 I've been waiting a little while to make this video because I wanted it to hit at the correct time. You see, I haven't talked a lot about Super Mario Odyssey on this channel. It's been mentioned a couple times in the podcast and there might have been a reaction video going over some of the announcements for it back during E3 earlier this year. But otherwise, you guys have probably noticed, we have a huge game coming out, a huge AAA Nintendo first party game, their flagship, their mascot, and I haven't really talked about it. In fact, I did a heck of a lot more coverage of Mario Plus Rabbids Kingdom Metal heading into release, at least at this point close to release, than I have Super Mario Odyssey. And that's because I've been a little bit on a media blackout over the game. Now that doesn't mean I've avoided everything. I know about a bunch of the kingdoms, in fact that was one of the topics on a podcast a couple of weeks ago, but this time around, we're going to talk about what this game represents for the whole of the Mario series. So as the title says, does Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, the Mario series? And let's put a caveat on what Breathing the Wild means. Obviously, Breath of the Wild was the first party Zelda game that came out earlier this year on Switch and Wii U and had a huge critical reception. It's had massive sales. It's currently one of the best rated games of all time. I think it was number one for a little bit. It's fallen back after more reviews got counted, but I think it's still top five overall for best games of all time, which is extremely impressive in 2017 that Nintendo is still producing games that are considered among the best ever made. Now Breath of the Wild didn't necessarily revolutionize the whole of the Zelda series. Take the open world aspect, the thing the game is built completely around. That has more to do with looking back at where the series started. Zelda 1, Zelda 2 were two completely open world Zelda games. In fact, back then the legend of Zelda was essentially the definition of what an open world game was. And many games have taken Zelda's approach back in those early days and expanded upon it and done their own things, whereas the Zelda series itself went down a more linear path moving forward. And the last time that Zelda had a really major revolution was during Ocarina of Time. In Ocarina of Time, the revolution there was essentially taking the formula of a link to the past and bringing it into a 3D perspective and all the little quirks they had to do to make that happen, including the Z targeting system. And that's kind of where the Zelda series stuck up until Breath of the Wild. Now that doesn't mean there weren't new ideas, motion controls, sailing on an open sea, different art styles, but essentially the formula and the gameplay all replicated what happened in Ocarina of Time. So when Breath of the Wild came out, it wasn't so much that it revolutionized the Zelda series, more so that it turned the Zelda series inward on itself and through turning inward and deciding to become a more open world experience like the early games in the series, it essentially changed the forecast for the future of the Zelda series. So while Breath of the Wild is not necessarily as revolutionary as Ocarina of Time, it's definitely as game changing to the future of the Zelda series. In fact, because of Breath of the Wild's success, E.G. Ayanoma, the series producer, has already come out and said that practically every single future of Zelda game is going to be open world and it's really interesting because they actually experimented a little bit with this with the link between worlds first, but a lot of that openness in the game was tied to how they had an item rental system rather than being truly open world like Breath of the Wild. So it's definitely something to talk about and consider in the larger scope of gaming, but essentially like it or not, Breath of the Wild has completely changed the future of the Zelda series. We don't know what that means for top downs all the games. There's even going to be top down Zelda games. But what we know is that Breath of the Wild set the new barrier, the new standard for which all futures of the games will probably be compared to and based off of, which is the most important aspect in this conversation. Super Mario Odyssey has often been praised as returning to the roots of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. And I always thought it was interesting talking about that because to me, Super Mario Galaxy wasn't very similar to those games in terms of its approach to gameplay. Now, obviously there was some stark differences and the setting and the gravity warping and all that stuff was really great additions to the Mario series. But in general, I always felt that Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 also kind of built off that formula. But reality is that we don't get 3D Mario games nearly as often as some people might think. If you think about it, since the release of Super Mario 64 way back in the 90s, 1996, we've had three, that's right, three true blue 3D platformers. And yes, I know Super Mario 3D land and Super Mario 3D world happened, but those were more isometric 3D, not true 3D platformers. So when we think about the true 3D platforming space, there's only been three games, that being Super Mario Sunshine, which did not have critical success, nor did it have sales success. And then you had Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. We, you did not have any mainline 3D open world platforming kind of experience. And now when we get to Super Mario Odyssey, a lot of people have been wondering, will Super Mario Odyssey be the game that sets the standards for Mario moving forward and becomes Breath of the Wild? And I have to kind of look at it in its own bubble, because Mario is a very different series. And Super Mario Odyssey is not an open world game. So it's not like it's changing Mario in that sense. It's providing more freedom in each world and each level of each world as well. But that's very similar to what happened in Super Mario 64. So there really isn't a big evolution there in terms of its approach. It's more so, we haven't seen this approach in so long, it's going to feel extremely refreshing. And it's kind of ironic that they're taking this approach with Super Mario Odyssey, because in the past, Nintendo has said they can't bring back certain franchises without completely revolutionizing the franchise. And I don't think that Super Mario Odyssey is going to be the Breath of the Wild of the Mario series. We simply have to remember that Super Mario Odyssey isn't built to be the future of Mario. And I say that because I've kind of noticed a pattern with the Mario series over the years. So for a long time, we had a lot of 2D side scrolling Mario games and then Super Mario 64 happened. And then they made Sunshine and then they made Galaxies. And while they were doing those games, they decided to bring the 2D Mario back. And it had been a while since we had a 2D Mario game when New Super Mario Bros came out on DS. In fact, it had been almost 10 years since we had a traditional 2D side scrolling Mario. And then after seeing the astronomical sales of the DS version of New Super Mario Bros, it became very clear to Nintendo that while the 3D Mario games will sell anywhere between 5 and 7 million units, they were sitting on a gold mine with 2D Mario and could sell anywhere from 10 to 20 million units, which is strictly saying it, it is a more profitable venture for Nintendo to go down that route. And so they did. And as such, we had like three or four different iterations of the New Super Mario Bros series. And everything really culminated with the release of Super Mario Maker on the Wii U. But ultimately, Nintendo decided that it, maybe fans have been growing a little tired of the constant 2D Mario games, especially after they launched the Wii U with one. And they said, we have for the first time in forever a traditional Mario game ready to go at launch, but people really wanted a 3D Mario game. Well, 2D Mario games sell well on hardware that's already popular. I don't think that 2D Mario games sell hardware on its own. That's where 3D Mario games really come in because when you're looking for early adopters, they're not really looking for games like 2D Mario or Rayman. They're looking for things like Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. So Super Mario Odyssey is going to perform well. It's not really gonna revolutionize the series. And I know it feels weird saying that because it is doing one thing that Breath of the Wild did. Breath of the Wild kind of took ideas from across the entirety of the series and threw it together into one game. And Super Mario Odyssey is doing that as well. There are several classic elements entering into the game, including classic elements from the old Donkey Kong and Jumpman days, and elements from traditional 2D Mario games and melding into this 3D world. And obviously, Cappy is kind of the big new fresh idea for this one. In fact, if I'm being honest, and this is something that I'm very familiar with when it comes to the Zelda series, Cappy is kind of like that new thing that Zelda games do a lot of times, right? You know, Majora's Mask, the new thing was Mask Transformations. You know? The Wind Waker, the new thing was that it's sailing. Lots and lots and lots of sailing. The new thing in Skyward Sword was motion controls. So like, A Link Between Worlds, the new thing was wall merging. So it feels like it's just a take on a formula. They just haven't visited in a while and they're just doing it again with a new fresh idea thrown on top. Kind of this game's gimmick. And that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I know a lot of people don't think gimmicks are good. Gimmicks are not a wholly terrible thing. In fact, you could argue literally every idea in the world was a gimmick at one point, even if that gimmick served a purpose. And it was up to consumers or up to whoever was using that gimmick to ultimately decide if it became more than just a gimmick. And whether or not this Cappy thing ever becomes more than just a gimmick, I do not know. But what I do know is that everything we're seeing about this game looks utterly fantastic and really brings me back to the olden days. And the fact that it brings me back to the olden days is a quick reminder to me that this isn't going to be like Breath of the Wild because while Breath of the Wild with its open worldness could bring you back to the olden days, it also felt like a game that was very much needed in the Zelda series. They felt like the Zelda series needed to be almost rebooted in a sense to kind of find its center because it spent so many years trying new ideas that just didn't seem to ever click as well as the revolutionary Ocarina of Time. So that didn't really happen with Mario, right? Galaxy 2 was fantastic. Like every time Nintendo has made a 3D Mario game, it has been fantastic. And Super Mario Odyssey looks to be just as good, if not better than those prior 3D Mario games. But I don't think it's going to signify that we're going to suddenly get a big swath of 3D Mario games moving forward. If anything, if it's successful, if it moves seven million plus units overall for its lifetime, we will see another 3D Mario game potentially on Switch or Switch 2. But at that point, it's still going to be a slowed down thing and they will probably turn around and continue to make more Mario cards and more spin-off games. And it's still going to be like that rare solar eclipse where you might get another 3D Mario game within the first few years from now, but then you might not see 3D Mario again for another eight years because that's just the way it goes. And there's nothing that I am seeing that's going to change that path. The only thing that could realistically make them want to make more 3D Mario games is for it to hit a sales plateau of over 10 million units, just like the new Super Mario Bros. series. And unfortunately, that's not the case. And unfortunately, Super Mario Odyssey just isn't the kind of game I feel like that has enough appeal, as fantastic as it looks to hit that broader audience market, which is what new Super Mario Bros. series did do. So at the end of the day, no, Super Mario Odyssey is not going to Breath of the Wild, the Mario series. It's just camp. In order to Breath of the Wild, the Mario series, it needs to be set in a new standard for the future of the entire franchise. And I don't think that's what's going to happen. Super Mario is such a diverse character and has been used in so many different situations that really all new Super Mario Odyssey or new Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Odyssey, it really feels like it's doing, it's just bringing back an old school formula we just haven't seen in a long time. It's highly doubtful, it's going to signify, hey, every Mario game moving forward is going to be based on Super Mario Odyssey. That's not really what the Mario series does. So when I see people talk about how Super Mario Odyssey could be one of the best rated games of all time and it's going to Breath of the Wild, the Mario series, I just have to take a step back and be like, look, it's not going to do that. Let's temper those expectations but still accept Super Mario Odyssey for what it is. It is going to be a fantastic game, potentially one of the best 3D Mario games ever made, which would make it one of the best games ever made. But it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be pushing the franchise forward into a new tomorrow. That's not, that doesn't really even seem to be the goal of this game. It just seems to be we want to return to 3D Mario and give people what they're used to with some new ideas. It doesn't appear the game is trying to give us something wholly fresh, you know, replacing stars and moons and it's all the same concept. It's very much a Mario game, whereas Breath of the Wild really dived deep into some RPG elements that has only really happened one another time and even then that was more of a leveling based system than a gearing up and a cooking type system. So yeah, Super Mario Odyssey is going to be fantastic. It is one of my most anticipated games of this year and we'll see if it can top Breath of the Wild for my favorite game of all time. But yeah, we need to hit the brakes a little bit when it comes to talking about it revolutionizing the Super Mario series. Anyways, folks, I'm Nathaniel Rovedance from Nintendo Prime. If you like this discussion video, you know what to do. Give us a like if you hated this video. Think I'm completely wrong. Hit that dislike button. And hey, if you haven't subscribed yet, why are you waiting for subscribe so you can never miss a movie we make or a movie, a video, whatever you want to call these little clips we do. And as always, folks, I'll catch you in the next one.