Super Mario Odyssey 2

[vizIIsto]

The big success of Super Mario Odyssey hasn't gone unnoticed by many gamers from all around the world. Getting many perfect ratings, it has been one of Nintendo's finest. The plot, the controls, the scenery, everything was superb. I think we can all agree on that.
So, does that open up the potential for a sequel? They did it too with Super Mario Galaxy after the first one was a home run as well, so will there also be a Super Mario Odyssey 2?

That's the first question we could answer. And if we say yes, then what could we expect in a possible sequel? What will the plot be, now that Bowser's wedding plans have failed in the first edition of the game? Will he take Peach on a trip across the new Kingdoms as he plans his fights with Mario in between his cruises and vacations, or maybe try to 'steal' her heart by collecting unique pieces for a love machine?
And what will the new Kingdoms be? Will they revisit old Kingdoms, like the much appreciated Luncheon and Metro Kingdoms, or will there be new ones? And what kinds of enemies could we expect in those new areas, and will they be capturable by Cappy?
Maybe Mario will gain some new moves. Maybe he learns how to do a kung-fu style kick to stun enemies, or will he learn to do a high frontflip which he can use to reach onto higher platforms with his hands?
And there's many more things to speculate about. We loved the wildlife in Super Mario Odyssey, but could they introduce more unique animals to the kingdoms? How about the kingdoms' sizes, will they increase the sizes of the various kingdoms to allow for more exploration? Will they bring back purple coins, or could a new type of currency occur? Will there be more 3D-style sections, or will there again be an abundance of horizontal sections?

These are all questions we can try to take a guess at. Let's make this thread all about that!
P.S. I couldn't find another thread that said 'Super Mario Odyssey 2' or something similar, if there is, please tell me and share the link to that thread so I can find it.

 

[vizIIsto]

To answer some of the questions here which I feel like not discussing too much (that is everything but Kingdoms. I love predicting the places they might visit in a future game):
I could come up with three different plots for the new game. The first of which is Bowser tries to marry Peach again. What would make this difficult is they'd have to come up with a bunch of different new wedding items, different to the first game. I feel like it was already hard enough to come up with enough of those for the first game, so that makes it less likely he'll attempt to marry Peach again. Also because he failed badly in Super Mario Odyssey.
The second is that Bowser kidnaps Peach, and then takes her on a 'honeymoon' kinda trip around all the Kingdoms, and Mario is on the chase with them. All of the kingdoms will have many marks of Bowser and Peach having been there, for example, Bowser's footsteps will be visible in the sandy and snowy kingdoms, and Peach could try to give subtle hints to Mario about where to go next. Some sort of secret messages. They could, for example, go on a cruise to a tropical island, and then Mario will also arrive on that Island Kingdom. Or they could go camel riding in a Desert Kingdom, and Mario will have to do the same. Of course, there will be boss battles with Bowser just as with other bosses (maybe Bowser could prepare some bosses when he's in Kingdoms?) so they might have to come up with some sort of 'you are this close to Bowser' and when you're in the same Kingdom, there's a boss fight.
The third option I'd like to talk about with you in this post is a potential of Bowser getting characteristics of Baldy McNosehair in the sense that he will try to create a machine that will 'steal' Princess Peach's heart, so that she will forever fall in love with him. Kind of like the Binding Band in the first series, but now it's a machine. Bowser will try to gather all the special pieces he needs to build the machine with, similarly to how he collected all the wedding objects in the first game, but again, now it's a machine. And Mario will have to chase him in a similar way to Super Mario Odyssey. I think this would be more likely compared to the second option, and perhaps also more likely than going to marry again, even though I'd personally love to see a honeymoon plot in Super Mario Odyssey 2.

You guys have any ideas about plots?

 

[Toka Hebizuka]

While it would be nice, I don't think a sequel to Odyssey would capture the magic of the original. One of the best parts of Super Mario Odyssey was how new it was, the gameplay, the worlds, the characters, the story, all of it felt new and it was a unique take on the Mario series that still felt like Mario. The issue with a sequel is that it would have to follow on from what the first game had, so it would have the same mechanics, and the same concept. It was fun learning how to master Cappy's moveset, but in a sequel you already know how to use him, so the fun of learning how to use him isn't there. I'd rather just have an entirely new game, then more of the same thing.

 

[Dorayaki]

For general Mario platformers, it feels like the next one would be a new traditional New Super Mario bros title in 2D or 3D.

It'd be better to change a theme and go into another original story. Odyssey made some innovative moves in comparison with previous Super Mario games, but if we stick to its sequel, it'd be against that purpose in the end.

Galaxy is the best example to show that there is a restriction within the same idea.

 

[vizIIsto]

I can understand your points of view, but I think it is very likely that Nintendo is going to make a sequel considering the immense popularity of the first game.
Yes, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was restricted knowing about the first game, but that didn't mean it was any much worse to the first game. Yes, the 'new' is gone, but it was still fun to play, and the galaxies were often still inventive and new in some ways! I can't see how they can't do that with a sequel in Super Mario Odyssey. There's still a whole bunch of things that can be done to give it a new swirl.

I'll use an example I just read up on: what if Bowser, or some of the bosses, also have their own Cappy, which can also capture other things to attack Mario with? Let's say the fight with Madame Broode. You would be able to capture Chain Chompikins, but when you do that, you'll have to watch out for Madame Broode capturing it back. I know this would seem kind of off, but Nintendo has shown to be imaginative enough to make it playable.

 

[zel]

odyssey is my favorite game and when i finished it i just wanted MORE
So yeah odyssey 2 will make me ascend and i want it to be real so bad
i dont know what id like to be in 2 ill prob take anything honestly lmao. i would like luigi to be playable though . make a new bonneter character Just for him as cappys counterpart

 

[vizIIsto]

odyssey is my favorite game and when i finished it i just wanted MORE
So yeah odyssey 2 will make me ascend and i want it to be real so bad
i dont know what id like to be in 2 ill prob take anything honestly lmao. i would like luigi to be playable though . make a new bonneter character Just for him as cappys counterpart

Let's call them Crappy, just like Luigi is always made to be by Nintendo.

 

[Bowser II]

I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that Nintendo wanted to keep the Switch going for a long time. Odyssey is one of the best selling Switch games and received tons of praise. From a business standpoint, it makes sense for Nintendo to make a sequel.

As for things I'd like to see:
1. Playable Luigi
2. Um, where was my boi in the original? They better put Jr. in the game this time around.
3. Playable Luigi
4. A fresher plot. I don't want them to just repeat the same wedding thing over again, that would be boring. It doesn't have to be some elaborate plot or anything, it just has to be original.
5. Playable Luigi

 

[vizIIsto]

As for things I'd like to see:
1. Playable Luigi
2. Um, where was my boi in the original? They better put Jr. in the game this time around.
4. A fresher plot. I don't want them to just repeat the same wedding thing over again, that would be boring. It doesn't have to be some elaborate plot or anything, it just has to be original.

Playable Luigi would be nice considering he has a different set of moves like flutter jump or higher backflips which have loads of options for moons only being possible with Luigi (or extreme parkour)
Bowser Jr. instead of the Broodals would be good when, point 4, the wedding idea is abandoned.
So, do you have some plot ideas? Do you like the ideas I proposed? Tell us!

 

[vizIIsto]

Since it's on my mind now, I want to share my thoughts and ideas on new concepts, controls and other things like that

Starting off with new controls:
First idea is the kung-fu kick, or some sort of kicking move. Not the breakdance move from Super Mario shitstyfour, but something that's actually helpful in some circumstances. How this would work is when using the kung-fu kick, you can attack an enemy as Mario if it's close enough to you. The reason is that right now, Mario can effectively only defeat most enemies by jumping on them, but some enemies like Spinies can not be defeated by simply jumping on them. For those enemies, this will be useful. When standing close enough to an enemy, you can perform a kung-fu kick to kill that enemy. The enemy has to be relatively small - so this won't work on Thwomps or such things - and you also have to be really close to an enemy to successfully execute this new move, making it a risky move. I think it will have just the right amount of risk attached to it for it to work great.
Another new move for Mario is the frontflip, or high jump. By doing a frontflip, Mario can jump a bit higher than normal, plus, he will move with his face towards a ledge or something instead of moving towards it with his back. This enables him to hang on ledges that he wouldn't be able to catch on with a normal jump or a backflip, because then he can't use his hands like claws. I think this would be a neat new move that I think would work really well.
Obviously, a new Cappy move would also be great. I call it the Trapeze move. Remember the trapezes from Super Mario 3D World? It kind of works like that. You throw Cappy diagonally upwards, so forwards but also upwards, and then you hang onto Cappy and use him as a bridge to get further. There wouldn't be any good purposes to use this in comparison to other moves in the current moveset, but to be honest, I couldn't think of any other new Cappy moves since they are already so well implemented in Super Mario Odyssey, and I prefer finetuning the current moveset from the old game.

 

[vizIIsto]

For the sake of not overflooding the thread at once, I'll share my own concepts and game mode ideas tomorrow. I would very much appreciate your opinions on my ideas, as well as you sharing your own ideas!

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

The only reason I'd want an Odyssey 2 is just to have more kingdoms to explore and also Mario gets more costumes, maybe some of the unused costumes can get in (hello Gangster Mario). But that's easily handled by DLC, which we got none of, so that's disappointing. Oh yeah, I think playable Luigi (which modders have done) or a full fledged 2-player mode can work (modders managed a 2-player netplay mode in Sunshine; if modders can do it pretty sure Nintendo can Make It Happen). Peach and Tiara should have more of a role together, maybe even as an alternate play style (and, hat bash me, get Daisy in there for player 2's counterpart).

Oh, and Mushroom Kingdom in Odyssey was pretty lame and lifeless so Nintendo should be bold and add familiar characters to populate it.

 

[Moldomré]

As LGM says, playable Luigi would be all I need personally. But having Peach and Daisy get in on the action would give me a fat smile and a half.

 

[vizIIsto]

I agree with you on new kingdoms, LGM. That's also the main reason why I started this thread. There are so many ideas to exploit...
Also thanks for the responses y'all but plz also review my ideas and share your own.

 

[zel]

i love brainstorming what they could do for smo2. i dont think that will happen but id like cloud and ruined kingdom to be expanded somehow. they have some interesting lore, especially ruined, but its such a dam shame all they are is just. Arenas For One Boss Fight With Like Five Extra Moons
ive brainstormed a bunch of captures a while ago too! most of them arent that interesting but one that i think would be neat is one that could fly anywhere without a major height limit, but the kingdom/subarea its in is built around it. two other interesting ideas i found from the list

a statue or block thing that can be a platform for mario when uncaptured. could be used in puzzles.

three separate captures that functionally act pretty much identical to the wing/metal/vanish caps from mario 64. they have no time limit however, so perhaps they should get other limitations

regading the new moves i dont think theyre going to really change the moveset much. was it the same between galaxy 1 and 2?

 

[Fawfulthegreat64]

I want a sort of combination of Galaxy and Odyssey- the scope of Galaxy where you travel the universe instead of just one planet, but the open-ended stages of Odyssey with a ton to find and collect. Also it may be a pipe dream but I want it to go all-in with Mario references and not shy away from referencing characters that may not have appeared in the main series or the mainstay cast. Embrace some one-off NPC groups not only from past mainline games (like Whittles) but also from spinoffs (such as Beanish). Create kingdoms themed around different Mario games, and locations that haven't really had the chance to come back. And of course, playable Luigi. Maybe even Wario and Waluigi, with a SM64DS style system and each with their own partner Bonneter and variations on what they can do with captures.

 

[Ray Trace]

They should expand the wardrobe. Give the fat fuck plumber more accessories to toy around with than just a head and pants: maybe have hats, glasses, gloves, and other doodads like badges and backpacks and stuff. I'm sure LGM would love that.

 

[Bowser II]

I want a sort of combination of Galaxy and Odyssey- the scope of Galaxy where you travel the universe instead of just one planet, but the open-ended stages of Odyssey with a ton to find and collect. Also it may be a pipe dream but I want it to go all-in with Mario references and not shy away from referencing characters that may not have appeared in the main series or the mainstay cast. Embrace some one-off NPC groups not only from past mainline games (like Whittles) but also from spinoffs (such as Beanish). Create kingdoms themed around different Mario games, and locations that haven't really had the chance to come back. And of course, playable Luigi. Maybe even Wario and Waluigi, with a SM64DS style system and each with their own partner Bonneter and variations on what they can do with captures.

This is perfect. This is exactly what I want from a Mario game, not necessarily just Odyssey 2. It's so perfect, though, that I doubt it would ever actually happen. *sigh*

 

[vizIIsto]

I want a sort of combination of Galaxy and Odyssey- the scope of Galaxy where you travel the universe instead of just one planet, but the open-ended stages of Odyssey with a ton to find and collect. Also it may be a pipe dream but I want it to go all-in with Mario references and not shy away from referencing characters that may not have appeared in the main series or the mainstay cast. Embrace some one-off NPC groups not only from past mainline games (like Whittles) but also from spinoffs (such as Beanish). Create kingdoms themed around different Mario games, and locations that haven't really had the chance to come back. And of course, playable Luigi. Maybe even Wario and Waluigi, with a SM64DS style system and each with their own partner Bonneter and variations on what they can do with captures.

I think that giving Mario Odyssey lots of good vibes of Super Mario Galaxy is a great thing to try out, although I wonder if it removes one of the key aspects of Odyssey which is that it's not Galaxy. Some galaxies like Freezeflame, Dusty Dune and Melty Molten Galaxy were already, how to say it, they were using an entire planet and rarely anything besides that, which most galaxies didn't have. They can easily take this further, although in my opinion, I would prefer to see this happen in a Galaxy 3 game and not Odyssey 2.

About characters returning, yes, so much yes, that would be neat! A minigame like the Koopa Freerunning game, but you have to beat Nabbits? Things like that. For what concerns kingdoms themed around different Mario games, well, that's where I'm getting a lot of inspiration from for kingdoms. There are plenty of Mario Party boards and 2D worlds that would be so nice as a Mario Odyssey kingdom! I'll talk about them later because I got loads of 'em.

Edit: To build on this idea, I've always had the idea of, instead of launching a new controller with yet another New Super Mario Bros. game which barely shows the system's capabilities at this point, to make a Mario Generations game: an open-world exploring game where many of the old games' worlds are recycled to create something new. Like Throwback Galaxy from SMG2, but much more of an overhaul. Some examples are Dinosaur Land, which was a world in Super Mario World. Imagine all of the beeg beeg Yoshis wandering around in a prehistoric jungle world? Or a Cool Cool Mountain which is much larger and doesn't have cliffs surrounding the top? The mountain is actually located right in the middle of a giant snow world! How about Mario Party boards like Yoshi's Tropical Island? Well, that island is reality in Mario Generations! This would be so good when they make all these 'kingdoms' bigger than the kingdoms in Odyssey 1 are. Can't wait for Nintendo to realize that New Super Mario Bros. is no longer new and Mario Kart 9 is very limited compared to a game like this.

 

[vizIIsto]

They should expand the wardrobe. Give the fat fuck plumber more accessories to toy around with than just a head and pants: maybe have hats, glasses, gloves, and other doodads like badges and backpacks and stuff. I'm sure LGM would love that.

I think the clothing options themselves already had a wide enough variety. But I like the idea of having more options besides just hats and shirts. Glasses would be nice, but there's not much more besides shades and water goggles. If anything, I'd prefer just having more options to choose from, maybe get the help from fan gamers to gather as many outfits as possible

i love brainstorming what they could do for smo2. i dont think that will happen but id like cloud and ruined kingdom to be expanded somehow. they have some interesting lore, especially ruined, but its such a dam shame all they are is just. Arenas For One Boss Fight With Like Five Extra Moons

Yeah, they were way too small. Rueened Kingdom has so much to offer, maybe the Cloud Kingdom not so much, but they were indeed pretty small. Heck, I even found the Moon and Lost Kingdoms too small (and the Metro Kingdom up to some extent).

regarding the new moves i dont think theyre going to really change the moveset much. was it the same between galaxy 1 and 2?

It was the same. What do you think of my ideas?

Also, please review each other's ideas. I've shared a couple of ideas already about plot ideas and possible new moves but didn't get any reactions answering to those ideas. I love you adding your own ideas in, but right now, they're all generalized. I'm looking for YOUR plot ideas!

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I think that giving Mario Odyssey lots of good vibes of Super Mario Galaxy is a great thing to try out, although I wonder if it removes one of the key aspects of Odyssey which is that it's not Galaxy. Some galaxies like Freezeflame, Dusty Dune and Melty Molten Galaxy were already, how to say it, they were using an entire planet and rarely anything besides that, which most galaxies didn't have. They can easily take this further, although in my opinion, I would prefer to see this happen in a Galaxy 3 game and not Odyssey 2.

About characters returning, yes, so much yes, that would be neat! A minigame like the Koopa Freerunning game, but you have to beat Nabbits? Things like that. For what concerns kingdoms themed around different Mario games, well, that's where I'm getting a lot of inspiration from for kingdoms. There are plenty of Mario Party boards and 2D worlds that would be so nice as a Mario Odyssey kingdom! I'll talk about them later because I got loads of 'em.

Edit: To build on this idea, I've always had the idea of, instead of launching a new controller with yet another New Super Mario Bros. game which barely shows the system's capabilities at this point, to make a Mario Generations game: an open-world exploring game where many of the old games' worlds are recycled to create something new. Like Throwback Galaxy from SMG2, but much more of an overhaul. Some examples are Dinosaur Land, which was a world in Super Mario World. Imagine all of the beeg beeg Yoshis wandering around in a prehistoric jungle world? Or a Cool Cool Mountain which is much larger and doesn't have cliffs surrounding the top? The mountain is actually located right in the middle of a giant snow world! How about Mario Party boards like Yoshi's Tropical Island? Well, that island is reality in Mario Generations! This would be so good when they make all these 'kingdoms' bigger than the kingdoms in Odyssey 1 are. Can't wait for Nintendo to realize that New Super Mario Bros. is no longer new and Mario Kart 9 is very limited compared to a game like this.

While I also think it's a good thing to try out, there's also a risk of not, well, taking risks. That is, a new game that takes too much from Galaxy can come off as not being confident enough with its own ideas and can fail to stand out as a new establishment. It's why Galaxy 2 in particular earned my ire and it made me not want another Galaxy game, especially not Galaxy 3. I was happy when they announced Odyssey as a new game and not Galaxy 3. I think they're pretty much past the Mario in outer space concept though. Even Rosalina's reduced to a spinoff character nowadays while the Mario series has taken another direction.

As for open world, I think that aspect of gaming was just a huge fad. It's difficult to pull off and open-world has never been a component of a Mario game before. I don't know if it can be fine-tuned to Mario's style (which is about simplicity, being straight-forward) especially without becoming repetitive (open world tends to have some extra gameplay mechanics that can complicate the games). I don't know how Mario can pull off open-world but I think Mario's better off with exploring a big-ish map with clear goals, with platforming gauntlets serving as a break from exploring. I think there's a lot of potential in using older setpieces to create a new environment, but you want to balance that with new ideas, or else you have Galaxy 2. Expanding worlds do sound nice though, like Cool Cool Mountain has less snow at lower elevations and then the higher you go, then you see all the familiar set pieces and it culminates into going inside the chimney or something.

Since it's on my mind now, I want to share my thoughts and ideas on new concepts, controls and other things like that

Starting off with new controls:
First idea is the kung-fu kick, or some sort of kicking move. Not the breakdance move from Super Mario shitstyfour, but something that's actually helpful in some circumstances. How this would work is when using the kung-fu kick, you can attack an enemy as Mario if it's close enough to you. The reason is that right now, Mario can effectively only defeat most enemies by jumping on them, but some enemies like Spinies can not be defeated by simply jumping on them. For those enemies, this will be useful. When standing close enough to an enemy, you can perform a kung-fu kick to kill that enemy. The enemy has to be relatively small - so this won't work on Thwomps or such things - and you also have to be really close to an enemy to successfully execute this new move, making it a risky move. I think it will have just the right amount of risk attached to it for it to work great.
Another new move for Mario is the frontflip, or high jump. By doing a frontflip, Mario can jump a bit higher than normal, plus, he will move with his face towards a ledge or something instead of moving towards it with his back. This enables him to hang on ledges that he wouldn't be able to catch on with a normal jump or a backflip, because then he can't use his hands like claws. I think this would be a neat new move that I think would work really well.
Obviously, a new Cappy move would also be great. I call it the Trapeze move. Remember the trapezes from Super Mario 3D World? It kind of works like that. You throw Cappy diagonally upwards, so forwards but also upwards, and then you hang onto Cappy and use him as a bridge to get further. There wouldn't be any good purposes to use this in comparison to other moves in the current moveset, but to be honest, I couldn't think of any other new Cappy moves since they are already so well implemented in Super Mario Odyssey, and I prefer finetuning the current moveset from the old game.

This might add some unneeded complexity to a game, especially with the caveats. Combat in Mario tends to be very shallow, but if you need to expand the options, you have to probably design your game around it. While Mario in Super Mario 64 does have combat options, most enemies are easily dispatched with a slide attack, and it's a lot safer than standing there and trying to punch and risk getting bodied. If you want to make punching more useful, you have to design the level kinda like Lethal Lava Land where sliding can risk you falling off but the design of the level can be compromised.

Not sure if the frontflip is a necessary move but it can replace the unwieldy backward somersault. Maybe Mario can crib that move from the Donkey Kong Game Boy game or Mario vs Donkey Kong where Mario can handstand on his own and then perform a big jump. And it can be more useful than a triple jump since a tripe jump requires space to execute.

I'm not sure Cappy requires any new moves but they need to find a way to integrate existing moves without requiring motion controls, maybe map to other buttons for starters? I mean there might be interesting puzzles designed around throwing Cappy directly up or throwing Cappy like a bowling ball. As it stands right now, they're pretty useless moves and the motion controls just make it more cumbersome to perform. The one you proposed just seems like a minor move that I can't see having too much use. You already stated the toolset is pretty good, so...

To answer some of the questions here which I feel like not discussing too much (that is everything but Kingdoms. I love predicting the places they might visit in a future game):
I could come up with three different plots for the new game. The first of which is Bowser tries to marry Peach again. What would make this difficult is they'd have to come up with a bunch of different new wedding items, different to the first game. I feel like it was already hard enough to come up with enough of those for the first game, so that makes it less likely he'll attempt to marry Peach again. Also because he failed badly in Super Mario Odyssey.
The second is that Bowser kidnaps Peach, and then takes her on a 'honeymoon' kinda trip around all the Kingdoms, and Mario is on the chase with them. All of the kingdoms will have many marks of Bowser and Peach having been there, for example, Bowser's footsteps will be visible in the sandy and snowy kingdoms, and Peach could try to give subtle hints to Mario about where to go next. Some sort of secret messages. They could, for example, go on a cruise to a tropical island, and then Mario will also arrive on that Island Kingdom. Or they could go camel riding in a Desert Kingdom, and Mario will have to do the same. Of course, there will be boss battles with Bowser just as with other bosses (maybe Bowser could prepare some bosses when he's in Kingdoms?) so they might have to come up with some sort of 'you are this close to Bowser' and when you're in the same Kingdom, there's a boss fight.
The third option I'd like to talk about with you in this post is a potential of Bowser getting characteristics of Baldy McNosehair in the sense that he will try to create a machine that will 'steal' Princess Peach's heart, so that she will forever fall in love with him. Kind of like the Binding Band in the first series, but now it's a machine. Bowser will try to gather all the special pieces he needs to build the machine with, similarly to how he collected all the wedding objects in the first game, but again, now it's a machine. And Mario will have to chase him in a similar way to Super Mario Odyssey. I think this would be more likely compared to the second option, and perhaps also more likely than going to marry again, even though I'd personally love to see a honeymoon plot in Super Mario Odyssey 2.

You guys have any ideas about plots?

Maybe they can attempt another wedding but I like to see another take of Bowser trying to partner with Peach. Actually, I think the plot should be more on Mario and Peach with their Bonneters trying to stop Bowser and maybe Madame Broodal can play more of a role. This time, they're just pillaging kingdoms like in the first game. Maybe this time they'll try to rig elections to elect Broodals and Mario and Peach have to stop them. Heck it'll be like the first one but without the marriage silliness.

I think a lot of your proposals are already in the first game. There are marks in the first game with signs of damage in the first game, and Bowser's footprints and Bowser posters (which would be campaign posters now in my idea because it was an ongoing joke by me and my sister that the Bowser posters were Trump posters) are everywhere. The subtle hints would be a neat way to guide players though given the sandbox nature, it'll have to be put in a pretty linear level since you'll be walking around everywhere to clean up the mess and get as many power moons as possible anyway. The maps have to be big or otherwise a bit tricky to navigate for that to be effective, as the base game already has a map and many useful landmarks. Tropical Island has been already done as a kingdom, and we had two ocean kingdoms, so they should really either spice up or just have another exotic location.

I'm not too big on the whole marriage thing overall. If you don't mind me dropping some more ideas, I think Mario and Peach should work together this time AND it's a better way for the two to develop as a pair. Luigi also imo should get involved because, well, he's Mario's brother.

 

[vizIIsto]

While I also think it's a good thing to try out, there's also a risk of not, well, taking risks. That is, a new game that takes too much from Galaxy can come off as not being confident enough with its own ideas and can fail to stand out as a new establishment. It's why Galaxy 2 in particular earned my ire and it made me not want another Galaxy game, especially not Galaxy 3. I was happy when they announced Odyssey as a new game and not Galaxy 3. I think they're pretty much past the Mario in outer space concept though. Even Rosalina's reduced to a spinoff character nowadays while the Mario series has taken another direction.

As for open world, I think that aspect of gaming was just a huge fad. It's difficult to pull off and open-world has never been a component of a Mario game before. I don't know if it can be fine-tuned to Mario's style (which is about simplicity, being straight-forward) especially without becoming repetitive (open world tends to have some extra gameplay mechanics that can complicate the games). I don't know how Mario can pull off open-world but I think Mario's better off with exploring a big-ish map with clear goals, with platforming gauntlets serving as a break from exploring. I think there's a lot of potential in using older setpieces to create a new environment, but you want to balance that with new ideas, or else you have Galaxy 2. Expanding worlds do sound nice though, like Cool Cool Mountain has less snow at lower elevations and then the higher you go, then you see all the familiar set pieces and it culminates into going inside the chimney or something.

I never actually got Galaxy 2 but outside of music quality being as excellent as it was in the first game, it didn't really spark enough interest for me besides the few new power-ups. So I agree with you on that. Besides, I don't have a Switch or anything, so I won't be able to get my copy of Galaxy 3 or Odyssey 2.

Open-world seems within reach for Nintendo. You might say that some areas will start to look too big (the Sand Kingdom had some pretty big dunes here and there with nothing interesting), but then again, they could've added quite a bit more. Especially the Metro Kingdom felt cramped. I think Nintendo should be fine with this, and I think it wouldn't be unrealistic to see more space added. Space as in wiggle room, not Galaxy space.

You already stated the toolset is pretty good, so...

And I don't really think it needs to change at all. But a frontflip or kick move would be nice. They had the kick move in Super Mario 64 but messed up in the most hilarious way by turning it into a breakdance clip.

Maybe they can attempt another wedding but I like to see another take of Bowser trying to partner with Peach. Actually, I think the plot should be more on Mario and Peach with their Bonneters trying to stop Bowser and maybe Madame Broodal can play more of a role. This time, they're just pillaging kingdoms like in the first game. Maybe this time they'll try to rig elections to elect Broodals and Mario and Peach have to stop them. Heck it'll be like the first one but without the marriage silliness.

I think a lot of your proposals are already in the first game. There are marks in the first game with signs of damage in the first game, and Bowser's footprints and Bowser posters (which would be campaign posters now in my idea because it was an ongoing joke by me and my sister that the Bowser posters were Trump posters) are everywhere. The subtle hints would be a neat way to guide players though given the sandbox nature, it'll have to be put in a pretty linear level since you'll be walking around everywhere to clean up the mess and get as many power moons as possible anyway. The maps have to be big or otherwise a bit tricky to navigate for that to be effective, as the base game already has a map and many useful landmarks. Tropical Island has been already done as a kingdom, and we had two ocean kingdoms, so they should really either spice up or just have another exotic location.

I'm not too big on the whole marriage thing overall. If you don't mind me dropping some more ideas, I think Mario and Peach should work together this time AND it's a better way for the two to develop as a pair. Luigi also imo should get involved because, well, he's Mario's brother.

Yeah, I'm not too sure about this Mario collab with Peach. Then what would the real purpose of Bowser be anyway? Is he then just mad at them for ruining his wedding that he starts breaking everything? I have seen a Dorkly video where Bowser tries to win the Mushroom Kingdom election which was just hilarious, but is it material for a Mario game? I'm not so sure. I think Nintendo wants to stay away from taking standpoints in things like politics and religions, so we won't see much of either of those. Unless they're going to give the Mario universe their own religions, which does seem possible.

Kingdom-wise, do you really think they can come up with 17 or so new kingdoms that are totally different from the first game? Galaxy 2 shows that they kind of failed at that. Most galaxies were pretty much the equivalents of galaxies from the first game, and the ones that were new were... not so interesting to play in? There's loads of kingdom ideas we can discuss here (and we will), but most of them will probably build on from the first game.
In fact, I think our safest bet is that in an Odyssey 2, they'll want to build on from what happened in the first game. So your plot ideas don't seem out of the question, but neither does my 'honeymoon' as it builds on from the wedding plot in the original.

 

[vizIIsto]

Alright, to move on, today I'd like to talk about something else that I felt a bit disappointed by in the first game: the 'towns' in the kingdoms didn't feel like towns with a day-to-day cycle. New Donk City was the only exception because it was a city kingdom, but other towns really struggled to make us feel like they were functional towns. These 'towns' are: Bonneton, Tostarena Town, Lake Lamoda, Shiveria, Old Town from Luncheon Kingdom, and up to some point Steam Gardens and Bubblaine.

To start off, most of the towns were nothing more than a bunch of houses and a Crazy Cap store. Tostarena and Old Town were a bit more extensive, but they just feel like buildings and towns that were placed there for the sole purpose of having a town there. And a Crazy Cap store, of course.
First off, why was there only one store? The Crazy Cap was nice, but you bought your outfits there as well as some kingdom-exclusive souvenirs, stickers and Power Moons. Why couldn't there be multiple stores? One for outfits, one for souvenirs, and perhaps also a music store for unlocking more soundtracks from previous games, a library / book store which could show your records and interesting stories to read up on (fan fiction anybody?), a pet shop to get your own custom dog (it was a shame the dog was only in Seaside Kingdom iirc). What would also have been nice to find in some of these towns was a school, hospital, theatre, disco club, a bank, things like that. Nothing more than just a bunch of things you can find in about any city there is on earth.

In fact, I think for a sequel, the towns should resemble real life more, and give it a Mario spin. I think it's not out of the question that Nintendo is going to look at real-life examples for their kingdoms, seeing as how Mario Kart Tour also visited world cities. To give the towns more ambiance and a well-structured outline would improve things a lot.

 

[Ray Trace]

Even New Donk City I felt had trouble actually being a city, with the only cars around being taxis, and then the city is surrounded by sheer cliff drops like it was build ontop of a plateau, rendering the use of taxis and cars very moot to begin with. I really hated the areas you can fall off in in the main hub of New Donk City, it instantly took me out of it being a real location and became like a painting world from Super Mario 64 or at least people in it are artificial and don't actually live in it. Of course, in the trailers, they don't show off the drops, because they know that it takes us out of the world instantly. The humans all dress identically as well, so that doesn't help the immersion of a real world. I like the effort and the scaling of the buildings and the details it has, but the limitations of what Nintendo did with the level are blatantly there and they suck.

And I really wish I could play again the variant of the city being in night and in rain like when you first arrive there (now the rainy night is restricted to the taxi possession mini level and the boss painting of Mecha Wiggler). I wish in general, there were day and night cycles that randomly generate each time you visit the kingdom, so one time it could be day, another it could be raining at night.

Shiveria in general was pretty bland and the town is actually one of the stronger parts about it, and it's disappointing for me because it's named after "Siberia" and there was so much more potential you can do with that environment (of course me being a Russophile...). The underground part felt so disconnected from the rest of the level, where you enter it from a giant artificial, circular in the ground which I find a bit jarring. It's also annoying that a good chunk of Shiveria's levels are corridors that inexplicably lead to hostile environments that also feel very disconnected from the hub. I also agree that it doesn't really feel like a town at all. It looks like an indoors auditorium instead.

 

[vizIIsto]

Even New Donk City I felt had trouble actually being a city, with the only cars around being taxis, and then the city is surrounded by sheer cliff drops like it was build ontop of a plateau, rendering the use of taxis and cars very moot to begin with. I really hated the areas you can fall off in in the main hub of New Donk City, it instantly took me out of it being a real location and became like a painting world from Super Mario 64 or at least people in it are artificial and don't actually live in it. Of course, in the trailers, they don't show off the drops, because they know that it takes us out of the world instantly. The humans all dress identically as well, so that doesn't help the immersion of a real world. I like the effort and the scaling of the buildings and the details it has, but the limitations of what Nintendo did with the level are blatantly there and they suck.

And I really wish I could play again the variant of the city being in night and in rain like when you first arrive there (now the rainy night is restricted to the taxi possession mini level and the boss painting of Mecha Wiggler). I wish in general, there were day and night cycles that randomly generate each time you visit the kingdom, so one time it could be day, another it could be raining at night.

Shiveria in general was pretty bland and the town is actually one of the stronger parts about it, and it's disappointing for me because it's named after "Siberia" and there was so much more potential you can do with that environment (of course me being a Russophile...). The underground part felt so disconnected from the rest of the level, where you enter it from a giant artificial, circular in the ground which I find a bit jarring. It's also annoying that a good chunk of Shiveria's levels are corridors that inexplicably lead to hostile environments that also feel very disconnected from the hub. I also agree that it doesn't really feel like a town at all. It looks like an indoors auditorium instead.

Day and Night cycles would be really cool, as well as implementing weather. Imagine how rain will make the ground more slippery? You could even have some crazy weather cycles like fast winds blowing you away like Ty-Foo's, heavy fog which decreases your visibility, or it's hailing frogs! Really, I'm pretty sure I've heard of frogs having been found stuck in giant hailstones. Perhaps they can also make it rain Goombas or Koopa Troopas.