Super Mario Odyssey (Inora)

Super Mario Odyssey is a 2017 3D platformer developed for The V² by Inora and published by Nintendo. The game is considered a sequel to the 3D Mario launch title on the Nintendo Switch, reusing assets from that game but featuring a less conventional story and new game mechanics.
It follows Mario, who stumbles into an alternate world named Oscilla and must stop a dark wizard named Stripe from plunging the land into darkness. Reception for the title has been (TBA).
==Plot==
Mario is on a walk through the plains of the Mushroom Kingdom, headed to Peach's Castle for cake. Suddenly, a pipe sprouts up underneath him and swallows him whole, teleporting him to an alternate world known as Oscilla. Mario wakes up inside the dim and dreary Journey Village. Here, players gain control of Mario as he explores the town. The townspeople inform him that the stars from the night sky have all been stolen, leaving nighttime pitch black.
Confused and looking for a way to get home, Mario makes his way to the castle north of the village. The guards there are being assaulted by nasty, one-eyed creatures that resemble Goombas, but Mario comes to their rescue and defeats the three monsters, earning a Power Star from them. The guards, amazed, praise Mario as a hero and carry him off to the royal wizard, Cap.
Cap, an old Toad, is at first confused at the news, expecting the legendary hero he summoned with a spell to either be "taller" or "greener". However, upon Mario presenting the Power Star, he's convinced and releases the star back into space. The old wizard apologizes for abruptly summoning Mario, but tells him that their once peaceful land of Oscilla is in chaos.
Cap explains that he once had an apprentice named Stripe, but that the two drifted apart when Stripe became dissatisfied with the monarchy and began seeking more magical power. Stripe, now a powerful wizard, has kidnapped and imprisoned their princess, Durian, and stole all the Power Stars from the night sky to increase his own magical power. Cap is uncertain of his ultimate plan, but knows that the Power Stars must be recovered or the land will suffer a terrible fate.
Mario, ever the brave hero, agrees to help them. Cap tells Mario that Princess Durian is imprisoned in the Freezing Fields, and gives the guards permission to allow Mario through the northern gate leading there. Mario then embarks on his quest, and ventures into the icy cold plains. Once there, Mario comes upon the Frozen Fortress, a former Oscillan military base that was abandoned after the selfish Lakifreeze moved in.
Mario collects two more Power Stars, breaking the icy seal on the fortress's door. He then ventures into the base and confronts Lakifreeze, who has no cares for anyone except for him and his clan that needed to migrate and formed an agreement with Stripe to gain power in exchange for the lakitu kidnapping Durian. Mario defeats the villain and frees Durian, who was frozen.
Durian, a headstrong and tomboyish princess, tells Mario that she didn't need his help, and clearly seems distrustful of the hero. She explains that she was tired of the guards doing nothing, and decided to take on Stripe herself, but was frozen away by his minion. Although she dislikes Mario, Durian opts to help him collect the Power Stars for the kingdom's sake.
With Durian on his side, Mario is able to clear the boulder blocking the way to Oscilla Plains and access Fruity Beach and, by connection, the mysterious Sunken Volcano. The two collect various Power Stars and eventually rescue other heroes from Stripe's underlings. After confronting Acidwisp, they free Thaddeus, a valiant and no-nonsense Toad guard who attempted to find Durian in the Toxic Swamp. He quickly joins them, grateful for their help.
Lastly, they free Marco, a snarky and egotistical thief from Gearhand in the Time Tower. Eventually the four collect 60 Power Stars, allowing Cap to cast a spell that allows them to reach Stripe's Comet in the depths of space. They confront Stripe, who deems them all to be foolish followers of Cap and battles them. Although they defeat him, he's only left laughing.
Stripe explains that he used to follow Cap until he learned that the old sorcerer was drawing from the Power Stars to increase his own magical power, planning on eventually becoming strong enough to overthrow Durian and rule Oscilla, and decided to betray his master to steal the Power Stars and keep them safe from the wizard. He then says that the others were manipulated into following him, and they soon realize that they had given him all their stars in order to reach the comet.
They rush back to Oscilla, and find that Cap has turned into a massive magical monster known as Wrathful Cap and has taken Durian's Castle for himself. They make their way through the altered version of the castle to reach him, and he is shocked to find that they've returned. Wrathful Cap explains that his family has served the monarchy for generations, always assisting them with no thanks in return, and plans to get back at the royal family by ruling over the world for all eternity.
Working together, the group defeat Wrathful Cap in each of his forms, and return him to his frail old self, sending the Power Stars back into space where they belong. Cap attempts to flee, but the guards corner him and imprison him for his treason. Durian promises to give more credit and power to those who serve the crown, and the world returns to it's peaceful state.
Stripe returns from his comet and is impressed by their heroic actions. Durian, apologizing for attacking him without knowing the full story, offers him a position as the new royal wizard. He eagerly takes up the job, while Marco is generously rewarded by the royal treasury and Thaddeus is promoted to chief of the guards. Durian then turns to reward Mario.
Having grown to admire the hero, she offers him a position as the hero of Oscilla, but he turns it down, explaining through his expressions that he's already the hero of one world. He also turns down any rewards, only asking to be returned to his own world. His new friends wave goodbye to Mario, and Stripe teleports him back to the Mushroom Kingdom.
Mario looks around and finds that no time has passed since he was summoned. A smile on his face, the hero runs off to enjoy cake with the princess.
==Gameplay==
The core gameplay of Super Mario Odyssey draws heavily from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Players explore an open-world 3D environment, platforming, solving puzzles, and battling enemies to collect Power Stars that will grant them access to more areas. However, the game has a few key changes from those games to keep the game feeling modern and new.
The first of these is that, like Super Mario 64 DS, multiple characters are playable, each with their own abilities. In addition, the game features Super Mario 3D World-esque drop in/drop out co-op for two players. Besides that, the game has a day and night system, where the world cycles through both of these times in an hour. Depending on what time it is, certain Power Stars may be either unobtainable or exclusive to that time of day. In addition, daytime is more peaceful and calm while nighttime brings additional enemies.
The last major change is that the game, like Jak & Daxter: The Precursor's Legacy, is seamless, allowing players to travel across the interconnected world without a single loading screen or portal. This gives the game a more alive feeling, especially considering that areas are larger than before and feature more characters to interact with and places to visit. The game features limited voice acting, having lines for every major characters, and noises and text for NPCs based upon their species.
Coins and items also play a bigger role, allowing the group to spend their coins at shops across the world and use various items to solve puzzles and collect Power Stars. To increase mobility, players can also access Yoshi at a certain point, or use warp pipes they've discoved to travel to fast travel across the world of Oscilla to other warp pipes.
==Areas==
Each area in the game is interconnected without loading screens, giving the world a more realistic feel. Some areas are opened after obtaining a certain amount of Power Stars, while others require special abilities or events to be opened. The Power Stars for each area are found here.
Area	Description
 	
A dim and dreary town designed in the Art Deco style, populated by all sorts of creatures. To the north is Freezing Fields, to the west is Oscilla Plains, to the south is Toxic Swamp, and to the east is Magma Mountain. This area also holds the entrance for Time Tower, which stands in the middle of town, and Sky Temples and Stripe's Comet, which can be accessed from Cap's house.
The center of town holds Rusty's bar, Jones' shop, Vinny's house, and a number of other buildings. North of town is Durian's Castle, an imposing jet black fortress with purple windows, which is next to Cap's house and the courtyard. This area is unlocked by default.
 	
Once a lush, bright green field, the migration of Lakifreeze and his minions into the area has frozen it over. This leaves a former Oscillan military base, a large stone fortress in the heart of the fields, abandoned, allowing the villain and his crew to claim it. This area is at the far north of Oscilla, and bordered to the south by Journey Village.
Snowy hills and beds of dead flowers can be found across the area, in addition to various islands in the sky that have been uprooted from the ground. These islands have survived the snowstorm and are still lush and grassy, providing a change from the cold. Another major area is the frozen lake around Lakifreeze's fortress. This area is unlocked by the gates opening north of Durian's castle after Mario meets with Cap for the first time.
==Characters==
===Playable Characters===
Mario is the only default character, while the others must be rescued from Stripe's minions across Oscilla. Each character has their own unique stats and abilities.
Character	Description
MARIO
Unlocked by default.	
"Let's-a-go!"
The hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario has been roped up into an adventure to save the world of Oscilla from the dark sorcerer Stripe. Mario is a man of few words, but he's always brave and kind, even if he can be a bit short-tempered and quick to act. Mario is a balanced character who is decent all-around, and the only character who can use Power-Ups. He has six units on his health bar.
PRINCESS DURIAN
Unlocked after defeating Lakifreeze.	
"Let's get this over with."
Princess Peach's Oscillan counterpart. The headstrong and tomboyish princess of Oscilla. Durian dislikes doing things she deems girly and would rather take action than be diplomatic, this coupled with her arrogance makes her a firey character. Durian is a fast and strong character with only 3 units of health. She has electrokinetic powers, allowing her to fire blasts of energy straight forward to damage enemies and activate machinery as well as a double jump.
THADDEUS
Unlocked after defeating Acidwisp.	
"For Oscilla!"
Toad's Oscillan counterpart. A Blue Toad who serves the royal guard, Thaddeus is valiant and no-nonsense, having a good heart but being overly serious to the point of not being able to take a joke. Thaddeus is a slow character with limited jumping skills, though his strength and 9 units of health make up for this. Thaddeus can use his spear as a melee weapon or as a pogo stick to cross spikes and gain height.
MARCO
Unlocked after defeating Gearhand.	
"I am a man of fortune, and I must seek my fortune!"
Wario's Oscillan counterpart. A thief with a serious egotism problem and a snarky sense of humor, Marco nonetheless follows a code of honor and genuinely values people's lives over treasure. Marco is a fast character with high jumps and slippery controls. He can use his fists to attack enemies or temporarily turn invisible using the magical feather on his hat to cross through gates and bars or sneak around enemies.
===NPCs===
TBA
===Bosses===
Only five of these bosses are mandatory fights to complete the game: Lakifreeze, Acidwisp, Gearhand, Stripe, and Wrathful Cap.
TBA
===Enemies===
TBA
==Items==
TBA
==Stories==
Stories can be heard from Journey Village's bartender Rusty. These can be listened to for no cost, and explain more of Oscilla's lore and backstory.
==Reception==
TBA
==Trivia==
*The Stories were inspired by similar storytellers from the Paper Mario series and the Project Excalibur Storybook from Super Mario: Elemental Journey.
*The game's concept was inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
*The game was originally going to release for the Nintendo Switch, but Nintendo believed the unconventional game would fit better on The V².
==Gallery==
TBA
Category:Games
Category:V2 Games
Category:Mario Games
Category:3D Platforming Games
Category:Platforming Games