Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush Review (Switch 2)

I 100%'d the base game but have no interest in this. Sad to say, because I absolutely loved DKB.

Disappointing add on to be honest.

Way too expensive for what it is.

Instant regret on my part.

I was enticed by this surprise drop and the heavy nostalgia factor of DK Island, but I am not a fan of roguelikes or massive price tags that don't match content, so this is unfortunately a pass for me.

I just wanted a few new areas based on DKC levels 🥺 Crystal caves, snowy peaks, dimly lit tree houses in a moody forest, etc. complete with the old bangers. It seemed so obvious and I'd have spent whatever they wanted. I don't know what this rogue stuff is but I hate it.

I just completed the dlc ( completed the battle pass) and the only thing here is a dk island fight with Void. Nothing else sadly.

The costumes are just recolors for Pauline, so that feels a bit lame too, especially when 2 out of 3 outfits are recolors of the base game's costumes.

The only thing that's nice is the trophies , but tbh they are just all the npc's in the game, nothing more. (kirby had it too, but did it better).

The roguelike itself is fine at best. Even tho, theres no real progression and no insentive to play it after you get 10000 Voidco Points.

I love DK Bananza, but this DLC is not good enough for it's price....
Really wished for atleast 1 cool reward, or that it would be based of the Kremling Crew, rather then Voidco.

This DLC should have included New game +, where you can play with a King K rool costume for DK

Won't be buying this. The Emerald Rush mode is based on the gameplay element I disliked the most in Bananza (mindless button bashing) and that empty DK island looks like lazy nostalgia baiting at it's worst 😔

And the game was already a bit much in this regard, literally calling the throwback level Nostalgia Country which I found kind of on the nose and almost cynical :-/ It actually makes me feel less nostalgic if the game tells me I'm meant to feel nostalgic at that point, instead of it just occurring naturally.

There has been quite a bit of online discourse surrounding this, but hopefully anyone who plays this enjoys it.

Thanks for the honest opinion and talking about the price. I feel like too many reviews never mention the price. To be fair most games are $60 or $70 so we know the price beforehand, but for things like this I think it matters.

I was going to buy it b/c FOMO but you talked me out of it, thanks. GoW Ragnarok had a similar dlc w/ an interesting story that took me about 5 hours to beat. Price - free. Which it should be when we pay $70 for the game.

DKB released for $70 just 2 months before this. Exclusively on a $450 console that people just bought. Come on man.🤑

Well, I didn't like Emerald Rush much, or working for Void, wish I had read this review before rushing to buy Wish they had added some new permanent skills to unlock plus as you mentioned filling the island with real stuff outside of the Rush game

If you don’t like the DLC mode the DLC adds then there’s nothing for you.

Big con to DK Bananza is if you don’t like 3D platformers it’s a big waste of money.

He’s finally back!

@rjejr
how is it fomo when it's dlc

This seems like a huge letdown for longtime DK fans as myself. 30$ in Canada for something that should have been included. Yeah, no thanks Nintendo. After I already paid 115 for the base game.

It look fun but they ripped it out of the base game to profit more

Thank you wintendo for letting ne visit dk isles

@FawfulsFury
If it was cut from the main game why aren't there any bananas or fossils?

I got this straight after the direct. I enjoyed it and the difficulty does hit after level 5 but gets really repetitive. Dk isle looks beautiful and my 5 year old has spent more time exploring it than me with emerald rush. It’s great but £8.99 would have been more fair and appealing to more to get. I don’t regret the purchase as it’s something I feel I will comeback to again.
DK isle is the mushroom kingdom of Mario odyssey and the Easter eggs in it are great for dk fans to find.

DK Bananza is my favourite game this year but this dlc is something I couldn't recommend to others to buy at this price, about half would be fair. That said, it is fun but doesn't really add much new content but seeing DK Island is incredibly nostalgic for me and playing the DK64 theme helps that. The Island itself doesn't have anything to do, other than explore a few nods to past games and weirdly has 6 bonus stages just to collect gold, which kind of suggests it was originally intended as a reward for the post game.

The new mode is fun but I do wish it used the end game enemies and overall, whilst I'm personally happy to at least have the Island, I'm more likely to replay the last boss again over this when I'm done.

It's a shame we didn't get some new retro challenge levels or something along those lines alongside this

I'll probably get this on sale...at some point in time.

Still haven't finished the main game yet, loving every second though!

DK Bananza is one of my favourite games from the past few years, but there’s no way I’m buying this (unless it ever gets heavily discounted)

@Willo567 How is it not FOMO? 🤷‍♂️

Is it just me or this game got old quickly? I was quite excited on early game, but for me things got boring, repetitive and easy as I played along.
I still have to finish the game, but not so thrilled about it and started playing other things

I bought this partly because it's my favorite game from the Switch era (so I kinda have to) and because the base game gave me more than $70 worth of value. But yeah, it's a bit disappointing. The price would have made more sense if there was also a Crocodile Isle and Northern Kremisphere. Then it'd be something like $7 per layer which is closer to the ratio of the base game.

This is why I absolutely hate price complains, since it affects precieved quality of games and DLC. I am loving this DLC and it's at least a 8.5/10.

I put it on my wishlist so when it goes on sale 8 years from now, I can get it.

@rjejr
Explain how it is fomo

@Willo567 there are they are just part of emerald mode

@FawfulsFury
Ok but the bananas aren't main game ones. They're tempirary ones you get in emerald rush

Let's face it the old Nintendo would have added this in a free update.

Here's an idea... why not have this DLC be part of the game that they literally RELEASED THIS YEAR instead of making it a paid addon?

DKB is stupidly expensive as it is. Adding a paid DLC to it the same year it comes out is a slap in the face to the customers.

Nintendo is getting eerily close to EA levels of nickel and diming at this point.

At this rate, I imagine in the near future you will be expected to pay $70 for a base Nintendo game that has all of 3 levels, and then you will have to pay for "DLC" to get each level past that. Oh and don't forget, if you want to have all of the boss battles at the end of each paid DLC level you purchase, you will need a SEASON PASS subscription to access them.

Seriously. What happened to Nintendo? What happened to the company that made games that were packed full of features all from the get go? One purchase got you everything.

@UltimateOtaku91 Exactly!

@PharoneTheGnome
because the dlc was developed after the main game was done? i think it should have been $10 but do you think ever dlc made should be free?

Also lmao at you thinking nintendo like is ea - i'm not seeing nintendo push loot boxes or shutting down studios

@UltimateOtaku91
Yeah they would have released this game with nothing with it and slowly drip feed free updates over time like thr mario sports games, arms, splatoon and new horizons

@Willo567 Yes I do believe that every DLC made should be free. The same way that every add on to Super Smash Brothers was free. The same way that every addition to Stardew Valley has been free.

You've been conditioned to expect to pay for small updates and additions, but that is not how the gaming industry was just a decade ago. The level of greed in the industry is getting absolutely horrible.

There sure is a lot of complaining about the price here. I can see the argument that the base game should have been $60 and that that should be the baseline price for AAA Switch 2 games. But this DLC is pretty much on-par with Splatoon 3's DLC; it's got a new hub and a really polished, fleshed-out roguelite mode. The Splatoon 3 DLC costs $5 MORE than Bananza's DLC, but there sure weren't many complaints about that. Going back to that review, some folks didn't like the gameplay, but almost nobody was complaining about the price. It's more than a little weird that this very comparable DLC being sold for less money is suddenly way too expensive.

@PharoneTheGnome
smash ultimate literally had paid dlc

@PharoneTheGnome

Yes I do believe that every DLC made should be free. The same way that every add on to Super Smash Brothers was free.

Uh, what? I don't seem to remember Super Smash Brothers add-ons ever being free.

Also, your opinion is weird. If developers want to create a bunch of new content for a game and charge for it, that's great! Lots of people like to get more content for their favorite games. If paid DLC somehow weren't allowed, then mostly games just wouldn't get DLC at all. At best, we'd have to hope for a sequel. And sometimes that sequel takes 7 years to make, just to pull a figure out of thin air. Lots of people will be dead in 7 years.

"If you don't vibe with the roguelike, there's nothing here for you"

There's nothing here for me, then. Good thing I can use those 20 bucks on another game.

@gcunit Exactly hahaha. Joker said it all.

Not getting it, it's just too expensive and a line needs to be drawn. However, base game is amazing and worth the price tag (for those in doubt).

Seems like the perfect example of DLC that would be very welcome as free to obtain,
but feels very lacking to charge for it.

@Nintoz Genuine question: I know there are games whose DLC go on sale on occasion (an example being Vampire Survivors), but has any of Nintendo's DLC ever been on sale by itself?

EDIT: According to DekuDeals, the DLC for Xenoblade 3 was on sale back on June 2024, and MK8's Booster Pass was also on sale at the end of the same year. So yeah, I can wait. Just a shame I can't say the same for Legends ZA's DLC (if the lack of sales for previous POkémon DLC is any indication).

I'll throw it on my wishlist in hopes it will go on sale some day, but even as much as I loved the base game and as stalwart a Nintendo fanatic as I am, I just can't bring myself to spend $20 on DLC for a game only two months old when the only real draw is a roguelike mode (as I do not like roguelikes).

I got this simply because I wanted more Donkey Kong, and while I don’t necessarily regret it, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

$20 is too much for what you get. That said, with the reward system, I’ll definitely get a good chunk of additional hours out of the DLC. So it isn’t a total waste (I’ve certainly paid $20 or more for games that I played a lot less lol). But at the end of the day, it’s one new area and a lot of reuse.

Ultimately, I’m left feeling underwhelmed. I’ll certainly keep playing it, but it’s hard not to feel shortchanged. After this, I’ll be much more hesitant to buy Nintendo dlc in the future.

@BrazillianCara I know I got the Breath of the Wild dlc on sale back before TOTK came out. So it happens!

If you go physical it's 100,- euros to own the game and it's DLC!! 😳

DKB is fun, I enjoyed it, but I reached the credits and said that was good enough for me at only 450 or something bananas out of 1000. There is still a ton of content left in the base game. So nah, not going pay more for this. $90 for one game is not it.

Another cash grab, from Nintendo.
This definitely could, and should have been included on the cartridge.

Compare to Astro Bot (a much better game than DK Bananza) on PS5, which have gotten multiple free dlc, since the release, with extra stages, modes etc.

I played Bananza, up til layer 10, and just don't feel like finishing the rest. All the smashing and collecting got too damn repetitive. Hope we get a 2D Country game next.

The DLC didn't interest me during the direct, and this review furthered that notion. The game was already $$$, so paid DLC a month or so after release... Oof.

A mere 2 months after release. What value do our physical copies really hold, now?

@Owozifa - “ Big con to DK Bananza is if you don’t like 3D platformers it’s a big waste of money”

The entire game is a 3D platformer, not just the DLC. So if you don’t like 3D platformers then the entire experience is surely a big con…

zero interest. didn't mind the main game, but still baffled as to why everybody praises it to the extent that they do. It's fine, but not close to a main 3D Mario, IMO. Already overpriced for the amount of gameplay it gave me, no way am I throwing good money after bad for something that should have been either free or £7-8 max...

I own all the consoles, so no bias here, but god of war gave a free rogue like mode better than this for free. astro bot, as somebody above mentioned, gave countless (bigger and better) updates than this for free. Nintendo can do one.

@Wewewi What’s that got to do with anything? The value is that you get to play the main game whenever you want, let a friend borrow, sell it, etc…

This DLC review bringing out some strange takes tonight - what’s with you lot?

@Exerion76 @Dimey The Astro Bot dlc brought its total playtime to 16-24 hours on average compared to the DK Bananza base game of 50-70 hours on average. They're both collectathons. Lots of levels barely focus on destruction, you played Eggshell Hotel so you know this already.

I initially thought that this was a free DLC, and was really surprised to see that you had to pay $20 for it. I will absolutely be skipping this until it’s on a deep, DEEP sale.

@BrazillianCara Yeah if the full game goes on sale on the e-shop, the DLC tends to receive a discount alongside it.

Though I doubt we'll see one for Bananza anytime soon

@LastFootnote They're likely referring to the Stage Builder, Home Run Contest type updates

Way too expensive for content that should've been in the base game. People would be better off using that $20 or more buying some games during an eShop sale.

People defending this being paid need to wake up. Nintendo literally included this for free in Mario Odyssey, the blueprint for this game.

This has nothing to do with my opinion on the DK design. This is pure greed and I am disappointed with Nintendo for making this 20 dollars

I agree, the Emerald Rush mode is fun, for a while, but the way they handled DK Island is an abject disappointment. I bought the DLC, but I did something particularly obnoxious to my curious friends: I told them, "There are complete video games you could get right now for $20."

@YunoboCo
Ignot Isle IS Mushroom Kingdom. It's where the post game bananas are and where the boss rush is like in Odyssey. Also there's more going on it Emerald Rush than the balloon mode

Don't worry in 2031 it'll be 10% off on the eshop

@LastFootnote I think the main concern is the constant feeling that DLC encourages developers to release unfinished games for ever increasing prices. It's funny how the more profit these companies want to make on the front end, the more critical people get of their behavior on the back end. DLC could be awesome if it truly was just additional great content to an already awesome game, but too often it's stripped from the main game to nickel and dime consumers. No one here should be surprised at complaints when Nintendo has chosen to squeeze every last dime out of all of us.

I'll stick with the base game, thanks.

currently 61 score on metacritic yikes..

@KevinP
a dlc for an extra mode made after the maij game was finished isn't cut content lol. if it was dk isles would have bananas and fossils on it

Not Bad & Abysmal leading the poll. That is some divisive DLC.

I have zero interest in roguelites. And for this to come out 2 months after release makes me think DK Island was unfinished content that Nintendo decided to nickel and dime after the fact. Imagine if Princess Peach’s Castle was DLC for Odyssey and didn’t have any stars to collect. That’s what it feels like they did here.

@SpaceboyScreams 50-70 hours on average is a fantasy.

plus this whole 'hours of playtime = value" argument is moronic. Astro Bot was game of the year, it is far better than DK Bananza. But some people are just die hard Nintendo shills. whatever.

I honestly didn't see this DLC coming, especially so soon — I feel like I already got what I wanted out of the main game, and while I might eventually return to it at some point, it won't be for a while.

@Willo567 You don't know that any better than I do or anyone else on here. My point was, that's the concern people begin to have. DLC by nature invokes those kinds of thoughts in people, and for a $70 game, DLC will especially be looked at under a microscope. Typing "lol" doesn't strengthen your argument.

A 7 Star for an empty, rushed, boring RogueLite level, that should had been a part of the game, for 20 bucks!

20 BUCKS!!!! For this! This is clearly EA level or greed.
This is disgusting!

I don't even vibe with the main game. I actually dislike it a lot.

But I'm happy, that better Nintendo games are coming very soon. I pre ordered the new Hyrule Warriors and Metroid Prime 4.

Is the dlc software artwork in the virtual game card section different then the artwork of the base games virtual game card? I would like to see a picture please.

@PharoneTheGnome what timeline do you live in??? They charge $6 for each smash bros dlc character pack (compared to $5-$7 in the Wii U/3DS days)

From what I can tell, this looks to have more worth than BOTW’s dlc, which was one of the few instances I regret a purchase (though that may have been influenced by the fact that I literally just beat the base game but still had to wait for pay day to get TOTK)

@JimNorman not to nitpick, but while I get being surprised by the Booster Course Pass announcement (who wasn't, after all), Happy Home Paradise came to New Horizons at the end of a consistent update cycle. I understand being caught off guard by that, though. Side Order, on the other hand, was announced literally before the game released! I don't see how that was a shock. Anyway, nice review, I think I agree with the 7/10. I do think if you picture it as 5 bucks for the Island and 15 for the game mode, it's somewhat more bearable.

I tried the Bananza demo and after 20 mins my finger hurt from all the button mashing so doubt I'll ever buy it 🐜

I think the content matches the price tag. Very much in line with the other stuff like welcome tour or the s2 console

LOL. All of this advertisement and praise for Bananza from NintendoLife and they ultimately give it a score of 7/10.

All of this reminds me of the Mario Movie craze.

Got to be the worst dlc Nintendo has ever released?

These newest DLCs are all pretty disappointing in terms of new contents.
This DLC for DK Bananza doesn't add anything valuable to the game, just like the Star-Cross World doesn't add any "great" contents to Kirby and the Forgotten Land (although I had WAY more fun with Kirby's game than with DK Bananza), just like the DLCs for BotW and TotK don't add any valuable contents to the respective games (which are the top of fun IMO).

Despite this, all of them but this DLC have been sold with the promise of enhancing the gaming experience on the Switch 2, which can't possibly apply to this DK Island & Emerald Rush as the original game was already for Switch 2 only. This makes it even more a ripoff than the others.

Now, dear people who believe that anything Nintendo makes is great and worth good money by default, I can't and don't want to tell you how to spend your money, but I just want to remind you that whenever you criticize someone who is disgusted by the latest pretty obvious ripoff strategies, you, deep down, know what the truth really is.

I don't get why they didn't just include this with the base game and charge the same price as Mario Kart World as even without this Bonanza is more worth the asking price than Mario Kart World is.

The Nintendo ethos has changed for the worst. Very saddened by them.

Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush

Nintendolife Score 7/10
Nintendolife User ratings 4,8/10, user ratings: 71

Metacritic Metascore 63/100 based on 9 critic reviews
Metacritic User score 4,7/10 based on 45 user ratings

Yeiks.

Is it really that bad?

Or are many review bombing the DLC and giving it a low score because they think it is too expensive?

It's like they don't know how to add DLC to platformers. I'm still disappointed Super Mario Odyssey never got DLC. Simply add new worlds, done.

@SurprisedRobinChu They didn't give the game a 7 though.

@Dimey It's what's reported on sites that track that info, I didn't invent these numbers, and I personally took 75 hours to 100% it. I loved Astro Bot and was happy if a little confused that it won a big GotY (not many, but a big one). Bananza will be a GotY contender for many sites too. I'm glad you have such a favorite, I'm only copy/pasting numbers that invalidate your arguments.

@Lofoten the fact that a product is too expensive is not a secondary detail when you buy something. When you see a product, you assign it a value and decide whether its price exceeds it (and this has nothing to do with whether you can afford it or not). If it does, then it's perfectly fine to judge it negatively.
The fact is that in this case people are rightfully feeling ripped off.

@MyMemory It's still overpriced, but most of the layers can be played in Emerald Rush once you roll the DLC credits (with 5 unlocks as you play)

It's a pass from me, at $30 something AUD. I was hoping it might have at least been part of the Online subscription, but nope. Nintendo being a little of their signature greedy.

It's whatever. I jumped the gun on it, I'll admit. I completed the base game 100% and immediately hit the download button without fully taking in the info drops, just because I was itching to have a reason to go back in. But... Yeah the roguelike thing is not my jam at all. DK Island is fun to run around in but it's the only part of the DLC I enjoyed, and it's tiny.

As much as I enjoyed DK Bananza, I see no reason for me to buy this DLC anytime soon. Just don't see the $20 value, especially when I can use that money towards something else on the eShop or any other gaming platform. To me, this is a case of DLC being overpriced but is otherwise perfectly fine. Had there been more to it and/or the DLC was priced lower (or just outright free if that was ever an option), it wouldn't be quite as bad.

I’ve never seen so many negatives on such a positive review score lmao

Dying to play this. The argument that there’s not enough content is wild…it re-contexts every single level of the game into a supremely replayable, high score based roguelike.

I think it’s an incredible idea. MAYBE one that arrived a little too soon, but you can always play it outside of its release window.

The people complaining about the price AND that it’s not for them? Well, there’s a perfect base game that remains untouched for you.

@Owozifa Spot-on. I feel like a huge issue with Nintendo fans is this default expectation that every product should be purchased, like they're being forced. It explains the intensity of backlash to recent pricing decisions.

Like yeah, don't buy the roguelike DLC if you don't like rougelikes, don't purchase the Virtual Boy peripheral if you aren't interested in primitive 3D novelties. Maybe you've missed out on some precious precious content but you've ended up saving money where you might otherwise have spent some if Nintendo priced more aggressively.

@electrolite77 love the level headedness. Thanks for inspiring the community. I won’t be buying either. Voted with my wallet rather than whining about it on a website Nintendo doesn’t read.

I would say I'd get it "On Sale", but let's be real here..😮‍💨

Not enough content? 11 levels with 7 levels of difficulty each, 104 perks (power ups), 87 statues to collect) a new island (tutorial for the game/statue museum/fan service), multiple costumes, new disks, a boss battle, new game mechanic (rogue like) that is completely different from the base game (so you didn’t get anything taken away from you in the base game), and it breaths new life into an already superbly constructed game. I never even liked rogue likes until now. All for $20. How is that a rip-off? Certainly better value then the Jamboree Switch 2 edition, old Wii games for $40, or a cardboard holder for Virtual Boy games (that you need a subscription for). There is a good value in this dlc…

@MathByThePixel you know, why does everything have to be a rougelike or have rougelike elements? It feels like that’s what a lot of indie studios are putting out these days…

@raymond23 the Mario party dlc got roasted too. Both can be bad. This isn’t a competition of what’s the worst. It’s simply a take on this dlc.

Should've included New Donk City as a post-game playable level.

I loved Bananza, but have zero interest in the DLC.

The cost of this dlc is attrocious, a fraction more and a week and a bit to go and you have Hades 2, a full game.

Nintendo should be ashamed to try and sell the dlc at that price.

This was clearly part of the original game and the greedy ***** decided to rip it out and make it paid DLC, this is an unfortunate foreshadow of what is to come

@Knightkrawler14 I’m getting pretty sick of reading this take. What evidence do you have that this was part of the original game? Is it none? No evidence?

And also, in what way was DK Bananza not already a complete game? Did you beat it and then think, “Hey, where’s the roguelite mode?”

$20 for a new level and some missions in a game that’s ALREADY $70.

Actually abysmal.

@LastFootnote Nintendo revealed that it wasn’t completed by making us pay $20 for a new level only 2 months after launch. Even though it’s a $70 game.

Kind of nuts this isn’t included in the expansion pass and has to be bought separately. That’s dumb.

@LastFootnote

This was probably done months ago. But it was easy to split off from the main game to sell as DLC. I ain’t that mad about it I don’t even have DKB (although I did play the demo and it’s on my wishlist for Christmas now) and it’s something almost every developer does these days.

100%-ed? It never ceases to amaze me how the English language can turn just about any word into a verb. Of course, we still haven't managed it with "sex" (the act, not identifying male or female). 🤭🤗

I prefer "completed", and I'm far from that with DK Bonanza. I'm still to even finish it. I'll definitely get this extra content in due time.

"I have a great idea for this game"
"Good! We won't include it and we'll keep it as DLC for 20$ extra"
"Why so expensive?"
"So we can ask 90$ for our game and people won't even realise."

...Something tells me Doug Bowser had something to do with this...since, you know, he used to work at EA...
The game just came out...not to mention there's that Pokemon ZA situation...game is getting paid DLC and the base game ISN'T EVEN OUT YET. >_>

I miss old Nintendo sometimes.

This should have been a add on end area in the base game like Peach's castle in Odyssey. I had a feeling this wasn't worth it especially when they said there's nothing to do on the island outside of emerald rush.

Nintendo really banking on nostalgia instead of content

So glad I didn't get it.

After completing Odyssey in 2017 and the subsequent release of the free balloon mode I was totally blown away by Mario's newest iteration. Same happened to me with Bananza - loved the main game, still haven't done 100%. But releasing a mediocre DLC for the 20€ is a move I thought I'd never see from Nintendo. But here we are now - I'll give that add-on a huge pass.

Feels like it would be a nice surprise if it was free.

This costs approximately 27% the amount of the base game yet contains probably 1% of that content so the value proposition isn’t good in my opinion.

I may pick it up in a sale if it ever goes on one.

This was 100% cut from the main game, absolute cash grab and I won’t be buying. From what I’ve seen and heard, how was this given a 7/10??

Having only one new level for 20€ is way too much. Waiting for a discount but since we are talking about Nintendo, I don't expect it to be more than minus 4€ from the base price... ever.

@PikaPhantom Maybe, but in the end, is feels like it should have been a part of the whole game rather than DLC.

The word roguelike makes me instantly shudder.

I think lot of people are missing the point of the dlc when they just look at the price. This is a great dlc with perfect price point, it gives you some fun content and easy way to support Nintendo with a small amount of money.

Did grab it with 20% off and still feeling disappointed. I really enjoyed the base game, 100% it and had a good 60h of fun. But this DLC is just a pure rip off. The main thing that made the base game enjoyable was to find and collect stuff. Here, you get an empty island and a very repetitive rogue like mode that quickly gets old.

@LastFootnote Came here to say this too!

How is it that splatoon 3 Side order is basically the same (New hub world that isnt part of the main campaign and a roguelite mode, that mode is limited to a single area rathern than 70% of the main game), costs more than DKB Emerald Rush at its regular price (plus 2 years of inflation) and yet gets a higher score in its review and no complaints of price at all?

It makes Emerald Rush seem like a good deal.

DKB was a complete game upon release, I didn't feel like it was missing anything (it had a nostalgia level in there already).

Having a new mode as DLC, seems like the right way to do it, people can buy it if they want, its pretty fairly priced when compared to Nintendos other DLC offerings, if they don't they don't have to?

@lumothesinner exactly. I don’t care if Nintendo completed this dlc pack at the same time as the main game or not, it is a completely different type of mode then the main game. Bananza is a complete experience with a ton of post credit content. This dlc is a way to re-explore the levels in a new game style. It has a ton of collectibles…but different than the main game. Everyone seems fixated on dk island as a “level” that was carved out of the main game. It isn’t. It’s a hub world for a rogue like and the tutorial/training area. It’s also a museum for one of the new collectibles. $20 is a perfectly reasonable price point for this content. I might go and buy Splatoon Side Order now since I’m enjoying this new content so much…

@Luffymcduck it’s not a new level. It’s a new game mode that is very different than Bananza. The new level is the tutorial area that the devs did a lot of fan service with…

For whether the DLC was done before release: working on DLC before release is common in the game industry. Every software product has a point where you say “no more new content/features, we’re going to polish for release” and you shift to bug fixes, balance, performance, maybe voice acting. For an incremental business software update it might be a month or two before, for a AAA game this period will be much longer.

If you have a large team a subgroup can start working on DLC after you make the content cutoff while the rest of the team is getting the main game properly polished. This happens often and is not the same as just chopping a piece of the main game off. It’s not exploitative.

That said, it probably is overpriced. $10 maybe.

@Dunan I played Hades and wasn’t a fan of it. This dlc seems as fully realized as Hades was. 104 perks, dozens of skills, 11 worlds with 7 difficulty levels each, a bunch of unlockables, and a big boss fight at the end. It’s worth the same as Hades if you like the genre. It is also more accessible to newbies to the rogue like genre since the levels are familiar, but there is still a steep learning curve. I haven’t successfully completed any level past difficulty 3/7, but you don’t have to in order to progress. Everyone can pick a difficulty level that challenges them.

Not interested in this unless it'll be included on NSO subscription like theMK8D/AC/Splatoon expansions.

@raymond23 I've put so much time into side order. Still have not finished the main Splatoon 3 campaign as I mostly got it for MP, but as a huge fan of roguelikes I have played side order so much because the mechanics work so well with the game mode and scenario they have built. I've completed runs with about 50% of the weapon styles available and will not stop until i've got 100%, maybe not even then. Its good as you do have permanent unlocks so each run does make progression even if you fail.

This feels very much like cut content and it's overpriced.

Nintendo this gen has been a mixed bag to say the least. If this is a sign of things to come, I'll be waiting for them to become the outsider again so that they start doing things properly like they used to.

@MamaSymphonia
Completely agree. There’s no real reason to.
I wish Nintendo consoles had an “achievements/trophies” system. Too late though.

@StewdaMegaManNerd thats nearly free... doesnt that count lol

Ok.. Ok ... OOOOK... I get it everybody. I missremembered about Smash Bros, but Stardew Valley was right lol.

I was skeptical because it didn't look like a whole lot for the £18 price tag and I think you've convinced me to save my money, and spend my time more wisely on catching up with other games before the busy end of year release schedule hits.

@tjhiphop Yeah I guess it’s just odd when I see people do things like tally up what every amiibo in the presentation costs if you bought all of them and think, “You were doing that even before they were $30-40?”

I bought the TOTK Sidon amiibo because he’s the best and I wanted him on my desk but I didn’t need the whole set.

If it was half the price ($14.99 CAD instead of $29.99 CAD) I would definitely consider it. Roguelike stuff doesn't interest me, and the amount of content doesn't justify the price.

Really sad to be honest, because I really loved this game, and I also 100% it. I really wanted another reason to go back to this game.

@BrazillianCara the fire emblem dlc has been on sale quite often (i guess knowing that i wonder why i didn’t wait. Probably as it timed exactly right for me. I was sort of running out of things to do in the base game but still had fun)

Such a negative editorial