#looking at the new Mario concept art

[pianokantzart]

He's so cringefail (aggressively affectionate)

[ganondoodle]

realized i painted half the environments on the first pages of chapter two in the wrong color and it kinda deflated the determination i had to push myself to get the first comic update out asap :/

[captaincrumbz]

RABBIDS + MARIO AU IDEA

THIS IS CONCEPT ART FOR A SWAP AU IM MAKING, IN THIS THE MARIO AND PEACH RABBIDS WILL BE SWAPPED WITH UHHH LUIGI AND DAISY, AND BEEPO WILL SWAP WITH GLOBOX. RAYMAN IS SWAPPED WITH THE PHANTOM RABBID. ALSO I WAS TRYING TO DRAW THE RECORD PLAYER AND IT JUST LOOKS LIKE A PP I DID NOT MEAN TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THAT 😭😭😭😭😭

[wariofranchisefanblog]

It's wild how much Wario stuff has happened in the past months, after what initially looked like a pretty dead year for the Wah.

WarioWare Move It was announced and released. We got release art and fun ads out of it and the game itself even has really substantial Wario Land love, via Cractus and what is looking more and more like a genuine Shokora cameo.

Move It got a Switch Icon series and a collab with Tetris 99

Wario got it's own series portal on Nintendo's japanese websites and it is labeled as just Wario, opening the door for expansion beyond WarioWare.

Fumihide Aoki gave us two incredible new pieces of Waluigi art.

We got concept art of Wario in a proposed concept for Super Mario RPG and even the proposed design for Wapeach.

Very exciting times for all things Wario.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Rocky Wrench

Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3

Get a load of this guy! A recurring enemy, debuting in one of the most beloved games, and major enough to even get a LEGO version... and he's over here as if he's Weird. Well he is! Weird is relative! You might think a goat is a normal animal, but if you do, you have clearly forgotten that they effortlessly climb trees and steep slopes, with hooves. Weird is all around us, and if you find yourself growing jaded to it, remember a Fun Fact to mentally slap some sense back into yourself.

Rocky Wrench is not rocky, and he is not a wrench, either! He is manholey and throws wrenches. On first glance, he looks like a turtley mole, but we are commonly assured that he is ACTUALLY a moley turtle. Strange! This is not a mere mole with a shell, this is a turtle with a cartilaginous nose and teeth and presumably fur. Even if he is truly a turtle, the design is pleasantly mole-like, with the claws, snout, and teeth! This is a guy who would love to bite an earthworm, and who would be very good at it. He would NOT eat a vegetable.

Huhwhuh! What's going on! They turned Rocky Wrench into a guy who would eat a vegetable, and relish every nibble! One of the most egregious parts of New Super Mario Bros. Wii's new standardized art direction is that Rocky Wrench's original design was just entirely lost. This is, obviously, just Monty Mole wearing goggles! And I like Monty Mole, but when I am in the mood for Monty Mole, I can look at Monty Mole. This is not even a turtle by ANY measure now. It's almost a cruel joke now, having a rodent enemy with "mole" in its name, and redesigning the actually mole-looking enemy to be an identical rodent. Gophers and moles can coexist! We all dig for our own reasons. Isn't that something to celebrate? We would, at least, get a true talpid later in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

But some never gave up hope. Remember this? Have you seen this? It's good. It's Super Mario Odyssey concept art for the Broodals, if they were to use existing enemy species for the characters! Even in the middle of the Rocky Rodent Era, there were people at Nintendo who thought, "let's use the old Rocky Wrench design again". Here, Rango would have been a tall Rench (Rocky + Wrench. I know it doesn't really work. Sorry) wearing a spiky squash for a hat! Not very fashionable, but bold. And certainly easier to wear than a whole manhole cover! Rocky Wrench would continue to be portrayed as a rodent for years, including in Mario Kart Tour, where he even got a Mii costume! Was this all a ploy to become marketable?

But then, something happened.

Last year, we received the trailer for the final wave of the The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Game For Nintendo Switch Systems' Booster Course Pass DLC Content. And we all noticed something strange. Something different.

Holy moley! The guy in that hole looks moley! Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, Rocky Wrench was re-redesigned, now resembling the one that I assume people in 1988 fell in love with. I don't know. I wasn't there. But wow! We don't know why they decided to do this, but we're all happy they did! More visual variety in enemies is always better than less! It's especially weird considering the very same track in Tour had the Monty-like design, but I'm not complaining, I'm celebrating!

Looking at Super Mario Party Jamboree, it's clear that, at least for now, Mole-Like Rocky Wrench is here to stay. And hooray for that. Cheers, even. He completely changed his presentation for mass appeal, and now he's going back to being himself, unashamed! Be like Rocky Wrench! Express yourself while simultaneously hiding in a hole.

[stripetkattelalala54-gf]

Found some new concept art on Twitter by @/rskizzen and just aaaaaaaaaaah. Mario looks even more sad than he does in the movie. And he also looks so tired even kinda in the third one where he's talking to Peach.

[eddysmash2407]

Looks like Rosalina is playing some tunes in New Donk City Café 🌠🎶🏙️

(Super Mario Odyssey Concept Art)

[mothymelodyz]

my new fixation! hes fun 2 draw!

i love the concept art of him 4 the mario rabidds sparks of hope dlc!

heres the concept art i did a redraw off! I might do more, i love looking at concept art 4 stuff!

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

oooohhhh, so we're doing another one of these, eh? let's have some fun!

(the following is my live reaction:)

ah yes, the new TADC episode, which was fantastic btw

HELL YEAH

I honestly didn't expect that bc I was like, "what kinda trip would it be for them to take a bike? camping maybe???" (I still don't get the "trip" part about it tbh)

sooooooo teasing and banter are part of your (platonic/romantic) love language?..... [*writes it down*]

3, we all know Mario is basically invincible right? betting 4 dollars on him winning this race

ooooohh, a prize 👀 though based on past episodes, 4 doesn't have the greatest ideas for prizes, judging by the Crew's reaction at least (I would still want your autograph, 4)

LET'S-A FUCKIN GOOOOOOOO

honestly mood

"imaging yourself as a jet plane will not help you zis time, jet" (gotta add the riders fandub in here man)

That wasn't even Mario's fault, that was a bigass rock

PFFFT ASHD;LAF four tf are you doing dude, can i join you

[*looks at moon*] don't say it don't say it don't I'VE COME TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT—

If Mario's flexible enough to reach the moon and the sun and the Great Beyond, you can too 👍

oh my god, i get it /ref

WHY IS THAT ROCK STILL THERE?

whelp Kev, looks like you aren't voicing Boopkins this episode

I miss your pink reading glasses 3 (wait did you somehow lose them on that island?)

also you do need glasses, my guy? i think you would cute in them btw

so um... who's gonna tell him?

(actually now I thought about it, the drawing that 4 had was on his PC and it got thrown away. 4 please tell me you saved that file somewhere else, was the printed-out version in 3's notebook actually canon? can it be?)

apparently fanartists, we need to make for fanart of 3, let's get to it!!!

loved the way James delivered that line "ouchie" (timestamp 5:29)

OH HEY slenderman, it's been a while, hello!

Kev, is that you? I can hear a bit of Shroomy in that voice

🤔 huh

Tari and Luigi are so sweet, I love them 💙

"I don't have eyes so I can't see you!" 🧍 not gonna question it

Mario, what were you so afraid of? it's slendy, your bro (looks like they didn't put that lore in smh, it's fine tho)

slenderman being here kinda fits tho bc we first saw 4's locket in the "Lost in the Woods" episode to come back in the "Plane Trip" and now slenderman comes back in another "Mario's Trip" ep

if only those cowards would show us what pic is inside that locket this time (I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IT'S A DIFFERENT PIC, 4, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE)

anyway, he's just a little guy (i'm still waiting 4)

Tari, sweetie, this is 3 we're talking about here, ofc he would cheat

[*italian gibberish argument*] ah yes, just another normal sibling moment

MARIO LOCK IN, BRO

SONIC?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? :D

alright, now we gotta do it: 📢🎶I'm hanging on to the other side, I won't give up to the end of me—🎶 [*gets run over by a bike*] OH C'MON

LET'S GOOOOOO WOAH DUDE ANIMATION

WE'RE GONNA TOKYO DRIFT IN HERE BOYS

nothing person-el, kid /ref, and the rock came back full circle

AKIRA SLIDE BABYYYYY

kinda half-expected slenderman to accidentally win the race but CONGRATS MARIO 🎉

it was really gonna be sweet but yeah, that's our Mario

I'm sure the mar3 shippers are enjoying their crumbs

AWWW 4 HONEY I WOULD ENJOY YOUR GIFT

i would protect him at all costs (no don't look at what I did for the episode concepts shhhh)

and i oop

well um congrats to Abbie/Abit (@/jYMylD9Rm84xxCX) for your art featured at the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a silly little episode and I have indeed enjoyed it. Not as emotional as the last one but I had fun nevertheless. Though, it didn't feel like a "Mario's Trip" episode, compared to the other ones. Maybe that's just me idk.

The animation and references, peak. As for the plot itself, it felt very on-brand for SMG4. Strangely, the chaotic energy in this one was toned down which is new. Like I said, it was still fun, had plenty of laughs. There isn't much to say about this but yeah, good to have a silly goofy time overall!!!

and yes, I will gladly take that bell, 4 [*ding ding*] :)

[elitadream]

While I followed you because of the Mario art, I completely understand needing to stop a project or interest due to burnout and pressure from fandom. I look forward to seeing whatever you want to draw, and I hope you have a nice day!

Thanks, I appreciate that! 😌🫶

While my interest in this franchise is still there (I've given it a few tries on the side as an experiment and, sure enough, coming up with new concepts for it is still as easy and fun as ever!), being actively involved as a creator online had indeed become a little too overwhelming for me, hence why I've had to let that rest. <:)

I will be happy to focus on those other things when I can find the time to! I may not have played many games outside of Mario, but I still have thoughts on quite a few of those and I'm very much a movie enthusiast too. 🤭 Wishing you a nice day as well~ 🤗💫

[kittycatblast]

big post about how i've been thinking a lot about final fantasy vii's art direction, graphical style, and a little bit on low-poly graphics

the art direction of ffvii feels very unique from anything in the series since. it's distinctly more exaggerated than most the series afterwards, and especially more than the compilation of ffvii and the vii remake series. i do wonder why this sort of art direction was abandoned in favor of the more realistic looks of later mainline games

this even feels present in the key art, compare the original vii art of tifa to the later artwork of her for dissidia

you can chalk it up to the refinement of nomura's own art, but i think there's subtle things that set em worlds apart. the shorter torso and longer legs make her boobs look cartoonishly larger. her elbow pad sort of popping out a little further appearing a hint more bulky. the more rounded profile of her shoes. her face is a bit round, there's not much detail on her lips and her eyes are bigger

my only hypothesis as to why only vii really had this style going for it was to compensate on the uncertainty of system limits early on in the ps1's life. i think the cast is very much designed with that in mind, let's take a look at cloud

he really is a pretty simple character design, smaller intricacies do exist but they are negligible. with that he works perfectly into both his battle and field models

almost entirely vertex colored, using textures for finer details only where they're absolutely necessary like his mouth and eyes (though iirc, the mouth was actually added in the pc version). it's a very...utilitarian? way of modeling? a lot of early 3d games had a similar way of modeling their characters, mario 64 is an easy example but i also think or the camelot mario sports games

but after ffvii the other mainline final fantasy games on would experiment with the more realistic look of viii and the exaggerated but more finely detailed presentation of ix, both games making use of impressive texture work and far less rudimentary models

like let's look at the concept art of zidane from ix compared to his in-game model

it's pretty much one-to-one in its detail thanks to the texture, it looks great! the charm of vii's models isn't there, but it has its own charm thanks to the already exaggerated style of the art the model was based on. it's comparable to the kind of low-poly stuff people make these days

sufficed to say though i like the blockier, primitive, almost toy-like look of ffvii and the other games i've mentioned. it's the exact kind of look i've been going for with my own 3d work

i'm not sure if i've even gotten my full thoughts out with this post but it's something that's been on my mind for a while regarding final fantasy games, old 3d games, and new games that look like old 3d games

[pianokantzart]

If you would change anything in The Mario movie like dialouge changes, scene changes or adding new scenes or just in general improve the pacing, what would it be?🤔

I think we can all agree we needed more Luigi in the movie, and many of us are of the opinion that the loss of the "prison break" plot line hinted at in the concept art is tragic. However, as long as I'm only talking tiny changes to pad out the runtime, I think some more scenes of Luigi in the prison would've been good; chatting with King Penguin, learning more about the world, maybe even a short-lived escape attempt that highlights his resourcefulness? Just an extra sprinkling of Luigi.

I'd also add a little conversation between Mario and Toad over the course of their adventure. Toad petty much just looked at Mario and said "you're my best friend now" and Mario is like "???? Uh... okay???" and then at the end of the film they fist bump. The animation did all of the heavy lifting to show them forming any sort of bond, and while it doesn't feel too forced the end result is that we know nothing about Toad except that he's a friendly guy who's the bravest toad in his kingdom. What's his story? What's his background? Does he have any motivations beyond just a love for adventure? What's going on with that little guy?

Finally, the scene of The Mario Bros hanging out in their room after dinner could've used a bit of extra time. What we got was wonderful and sweet, but it was the only quiet moment between them before the plot kicked into high gear, and their conversation lasted literally 20 seconds. I would've like it if it was stretched out a little tiny bit longer. Just a quiet back and forth to better establish the bros mindsets, their hopes and dreams, etc. A nice moment to breathe and truly hammer home their bond before the ball got rolling.

The movie by no means needs to be dialogue heavy, and I don't mind getting to fill in the gaps where emotions/motivations aren't specifically explained, but I think a few more interactions between the characters now and then would've greatly helped the pacing.

[artist-heart83]

What a crazy year, I’m a right?

Unlike the previous year, when I didn't feel I did that much, this year was a lot different than I expected.

So let's do a little recap about this year, shall we?

My main purpose for this year was making oc's content! Focusing on doing some new designs and giving a fresh look to some of them, buuuut... I have this Minecraft project that I was waiting to do too, then trying to bring my Mario fankids, etc, etc.

Internally, it was a fight between all my creations, and someone needed to win, unfortunately... it wasn't either of them, but an unexpected challenger appeared in the "ring", and ended up winning without fighting lmaoo.

Little comic to visualize the events:

Like I said, this was meant to be temporary, I didn't have plans to do so much stuff for the fandom... right?

I wanna say, in terms of art, this year was very productive! Experiment with concepts and designs for characters, being in the smg4 fandom really pushed me out of my comfort zone, I had fun drawing some characters, they're so fun to draw <3

Also, important mention that currently nobody of you guys knows, I was in charge of designing a silly guide for my university, such pain, but I ended up loving how it looked. Vouch to my teacher to let me do that work.

Also, an important highlight about the experience of a digital artist (me) suffering from power outages since FUCKING SEPTEMBER, which decide to join an October challenge :D

Another good thing, apart from getting back to drawing, was getting back to writing fan fiction!

Been 2 sweet years of writer's block and I got the motivation to write about gay people, still a bit ashamed it was smut, but take it or leave it.

I have more fics that I can't wait to show! Not only about New Gen, but a bit of some rarepairs that I love deeply, and Marware of course.

Entering a completely new fandom, after so many years of not doing that... was strange. But you know what? I never felt so welcome in a fandom before.

A lot of the people here have a big place in my heart for being so nice to me and loving my artwork and my fanfics. Also, I started interacting a bit more, not only here but on Discord too! Which have been fun, I have met so many people and the nicest (shout out to @briandraws for that)

But one thing for sure I wasn't expecting, was people loving my fankids.

Listen, my main thing in fandoms is doing fankids, and after seeing that it was allowed, and I wouldn't be attacked for that, I ended up doing it.

18 FANKIDS AND I REALLY HOPE IT ENDED THERE.

Also, shout out to @blu193 for being the number 1 fan of them, have to open a special folder for fanart because she did a few of some of them which I really appreciate

This year, really surprised me, in all the ways possible. Like, if you tell me at the beginning of the year, that I would fixate on SMG4 when I decided to focus on oc’s, I would laugh.

And if you tell me: “You finally find a fandom place where you feel welcomed and loved”, I wouldn’t believe you either.

And I still can't believe it, I didn’t expect to feel so comfortable, find new friends, and be able to do tons of fanarts and fics.

I'm already nervous for tagging two people, so unfortunately no tag list, but... huge thanks to everyone in the smg34 and smg4 grounds servers, and a lot of my moots from here, you made this year amazing to me <3

Happy New Year everyone!

[ganondoodle]

I was at first in love with totk, and I still think mechanical wise, its quite impressive

And when I collected all the tears and saw the "story" I genuinely got upset in a good way (at first), because man! Did they really got the balls to go that far? Is there nothing I can do for her? Now I MUST do all the temples, see how it plays out and --oh, I've got this cutscene already. Why are all the people so dumb about Zelda, I KNOW where she is, Link say something-- Link??

After finishing all the temples and almost falling asleep, I stopped playing the game, looked up the last boss and remaining cutscenes and went "Thats it?"

Watching other people (including you) being critically about so many things, both character and mechanical wise, I've almost startled myself with a realization what the gnawing feeling I constantly had, actually was.

Totk feels like a fanfic.

And don't get me wrong, I love fanfiction, I think its great and important, I adore fanfic writers, I love finding gems, I love reading self indulgent stories, see new spins and interpretation of characters. I love the casual, the passion, the creativity!

But totk gives me the same feeling everytime I am reminded that Fifty Shades is a Twillight fanfic.

The world is there. The faces I know and grew to love are there. But everything is ever so slightly different, uncannily so. Just how some characters talk, how they act, how they were placed in the story. The Zonai appearing out of nowhere, but no, they always had been there you see, they were these super magical advanced people but they all died, the king is so tragic. And you see, the king is super cool and powerful and-- oh I dont get to interact with him outside of the tutorial. Did they try to do another King Rhoam-- but wait, that only worked because we didn't knew he was a ghost-- totk wait stop why do you take him out of the story, why couldn't he be a companion, he IS ABLE TO TALK THROUGH THE ARM LET THE OLD GOAT COMMENT ON STUFF?? If you bring up all this ancient stuff and you still got a ghost lingering, let him talk?? (I never ended up getting Mineru but I smell wasted potential as well)

Im not even mad, I am disappointed. It feels like the devs saw what all the lore hunters got attached to and talked about and then just... took the "cool". All the Zonai stuff could've easily been Sheikah tech, but got just reskinned to look more exciting instead of being its own thing.

Like... at this point I prefer what fans are doing over what Totk gave us. The characterization of Rauru (and everything Zonai), projects like you do of what totk couldve been, the little nuggets of actual highlights and details of love fans find in the game. I found much more enjoyment in these concepts than I got from a 70bucks game. And thats depressing.

I love fanfiction. I dont love it when my corporate 70 dollar, six year development, console exclusive game feels like a story that passionate fan couldve written miles better in a week (and I've already seen much cooler and interesting rewrites and ideas).

Zelda has been a huge part of my childhood and its depressing seeing it treated like that. It always was about the story, the epic, its The Legend of Zelda for crying out loud. To be courageous to enter a dungeon, to be wise and solve all the riddles. To become powerful over the journey you embarked on. Zelda to me is the campfire story you tell to others and go into the woods or the beach and imagine what monsters you would slay. Zelda is not the sandcastle you build in the sandbox and then add dinosaurs and star wars ships because you didn't had any other toys, and just stumble into and over some story to entertain yourself until lunch is ready.

I'd have an oracle of seasons over another totk any day at this point. They should've just make the mechanics of totk its own thing, but I guess they were scared it wouldn't sell if it doesn't have a Mario or Zelda skin straped over it.

Anyways, sorry for the mini rant - love your art, love your thoughts and insights, and I am looking forward to see more of it - Zelda related or not (your original characters look amazing, I adore your style sm)

Hope you have a great rest of the day!

*nods along through this entire rant*

idk how many of my rants you have read but yeah ... yeah ... and the further you think about it the further it all falls apart, the wasted potential of it all and the goddamn audacity of them to do those interviews in which they make it EVEN WORSE is just

i know the expectation for a direct sequel to botw was huge and understandbly so but i really REALLY think it would not have been that hard to make it a good follow up even taking into account that totk was originally a DLC, pretty much all of botws aspects could have been developed further, i dont know what could have happened to make totk have turned out like this .. literally it feels like something had to have gone wrong, its like someone who doesnt know zelda nor botw at all was given a few prompts and then just made some generic fantasy story while the rest worked on ultrahand for 5 years

the technical impressive things ARE technical impressive, but i dont think it was necessary nor served the game well in any way (and i LOVE building games- however totk is neither a building game nor a story game nor a zelda game nor an exploration game nor a sequel imo) but zelda, this zelda, is not made for that and i cant help but think it was mainly to encourage people to make some ridiculous mechs so it can go viral on tiktok (not trying to discredit them, it IS cool what they are doing but i .... have my doubts if zelda is the right place for that)

ill stop there bc i have ranted so much about everything i dont wanna repeat it here again; it just doesnt feel like a real game (derogatory), it feels extra bad bc i was not really into zelda when botw came out and while i did get it as soon as i could (months after release since i just started a minijob and didnt have the money) i only over time grew to love zelda this much again, devouring any theories and anything about it bc i loved it so much- i was never into it like this when a new title was announced and dont own any special editions so i bought the totk collectors bc i was just so damn excited for it after the 2019 trailer dropped (god i want that time back ... it looked so much more like it was going to be an actual sequel) even if i was already worried it wouldnt be good at that point given how much i started to sense stuff i dont like about the newer trailers

i recently sold it at our local gameshop bc it was like a thorn in my side given how expensive it was and how dissapointed i was in the game, i genuinely think that, technical impressiveness aside, totk is the onyl zelda i truly cannot stand (for alot of reasons) and im genuinely worried for the future of the franchise

i bought an Oki (Okami) figurine for what i got back and i feel much happier with that :3

(also on a note, i did finish the game two weeks after release but stopped playing it right then and hadnt touched it since, i also streamed all of what i played and its still up if you want to see my slow descend into madness fjkdhkdhjk though its been a long while since then and i by far did not talk about everything back then, just what my most immediate frustrations were while still playing)

(also the gameplay isnt as good as people make it out to be, so much is so frustrating and punishing to use i am kinda baffled it got through like that and most people call that its best aspect ..... though i guess if the rest is so much worse even mid gameplay can seem good ooooooooh how dare i)

also thank you for liking what i do!!! <3 it means alot to know it is appreciated by someone :D

[all-hail-trudos]

The way Zelda redditors behave like BotW is going to be the template for future titles is absolutely hilarious. They are convinced that Nintendo is done with classic Zelda elements forever. TotK proves it! Never mind that they can barely agree on whether this even deserves to be called a new game or overpriced DLC. Or that Nintendo themselves have said that this was a very big experiment, where they let a team comprised of mostly younger devs run the show, and the director of BotW has actually left the company to go work on Infinity Nikki of all things. I don't know what the future of Zelda is going to look like. I can't see Nintendo just walking back everything they did in BotW. (And they better not. Skyward Sword is the worst mainline Zelda title, and BotW was the exact opposite of the hand holding the series had gotten really bad for). However, we can guarantee one thing for sure. The open-air game concept that specifically defined Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel Tears of the Kingdom is not simply going to be the new template for the series.

I could leave it there with a "because Nintendo said so" but it's midnight and I'm already making bad decisions, so I'm going to go one further and back this up with a second supporting argument. That's not how Nintendo as a company works. That's not how they've ever worked. They stopped doing rational, clear iterative upgrades when they followed up the Gamecube with the Wii. The Zelda series itself has constantly been one of self reinvention. Ocarina of Time is incredibly special in that Breath of the Wild is the first time they've so clearly broken away from the model it set. But when you look at the rest of the series, it's obvious BotW was the biggest experiment, but not even remotely the first. Majora's Mask turned the main gameplay concept on its head by putting everything on a Very. Tight. Timer. When you hit midnight of the third day, that was it. Rewind or die. All your progress was reset except for your sword (iirc), your masks, and your rupees if you put them in the bank (because the banker was a time traveler?). Wind Waker flooded the whole continent and had you sailing around on a boat, using a proto-physics system to fill your sails. The wide open world of OoT was gone altogether, and Princess Zelda didn't show up until halfway through the game (we won't talk about what they did to Tetra). Twilight Princess made the game super linear and made Zelda herself almost secondary to the plot. Actually, TP almost feels like the most direct callback to OoT with the doubling down on horse mounted combat, an art style that looked more like it next to whatever WW was doing (but which would ultimately age a lot worse), dungeons that also felt more directly inspired, and a combat system that was a little less fluid and reactive. But it also had Link temporarily become a werewolf, and gave us an egregiously underappreciated Spaghetti Western shootout that came out of nowhere and was all together too brief. Then Skyward Sword came along, which was the least reinventive of the bunch mechanically, but which did at least try to turn the classic narrative on its head. Also Zelda went from being barely there to being a driving character in the narrative. And she walked so BotW Princess Zelda could run. That said, imho, you can see why they leaned so much harder into experimentation with their next game that nearly skipped a whole console generation, because by SS the series tropes were getting a little too strong. The series was actually drifting into iterative territory, and that's not the typical Nintendo way. Especially not with one of their two core in-house franchises.

(Please don't bring up Pokemon here. I know it's Nintendo's third core franchise. But please remember, Zelda and Mario are solely owned by Nintendo, while Pokemon is at this point is at the center of an entire corporate conglomerate, which Nintendo is only part of).

I get that some people didn't enjoy BotW. I can sympathize with the people who did not want more like it and who were consequently less than thrilled by TotK's arrival. But bemoaning the fall of the franchise and saying Nintendo is going to be like Ubisoft, EA, and all the other trend chasing studios out there is really going too far. Nintendo has spent too many years baffling investors to start doing that now. Yes, Tears of the Kingdom exists. No, it's not proof of the trend. It was a planned sequel (itself an enormously rare concept in Zelda history). You can't make a planned story and gameplay sequel to a game and just throw away the concept you're following up on. That would be an enormously bad idea. (Worse, even, than trying to make your sequel game stand on its own for new players and erasing nearly all memory of Link from the same people he helped save. I love TotK so much, but I am not blind to its flaws, what few there are).

ALSO yes Echoes of Wisdom has Zelda stacking beds into a diy staircase. NO that doesn't mean we're seeing a return of this apparently beloathed systems-based physics gameplay in 2D fashion. If there were physics, the beds would have fallen over. That's like calling Minecraft or Dragon Quest Builders a physics based exploration game just because they have objects you can stack. That is the dumbest take I've seen come out of a community that is profoundly skilled at coming out with dumb takes.

[genopaint]

having some art block so im goofing around with some marios to get back into it

Based on these concept sketches cause I ADORE how fun and silly Mario looks in this and I would love a new RPG where he looks exactly like this with this chaotic energy (x)