That therein lies the problem. It's a kart racer. It doesn't need to be open ended to have fun. For me, it's just cool. Doesn't make it more fun or better. Sometimes, less is more.

This aligns more with my earlier statement that MK8D perfected the traditional formula, so I do commend Nintendo for breaking down the barrier and trying something new, and I'm anxious to see what Nintendo has planned to further improve World next year.

Fun is an ad hoc definition anyway, so it's not something you nor I can firmly claim. Both games are at least coexisting as sales continue to be very close. And with the recent Switch 2 update, it seems like Nintendo knows there are a lot of players who still prefer MK8D. Not something Nintendo will complain about. They're making money either way.

By that logic MK as a whole doesn't need items to be fun but it does, that's not really an argument here as fact is MKW has it and is imo better for it much like how DMC3 is better in the direction it took its series.

firebush already called this out, but I think it bears repeating: we're getting a true physical edition of Stellar Blade. How unlikely is that? Plus a steelbook! @curl-6 I'm sure you want to see this.

That's part of the formula perfected statement I mentioned in the next paragraph down that you didn't bold. Comparing a story focused single player game to a racing sandbox multiplayer game isn't exactly a great analogy though.

I'll be sure to tell my friends next time they're over that they're having fun wrong when they're trying to play Mario Kart like Mario Kart.