I can get behind a good gripe (i'd be a hypocrite not to) but i'd also caution against being quite so inflammatory about benign matters of opinion. There are topics that i kind of regret handling that way, even when the community was with me on it. The internet is full of calls-to-arms over issues that do actual harm, along with plenty of combative ragebaiting, so i'd understand if people aren't willing to get heated here or are getting irked at the premise instead. I've been reticent to chime in lately because i find some of these responses a bit harsh and i don't want to dogpile, but i do think it's coming from a place of trying to help you.
With that hopefully conveyed, a small detail in this thread that i'd like to dissect is the
loaded language in poll options. Like, compare how the
wiki's polls try to cover the full range of possible feelings and rationales, without presenting any one perspective as correct. Otherwise, it comes off as trying to feed respondents opinions, and people who already disagree will take issue with it. Seeking validation through a poll can come across as having to skew results to prop up an unpopular stance (when
majority beliefs aren't necessarily correct anyway). If you ever design an actual survey, you'd really want to avoid the ethics snafu there. Probably not a big deal in a casual forum post, it's just a mode of thought that puts me on edge, and i'd recommend saving personal opinions for the post body so the poll can be more neutral.
Aaaanyway, i find the lack of boss variety more baffling than anything. The game wasn't rushed at all, as far as we can tell. It also takes a lot of cues from the 3D games, and i love how
Galaxy handles bosses as thrilling, unique tests of mechanical mastery that can cap off any course and make it even more memorable. Wonder Effects would have been the perfect place to go this route, and yet the closest i can remember is that one Spike statue survival challenge that's prefabricated to end on a timer. And indeed, multiple worlds are devoid of any real bosses for no apparent reason. Trying to wrap up certain worlds' stories in a way other than obligatory boss fights is actually a really promising idea now that i'm reasoning through it, but i think they needed something with a similar level of tension and gravitas, and i don't think either attempt landed, there. The boss situation is really a blemish on the game and i can't come up with an explanation for it. Maybe they considered 2D boss combat to be a weak area historically and wanted to hone in on pure platforming instead? That could be indicated by the Mecha Maker and the Spike statue thing, although it's not enough data points for me to be confident.
It still doesn't, like, ruin
Wonder for me, but i'm legitimately sorry if it did for you. I can see how each world ending on a whimper could get in the way of trying to enjoy the game. It's also frustrating as a step back from games that already handled bosses questionably. Personally, i was really burned by how
Odyssey is structured, and it wasn't healthy for me to be so angry about that for so long—but i couldn't find closure when the game was pretty much considered above criticism. The grievances i had were shot down as nitpicks being blown out of proportion, even though they genuinely, fundamentally impacted the entire game for me! Is your critique coming from a similar place, by any chance?
The franchise is going through a lot of changes lately, after an era of comforting (if excessive) stability. And Nintendo isn't communicating well, so we don't have official reasons for a lot of these decisions. Like, i do at least think Afghani's performances themselves have already improved a ton, and i don't want to feed into another scapegoat or parasociality—but whatever's going on
behind the voice acting does seem way more suspicious than it really had to. When it feels like something you hold so dearly is being rewarded for making the wrong choices and leaving you behind, it can be extremely unmooring and make us hypersensitive to change, even if it's just Mario. But this forum seems chill most of the time, and i'd like it to be a space for civil, constructive discussions where disagreements can be handled respectfully. I feel like i dump a lot of intense critique and hyperspecific bile for games in here, but avoiding redirecting it at people in the thread, keeping an open mind to others' perspectives, and trying to balance positivity and negativity, seems to do the trick.
