my sister loaned me donkey kong bananza, and im at the like... 6th area i think? but my thoughts so far are:
its very fun to smash things as donkey kong- the core gameplay loop of this game is a blast. nintendo sure knows how to make a 3D platformer with collectables
i love the themed props and set design and i honestly don't like destroying the little scenes as DK because they're so cute. the first real area you go to has monkeys who don't like outsiders and i'm like, 'makes sense,' since DK shows up and immediately wrecks everything. by the end of the area they like you and i simply do not buy it. no amount of help we did for them feels like it makes up for turning the entire landscape into swiss cheese
i hate fully voiced characters in nintendo games soooo much oh my god
pauline is almost completely devoid of personality, and her constant unnecessary dialogue feels the developer thinks im completely incapable of observing my surroundings. i do not need pauline to say 'is that a banana?' or 'oh! a banana!' literally every time we find a banana. can you imagine if toad or luigi or whoever the fuck followed you around in mario 64, and whenever you were within like 3 feet of a star, they said 'LOOK! A STAR!'
if i'm being generous i'll assume its like this because play testers were burrowing up near bananas and overlooking them due to the digging camera, but you also have a button that's basically sonar that makes collectables light up neon on the screen. so i really do not think it was necessary
the most i've been endeared to Pauline was the few times she's had a little 'hehehe' reaction when I did something particularly destructive or mischievous. if they had leaned harder into characterizing her as a child who loves goofy chaos and destruction, i think i would enjoy her a lot more