If we talk about 5 or 10 years ago about the possible collaboration between the two giant franchises, the concept offered by Ubisoft and Nintendo via Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle released for the Nintendo Switch is likely to be one of the most unthinkable concepts.
That when rumors about its existence first appeared in cyberspace, not a few who saw it was no more than a joke. Moreover, Nintendo itself, famous rarely collaborate with their super franchise franchise to other games, except for products that they racik own. But who would have thought this could happen. The good news again? It ended up being a fantastic product.
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at least from the visual approach and what kind of gameplay he was stretcher. Instead of a platformer or adventure like what we know from Mario, its combination with rabid bunnies - Rabbids was translated by Ubisoft as the main developer as a strategy game with elements that will make you remember the XCOM series from Firaxis. A game that may look cute on the outside, but be ready to make you end up frustrated if you do not plan things well.
So, what is actually offered by Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle this?
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Surely not an easy matter to combine the two big franchises in the same space without a plausible explanation. Ubisoft certainly can not be done without a solid background. Collaboration like this needs a foundation that although fictitious, but still rational. Something they do pretty well in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle.
Through the CGI film at the beginning, you'll meet a super-savvy research girl who, judging from her interior room design, is definitely a fan of the Mario franchise. He is trying to finish a new gadget named SupaMerge Helmet - which will be able to merge the two objects into a new object containing both identities.
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He is accompanied by a robotic assistant named Beep-O. In the middle of his break, his room was suddenly visited by the Rabbids who appeared with their time machine. Iseng and craze, this Rabbid accidentally use SupaMerge Helmet. The rest? You seem to have guessed what happened.
That's right, SupaMerge was inadvertently about the time machine of the Rabbids who threw them into Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi were at the time attending a ceremony for the newly-arrived Peach statue sucked into a mysterious swirl in the sky.
Suddenly, both worlds are melting. Shuffling to restore the condition of Mushroom Kingdom back to normal, Mario et al found the fact that SupaMerge Helmet itself also carried along with a Rabbids who wore it.
These Rabbids called "Spawny" became the key to separating the two worlds again. But the bad news, Spawny itself is now in the influence of Bowser Jr. who continue to use his ability to create a variety of new monster variants to block the action of Mario et al.
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Assisted by the AI-Beep-O robot, their journeys to cross different areas of Mushroom Kingdom began to search and find Spawny. Strangely again? Beep-O himself continues to get a mysterious e-mail from unknown sources that continue to help him during the trip. These e-mails not only cast clues, but also provided the first weapons used by Mario et al to fight the Rabbids who threatened their mission.
So, what kind of challenges must be passed by Mario and the Rabbids? Can they find Spawny and put things back to normal? Who is also the figure behind the e-mail misteirus that continues to help them? All the answers to that question can certainly be answered by playing Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle.
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With Mushroom Kingdom as the setting base for this one game, then the world that you will find in this one collaboration will be more attached to the figure of Mario as the franchise itself. Following a similar visual approach to the three-dimensional series of the past, especially the Super Mario 3D World, you will be adventuring with a colorful world.
So like the Mario series in general anyway, it will be divided into several regions with different themes. There are deserts, snow, woods, and rocks with hot lava. The difference? Like the story she's holding, you'll meet so many Rabbids who now occupy her.
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It is a challenge to ensure that despite the fact that they are collaborating, Mario or Rabbids still have a significant portion of the story and the world it offers. Ubisoft countless managed to do it, especially for the figure of Rabbids itself.
Apart from the Rabbids who took part in your adventure action as a major party member, you will also find so many other Rabbids now scattered in Mushroom Kingdom. Their madness is still emanating from the variety of hilarious acts they perform when you find them while exploring. There are Rabbids who are relaxing in the pool, fighting for no reason, or just being trapped in a pipe.
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Praise deserves to be directed at Ubisoft who seems to understand the attractiveness of each of these franchises and is able to produce something different and interesting from it. Not just Rabbids problems that you can find craze throughout the game, but also from the design of the enemy you meet, especially from the boss fight that exists.
You can feel that their creative process is not getting meaningful limitation here. From creating a Rabbids character like Donkey Kong who is ready to use your character to wipe his butt-pricked ass, until an opera singer Rabbids is ready to sing a song that pierces the fourth wall regarding Mario's popularity as a franchise. The concept is ready to make you smile wide to laugh freely.
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Personality disparities for Mario and Rabbids also generate their own unique dynamics. Rabbids act like Rabbids, and Mario still acts like Mario. It is also visible from some of your party members who are half of him, are indeed Rabbids who wear clothes from Mario characters.
Princess Peach for example, is still a Princess of the Kingdom that is so calm, charismatic, and sweet. While on the other hand, Rabbids Peach is a daughter with an obsession with selfies who are constantly trying to photograph themselves on various occasions, even when she is being attacked. More cool? These two worlds also interact in their unique ways. Undoubtedly, you will find many moments in the story that are so relaxed, adorable, and also fun at the same time.
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On the other hand, it also proves Ubisoft - Snowdrop's engine capabilities that can be implemented to mix a game with this cartoon approach. That the same engine that was first implemented to build The Division has enough space to grow, at least for the Ubisoft game library in the future.
One of the highlights is the fact that it is not divided into certain phases. Each character will have three actions that can be done every turn: move, attack, and use existing cooldown-based skills. Cool? Mario + Rabbits will not regulate when you should do any of these moves, inviting so many potential strategies that can come up in the future.
You can just move Mario to a certain position, switch to Luigi to move, ask Peach to attack, just return to Mario to take any further action. Believe it or not, maximizing this will greatly determine how effective your strategy is to attack or even, survive.
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There are various scenarios where such a system produces fantastic dynamics. Example? For example, when Mario is your main damager, while Luigi is not very effective with damage it was using weapons that have a more destructive effect on the environment.
Faced with the enemy who is taking cover behind the block for example, you can move Mario first to a more strategic place, move to Luigi to destroy the existing block, then move on to Mario again to throw an attack for damage to the enemy.
Conclusion
A tremendous surprise, there is no longer a more appropriate word to describe the experience that Mario + Rabbids has succeeded in: Kingdom Battle. That regardless of how absurd the collaboration between these two icons sounded in the beginning, Ubisoft's decision to incorporate them into an XCOM-style strategy game with the gameplay complexity above the adorable visuals came to an end.
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The special thing about it is the success to retain what is interesting about this franchise, even though the world is now united. Rabbids is still crazy, Mario with his colorful visual world, and the battle of both are also filled with creative ideas that show a clear thing - the courage to experiment.
It would be much more interesting if there is a certainty that the reward you find always ends in a variety of weapons, skill points, or even a number of gold coins rather than just collectibles that unfortunately, we never even touch at all. One other complaint is the enemy that all come from the world of Rabbids, and without Mario at all.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://bitcoinfree.us/review-mario-rabbids-kingdom-battle/
Great Review!:)