Topic: Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Just started playing the game today, and wow...

This is an improvement over the first game in so many ways, and the first game was absolute 🔥 🔥 🔥 already

I love the free camera control we get now. It makes exploring so much better. I also like how overworld enemies will start a battle like in a JRPG, and you can even attack them in the overworld (presumably for a battle advantage). They're also very quick battles. In and out. The story battles are bigger and longer. It's a perfect mix.

The graphics are insanely good for a Switch title. On the OLED it's one of the better looking games I've played. Voice acting is good, humor is on point, and you actually control the characters now rather than just lead them with Beep-O. I also love how you can pay to heal before a battle.

The gameplay is the star of the show. The free movement system feels notably better than in the last game. Don't get me wrong, I still think there's merit in a grid based style, but I love how you can freely move as much as you want, and aren't locked in until you take an action. The Sparks are smartly integrated gameplay mechanic as well.

It's just excellent. I started Persona 5 Royal the other day when I got my early copy and have been utterly glued to my Switch since. I only intended to sample this game before diving back into Persona, but now I don't want to put it down, and am legitimately feeling torn between the two.

This is a classic. Another modern Switch masterpiece that will be talked about for many years after. If you own a Switch, and you don't have this game... what are you even doing. But I feel the same could be said for a lot of games, including Persona 5 Royal and Nier Automata which recently released (unless you already played them) and certainly Bayonetta 3 will fall in that camp as well.

We're straight spoiled

Just played a good 3.5 hrs. So far so good, but boy did I struggle with the first temple boss.

My order wasn't delivered like it was supposed to today! Hopefully I'll get my copy tomorrow.

This sort of thing is one reason I'm increasingly warming up to just going straight digital at some point.

Oh well, gave me time to pump more hours into my NG+ run of Triangle Strategy. I was going to do two NG+ runs, but I think I'd probably rather just go for the golden ending now and fully move on to other games. Although this game is just superb. It'd be an easy GOTY pick for me if the XC3 and MHR Sunbreak bugs hadn't bit me so hard.

@Ralizah Really is the struggle for me nowadays. The convenience of digital in a world where constant patches are a thing sometimes feels like a better idea, but I just love going to get/having the physical case delivered to me and then opening it up and popping it in. The digital way feels like it’s rather devoid of charm or a feeling of ‘fun’, but eh, it is all very convenient and quick.

I hope you get your order soon! I went to buy it yesterday but still sucked into Nier;Automata currently.

@Ralizah Digital gets a lot of flak but it’s a fact that parts of it are an improvement, even if people don’t want to believe that.

Stupid UPS truck didn't drive by until 2 in the afternoon! I finally have the game, though.

@Takoda I like that with physical, you can resell the game, and also aren't susceptible to losing your license if the account is hacked or something.

And yeah, the box is nice. As is saving space on the SD Card.

That being said, it's hard to argue against the sheer convenience of digital distribution. That very real benefit usually wins out over the mostly theoretical boons of physical games for me.

@Snatcher Mainly from dinosaurs who are struggling to adapt to the ways in which the industry has changed. Most purchases on most platforms are digital now. And that'll continue to increase as time goes on and physical media becomes more and more irrelevant.

Looking at DVD prices the other day in a store, I was amazed how an entire TV series now costs a fraction of what it used to. The entire 11 season run of Married With Children can be had for about the same price that individual season sets went for back in the day. Then it occurred to me that I've bought, like, three DVDs in the last decade, compare to the thousands of dollars I spent on them in the 00s. These companies have to offer way more to get people to shell out for physical media in an age when the majority of movies and tv shows are one streaming service or digital rental away.

Games aren't there yet, and I do think physical media will probably always have some sort of place in the medium, but... yeah.

@Ralizah let me know how the first boss fight goes for ya. The rest of the game was a cake walk on normal so far.

The game has an incredible range of difficulty options. Easy, Normal and Hard, in addition to modifying individual difficulties for battles in the settings menu. Everyone should be able to find a combination that works for them.

I've dialed everything up to the maximum. I crave the stiff challenge that the second half of Kingdom Battle provided.

It's the SMT fan in me. I'm not satisfied if the game isn't kicking my teeth in from time to time.

@Ralizah
I switched from physical games to digital ones, except if I find a good deal for a second hand game.
I don't see the point anymore to clutter my flat with plastic, when the game producers don't even put the whole games on cart anymore. Of the 62 physical Switch games I own, not even a dozen are complete on cart.

Goodness this game is 🔥

I can't stop playing! I seriously wanna get back to Persona 5 Royal but... I can't. I just can't. This game has got me and won't let go.

It's got that super addictive "just one more" quality about it that makes it nearly impossible to tear yourself away from.

My ONLY complaint thus far is... where is the HD rumble when going through pipes? That was one of my favorite aspects about the first game. It's a small thing, but it felt so cool. I was really looking forward to feeling that HD rumble again. No idea why they removed it.

These tips are top notch

Put a couple more hours in last night. Such a phenomenal game that might be up there as goty for me. I'd go as far as to say I like it better than the other Tactical/strategy game from this year, Triangle Strategy. They're both great obviously, but im just digging the lighter tone of sparks of hope.

This game is pretty challenging on hard mode. No idea what the NL reviewer was on about with it being easy on the highest difficulty.

Played with my nephew for four hours last night, and cleared the first island. I'm enjoying this a lot so far.

@Ralizah
I've found the game to be the perfect difficulty for me on Normal.

I lost to the Goombahs with pots on their heads 3 times in a row initially then gave up.

Later in World 1, I nearly lost on the final battle unlocked in the post-content you get after clearing the main boss. Two scopers on the roof to the left, two more scopers on the ground and two of those wildcat things.

Edge died. Then Peach died. I just couldn't take out that last scoper on the roof. Finally I got him but I was a hair's breadth away from failure. There was also another battle I struggled with and had to use a bunch of items.

Then came back to the Goombah Potheads and barely scraped by once I learned to dash attack them and throw them off the edge. But even then 1 of my characters died and another had a sliver of health.

It's been challenging me to my limits without being so hard I feel like I want to give up. So ya. I have no idea what ppl were talking about with the difficulty. It feels perfect to me. Couldn't have asked for a better balance on Normal.

@JaxonH yep! Gotta dash those pot heads and toss em off! Took me two or so failures to realize that.

....Does this game have any technical issues? I saw no one talk about it, and for me the first game was plagued with bugs, crashes, and visual glitches that I cannot figure out how they got through beta testing. It really made it difficult for me to beat that game just because it constantly ruined my mood to keep going, and by the time I got to the DLC I just...couldn't bother with it anymore. (don't think the DLC had any problems, I just lost interest completely at that point)

I thought the first game was easy until the later battles and so far I think Sparks of Hope is as well even on the hardest difficulty, though I'm only in the second world so that may change. Still, it has had its moments and I have lost a couple battles (one was my fault for skipping through the text explaining what to do) so it's not like there aren't any challenges, it's just that I wish there were more. The random encounters are usually ridiculously easy. I still love the game though, but I do hope it gets harder and I hope they give an even harder mode in a patch. Until then, I've elected not to equip the second spark.

My biggest complaints about the game is the character resolution should be higher (the environments are fine) and Mario doesn't slide on ice like he's supposed to. The lack of ice sliding is a huge reminder to me that Nintendo didn't make this game.

@Joeynator3000 I haven't seen any technical issues but I didn't have any in the first game either.

Just ordered the two Ubicollectible figurines for this game. I have the 4 from Kingdom Battle, but these weren't sold anywhere I could find, not even on Ubisoft's website.

Only Play-Asia and Amazon UK, and Play-Asia was sold out. So I imported from Amazon UK. They were listed for £19.99 ea but after VAT tax was subtracted off and shipping added in, the pair came to $60 shipped. But it was that or nothing. Not even eBay had listings, aside from one, for $50 a figure.