It's a fun, brand new 2D mario game. Something we haven't gotten since New Super Mario Bros. U for the WiiU in 2012 (unless you want to count Super Mario Run or Mario Maker 2). I don't have a lot to say, just that the online functionality was my favorite part of the experience. Finding comraderie in random people you run into as you're both completing a level, where you're rewarded for helping eachother out and even ending a level together, gave some memorable moments where I only got through some levels due to someone else helping me or a standee being in the perfect spot. I initially played with the online off but I'm glad I tried it and kept it on all the way to the final boss fight, only turning it off for the final challenge guantlet.

Aside from that, very easy to 100% clear and was even worth doing. Just like 2D mario games before, this is an easy buy for anybody who owns a switch or is thinking of gifting a switch and wants to give a game that's not Mario Kart or Zelda.

A solid 7.5-8/10 in my book. I feel like it really removed all the issues I had with the previous game but there are some issues. The biggest issue I had is something that ruined my attachment to the story. The memory system is back but they tell a linear story though flashbacks instead of them being mostly self contained like the original but in this game I had a death scene ruined for me because I apparently didn’t find the glyphs in the right order. Scattering random bits of a story around the map in an open world game that has twists to it is just asking for it to be viewed incorrectly. An issue did persist from botw in my opinion and that’s the content bloat. People often praise this game for how much you can do but I have a hard time finding enjoyment out of a lot of it especially the new underground which feels very rushed. There aren’t really many glaring / game ruining negatives here for me and I do wonder where the series is going next but I do worry that the open world style of Zelda could get very stale

I loved this game almost as much as the first and sunk alot more time into it but this truly feels like the beginning of when dark souls bosses stopped being about fair but punishing difficulty and starting to feed into the statements about dark souls being extremely hard. It’s so easy to get one tapped in your first run of a boss because you’re still learning and I feel like if the damage was toned down it would be alot better. No idea why they decided to remove upgrading armor but made every boss be able to kill you with a light tap