I feel as though it is a little too late to discuss anything about amiibo, but I still feel like it does have some worth.
I liked Amiibo. The concept and potential at least, and I was really excited when Nintendo first announced it because of the potential I thought it could bring. The problem is, I don't think Nintendo or many using these saw the potential it could have.
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I am looking at the website and according to the website, there are over 121 amiibo currently out. (This is considering each AC Amiibo card set as 1).Some are just alt skins like the Golden Mario and Megaman, the 8 bit Mario's, the squid kids, etc.
When not counting different recolors that have the same funtionalty as the original we get 110. However, when counting different versions with at least one amiibo having all funtionality
(for example smash series Mario swallows Super Mario, Mario Mario; Hammer Slam Bowswer swallows Smash Bowswer, etc) we get 95-96 unique amiibo (I need to check what Toon Link and Ocarina Link do).
Unique as in they somehow always have different funtionality. As in different skins, unlockables, modes, etc. But even with all that. An issue lies in funtionality. The multifaceted ways amiibo have been used really hinders a strong and consistent use for them.
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The Good
The ability to go from game to game and transfer information on the fly is a good idea. It allows a unique way to enjoy a game you may have already beaten enough times to be bored of to go back and play in anticipation for an upcoming game where you can just take data you worked on and transfer it over, feeling some depth of reward for playing. Great example of this is the games I think use amiibo the best outside of the Smash line: the Wolf Link amiibo. I think the, (not-even-really-a-mini-dungeon) dungeon by itself would have been very meh use, but the fact that whatever progress you have there affects wolf link in you BotW is pretty cool. I can't say it's perfect because there are still more pushes it could have done, pushes I can't think of off the top of my head. So I'll leave it alone for now.
Smash is a given as well. In fact, to date, it is the best to date. After all, it was the primary reason Amiibo came to fruition.
The Good... But Bad
I can only think of a little over a handful of Amiibo that I would consider acceptable functionality, and even in some of those cases am I am not happy about them.
Breaking some down:
FIre Emblem Fates:
I think this was good integration: being able to duel Marth, Lucina, Ike and Robin. Great intergration. There are two problems I have here, one big one and one minor one. Major one being not really related to Amiibo: Fates had an abundance of DLC and 2 versions of the game. Not really criticizing here on that front, but on the Amiibo side, it still feels that, unless you already owned amiibo, you're paying and paying and paying and paying. Content may be worth it, it may not, but it is a souring experience regardless. The minor one is actually a major issue in the wider scope of things, but here not so much: Roy. I feel that they should added some content for the amiibo. Yes it goes against my first gripe to a degree. No, I don't care about my hypocrisy. I'll get into that later.
Mario Tennis Ultra Smash:
The good news is that it is up there with one of the best functionalities of amiibo integration out there, and its basically like Smash's integration. The bad news is almost everything else about the game, which bodes the question: why not just work on the amiibo after adding other content? Maybe that's a budget thing, fine. However, I am looking at the current compatablity list provided online and there are still some characters that have amiibo out that do not have integration.
Shovel Knight:
Shovel Knight's integration was a big mistep. Nintendo fans wanted exclusive content too, not content you had to pay for, what's more it locked out co-op a mode it should not have locked. But the reason I don't think its downright awful like the Black Arwing or the Amiibo Party Boards ,is because the actual content of the amiibo made sense: An upgradeable, transferrable character that you can save on move to a completely different game. Though the good does not nearly outweigh the bad.
SHOW ME SOME SKIN(S)
Now a lot of people will disagree with me on this part, but the content afforded by most of the amibo was terrible because it was just skins. I see and sometimes hear people saying something along the lines of, "Amiibo integration of skins/costumes are fine as long as nothing significant is locked behind a paywall."
There are times it makes sense to me like in Yoshi's Wooly World and SMM, where they just practically throw all the amiibo in for costumes, where many probably wouldn't be considered if not for amiibo. The problem lies with the sentiment that, specifically for other games that do this, amiibo are not just without value, they are at risk of withholding it. Games like Bayonetta 2, and Monster Hunter come with skins as content. Sometimes it rolls over into features. Yes, you do not want Nintendo to simply withold content from a game that should have the content already (e.g. Splatoon), but by saying ok to skins, you are essentially doing the same thing. I think it also ignores the potential for content that makes sense to have.
THESE AMIIBO ARE FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY
But what message was this going to send to Nintendo? Not a good one. It meant that rather than making one amiibo do several important in things, it meant 30 different versions doing basically the same thing. Yes, choice is good. But there are resources that could have been used to minimize cost and funtionality. Miyamoto, I believe, made mention of making some amiibo into cards instead for availability reasons and people were not pleased because the sole reason they wanted them was as a figure. Cards would have been much cheaper, and much more available. Additionally less variety in the amiibo versions would mean that Nintendo would have to focus on bringing quality content to amiibo.
Toys To Life
There is also the complaint about content being locked, but wanting Nintendo to make a Skylanders, Disney, Lego-like toys-to-life game. That doesn't make sense to me for several reasons, but primarily what bothers me about this train of thought is that people really want content for not locked, but want to have a game where each character is literally locked content. Yes, surely this would have made a lot of money for Nintendo, and many fans would love it. The primary problem here is that it is a bubble. This may be a bit crude of me, but frankly I find the gameplay of these games very generic. This excludes Lego, but that is because they have had a lot of experience with this type of game before this type of game was even made.
They can thrive off this. Not even Nintendo with their IP can thrive off this. Infinity and Skylanders died off for a reason. A game without extended discipline can not good. Not from Nintendo anyway, as we have seen with AC: Amiibo Festival. Nintendo, for some reason or other, didn't nearly have enough time or resources for this type of game. The game, narrative, and quality would be subpar. However, the concept of having a game where all the Amiibo are the focus is not a bad idea.
BOOSTER PACK AMIIBO (The Flat Out Bad)
Another facet of "its ok as long as it doesn't have an content" type of amiibo that I dislike. Booster Amiibo. These amiibo just add random items to your game. Link & Zelda, Toon Link & and Zelda, have these issues. In a game like Hyrule Warriors, suuuuure it makes senses just to have this feature. Maaaaaybe in a classic jrpg with low reward items that boost health or somthing. However in a game like Twighlight Princess or Star Fox Guard, it doesn't do any good to me. The boosters there feel cheap to me in what they do. It FEELS a useless microtransaction. Of course it isn't by any capacity, but I know a lot people got that feeling depending on the game. Amiibo should never feel like a microtransaction. Back to focus, what does it do for you. Is it worth $5, $12$ or $15 just for a few arrows and a heart? I don't think so. But many also have a different reason why they buy amiibo ad it creates another problem:
Star Fox Zero is one of those games where, yes, locked content was awful. That and Splatoon, and Mario Party are amiibo done wrong. I don't think it even needs explaining.
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My Thoughts On What Can Be Done
My ultimate idea would be something like a NintendoLand game but only... careful with those pitchforks people...
The difference would be that you would have the game bundled with several classic amiibo, with full functioning games like Nintendo Land. But as a whole Console Generation went on, they would add more minigames available with more amiibo. Additionally, if you complete challenges and earn bages or something, you can take that amiibo and unlock something in another game or use it as transferrable character or rechargeable item. Or maybe if there is DLC for something, you could get it at a discount or free depending. This would be my current ideal. Though, yes even I'm not completely satisfied with it. I know I had a better a long time ago, but I forgot what it was.
Resolution
TL;DR : I actually had something earlier, but I accidentally deleted it and got lazy. So instead put this up for me to listen to.
OVERALL BULLET POINTS
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There are too many amiibo. It becomes a problem when we have so many and so little funtionality. |
Some are good in use, but many are bad |
Skins and costumes are not good funtionality. |
Toys-To-Life doesn't work, except if it's built in their craft like Lego. |
BoosterPack Amiibo are the worst |
Nintendo Land, among other ideas is a good template to follow; also DLC substitution |
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As a whole amiibo are archaic in function. I would love for Nintendo to make dynamic changes, but if the trend they are taking continues, after BotW I really don't care to see them anymore. I have four amiibo. Of those amiibo, I bought none, they were all gifts, and I have yet to use one. The only I may use is the Wolf Link amiibo. Obviously if you simply don't like paying for amiibo all together its more than understandble as well.
I'm not sure if this the best way to bring up disscussion, but do you have your own ideas that have yet to be done?
