On a similar but mostly unrelated note to my last post, I wanna bring your attention to this particular moment in SMO:
This game gets a lot of praise for how expressive Mario is compared to prior games, and I think this is one of my favorite examples. He's got this badass determined game face on when he's about to face off against Bowser for the final time... and then Bowser decides to kick it up a notch and taunt him. Enter Peach, who is panicking and crying out for Mario, and she's practically within arm's reach, which makes the fact that he's powerless to save her while Bowser's still standing that much more hideously cruel.
Just! Look at his face! How it goes from determined to horrified to pure, seething anger. This fight was already personal, and now it just got a whole lot worse, and all of that is conveyed brilliantly within the span of five seconds using nothing more than Mario's facial expressions.
That heightened expressiveness carries over into Bowser's Fury and SMBW, and maybe it's small in the grand scheme of things, but I think it adds so much to each games' experience, and I'm so excited to see more in future titles!
When I first created Joe and Torumichi, I never expected the story to catch this size. I never thought I'd dedicate years into it, and honestly? I don't regret it one bit. I had my cringe moments, and god is it painful to look back on sometimes. But.
Drmc allowed me to explore so so so many themes in my life, so many questions i had in my head. So yeah, some of the characters' stories are clumsy. Nisiyo sounds like a transphobic commentary, back when I didn't know trans people existed. Joe is literally just an intersex boy and I had no clue when I wrote him. That kinda stuff happens.
I don't think I want to change it, though. I think younger me had a story to say, and I want them to finally be able to say it eventually. ::)
This is...a lot of characters, as you can tell! If I counted well, this is a total of 134 characters! (Including the 4 that are canon to danganronpa) This...is a lot! I hadn't ever counted them before so. Yk. This sure is something. ::)
Break Free (Lead the Way) from Super Mario Odyssey
youtube
Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!
It's Raining Somewhere Else:
I LOVE THIS SONG!! IT SOUNDS SOOO GOOD, THE USE OF INSTRUMENTS IS GREAT AND I LOVE ALL THE MELODY AND STUFF. IT'S ALSO A REMIX OF SANS'S THEME, ANOTHER OF MY FAVOURITES. IT'S USED IN GAME VERY, VERY WELL TOO. IT ONLY APPEARS IN TWO SITUATIONS, AND THEY ARE BOTH WHEN YOU ARE LEARNING MORE THINGS ABOUT SANS AND MORE OF THE "REAL" HIM IS REVEALED, WHICH I THINK FITS THIS SONG PERFECTLY!!
also, sans music
Break Free (Lead the Way):
An incredible end to an incredible adventure. Jump Up Super Star was used a lot for marketing, but they were saving this one!
So y’all know that post where I ranted and raved about Mario’s expressiveness starting with SMO? Well now I’ve got another marginally related post, because oh my God I’m making myself Feel Things.
This is another one of my favorite examples of that expressiveness, because I mean look at him. Five minutes in and this is the most sad and concerned he’d ever looked in a game at the time of its release.
And I got to thinking: seeing him respond so actively to unfolding tragedy after years of Nintendo refusing to let him emote is wonderful in and of itself! But you know what makes it particularly poignant the more I think about it? This is in response to hearing that, among other things, an older brother’s beloved younger sibling has been abducted — by Bowser, no less.
Now watch this scene and tell me Mario’s not thinking about Luigi being in the same scenario. He’s not just being sympathetic. He knows exactly the kind of pain and helplessness Cappy is feeling.