Preview: Molly Shannon 2K23 defies all video game genres
polygon.comI can’t tell if it’s a lifestyle simulation, rhythm game, fighting game, sports video game, or a WarioWarelike collection of all four, but despite the jank-ass last-gen visuals and animations, I kind of want to see what Molly Shannon 2K23 is about.
Looks like it has a pretty deep career mode, at least! Shannon, the former Saturday Night Live star (from 1995 to 2001) returned to host the April 8 show, and this ludicrous reimagining of her life as an annual video game series (going back to 989 Sports and the PSOne, from the looks of that jewel case) was one of the gags.
Yeah, there are some typical gaming-culture jokes in it (especially the kicker), though Molly Shannon 2K23 does perfectly nail Jimmy Fallon’s over-affected laugh at everything his guests say. There’s also the horror of finding out not only you’re appearing in a video game, you’re not even getting paid for it, which is still a timely (and touchy) subject.
But like many sports video games with role-playing features, the dialogue choices representing the good-guy/bad-guy path are just too obvious! I can’t understand why anyone would choose option B at the NYU commencement speech unless they were making a YouTube walkthrough showing all of the cinematics. In summary, Molly Shannon 2K23 is a work in progress and Molly Shannon 2K24 will need to focus on shoring up its core features before adding to the existing modes. 7.5/10
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