Random: Katamari Director Wasn't Impressed With Mario Or Zelda On Switch

Well he simply has an opinion. That's all.

He likes other games. More power to him. I'm just glad to see Katamari Damacy on Switch!

Weird.

Well I agree with him on Zelda honestly.

He didn't say that he didn't have fun with Mario but it obviously didn't keep him playing.

@Sakisa Well I agree with him on Mario honestly.

He is right in that the Zelda "sheika slate," which is obviously intended to be the Wii U's GamePad, is a little weird in the finished game because they abandoned all the GamePad specific functionality and made it more of a traditional console game.

Which I was fine with, but if you went in thinking that the slate was going to have some unique mechanic integrated with the hardware I can see where you might be disappointed. Feels like a silly thing to focus on with such an excellent game otherwise though.

Granted, I thought essentially the same thing about Katamari Damacy. It's fun for like half an hour, but there's really only the one mechanic and it never finds a second gear or any interesting variations as it progresses, just continually bigger things to roll up.

How dare he! Nintendo should cancel Katamari and ban this developer from ever releasing a game on one of their consoles again. Disgraceful comments,I'm offended!

I joke! I actually agree with him about Mario Odyssey, was pretty disappointed with it. As impressive as it can be in places,Galaxy is still the greatest.

I thought Last Guardian was terrible, but different strokes for different folks.

Still disappointed we are juat getting a cash grab remaster (of one of the more bare bones ones.. though guess they gotta start with the first) instead of a new one. Or could of done Katamari Forever that at least was teeming with content. Alas.

We all have our opinions. Somehow, I think Breath Of The Wild will be remembered perhaps a bit more fondly by players and developers alike for its interplay between story and gameplay and its replayability than "Katamari Damacy Reroll".

Sony fanboy....
No wonder.

Kinda sounds like the last time I played a katamari damacy. Ironically.

I honestly really wanted to like that game because it sounds and looks like something I would love. But I just kinda stopped...

Don't get me wrong though, I also haven't finished Mario Odyssey, so he got farther in that than me.

An opinion! Get him!

I won't lie: I'm a massive Nintendo fan who would support them to the fullest, but neither BOTW and SMO breathed out to the levels of "timeless" for me. I do think those games are amazing and deserve a place on Switch, but compared to the likes of N64 and (maybe) Game Cube, they don't really do much to wow me.

That said, both of them are 9/10 games from me, but neither of them are in my top 5 favorite Zelda and Mario games.

Katamari is boring to me. Tried it out once and never touch this game series again. Could you design real games instead of this kiddy crap.

What @BenAV says (1st paragraph, comment #15)

I’d have liked to hear a bit more reasoning behind his thoughts!

Personally Zelda exceeded nearly all my expectations. I won’t fight anyone over it, but I really think it’s a phenomenal creation that continually had me in awe. I don’t think I’ve ever found a video game world so compelling.

Mario on the other hand... I think there’s a lot of really great stuff in there, but the way it’s all put together left me somewhat wanting.

It’s a toybox in every sense of the word; overflowing with all manner of colourful goodies, but sort of thrown together at random with some of the best stuff buried at the bottom under piles of duplicates you’re not really interested in.

Compared to the more streamlined experience of the Galaxy games, Odyssey seems to have a lot more downtime where you’re not doing much more than running around looking for something (while not being entirely sure what). I guess you could call this ‘exploring’, but often it feels too vague and aimless to really warrant the term. I think of ‘exploring’ as an active and engaging act, not just passively wandering around hoping to bump into something.

Certain worlds do get around this problem; the Lost Kingdom is not only denser than average, but littered with traps and challenges that actually require you to make the most of Mario’s marvellous move set. The satisfaction of simply manipulating Mario is something Odyssey really excels at, but the frequently flat, challenge-less levels don’t really provide much necessity to use it. The Lost Kingdom is constantly asking you to dig into the game’s mechanics, and its verticality provides a genuine sense of progression as you work your way up the mountain. This high-rise design also prevents it becoming too sprawling or sparse, making for one of Odyssey’s tightest levels. Bowser’s Kingdom also does a good job of constantly giving you something to do, and the Forest Kindom isn’t bad. But really, I felt the whole experience could have done with some tightening up.

Another thing that robs the game some sense of achievement is equating random exploratory moons with challenge moons. It makes the whole experience feel a little flat when the reward for completing a genuinely tough piece of platforming is equal to the one you found rummaging through the dustbins outside. I know games like Banjo-Kazooie and DK64 have been criticised for having too many types of collectibles, but I feel Odyssey could have done with something more to differentiate the moons you find lying around from the ones you actually need to work for.

@Sakisa me too actually.

Totally agree with him about Mario Odyssey.
I even go further because like I already said, Mario Odyssey is the most overated 3D Mario ever !

From my perspective, Mario 64, 3D World, Galaxy 1 and 2 are FAAARRRR better than Odyssey.

I think it makes sense that someone averse to the mainstream types of games would be the type of creator to make Katamari, which is far from the norm. I see myself picking it up just to play through it again. I would prefer to play it with a PS4 controller. The game just feels best when the two analog sticks are next to each other and not skewed like on Switch or Xbox

He’s totally right about the gap between the system and story in Zelda. The game gives you a massive playground to explore every nook and cranny at your leisure. Meanwhile, the story insists that you need to hurry and do the thing because Ganon’s power is growing and will consume everything imminently.

Still good though.

Look at his game. He clearly has different tastes.

@Whalehome Actually, if you think about it you can play on Switch having the two analog sticks next to each other. That's the JOY of the Joy-con Just separate the Joycons and move forward your right joycon to allign both sticks. Plus, motion controls may prove to be a fun brand new way to control this game. You never know.

I Overhyped Mario Odyssey too much, it's a beautiful game but I don't find that game as good as people say.
And I was Very disappointed with the storytelling in Breath Of The Wild. The gameplay? The best of the series.
This is just one man's thoughts though.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I liked Odyssey. It didn’t wow me, but I thought it was a great game and had a lot of fun playing it.

In my opinion, Breath of the Wild is one of the best games ever made. It’s a bit lacking story wise, there’s no denying that, but the gameplay and setting are superb in every single way.

On the other hand, I must say that Katamari is one of the most boring games ever, again, just in my opinion.

He’s not wrong about BOTW’s story. The gameplay was nice, but the overall narrative and it’s pacing contradicted the scale of the environment and was honestly a little underwhelming for how great the rest of the game was.

Zelda is amazing and will be remembered as such dispite the vocal minority. Mario is a bit more of the same but does it all right. Katamari isnt bad but the games have been nowhere near the same level as either the zelda or mario series. But I guess negativity is like journalistic lowest hanging fruit, easy cash. This dev though doesnt make me want to support him

@Anti-Matter He's not a fanboy because he didn't enjoy 2 Nintendo games.

Every game has its own style of gameplay and every player has his/her own taste so I guess those aren't for him but hey I'm the guy who love Doom/Duke Nukem/Metroid Prime but hated Battlefield/Call of Duty/Medal of Honor so I'm totally understand his opinions here.

There are definitely several better games in both series.

“Guy who makes Buicks unimpressed by Porsche.”

I got bored of Odyssey after 15 hours.

BOTW is one of the best games of all time in my opinion, anyone with any sense of adventure should be able to have 'fun' with it. The only thing I did not like were the divine beast dungeons, which I agree were not fun.

Odyssey I am enjoying more on a second playthrough but I love collectathons which this essentially is. I think it could have been better if the moons were more focused and less of them, like the jiggies in BK or the Stars in SMS/SMG, rather than run around like a headless chicken and get 50 moons in an hour! The cap feature is fun though and it is still a very good game.

@Cobalt I don’t want to type the same thing but totally agree with Mario.
BOTW was great tho

I went to Gonintendo on an article of the same topic and the first comment there is from SLIGEACH_EIRE.

Never thought I'd see him again.

While I love both BotW and SMO, I don't see the problem with his comment. He's played the games and didn't like them. Yeah, so what? He's entitled to an opinion. And I will probably try Katamari Damacy when it comes to Switch, as I haven't played it before.

One can wonder what's the point of this article though?

@Wesjedker LOL!

Hey he likes what he likes. I generally don't like 3D Zelda or Final Fantasy all that much and that's fine. There's reasons why people don't like Odyssey as much as the other 3D Marios.

I have never finished a Mario game in my life. Just get bored and frustrated around the halfway mark.

Only game I got further in is Super Mario 3D World on the WiiU.
So I was very disappointed that they port the 2D games rather than this one to the Switch.

It's not against the law to know what you like. I'm still chuffed to bits Katamari is coming to Switch.

@1UP_MARIO

I think the same as you...
And for BOTW, the game brings so much that it's difficult to say something bad about it... It's a question of balance between what is awesome and what is not that great. Zelda BOTW has so much awesomeness that I place it above all the others...

Neither game is my favorite in their respective series. And with BotW in particular, I'm definitely part of the minority that just didn't care for it very much. My main reason, put simply, is that there was little to no focus on the whole point of the adventure - the main story - the vast majority of the time. It felt to me like an open-world game where you essentially just explored and did random things. Nothing wrong with a game like that, of course. But it's definitely not what I've come to expect and look forward to in Zelda games.

As I said, though, I'm aware I'm in the minority, and most everyone loves it to death. Mine is merely one (unpopular) opinion. :-/

@Quarth the point of the article is to try and ruffle feathers. Ruffled feathers equals more clicks.

Eh, he's entitled to his opinion. BotW is my favorite open world game of all time, but it isn't even in my top three Zelda games. I love Mario Odyssey though, my favorite Mario game after Galaxy 2.

Seriously though, The Last Guardian? I loved Shadow of the Colossus but TLG was such a big disappointment in my opinion. I'm sure Katamari games are fun, but they aren't nearly on the same level as BotW or Odyssey. Damacy was a quirky, niche PS2 game, the type of game you could find by throwing a rock in any direction. The type that I don't see myself spending money on.

Fair points. BotW had a lot of strong points - story wasn’t one of them. And it wasn’t a bad story, but it was mostly backstory. 99% of the game felt unrelated to the story. It wasn’t as story heavy as other recent entries is all.

And Odyssey? I love it but haven’t touched it since 100%ing it. It simply isn’t a game I wanna replay anytime soon, the fun was in discovery but once you discover everything... well that’s why I want some DLC worlds, I want something to pull me back into it.

@Matthew010 I agree, but that was obviously the type of comment this article was trying to provoke, especially when it says "he's more of a PlayStation guy", purely based on the fact that he called The Last Guardian "good".

I mean he's entitled to his opinion and I admire that he's not kissing ass just because he's releasing a game on the Switch. I prefer honesty.

His opinion, doesnt make it a fact.
We the gamers love it, and the sales say enough. But hey, he can have a opinion too lol.

This guy

@BladedKnight

Really? I don't think I remember anyone calling The Last Guardian a masterpiece, and it's 82 Metacritic score makes that statement even more questionable. BotW and Odyssey are already some of the highest rated games of all time, though. Opinions are opinions I guess.

Hmm... I mean yeah, the last guardian was decent, but... Doesn't hold a candle to breath of the wild. Mario though, idk, it was decent. Like all Mario games. Just decent. I had the same reaction when finishing it, no motivation to try it again, because it wasn't anything special. Same reaction to the last guardian though. Played once, never again.

BotW though... I've played through it like 3 times so far, and this xmas will be my fourth (will be a min hp/stam run). I'm not a zelda fan, I actually really dislike every zelda game I've played (them all) bar BotW. That game is bloody special.

BotW is probably my favorite game ever and Odyssey is one of my favorite Mario games, but each to their own.

Nintendo is the biggest player in japan, thus opinions can be expected to either be full praise or rough criticism. It’s always that way for the dog on top

Super Mario Odyssey has the best controls in a 3D jump'n'run I've ever played. Also the level design is fun and has a great variety. All in all, it's a very fun game to play.
Breath of the Wild is a giant playground, where you can literally do anything, anytime, anyway you want (within the limits of the game, of course) and I freaking love it.😁

I prefer Shadow of the Colossus than The Last Guardian.

Doesn’t like the system, but quite happy to make money off of it

I think he raises the interesting concern that these games might be losing their focus a bit, and end up feeling a little underwhelming and exhausting as a result. Particularly for a handheld experience.

That's me extrapolating his words, of course, but I've seen others express something along those lines.

...ok he had an opinion. And? (Why was this worth an article?)

Ironically, Katamari looks like absolute garbage.

@Rocky2418
I still haven't continue my Zelda BOTW until today.
Instead, i have played Portal Knights for more than 195 hours by total.
Zelda BOTW is still too hard for me.

In my opinion Katamari is a boring and senseless game. Breath of the Wild is a great title not my favorite Zelda that happens to be Link's Awakening on the Game Boy, fantastic title and a must play for Zelda fans, now Mario Odyssey is in my opinion the best 3D Mario platformer since the Galaxy titles which are both masterpieces in my opinion . Mario Odyssey is brilliant I still play it and I picked up my copy on release day .

Liking something is subjective. The guy's entitled to his opinion. I've never really got into Fifa or PES. I can see they're generally well-made games, but not ones that appeal to me. To each his own.

I sort of get what he means about Mario Odyssey. The anticipation for the game, then playing it, then it ended and there was a bit of an anticlimax to all of it.

The world's (or levels) seemed a bit smaller then what I thought they would be watching the previews. And it was to easy.

Nintendo have a problem finding the 'Goldilocks' area for games. Either like Kirby on the Switch it was reviewed as to easy and DK Tropical Freeze on the Wii u was to hard.

Mario tried to please everyone with Odyssey. Maybe if more moons had to be collected before a new world opened this would have helped.

I finished the game at 500 moons and didn't feel there was much benefit in looking for more. Had there been a bonus world for collection more moons that would have been good

@MrBlacky I felt that straight away. One of the most responsive controlling games I've ever played.

Finished SMO and never went back. First time I've done that with a 3D Mario game.

A dung beetle game is more fun than Zelda.

@Pod
It was only ariund 10% handheld experience for me, so I don't know what you're talking about.

@Nincompoop
Trash talking again ??

Love Katamari Damacy and can’t wait to get it on the Swich, absolutely the perfect console for it!

I kind of agree with him Re: BotW but disagree about Odyssey.
For me BotW is the least Zelda-like Zelda ever. It makes sense that lots of people who don’t like Zelda love this game. I’ve sunk a lot of hours in and I’m just grinding out my last few shrines and memories + the DLC content, and while ive enjoyed my time and think the first part of the game is quite magical, it’s honestly got less interesting as it’s gone on. The story is terrible and there’s a HUGE disconnect between the idea that this is a post apocalyptic waste land and the fact that in all the towns and cities everything’s going fine. It features the least charismatic version of Gannon from any Zelda game, the Beasts are weak as hell as are their bosses, there are no real dungeons, and while some of the shrines are delightfully thoughtful puzzles and some of the shrine quests the best part of the game, too many of them focus on repeated content.

It’s a shame because the exploration aspect is excellent, and Hyrule itself has never been more alive and awe inspiring. With the immense sense of scale the first 10-20 hours or so of gameplay literally made me feel like I was 8 years old again, wandering into Hyrule field for the first time ever in Ocarina of Time. But overall without dungeons, unique bosses and items, and with the worst characterization (apart from Zelda) and story of any 3D Zelda game, I do feel it’s just not as whole as experience as many others in the series.

Odyssey however just seems to me to be objectively the best 3D Mario ever. I mean 3D World/Galaxy might perhaps be slightly ‘tighter’, or better balanced or whatever, but that linear style just does nothing for me. Odyssey is more exploration, more character, charm, tighter controls. I mean given, in terms of sandbox Mario’s there are only 64 and Sunshine to compete with, but Odyssey improves on those formulas in every way for me.

@zool
Do people not play games (mostly) because of the fun and gameplay?🤔 Especially a jump'n'run? I mean, in SMB, SMB3 and SMW there were plenty of levels you didn't have to play, but you played them nonetheless, or not? Or did you just rush through the games and said: "F*** it, I'm out"

I kind of did the same thing. I respect each game still though for trying new things. I'd say Mario was fun though and wouldn't mind playing again. Not to collect moons, but just to restart it. Seeing the amount of moons is in the game is just pretty crazy. I liked the limit of Mario 64 in that way.

Well that's just insane, both of those games are excellent. I just finished my replay of Zelda and cant wait to replay Mario again as well.
Still, Katamari was fun, at least the first one for sure (it had the best music) and it'll be fun to play again.
Do we know if "Reroll" is just the first game or if its the collection?
I played 1, 2 and the PSP katamari and would probably play them all agian.

Keita who?

Of course he can have an opinion, amiright?

@MrBlacky unlike you I don't swear. I do complete games when I can, but I'm not someone who needs to collect everything just to say I've collected everything.

@zool
I didn't know we know each other. From where do you know me, from school, work, training, or did we meet in a club or something?

@zool Tropical Freeze was challenging, sure, but I don't think it was too hard. In some ways it was more fair than Returns (looking at you, rocket barrels! Also minecarts I guess. But mostly rocket barrels.)
Okay, the temple levels were pretty crazy. But DKC bonus content has always been stupid hard. Really, I have no clue how I managed to complete all of Returns.

Kirby, on the other hand, seems to go by too quickly. Kirby games are a bit more casual and aimed at a younger audience, so I can forgive it for being easier, even if they may have gone a bit far. What it really needed was more content.

I still haven't purchased or played either of these games. Zelda looks fun, but for some reason i just can't push myself to purchase and play both games. I usually enjoy 2d mario games.

Yep. I also found Zelda: BotW to be extremely boring. Especially the design of the side quests. Welp, I played Horizon before Zelda, so the expectations were a bit too high though.

Mario Odyssey was good. My favourite Mario game so far. Not the best game ever made, but yeah... a really good one.

I'm happy to read that there are still people in the world not hyping up everything that is Nintendo.

Katamari itself was a trash game but I fully agree on Breath of the Wild. That was not a Zelda game, it was abysmal.

@Ensemen He's right about BoTW.

@UltimateDespair1 I found it to be a great experience in its own right, even if it was a grand departure from what the series was known for. That said, I hope the series does go back to being more story-driven, and BotW just becomes another form that the series can take, like the previous 3D games, the top-down entries, and the least commonly used sidescrolling from Zelda II.

The quote suggests he's more commenting on the lack of worthwhile games on Switch since Odyssey, rather than on Odyssey itself.

For the guy who invented Katamari and Noby Noby Boy, he can be a really morose dude sometimes.

@KayFiOS I thought it was a dismal terrible game from start to finish.

I didn't get on with BOTW either, but Odyssey was utterly fantastic. I think it will be one that stands the test of time like Mario 64 because the levels and move set allow for so much inventiveness to take shortcuts and streamline your path through the game that it will be being speed run for years to come I think.

As for The Last Guardian, it would have been excellent if it didn't have such a downer ending.

I basically haven't turned my Switch back on since Mario either. Only played Monopoly and the Overcookeds with my girlfriend and even whipped out 1-2-Switch at gatherings.

Well I guess you can't please everyone.

Not sure I should talk about this here, but I will anyway. When the Switch and Zelda came out I was suffering from depression and had been for 2 months. Meds and counselling did nothing for me. Then I started playing BOTW and started feeling happy, the fact that I found it fun when I had no motivation to play or do anything before it says a lot.

By the time I finished the game I wasn't on meds or counselling, which shows the power of gaming to help people in a positive way and I've been in a good place ever since.

@UltimateDespair1 I loved it, but I see why some people don't. Like Wind Waker, though that game was my first Zelda game, so I give it a lot of leeway.

I really Impressive like Super Mario Odyssey, Yoshi and Metroid Prime 4. Perhaps we love it.

Ahhh Yes, such is the trend to be cool and edgy and say you don’t like Mario and Zelda.

Bet this has got him more promotion for his game than saying he enjoyed them.

It’s a tactic these days say something massively controversial to get column inches.

Good on him.... let’s hope he kept his overalls to get back to playground making.... he clearly doesn’t believe in his product if he has to pull stunts like this.

Everyone is entitled to opinions but as a game maker he should fully appreciate both games as shinning lights in a dark generation of gaming for innovation.

@Hughesy this is a far healthier way to deal with dark times than meds. I wish more would try this method. Be it play a sport you love, video game or whatever. Doing stuff you like is the best medicine.

@Stocksy You seem salty.

@Stocksy Yes, I'm sure the director of a weird, but cute game with vibrant colours is trying to be cool and edgy. Or maybe he just has his own tastes...

I do agree with him on Odyssey for the most part. Zelda was pretty decent though.

Odyssey is a little bit too "flat" for my taste. There's a lot of great ideas but it's somehow lacking in term of platforming.I've been recently watching Sunshine's speedruns on AGDQ and man that's more than obvious...

Zelda is wonderful in many ways but i would have reduced the worldmap just a little bit to add dungeons and castles with the same sense of epic scale and diversity.

Don't get me wrong i loves these games but they're pretty much contemporary designwise...Avoiding at all cost to frustrate the player or challenging him just a little.

It's a video --->game<--- after all,i'm here to play not simply "explore and experience" even though it was more than a pleasant ride.

Opinions....we all have one

Maybe he's a huge fan of 2D mario and zelda...... maybe.

KD is awesome but nearly 20 years old. For what this director did next, take a look at Noby Noby Boy.

I don't how a game designer could say there is more work of game design in The Last Guardian than in Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey.
If you want to be a game designer, play Mario Odyssey. You can make an entire game based on a lot of levels or sub levels of that game. It's a game full of game design ideas.

The guy who's games revolve around pushing stuff into a ball isn't impressed.... c'maaahn

I guess Zelda isnt for everyone.

Good that he doesn't kiss ass but I don't agree with his opinion at all. See internets I can disagree with someone and still respect them!

Who cares. His game is good. If you like it play it.

So the one person in the world who doesn't like Zelda and Mario on Switch and the console itself is found.
Who cares. There are other consoles he can be happy with.

@BladedKnight you clearly haven’t spent years researching antidepressants - there are some excellent unbiased - not funded by drug company scientific studies - that will educate you as to why in the case of depression - especially for teenagers - antidepressants do more harm than good.

It’s not just one or two studies - they are comprehensive.

If you prefer to watch TV there are also excellent documentaries that will help you. BBC has some superb ones.

Please don’t encourage the use of drugs with more side effects than out weigh the positives.

Suicide rates in the use of antidepressants are particularly depressing. Attempts go up AFTER being on the drugs not before you are on them.

It’s a very complex issue but drugs should be a last resort especially for children.

@KayFiOS surely your description there is the difinition of being cool and edgy. Shunning the mass appeal games to make vibrant games.... it’s ok - you can be a fanboy... I just can see through cheap stunts.

It’s not about liking Zelda or Mario. It’s about respecting them for what they are and this guy should get it....

How dare he say TLG was good?! It was the worst game ever made

Mario Odyssey is a fine but not excellent game, sorry but it's true. Something about it just didn't have the draw power of a game like the Galaxy releases or even old Mario 64 too. Zelda though, that series needed to be taken out old yeller style as far as the played out boring design of it went. The new design with the areas as dungeons and the bit machines as the mid and final bosses, along with the huge exploratory style of it made a played out franchise wonderful again. Game style like Zelda may not just be his thing. I mean let's be serious he quit games to take that katamari style and go work on playground equipment of all things, seems kind of related in a warped way. He's in his own space, but also and admitted Sony fan too so it could be equally bias.

I don't mind his opinion, so long as they guy then takes to the Switch to show how a good Switch game could and should be done according to him. Which it seems like he's doing instead of just making empty complaints, so I'm fine with it even if I don't agree.

What a disgusting display of opinions i don't agree with. Nintendo should cancel katamari and destroy e very copy of it on this earth!!!!

@OorWullie When will we get hd galaxy on switch... ☹

@Stocksy

Maybe not the worst ever made, but the game was pretty garbage IMHO. While he is certainly entitled to his opinion, hearing him down those 2 games while upping that waste of time is hella funny to me. All that time & that was what we got?! Lol

@BladedKnight wow. You have no idea how damaging your words could be of aimed at someone who suffers from mental issues.

Counselling is perfect - very healthy.

Ignoring science is dangerous.

In studies placebos have has the same reported positive effects as antidepressants.

The drugs are dangerous and of little use. The medical experts are starting to agree and see that. The use will start to reduce heavily.

Honestly, sorry that you suffered (and don’t assume I don’t and haven’t) but drugs are not as effective as reported years ago and in fact are dangerous.

Please don’t assume that medical experts, scientific studies and statical proof is wrong.

The proof is there for you to find now.

While I think both Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are good, they're lacking in the usual Nintendo magic that makes them truly great. So I can kind of see where Takahashi is coming from.

Put a massive amount of time into BotW, but overall it didn't have the same impact on me as some of the other games. It needed a deeper story and I really felt the lack of the traditional Zelda puzzle solving (the shrines, while puzzles, didn't feel quite the same as going through a traditional dungeon).

With Mario it's more about how the game is structured and that you don't really get into the meat of it until after you've cleared the terrible story. (The whole "Peach has been captured again, go rescue her" as an objective is feeling very tired now.) If you simply follow the story through it's a weak 3D platformer with an extremely easy difficulty level; but once you get to exploring each kingdom and doing some of the more difficult moons I've found I'm enjoying it a whole lot more.

I agree that story was the weakest part of Zelda in particular...but its not like Katamari really has a story going for it

And kidnapping Peach is just a lazy, lazy story conceit on Nintendo's part

@Stocksy @BladedKnight I'm in my office, working for a mental health agency that serves 8 counties. Medication, while not the only answer, can definitely serve a purpose when taken as prescribed and under observation by a physician. It is ridiculous to state that it does more harm than good. Chemistry in the brain and sympathetic nervous system exists, and while not everyone needs a shot of Haldol in the morning, some folk benefit from chemical changes. When it involves proper care and follow-up by physicians and honest discussions about treatment, medication is a great tool.

On topic; I wouldn't really expect the creator of something like Katamari or Nobi Nobi Boy to enjoy Mario or Zelda much, since they rely on foundational mechanics. Maybe he really likes the art in Last Guardian? I'm excited that Katamari is coming, and $30 is a pretty reasonable price considering it's not a new entry.

He sounds like the kind of bloke that would really dig Yoko Ono's covers of Björk songs.

@MrBlacky or something.

@Stocksy
I'd be dead right now if not from the meds I am on. Therapy is needed as well but no amount of therapy was stopping the non stop negative self hating thoughts in my head. It has negatives, it slows down my thought process but when not slowed down I wouldn't be able to control them.

I've also been on meds that made my condition worse so it's not like I am meds are the cure but then again there is no cure it's all treatment until you die one way or another. But when you finally find the right ones and dosage(it was about 9 years for me) it's a solid base to start from. It's good that you read studies and watched some BBC though so I'll just go right off my medicine. Christ. It's amazing the crap people type or say with no clue. I don't know how the hell this came up here but ignorant crap like your post is always fun to laugh at.

@Majora101
Katamari series is a breath of fresh air in a World drowning in similar style games. Breath of the Wild is a great game but it wasn't rewriting the playbook or giving us something we haven't played a million times before.

Going to have to admit that I agree with him there - I didn't even finish Odyssey before putting it down. Not engaging at all in my experience. Zelda was okay but I wish they'd ditched the view of less story = more freedom.

This has kicked off more controversy than is deserved. Keita Takahashi has often said that he finds most videogames boring, and only really stuck with the industry because he liked making silly stuff and releasing it to a global audience. Following his tweets, he seems to have some affection for games, but isn't personally excited to play many of them. He bought a NES Mini to play with his sons, but the only game he really liked was Balloon Fight, because he doesn't like his kids playing games about killing.

I loved Zelda, but Mario Odyssey is very overrated. I think Mario is at his best when he is platforming. I loved Mario 64, because I feel like there was a lot more platforming along side the exploration and you actually had to work for the Stars. Odyssey is a lot of walking around doing very boring/easy tasks to stuff your pockets with an unnecessary amount of moons. I agree with Takahashi on the Last Guardian. That game is very underrated. Probably my favorite game to release that year.

I can see his points. For the huge open world that BotW has, it lacks story. But I love the gameplay, sound and visuals. Mario Odyssey is fun, but that's about it. I didn't collect all balloons. I figure is Takahashi more of a Playstation guy. I can respect that. I absolutely love Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian too.

@CoastersPaul yes Kirby could have had more content and a much better single play option. Donkey Kong to pixel perfect in its jumps, it wasn't so much playing the game as learning and remembering the moves, which for me took away any enjoyment. That's way the port had Cranky.

@Stocksy
So you're saying everyone should respect Mario and Zelda? I think I can see who the real fanboy is. Besides, he never even disrespected either, having only said he had a problem with Zelda's storytelling (a common complaint), and that he never played anything after Mario. The article took his words and blew them way out of proportion, in typical ClickbaitLife fashion.
As for calling me edgy and cool, neither is true. Sarcasm does not make someone edgy or cool. I'm pretty sure you got me beat in the edge department.

@steventonysmith You know what they say about opinions. Personally I believe Breath Of The Wild is a refreshing and totally unique open world Zelda experience, something that didn't exist in quite the same way before it that already has had a major influence on its contemporaries much like Ocarina Of Time before it, whereas I've played many a game that can be reduced in layman's terms to a simplistic ball physics simulator with a story to justify the proverbial "delightfully weird" or simplistic gameplay (no offense to anyone who may enjoy this title, just one man's opinion). I love weird and I love charm, but what may seem to possess both to one person is just another simple-but-polished game to another. That is the beauty of Nintendo consoles, you have a wide assortment of experiences that you don't ordinarily see on other platforms.

Headline: person has opinions about games. eyeroll

I think the real story here is "Nintendolife promotes toxic everyone-has-to-agree-to-the-exact-same-things culture".

@DawgP I suppose since the Online launch is over, something is needed to generate more 300+ comment sections, eh?

Well...this guy's credibility just dropped through the floor. Meanwhile, I thought the same about his game. Just kind of meh.

I'm not a fan of Mario Odyssey either (never liked 3D Mario), and while BotW held my attention for a while, I didn't feel a desire to go back to it after beating it. I love plenty of other Switch games though.

I bought my PS4 for Last Guardian....talk about underwhelming! That game was incredibly unique but the controls/camera were so terrible that at times I almost stopped playing it. Not once did I have that feeling with Mario. I just recently started Zelda (before stopping to play Monster Hunter!) but so far so good. If it wasn't for the unique gameplay and mystery storyline of Last Guardian, I would have quit 2 hours in!

But it's his opinion.

At least he isn't closeted on the subject. There are a lot of developers myself included who feel the same about those two games. Though for me it isn't the huge disconnect from narrative on Zelda that is a problem. Over reliance on systemic design (a very Ubisoft philosophy BTW) to get players through the experience kind of sours things for me. Sure their are puzzles and dungeons, but they aren't the elaborate machinations and traps I loved exploring. The game is a collection of fast food joints and not a small handful of truly hearty meals. Essentially turned Zelda into a far more annoying version of assassins creed. Not saying that the game isn't fun for someone, but aside from its implementation of Zelda Ubisoft, with a touch of Nintendo, it left me wanting and missing every Zelda before it.

Mario is good and fun, an enjoyable title, but its still Mario. I was done once I finished the final boss. Solid game, but it fails to do what Mario 64 did and is just Mario 64 with body possession. Not a problem, but still just something to snack and to have if you own a switch, but not a reason to buy the switch.

I respect that the guy isn't afraid to make his opinions on the two games known. Expecting every single person to like those two games isn't logical.

I haven't played either game yet, so I currently have no opinion of my own.

@NotSoCryptic

I couldn't disagree with you more on Zelda. Well, at least on its open world design and now it's similar to Assassin's Creed. I agree with your bit on puzzles. The reason why BotW is my favorite open world game but not my favorite Zelda game is that it emphasizes exploration better than any regurgitated crap Ubisoft puts out. Sure, you climb towers to see part of the map, but you aren't shown where anything of interest is. You still have to go out and discover shrines, towns, etc. on your own to get those markers on your map. The fact that you have to discover things first in BotW instead of your map having a ton of markers on them so you just highlight waypoint to waypoint to funnel you through the interesting bits, kind of blowing through your surroundings as fast as possible in between them is a key difference in the open world design of the two games. One makes you feel like an explorer charting a map while the other makes you feel like a tourist marking off an already charted map as quickly as you can to just have it all done.

BotW is the first open world game I've played that urges you to explore it all without holding your hand and telling you that hey, there's a side activity right here so ignore everything and get there as fast as you can. Well, besides games like Minecraft but procedurally generated maps don't count.

Mario Odyssey oozes with charm and creativity, and it's such a highly rated game for a reason. I prefer linear A to B levels that put the focus on tight level design in Mario games, which is why Galaxy 2 is my favorite. Still, I'd argue that Odyssey is better than 64. Mario controls much better, the level design is more complicated and that's largely thanks to Mario not being such a pain to control that they have to limit how intricate the platforming can be, and it has a fun, more interesting story. As far as the platforming being more intricate, imagine that they remade Mario 64 but only updated the graphics and made Mario control like he does in Odyssey. The game would be a cakewalk. It isn't hard because of its level design, it's hard because of the way Mario controls.

@StephenYap3 Super Mario 64, Super Mario 3 , Super Mario World , Mario Bros. , Mario Sunshine top 5 for me with an honorable mention to Super Mario Galaxy for my list in no particular order.

@NotSoCryptic I also have trouble returning to SMO as well. I believe it is in part because I am not huge into speed runs and wished for more substantial DLC support with Luigi.

@Dalarrun farcry 5 might have been a closer analog, ultimately I was sight game design philosophy, not so much final implementation. AC has lost its identity and I really should have been more clear.

Anyway, the over world of Zelda is really just filler content that got a high budget. There really isnt anything redeeming about its "ah ha" moments. I've picked this game apart and the best conclusion I can come to is Nintendo wasted 150+ hours of the gamers time for what amounts to 20 hours of truly rewarding gameplay. What good is an open world if the player doesn't really enjoy traversing it and ignores fast travel. I can only think of three open world titles that do that. All 3 of which I'm sure Nintendo fans would thumb their noses at them being Sony exclusive.

I think right now gamers are still in awe of sandboxes that let them "explore". While this zelda finally takes the kid gloves off, it misses a lot of the other things gamers appreciate that the filler open world design of botw misses. Maybe the Zelda team needs to take a step back and consider what they are doing for a moment. Zelda has released it's first truly divisive title since wind waker and its the third game in the series to truly divide fans. We will see more dissatisfied players crop up.

Don't get me wrong there is fun to be found in botw. There are a lot of cool systems. There is a recipe for greatness here that if Nintendo can find it and capture the magic of older Zelda games while maintaining the finer qualities of botw, then they could have the greatest Zelda game ever made. Right now its just a game that relies to heavily on the lure of what is over the next horizon, honestly I'd rather be doing something a bit more grandiose than screwing around with field enemies and worrying about a green wheels and broken weapons with the open world equivalent to red barrels from a shooter.

I kind of agree about Zelda, but not Mario. Especially after the last guardian thing, that is a funny example when he could have used one of a number of PS4 games that hit the ground running. Klunky controls may be his thing though, considering they said nothing about katamari's control scheme has been updated.

what’s the point of banning people if they can just create another account 3 seconds later and continue commenting?? Waste of every ones time.

He's 100% right about Zelda. I hope sentiments like his start becoming louder so the next Zelda is actually improved instead of more of the same

@NotSoCryptic

-Horizon Zero Dawn's game world feels a lot like Far Cry.

-Spider Man's game world feels a lot like Assassin's Creed.

I can't think of any other big open world exclusive PlayStation game. Your opinion is fine, but Breath of the Wild's exploration was top notch, even if its side quests and story weren't. I won't say that I didn't use fast travel at all, but I did much less than any other open world game I can remember. Breath of the Wild is one of the all time highest rated games, and most reviews praise its open world most of all. Like I said before, it isn't my favorite Zelda but it's my favorite 3D one and it has the best open world I've played, and I've played a TON.

@Fronic Keita Takahashi doesn't have anything to do with this reason release, so you wouldn't be supporting him either way. He lives in California now and doesn't work for Namco anymore. He actually hasn't had anything to do with the series after the second game. I'm also confused as to why someone not liking games that you like makes you want to not support them. It's weird.

I wish the story wasn't broken-up in Zelda like it was. I an all for exploring and finding cut scenes, but it took too long to find the next one that the momentum stopped. Hope they improvr it in LOZ: Cyberpunk 2022.

@chasttix

Most open world games are guilty of this, though. Take Witcher 3 for instance. One of my favorite games of all time, but you could spend hours in between story quests and it definitely affected my overall enjoyment of it. Open world games always tend to have pacing problems.

I really dislike the last two Zelda console games enough that I did not beat them. I have beat all of the rest. I hate skyward sword and breath I'd the wild is just boring.

Mario was actually more fun that I thought... I bet it, but about to sell it.

Spiderman is one of the best games I have played in years. Glad I have all consoles. I like my switch and play it undocked 80% of the time.

Rey tired of Zelda getting great reviews because it is Zelda. The last two suck and that's coming from a Zelda fan who has all Zelda ties other than cdi an has a triforce painted in his man cave. I'm back playing ocarina of Time to beat with 3 hearts rather than playing breath of the wild.

@Matthew010 If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

And he didn’t just say that he “disliked two Nintendo games,” he said he didn’t feel compelled to buy a Switch until very recently, played and was underwhelmed by two of the best-reviewed/most popular games Nintendo’s ever made, stopped using his Switch, and stated that he prefers a PlayStation game/games with narrative as a chief priority over those two Nintendo games.

All of which is fine. But I’d be surprised if this guy would even argue with being called a PlayStation fanboy.

@Dalarrun Never played Witcher (any) so I'll need to believe what yoy are saying.

@Stocksy

It is absolutely true that psychotherapeutic medication is complicated, and often comes with many unwanted side effects. It’s true that some medication fails to achieve its desired effect.

It is also true that some psychotherapeutic medication literally saves lives.

Making blanket statements about the perceived ineffectiveness of ALL medication, discouraging people who may desperately need it from ever giving it a shot, is beyond irresponsible and destructive.

Source: Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a decade of experience in the field.

Save your pop psychology for a more appropriate medium, and don’t ever discourage anyone from trying something that might give them relief and potentially save their life.

@chasttix

Let's say for instance that Geralt is going to go straight to another NPC in a nearby town that is maybe an in-game day away to talk to them about something important. You can spend hours doing other side content on your way there and many in-game days pass, but there's no mention of it in the game. My point is that a sense of urgency in a story when it comes to open world games falls flat because of how much player agency you're afforded. The pacing is just... off. Most open world games have this problem.

Like I said, The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games of all time. 2 has better story pacing because it isn't open world, but 3 does everything else better.

@JaimeAstin

"That's coming from a Zelda fan"

You act like your opinion is law because you've liked previous games, so anyone who enjoyed Breath of the Wild is wrong.

@OorWullie I also didn't really find Odyssey that interesting. I was expecting more of a Mario 64 tone, which had a sense of imminent danger and darkness with slower music that was more haunting and serene. Odyssey was way too happy-go-lucky. On the opposite end, Zelda provided that haunting yet serene atmosphere that captivated me into its world. I understand why some people dislike, a lot having to do with the "empty" environment and how it told its story. But I love it because I felt like I was transported to a different world, living in it rather than playing it. Both 64 and BotW had a sense of mystery I wanted to seek out. Odyssey had things hidden that I needed to find but never felt there were mysteries to discover.

am I the only one here who really enjoyed Odyssey. I think it did a good job of expanding upon the sandbox formula of 64 and Sunshine imo

Not a Zelda gamer but agreed on Mario Odyssey, it's certainly a good game but both Galaxies and 3D World are games I'd much rather play. Somehow the large themed areas just didn't captivate me like the smaller set pieces of the other games. Star fatigue?

HAHAHAHA who cares about what this guy says or this game at all? well over 1600 copies of Zelda and Mario have been sold for every 1 of his game.

@DanElectrode Exactly! Despite their excuses Nintendo obviously scrapped a lot of the original functionality and dumbed it down for Swirch. Sad they botched Wii U marketing because eveey game I play on Wii U vs another sytem I prefer the Wii U version. Im not a long time Nintendo fan but honestly the Wii U was the best system of the generation and tanked due to bad marketing mainly. Sure it had some issues but it was a better more ingenuitive system than all the others.

He's going to say that when he creates a game around trash collecting?

@Cosats I'll have to see if anyone has 3D printed an add on to the right joycon so I can align the analogs but still have the support along the palm of my hand like I'm used to with a controller

This guy sounds like a long day.

@Dalarrun I understand. I may it to purchase it one day. Have a huge back catalogue at the moment.

I though they were both kind of boring. I finished Odyssey and never looked back, and BOTW I spent 45 hours with, got bored with it, and ended up deleting it last week, because I haven't touched it in a year.

I liked Super Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds much better than either Odyssey or BOTW.

@SuperWeird

Love A Link Between Worlds, definitely prefer it as a Zelda game over BotW. 3D World was too easy and not nearly as creative as Odyssey imo

Hey, don't mean to come off as rude here, but for those people that are complaining at this guy for saying he should've done a new Katamari, you should remember people often test franchises to see if they will do well before making better products.

Case and point, DOOM. It did well on Switch, so now DOOM Eternal is also coming to it. I imagine more Katamari games will come to Switch since this one will do well. But, there's nothing wrong with starting off small. I enjoyed the first entry in the series a lot, so I welcome this with open arms.

However, I also agree with his opinion. Got bored of Breath of the Wild and Odyssey, but don't think they're bad games. I just wasn't a fan of the vast, open world and Odyssey spamming Moons instead of Kingdoms. Primarily because I like dungeon items that I can mess around with (A Link to the Past is still my favorite) and I like to have a hub world with tons of levels inside of it, as opposed to a bunch of hub worlds.

Also, pretty comical Luigi is not playable in Odyssey. I don't need Luigi in the story, but it would've been cool if he was unlocked after you beat the game.

@chasttix

It's fantastic, and it looks absolutely stunning on PC.

@Sakisa I was thinking BotW was too empty.

@DanElectrode Your comment makes me think BotW would of been better on the Wii U. Or, if fans didn't force them to release the game, it would of felt little better with added game play. It's the fans fault for pushing the release.

I just don't get why they couldn't add more DLCs. After playing Elder Scrolls Online (it's gotten better over the years) I can see why restarting over and over is kind of pointless. Technology has changed games completely.

@Meowfart It’s boring if:

1) You don’t like to collect things
2) You don’t like tank controls
3) You don’t like racing against a clock
4) You don’t like having daddy issues

I, for one, adore all those things and I find the franchise still very refreshing (but it’s high time we get a slew of new levels and modes). But I also don’t think it’s very smart to badmouth your licensor (is Nintendo publisher?)

But it his opinion and he does explain where he’s coming from.

I’m excited about getting Katamari for Switch. I’ve been wanting it for Nintendo since the Wiiu came out. I could understand if Mario or Zelda just isn’t his thing. But his blatant criticism seems a little pretentious considering the simple goal in each iteration of Katamari is exactly the same. Katamari is fun and funny, but there really isn’t much to it. As for many people’s preferences, I think some people may not be too into open ended exploration in games, and prefer more immediate and clearly defined goals. There seems to be alot of that difference in discussions comparing Odyssey to the more linear Galaxy/World. And BotW to past Zelda games. It may even have to do with two very different cognitive styles. But as much as I liked Galaxy 1&2, 3d World is fun for multiplayer, I prefer Odyssey. And BotW is my favorite Zelda. Who cares if there is a gap between story and system? I can’t think of single Zelda title where this wasn’t the case. In every Zelda game, the whole world of Hyrule is facing imminent apocalypse with Link as the one and only hope, and yet there’s always plenty of time for Link to sit around a fishing pond, or play cute little carnival games. It doesn’t make sense because it’s a game, and games are meant to be fun. Katamari doesn’t make any sense either. It’s just fun.

@Dalarrun
No, it was my opinion... As it was the game deveopors and many others.

If you like the game, great. I DIDN'T. I never said it was law or my opinion was more than my own.

I bought breath of the wild because of all of my other experiences with the Zelda. The reviews made it seem like it is game of the year material... But it is not goty and it is not batter than many that have for before it. Like someone said it is 150 wasted for 20 hours of pleasure...

@Flipbot

I think it is nothing more than his opinion. Blame the journalist who made it more than it is. His game is the same over and over. Usually Zelda is. Nintendo departed and it disappointed him.

I have never played a game of his and from all I know that reason why I have not played it is that is not something that sounds interesting.

That's me. You like it. The developer and I do like Zelda. I love the franchise, but don't like botw. We all are different.

Now like with politics, it's the journalist are the ones who brought it up with angenda. There nothing wrong with not liking Zelda... Unless you are journalist who just cant fathom giving Zelda a fair reveiew. At the least, it's always an 8, even when own would never want to play it again.

I feel the same way for God of War. It is not as good as it is reveiewed.

@JaimeAstin

Jesus Christ you're salty lmao, I never resorted to insulting you and all I did was try to have a conversation. I play plenty of games on Steam so what are you on about with that "fanboy" nonsense? Sad. You came here acting like your opinion on BotW is an objective fact and insulted it and anyone who didn't agree with you, and you were called out for it. If you didn't like the game, you could have given us intelligent, thoughtful reasons instead of just calling it flat out bad or dumb. NintendoLife really doesn't need more idiots who spout off at the mouth without trying to contribute to a peaceful, thoughtful discussion. Sit down, kiddo.

The Last Guardian is good in the PS2 era, but it's kinda broken and bad today. Couldn't disagree more with his take on Mario Odyssey and BotW though, but to each their own

@OorWullie I agree completely. I loved BOTW but thought Odyssey was lackluster pretty much all the way through. Galaxy smashes Odyssey.

It sounds like he isn't the traditional gamer that most of us are. Having played through all Mario and Zelda games I can appreciate the things Breath of the Wild and Odyssey bring to the table. They both refine elements from their series in a way that feels natural and cohesive. Sure Breath of the Wild was huge but felt empty in a way, but having played past games they have largely been about exploration and puzzle solving above all else. So to someone coming from the ICO games they definitely draw similarities to Zelda games but are different. The ICO line does tend to point you where you should go in a linear fashion where Zelda has broken free from that, which could be unsettling to some. I've only played most of Shadow of the Colossus so I can't speak for the series but it fun and has a good story. There are likely many game designers that aren't gamers per say including Shigeru Miyamoto himself, though Eiji Aonuma has largely taken on the Zelda series.

@Dalarrun @JaimeAstin please don’t.

@Yosheel

I don't know why he had to resort to name calling over nothing.

@Whalehome you should pick up one of the Mayflash Adapters that lets you use other controllers on the Switch. It lets us use a Wii U Pro controller which works great unless the game needs gyro. And actually the gyro on a PS4 controller does work with it. I just don’t have one.

The 8-Bit Do adapter apparently works great but I picked the Mayflash because it works with a few more controllers including wired ones. And it works on a PS3 which put it over the top for me personally.

Okay, that's a crap opinion. He liked The Last Guardian because he knows the developer and he's sad! Not any valid criticism at all, just brown nosing.

"Oh, BotW is like Shadow of the Colossus...but with actual content? YUCK"

Well I really tried to like botw and mario odyssey but played about 8 hrs of botw and abour 15 of odyssey and put them away never to pick them up again. They aren't fun to me and i was shocked. I found the worlds to be barren and very bland.

I did a nintendo survey a while ago and I told them "why cant I choose which mario character to play the game as like in mario bros 2 back on NES, seemed odd to me I couldnt play as anyone I wanted to, why'd it have to be mario? Let me play the game as yoshi, might be convinced to retry it. Just getting it straight that this isnt my only criticism of the game, it was simply a suggestion I made about how they might make it somewhat more appealing.

I just found both games to be very empty and bland. They both had lovely colour palettes, although I really dislike the weird colour hashing effect that pops up in both games which was clearly imposed to keep the frame rate up and lower some settings.

@Panda943 Well I agree with him on Zelda and Mario.

I definitely wouldn't call then bad games. Just good games that we're over hyped. Like he said, Zelda had to much between the story, Mario wasn't as engaging as the past outings. I think it's the only Mario I haven't hit 100% since Super Mario Land.

For a guy who promised Wattam 4 years ago and still hasn't delivered I'm indifferent. Katamari is a great game because of replay value, Mario and Zelda not so much; I get it. But considering he hasn't released his big game yet, I think he's just spilling tea to avoid fire for his lack of release. Either that or he wants to get back into the ring and that's why he's casting shade. Either way, where's Wattam?

I've never been impressed with a katamari game. I've tried to see what some people see in it, but I've only ever actually been disappointed that I wasted my money & time when playing that franchise. Mario Odyssey was way too easy & I wasn't impressed. I couldn't even be bothered to finish it because I lost interest, but Zelda: BotW outshined Twilight Princess for my all time favorite Zelda game. To each his own, I guess

I didn't like BoTW and I'm a diehard zelda fan. I didn't play mario because I suck at mario games and I don't really care for any iteration of the 3D mario games especially, though I recognize it was a great game. While I can feel him on that...I can't see how he thought The Last Guardian was good. Talk about crap AI and clunky outdated PS2 levels of controls. Due to the brief nature of his comments it is hard to saw what he liked and disliked entirely about each game. Honestly he probably ignored the crap gameplay of Last Guardian in favor of the atmosphere and world of the game, which is indeed impressive. However that seems odd considering Both Mario and BoTW had great environments as well, soooo it leaves me with no clue.

I agree completely, or at least as far as Odyssey and Zelda go. They both felt a bit aimless, which I don't mind seeing once in a while, but, I much prefer linear focused games. I don't like wandering around lost without a strategy guide or searching google for a walkthrough. I guess I prefer my Mario 2d if possible, or if not that, than at least with linear levels, and time limits to give a sense of urgency and actual levels. As much fun as Odyssey was, the levels (or the distance between moons) were far shorter than any other Mario game; too short, in my opinion.

Oddly, those three mentioned games were the highlights of the year, Mario Odyssey and LoZ simply incredible but The Last Guardian was a flawed masterpiece, taking such chances and, though not nailing them all, was a rare and delightful experience. Mario Odyssey, despite being great, felt like a refinement of what is played before.