Nintendo

Xenoblade Chronicles stands tall as one of the most beloved JRPGs of the last decade, and the Nintendo Switch seems like the perfect way to bring out the best edition of the classic.  

That's what developer Monolith Soft strives for with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, a souped-up rerelease of the game that originally appeared on the Nintendo Wii in 2010 and again on the New 3DS in 2015. 

This Switch offering takes the well-reviewed classic (originally a 92 on Metacritic) and modernizes gameplay elements, graphics and more while tacking on "Future Connected," an epilogue scenario with impactful happenings for the universe. 

Given past successes and the ideas above, there's a clear recipe for Xenoblade Chronicles to once again corner the JRPG market, if not become one of the best titles in the genre on the Switch. 

    

Graphics and Gameplay

Context is important when discussing Definitive Edition's visuals. 

Players who poured hours into the prior games are going to come away flabbergasted with the graphics. Gone are the blurry and pixelated blobs that were characters in the past. The Switch has some horsepower and happily flexes it here, bringing these anime-style characters to life in vibrant ways. 

But players who don't have that past experience might find it easier to lean into the flaws. Not everything has been overhauled—characters still move in robotic fashion, other NPCs in the world straight up disappear when talking to one, and environments suffer from pop-up and blurriness. 

But this isn't a remaster: It's more of a rerelease with some new finishing touches. The characters look droves better, and it plays a part in getting invested in the story. The world is still beautiful for what it is—a diverse, colorful realm that perfectly matches the goofy, grand story. 

Understandable graphical hiccups from a decade ago aside, what was already a stellar soundtrack is upgraded and just as good at helping to set the mood. 

As in the past, the battle HUD is ridiculously—almost comically—busy. A plethora of menus, wild fonts, pauses for time traveling, systems atop systems during live-action gameplay and the general chaos of battle make for a brutal learning curve. 

Speaking specifically to the power backing the Switch version, whether the locked framerate (30FPS) and visuals are a setback will vary by the player. On one hand, the performance is a little disappointing, on another, this isn't a combo-intensive game that requires key timing to do well in battle. 

The carryover and improvements balance happens throughout the gameplay experience, too.  

A battle system that was difficult to master a decade ago remains the same. It's live-action with the player character and accompanying A.I. auto-attacking. Players control positioning and Arts in a very deep system that feels quite a bit like an MMO. Timing, positioning, status effects and sequencing of attacks and Arts convolute the battle process. 

Arts span the typical RPG moveset. They build over time as a character auto-attacks and are (quietly explained) color-coded, with red being a physical attack, for example. Others cause status effects or knockdowns and others heal, while the traditional three-party group comprises of a tank, DPS and healer. 

When players aren't attacking via Arts, the A.I. for party members does a pretty good job of following up on the player's lead and performing the next logical action after an enemy gets afflicted with a status condition (example: player causes "break" on an enemy, party member properly follows up with "topple" on same target). 

A separate party gauge fills while the current party fights together, and earning notches on it dictates whether players can revive teammates and keep on fighting. This gauge also leads into Chain Attacks, powerful strings where the refresher timer on Arts go out the window and all three players sequence attacks together. Smartly doing this results in the biggest damage (or healing) numbers in the game. 

On top of all this, there are Monado Arts, which is an entirely different branch of Arts tied to the main character's weapon. These also charge over time and dole out buffs for teammates or inflict massive damage on specific types of enemies. 

If that all sounds very complicated...it is! This is a hardcore JRPG, and the steep learning curve is a minor annoyance. And the game still doesn't do an amazing job of explaining all the nuances of the deep battle system—that or it's easy to lose some details in the flurry of early-game tutorials.

But working through it reveals one of the deepest systems out there, and over time, the sheer rhythm of gameplay reveals itself and helps to explain why the original was so well received.  

     

Story and More

Xenoblade Chronicles' story has always been goofy in a good way. The whole world and story take place, after all, atop two gods who slew each other long ago. 

Some of the charm is standard fodder stuff—locales are overly strange, the dialogue in spots is as corny as it gets and some of the cutscenes run on for far too long (or have the player exit a cutscene, walk a few paces and enter another). 

And yet, silly as it can be, the characters are emphatic to their causes, and the tale woven over a lengthy story has some unexpected depth and themes. 

It's all grandiose, and the world matches it. The sense of scale is still impressively staggering for a game that came out a decade ago. Finding out the sprawling opening area is just the giant's ankle is...something else. But along those same lines, if a game needs an "auto-run" button, it's probably got too much running. 

Side quests remain a crucial part of the experience. While old-school RPG players might just want to spam battles with random enemies for experience, sidequests offer the best of both worlds via those same critical experience points with gear rewards on top. The only problem is the sheer number of sidequests—this isn't a game for completionists, as they'd have to put in 100-plus hours, maybe double that to knock every sidequest off the exhausting list (the game has long been a meme for this). 

As rewarding as sidequests can be, they drag. There isn't anything too out of the ordinary, so expect plenty of "defeat x monsters" and "collect x of y" on repeat.

Thankfully, exploration is still encouraged. Besides discoverable items that offer bonus rewards in a collections book, unearthing locations grants experience and fast-travel waypoints. 

As a game originally criticized a bit for its gargantuan, if not messy menus, Definitive Edition does a good job of modernizing these in spots. Arts level ups are still tucked away and aren't well explained and the same goes for the three selectable skill trees per character, never mind affinity linking. It feels like the best modernization pass that could possibly be done, yet still speaks to how deep and messy the many systems can be. 

Players can also craft gems from different materials, which provide important buffs to weapons. This is another easy thing to overlook and underestimate, but are totally worth fast-traveling back for to help spur story progress at tough sticking points. 

This edition modernizes well in spots. The HUD, messy as it is, has been cleaned up in some places and the maps are far better than the original. But some needy areas that didn't hold up well even back when the game first released remains. Grinding for gems remains a pain, and obtaining the final stages of special abilities via random drop or even from a vendor instead of simply leveling up the character is as strange as ever. Grinding for any material can be a nightmare, too, as some are simply locked behind a certain time of day and weather condition. 

One thing Definitive Edition does really well is stand tall as an accessible experience. All the asks are there—fast travel, save anywhere, a deep well of tutorials, a little pop-up screen that recaps the current story at the press of a button, solid cosmetic customization and the option to flick on a casual mode. 

And while on the topic of the options suite, turning combat dialogue all the way off is an A+ part of the feature set given how often Shulk and crew repeat the same lines ("Man, what a bunch of jokers") over and over on the course of a 60-plus hour journey. 

It all goes to show the original was a little ahead of its time and gifting it some smooth modernizations was the right call. And the newly added epilogue is far from an afterthought. It's a sizeable chunk of game that continues the story well and has all the great presentation values and gameplay elements of the base game. More of the same that adds on to a classic in a significant way will never be an unwelcome addition.

    

Speedrunning Tips

Xenoblade Chronicles has been a speedrunning juggernaut since release. 

The best of the best have managed to whittle down a game that can take hundreds of hours into times checked in under the five-hour mark—and the battles are still ongoing. 

While advanced speedruns of the original leaned into getting out of bounds and leveling up fast via discovering locations, the traditional means are also a big part of any strategy here. Cutscenes are skippable, and flying through conversations are a breeze that—in a game like this—shave off a bunch of time. 

Out in the world, discovering as many places as possible while on the run is a must given the free experience doled out for doing so. But sidequests aren't necessarily as important. It can't hurt to grab them quickly if they're on the way because they'll auto-complete, but there's too many to fret over them, and the skill involved in a run will mitigate desperately needing some of the gear rewards. 

Item management is a big part of a run in this one. Grabbing up as many things as possible to sell off for currency will then permit the purchase of some must-have Arts progressions for tougher end-game enemies. 

In battle, when they actually occur, going for the maximal Arts combos and ripping off big Chain Attacks will get runners free of fights quickly. But with other things giving experience, running into random battles often isn't advisable. 

Runs in this game will boil down to majoring in the minutia. Fast-traveling to other areas and very often within a single area will speed things up dramatically. So will an intricate knowledge of the menu, combat and overarching systems. 

Depending on how much has changed when it comes to environmental shortcuts and other time-saving measures, this rerelease could be a tough one to crack even for veterans. But it'll undoubtedly hold up just as well as the original release given the skill needed to make a special run happen. 

    

Conclusion

The Switch library has a classic on its hands. 

The above could've been written had Nintendo just released the original digitally and called it a day. But nobody involved was content doing so, and the winner is fans of the series, RPG fans and Switch owners as a whole. 

While still understandably rough in some spots, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition brings one of the better RPGs of the last 10 years back with some noteworthy improvements, letting it once again flaunt its superb strategy-based combat and immense depth via its sprawling world and systems. Add in a worthy epilogue and the game truly lives up to its name. 

There's nothing quite like Animal Crossing.

Longtime fans of the series have known this since the early 2000s. And a new release was always going to bring some of the same day-to-day goodness for all types of players.  

The question with Animal Crossing New Horizons was always how far the series would leap. Its long-awaited debut on the Nintendo Switch was preceded by revolutionary offerings from Zelda, Mario, Fire Emblem and Luigi's Mansion series, to name a few. 

Rest assured, Animal Crossing gets the same treatment. Long-requested upgrades to the experience and some bold new wrinkles wrapped up in the jump from handheld gaming to the Switch itself means Animal Crossing joins the list of beloved series hitting an apex on Nintendo Switch.  

    

Graphics and Gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCoqZap0tCw

Visually speaking, Animal Crossing on Switch was always going to be the best in the series. Its predecessors inhabited consoles like Gamecube before dominating the mobile gaming scene. 

And yet, even knowing an incredible visual upgrade was coming, it's hard not to be impressed. New Horizons is vibrant, detailed and a sheer joy at any moment. A final shift to HD for the series has a rather breathtaking effect on things. Characters are fuzzy in a way reminiscent of Yoshi's Crafted World, and the work put into the environments really creates a welcoming vibe. 

Longtime players will notice the little improvements besides the general graphics bump. It's all about the details: clouds cast shadows overhead, trees blow in the wind, the player character has a good shadow over the water, raindrops on the water look better than ever. 

Attention to detail extends to inside places, too. It used to be generally accepted that items within a house, for example, couldn't do much on the interaction front. That's no longer the case, and it's fun to see which items have more interactivity than in the past—and what new items can do. 

And Animal Crossing is all about new items. 

The gameplay remains basic but finds itself wrapped in smart systems to keep it engaging for young children right up through adults. Simple button presses pick up or drop items, cast a fishing line, dig a hole, swing a net or talk, for example. It follows the real-world clock and calendar faithfully, only making its companionship to real life more engaging.

And it's all as relaxing as ever. It's not meant to be precision-based or stressful. The hardest things to get are trying to aim the slingshot at a gift tied to a balloon or waiting for a fish to bite on the bait. 

Which isn't to say gameplay hasn't evolved and modernized in must-know ways.

One of the biggest upgrades to gameplay? The ability to place furniture and items outside. It sounds so basic in the head-smacking "why wasn't this part of the series already?" sort of sense. But instead of the village's look being restricted to RNG like in past games, players can now customize all of the outside locales with the seemingly endless number of items available to them. 

Not that in-house management didn't get a gameplay upgrade, either. Past games were clunky with this, as the player character had to interact with objects to move them around and spin them. The sound effect of an impossible move is probably still heard in nightmares of series fans. 

But no more. There's a separate room-arranging tool players can pop into at any time now with a top-down view. Moving things around, rotating them and making it all fit is a breeze and another one of those quality-of-life upgrades that makes this a shockingly good return for the series. 

Similarly, there's no more trying on clothes and seeing what they look like. There is now a full-fledged character customization screen that lets players swap out tons of different looks before actually putting them on in the game. 

These smart upgrades are all longtime players really wanted. Evolving with the times was important. Those players will be happy to hear the streamlined nature extends to general inventory. It's no longer a pain to juggle a bunch of items. Fruits, resources and even seashells now stack while only taking up one inventory space. And much of what a player needs sits smartly packed into the smartphone, which includes access to the photo-taking app, the encyclopedia, all crafting recipes and even a rescue service (a smart inclusion in case players manage to get stuck).

Other general quality-of-life things to speed up the experience are spread throughout. When exiting a shop, the player no longer has to get interrupted with the shopkeeper saying goodbye. Said goodbye is now just a speech bubble above the NPC's head.  

The streamlining is good, but inventory slickness is even better because it's all about collecting. The player character has debts to pay and things to earn from resources found throughout the island and through various merchants. Bells are still the main form of currency, and players will be in debt up to their eyeballs with house upgrades, but in the good Animal Crossing way.  

Elsewhere on the collections front, Nook Miles are another core gameplay loop that borders on addicting. Consider it another form of currency players can earn. Players have a pocketbook full of achievements and milestones that reward these Miles. There are also daily challenges players can keep cycling through. They end up permitting the player to purchase upgrades (think, more inventory space), travel and more. 

It was a little concerning to hear Animal Crossing was throwing in more forms of earnable currency into the mix alongside Bells and otherwise. But the way this is pulled off only means more daily things to do and constant year-round engagement. 

The gameplay systems all complement each other. Grinding out resources for crafting isn't really a grind because it fits into the general Animal Crossing gameplay loop. Players who go out of their way to find the money rock each day by striking rocks with a shovel will drop a ton of rock-based resources. Those who shake trees looking for furniture will get branches; those who hit them with an axe will get the types of wood. 

It's a similar story for finding crafting recipes. Some are purchasable, others are gameplay unlocks, or wash up on the beach, or come up in a general interaction, etc. 

Painting broadly, much of this is what players had always envisioned Animal Crossing's gameplay would evolve into, and it's still not even close to being overwhelming or a turnoff for first-time players. The at-any-pace approach and smart layered systems boasts the broadest possible appeal.

    

Story, Multiplayer and More

New Horizons starts slower than past games in the series. 

Players can't just access the entire island right away. Tom Nook hasn't even set up his shop. There's nothing but a few tents scattered throughout the accessible parts of the island. 

But it's all somehow paced perfectly. 

Who would've thought staggering revelations usually taken for granted and gradually unlocking items and abilities to see the entire island would've been such a welcome shakeup to the series?

There are some minor annoyances with the opening pace, though. Inventory size is limited and requires players to upgrade. That gets messy when, say, the museum is shuttered for a day or two until the new building gets created. 

But again, the pacing is sort of perfect. It's a whole different vibe from the other games where the player arrives and is some sort of outsider intruding on a little village's daily life. This is the player arriving with a few close friends and building everything from scratch—it feels like the essence of Animal Crossing. 

Not only are players building everything from scratch with more control than ever, the measured pace works to make sure players keep waking up each day excited to see what might happen next. Has a new store opened? What items are available? What is the weather like and how does it impact the available wildlife? Any special visitors in town? That general excitement for the day-to-day is overlapped by the non-stop Nook Miles grind for those who want to grind silly amounts.

This game just feels a little more alive than past entries in the series, truly flexing the technology available. Villagers try to catch bugs and fish, stick to paths, show up at events and stores and seek the player out for conversations. Some plop down under trees or on rocks and others chase each other. While Blathers is always sleeping away in the museum, Tom Nook is popping open a book and clapping like crazy when you've put together your zillionth flimsy axe. 

It isn't all rosy, though. Some players might be turned off by the seemingly Zelda-inspired tool durability idea. Flimsy items are just that and break after a certain amount of usage. It's a minor annoyance that eventually lessens, but it strains the early gameplay loop because it feels like a bit of an overstep on the time-gating front. 

There's also—and this requires a big so far disclaimer—not a whole lot going on in the way of special events. It's only March at time of release, of course. But we haven't seen a ton of special types, like Crazy Redd visiting towns, and we can't know how future events, like holiday celebrations, will play out. Nintendo promises big events and the usual holiday flair for the islands, and it's hard to imagine these won't be fun, all-out affairs based on past games, but it's worth noting. 

A special note goes to the museum, which is absolutely staggering. If there is one event or locale that offers major encouragement for what's to come in special events and holidays, it is the reimagined, massive museum that so wildly dwarfs its predecessors it's hard not to laugh. If that same upgrade pass occurs with all eventual buildings and events, the series has really outdone itself in ways hard to describe.

As always, Animal Crossing is better with friends.  

Multiplayer connections are still comically behind the times, or at least feel that way. Someone arriving in to visit a village stops everyone on the island in their tracks. Generally, connection times aren't great, either. There's also a friends list within the game to juggle atop the Switch friend list itself. And just hoping someone has their island gates open instead of just hopping around whenever someone is online still feels a little old-school. 

Are those annoyances game-breaking? Not even close. Animal Crossing is still better experienced with friends. They can swap non-native fruits, items, designs, see what stores have for sale and play the all-important turnip market, just to name a few things. It's a hangout, not a game with set game modes, but leave it to this series to have a unique take on social interaction and engagement. 

Local multiplayer is easy to set up and only needs single Joy-Cons. Multiple Switch systems need to be pretty close, but it's a breeze to invite others and get things going. 

A new player might find New Horizons daunting at first. But besides straight-up asking Tom Nook what to do, generally following the Nook Miles program fuels progression. Heck, just playing and having a good time fuels progression. 

What's nice is "progression" can mean so many different things for each individual player. And New Horizons feels like it was crafted with as many different types of players in mind as possible.

    

Conclusion

Animal Crossing faithful are going to be blown away.  

There's nothing like Animal Crossing, and New Horizons really leans into the idea. A creative-minded player could spend all of their time in the design suite before sharing their ideas with the world, rarely touching anything else. A collector could scrounge the world for the rarest of fish, bugs and other goodies without so much as putting a line on a blank shirt. Some players will use online to hang out with friends. Others will spend their time engrossed in changing the lay of the land. 

New Horizons is built like a game about to keep players coming back for a decade. Besides the seasonal nature and promise of events and updates, the incredibly creative community now has access to the most creation tools in series history. Come to the island for the daily excitement of the unknown, stay for crafting out long-term plans and seeing what the community does with designs—from shirts to every inch of island.

A highly customizable experience managing to absolutely blow its past editions out of the water while standing firmly on its own in the gaming market, New Horizons isn't just a 2020 Game of the Year contender, it might be the best game available on Switch and is bound to perform like it.

Mario and Sonic team up for their Olympic-sized Nintendo Switch debut with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.  

The iconic duo is back after the successful Rio iteration on Wii U in 2016 but emerges here with a surprisingly robust package of events and storytelling. 

The game doesn't push too hard toward redefining the series and moving it forward, but it does smartly implement modern options and provide some fun retro-styled experiences. 

Paired with the Switch, this surprisingly versatile collection of events feels like a podium finisher for most audiences. 

      

Graphics and Gameplay

Mario & Sonic 2020 is in line with what gamers would expect from a Switch title near the end of the 2019 calendar year. 

The characters all look great. They're vibrant, expressive and the interactions among them shine in a way that is enthralling to kids and funny for the rest. This pairs well with the expected charms of Nintendo sound design polish. 

The environments surrounding the characters look great, too. Stadiums with bleachers jam-packed with onlookers have cameras flashing, and some of the places to explore are dense with background characters and detail.

What wasn't necessarily expected, visually speaking, is the retro 8-bit or 16-bit versions of the activities. It registers as a pleasant surprise to see the juxtaposition between the Switch's powerhouse visuals and the 2D NES-style minigames between these same characters. 

The laundry list of events within is largely a blast and accessible to people of any age. Some have bigger learning curves than others (looking at you, sports climbing), but a few tries before nailing down what the game wants is usually all it takes. 

These activities range from mashing a button to win a race to reciting an on-screen combination to win freestyle points. 

Players can choose control scheme. Motion controls are a staple of some events, while basic button presses work for others. It's fun to bounce back between current-gen event and their classical counterparts to see if the controls or overall play style of them change. 

This game could've slapped updated graphics on everything and thrown in silly motion controls for every little minigame, but it doesn't. And it's a little refreshing to have the option to keep things basic and relaxing with a more streamlined control system. Player agency in this way is never a bad thing. 

While it isn't ever overly challenging to get the best of A.I. opponents, there's enough variety here, and the pursuit of one-upping a previous high score helps keep things entertaining. Online functionality allowing for competitions against other players doesn't hurt either. 

      

Story and More

The story is oh-so-Nintendo fare: Big bad Bowser and Dr. Eggman team up to trap themselves and some of the game's heroes into a console game based on the 1964 Olympics. That serves as the background for some of the superb classical-looking events, and it leaves Luigi in charge of saving the day. 

When the story isn't asking the player to partake in games, they're bouncing around world maps freely within each locale. Dialogue within these roaming areas loops in not only strong character development for Nintendo and Sega stars alike, but also makes an effort to educate the player on the Olympics and host city. 

Dialogue within the framework of the story can feel drawn out at times, but it serves as a vehicle to experience most of the events on offer. It is nice to have a framework while bouncing between games, and how some of these characters interact is goofy in an almost Mario Party-style way.

Where the story mode really shines is when it veers away from the expected list of games to offer other experiences that fit into the narrative. One of the main characters has to chase a big bad, for example, and it turns into an obstacle-filled race in an unusual locale that functions as its own separate minigame. 

There isn't an overly exhaustive list of additional minigames here, but they all feel unique enough to stand on their own. Some are carryovers from the Rio game, but new events like skateboarding and karate really shine. The former, especially, is funny to watch and play, even if it isn't on the level of say, the Tony Hawk series. 

Difficulty is a malleable thing here like anywhere else. Repeated struggles with an event open up an option to skip it entirely. And it feels like the A.I. might lessen the difficulty at times, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it makes things more accessible for a broader audience. 

There are also dream events that feel like bigger games with their own unique feel. One, Dream Shooting, puts the players in a larger level against other players and asks them to shoot targets. The controls there weave in motion to mixed results, but seeing as there are just three dream events, these complement the overall package well. 

As expected, Mario & Sonic 2020 largely benefits from the functionality of the traditional Switch. Throwing the game up on a big screen and using motion controls to play solo or with others is fun. But the game performs well in handheld mode, where the button-based controls feel right at home with the overall experience. 

Either functionality works online, where players can form up in lobbies or hop right into quickly play matches against others. 

       

Conclusion

There probably aren't a ton of expectations for this sort of minigame-based offering, which helps to make Mario & Sonic 2020 such a pleasant surprise. 

An Olympics mashup headlined by Mario and Sonic is strong enough to stand out on its own for what it is among Switch's heavyweight releases. 

And what it is will vary for each player. For some, the online multiplayer will trump all else. Others will want to take in the story and see what it has to offer. 

A pick-up-and-play experience with familiar faces applicable to an upcoming real-world spotlight event, Mario & Sonic 2020 offers a robust suite of experiences within a large list of games worth experiencing. 

Luigi's Mansion burst on to the scene in 2001 for the beloved Gamecube and found a home as yet another stellar hit in Nintendo's library. 

That original release also boosted the publisher's reputation—as if Nintendo needed any help—by way of putting out a juggernaut of a release centered on a secondary character, Luigi. 

All these years later, Nintendo has teamed with developer Next Level Games for Luigi's Mansion 3 on the Switch. And, as expected, the spooky Halloween release is not only a standout as one of the best games on the Switch for a variety of reasons, it's easily fileable into the "game of the year" contender pile. 

An engrossing experience for players of all ages, Luigi's Mansion 3 shouldn't have any problems being as revered as the first game in the series. 

     

Graphics and Gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al0nA7k_A-4

Pretty much anyone who picks up Luigi's Mansion 3 is likely to throw it in the "best-looking Switch game" category without hesitation.

It starts off looking like an almost souped-up version of Super Mario Sunshine before the haunted vibes of a ghost-riddled hotel emerge to the forefront of the experience. When those vibes switch, the game is just as impressive. 

This game seems to squeeze every ounce of power out of the Switch. The characters and world are crystal clear, incredible shadow detail and physics are stunning, and, somehow, none of this really makes the Switch ever notably skip a beat performance-wise. 

Indeed, it's a sheer joy to just saunter through the floors of this experience and take in the painstaking detail.

And while the vibes here are spooky with frights popping up often, some levels of the hotel predictably go with themed areas. We won't spoil, but they're diverse and incredibly detailed to the point of looking like those floors could be their own separate Switch title. 

The visual experience plays into the gameplay in sometimes-stunning ways. Looking into a mirror and scanning to reveal a secret in the background is a fun revelation, as even something as small as a bathroom holds secrets that encourages exploration of the hotel's every corner, no matter how dark.

This wouldn't have the Nintendo-quality feel without outstanding sound design. The squabble of the characters is charming, if not hilarious, and the wide range of sounds—from footsteps on different surfaces, opening of doors and even the collection of coins—is top-notch. Wearing something like an Astro A10 can create one of the more immersive experiences on the Switch console, not to mention one that can provide true jump scares every now and then. 

Also in the presentation realm is the stunning physics system in place. Almost everything in the game can fall under the effects of the vacuum. Shooting it into the floor will cause everything around it to fly off in every direction. Sucking up random items from a table or blasting them off into the distance is always an option. Basically, if players can see it, the vacuum can interact with it in an almost distracting (and fun) manner, though one does start to feel bad about the gargantuan clean-up job Luigi leaves behind for the housekeepers. 

Gameplay hits the expected beats. Luigi has a vacuum and he's scanning for hidden objects. He stuns ghouls with a flashlight, shoots plungers and slams ghosts around and into each other as he sweeps them up. 

That's a basic rundown. These tools of the trade for Luigi are simple enough to use, and it becomes fun just to see how everything interacts with the well-crafted world. The design of each room is diverse and creative enough to come away pleasantly surprised when something silly ends up working to reveal a secret. 

That's an overall testament to the gameplay experience. Progression is tied to a Metroid-ish style of unlocks that grant access to other parts of the locale. Luigi unlocks a new device or weapon, then the player has to smartly deploy it en route to something akin to a final test of sorts before moving on to the next thing. 

Before long, players are using everything at their disposal to navigate the various levels. It is a piling-on effect of new gameplay wrinkles that always feels rewarding to negotiate and mostly never felt unfair.  

Odd as it might sound to highlight this in 2019, the integration of rumble really adds to the whole experience. The feedback when doing almost anything with the vacuum—from fighting with ghosts to sweeping a curtain away from a window to reveal secrets—is borderline addictive. 

Luigi's Mansion 3 mostly controls like a charm and is simple to pick up and play. Maybe the lone complaint in ease-of-use territory is aiming the vacuum itself, which at times can feel unintuitive with the motion controls. But it is a small enough hiccup, combined with the general easiness of the game, to not dash the experience too much. 

      

Story and More

This won't come as a surprise: Luigi's friends have been kidnapped, and it's down to him to save them. 

A vacation-gone-bad story thrusts the nervous, easily frightened Luigi to the forefront again, and he works with Professor E.Gadd to come up with solutions to the problems as they get closer to freeing the cast. 

The pacing of it all is simply splendid. It never feels like one floor of the hotel overstays its welcome. Besting one floor or challenge provides more elevator buttons to greater heights. Pair the keep-things-moving nature of it all and the ingenuity of each individual floor and this is one of the harder to put down games of the year. 

Luigi ends up with a vast array of options at his fingertips, which weaves well into the problems confronting him at every level of the hotel. 

One fun tool is the presence of the Gooigi, a goo Luigi's vacuum spits out. Players control the Gooigi and can access places Luigi cannot, but the Luigi-looking goo can do all of the same functions otherwise. Sometimes, obstacles require both the Gooigi and Luigi do the same thing together. 

Other functionalities aren't as impressive, yet they round out a diverse cast of abilties that are a blast to employ. When Luigi shoots a plunger, he can then apply suction to the end of the rope for more pulling power. The vacuum itself can also turn into a blower.

It is rewarding to find out collecting all these coins can mean something, too. Professor E.Gadd's base has a store where players can use their earnings on worthwhile items like ghost trackers and bones for Polterpup (Luigi's dog companion who makes sporadic appearances) to grant the user an extra try or two despite losing all health. 

Co-op makes it in, too, and is an enjoyable romp. The Gooigi plays a role here, and it's fun to see what the folks in charge of the excellent single-player design have cooked up. It isn't the main attraction by any means, but in this day and age, brilliant co-op play for players of all ages isn't something to undersell too much. 

Some entertaining online minigames and other activities at the ScreamPark round out what is a surprisingly robust package. The base idea—Luigi with a vacuum fighting ghosts—really has some legs in the hands of the creative folks at the controls. This isn't simply a play-the-story-and-never-look-at-it-again experience. 

We'd be remiss not to just mention Luigi the character in passing. His mannerisms are hilarious. His frightened approach to everything is engaging, and for a younger player, perhaps soothing. The shrinking away from things, tip-toeing along and jumping at silly stuff is superbly done, and the contrast with huge celebrations as he looks to save his friends makes accomplishing the feat feel all the more rewarding. 

     

Speedrunning Tips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zcTQiPajTo

Luigi's Mansion 3 might not have the most speedrunning appeal in the world because of the simplicity of it all. 

But...that doesn't mean a certain segment of players won't want to gun through it as fast as possible. It also doesn't mean a dedicated community of runners won't pop up—stranger things have happened when it comes to speedruns now that platforms like Twitch are so popular. There's still an ongoing battle for world records in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, which released in 2013, after all. 

Memorization is going to play a big part of any Luigi's Mansion 3 speedrun. Understanding essential and non-essential rooms, where to look for what and how to advance as quickly as possible will come naturally over time. 

Most runs will fall into the any-percent category, which means no worrying about collecting the gems in each level or hunting down all of the rare ghosts. Besides tangling with ghosts requiring capture to open the locks on rooms, players can feel free to speed past most combat, when applicable. 

Otherwise, investing coins into the bones that allow retry attempts instead of game-overs is a must, which is made even easier by an unlockable that functions like a fast travel for the store. 

There is enough nuance despite the lack of difficulty to suggest a healthy speedrunning environment, so it should be an engaging community to track in the coming months, if not years. 

      

Conclusion

Luigi's Mansion 3 doesn't have the feel of a juggernaut release for the Switch—until one flicks on the power and starts playing. 

Maybe it isn't arriving with the hype of a new Mario release, but the total Luigi-based package is one of the better releases of the year, regardless of platform. The action is fun and engaging, the world is incredibly detailed and the characters breathe a life into what is otherwise something akin to a Stephen King Halloween trope. 

But the haunted hotel as a backdrop here just works. A symphony of parts moving together to forge an unforgettable experience, Luigi's Mansion 3 might just be the top release on the Switch this year, which is saying something given the release year Nintendo's heavyweight console has enjoyed. 

Nintendo's Ring Fit Adventure doesn't need long to get players sweating.  

Which is a good thing, as exercise games requiring mandatory physical add-on features that come in costlier than normal games always risk coming off gimmicky, if not overlooked. 

Not here. Ring Fit Adventure is a full-blown exercise gauntlet and true gym companion featuring a Ring-Con and Leg Strap combo. Those gadgets blend well with a solid RPG-type experience and some sheer fun gameplay to forge Nintendo's best health-oriented hit since Wii Fit. 

   

Presentation and Gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1orju1NsN8

Ring Fit Adventure is a charming, colorful-looking game with lots of emotion and detail to keep things engaging. 

And engaging is the key word here, as making exercise fun isn't exactly something anyone has nailed down perfectly for a long time, inside of video games or out. But the visual feasts for the eyes thanks to a cartoonish style makes it all come together nicely. 

Players will traverse plenty of varied landscapes over the course of a story billed as more than 100 levels in 20-plus worlds. These span grassy planes with interesting scenery to muddy swamps and more. It helps the sound design matches the world, with some of the early cutscenes giving off some almost Legend of Zelda-ish vibes. The sounds and chatter quickly become pleasant background noise and don't impede on the monotony of working out as it is, which is half the battle. 

The overall premise is simple. Players slot one Joy-Con into the Ring-Con and another into the Leg Strap, which fastens around a thigh. The ring is tense and the main function of the gameplay. A player's character navigates a set course throughout varied environments. Turn it and squeeze to send out fireballs. Turn it down and squeeze to jump, for starters. The Leg Strap detects walking, running and jogging. 

It doesn't stay that simple for long, of course. Longer jumps require longer squeeze. Getting up stairs requires high-stepping. Environmental interactions like cannons require squats. Stringing this all together is an absolute blast that requires reaction times and starts shaving calories quickly. Reaching the end of one level leads to the next, and players navigate the worlds via overworld maps reminiscent of Mario games. 

Within the world navigation are the battles against monsters that almost have a Pokemon vibe to them. This is a turn-based RPG at this point. Players select an exercise, and their performance during reps dictates how much damage they dole out. On the defensive, players must turn the ring and squeeze it into their stomach, bracing for and withstanding attacks. 

The integration of RPG systems here is both unexpected and ends up defining the experience in a great way. There are color-coded attack types to worry about, more unlockable moves, unlockable outfits and ingredient collecting to craft buffs. 

This hasn't touched on the story itself, though that ends up taking a backseat quickly for non-children players. After finding a talking Ring, players set off in pursuit of the big bad Dragaux, a muscle-laden bodybuilding dragon. It's exactly what it sounds like, though notably, it has that same Nintendo charm and DNA that makes all their games memorable. 

But the real meat of the experience is the RPG systems within, which end up pairing nicely with a sense of real-world progression in the health realm. The game manages to never feel like a poor time investment and it is going to take a long, long time for players to beat the story mode. This isn't just inflated by players only physically being able to do so much per day—there's just a lot of content here and little of it feels tacked on to draw out the experience. 

With an unexpected in-depth package to complement the exercise side, Ring Fit Adventure hits on some surprising notes with an engrossing game-y side of things. 

   

Switch Functionality and Fitness Potential

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI5ffVjCLfA

This is an impressive feat for Nintendo from a functionality perspective. 

Getting the game up and running isn't difficult. Assembling the Joy-Cons is intuitive and becomes second nature almost immediately. And the functionality does some unexpected things. It's never hard to feel vibration from the controller strapped to the ring, for example. And that same Joy-Con can measure heart rate. 

Also intuitive is simple navigation. Players can use the ring functionality to get through menus and dialogue, or simply press buttons normally on the Joy-Con attached to the ring. 

As an exercise device, Ring Fit Adventure is surprisingly capable. Upon initial boot-up or character creation, players enter status such as weight and height, then the game puts them through some stress tests such as pulling as hard as they can on the ring to measure strength. 

It's a rather robust, customizable experience that does a good job of accurately tailoring the experience to each person's physical capabilities. It ends up tracking results and details by the days and months quite well, too. 

Within the game, charts and step-by-step instructions do a good job of helping the inexperienced keep pace. It isn't perfect, as universal exercise practices aren't realistic, but the game does a good job of keeping things safe and sweaty while the calorie counts climb. 

If players don't fancy the story side of things, they can also attack the exercises in quick play guided fitness routines and party activities. Straight-up choosing a set of body parts to work is there, too. 

There isn't multiplayer here, nor is there an option to go at it without the accessories (understandable, but needs said). 

Also baked into the functionality side is a mode called Multitasking, which enables progress with the ring to be tracked and accredited to players—even with the Switch console powered off. 

In the long run, this isn't going to be any sort of gym replacement, nor is it advertised as such. But it's an incredibly fun complement at worst. It has all-encompassing appeal that helps welcome the rawest of the raw to the scene and will put the athletic types to a strenuous test. There's a little bit of something here for every sort of player, with some impressive functionality and tech reinforcing the whole experience.

                 

Conclusion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvHELogbm2E

It's fitting Nintendo has forged a smash hit with Ring Fit Adventure, as previous forays into making exercise fun have quickly been quite good. 

But Ring Fit Adventure is on a whole different level of quality in this arena. The Nintendo flair longtime fans of the company have come to expect is weaved throughout the game. And for those who classify exercise games on any console as potential shovelware, the shock of quality and actual fitness value here should register as one of the year's top surprises. 

Thanks to the Nintendo polish and a superb ability to adapt the experience to each individual user's fitness level, never mind the RPG-styled replayability layered throughout, Ring Fit Adventure is more than just a stellar addition to the Switch's library. Viewed as a whole, it's a feat for the genre and can serve as a fun, albeit important, tool for a gamer's lifestyle. 

PlatinumGames stands alone for its unique games and ambition within its offerings, so it is no wonder its latest, Astral Chain for the Nintendo Switch, has been riding a groundswell of hype since its announcement in February.  

Astral Chain is the latest from the creators of games like Nier: Automata and Bayonetta, so it isn't hard to see some of the widely praised influences there in this stylish, anime-cop tale with humanity's extinction as the backdrop.

And that's just the beginning. The gameplay takes some never-before-seen risks that mostly land in a positive manner, and the surrounding worldbuilding offers an interesting break between bouts. 

If nothing else, Nintendo's Switch has another monster on its hands with the expected dips and peaks of a game willing to go against the norm. 

     

Graphics and Gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2Mx4gtDRII

The first thing that sticks out about Astral Chain is the visuals. 

One does not need to watch a trailer long to see the beauty there. The stylized anime look is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and perhaps the best-looking game to date on the Switch. It won't win over players who prefer a realistic look, but it's hard not to appreciate the details. 

Other than a vibrant color palette like a manga page come to life, the attention to detail is astounding. Shadows are realistic and constant. Ripples course over the ground where a Legion hovers above. The environments are varied and distinct, too. Once it all goes in motion, it is fluid and impressive to see. 

The sound design plays a role there, too. Lip-synching seems all out of wack, but the sounds are well done throughout. The audio feedback when properly executing timed combos or calling or severing the link to a Legion add needed layers to the experience, something even crisper in handheld mode with a headset like an Astro A10 to make it pop. 

Once players can get past the visuals, the second thing players will notice is the gameplay. 

There isn't an easy way to sum it up. Players control the on-screen character like they would another action game. But they also command one Legion out of five at a time, which is a monster hitched to an Astral Chain. Think a live-action Pokemon but the trainer is also in there mixing it up with enemies. 

It evolves from there. Players serve as a puppetmaster of sorts and can swap between any of the five Legions once unlocked.

The Sword Legion gets up close and personal. The Arrow Legion can fight from afar. The Beast Legion can let the player hop on its back, and so on. Each Legion has its own extensive skill tree, abilities it can learn and special traits. The Arm Legion can pick up big objects and toss them at foes, for example. 

But even at a more basic level, the gameplay is a joy to experiment with. Players control the character with the left stick and the Legion with the right. The chain itself comes into play—flick the Legion off in the opposite direction when an enemy charges and it rebounds off the chain and goes flying. Circle the Legion around an enemy and the Astral Chain snares it, capturing it for some freebie combos. 

It's all a great-feeling experience with plenty of depth and nuance on a per-enemy and per-encounter basis. That same line of thinking applies to exploring the world.

The only major hiccup with the latter is when the game tries to become a platformer. Using the Legion to hover to another platform, then whipping the chain to make a jump seemed as inconsistent as it gets, as did simply falling off legends—sometimes the character would wobble and step back, other times they would just run right off. This problem gets worse when there is added pressure from enemies or it is part of a big encounter. 

This isn't an open-world game. Rather, players jump from hub to hub. Though it has probably been a big part of the promotion, the motorcycle scenes are brief on-the-rails types with little replayability. Thankfully, exportation and some of the side quests are a little more in-depth with an assist from the IRIS system. 

The implementation of IRIS is fun, though nothing out of the ordinary. This game's version of detective vision can show events that unfolded in the past and assist with solving them, offer up info on characters throughout the world and can assist in solving puzzles. 

There are a few hiccups with IRIS. One is the voice telling the player when it is turned on and off each time the button is pressed, as if the dramatic shift in visuals wasn't enough of a clue. Those players who like to be thorough or double-check things should get ready to hear the voiceover with each press of the button. 

And on the visuals front with IRIS, while equally gorgeous to the world without the detective goggles on, things can get messy. The blueish hues don't play nice with the reds of the Astral Plane, and it can get incredibly tough to make out must-see details or what to do next, especially in the Switch's handheld mode. 

One thing that hasn't been getting a ton of attention but absolutely should is cleansing the environments. Players can guide their Legion over "red matter" spread throughout the levels. Some of it is there as a guide to help the player to the next area, but most of it takes some creativity or going out of the way to get, and players are awarded a score at the end of each File for cleanup rate. It's an unexpected, addicting diversion, almost with a Mario-coins feel. 

Exploring the world and solving puzzles is a nice diversion at times, but, ultimately, Astral Chain doesn't go overly out of its way to string all of the Legion's abilities together within a single boss fight or even levels. Maybe that was viewed as asking the player to recall way too much on the fly within one fight or level encounter. But although the various abilities seem to have massive potential for set pieces, they rarely come together in an all-at-once flurry. 

Even then, players who want to take their time exploring a strong world can do so. On the combat side, one playthrough didn't seem like nearly enough to fully capitalize on the cast of Legions, abilities and sheer depth. 

       

Story and Features

Where to start? Players pick one of two siblings (man or woman) and are part of a special police task force called Neuron. The threat to the last bastion of human civilization is an extra-dimensional threat called Chimera, which hail from the Astral Plane. To combat this, humans have weaponized beasts called Legions from that Plane via the use of Astral Chains. 

And that's just setting up the baseline situation, folks. 

This is about what anyone should come to expect from a silly anime story (not a bad thing). There's a ton of silent nodding, weird humor and tropes. The plot seems to have the need to escalate upon itself constantly, so things get weird fast once beasts that can scale entire buildings start popping up. Players might never really be sure which characters to care about, as a big bad seems pretty relatable (also not a bad thing), but so do others. 

Maybe the most notable thing about the story is the silence from the main character. A silent protagonist can work wonders in the right setting (think Skyrim), but that isn't the case here. Players projecting themselves on to these characters don't work when the opposite sibling they don't choose ends up fully voiced for the duration of the game. It seems like a big missed opportunity to create two new strong characters, especially when games in this developer's past have had great standouts like Bayonetta. 

The silliness of the plot works a bit to overshadow some strong worldbuilding found throughout the game for those who care to look, so this isn't some surface-level story without depth as an excuse for some fun gameplay and pretty visuals. 

Besides combat, there is a ton to do, but that doesn't mean it is always enjoyable. That's where pacing issues enter the discussion. 

Some of this falls on the visuals, especially once the IRIS system gets involved. Especially in handheld mode, trying to discern what the detective vision is showing can really slow down a play session. 

There's a camera, for example. Running around snapping off selfies with characters is a nice option to have, and it's also cool taking photographs of extensive bios from character unlocks for players to read at the home base, which fleshes out the world. 

But it's a little bit like some of the side missions within Files—why are main characters with extra-dimensional beasts on their wrist dropping everything to help guide a dog back to its owner in the slums when they are facing the extinction of humanity? 

It's all in good fun and in the name of player agency, though. Having those features doesn't overly hurt the experience. What does are pace-ruining puzzles and some random stealth missions with the dreaded auto-fail functionality. They don't come up often, but when they do, it feels like the game biting off a little more than it can chew. 

Similar to nearly everything in the game, there is a good-bad balance with the tutorials. The system on its own is a tough sell: players control not only themselves but also one of five beasts with different abilities and skill trees while also juggling items, all in real-time. 

To the game's credit, the tutorial system is superb early on and does a good job of helping players acclimate to their surroundings and the not-so-intuitive default controls.

This prevents the first few Files of the game becoming disasters. But that barrage of tutorials early in the game tasks the user with quick on-the-fly recall once things start happening. There is simply so much going on that it wouldn't be too surprising to hear about players who got to the final few levels of the game and completely forgot features, like upgrading the character's weapons in a different menu from the one that upgrades Legions. 

That's where some more of the depth comes into the conversation here. Players can upgrade the weapons they hold on top of upgrading each of the five Legion's extensive skill trees. Not only that, there are items like drones that can be bought and help dole out damage in fights. There are also a variety of aid items that can not only restore health but prevent stuns and more. 

If Astral Chain sounds like an extensive game, that's because it is. There isn't an overwhelming number of Files to complete before getting to the end, but how long they take is almost entirely up to the player.

There are side items to explore and rather thorough customization possibilities, too. Multiple playthroughs on different difficulties (one even makes combat a breeze so players can enjoy the story) and the depths of these systems mean this is far from a play-once-and-put-down affair. 

        

Speedrunning Tips

Based on the above, it isn't hard to figure out why Astral Chain has some great speedrunning appeal. 

Mastery of combat, the multiple Legions and dissecting the best ways to combine all of the abilities is something only a small percentage of would-be speedrunners will ever accomplish. This smacks of popular speedrunning games of a similar ilk, like Bayonetta, but more complicated. 

Luckily, some early basics should help a would-be runner get off the ground. The type of run is going to change some things, as a 100-percent run while cleansing entire levels on the hardest difficulty would be a monster task (that speedrunners will admittedly have no problem with in time).

Cutscenes are skippable, for starters. From a world-navigation standpoint, there are entire sections of enemies players can just run past. Skipping out on all side missions, if permissible by the run itself, is going to be another key factor in run times. Typically, the game does a good job of showing what is necessary for moving the plot ahead. 

In combat, it's more of a player's choice. On paper, juicing up the first Legion (Sword) with as many points as possible makes for quick fights. The second (Arrow) is a bit handier in boss fights for doling out damage from range, though. 

Of note, Legion abilities are going to be a fixture of any run. The Auto Bind ability, in particular, is key—instead of taking the time to draw a circle with an analog stick around an enemy and entrapping it with the chain, a press of an ability button will do it, provided the player doesn't get hurt while the Legion does it on its own. That opens up bosses to big damage without a counter. 

Strategies for run completions are going to massively evolve over time, which should lead to an organic following in the speedrunning arena for a game already sure to live on for a long while. 

     

Conclusion

Astral Chain is exactly what gamers have come to expect from PlatinumGames—and then some. 

There isn't quite anything that looks or plays like Astral Chain on the market today, which is another boon for the Switch's library. Thanks to detailed difficulty settings and plenty of non-combat things to accomplish, this is one of the more robust games released in 2019 so far. Hardcore players and speedrunners will get a kick out of the depth, but a broader crowd can pick it up and play without any hassle. 

While it isn't without hiccups, Astral Chain is an achievement as a standalone release that won't have problems standing the test of time, but those who pick it up wouldn't mind if it becomes the first in a series, either. 

Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch feels like a soft reboot of an old favorite.  

Long-time players of the historic series will find plenty of grid-based strategy combat to whet the appetite in expected fashion, albeit with a few notable tweaks. But developer Intelligent Systems decided to make a tactical gamble of its own by leaning heavy into RPG elements, meaning branching storylines and relationship juggling on a grand scale. 

The result is a Harry Potter-style RPG experience better than that title has ever done it surrounding the usual Fire Emblem grid-strategy experience with shocking depth and replay value. 

Fire Emblem games usually fare well as standalone games, but the all-encompassing nature of Three Houses is a great time to jump into the series. 

         

Graphics and Gameplay

Visuals are where Three Houses might catch some serious flak. 

On first pass, the anime-style looks are superb. The palette is diverse and engaging and characters pop off the screen. The cutscenes are unexpectedly strong and look like they're taken right out of a Netflix show, though they seem to run at a different framerate than the game itself. 

The same mostly applies to the battles out in the field, too. The basic grid overlay belies the superb visuals. When zooming in and seeing each character with their surrounding battalions in action, it's almost as if viewing a different game. 

Environments are where things struggle. Textures in the Monastery are a muddy mess at times, as are scenes out in the wild. These obviously take a backseat in importance to the characters, but the fluidity of the combat and priorities seemed to juice the Switch for all its worth. 

Presentation through sounds is superb, though. Where handheld versions of the series didn't always voice much, this powerhouse console edition has solid voiceovers for everything.

The music is engaging for most fights, if not a little repetitive, and the effects and sense of depth on the battlefield gleaned from the design really pop with something like an Astro A10 headset, which deepens the immersion. 

For starters, in gameplay, the story unfolds through an almost sports-games styled calendar system. From there, on a weekly basis, players can choose to explore the school, take part in optional battles, put on a seminar led by one of the characters or simply rest. 

This structure naturally leads to a story-progressing battle at the end of each month. The seasons pass and the story weaves its tale, though the highlight is the risk-reward element to how a player chooses to prioritize their time. Choosing to railroad through side battles could mean missing out on events in the school and chances at progression. Choosing to rest can heal up and motivate, but certain battles and school events will be missed. 

The general gameplay loop within the school is a fun diversion from the meat of the game, which will always be the battles. Players can run around exploring the school, and everything has a purpose. Partaking in choir practice, for example, ups the skills of those White Magic practitioners. 

Besides events like choir and culinary pursuits within the school, there are weekly events where players can assign three characters to tackle a task. One event levels the Heavy Armor stat for all involved characters, which is good for those gunning to serve as knights on the battlefield. 

More benign things exist within the school structure, too. Romance options are here, like in most RPGs, and are a nice feature. But they can quickly dive into the realm of the silly, especially when sitting down for a one-on-one in a tea-party setting, which is as strange as it sounds.

Other side pursuits include playing a guessing game with lost items, which build relationships with characters and motivate them. There are also weekly tournaments in swordplay and otherwise, where players can throw their best in the skill area into the fight for rewards. 

The player character has an instructor level, too, which impacts performance and relationships with students and their motivations. 

Frankly, we would be here all day listing out every little detail about the school setting. There are books to read in the library, a full-blown marketplace and fish to catch at the harbor. Perhaps the overarching point is that while the decision to go this route is an interesting one, it could end up as one of the game's more polarizing features. 

The school sections can be fun but can devolve into the tedious realm quickly. Some players are only going to pick up a Fire Emblem game for the best-in-class grid-style strategy combat. And while players can only focus on that on a weekly basis via optional side battles, it's hard to not feel like players are missing out on critical items and progression if they skimp on the Harry Potterish school loop. 

On the field of battle, Fire Emblem's rock-paper-scissors system is gone. The rewarding gameplay loop where sword beat ax, for starters, is no more. Some weapons are still more effective or worse against certain types of enemies, but it's only the surface of the gameplay now. This is still the grid-based combat players know and love, but the system has expanded in all sorts of solid directions. 

Durability is still in and plays a role in the greater thought process of a playthrough. Should a player secure the one-hit-kill on an enemy and break a special sword, or risk character's lives by using a different weapon to secure the kill in two turns? 

And the risk is there—permadeath is in again. Players don't have to play with this switched on, but Fire Emblem wouldn't necessarily feel like its true self without it. Spending so much time building relationships, only to have a character die forever in a silly side battle, is absolutely crushing. Call it a brilliant feature—that's one way to make every battle and every turn within those battles feel important. 

Luckily, players can switch that off if they don't want it, and there are plenty of other helpful quality-of-life items. There is an optional rewind feature with limited uses built into the narrative. The screen is crammed with helpful info at all times, including but not limited to chances of hitting, effectiveness, whether a move puts a player into enemy range and how much damage they'll take. It truly goes on and on. 

Besides general strategic unit play with loads of classes (solider, rider, ax wielder, magic, archer etc.), players can attach battalions to characters and level them up. These boast varying limited-use abilities that inflict minimal damage on the character using them and add another layer of strategy. Players will also have the ability to assign adjuncts to certain characters, which lets an understudy accompany the character around and help out while still earning experience. 

This all sounds deep, if not overwhelming. But the game takes it slow, and the first half or so of the story really gives players a chance to dive in and digest everything. Really, running through on normal mode is a bit of a cakewalk, with only the last few fights really presenting a big challenge. 

That said, players need to pay attention to what the game is telling them. The A.I. will punish mistakes hard. This is war, after all, and no, the A.I. doesn't care if a player's friend is about to be lost forever. 

While the loss of a typical well-known system to series fans sounds like a bit of a drag at first, it's clear once the game really gets going that it was a necessary evolutionary step, and the game comes out as fun and replayable as ever for it. 

        

Story and Features

Fire Emblem games operate mostly independent of one another, so players who have yet to dip into the series can do so without hours of reading about the storied franchise. 

The gist is simple: Fodlan is at war. Three powerful border states and a church called the Church of Seiros are naturally rubbing shoulders and leading toward conflict. At face value, it's supposed to start innocently enough in a school setting before a five-year timeskip (which the game and marketing hasn't hidden at all in the run-up to release) and total war breaks out. The effort to marry gameplay structure and narrative into a contrast like this is, at its most basic, respectable.

Players assume the role of Byleth, a new professor at the church. That church, coincidentally enough, brings aboard the most promising nobles from each of the three houses surrounding it, and players have to choose which one they align with, which has major implications on how the game and story plays out—including which class of students the players will spend the most time with. (Note: Players can try to recruit characters from other schools, but it's not simple, so choose wisely in the early hours of the game or plan on multiple playthroughs). 

There isn't much here onlookers wouldn't expect from an anime-style RPG story. The player's character is special, to say the least, and plays the biggest role in how things unfold. That's all well and good, but the silent protagonist problem has struck again. 

This wouldn't be so bad if the game handled it better. Silent protagonists can work when the supporting cast is superb and the game displays it well. Instead, Three Houses focuses on the player's character while they choose dialogue, then they have to sit through the muted character shaking or nodding his or her head for every single interaction. It's silly given how much the protagonist means to the story and one of the worst examples of silent protagonists released in a game lately. 

This does need to come with a disclaimer: The supporting cast is amazing. Three full houses gave the developers an opportunity to create unforgettable characters.

Those who take the time to meet them all will come away happy to do so. There are some stereotypical characters and one particularly annoying one who is a little too on the nose—with her never wanting to leave her room or interact with other human beings. But for the most part, the cast is arguably the best in Fire Emblem history and worth getting to know, as their fleshed-out stories go a long way in making sense of why they are the way they are. 

On this topic, recruiting characters from other classes was difficult and never felt necessary. It never felt like it was about adding a must-have class because players can outfit their own house with almost any sort of unit they want—it always seemed to be there simply to let players choose a character they like more than one of their own house members. From a tactics standpoint, it didn't seem overly worthwhile. 

Whether the story has a good ending is in the eye of the beholder, though the multiple paths possible through merely one of the three houses will leave players wanting to come back for more. Thankfully, a new-game plus mode lets players bring over their experience and get rolling right into the tale again. 

Massive layers of depth is the overall theme with Three Houses. The class system from past Fire Emblem games has been shuffled around to incorporate the schooling-system gameplay, for example. To evolve a character from the initial Commoner or Noble class, there is a level requirement, a Seal requirement (obtainable item) and a Certification the character must pass (automated with a percentage of success). 

And changing classes is as critical as it has always been in the series. Tired of the typical plodding infantry? Make one of those characters become a rider on a Wyvern or otherwise, giving them more mobility on the field, quick attacks and the ability to move after attacks, serving as a scout of sorts and diversifying the arsenal. 

And that's just one example. Ranged units can focus on being snipers. Magic classes can focus on several different styles, not to mention support or assault. 

In the Switch functionality department, let's just say the console is a dream format for a Fire Emblem game, as expected. Those who grew up with the series on mobile devices will probably play it in nothing but handheld mode, where it really shines. Unlike some other Switch releases, it's never hard to determine what's going on as the action unfolds. Docked mode on a big screen isn't bad either, of course, though it does feel a little more plodding moving through menus and with the cursor. 

Three Houses does implement some interesting online functionality, too, though it's limited and not wildly in use as of this writing. Certain spots on battlefields where other online players have perished give players a boost (and a warning). It's also fun to see percentages provided alongside certain big decisions and classifications. If nothing else, the info serves to show who the most popular of the 30-plus characters are. 

         

Speedrunning Tips and Appeal

Fire Emblem has been a fun niche speedrunning area for a long time. 

Given the skill it takes to barrel through the story mode or individual challenges quickly, as well as the individuality of each run thanks to expansive rosters, this shouldn't come as any surprise. Three Houses releases at a great time, too, thanks to the ascent of speedrunning and platforms like Twitch. 

When it comes to speedrunning Three Houses, subsections will probably be split into any-percent runs on different difficulties, if not different categories for each house. 

And while it might seem like a slog to attempt a run through what can sometimes be lengthy exploration trips to the school, a run will almost entirely rip these segments out. 

To the game's credit, the school and management stuff is heavily streamlined if a player chooses to play it that way. There are typical menus for all merchant-style happenings, fast travel is always available while exploring, and players can simulate seminars and automate instructor periods. Players can even speed up the progression of the calendar each time it comes up. 

On the field of battle, there are menu items available to skip battle animations, cutscenes and even entire enemy phases. These are awesome quality-of-life traits but also key to best-possible times. 

Strategically speaking, a diverse cast is going to key great runs through the campaign on all difficulties. Archer and other ranged units will also come in handy, as will healers with gambits that have a wide area-of-effect range, as opposed to healing a single unit per turn.

Keep in mind mission structure varies, so missions where it simply says the goal is to take out the commander means carving the quickest path to said commander instead of worrying about things like chests and enemies far away from the objective. 

More in-depth approaches will emerge once runners get their hands on the release and dive into a deeper-than-usual system of customization and character loadouts among the three houses, never mind the differing paths available. In time, sub-one-hour runs will likely emerge as they have in the past for recent releases. 

      

Conclusion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCWAfthuJKI

Fire Emblem Three Houses establishes an incredible rhythm few games can equal. Even if the school sections aren't for everyone, coasting through those to the next engagement and the sheer scale of the replay value is an impressive feat. 

With superb grid-based combat and a lengthy RPG-styled dose of replay value, Three Houses is an easy call for players who enjoy what it has to offer. It's a full-fledged juggernaut of an experience for the Switch that has predictably stomped into its niche and slammed down a flag.

Three Houses might have some trouble with the messaging thanks to the school segments, but that in lockstep with everything else it offers marks the revitalization of the franchise, if not the best entry in the series to date.  

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order doesn't have the same staggering expectations its Marvel film counterparts faced by any means, but in video game land, the hype is about as high as it can get.  

The short of it says it all: This is a Marvel game with 30-plus characters in a Diablo-esque format developed by Team Ninja. It's also a series that had a long hiatus and is an exclusive to the Switch, published by Nintendo and on the heels of the wildly successful Diablo 3 Switch edition. 

Now feel free to loop in the rest. The Ultimate Alliance series threw together a diverse cast of customizable Marvel teams before it was mainstream and cool to do, with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 a decade old as of this writing—and it still holds steady today. 

This is more than most sequels ever have to put up with. Yet with so much at stake, the game succeeds by squeezing every last bit of power out of the Switch and expertly modernizing to today's video games, both in its systems and gameplay.

A replayable, highly customizable experience built for solo and co-op players alike—on the go or at home—Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is worth the wait. 

      

Graphics and Gameplay

Much has changed since the last Ultimate Alliance game, as the Marvel Hollywood films were just getting underway. In the gaming landscape, similar gargantuan changes have unfurled. Chief among them is the progression of visuals and production values, which MUA 3 matches in stride.

The game is simply a looker from up close or afar. It leans hard into the comic book side of the Marvel Universe, with each hero and the surrounding environments getting a uniform stylistic look. It has the look and feel of a comic book come to life, especially once things get in motion. 

And the sound design matches the visuals. The game doesn't project this on the screen in little visuals, but the comic book style thump and thwack sounds are all there as combat unfolds.

The music is superb to match. It applies on an individual level to the massive roster, too, as Nightcrawler makes the "Bamf" all over the screen or Deadpool "Pew Pews" his way through a fight. The audiophiles among the playerbase will notice the fidelity doesn't drop much in handheld mode, either, especially when experienced on something like an Astro A10 headset. 

For those 100 percent out of the loop, the MUA series is a basic hack-and-slash game with RPG elements where players swap heroes in and out of a four-party tandem while working through levels. Players can switch to any of the four at a time and, indeed, this basic description belies the depth. 

So too does the basics of combat. There are light and heavy attacks, a block and a dodge. Blocks, dodges and playing around stuns mean the later difficulties are much deeper than a simple beat 'em up.

Each hero has four super abilities, too. But few heroes feel the same. Spider-Man is agile compared to Hulk's lumbering ways. Those familiar with the Marvel Universe will understand that some heroes fight up close and personal while others are better off in a support role from range. The variety of team builds is refreshing. 

Depth comes in staggering forms and as early as the game's opening level. Different hero combinations will yield different tandem abilities called synergy attacks, for starters. As in the past, it's fun to mix and match, and all four characters on the screen can team up for an Alliance Extreme attack. 

Assisting the gameplay in a big way is another element from the presentation department—the banter. Different party constructions will lead to some hilarious interactions, within the party and otherwise. The voice actors do a great job of matching their big-screen counterparts, too. It's the little complementary things like this that really round out a positive experience. 

Unfortunately, parts of this review could spur some deja vu from a decade or so ago. The game's biggest issue is its camera. There are two different camera options available, but neither are agreeable. Players would be silly to expect perfection, but there are simply too many instances of the camera getting stuck. It has a hard time tracking the player in all of the varied environments, and the gameplay suffers for it. 

Simply tracking the action is the other big problem. These visuals are really good, maybe too good in some instances. All the particle effects flying around and enemies on screen make it hard to keep track. This problem is amplified in handheld mode, where craning the neck and squinting in an effort to keep pace isn't uncommon. Framerate hitches are noticeable at times when too much is happening on screen. 

But these were admittedly anticipated problems. The format with the Switch has its drawbacks. It's still better than anything players have experienced in the past given the versatility of the platform and by no means makes the game as a whole a no-go. 

      

Story and Features

MUA 3's story is background noise serving as an excuse to throw as many heroes and villains together as possible within a fun gameplay and RPG framework. 

It should come as no shock to see the Infinity Stones involved. The game starts with the Guardians of the Galaxy serving as training wheels for the player as an example of how different styles of characters function in battle, and it goes from there. 

Honestly, it's all a little silly. The colorful stones are a mere set piece to move players from one place to the next, shoveling character unlock after character unlock on to the screen. That doesn't mean it's bad, but players probably shouldn't go into this one expecting a tale spun from the same quality of thread the movies are. 

In fact, though this might sound a little odd, it's almost more interesting to see which villains actually get to make an appearance. A superhero roster flirting with 40 or more characters if and when DLCs come out is predictable and leaves little room for heroes to miss the cut. But not every villain from these universes is guaranteed to make an appearance, so some of their reveals were the best moments of the game. 

But again, the story here is a device, not the main attraction. 

The more in-depth slant to the game's RPG elements deserves a closer look and sprinkle of praise, too. Individual characters can level up their special moves via currencies found out in the game. These upgrades reduce the cost of using the moves and make them stronger.

There's an entirely different menu with a giant spider web of stat bonuses to unlock called Alliance Enhancement. These impact whatever team composition brings into battle and makes for some interesting specs for team builds. 

There is also ISO-8, an element found in the Iron Man canon and otherwise. It serves as a character modifier, and equipping different colors creates different specific bonuses. One, for example, ups damage by a certain percentage, but it makes the player take the same percentage in additional damage. While everything else mentioned was surely enough as is, ISO-8 is just another way to create player agency for the detailed ways players can spec out their builds. 

Back on the overarching-team front, the four characters a player tosses into the fire have the potential for notable stat buffs based on classifications. New characters to the game, for example, are part of a subset group, and throwing them in lineups together buffs their viability. 

Given these options, even the most predictable of Marvel builds (webslingers unite!) can have some fun unexpected elements. It should make online play and watching a stream all the more interesting given the layers of diversity possible. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj5znS1PhHc

There is a snag here in the RPG formula—grind. If players aren't diverse in their parties throughout the game's lengthy campaign, heroes who have remained on the sidelines will simply be too low of a level to help out if the party needs shuffled for whatever reason. Players can grind out modified boss strikes dubbed Infinity Rifts to grind out some levels, but it can become a tedious side tack quickly. 

As a disclaimer, those Infinity Rifts will end up functioning like the endgame as they do in other games in the genre. It's where metas will be formed and speedrunning—touched on later—will come into play. It's just a shame the desire to create reasons to keep replaying stems from keeping benched characters without a way to gain experience. 

But otherwise, the deep dive into the RPG deep end is a welcome one. Losing to a boss isn't just a case of trying again and trying to better learn the patterns and mechanics. It also means hopping into The Shield hub and tweaking all sorts of stats, if not outright team lineups, to up the odds of victory. 

Unfortunately, one would think having the power to draw on the entirety of Marvel's backlog surrounding all of these characters and more would lead to some of the most memorable settings possible. And while some of the places players will visit are cool, the design within—namely the endless corridors—start to make many forgettable. 

It doesn't help that there are a few puzzles here and there thrown in to spice up the journey. But the simplicity and the way they slow down the corridor sprinting makes them more of an annoying speedbump than a diverse experience that players will look back at fondly. 

To round it all out, there are some suspension-of-disbelief moments and videogame-isms even here, which is funny given the context of the comic book world as it is. Some epic creatable teams that should be able to take on Thanos himself end up struggling against cookie-cutter villains solo heroes usually take down. 

Even so, the Marvel license flexes its rippling muscle in plenty of mentioned ways and in another neat one via the gallery. It's a dedicated fan's paradise given the details thrown on to each character's page and the commentary provided. 

Given Nintendo's history with online experiences, it is understandable if players have some hesitation here. But the servers seem to run smoothly so far, though the game does need some quality-of-life help. It seems only the party host can instantly change characters on the fly, and a speedster of a player can advance the story of dialogue faster than others, forcing a skip. 

But overall, MUA 3 holds up well in a co-op setting or online. The pick-up-and-play potential marries well with the rest to suit all style and experience of players.   

     

Speedrunning Tips and Appeal

Speedrunning has blossomed alongside the rise of social media and platforms like Twitch since the last installment of this series. 

Naturally, MUA 3 is a goldmine for speedrunning potential given the current environment, paired with what it brings to the table. 

Speedruns of past games in the series weren't uncommon thanks to the customizable experience. It's the same story here: Popping into a stream to check out how some of the best in the world are going about running through the story or individual challenges makes for a great viewing experience. 

Diversity of game modes helps. There is the story, a new-game plus and even the Infinity Trials. Some of these sport time challenges, so speedruns with specific modifiers and teams are possible in these side segments as opposed to only having story speedruns. 

The "how" is a little trickier. Typical speedrunning staples like skipping cutscenes and dialogue apply. Players only focused on the timer will quickly realize there are plenty of areas where they can simply run by enemies, too. 

Team construction, loadout and skill investment is a whole different animal, though. Like past games in the series and others of its ilk, it might take the community years to deep dive and unearth the best possible loadouts. 

On paper at launch, a robust one-two punch of a balanced character and a speedster makes sense for runs while dialing in points investment in things like vitality. Spider-Man, for example, is a good up-close brawler but can also hang back from range to assist in fights. His abilities can immobilize pesky enemies, too, leaving them open for big damage from others.

Players could swap over to the mandatory speedster like Deadpool—whose brief teleport seems quite quick—right after a fight is over to sprint through the next portion of the level as quickly as possible. 

Given the current environment and what the game entails, MUA 3 shouldn't have a hard time carving out a nice subsection of a community that focuses on speedruns, which in turn will only further the game's longevity.

      

Conclusion

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is an impressive feat in the way it tackles its subject matter and style of game. Anyone can hop in and rough it up with recognizable or low-key heroes and villains and come away happy they did so. The roster and fan service is sure to be a crowd-pleaser for Marvel diehards, too.

Ever since its announcement—besides the obvious when it comes to the Marvel license—it was clear Nintendo's Switch was the best possible platform for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. While some of the camera issues and difficulty seeing things lost in the particle effects hurt the experience at times, the Switch is a dream for portability and co-op play. 

Like the heroes themselves, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 has something to offer literally all age ranges and slants, from casual to competitive. Immense replayability is the capper, and looping back through for a new story mode and leveling up other characters makes MUA 3 one of the more robust gaming packages on the market right now, which is fitting given the expansiveness of its cast, too. 

Super Mario Maker 2 is best described as a traditional Mario game with an extensive, if not industry-standard-setting creation suite tacked on for good measure.  

When players think of the "Mario Maker" moniker though, the suite tends to come before anything else, and those without a creative side might shy away. 

Nintendo has made a point to brush aside any such concern with SMM2, though. This is one of the most robust gaming packages offered to players in a long time. The suite is extensive, deep and turns the creative side of the community loose online alongside a full-fledged story mode. 

While not technically a mainline Mario game, SMM2 won't have problems enjoying the same longevity. 

                         

Graphics and Gameplay

Impressive visuals are standard fare with Mario these days, and SMM2 isn't an exception with the horsepower of the Nintendo Switch backing its constant swaps to different stage types from Mario history, such as Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. 

Each one looks vibrant and pleasing to the eye: Whether the on-screen models are 3D, 2D, whether it's underground, underwater, high in the skies, upside down, regardless of what item a character happens to be using—it all looks great. It functions perfectly, too, regardless of whether the Switch is in docked mode. 

It should be noted the 3D World doesn't mesh with the others for obvious reasons. Mario has some new moves in 3D, and what's found there can't be used in the others. But certain rules and boundaries are a must, so simply having the option of switching back and forth is nice for variety's sake. 

But painting in broad strokes, everything controls like a charm. With a game like SMM2, it isn't so much about how it plays as it enables players to create. The controls are snappy and make sense, both in level creation and otherwise. Menus can feel a bit cluttered at times, but a little time investment makes them feel like home rather quickly. 

Multiplayer is a bit of a mixed bag. While SMM2 does allow players to cooperatively build a level, it was as clunky as it sounds. Throwing two builders with control into the fray created more carnage and backtracking than good times. This might have been a little simpler online, yet the option isn't in the game. 

Once local multiplayer actually gets going, though, it can be a blast: Four Marios on screen as opposed to one in a scrolling course filled with traps and otherwise is as chaotic as it sounds.

It wouldn't be a Switch review without talking some functionality, which is actually where the game hiccups slightly. SMM2 is an incredibly mobile experience. It doesn't have any issues transitioning the series from touch-screen input to the controls of the Joy-Cons for play on a bigger screen. But it feels like it is only meant to be played as a handheld game with the touch controls, as throwing it up on a TV doesn't offer the same experience, though preferences will emerge for each individual.

                      

Story Mode, Creation Mode and More

Given the variety and depth of the game, it isn't easy to figure out where to start, so an unexpected must-see mode is as good of a place as any.  

Story Mode is one of the game's biggest surprises. The short of it is typical Mario fare—Peach's castle has been destroyed, and players have to rebuild it. But the premise belies some depth. Players actually engage in rebuilding the castle piece by piece, jumping between "jobs" that reward coins on top of those collected within a level and a vendor who lets players spend coins on rebuilding the castle.

It's an addictive, fun loop befitting a standalone Mario game. With different types of jobs, Super Mario Maker's diversity shines through. Some jobs just want Mario to get through to the end. Others have finishing stipulations like collecting so many coins or never touching the ground again after the first jump. They are varied and pay out coins based on the difficulty. 

The experience is all over the place in the best way. Each level is different and bounces between the varying presentation tools, from different stage types to win conditions and beyond. These are premade levels that truly stress the power and depth of the creation suite. 

The creation suite is both simplistic and deep. The gist of it is simple: pick a theme, make a course, throw some obstacles in the way, maybe tinker with some of the visuals. But the depth really kicks in for those who take the time to explore.

It's simple to throw down a Koopa and call it a day. But holding a button on the enemy allows for dramatic alterations, from color changes to their skill sets. Straight and narrow is fine, but slopes or some serious verticality, as well as contraptions that sling characters all over the level are all wrinkles players can deploy in tandem. 

The mentioned win conditions are a big talking point too. Tinkering with the timer or level's crawl speed is one thing—setting a clear condition of never taking a hit at all is a whole different animal. 

All of this leads to Course World, the game's online component that serves as a hub for creations from community members around the world. The ability to specify search terms and find the exact type of level you want to play is superb, as is the simple ease of use.

It feels a bit like a social media feed. User-created courses are split into columns of "hot" and "popular," among other things. Clicking one brings up a menu, where the world-record completion time is displayed, as is completion percentage. One button click plays it. Another downloads it. Another goes to the creator's page if the player wants to grab more from them. Comment strings below courses are in, too, as are "likes." 

Even right after launch, there are some downright jaw-dropping courses right at the top of the curated rankings. Some already feel like they could be right among the "S" tier of the very best Story Mode had to offer. 

Besides the general functionality of it all, kudos goes to the game's creators for the "endless" mode, which plumps players down in a random level with three lives. It can be hit or miss at times, but it does a good job of firing off a quick play session that is never the same. 

If all of this sounds intimidating, rest easy. SMM2 doesn't hold a player's hand or force any tutorials their way, but that doesn't mean newer players won't be able to pick it up. In fact, Yamamura's Dojo is one of the most expansive tutorials in gaming today. The interactive training offers pages and pages of lessons. Some of it is mundane, but the amount of time and quality invested to help along newcomers is admirable. 

     

Esports Appeal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPIlmTqnO_M

The topic of esports is always a tricky one when it comes to Nintendo, thanks to the company's rocky long-standing output with online play. "Mario" and "esports" doesn't seem to roll off the tongue naturally, either. 

Yet there might be a ray of hope here. 

So far, SMM2 seems to be heading in the right direction as far as online functionality and performance go. Nintendo also held a Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational at E3, which featured four players tasked with competing on their way through predetermined courses. 

The video of the final is here, and it has one-million-plus views for a reason: 

In an era in which esports and speedrunning are making huge surges by the month, few have a bigger chance at success than Mario. This isn't even Super Smash Bros., in which different characters and sheer chaos on the screen can confuse, if not turn away viewers. This is 2D, side-scrolling Mario, easy to understand and even easier to get invested in when the best of the best are going at it in a speedrun. 

It helps that SMM2 has the online and local functionality atop the creation suite, and tournament formats should be feasible. 

This all adds up to immense appeal and potential for SMM2 in esports and speedrunning. Even in the latter, speedruns through the expansive story mode or endless mode in the creation suite offer some serious upside. 

       

Conclusion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0wT14Brxsg

SMM2 is going to end up as one of the more interesting games this year to monitor. 

Despite a substantial single-player offering, the real meat of the product comes in turning these creation tools loose in the wild. The new additions, verticality, stipulations and chances for experts and newcomers to thrive is something most games strive to capture. 

Offering a peek not only into the tools used to craft Mario games and the philosophy behind some of it, SMM2 is interesting simply for its insights and depth. That it gives players an endless stream of fresh Mario experiences means it somehow manages to meet lofty expectations any Mario game encounters. 

As a prelude to Nintendo's E3 presentation Tuesday, the company held a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship tournament in Los Angeles. 

Team Japan knocked off Team Europe in a thrilling finale when Konbu, who was in as a substitute for akasa, was able to secure a mushroom and send SirJon into oblivion and avoid having to go through a winner-take-all fifth match.  

Congratulations to all of the teams who participated in today's #SmashBrosUltimate tournament. And a big congratulations to Team Japan, your 2019 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Champions! pic.twitter.com/5yWhK6A7M8

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) June 9, 2019

Konbu's heroics came after Kuro was unable to complete the sweep for Japan in the previous matchup against RobinGG. He did come out of the gate on fire by knocking Princess Peach off the platform:

TEAM JAPAN LOOKING UNSTOPPABLE! 🔥#SmashBrosUltimatehttps://t.co/wz1pIT8ndU pic.twitter.com/Z08t5JIhwf

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) June 9, 2019

RobinGG was completely unfazed by that quick loss of a life, taking out Kuro by winning three of the last four rounds. Things looked bleak for Robin with both players down to their final life when Kuro secured a smash ball, but RobinGG got a smash ball of his own that caught Kuro square to give Europe a brief glimmer of hope. 

Prior to the epic final showdown, Japan went head-to-head with Team USA in the semifinals. Kuro led his team to a 2-1 match win by knocking off Devonte in one of the day's highlights. 

A 2-1 victory over Team North America puts Team Japan in the finals. Now they'll face off against Team Europe! The 2019 #SmashBrosUltimate World Champions will be crowned soon! 🏆

📺https://t.co/wz1pIT8ndUhttps://t.co/9psWM3UyM1 pic.twitter.com/szR2IRQVIc

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) June 8, 2019

Man what a bunch of jokers...🤡

Team Japan goes up 1-0 over Team North America in the #SmashBrosUltimate World Championship 2019! Tune in now.https://t.co/wz1pIT8ndUhttps://t.co/9psWM3UyM1 pic.twitter.com/jj0T2tHb0n

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) June 8, 2019

In the other semifinal, Team Europe knocked off Team Australia/New Zealand thanks to SirJon taking out Ghost in the decisive third match in the best-of-three round. With both players down to their final life, SirJon saved his best move for last by swiping a smash ball and using perfect aim to send Ghost into the pit of despair. 

Even though this tournament is over, there is more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate action still to come this summer. Nintendo announced an Online Open tournament will take place the weekend of June 29, with the winner getting a trip to the 2019 Evolution Championship. 

The biggest week in gaming also begins Tuesday with the start of E3 in Los Angeles.