Mario Strikers: Battle League

[LeftyGreenMario]

I mean it's either they release it early and get free updates or they release it later and people complain about the lack of games.

At least when they release it later you know what you're getting than having people spend 60 and hope future updates stack up. Or they don't spend on the game, experience FOMO (fear of missing out) not a nice feeling. It's the same icky feeling when battle passes / season passes are announced. You're spending money based on promises not on content.

People will complain about anything that happens. I do believe, however, a game needs a strong foundation first and then updates are bonuses. Clearly Nintendo thinks this game should be somewhat rushed out so we have a Nintendo game this season and people can pay full price for a game that's not really worth full price. I do think the game will sell regardless but I think it's hurting games like these in the long term. We've seen pretty disappointing post release arcs with Animal Crossing, Mario Maker 2, Super Rush, Tennis Aces, where the updates were free but drip fed and eventually stopped.

I don't mind post launch updates. Just think of it like I do. We get 10 free dlc characters, and since they are going to take longer they could have even cooler animations. We already have some incredible characters, imagine what could come next! Daisy, Koopa, Pauline. heck they could go and give us a character no one knew they wanted like with Petey Piranha in charged, or super team in the first game. Yea it sucks that we're not getting them immediately, but NLG seems to be passionate about this game, so if they have to wait to add these characters then so be it.

Thanks for reading, and I hope all you BLJs happen first try.

That 10 dlc is no guarantee. It would be awesome if we got more like that, practically doubling the roster (though stadiums??) But take the datamine with a big grain of salt. Even if there are 10 slots there's no guarantee they will all be filled, even considering half. Sure I think 13-15 is a reasonable amount for this game...

I do think every character is just pure quality. They're all so memorable. Even when they're on the field you see little touches of individualiry I don't think Next Level Games was being lazy at all even though I've seen so many accusations that they were. This game has as plenty of attitude as the previous ones, which I'm happy to say. I did remember fearing Nintendo will tone down a lot of what made Strikers great, but in presentation, I'm happy to say it's not.

 

[winstein]

New Mario Strikers trailer has Spongebob-like music at the beginning

My mind wanders in some weird places, like for example, what if Peach was the one who get hit by the ball in the face instead. It seems to be precedented that women don't get this sort of abuse, like how the 60-second Mario quiz videos put Luigi in the distressed position instead of the expected Peach (Luigi can actually get scorched in lava).

Thank you for reading.

 

[Wintertime Peach]

Ok, sorry. Maybe "half-assed" is more accurate then? As in, these games only contain the bare minimum at launch because Nintendo doesn't like putting effort into these games. I mean, fans will buy these games anyway, so why put in more work adding more content. All Nintendo cares about is dollar signs $$$

 

[Christmas Who?]

Ok, sorry. Maybe "half-assed" is more accurate then? As in, these games only contain the bare minimum at launch because Nintendo doesn't like putting effort into these games. I mean, fans will buy these games anyway, so why put in more work adding more content. All Nintendo cares about is dollar signs $$$

Nintendo doesn't just care for money. They care to make a fun game that everyone will enjoy, no matter the size of the content.

This game looks fun to play and visually great. I don't see anything "half-assed" about it.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

My mind wanders in some weird places, like for example, what if Peach was the one who get hit by the ball in the face instead. It seems to be precedented that women don't get this sort of abuse, like how the 60-second Mario quiz videos put Luigi in the distressed position instead of the expected Peach (Luigi can actually get scorched in lava)

Lol I actually thought "what if Peach was hit instead, why don't we see that ever" independent from you. It's not weird to think that.

Ok, sorry. Maybe "half-assed" is more accurate then? As in, these games only contain the bare minimum at launch because Nintendo doesn't like putting effort into these games. I mean, fans will buy these games anyway, so why put in more work adding more content. All Nintendo cares about is dollar signs $$$

To be honest I don't quite 100% buy the "rising development costs" though I acknowledge it's a contributing reason as well as a tight quora and a middling budget for a smallish soccer game for this year. Next Level Games worked with what they had and I do like what we're getting.

 

[Mario Enjoyer]

My mind wanders in some weird places, like for example, what if Peach was the one who get hit by the ball in the face instead.

Peach would have became even more of a diva in battle league. In fact at that point not even diva would count, peach would just be a [I'll let you decide what goes here]

Ok, sorry. Maybe "half-assed" is more accurate then? As in, these games only contain the bare minimum at launch because Nintendo doesn't like putting effort into these games. I mean, fans will buy these games anyway, so why put in more work adding more content. All Nintendo cares about is dollar signs $$$

10 characters does not make a half assed gamed, quality over quantity. That's why Sonic 06 was so buggy, they tried to pack it full of content before the strict deadline. Let's just be happy Nintendo isn't making the same mistake.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

But are you aware of recent industry practices of cutting stuff to sell back as DLC or stuffing crap in season passes? Now, Nintendo isn't doing that exactly since those updates are free, but it's a similar questionable principle: they're not releasing games that justify 60 bucks at release and people who hold their noses and spend 60 are hinging on promises that the *unknown* upcoming content will justify that price. I don't like that business practice at all.

 

[Mcmadness]

To be honest I don't quite 100% buy the "rising development costs" though I acknowledge it's a contributing reason as well as a tight quora and a middling budget for a smallish soccer game for this year. Next Level Games worked with what they had and I do like what we're getting.

Were it just a few games it happened to I wouldn't buy it either. But I've seen it everywhere. It's one of the prime factors for why game companies don't release like 20ish games a year like they used to.

Like shit this was back in the mid to late 2000s. It's only gotten worse now.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I see that chart thing a lot of times but I want contextualization too. Games are costing more but they're raking much more money than ever. The games industry is indeed massive and way more monstrous and they do indeed focus on fewer games (look at Rockstar's output for a clear example) and focus more on updating these games. There's the argument that BOTW needed only 2 million sales to offset costs, and 2 million for a mainline Legend of Zelda is a very low bar to cross, and BOTW is obviously a more expensive game than Battle League. There's the argument about budget allocation and marketing, that Strikers is a middle shelf game to release in a particular window without too much care for content as people play and wait for hard hitters, which makes more sense to me... Though again plenty of the hard hitters are already out.

So again I don't buy that argument 100% and without much more thorough analysis by experts who do look at all the numbers and surrounding context (which that is very difficult task since the industry is nontransparent), I'm not convinced though I will, again, say that it's a contributing reason. Just doesn't line up with the counterpoint of massive corporations and yearly record profits too. I'll be happy to concede, and I try not to bias my opinions too much with my great distrust in corporations and disdain for the video game industry.

After all I did defend this game multiple times.

 

[zel]

idk for sure but ive heard from my friend that the game lacking in content is seemingly nintendo's decision and not nlg
i cant speak on strikers specifically at all because i have not played any of the strikerses but. theres definitely something to be said about nintendo games lately repeatedly releasing low on content only for it to be finished months down the line. if you get any of the games second hand physically after the switch no longer gets supported youre likely to just be stuck with 1.0.0 and all that missing content, and its just kind of artificially prolonging the life of the game, i guess?

 

[Ray Trace]

It's also more digital data that your console has to carry and having this for multiple games quickly adds up.

 

[Mcmadness]

I see that chart thing a lot of times but I want contextualization too. Games are costing more but they're raking much more money than ever. The games industry is indeed massive and way more monstrous and they do indeed focus on fewer games (look at Rockstar's output for a clear example) and focus more on updating these games. There's the argument that BOTW needed only 2 million sales to offset costs, and 2 million for a mainline Legend of Zelda is a very low bar to cross, and BOTW is obviously a more expensive game than Battle League. There's the argument about budget allocation and marketing, that Strikers is a middle shelf game to release in a particular window without too much care for content as people play and wait for hard hitters, which makes more sense to me... Though again plenty of the hard hitters are already out.

So again I don't buy that argument 100% and without much more thorough analysis by experts who do look at all the numbers and surrounding context (which that is very difficult task since the industry is nontransparent), I'm not convinced though I will, again, say that it's a contributing reason. Just doesn't line up with the counterpoint of massive corporations and yearly record profits too. I'll be happy to concede, and I try not to bias my opinions too much with my great distrust in corporations and disdain for the video game industry.

After all I did defend this game multiple times.

I mean are they actually raking in more money than ever or is that just inflation?

And did BOTW need just 2 million to break even or to actually make a profit? Because if it's just break even then thats not really helping them out.

That being said I'd say it's a combination of budget, who the audience is for this game (Mario sports games were never the highest of sellers) and when it's coming out that causes things like this to occur.

 

[MnSG]

How is the game "incomplete"? You're getting what's promised on the cover, right? Why complain about "post launch updates" when this has been the norm for a few years now?

It's also worth noting that there's a big difference between base games that are fully playable, and the ones that are flat out broken. One just has to look at past base game release disasters, such as Sonic 2006, Fallout 76, and even Cyberpunk 2077. Now THAT is unacceptable.

 

[Ray Trace]

Why complain about "post launch updates" when this has been the norm for a few years now?

just because something is the "norm" doesn't make it any less grotesque, see microtransactions in premium priced games

not to mention ive seen games abandoning their roadmaps, you're essentially paying 60 dollars based on a vague promise that's primarily a gamble that can be canceled any time.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I mean are they actually raking in more money than ever or is that just inflation?

As far as I know, industry is making profits, they brag to shareholders about it, the market has exploded (due to digital distribution), and CEO pay in general have exploded (though not wages).

 

[PownicMania]

Dude, new strikers OST GOES. Like literally, it's incredible.

Spoiler

Most of the music from YouTube has been taken down now(Guessing due to it being datamined days before we are supposed to even play on the online session) but absolute FACTS! The OST that's been shared goes crazy, and this is coming from someone who's a huge rock music enthusiast. All of what we heard so far is just the DEMO by the way, which gets me excited of what the other potential music tracks are.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I freaking love the gear in the game. I like spending some time going in the gear select and looking at how gear fits on the cast.

Unfortunately the coin payouts aren't good at all. I play offline, which each match so far is 10 coins. You DO start out with around 800 coins after tutorials and after you first come in the gear menu. Completing a Cup for the first time is like 200 or so coins I believe (and then 50 coins for clearing it again). Each gear costs 100 coins to buy, and it's for only one character.

 

[MnSG]

Stat customization is also much more limited than people realize, since you don't exactly have full control over which stats you want to sacrifice when boosting a stat.

 

[Captain Goomba]

strikerses

Sorry to interrupt the discussion, but this is my new favorite word.

And I'm considering getting the game. From my initial playthrough of the demo (which was relatively small) it looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and I like the decision to make every character playable on the same team, but I do miss the sidekick's feature. (I will miss being able to smash my opponents into the ground with Hammer Bro's defensive moves and teleporting with Dry Bones and Waluigi.)

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

Stat customization is also much more limited than people realize, since you don't exactly have full control over which stats you want to sacrifice when boosting a stat.

Here's hoping they release more gear in the future too.

Sorry to interrupt the discussion, but this is my new favorite word.

And I'm considering getting the game. From my initial playthrough of the demo (which was relatively small) it looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and I like the decision to make every character playable on the same team, but I do miss the sidekick's feature. (I will miss being able to smash my opponents into the ground with Hammer Bro's defensive moves and teleporting with Dry Bones and Waluigi.)

It's fun but wait for content updates before you (or your parents) commit 60 dollars to a game that isn't quite meaty and is hinging on unfulfilled promises that it'll get more meat.

 

[MnSG]

Here's hoping they release more gear in the future too.

Pretty much this. If you were to look at Rosalina's stats, it's possible to buff up her strength and speed without too much trouble. However, if you're aiming for speed and passing, that's a somewhat trickier endeavor. And it gets even harder if you're looking for a good technique stat as well.

 

[winstein]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1549380172843044871

I'm very pleased that Daisy is added! I guess Shy Guy is cool also, and I presume that like Toad and Yoshi, they can have multiple in the same team.

The fact that DLC is announced by waves is interesting, because it's unlike Mario Golf, which is updated like as if it has a road map but the information is not conveyed. Mario Tennis did not need that because every month comes with a new character so the updates were more consistent. Two characters seem like the expectation, but I am actually hoping that the other two each comes with three characters, because there are just many species characters but not enough currently. So like Koopa Troopas, Monty Moles, or Birdos would be nice to see.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Koopa con Carne]

That's disappointing. You know they'll fill those in with extremely vanilla choices like Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones, and Toadette. Would have hoped they'd put Kremlings or Chargin' Chuck but the chances of that are slim with such a prospect.

----

Edit after Ray Trace liked my comment: or Baby Mario, because I'd genuinely like to see a toddler on the field with adults playing high octane, no-holds-barred, dangerous football.

 

[Windy]

They did introduce Pauline and Diddy Kong from Nintendo Direct in the last month.
I bet Bowser Jr. and Toadette in this year's update.

 

[MnSG]

Imagine if King K. Rool joins Bowser Jr. as the final two bonus characters. As for their stats...

Bowser Jr. - Bowser Jr. combines his speedy feet with balanced strength and shooting power.

• Strength: 13/25
• Speed: 16/25
• Shooting: 13/25
• Passing: 11/25
• Technique: 10/25

King K. Rool - King K. Rool's raw power and extreme shooting ability can strike fear on even the bravest adversaries.

• Strength: 18/25
• Speed: 9/25
• Shooting: 18/25
• Passing: 9/25
• Technique: 9/25