We're going on an odyssey!
Despite a bit of a learning curve with the controls - maybe due to how infrequently I've used the Switch - Super Mario Odyssey has rapidly engrossed me.
Super-cool thing #1: using Cappy to mind-control things. The early game makes a point of showing you just how crazy this can get, when you control a giant dinosaur. "Capturing" enemies for their unique abilities isn't merely a Kirby-style gimmick, but almost always a requirement for navigating the level or solving a puzzle. These wacky abilities help the game feel fresh, every time you find a new thing to put Mario's hat and mustache on.
The levels are gorgeous, imaginative, and rich with activities. Preview media had me thinking that New Donk City would be a central hub, but in fact it's only one of many "kingdoms" each with dozens of Moons (which are the new Stars) to collect. You can hardly walk 20 feet without tripping over a moon, but there are also so many in hidden-away puzzles and challenge rooms, that I've yet to get even half of them in any level.
Super-cool thing #2: just roaming a level and collecting stuff. Unlike Super Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy and 2 which were all oriented around going in, getting a star, and leaving - or 3D World, which had traditional levels with start- and end-points - Odyssey feels more like a modern open-world game. Finding a collectible doesn't interrupt the flow of the game at all. (With a handful of scripted exceptions, such as events which change the layout of a level.)
The "kingdom" levels are connected by a menu, similar to Galaxy 2 or 3D World, and I must admit I'm still slightly nostalgic for the central hub that earlier games had. But it's hard to complain when each kingdom has so much to do. In terms of densely-packed collectibles, Odyssey delivers on the promise of "old-school collect-a-thons" way, way better than Yooka-Laylee did.
Super-cool thing #3: you can buy outfits for Mario. Not just with gold coins, but with kingdom-specific, purple currency that's only available in limited quantities -- like, New Donk City has 100 of its own coins, some of which you'll need to buy a wiseguy pinstripe suit and hat. And while these outfits occasionally come in handy in the game, like when a construction worker lets you into a building because you're dressed like his boss, they're mostly just fun for dressing up Mario and watching him run around like an idiot in his boxer shorts.
It's only mildly disappointing that some of these outfits - particularly, said boxer shorts - don't translate into the 2D sections; though most of them seem to. Oh yeah, super-cool thing #4: each level has multiple 2D sections, where (somewhat comparable to A Link Between Worlds) you'll enter a flat wall as NES-style Mario. But even these throwback sections are surprisingly creative, as they wrap around 3D corners, or flip Mario's gravity upside-down.
So far, I've encountered exactly one bug, where a few purple coins in a narrow tunnel had tricky collision detection. Everything else in the game has been working super-well. Well, with the exception of the story, which so far is about on-par with "My galaxy! My empire!"
Why am I still typing this? I'm going to go collect more moons.
Progress: 126 moons