Vincent DiNoto

If you will only be satisfied if this is a visually updated Paper Mario for N64, TTYD, or a reuniting of Square Enix and Nintendo you'll be disappointed. Time's change, sorry. With that out of the way, I think this game stands tall on its own. Visually it's beautiful, shows off what the switch is capable of. Story wise, it has many elements of Mario RPGs I've come to enjoy: Goofy humor, some notably serious moments, and character development. "Platforming" or otherwise navigating the world is fun and controls are tight. The audio of the game is also top notch. It mixes in some new elements I'm not entirely used to in a Mario game, but I believe it does so with reverence to the series roots. Seriously, there are some catchy tunes in this one. I found the new battle mechanics pretty fun. Sure, I'm a sucker for classic turn based RPGs with XP, but this is a fresh take on an old system. If you are really good at solving the puzzles you can get through most battles without a scratch even towards the end of the game. If you've no patience for the mechanic or like to hoard your coins because you don't want to buy more time, you can always brawl your way out the old fashioned way and rely more heavily on items. What I would have liked to see more of is involvement from companion characters. I don't mind that they came and went, but I think it was a missed opportunity to not have them more involved with combat. I think the puzzles could have been made more challenging if the use of companions was baked into the process. Overall, this game is really fun to play. I think it balances (once past the initial intro) letting you figure things out on your own without being too opaque and nudging you in the right direction. I would definitely recommend this one as a leading title on the Switch.