Donkey Kong Bananza

[HandsomeDead]

 

I'm surprised at the scope of this.  It looks open world-ish but in a really playful way that recent Zelda and the new Mario Kart might be like.  Seems like that may be the MO for Nintendo this generation.

[Maf]

On the one hand it looks very good, on the other hand the fact they’ve redesigned DK to look more like the movie version + the game looks like Mario Odyssey w BotW climbing

 

I don’t want to say it looks lazy, but it looks a bit too much like they’re other games 

[mfnick]

I think this looks mega! Will definitely be picking this up. Without this there’d be no* reason to get the Switch 2 for me. 
 

* F-Zero GX too but that’s a bad reason to buy a new console when I still own the GC version. 

[Maf]

I just hope Nintendo doesn’t fall in to this semi-open world platformer thing by default, same way PlayStation fall in to 3rd person walkie, talkie games 

[Guest]

This looks incredible. Definitely be my first purchase after Switch 2 MK bundle. 

[Maf]

Will it have a fucking rap song though it’s not 3D DK without one 

[DisturbedSwan]

Day 0

[Maryokutai]

The same thought about open environments crossed my mind when I saw this so soon after Mario Kart going all Forza Horizon. But even with that little bit of scepticism and the fact that I didn't like DK64 at all, I think this was an excellent trailer. 

 

Retro's DK games were fantastic but it's good to switch around developers after a while. Because this is strikingly different, combining Jungle Beat's impactfulness with Wario Land's penchant for destruction and you get something super appealing and fresh. I'll admit the whole game pricing thing really soured everything Switch 2 related for me, but blocking that aspect out for a moment this looks like a wonderful game and one I'll hopefully get around to playing at some point.

[Maf]

DK even has Mario’s roll from Odyssey 

 

Like there’s clearly a lot of new and unique stuff here. The game looks great. I just hope this isn’t what Nintendo ‘becomes’ if you know what I mean 

 

Maybe the next Mario is super different 

 

Also, at best, I’m mixed on the redesign 

[Maf]

Sometimes I think the redesign is not that bad, even though it feels like DK has just lost a lot of character and become a bit Pixar twee

 

 

But then they over animate him to give him some personality and I like it even less 

 

What happened to my guy

 

[HandsomeDead]

 

Spoiler

This dude is the one who did the DK design at Rare.

 

[Maf]

They’ve changed him from rough’n’tough to cartoon-y goofy 

 

I’m not a hardcore Kong fan by any means so this isn’t a hill for me. And I think I could get used to it.
 

But I do think these animations are so over the top in a way I don’t like 

[Maf]

 

Here the box art works better. I’m not a art design guy so not sure why but this one looks cool  

[Maf]

Despite my shit talking this is looking like the star of the show. 
 

Though DK climbing and rolling immediately made me go, oh Zelda and Mario, it’s not like DK hasn’t been doing those things for decades. Just mechanically it looks very borrowed from those other games. But it works so why not.
 

This looks like a really destructive, almost old school kind of platformer where DK is just running around, breaking everything, collecting everything else. If the buttons feel good, which it’s Nintendo so I’m sure they will, this could be a very hard game to put down. Everything just looks crunchy, destructible, simple, smashy. This that classic ass video game 

 

From what I can tell the level design is different to Mario Odyssey as well. Those levels were like mini open worlds/hub worlds. The level in the demo looks like a straight shot from beginning to end, but just with lots to do and break. This could just be a tutorial level and maybe it changes but if it’s not an open world style design of any variety - that’d be really good 
 

This is the least notable thing about it but hand slapping the ground for temporary detective vision is really clever way of making that work. 

[Maryokutai]

38 minutes ago, Maf said:

Here the box art works better. I’m not a art design guy so not sure why but this one looks cool  

 

Things like the black background having a better contrast with the red Switch 2 header, while also not featuring any colours like MP4's purple that just don't work together with red. The game's logo sitting between the header and the main artwork also helps, plus the cover artwork is perfectly centered as DK punches the ground precisely in the middle of the image on the same vertical line as the Switch 2 logo.

 

So in this very specific instance it works, but the main issue is just red not being universally compatible. PS5 also has a big banner on top but because it's white (neutral) it works with everything. They also don't put their logo at the center, which just in general is a really bad idea because it disrupts the engrained reading direction we have when we look at stuff (which takes the shape of a 7, roughly speaking).

 

Edit: oh, yeah, game looks fun. Not sure if this is a complete reboot and future-proofing the IP or just Nintendo EAD having some fun with it before handing it back to another studio like Retro again. Might also depend on the reception, DK64 wasn't really loved, which might have influenced the decision to go back to 2D after that.

[Maf]

I was going to say it could be the red and black but yes having the title at the top is a good point and really helps it stand out and clear the way for the art

[Maf]

I watched the Nextlander reaction and they called this Red Faction Gorilla 

[mfnick]

Double sold.

[DisturbedSwan]

I hardly remember playing DK64 so have no real experience playing 3D DK games.

 

This looks like something new and fresh though, I fully expected a 3D Mario which I would’ve taken with open arms but is nice to finally get another 3D DK game after all these years.

 

Red Faction Gorilla indeed lol, I loved that game. My only worry at the moment is the smashing stuff will become repetitive and won’t be fun after say hour 3-4 but this is Nintendo, I’m sure they’ll of thought of ways to switch things up in the game, the puzzle elements with finding the banana ingot things looked interesting too.

[Maf]

 

Game no.2