![]() That’s not the kind of challenge that actually adds anything to the game most of the time and takes away from its overall pacing. Enemy AI seems to always be the same difficulty, so playing on hard mode effectively just makes every enemy tankier. I played a decent chunk of the game on its hardest difficulty until I realized that the only changes that came with the hard mode involved enemy health and damage. Its difficulty options, which offer a few individual selections that allow the player to customize their playing experience are paltry. ![]() Unfortunately, the structure’s the only Ubisoft trademark that’s missing. Luckily, the worlds are small and easy to mainline, so Ubisoft’s trademark bloat is largely nonexistent. The worlds surrounding them are distinct and fun enough to be in that they don’t blend together nearly as much as the standard Ubisoft game, but being plopped into an open area full of things to do is overwhelming at first. I mean that each major area in Sparks of Hope is an open world, with generic piles of goo to clear away via tactical battles. After all, not even squeaky-clean Nintendo’s above mistreating its employees. Ubisoft’s horrifying business and creative practices, only to be outdone by its workplace culture, aren’t what I’m talking about, either. Not necessarily because it’s a crossover between Mario and the Rabbids, but because it bears the trappings of an Ubisoft game and a Nintendo game at the same time. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a bizarre game. Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a tactical playground rife with charm whose dazzling score (penned by some of gaming’s greatest composers), measured doses of fanservice, and deeply satisfying (if occasionally shallow) gameplay delight far more often than they have any right to. Luckily, Sparks of Hope lives up to the first game’s legacy in shaking up and reorganizing the very notion of not just the turn-based strategy game, but the first Mario Rabbids game. Now that we’ve seen this groundswell, Rabbids has much more to reckon with. From new takes on classic franchises like Gears Tactics or the upcoming Metal Slug Tactics, to the emergence of smaller experiences like Into the Breach, to returning classics like Tactics Ogre and Advance Wars, the landscape feels different than it did just five short years ago. Not because Rabbids influenced other greats that came after it, but because in the five years and change since its release, we’ve seen a boom in tactics games. ![]() Since its inception-which was met with critical and fan acclaim-the tactics genre has expanded. That’s not to say others haven’t tried and succeeded in the past, but the first Mario + Rabbids felt like a turning point in the genre. Still, none have done what Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle did in 2017: make tactics approachable. Into the Breach delivers the best game in the genre by trimming nearly every ounce of fluff from other tactics greats, Triangle Strategy offers a gorgeous revival of the classic tactical JRPG, and Gears Tactics broke free from the grid and injected some immensely satisfying ideas into the genre. Recent years have seen that status quo defied from multiple angles. Unfortunately, legions of games chasing that same ethos don’t always bring the same brilliance to the cause, and thus the genre tends to bleed together and alienate the average player in the process. And rightfully so the XCOM games are fantastic. Bleak, dystopian worlds subjugated by alien invaders with equally unwelcoming mechanics and gameplay are considered the cream of the crop. Tactics, strategy and underlying subgenres often feel hellbent on appealing to the hardest of hardcore audiences. ![]()
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