plays exactly like its predecessor. It consists of alternating visual novel sections with choices and escape rooms full of puzzles, but expands on everything its predecessor did in significant ways. Unfortunately, growth brings growing pains.

Virtues and Vices (Escape Room Gameplay)

Let's start with the central gameplay, the escape rooms. In 999, you could only explore the escape rooms from a set of predetermined angles. While predetermined angles still exist in Virtue's Last Reward, you can actually "move" around the room, albeit on a set path - imagine a track through the room that you can move back and forth along. The increased freedom of movement is appreciated, but it's unfortunately rather slow and restrictive. This becomes a theme and a central part of what's wrong with the game - the game is much larger than 999, but it also has so many extra needless steps. To illustrate: If you solve a puzzle on the opposite side of the room from where the exit is, you'll need to back out from viewing the puzzle and then slowly make your way back along the track, then click the safe to enter the password you've acquired, then grab the key, back out from viewing the safe, click on the door (if it's not near the safe, you'll have to move along the tracks again) and then finally use the key on the lock. It really makes you miss the snappy 'find a key, go to the exit, click the exit' solutions in 999. One of these extra steps is a consequence of one of the game's new additions: the safe. Rather then making you find a key, you find a password that you enter into the safe to get the key. I could be wrong, but I see two main reasons why this was added:

- Even moreso than its predecessor, the game revolves around retracing your steps and trying multiple story branches to learn more about the characters and see many endins. Once you discover a code, you have it in your archive permanently so you don't have to do the escape room again if you decide to revisit a branch; the same couldn't be done with a key like you find in 999.
- You can also find a secret password in each room that lets you get a secret file with lore from the safe.

One way I would suggest to fix this is by having the password interface on the door instead of a safe, and just have it spit out the secret file if you enter the secret code and open if you enter the code that would get you the key. That already takes out a lot of unnecessary steps.

I would address the inventory system, but the system isn't changed too much from its predecessor. I'll say that I appreciate the increased amount of space the items get and that you can see the environment underneath (helps remind you what you were looking for), but having the items rotate around a 3D axis when selecting got a little confusing for me.

Those are my criticisms regarding the escape rooms. There were a few occasions where I couldn't figure out a puzzle, not because I couldn't solve it per se, but because I didn't understand the rules. I'm willing to chalk this up to my own lack of ability, though. I will admit that I binged my way through the game, playing many hours at a time, which may have worsened the tedious feeling I got from navigating the escape rooms.

That was a lot of negativity regarding the escape rooms, so it's time to pay credit where credit is due. The game packs a whopping 16 escape rooms, each filled to the brim with puzzles and mini-games of many kinds. There's enough content here to scratch any enthusiastic puzzle solver's itch. And while the safes might not be the best execution of the concept, giving each escape room two solutions - one for escaping and a harder one for finding the secret file - is brilliant. It allows people who are passionate about puzzles to really challenge themselves, while people who don't want to wrack their brain too much can skip out on the secret password and just find the escape password. You can even switch the difficulty to easy in a room, which will make the NPCs that accompany you give you more clues to help you figure it out. This will give you a silver secret file instead of a gold secret file, but you can always redo it on a higher difficulty afterwards. And of course, when you clear a room you get that safisfying screen and jingle that says it all:

In short: The sheer amount of content and variation compared to 999 is admirable, but some odd design choices make certain parts more slow, repetitive and tedious than they need to be.

Endless Depths (Visual Novel Gameplay)

In the moment to moment experience, the visual novel segments are exactly the same as 999. Where the game truly differs its in its size and amount of branches. When I started Virtue's Last Reward, I thought "999 had about 3 main branches with some offshoots, Virtue's Last Reward will probably have something like that."

Then I opened the in-game flowchart.

I was baffled at the sheer amount of ways the story can go. And of course, you can jump back to any point you've been so you can try other branches. 

One major difference between Virtue's Last Reward and 999 is that, on first impressions, it's a lot more clear about its branching points. In 999, you sometimes needed to make a series of seemingly minor choices for the story to branch off in a certain way later. In Virtue, the branches do not reconverge, so such choices do not exist. Instead, there are two major kinds of decisions: Chromatic Doors and the AB Game. I'll get into the story relevance of these later, but to put it simply: Chromatic doors let you pick where to go and with whom, which decides which escape room you'll solve. After an escape room, you play the AB Game where you vote to Ally with or Betray the person or team you solved the room with in a Prisoner's Dilemma situation. This decision then impacts which rooms you can enter, because a person you betrayed won't team up with you again.

Virtue's Last Reward is not exactly the kind of game where you're expected to simply try for an ending and then stop. As a matter of fact, you may well run into one of many 'game overs' based on your decisions, or even a sudden 'To be Continued.' You see, exploring the different outcomes is a fundamental part of the game. If you run into a 'To be Continued,' that means the story branch can only continue after you have witnessed some event or heard some detail from a different story branch. This is a great concept and makes full use of the idea of a branching narrative, which explains why they were to set on making a ton of them.

This massive increase in scale does bring a few new problems, however. First off, the game wants you to understand the movements of each character - which makes sense - but every time you move to a new place, the game switches to a map view and shows you (as represented by a glowing dot) moving to the location. And every time the glowing dot reaches a door, the game shows an animation of it opening. The first time you go through a branch, this will feel natural, but after a few, it feels like a really slow and unnecessary step. If the characters say 'We need to get back to room A,' a fade to black with running sounds is fine; we don't need to be shown the exact route they take. This could be forgiven if it was some kind of loading screen, but this is a visual novel. If it doesn't need loading screens for the puzzle rooms, where stuff actually happens, it shouldn't need any loading screens for text boxes and static backgrounds.

The game fortunately provides a skip button to quickly go through text you've already seen. If this function hadn't been present, I would not have been able to make it through all the story branches. However, sometimes text that you've strictly not seen is still redundant. For instance, characters will find a new door and describe it. Depending on who is with you, different characters describe it, but the information gained is identical. As a result, the skip often stops to let you hear the new dialogue, forcing you to click through it manually if you don't want to hear the same thing again. This is not a flaw of the skip function itself, it's just a "problem" with the script. I put problem in quotation marks because I respect the Herculian effort that was put into making sure each character has something relevant to say in each situation, it just got tedious for me. But just like the puzzle rooms, this might simply be a consequence of me binging the game. Hearing the same door described thrice in one session is annoying, but having it described again in a new session can be a refreshing reminder. 

In short: The game represents a massive increase in scale and its story branches out far more than its predecessor, a fact it makes great use of by requiring you to explore multiple branches to open up new ones. However, its insistence on showing the characters moving to each location and shared events and discoveries between the branches might make the experience tedious for some people.

The Leap to 3D (Presentation)

One of the biggest surprises going into Virtue's Last Reward were the visuals. Instead of the expressive and well drawn 2D portraits, the cast of characters is presented as 3D models. It's my opinion that this is a major step down from 999. The characters move, but are much less animated and their lip sync is just strange and uncanny. Characters' mouths will move and then stop halfway through the dialogue, or just not be synched at all. It would actually have been better to just open and shut the mouth at regular intervals until the dialogue stops.

This doesn't mean it's all bad, though. The actual designs of the characters are not bad, I just feel that most of them don't benefit from being simplistic 3D models at all. The only exception might be K, the character I shared in a picture above. He's in a robot suit, and his mechanical looking design works well in 3D while the more organic looking characters suffer a bit from the transition.

Aside from the disappointing characters, the presentation is still fine. The game is fully voice acted - although unlike in 999, the player character is not - and it has soundtrack full of new, heart pounding tracks. Like before, you can pick the original Japanese or English, and the voice actors have done a great job. Some of the music tracks may get a little too familiar after you've heard them in so many story branches, but the same could likely be said about most music in general.

The puzzle rooms themselves also offer more visual variation and interesting details. Discovering the beautiful green B. Garden puzzle room was such a refreshing change of pace, for example.

In short: The game's presentation is mostly on par with its predecessor with great voice acting and music. The increased visual variation and detail in puzzle rooms is eclipsed by the slightly uncanny 3D characters, which is why I just barely consider 999 to have a better presentation.

A Rewarding Story

As with 999, Virtue's Last Reward's main event is arguably its story. Just like the characters in 999, the cast of this game is involved in a death game called the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition. While it similarly revolves around a death game where the participants attempt to escape with their lives, there isn't exactly a set time limit. Instead, the object of the game is to gather points which can be acquired slowly by allying with people or quickly by betraying them at the cost of their points. Even moreso than the Nonary Game that preceded it, this game is all about trusting or betraying your fellow players. As a result, there are a truly impressive amount of choices, story branches and endings.

The cast of characters is even more distinct than before. Unlike in 999, they do reveal their true names from the get-go, but that's all the transparency you're getting. This makes the characters more mysterious, but also less likeable from the start. That serves a purpose, though; because the game revolves so strongly about discovering who you can trust, most characters are very cautious and unwilling to reveal a lot. That's where the brilliance of the branching narrative comes in; you get a clear sense of who a character is based on who they Ally with or Betray and how they respond to your different choices. Even though you can explore so many branches, the game still makes you feel the weight of your decisions. I felt really bad about voting to Betray certain characters and really anxious about Allying with others, even if I just did it to explore a certain story branch. And you really do need to explore at least a few story branches to really get a clear picture of the game's story.

In short: Virtue's Last Reward has a similar setting to 999 but the multitude of branches and choices make it much larger and absolutely filled to the brim with content. Its more mysterious and distant cast makes the characters less likeable and relatable but the aforementioned branches provide them an impressive amount of fleshing out. The game makes impressive use of its branching story to tell a larger story, but telling you how exactly would be a spoiler.

Conclusion

Virtue's Last Reward wants to be bigger and better than 999. To that end it is much longer, has many more choices and story branches that don't reconverge. It's packed with more puzzle rooms with more inventive puzzles and an additional optional solution for each. In many ways, it succeeds, but the shared events and observations between branches and the game's habit of slowly demonstrating characters moving from location to location can make it tedious after a while. The puzzle room's innovations add unnecessary steps you need to take after you've already completed the room, slowing down the game further.

The game's leap to full 3D benefits the puzzle rooms a little, but the character designs don't live up to their potential as fairly basic 3D models with weak animations. The voice acting and music are still great, however.

Of course, with a bigger visual novel, you have a bigger story. Small moments of tedium aside, the game pulls off something truly impressive with all the different branches and choices - you'll see each character interact with each character in so many ways. But again, that's something you need to experience in game to truly appreciate it.

I recommend this game to people who love puzzles and branching stories, but only if you really enjoyed 999. If you didn't, you probably shouldn't bother with it.

That's it! It's been a while since I had this much to say about a game, so now I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. If you played Virtue's Last Reward, how did you like it compared to 999? If you did play 999 but not this one, are you planning to? Please join the discussion!

Some Thoughts About 'Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors'

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (which I'll refer to as 999 from this point) is a puzzle game which alternates between visual novel sections and escape room segments. It's famous for its inventive puzzles, complex story and branching narrative based on your choices. I have a history with this game - when it came out in 2010 (amusingly, 9 years ago) a few critical plot details were spoiled for me. That, combined with my lack of confidence in my ability to solve the escape rooms, dissuaded me from playing the game for a long time. Just a few days ago I saw the game's PC rerelease was on sale, and decided it was finally time for me to try it.

Find a Way Out (Gameplay)

The main 'gameplay' in 999 is in the escape rooms. You're given a quick overview of all the rooms and angles, and a simple objective: Find a way out. The way it controls is no different from what you'd expect in a point & click adventure. You click on objects in the environment to interact with them, either to examine them, pick them up or use an item on them. You can also combine items you've picked up to potentially create new items. The game does take advantage of the fact that the items are in 3D; papers will often have hidden messages on the back that you can only find by rotating them, and holding items at a certain angle may help you figure things out.

The item menu is clearly designed to be simple, so the items are big and central. This is usually fine, but scrolling through or finding the right combination can be a little tedious if you're carrying a lot of items. This usually won't happen if you're solving a room in the right order, but it can happen.

In escape rooms, you're stuck with a few predetermined angles that you can move between. This is a bit restrictive, but it ensures that wherever you look, there will be something of interest.

If I had one point of criticism that isn't just a minor quality of life improvement, it's the inconsistencies with which information is stored. You have an item menu for items, but there is also a 'file' menu where important papers are stored. Some papers end up under items, some under 'file' which is a bit harder to reach. This would be easy to fix by combining the item and file menus and simply allowing for more text to be displayed on the item menu.

Beyond that minor gripe, I had a great time solving all the rooms and it was always a good feeling when you slowly see the exit open as soft music begins to play and you're greeted with a simple, clear message:

From Two Screens to One (Presentation)

I played the PC version of 999, which is a remake of the DS version. There are clear improvements - all characters have larger resolution portraits and animations, the music has been redone and the visual novel sections have been provided with full voice acting - and you can pick the original Japanese version or the English translation, whatever suits you. This is a very significant improvement and makes the remake worth looking into even for people who played the DS original.

The characters and unique illustrations for important situations look great, but the escape rooms - which seem like they're changed the least from their DS versions - are very simple and varied in quality. In the picture above, you'll have noticed that they had to tack the word 'cheese' onto those yellow blocks to get across what it is. There are also many items that really could've used some more polygons and better textures, but in the end, it gets the job done - and the characters are still the main attraction. Each one is very distinctive.

As I mentioned earlier, the soundtrack has also been redone. It's very effective at what it does and the tracks lend a lot of tension to the rooms. Most of the tracks aren't exactly the kind I would listen to for fun, but there are a few standout tracks I really did enjoy. Here's an example:

Branches (Story)

999's story is worth the price of entry all by itself and I don't want to spoil it, so I'll keep this short and just list a few general selling points to convince you to try it:

- 999 has an intense, high stakes story. As its name implies, 9 people are put together in a deadly situation and forced to play a sadistic game known only as the Nonary Game. In this game, they players have only 9 hours to escape with their lives. Who do you trust? Who do you group up with?

- The cast of characters is distinct and well written. You'll undoubtedly take a shine to a few of the characters and start to dislike certain others; they're all very unique and it's a treat to see how they respond to each other and the various situations they end up in.

- 999 has a branching narrative and multiple endings. The real fun is in seeing all the different ways things can go and the game has a few useful functions to help you out with that. From the start, you have access to a flowchart that shows you exactly where the story branches and where critical decisions happen. You can jump to any part of the flowchart at any time, no strings attached, so if you regret your decision or want to try a different combination of choices, you're welcome to do so.

Conclusion

999 is a puzzle game with sharp writing, amazing characters and a branching narrative - not to mention vibrant animated portraits for the characters and heart pounding music tracks from start to finish. The game's escape rooms will challenge your puzzle solving skills, though they do lack some conveniences and aren't visually appealing. If you love story and puzzles, get this game. If you're only into story or only into puzzles, consider getting it on sale. It's bundled with its sequel that I am currently playing and will share my extended thoughts on in the future. Check it out here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/477740/Zero_Escape_The_Nonary_Games/

Some Thoughts About 'Cogs'

I stumbled on another game I've had for years and simply never took the time to start. Today, I'm sharing some thoughts about Cogs, a sliding puzzle game with a few twists.

Old Fashioned in a Good Way

Cogs' visuals have aged a little bit, but they still hold up surprisingly well. The game revolves around sliding puzzles - but instead of completing an image, you're completing a machine. On top of the sliding panels are cogs (of course) or pipes, and you're tasked with making sure all the cogs connect and make a specific cog move, or to guide flowing glas to a balloon.

Because the game is all about cogs and steam, its visuals consist entirely of wood and metals. This lends the game a pleasant old-fashioned atmosphere with some hints of steampunk, though purely aesthetically and not thematically. It's very satisfying to see it in motion; having a machine spring to life thanks to your efforts offers great feedback for your actions compared to just popping up a "stage clear!" message like so many puzzle games do. It gives the puzzles a "real" purpose instead of being a series of abstract pieces you put together in an arbitrary order.

The music also matches up perfectly, and is very relaxing and pleasant - though there isn't too much of it.

Let it Slide

The game's aeshetic is beautiful and the simple joy of watching a machine activate because you solved a puzzle is worthwhile, but what about the actual gameplay?

At its core, Cogs is a pretty basic slide puzzle game - but that doesn't mean it has no tricks up its sleeve. For example, many of the puzzles use 3D space, forcing you to think about how the moving parts will interact across multiple sides of the machine.

In the prior section, I gave praise to the game's use of moving parts as a way to make a sliding puzzle into a way to operate a machine. The game takes advantage of this on a gameplay level as well, with some of the harder puzzles requiring timing - for example, you may have to set up the cogs so that they activate two machines at the exact same time, forcing you to time when exactly you put the slides in place. This adds yet another dimension to the puzzles that your average sliding puzzle simply doesn't have.

The game is short, simple and sweet, so I don't really have any problems beside this minor nitpick: you have to pause to restart; I think games with short puzzles really benefit from having a quick restart button or option, as the game rewards you for completing puzzles with as few moves and in as little time as possible.

Those are my thoughts. Cogs is a simple but enjoyable sliding puzzle game with a charming presentation and a few twists that keep it interesting. Check it out if puzzles or intricate contraptions are your thing.

Some Thoughts About 'Ticket to Ride'

While digging through my backlog, I discovered I acquired turn-based strategy game 'Ticket to Ride' years ago, possibly from a Humble Bundle. I decided to give the game a quick look.

In Ticket to Ride, you and the other players take on the role of a railroad tycoon, connecting as many cities as possible by drawing cards with train carts and locomotives or building railroads each turn. When I opened the game and noted its fairly simplistic presentation, it was obvious: This is a digitized version of what was originally a traditional boardgame. Apparently it's pretty popular, but I hadn't heard of it before now.

Losing Charm

Now, the game is fun, and I'll talk a bit more about that later, but it's immediately apparent that a lot was lost in the transition from traditional to digital. One of the game's charms in its traditional form is placing the little train carts of your color down onto the routes between cities, clearly indicating that you've claimed them. Just look at how charming and appealing this looks:

In the digital version, the adorable train carts are replaced by colored squares on a flat map. It does the job, but it has no charm whatsoever:

If there is ever a new iteration of this game, adding a little depth could go a long way. Changing the perspective, or even having simple 3D models of the plastic pieces, would be perfect. There's a reason why engines like Tabletop Simulator have garnered an audience; the feeling of messing around with pieces on a board, even digital, has an appeal of its own that can't be underestimated.

As a matter of fact, some fans have actually made Ticket to Ride in Tabletop Simulator, showing that the "official" version couldn't quite scratch the itch that the original boardgame did.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1636855953

That's the Ticket

In spite of some missing details, however, the game itself functions perfectly well. It's a turn-based strategy game that's easy to pick up and understand, and the digital version has the advantage of telling you when and why a certain action cannot be taken - for example, if you're trying to claim a route between two cities because you think you have enough train carts but you're missing the necessary locomotive to make it happen. If that happens, the game will stop you and explain why the move is against the rules without wasting your turn.

Another great advantage of this digital release: It has a thriving online community. Before I wanted to post my impressions, I really wanted to try an online game but I dreaded how long it might take to find one. But there were many games to join and you could just as easily start your own, much to my delight. I wanted to try a simple match with one other player, so I did just that - and in my home territory of Europe, of course.

The game may initially seem like you just need to get the right train carts and just keep building between the cities, but planning ahead is actually very important. You can choose which 'tickets' you're trying to validate (that is, which cities you are trying to create a route between). If you claim a ticket, you'll lose points if you fail to connect the cities by the end of the game, but if you wait too long, it can be too late; your opponent could claim the necessary tracks or you could run out of carts. There's a nice bit of risk/reward involved. 

Unfortunately, planning ahead isn't my strong suit, so my opponent proceeded to crush me into the ground.

But all in all, I had a good time with the game. It's a fun concept that's simple and easy to understand. I just wish they could've preserved some of that original board game charm. If you're into turn-based strategy or just really like trains, you might want to look into this game.

Customizing Miriam (Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night)

I've played a lot of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - a Metroidvania and spiritual successor to the Castlevania series - recently. I haven't finished the game and am not ready to share my general thoughts yet. But one of the things I'm really enjoying about the game is the option to customize the playable character with various hairstyles and colours. Character customization is very uncommon in Metroidvanias, so I think there's value in talking about it. So! I just wanted to write a fun article to show off a few of the "looks" I've given Miriam so far. This is a 'just for fun' article, not a serious analysis or critique.

For context, you can customize Miriam's hairstyle, hair color, skin color, eye color and pick two colors for her clothes. She can also be equipped with various accessoires.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the original look I gave her, with red hair, purple clothes and a pirate hat. Fortunately, this does give me the opportunity to express how happy I am that Robert Belgrade got a small role in this game as the vampire on the right, Orlok Dracule. Robert Belgrade was the original voice of Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and hasn't starred in any Castlevania since, so it feels poetic and just right to have him return like this.

I really like this one, though I probably should've taken the mask off. The blue and green clothes with the blonde hair and bow make for a pretty striking look in my opinion. It's a bit reminiscent of Elsa from Frozen, especially with the braided hair.

I like to call this one the 'dapper' look. It's mostly because of the hat, but Miriam is already pretty dapper by default. I decided to experiment with darker skin in this look as well, as you can even change that. That lead to my most distinctive experiment yet:

I call this one the 'demon' look. I think it's very striking how the blue skin contrasts with the red clothes, and the haircut and demon mask definitely help with the feel. Probably the most aesthetically pleasing look I've given her, in my own opinion.

Have you played any Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? Please share how you customized Miriam and why.

I'll share my serious thoughts about the game in a future article.

Some Thoughts About Mario Odyssey

I recently finished the latest installment in the 3D Mario series, Super Mario Odyssey, and I loved it! But I'd like to share some random thoughts about it. Sometimes, the 'Some Thoughts About' series of articles is structured much like a review, but since this game's been reviewed to death, I just want to touch on a few points that I think are worth discussing: How the game continues the series' recent use of motion controls, how cohesive its world feels and to what degree the game shifts the series back to a nonlinear, exploration-based style.

In Motion

Motion controls became an integral part of the Mario games on the Wii. It was genuinely impossible to beat Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel without shaking the Wii remote and using the pointer controls.

The Nintendo Switch, the Wii's "grandchild" as it were, also has motion controls - but those don't seem to be the focus. As such, you can use motion controls in Odyssey, but it's mostly optional. But though it's mostly a matter of convenience, the game still seems to want to make motion controls more relevant. For this reason, the motion control version of many actions is a better version. For example, you can move faster as a Bullet Bill by holding the button, but you can move even faster if you shake the Joycons. Personally, I would've preferred it if the motion controls were just another alternative and not a "superior" version.

Cohesive World

Super Mario Sunshine is probably the most controversial out of the 3D Marios, with most people ranking it at the top or the bottom of the series - usually not in between. One thing most of us can agree on, though, that it sets up the most cohesive world - that is to say, everything feels connected and like it's part of the same place.

This makes it completely distinct from other 3D Marios, where you enter various disconnected worlds that are connected by a hub - like Peach's Castle or Rosalina's Observatory. In spite of the developers placing Odyssey on Sunshine's side of the fence in the sense that they consider it an 'exploration' type platformer, it's the least cohesive 3D Mario yet. That is neither a positive nor a negative, but it's something to think about. Not only do the game's Kingdoms not really connect logically, they are completely different in terms of artstyle and music. If you were to take Mario out of the picture, you'd scarcely believe that New Donk City, Mt. Volbono, the Ruined Kingdom and Bonneton all exist within the same game and the same world.

It would be unfair to say this applies to the whole game, however. The worlds with more "traditional themes," like the ice-themed Shiveria, beach-themed Bubblaine and desert-themed Tostarena don't seem like an impossible fit in terms of style, though they still don't connect logically.

Exploring

In the time leading up to the release of Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo made it very clear that they considered it a return to the formula of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Unlike the Galaxy games and 3D World, this game would go back to having exploration-based levels instead of linear challenges. The strange thing is, this is true in some ways, but not in others.

Mario Odyssey's worlds are indeed large and open to be explored, that much is true, but there's still a very clear intended route to start with. Each world has its own set of story missions that must be played in order (with a rare exception occurring in Shiveria, where you can play 4 missions in any order) and until the story missions are complete, many of the optional Moons are inaccessible. In that sense, it can feel a little bit like Mario 64 or Sunshine; but once you complete a world's story missions, the way it opens up is more akin to Rare collectathons like Banjo-Kazooie. At that point, the worlds are exactly as open and explorable as promised.

But while the worlds eventually open up, the game as a whole does not. A beloved quality of Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy was that any Star was as good as another; if you had enough, you could move on to many new worlds at once. This allowed you to skip missions and even worlds you didn't like. In Odyssey, the Moons only ever serve the purpose of getting you to the next world. Sometimes the game allows you to pick which of two possible worlds to do first, but that's the only choice you're getting. You can't even skip over a level if you have enough Moons because the game specifically requires a certain amount of Moons from that particular level before it'll allow you to progress.

So while Odyssey's worlds do offer more room for exploration after you finish their story mission, the game's structure on a larger scale is much more linear than any 3D Mario so far. Even Super Mario 3D World, which is very linear, had more branching paths.

Conclusion

Super Mario Odyssey wants motion controls to be optional and yet relevant, so it allows greater conveniences and slightly better actions with the motion controls. I think committing to either making the motion controls integral, or completely optional, would have been better.

Super Mario Odyssey is not committed to making a cohesive world. In that regard, it is more like Mario Galaxy than Sunshine; variation over cohesion. It is up to the player to decide whether they prefer this or not.

Super Mario Odyssey's levels allow for exploration, but they are fairly linear until you complete the story missions. The game's actual structure is almost completely linear, even moreso than Galaxy 2 and 3D world and completely unlike Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine.

Those were just some thoughts about the game, but I do have to stress that Mario Odyssey is an amazing Mario game and a must-buy for any Switch owner. If you have any thoughts about the game, good or bad, please feel free to share them in the comments.

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Mario Odyssey footage by: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtyokkUwxwy0ef1f6TLYFLA
Mario Galaxy footage by: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQ1C82NLsVVGmi0ayYnh_w
Mario Sunshine footage by: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM8XzXipyTsylZ_WsGKmdKQ

#RemasterThousandYearDoor

Recently, fans of the classic GameCube RPG 'Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door' have been part of a hashtag campaign to convince Nintendo to remaster or possibly even remake the game to bring it to a new audience. I want to give you some insight on the movement and explain my own reasons for wanting a remaster of this beloved cult classic.

Puppet with a Plan

On July 27th 2019, Arlo - a family friendly gaming YouTuber - made a video starting the hashtag and an associated petition. Arlo's been making content about the Paper Mario franchise for a long time and like myself, he believes that the Paper Mario franchise has lost much of what made it great - whereas the Thousand-Year Door represents everything that made the series great in the first place. His video is well worth checking out, both for context and because he's a downright entertaining content creator:

Not long after Arlo posted his video officially starting the campaign, the hashtag quickly became populated with thousands of Tweets explaining why the Thousand-Year Door deserves a remaster, as well as mountains of fan art. It's well worth browsing through the hashtag to see just how much the fans care: https://twitter.com/hashtag/RemasterThousandYearDoor

Looks good on paper

So now you're up to speed about what's going on - people want a remaster of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. But why? I'm going to divide this segment into three subsections - Content, Context and Improvements.

Content

The most straightforward reason why Thousand-Year Door deserves a remaster is that it is an excellent videogame. It takes the formula of classic JRPGs and distills it down to something more simple, quick and involved thanks to the timed Action Commands. There are no ridiculously high numbers or overly complicated hierarchies of weaknesses and strengths - everything explains itself intuitively. Flying enemies need to be jumped on, spiked enemies need to be hit with the hammer and so on. Battles have many solutions for you to discover and you never have to grind. And instead of a complex system of equipment with many minor statistical differences and percentages, there are just badges that allow you to shape the way you play by adding all new abilities or other game changing additions to your arsenal.

Rock solid gameplay aside, the game's presentation is timeless. The game has a focus on simple, colorful and immediately recognizable characters that stick out from the simple 3D backgrounds. The clear, simple speech bubbles and easily readable font are reminiscent of comic books and make sure you'll never get tired of reading.

The game's soundtrack is also amazing, featuring catchy tunes, emotional pieces and a lot of downright weird stuff as well. One of my favorites will always be the battle theme:

But one of the most unexpected virtues of the Paper Mario series are the games' stories and the way they expand the world that Mario and his friends inhabit. Mario games are famous for being lighthearted and joyful, but the Paper Mario games have moments of deep sadness or even fear that you'd never see in the mainline series. Thousand-Year Door is not afraid to add some darker depths to the world of Mario. I won't go in-depth to prevent spoilers, but let's just talk about how the game starts. Mario walks into Rogueport, and the first thing that happens is a Goomba girl gets attacked by a suspicious figure and no one lifts a finger to help; Mario and the girl escape into town and the first visual that greets you is a gallows with a noose. In a Mario game.

The intro segment continues to lay it on thick, showing you two mafioso beating a few people up in the background and having you get robbed moments after. The message is clear: You've left the Mushroom Kingdom - this is a new place in Mario's world, with a good deal more crime and cynicism.

But that's not to say that Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an entirely grim game. The game has a fantastically goofy sense of humour and its tone is still optimistic. It's just not afraid to show you the seedy side of Mario's world, a side that we've never really seen again.

There's so much more I want to say about the story and incredible characters, but the purpose of this article is to argue for a rerelease or remake of the game, so I really don't want to spoil any more than I already have.

So, we've got an amazingly fun RPG with beautiful visuals, catchy music and a story that - while charming and humorous - is not afraid to tread dark and scary ground. It's one-of-a-kind, and more people ought to be able to try it for that reason alone.

Context

On a more meta level, a major reason why we need a remaster or remake of Thousand-Year Door is because the game is stuck in a forgotten generation. With the Wii U and Switch leaving GameCube backwards compatability behind, you can only officially play the game with a GameCube and GameCube disc. This means you'll have to either own or buy a GameCube, and then get the game, which might not be cheap depending on where you live.

And even if you did have the financial stability to buy a GameCube with all the bells and whistles, the game is also just fairly unknown. The GameCube was a difficult time for Nintendo, as we all know, and only a handful of games on the system could really be called major successes. A new release wouldn't just make the game more accessible, it'd also just make more people aware of it. With Nintendo's marketing team backing it, the game could enjoy a much greater success on the Switch than it ever did on the GameCube.

Another matter is the current state of the series. The two latest installments, Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash did not sell very well and were disliked by critics and fans alike (you can read an article I wrote about it here: https://arjenartdesign.blogspot.com/2017/06/paper-mario-color-splash-critique-1.html), and it's easy to see why: The games aren't bad, but they've completely abandoned what people enjoyed about the series to begin with - namely, the exciting combat and amazing story. Remaking The Thousand-Year Door would be an opportunity for Nintendo to show they understand what the fans want, and would potentially allow them to continue the series in a way that the fans would love. 

In conclusion, remastering the game just makes sense; it makes the game more accessible, it allows Nintendo to market the game as new - which they've been doing quite effectively with Wii U ports on Switch - and thus it'll be seen and played by many new people as well as the fans. It would also be exactly what the fans want after the series changed its focus away from what made fans fall in love with it to begin with.

Improvements

A game doesn't need to be perfect to get a remaster or remake - on the contrary, a rerelease is the perfect opportunity to iron out a few of the problems. Assuming the hypothetical remaster is just that and not a remake, this is a moot point, but if the game gets the full HD treatment like Wind Waker - another GameCube classic - there are things they could do to make the game even better. This segment will feature some very minor gameplay spoilers.

Just like Wind Waker's Triforce chart/piece quest was considered just a bit too tedious, so too does The Thousand-Year Door have its padded segments. Chapter 4 and 5 in particular ask you to run back and forth through the same area more times than is really necessary. Simply adding a pipe that warps you between the two extreme ends of the area would fix this problem. A faster way to switch partners and use items would also be a big plus.

The game also has a few gags that are pretty funny, but drag on for too long - one, for example, involves you having to follow a character through many previously visited areas. This could be fixed by shortening the quest a lot or allowing you to warp from any location once you've opened an area's fast travel pipe. 

These are just a few minor improvements that would make an already great game even more amazing, and a remaster/remake is the perfect opportunity to make it happen.

The Final Page

To summarize, the game deserves a remaster for its exciting combat, great presentation and compelling story. It needs a remaster to reach a new audience and become more accessible for fans and newcomers alike. A remaster would be a great opportunity for Nintendo to score points with the fans and improve upon a beloved classic. All in all, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain. That's why I and so many fans want Nintendo to #RemasterThousandYearDoor.

Please let me know what you think in the comments. Did I make a good case, or are you not convinced? Are there other games you think need to be remastered?

Thousand-Year Door screenshots captured from this video. It's a longplay, so it has spoilers- beware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKh5LKS6LJ8

Sea of Thieves: The Power of Rare

I've been playing a lot of Rare's Sea of Thieves lately. The game has had a tough time of it, struggling to captivate people due to its unpolished nature, lack of content and rather steep price. But even though those are all valid problems, I want to highlight a few ways in which the game still has that Rare spark we've known since many console generations ago.

Jiggies and Jingles

During Rare's peak, they made several "collectathon" platformers like Banjo-Kazooie. One of the many ways in which these classics outperformed the competition was its soundtrack, and particularly, its sound design. Every single pick up has a distinctive sound to it.

Sea of Thieves' soundtrack usually stays in the background, but like in Banjo-Kazooie, Rare made sure that there are still distinctive sounds and jingles to each situation and achievement. At the start, you can do voyages for 3 main guilds. Each guild has a distinctive music track when you come close to one of its representatives, but it doesn't end there - each guild has a jingle for when you start one of their voyages, when you complete an objective within the voyage (like discovering a chest or defeating a skeleton captain) and when you sell an item to them. Some unique items, like the Chest of Sorrows or the Chest of 1000 Grogs, even have their own unique jingles as well.

And even in battles, there are unique musical flourishes for getting a hit on another player, getting a hit on a Kraken's tentacle (a very small jingle for landing a sniper shot, a slightly longer one for landing a cannonball shot) and getting a hit on the Megalodon. The list just goes on and on; Sea of Thieves' entire library of sound and music is a labour of love - and that famous 'Rare flair' is in more than just the jingles.

Environmental and Reactive Music

The Nintendo 64 was a breeding ground for all kinds of revolutionary and groundbreaking developments, not least of all in terms of game audio. Contextual musical changes weren't unheard of (take the added drums when riding Yoshi in Super Mario World), but Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel pioneered having radical seamless changes between various very different versions of the same theme. For example, Treasure Trove Cove has a theme for being above and underwater which it can smoothly transition between:

Sea of Thieves is a very different game; there are no levels with their own default themes that can subsequently be iterated upon. Rather, the whole world is open to you, and the music can transition to many themes to fit the situation. Like Banjo, you'll be treated to unique and beautifully relaxing music if you decide to explore the ocean beneath the waves and you'll hear a given company's musical theme if you approach their representative at an outpost. Like Ocarina of Time, another N64 classic, unique music plays when you encounter an enemy - and there are unique tracks depending on the kind of encounter. Are you fighting the megalodon at sea, or a cursed skeleton ship? Or are you fighting skeletons on the shore? There's a track for most any situation.

   

And with every new update, the game's already massive library of contextual jingles and tracks expands. In an update, The Hunter's Call was added to the game - an entirely new faction with its own jingles. With the Hunter's Call came the ability to fish, and fishing has its own music as well. It seems there is no brake on this train, or rather, ship - it's clear that Rare is committed to making Sea of Thieves' audio as absolutely perfect as it can be. If you needed any more proof that music is a high priority, note that any Sea of Thieves character comes with 4 instruments by default that they can play a few tracks on - with other players, too.

Eye Candy

When it comes to that 'Rare magic,' I think the music and sound comes to mind first. But their games have visuals to match; just as each collectible in Rare's classic collectathons had a distinctive sound, it also had a distinctive design. But a major difference between the games of yore and Sea of Thieves is that the items in Sea of Thieves don't have a unique utility (like the ability to fly or become invincible in Banjo); they just have a unique value and are meant for a specific faction. For example, the Gold Hoarders want treasure chests, and the Order of Souls wants skulls.

So rather than design the items based on their function, they're designed based on their associated faction and value. You can immediately tell by the look of an item which faction it's for and how valuable it is. Consider these two chests:

You don't need anyone to tell you which of these is more valuable, and that goes for the skulls too:

 

And this is just barely scratching the service, as each type of treasure has more tiers than I've shown, the Merchant Alliance has its own line of treasure, there are different types of enemies with clear visual cues and colours - the game's presentation is as splendid visually as it is in sound.

Conclusion

No one can deny that Sea of Thieves has had, and still has, its problems. But the Rareware we know and love is still clearly visible in the details. Their flair for giving every little thing its own distinctive sound, music and look has stayed alive to this very day and is one of the main attractions of Sea of Thieves on the whole. And they're still expanding on the game, so the amount of little details will only increase as time goes on.

Have you had any experiences with Sea of Thieves? Did you enjoy it, or did the game's shortcomings get in the way of your enjoyment? Please let me know!