Wednesday, September 7, 2022, it is 8:30 a.m. when we arrive at the new Ubisoft premises located in the Saint-Mandé districts. A kind of American-style campus where a statue of Ezio proudly sits in imitation bronze with a somewhat sketchy molding. It's been more than a year since the head office of the French publisher left Montreuil and its noisy ring road to settle a few kilometers further, as close as possible to the Parc de Vincennes. Beyond discovering these brand new premises, the meeting is special in that it is the first face-to-face event organized by Ubisoft, after the pandemic which prevented us from meeting for almost 3 years. After the discovery, it was time to immerse ourselves in these 3 hours of hands-on this Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. We were able to discover the beginning of the game, but also a more distant part, in order to make us discover new elements of gameplay, all enamelled by a presentation of the developers, present to support us if necessary.
THE SHEPHERD'S SPARK
First thing to remember, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope breaks the basic structure of its elder which alternated exploration, combat, exploration. The idea for Ubisoft Paris / Milan with this sequel is to offer the player more amplitude and above all more freedom. And to take advantage of new horizons, Mario, his faithful friends and a few raving rabbits will therefore leave the Mushroom Kingdom to explore the universe and different planets. To justify interstellar travel, the developers have created a new antagonist, Cursa, who has only one desire: to absorb the energy of the cosmos to become an unstoppable entity. Then follows a kind of chase that will make us discover several planets, each offering a different theme and environments. A great classic. Where Sparks of Hope differs from the first episode is this desire to push us to explore every corner of each planet, the player being able to move freely to find hidden items, puzzles to solve and even some side quests. . This further exploration radically changes the way of understanding the game, more flexible, more modern, but no less tactical far from it, and we will explain all this to you in detail.
Among the elements of the first Mario + Raving Rabbids – incidentally inherent in Tactical-RPGs in general – which could be a hindrance for the general public, the movement grid during combat has been purely and simply removed. This time, it is a question of an area which delimits the movements of each character but in which it is possible to move freely. Small important detail that said: each fighter has 2 action points per turn, knowing that the charges towards an enemy is not counted, which allows to scratch an additional action on his counter. A major change which radically modifies the perspective of the game, and above all offers much more dynamism to the gameplay, by allowing the player to simulate his strategy of attack – and defense – in a more natural way. To this is added the fact that it is now necessary to manage a team of three characters and the possibilities multiply exponentially, especially since it is now possible to combine certain movements and attacks. There is in particular the Team Jump, which allows the characters to move in the air, provided that two characters are located in the same zone of movement. An interaction is then possible to allow you to jump and thus pass over certain obstacles (empty, wall too high) and thus save time. Practical and now essential. For the rest, it is possible to carry out long-range attacks, melee strikes, to send special blows, to use items, but also to call on the Sparks, these small beings in the shape of stars that can grant us some additional bonuses.
NOT SO MORNING
In Mario + The Rabbids Sparks of Hope, it is possible to assign up to two Sparks per character, each with their own skills, whether attack or defense. They are essentially based on the different natural elements that are fire, ice (water), air (electricity) and earth (which we have not yet been able to test). For example, assigning the Pyrostar (the Fire Spark in other words) to a character makes him insensitive to fire attacks, just like Pulstar (the electric Spark) makes it possible to annihilate the wounds related to electricity. And of course, each of these Sparks can evolve over the course of the game, leveling up as characters gain proficiency with the skill tree. We must not neglect the Sparks, they are not only very useful, but their powers can have a real impact on the course of the fights. It is therefore very important to go in search of these creatures on each of the planets visited. Other adjustments in the gameplay are to be highlighted, such as the cover system which now gives indications when his character is under cover, without fear of taking an attack by surprise. This is all the more important since it is not possible (and it is normal) not to have an overall plan of the situation of each visible enemy. The shelter therefore remains an important element to come out alive from the fighting, which gets tougher as you progress. Moreover, very quickly, we realize that we must never neglect the AI ​​of the enemies, very insightful and which does not give any gift, especially from a certain progress in the game. And it is in those moments when you realize that you should never neglect the movements of each character, that you have to think carefully before giving your opponent their turn. Mario + The Rabbids Sparks of Hope intends to aim for a wider audience, but it never gives up on Tactical-RPG diehards who will have the gameplay depth they expect. It is also for this reason that it is possible to modify the difficulty for each mission, with three levels: Beginner, Easy and Demanding. No one will be harmed.
Promising, even improved compared to 2017, the gameplay of Mario + The Rabbids Sparks of Hope is also accompanied by a careful realization. Characters as decorations have been shaped with the validation of Nintendo to be sure not to do anything wrong. This sequel will allow you to discover new characters like Bowser (instead of Yoshi obviously), but also to give more space to the Rabbids who enjoy dubbing, the latter now being a little more gifted with speech. So of course, it contrasts with the rest of Nintendo's characters who are still mute, but we feel that Ubisoft wants to give more body to its characters. We can in any case count on Beep-O and Jeanie so that the atmosphere in the game is a little more talkative and that we are not satisfied only with classic sound effects of Nintendo characters.
