Some Quick Thoughts on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

But first, let me take a selfie.

I am working my way through the second world in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and though I have probably barely scratched the surface of the game, have already had the following thoughts:

• This game has frequently been compared to X-COM, but as I have not played that series, I can more easily equate it to Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, or any of a number of other turn-based-strategy (TBS) games. I am actually curious as to what differentiates X-COM from other TBS games, such that most comparisons have specifically cited X-COM. Perhaps the lack of top-down camera view? If so, that is actually something I miss from those other series. In Mario + Rabbids, I feel like I am constantly fighting the camera to find a good angle on where my characters are in relation to the enemies. In fact, it seems like the game itself is fighting the camera. Frequently during cutscenes the game puts the cinematic camera behind (or too close) to parts of the environment, severely limiting your view of the action. In other cases, those parts of the environment are momentarily hidden during the cutscene, which falsely represents the conditions of a particular battle. For example, you may be in cover when an enemy fires at you. The game positions the cinematic camera behind your character (at an angle). It then hides the environmental object you were hidden behind to allow you to see the enemy firing at you (in slow-motion). While neat that it has a cinematic kill-cam, it misrepresents that you are not behind cover. I think the game still gives you the benefits of being in cover (or at least it should), but in terms of planning your future moves, the misrepresentation can be momentarily confusing and disorienting. Even when in pre-battle planning mode, you are limited to an isometric angled view. Overall, camera problems really feel like the biggest flaw of this game I have experienced so far.

My team is at the top center, the other shadows are enemies, and the cinematic camera is conveniently placed behind a bunch of rocks.

• I also kind of wish this game had online multiplayer (both adversarial and cooperative). Perhaps I am just not far enough into the game to have experienced more challenging levels, but in other TBS games, like Fire Emblem, I felt the difficulty curve was much sharper. While that could be annoying as you would have to grind, level up characters, and retry levels many times early in the game, the lack of an adequate challenge thus far into Mario + Rabbids is actually making the game feel short and checklist like. Instead of feeling “Oh, I just need one more try and I will beat this level,” it feels a tad bit like work. “Okay, beat that. On to the next level.” Hopefully these feelings are just a result of an overly helpful (handhold-y) tutorial and gradual difficulty curve. Fortunately, the mildly amusing humor sprinkled into the game, keeps things interesting and fresh enough to warrant continuing to play.

Toad’s droll response when asked whether he can carry an ice block.

• Another thought: Why did the Rabbids have to be in this? Aside from the story, could it have just been Mario and friends fighting the traditional enemies of the Mario-universe, but turn-based? Is it because Ubisoft made that a requirement of making an X-COM style game? I ask because as you progress through the game, you unlock additional characters. While your party begins with Mario, Rabbid Luigi, and Rabbid Peach, you quickly add regular Luigi as a playable character (with additional party members greyed-out so you know there will be more playable characters later in the game). It makes me wonder whether at some point I will be able to replace my entire team with Nintendo characters (i.e. no Mario/Rabbid cross-over characters). If so, the game will effectively become Mario et al. versus Rabbids. I am not sure that is a bad thing considering how few people seem to actually care for the Rabbids.

Perhaps after some additional time with the game I will document my thoughts again. I am also interested in trying an X-COM game at some point in the future. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on the game below.