"Of course Mario isn't a plumber, or at least not just a plumber. Because professionally speaking, Mario wears many hats. He's a doctor. He's the lead in a mariachi band. He's a building inspector. He's eager to fill whatever role the occasion calls for. Super Mario Odyssey expands on Mario's chameleon-esque nature by giving him a new, all-encompassing ability: the power to take over and control other characters and enemies by tossing his hat upon their noggin. So now, with the zip of his cap, Mario is also a Goomba. Or a Bullet Bill. Or a strange woodland creature that can extend its legs to reach untold heights. Or a stylish statue with the ability to see invisible platforms."[YouTube][Game Trailer][via: Polygon]•"One of the most daring and influential game designs of all time..."[Eurogamer]
"So there's both freshness and nostalgia to be found in Odyssey, which resurfaces a dormant mutation of Mario, only previously seen in full effect in 2002's Super Mario Sunshine and 1996's epochal Super Mario 64. This Mario is defined by open, 'sandbox' levels stuffed with secrets and multiple goals that do not necessarily need to be attempted in order, but that sometimes change the context of the level when you complete them. Odyssey expands this structure without fundamentally altering it. After so long away, it feels refreshing and startlingly modern in its freedom, just like Breath of the Wild - and yet this approach was nailed by Shigeru Miyamoto, in his first attempt at designing games in 3D, over 20 years ago. If anything, Odyssey serves to underline just how radical a design Super Mario 64 was - and still is."•"Odyssey is a love letter to that Nintendo 64 classic,"[Game Informer]
"The entire experience centers on the concept of discovery. Mario is typically known for platforming, but Odyssey is more about the freedom of exploration, and letting players plot their own course through over a dozen sizeable worlds. The open-ended design works well, as destinations and secrets are almost always just a jump away. To reach one area, you may need to chain together a specific series of moves with perfect timing, whereas another area may be reachable from numerous vectors. In embracing player ingenuity, Odyssey makes you feel clever – an empowering part of the experience that doesn't diminish at any point during play. Journeying through this game is a string of "I can't believe that worked" and "That's how you get up there!" moments. Mario is still fleet of foot and challenged to a variety of linear platforming exercises along the way, but the bulk of the experience is becoming a treasure hunter to find over 800 moons – a staggering number of collectibles. "•"Odyssey's collectables feel like an integral part of the experience of exploring."[The Verge]
"That's because the feedback loop of exploring Odyssey's wonderfully animated and varied worlds, finding a strange corner or odd glimmer, and digging into a puzzle is just so compelling. Instead of players wandering around, trying to find collectibles, every moon in Odyssey feels placed with care. Some moons are simple, awarded after simple platforming or upon reaching certain checkpoints. You can even buy many from stores. But others are devilishly complicated, like a puzzle where I had to carefully goad a Piranha Plant into chucking fireballs at me, then dodge so it would light a pair of torches instead. There's also another moon, which required me to carefully to carry a seed across the entirety of the ocean to a friendly farmer by a lighthouse, possess a nearby octopus to shoot a jet of water onto it, which caused a plant to grow and a moon to pop out. This is actually one of Super Mario Odyssey's more normal tasks."•"...your goal is to unmask complexity behind simplicity."[Waypoint]
"Using the game's myriad tools, your goal is to unmask complexity behind simplicity. It might be as simple as turning the camera in the right direction, revealing a hidden path, or a series of special coins at the top of a tree. It might require you taking a leap of faith and fall off the edge of a cliff, betting something is waiting at the bottom. Often, you'll just bumble into solutions, the result of chaotic experimentation. The sheer amount of moons for players to gather means every idea is on the table, and any corner of the map might be part of a larger puzzle, just one that you haven't put together yet. One of your primary tools is the goofy (and very much alive) hat on Mario's head, whose primary function is allowing you to, in the words of the game, "capture" things around you, imbuing whatever's "captured" with Mario, as well. More importantly, you're granted access to some of their abilities. "•"Just what makes Super Mario Odyssey so delightful to play?"[Kotaku]
"I think there are 900-something total moons. Some of them you can find casually, randomly hidden in fields or you'll just stumble upon them accidentally. Some of them are hidden behind elaborate secrets. And discovering them all is such a joy—it's so delightful to be wandering and exploring and taking your time and systematically going through. I find it enjoyable in a way that collecting Korok Seeds in Zelda is not. Mainly because collecting Korok Seeds in Zelda, after the first few dozen or hundred, felt like doing the same thing over and over again. There are only so many times you can find a ball and put it inside of a well, or find a strange looking rock and hey there's a Korok Seed under it. The moons in Odyssey just never stop feeling fun to collect and rewarding. Basically, I never 100% games but I'm strongly considering trying to 100% Mario, because it's that much fun to play."