Super Mario Odyssey - Critique 

It's quite astounding that Sam was able to 100% this game and make this huge critique in only a little over 3 months after the game came out! Major kudos, seriously!

I feel like they should have focused on more beefy objectives instead of a ton of moons. Quality over quantity

A bunch of people have already said this, but man your videos are SEVERELY underrated. Extremely well thought-out criticism that is concise and also hilarious. It's a crime that your channel isn't bigger, and I can't wait until more people discover you 👍

“Because it’s a fucking Mario game”

The whole fun of Mario 64 is to conquer the freedom instead of having It right away, when manipulating Mario's moveset your options will drastically change depending on the amount of space available, the placement of walls, platforms, deadly pits, lava and even enemies and power ups, you are never free to do whatever you want, instead you have to engage with the level design and think ahead of your decisions in order to pull off the most significant skips and this is why it's such an exciting game to revisit. Odyssey allows you to literally solve everything with a hat throw, Nintendo made sure that despite where you are you can always rely on cappy to trivialize the game for you with no cost aside from some argubly tricky combos.

This was probably the best Odyssey critique video I've seen. There's still quite a few things I disagree with, but you did an actual good job balancing the good at bad points, and you're not trying to force opinions of "this particular thing is horrible" on everyone. So, good job.

Odyssey felt more like a scavenger hunt instead of an adventure throughout the worlds. That’s why it’s my least favorite 3D Mario game.

Hot take: Mario Odyssey is the worst of all 3D Mario games. The game has amazing visuals and fun move set but I never once felt like I was “accomplishing” anything. They went fucking batshit crazy with how many moons there are and the fact the moons aren’t weighted correctly, it often leaves you going “meh” every time you collect one.

Really hope you address how boring most of the moons are to collect. The objectives are nowhere near as rewarding as Sunshine or A Hat in Time. EDIT: You did, at least for the post-game

Fantastic, high quality analysis of the game. You consistently have the highest quality I’ve seen on RU-vid.

I had a great time playing this game, but I still perfer Mario 64, since the starts felt more rewarding to get. Glad to have you back Hypercharge!

“...the levels still feel like they are somewhat based in reality.” Meanwhile; the Luncheon Kingdom, where everything is giant food and salt piles surrounded by some kind of pink stew lava stuff, and is inhabited by sentient forks.

Thank you, I completely agree on the amount of moons being way too much. Getting a moon for each minor little task made them feel pretty worthless to me. Also, by the time I collected all the easy moons and filtered them out so I could start working on the remaining challenging worthwhile moons, I felt burned out. I went from collecting dozens of moons in a short time to spending a long time not getting any. This drastic change in progress was pretty disappointing. I don't want to resort to using amiibo to find them either, resulting in me taking a break from the game for now.

Pretty well thought out video. Me personally, I loved Odyssey. It took me 50 hours to beat it and I felt I want more. Call me crazy but collecting stuff in large levels like these is super fun for me.

After learning how to use all the ridiculous jumps Mario has, capturing enemies really comes off as the low point of the game for me. It was just so much more fun to play as Mario than all the enemies. Great idea but not the greatest execution imo.

This is probably the best and most honest review/critique I have ever heard from this game. Thank you!

Great video. I couldn't really get why I didn't like Odyssey as much as 64 and Galaxy, but I think you put it perfectly in this video. I still did play a lot of the post-game, but not all of it. Once I beat Darker Side of the Moon, I just decided to stop playing after that.

Welcome back man. Currently have the flu and when I saw you uploaded a new video for about 5 seconds I felt amazing. Keep it up brother.

Definitely the most long awaited and wanted critique I wanted to see :D

Great video, enjoyed every second of it. Welcome back, we missed you :-)

The ground pound jump is from 3D World...

Really enjoying your commentary i cannot believe you only have 6k subs i swear i was watching a 500k to a mil channel great quality great content you have my sub keep it up!👍🤞✌

My 5 year old brother finished the main story and loved it. I rage quit the darker side and haven't played it since 2018. My advice, if you like the game don't play the post game, unless you want to cry yourself to sleep.

Man I wish I found this video much sooner. You've pointed out so many issues I had with this game. Issues that a lot of people really overlook or just straight up ignore

Top 10 anime comebacks of all time

Glad to see you back. Love your content so much man!

20:18 Off topic, but I wish Sunshine had the true freedom of its sequel and predecessor: while you only need 50 stars, you have to get the first 7 Shines in *every single level.* This is the worst design I have ever seen in a Mario game, and in retrospect is unforgivable. The blue coins, secret shines, and Delfino Plaza shines are all just bullshit meant to waste your time if you're not a completionist, and the game does *nothing* to indicate this. It's sort of the reason I see the game as inferior to Super Mario 64, Galaxy, and Odyssey. At least Galaxy 2 and Odyssey don't give the player a false sense of freedom (At least if I remember correctly. IIRC Cappy says that you'll have to do whatever level you don't choose at branching paths later, so at least Odyssey is honest about it.)

the points you gave actually make me think i could use the knowlegde of them to play the game in a way that would make me enjoy it more

I understand where you're coming from. I feel like bowser's fury was more fleshed out, having 100 cat shines instead of 999. It was also nice having the overworld being one big place and less linear, even though the game is shorter.

I disagree about the art style of this game. It doesn't feel consistent in it's inconsistency... if that makes sense. What I mean is that there are very few levels in this game that actually feel like they are outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. For instance, the Cap Kingdom, Metro Kingdom, Ruined Kingdom, and Luncheon Kingdom are the only levels in this game that actually feel foreign to Mario. I'd also argue that 2 of these levels, the Ruined Kingdom and the Cap Kingdom, are barely levels because of how simple they are and because of how small the content is in them. The rest of the Kingdoms are themes we have seen several times before in Mario. The Bowser Kingdom was in 3D World. The Moon Kingdom, Dark Side, and Darker Side are more atmospheric and blander versions of the space theme that we have seen in Galaxy. The Snow, Seaside, Cloud, Sand, Lake, Wooded, and Lost Kingdoms are the typical Mario stuff we've seen in several Mario games already. The Cascade Kingdom is just another grass level, but with one out of place dinosaur. In my opinion, this is just another disappointing aspect of the game. It's not like I am totally against this thing happening in a Mario game, it's just that I don't think it's well done here. We have realistic humans living in the center of a bunch of Mario levels, which just feels odd. We have also seen this sort of thing done way better in Mario games that are over 10 years old, like Mario Galaxy. Sure, Mario Galaxy had several themes that we have seen in Mario before, but it still offered a lot of new and more importantly, it stayed consistent! I believe that the same can sort of be said about Sunshine. I feel like the best example of this, however, is Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door! Even though it's not a mainline Mario game, it managed to have an exorbitant amount variety in nearly every area, while also being very consistent at the same time.

I don't think the captures are meant to be enhance Mario's platforming... this is intentional. They are more used to break up the gameplay to add diversity and make exploration feel more rewarding and clever.

*has 1 ad* God bless you

THE KING RETURNS!

The ground-pound jump first appeared in 3D World, not exclusive to Odyssey at all.

I don't want no why nintendo decided people needed to collect hundreds of things all of a sudden. it's the same with breath of the wild and the 900 korok seeds

Great to see you back dude, can't wait for the Wii U Nintendrone, the Wii one really exemplified a problems I've always had with the system despite thinking it's decent overall. This Odyssey video was great as usual, most of your points are presented in a way that makes it relate able even to die hard fans of Nintendo. I really did understand and see most of the problems you talked about in the games structure, upon reflecting on the game, maybe to less of an extent for most of them.

Now I’ve watched every video you’ve ever made. You’re great make a career out of it

The Ground Pound Jump was actually also in 3D World.

Hard to think this video was almost 7 years ago.

I Love these long analyseseses

Yeeaaaaah! Good to have you back, bro.

I have a question: In your retrospective of the Super Mario series, you mentioned at the end how the games in the series are so well crafted that you just can’t help yourself from replaying them. Given your arguments against player freedom alongside your insistence that you enjoyed the experience, can you see yourself doing the same for Odyssey, or is it a game that you feel no incentive to return to, or at least less incentive than every other 3D Mario?

07:32 Powerups have always been used one at a time. You can't use a Fire flower and a Racoon Leaf at the same time and they only appear in certain areas o the game. That doesn't mean they shouldn't exist.

This is the first video that has managed to explain my gripes for this game. I adored the controls in Sunshine and is still my favourite 3D Mario. Odessey almost feels like a port in the way they mapped the actions and the restrictions of the capture makes it feel gimmiky and uninspired. This coupled with the linearity you mentioned is what made me feel that the game is ultimately forgettable. I'm holding out for a Sunshine 2 as I feel that could be made brilliantly for the Switch.

11:38, I spent so many hours on this moon refusing to use a guide to find out I need to use a motion control!

1. Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 2. Super Mario 64 3. Super Mario Odyssey 4. Super Mario Sunshine 5. Super Mario 3D World 6. Super Mario 3D Land

Hypercharge back from the dead ready to entertain with great videos, time to get hyped. But hypercharge (if you read this.) I was wondering could you do a video on either, mario luigi superstar saga or sonic retrospective just like the mario retrospective.

I wonder if HyperCharge had trouble with math in school.

I also like a game that take a long time to beat HOWEVER I’d rather it take a long time to beat through story and maybe some more variety of problems to solve like sunshine. Odyssey story was ridiculously short compared to sunshine and it’s better to have some incentive to keep playing the game.

If you want to have fun playing any game just remember that nothing obligates you to play, let alone any part unenjoyable. And don't rush the experience. It's going to end up on you shelf anyways so just have fun and play at your pace

This game is sooooo good

ive played mario since the first nes mario. This is the best game since super mario 64 to me. I hated sunshine, galaxy was good, but this game beats them all. However, everyone different. Im hoping for open world mario for switch 2

i understand the double face button thing because without the buttons being doubled for cappy and the jump button, the mid-air cap jump would be impossible. I agree with you on the other stuff though

Mario 64 does feel like the most balanced game for me as well. However, the problem for me with Mario 64 is that while revolutionary, it was the beginning of 3d gaming. I really struggle with the controls and the camera in Mario 64. Like a fellow you tuber, I wonder if Mario Odyssey was originally meant to be a Wii U game much like Breath of the Wild. Maybe Nintendo had too much time to work on this game.maybe the insisting on motion controls comes from influences of the Wii, Wiiu era.

Very good and thorough video. Definitely agree with your criticisms here. As a guy who has 100% completed the other 3D Marios this was the first one I didn't 100%. I basically got to the end with the mushroom kingdom, did the two extra moon levels and messed around with a few moon rocks before feeling satisfied and ending it there. The one aspect I'm surprised you didn't talk about was the costumes in the game. I thought it was a fun aspect that made Mario more interesting to look at.

You're back!!

Dude! I swear you sound like Cory (Aka Spazkid) from Oney plays! You sound like him when he’s Raging or telling a story about water people during the Sleepycast. I just found you in the xenoblade Discord where someone shared the video of you talking about the smash roster and how pyra being in smash was for sex perverts. I love your videos and your personality man! Really wish you had more subs! You have mine, your so passionate and bring up great points. Love the shouting and bluntness!! Listen to you while I’m cleaning in my job at the gym! Good job man!

Finally i understand why i didn't like this game.

i think the biggest problem is the forced power moons in each area like you mentioned.

people moaned a lot about the blue coins in Sunshine while to me every single power moon felt like a blue coin

Just some thoughts: I wonder if you are falling for the same trap that others did when getting all the korok seeds. The game, in my mind, throws out multiple end points before you get to 999. The first end, the Darker Side (500 moons), and the golden sail (880) all feel like the developers are telling you it's enough. If anything, the hat on the castle is the same bone thrown as the korok poop. A lot has been said about moons just out in the open, but I think that this was a case of Nintendo straddling a line and the majority of hardcores not having the opportunity to recognize it. Mario Odyssey wants to be a Mario game that kids can finish and the plethora of simple moons combined with Assist mode I think supports that claim. The game world also is just a series of giant playgrounds which wants players to explore without getting stuck. As an adult and a "veteran" videogamer, the obvious moons were just dopamine hits to keep going while completing the game, where for kids it was the game. Despite what I said above, I do agree with cutting moons. Some moons are obtuse with bad clues, some are so hard it required the majority of players to glitch the game to get it (jump rope), and even getting to 880 burnt me out (tho admittingly I put the blame on me for doing it). Additionally, just cause I'm rambling, I think Mario Odyssey should have taken a page from Sonic or Kirby and put a NGP with additional playable characters. Even if its just being able to switch to a subset of captures regardless of world, that would complete the sandbox jungle gym feeling they were going for.

I guess the best way to express my feelings is that Mario Odyssey is a good "collectethon" game but a bad Mario game. If you like exploring weird environments to collect shiny things just for the sake of it, you will love this game. But Mario games used to have a lot more to offer, in terms of mystery, progression, challenge, gameplay variety, pacing, player-choice, and more that Odyssey really flounders with. I always respected 3D Marios, especialy 64 and Galaxies, for never overdoing a concept, there were always fresh new ideas to explore, and I could choose which ones I explored first. Each star felt meaningful because the more I had the more levels I could unlock and the new worlds I could explore, and stars were rare, never given for free. The hub worlds let me get a great visual representation of my progress and made traversing the levels fun to explore. Those games also had the restraint to just pull back and be peaceful, the quiet natural sounds of mushroom castle, the quiet library on the observatory, Odyssey feels like an exhausting game that just keeps poking me to do more. When Nintendo promised that Odyssey would be closer to 64 I was really excited, but really it's not close to any previous Mario game in structure, it deserves it's own semi-linear collectethon category in the 3D Mario game lineup. I'm glad people like Odyssey, but personally it was just boring, had none of that Mario magic, and I was so bored I stopped playing during the Ruined Kingdom and didn't even get to the end credits, despite me being able to replay any other 3D Mario game and still have fun. For these reasons I consider it to be my least favorite Mario 3D entry, and I'm still so dissapointed that I don't even want a Mario Odyssey 2, I'd much rather get those rumored remakes of older games.

How would you rank the 3d marios? Btw this is the best video I’ve ever seen on odyssey, you’re a real inspiration man! Plus your other content is just hilarious to watch lmao

Just asking, how did casually going through Odyssey take you 11 hours, it only took me about 5-6

GOD DAMN I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG PAPA BLESS

@31:21 - "Homer's "Odyssey" had "new and exciting things" in it, but Odysseus didn't go out to find those things. He encountered those things as obstacles blocking him from returning home. So really, an "odyssey" more properly means a homeward journey. As opposed to an "adventure", which is going out to find new and exciting things. As for the game itself ... I feel trolled by Nintendo. The clashing art style is the focal point of it, but it goes deeper. It kind of feels like someone at Nintendo is sick of making Mario games, and made this game to say, "You want more Mario? FINE! Here's Mario! You want more epic enemies? Here's a REAL DINOSAUR! Not enough? Here's a GIGANTIC DRAGON!!! You want throwbacks? Fine! Here's Pauline! Remember her? You want stuff to collect? Here's nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine of them! Now go collect all those stupid little moons and LEAVE - ME - ALONE!!!!!!!" Also, a race of mind-controlling hats is a fundamentally creepy concept, and highly off-brand. P.S. - I think maybe someone at Nintendo also regrets the direction that the character of Mario himself has taken. He's so bland. In the old Mario Brothers cartoon, he had personality. In the manga series, he had personality. In the games? He acts like a mute toddler. The more realistic the games get, the worse Mario sticks out.

how is your critique for odyssey twice as long as color splash? love your videos boi ☺

Was repeating your thoughts on post game multiple times over a metaphor for the post game?

they should of made the game twice as long (honestly 4 or 5 times given 999 moons, but atleast level wise give it more levels than sunshine)

5:35. This is why I don't abuse the mid-air triple dive jump. It essentially sequence breaks the game. You aren't supposed to take Cappy into that area for an instance but because of that jump it allows you to bypass the restriction and have access to Cappy.

you should do a uncivil synopsis of Pokemon

Wasn’t the ground pound jump in super mario 3d word?

another vid yessssss

5:10 SPOT ON. 100% in every Mario game sucks so badly. I’m replaying Galaxy and I’m feeling significantly more negative on the game at 113 stars than I felt at 40

Mah BOI, Sam! I also thought Odyssey was "alright". Definitely not GOTY! Odyssey felt underwhelming compared to other 3D Mario games...

Very well thought out video. A lot of criticisms are valid, but a few feel specifically tailored to the speedrunning community.

Ground pound jump isn't a new addition, it got carried from Super Mario 3D World :P

another cool video mate(maybe for a Valentine or Halloween special you should do doki doki literature club)

But couldn't Nintendo still have the controls of Multiplayer and singleplayer without them affecting the other?

I love these

A link to the past uncivil synopsis?

That's why I went on the internet to see if it was worth it getting more than 600 moons. Then I saved at least 20h of my lifetime.

How is Galaxy 1 in line with 64 and Sunshine, but Galaxy 2 isn’t, that makes zero sense

"Because its a fucking Mario game" I swear this guy kills me :)

Awesome job

Ground pound jumps are in super mario 3d world try it

Yuck who uses the a button to jump?

yaay a new video :D

Galaxy is not open world nintendo even said that in the e3

Despite the hype and excitment I had for this game, Odyssey was not the game I was hoping for. Sadly, between all the 3D marios, Odyssey comes in 3rd place for me, being Sunshine in 1st place, and SM64 in 2nd. This game offers a lot, dont get me wrong, its just its not used to their best potential. I feel the creators wasted the possibilities. You see, eventhough this game has the best gameplay mechanics, graphics, camera control and everything, Idk, I felt that the execution of the game was "not great" in Mario terms, like "something was missing" relative to the last entries, elements that made previous games great. To start, I found the over saturation of moons very tedious and little gratifying. Most of the moons are copy cats in every world, I found they were forgettable and many of them easy and random. Filler Moons everywhere 😢😢 SM64 had way less stars but I can remember at leats 70% of them because they were actually fun, they had a story/quest behind it, they ment something. Same for Sunshine. Odessey just fills up with generic moons everywhere, and they repeat on every world but with small itterations. Not cool. Music and soundtrack is an important pillar in Mario games, they give you the rhythm and pase, many of them are catchy and funny... You know the drill. Another problem I had with this game is precisely the music. There are like only 3 worlds with actually very good and shiny soundtracks (Metro, Luncheon and Cascade Kingdom), but all of the rest have bland sleepy music that makes the expirience very little stimulating. What happened there? (the music in Wooded kingdom i never liked it that much, but im aware lot of people did otherwise.) Some of the worlds feel unfinished, very small and boring, like Cloud, Snow and Ruin Kingdom. Sand Kingdom looks big on the surface, but its actually very small. No hub world 😢

Engaging with this content

an hour long? MAAMMAMAMMA MIA

In tandem.

I find this game to be a complete disappointment entirely mostly due to how "realistic" things seemed which made everything really seem out of place for a Mario game. I can bet if Nintendo released Super Mario Sunshine 2 for the Switch instead of this shitfeast of a Mario game, that it would score so much higher. I would find it awesome to have Switch controls for Fludd instead of this weird hat shit they put in the game. Overall, it feels more like a spinoff Mario game than a main title. Fuck this game. To prove my point > 26:54 Which one of these things doesn't belong? It feels like Sonic 06 compared to Sonic 1.

Whoa a video

O SHIT DADDY YOU DID NOT DISSAPOINT.

I don't completely agree with you. I don't think you were completely fair with your post-game assessment. I agree with you saying the post-game reward is not that good and maybe they could have lowered the power moon count if they were trying to appeal to people who want to 1 hundred percent. I am going to try to give my counter argument for your argument. I also don't support Nintendo making some moons in plain sight. But I don't complain about it since it wasn't really a problem I got it really quick and it was over. Nintendo can do these things cause they added the future you actually talked about in the video. They don't make you leave the level. In Mario 64 you won't want to get more than 7 moons since you already spent 4 minutes wasted just loading out doing your animation and going back to the level. Obvious you could just go to another level after that in 64, but you could do that in Mario odyssey with admittedly no real reward after you leave the level. *Mario Odyssey's repeated things* Most of the repeated challenges take little time and is a fun little quick challenge that just distracts you until you find the next one. None of them take too long for you to do and have a slight twist to make them harder. The Koopa races, for example, are awesome. I never had a problem with them since each terrain is so different and unique I still have fun doing it. The musical notes were in Galaxy and encourage you to get each one in a small amount of time without messing up. Some of the musical notes are really hard like the one you get with the bird in bowsers kingdom and others are gotten so fast they don't waste your time at all. They just give you a fun little challenge that isn't supposed to waste your time. Stuff like the 2d sections is repeated perfectly in my opinion. One has you at Metro kingdom doing the movie, another has you at bowsers castle doing these scrolls it was so cool, and one has an extremely hard challenge at the mushroom kingdom with the autoscrolling one. All around you have a fun idea repeated a couple times and you never waste your time doing them since it is so fast. Catching the bid can be seen as tedious, but I like it. It makes you play the game differently. I start observing where the bird goes and where I could get him. Then I wait for my pray and get a do or die chance to get him and I am punished are for getting it(I have ot wait for the next time he goes around). *The hundreds of moons* One I don't think you fairly talk about the moons in relations to multiple levels. In the wooded kingdom, I had a blast since each moon has a lot of thought in how you are supposed to get them. You talk to a fork and he wants you to light up a fire so he can cook. Then you get a fire bro to light it up, by trying to figure out where and how to get one. It has so many hidden corners with platform segments there on the side of walls under a pit that if you fall you fall into a whole new part of the level you didn't know existed. Each moment I felt like that dog from the movie up when he says squirrel, but with moons. I was constantly dragged towards the next shiny thing with little to no downtime in between. You said in the video that most of the moons are repeated, but they are not. Most of them are pretty unique with portions of which are obtained in similar ways to others. Kicking a rock, musical notes, and throwing capping at a stand where it twirls, are all not too fun and are repeated too much I will admit it and are done to many times. In most kingdoms, you have a whole bunch of unique challenges with a couple repeated ones sprinkled in. I would be okay if they just left those out. But since there is no punishment for getting moons like in other Mario games, you can get them fast without any wasted time. A lot of moons can be gotten in several different ways and you usually have to figure out how to get to it, if you can see it. *You never mentioned the purple coins* The purple coins are an amazing collectible and are really rewarding. Most purple coins are found in bunches so after finding 3 to 5 bunches of them you can buy that cowboy hat for Mario. They are fun aesthetic changes that can sometimes lead to moons. In Metro kingdom, you put on the worker's outfit to do a whole fun mini section. The first time I saw the Mario 64 outfit I stopped everything to get it. *Levels* I definitely see your point about the level. But I think it isn't fair that you give 64 a chance with the snow level and give Mario odyssey the hate for it. By what you say I just call sunshine another beach level, but it isn't. It isn't fair when to do that to Mario Odyssey. The seaside kingdom is a resort with a unique boss concept. The entire level is a boss fight. I spent the entire game above water until I realized there is enter another world underneath my feet. But I can't blame you, to be honest. I would love more levels with the unique creativity of the Metro Kindom. Even the cap kingdom which is the most interesting starting point for a Mario game ever is really small and insignificant. They are really good levels still and I had an overall fun time with them. *Moon rocks* You unfairly say in your video that the moon rocks never gave you anything other than moons in plain sight. Most of the moon rocks had pipes to linear segments that were platformed based. With a couple of capless challenges for you to do some platforming. The ones they put in plain sight are only fun if you don't look at your map and I think it is dumb that they did that to be honest. *Sequels* I know you have the opinion that you don't like Nintendo sequels. I respect that, but I disagree. Super Mario Galaxy had so many unused ideas and concepts that they made a whole game about it. Mario galaxy's concept is that you have a whole bunch of different galaxies with different stars. For the sequel, they just made a whole bunch of more galaxies that were unique and interesting. Mario Odyssey definitely has problems and interesting ideas that aren't being pushed to their fullest potential. Mario Odyssey is constantly being pushed to the next idea and never lingers long on one idea. Mario Odyssey 2 should have more captures with capabilities like Bowser and Yoshi. They feel like there own character that Mario is taking control of. The sequel also can have entirely new kingdoms that are completely at the level of the metro kingdom. These are some of the problems I had with what you were saying I understand some of your points and I completely forgot some of the things I was going to say, but if you have any problems with what I said I am open to a discussing.

S'true though

Smg was liniar too smg2 was just more liniar

Mario needs to get out of the friend zone yo