You've likely seen that outside of directing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Masahiro Sakurai writes a regular column for Famitsu. Having previously shared his PlayStation 5 thoughts and calling Cyberpunk 2077 a "dream game", his latest featured focuses on Among Us.
Translated by Kody NOKOLO from the Source Gaming team, you can find the full thread below or watch his YouTube video. During this column, Sakurai explains how the game works during the first half of this article, before diving into his own opinions.
Speaking about gameplay strategy, Sakurai says Among Us doesn't offer a "clear" one when playing. Instead, it leans on natural interaction with players as opposed to its inherent mechanics, an aspect which reminds him of card games.
During this piece, he notes there isn't much action between players, but that he can "feel his heart beating quite quickly" due to the tension. Sakurai also admits that – like any normal person – he isn't hasty to lie about things, making plan changes difficult to explain honestly, acknowledging this can accidentally endanger your impostor teammate.
Upon concluding this column, he notes that Among Us is a game "ruled" by its wider community, meaning they have to be aware of any systems within the game. As such, he wonders how long it will remain popular.
Do you agree with Sakurai's assessment of Among Us? Share your opinions down below.
[source gonintendo.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 22
Here comes the onslaught of "____ for Smash!" comments
It's popularity probably won't last much longer, but it was fun while it lasted, especially compared to Fall Guys (remember that game?).
He didn't say anything about Smash, but yeah, when he says he is not sure how long it will remain popular, it probably means Smash, people may want Impostor for Smash now, but there's no way to know if Among Us is going to remain popular for years like Minecraft, earning a spot in Smash, or it will be just a fad.
I really don't enjoy Among Us, but I see the appeal.
I'm guessing it won't last much longer and will kinda fall to the wayside like Fall Guys.
@victordamazio ''earning a spot in smash because ____ is popular'' even sakurai said thats not the case. otherwise rob and mr game & watch would have never been in smash.
I could see Among Us being a main-stay activity of distance play, because it accomplishes cross-platform social interaction really well. It works so well because it's an excellent space for players to engage with each other like any other board game with particular rules that dictate how you interact with each other, whilst remaining very accessible and having a pretty appealing design.
With Fall Guys, there isn't any real interaction. Each participant in the royal could be a computer AI and your individual experience would not change. Despite being online multiplayer it doesn't offer much over a single player experience, because it doesn't have particular depth.
Compare that to Smash Bros, which accomplishes single player and multiplayer very well. The former is thanks to the wealth of content and challenges, and the latter is thanks to the mechanical depth and engaging in combat with someone who learns and develops as they go, as do you.
@Nymos Took the words straight out of my mouth
@BrintaPap Most characters already in Smash are popular, come from games that sold well and have some form of recency, but yeah, a character doesn't actually need to sell a lot of games, appear in a lot of games, appear in recent games and be famous and popular, those are things that help, but are not mandatory.
Just because sakurai plays a game, doesn't mean it's getting into smash
Ya its one of my fave games of last year, it got me though most of it.
@HotGoomba if they would just port it to the switch it wouldnt be forgotten, but once it does Its going to be though the roof.
It doesn't really surprise me since Nintendo doesn't seem to see the demand for social interaction in (online) gaming.
@1ofUs This news is more about how he likes Among Us, but he is not sure if the game will stay popular or is just a fad.
He doesn't say anything about Smash, but you can kinda see that his point is that he can't just add Impostor from Among Us in Smash right now, because the game might be just a fad like many other fad games in the past.
I always enjoy Sakurai's comments on the games he's currently playing. The snippets of his private life that he likes to share ever so often should remind that even the most prestigious developers are normal people, always appreciated.
I don't understand why the Smash fanbase would always immediately associate these comments to the game's roster. Sure, his preferences have impacted the roster in some way, but it's impossible to make out any patterns; not all he plays gets in the game, not all characters are from games he appreciates. I'd urge everybody to take his discussions as simply a game fan talking about games.
Among Us is certainly not as popular as it used to be but it still has its own niche. It's great mindless fun with a good group of friends; I don't see its popularity ever dwindling amongst communities of friends. I really enjoy the aspect of manipulating and fooling friends, not often such interactions appear in games. As for the public lobbies, I have honestly never understood the charm; the game is not particularly fun in that environment in my opinion.
Among Us is a hard one to place for me. I enjoy being a crewmate, because it feels like a mystery to solve, conversely, I dread being the imposter because I'm uncomfortable lying.
Thinking along the lines of the idea of Among Us possibly getting into Smash, I'm not sure I would want a crew mate/impostor in Smash personally (though if Sakurai wants it than he has earned the right to add whatever he wants in,) though a stage, Mii Costume, Assist trophy or whatever could be fun.
@Snatcher Among Us was ported to the Switch, the Switch version even has a currently exclusive map referencing the Henry Stickmin games.
Reminds me of Ryan George’s video on the future of 2021.
@Homerman76 The switch version does not have an exclusive map, it was a bug and was fixed.
Still don't understand why this was even nominated in the game awards despite coming out 2 years ago
@Homerman76 It was a bug.
@Bizaster And even that was because it was free on PS Plus.
I really don't get the appeal. And I also don't understand why a game released in 2018 was eligible for 2020 game awards. It wasn't even for the ongoing categories...
Remember when people said Among Us would die off really quick? That was last year.
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