Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Switch-mas!

I mean, granted it’s not Christmas yet -- assuming you’re reading this on upload day instead of that hallowed holiday -- but it’s close enough.  It’s the highest without going over.  Also, we’ve apparently been in Christmas Mode since…I don’t know, before Halloween.  So it’s fine.

Anyway, 2017.  What a year.  Not what I’d call the best year in terms of politics and global events (and let’s leave it at that), but man.  Games on games on games.  Remember that borderline-lethal deluge of games in the first third of the year?  And I say borderline, but it wouldn’t surprise me if people actually bit the dust because of what dropped.  Persona 5, Nier Automata, Yakuza 0, Nioh, Resident Evil 7, and more -- with personal props going to Tales of Berseria, the secret top-tier RPG I’m only mildly butthurt about vis a vis its inevitable overshadowing by higher-profile titles.  But part of the reason we had this deluge is because Nintendo chose to release the Switch in March.  And boy, is it a doozy.

I’m not going to spend any time raving about Breath of the Wild because of course it’s the GOTY.  Instead, I’m going to focus on four other Switch games I’ve put some time into -- and I hope you do, too.  Make yourself or some friend or relative happy…which to be clear can be done just by giving them a copy of ARMS.

Don’t worry.  I won’t talk about ARMS any more in this post.

How it Feels to Play Super Mario Odyssey.

Oh, come on.  Of course it’s good. 

It’s Mario.  It’s a first-party Nintendo game.  It’s a continuation of the momentum the company has built up over the past year or so, given the release of Breath of the Wild back in March.  I feel like I shouldn’t even have to say it at this point (for fear of it becoming utterly pointless lip service), but here we go again.  Even if this is another Mario game, it’s one that manages to break the mold while staying familiar -- adding twists to the established formula so that it takes on its own character.  As it should.  So for that reason alone, I’m confident in saying that Super Mario Odyssey is a good game.

But you know me by now, I hope.  It’s not enough to say it’s good.  We need to cut through the surface and figure out why it’s good.  That’s where the real meat lies.  Well, either that, or a few pints of blood that are bound to spray all over our collective faces.  

But let’s keep this E-rated for now, eh?