- Tested on Nintendo Switch.
- Game bought on the shop.
- Gameplay captures and home screens.
- No more than 66% in 30 hours on Switch OLED.
- Very nice surprise at the end of the year whether we like these unfortunate rabbits or not!
The first part had marked a clear advance in Nintendo's history by letting for the first time a western developer borrow the mustachu plumber for an original game (heresy). And it was literally necessary to camp in front of the Nintendo premises to convince the old sage of Shigeru Miyamoto not to get harakiri on the spot. So a small revolution for a publisher who jealously cultivates his licenses. Improbable mix between the universe of the fungus kingdom and that of the idiot rabbits (a popular phenomenon as inevitable as annoying of the Wii era) the title of Ubisoft had crossed the red line by shooting guns at Mario and his band. There was only one gore option to check for the big NRA slam. This second episode was somewhat blocked by the public at its launch but it only begins to dig its hole in terms of sales. Good news for a title that overflows with ambition and good ideas.
From rififi to the fungal kingdom
In 2017 it was no less than 115 people from the studios of Ubisoft Paris and Milan who had stuck to the development of Kingdom Battle. Five years later, we take over the same ones and start over again. If the first opus had already shown malice in seeking to fluidize the rigid formula of the tactical, this new opus plays the card of openness and goes even further in terms of freedom of movement. What a pleasure to see a suite not resting on its achievements! Finished the checker with boxes that are said to be repellent for novices; now you move more freely on a defined area before or after choosing your actions. At any time you can switch (no wordplay) between characters, which frees up beautiful creative combinations. Only limit, after firing impossible to move and then exposed to enemy fire. And some situations can quickly degenerate with a domino effect in the end sometimes... farcer...
In Kingdom Battle, the game was primarily based on a coverage system at the X-com planning enemy actions and mobilizing an arsenal with varied effects to repel, freeze or burn monsters for example. Simplification of the formula obliges, finished the purchases of guns with mushroom color armory. This tactical dimension is recycled in another form by our little companions, Sparks, rabbits lumas for old breakers of Mario Galaxy. It is also on the universe of the best Mario 3D that this suite rests enormously. The arenas are floating like planets and, spoiler alert, we find at casting Harmony and its bunny version blazed to save. We bet moreover on a next game with this Peach competitor for the successor of the Switch.
Overall the combat system is very pleasant because of its vivacity and the freedom offered to the player. Sparks allow to launch various super powers to attract or repel enemies, give specific effects to weapons or strengthen specs of our people for example. The game incorporates a – lean – size RPG nevertheless appreciable by allowing to increase the attributes of each Sparks by rising from the stars won after each fight. Sparks of Hope Nevertheless, offers an interchangeable and evolving skill tree that greatly changes approaches.
Tactic-open-World
Sparks of Hope further integrates Mario's platform philosophy. One can jump on the head of his companions to hover, bounce back on an enemy's dungeon and end up with a double shot electrified in the air. All this with small onion animations and making sure to finish covered. The blocks are now almost all destructible, making our characters very quickly vulnerable. The arenas are sometimes huge and renew themselves with more and more mechanisms and pipes as the progression progresses, making the defense more arduous. It's simple, you've never seen such a dynamic tactical.
Question difficulty, it is imperative to play at the maximum level in order to fully enjoy the strategic potential of the game, even if the level of toughness of the opponent will depend closely on the sincerity of the player vis-à-vis his initial commitment. In addition to Sparks, each playable person has a specific offensive or defensive feature: shoot through the walls, a sniper, a bazooka and many other surprises. No clone in casting, pure pleasure! Moreover, it will be recommended to disable in the options unwelcome micro-cinematics at each special use and to increase the speed of animations to the maximum to prevent the fighting from lasting.
The difficulty is adjustable at any time and the less reckless can farm on the open map of the game by killing enemies of lower levels when leaving and returning to the planets. Bof bof in terms of personal satisfaction you will agree... Be careful, to fully enjoy the game, you must know how to fix yourself bans. Never use objects, never farmnever change the level of difficulty. And then only the game can reveal its gameplay. We see a lot of people say that the game is less hard but we know the song: how many have given in to ease?
However, without a punitive challenge to the Fire Emblem in its extreme level, far from there, Sparks of Hope offers a reasonable degree of difficulty and extends the hand to players who are not familiar with a genre not always easy to tackle at first glance. The most motivated will be able to unlock more twisted secret levels to satisfy everyone. Too bad they have to be unlocked at the price of too many auxiliary quests. A dilemma if you want to keep a little challenge on the main adventure.
Not content to have evolved its gameplay of the fights, Ubisoft also heard the players' criticisms of the exploration phases, which were clearly not the fort of the first opus, on the contrary. I'm being murmured behind the scenes that it was frankly lame. (It was a big deal.) One of the undeniable qualities of Sparks of Hope is to propose six totally different planets with secondary objectives to achieve, a much more natural exploration and various and organic puzzles as we say in New Age jargon. Fascinating to see how much developers have benefited from the experience of the last Zelda up to certain elements of sound design such as that of tombs borrowed from Breath of the wild. Exit the invisible walls, we now choose to enter the phase of fighting directly by rushing on the enemy who can do the same. No penalties when you get caught from behind (no counterfeits here, promised).
A Choral Game
The display distance is impressive for the Switch and the game is beautiful. A crazy generosity, one delights to discover the mysteries of every biome that discovers itself like a maze with a sensitive intelligence of the level design while leaving the part beautiful to observation. And there's something to do! By releasing each of them from shadow tentacles, the planet takes a completely different appearance visually as in terms of gameplay opportunities. We are even invited to revisit the planets after unlocking certain skills of Beep-o.
In every world, we are greeted by a fully lit guard who will need help. Some have a chastised language and a frankly funny phrase. It's stupid, but it works. Beep-o is sometimes a bit heavy, especially with its equivalent to the feminine, but it is said that this is part of its charm. Moreover on this point, those to whom the idiot rabbits give herpes can be reassured, the latter are far less idiots and almost as smart as the PNCs of other games in the studio, that is! No overdose on this side and the universes integrate – strangely – in good intelligence. Ubisoft monkey even the chatter God Of War Ragnarok with humorous frescoes that tell the story of guardians and rabbits. Variations in the styles of the scribbled drawing to the cel shading collage way or how to use with intelligence the artworks of the game.
The kinematics are much more supported and inspired, notably by some graphic borrowings with the dynamism of Spiderman Into The Spiderverse. The ensemble gives the impression of attending a nice cartoon of animation. The title also has, rare thing, full dubbing in French and with a successful player game. Cocorico! As long as it lasts before major publishers seize AIs like EA
Only the Nintendo characters remain silent (and this is so much better) and we will only regret that some rabbits did not remain silent. Some are wrestling with remarks that are likely to hit the budding teens of any good free to play respect. Clearly less probable for the thirty-year-olds who are out of the way. Nothing bad but we prefer Luigi's grimaces rather than those punchlines Children. A little puritanism! Fortunately, this concerns only three rabbits that will be called pestiferous for the needs of criticism. You can put them on the bench like me or simply disable the voices for the most hermetic to the juvenile glubi-boulga (reac parenthesis finished).
Peach, my Peach, when you have a little hollow
Spark of Hope is a true love letter to fans, we like to see our team reinforce itself by characters emblematic of the franchise, including this good old Bowser increasingly relayed to the second role by new villains. That's the real big replacement! Where Beep-o was strangely controlled in the first, we now direct the character we want, each with cartoon animations of the most beautiful effect. Seeing rabbit Peach gambader like Bambi in the bush is fun. Developers also draw on other Nintendo licenses from Metroid for the blink of eye to the mother ship to Captain Toad for certain special cubic levels that play from perspective.
Every time we expect the game to rest on its laurels, new ideas emerge with boss fights inspired sometimes on several fronts with the entire team. You will understand, the phases of exploration are no longer a purging and make the experience otherwise more varied. There are many references. Without turning to the Shakespearean drama (no fratricidal duel in sight for Mario and Luigi, shame), the story follows with interest and especially with rhythm and so much elegance in cinematics. It's good to see the fungus kingdom developing a sometimes heavy legacy.
In addition to his shimmering and successful artistic direction to a few pitfalls (curious character of rabbit Sangoku), Ubisoft put the little dishes in the big ones with a OST symphonic very inspired with 52 pieces. It surprises us to see the last worlds take a far-west look sorry or even lean on the side of horror for the final boss. Totally. What attentions for a game that could very well have copied the formula from the first to the letter for a marginal development cost, as Ubisoft does not take away with its other licenses. Only small reproaches: first a heavy and useless HUD and some annoying micro-charges in the menus (swan song of the console). Finally, it is regrettable that the game did not offer rankings or rewards by combat for those who do not use the care where the whole card is liquidated. Don't abuse the care of Peach rabbits before the last chapter, you'll get bigger! It would have brought a welcome point of difficulty, but we're chipping.
It's not every day that we say good of Ubisoft, far from it. But with Sparks of Hope, the publisher in clear loss of confidence on this generation of consoles (and rightly) manages to renew the genre of tactical. A small revolution in terms of freedom of movement, the game is exhilarating by its flexibility both in its phases of fighting and in those of exploration. Farewell the purging of the first shutter and its puzzles to the colored blocks that blinded the Daltonians. There must have been a real brainstorming at Ubi (or a sham of Shigeru) to correct the defects of the first flap. As long as you play at the level of maximum difficulty and forbid some gentleman's rules, Sparks of Hope is a real nugget. And let's say, one of the best exclusives in the Switch catalog. So put your rabbit hate aside for the most grudgeful and give him his chance, you'll be delighted. Now we hope for such a crazy suite with a tragic end where Mario dies devoured by Bowser. All hopes are allowed in the multiverse, right?
For
- Gameplay rode and original
- Domino effect of fighting
- How flexible!
- Finally successful exploration
- Not boring nigmes
- Quality dubbing
- Simple and effective history
- Funny at times
- Rich Casting
- Variety of enemies
- Custom difficulty
- Example finish
- Very cool DA
- Top graphics on OLED
Against
- Untimely micro-charges
- Invasive HUD
- No photo mode
- A cholia too easy
- Some heavy rabbits
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