With the Prologue shrunken away to nothing here (ironically, in the most plot heavy game in the trilogy), Chapter 1 has the burden of explaining all the mechanics, in addition to introducing the game's signature gameplay gimmick. So then... what actually happens?
1-1 has us go right to Bestovius, learn how to flip, and then do a bunch of basic "look at what 3D does for you!" setpieces. 1-2 has us drop in on Yold Town, which is one of surprisingly few settlements in the game, yet only really seems to act as setup to get us to find Thoreau- something many later Pixls can manage without being blatantly railroaded. 1-3 is a trawl through the desert, with a brief stop to throw hands with O'Chunks. And then 1-4 is a (bit of a watered-down) dungeon with Fracktail as the boss, and then some exposition with Merlumina- exposition that the game actively jokes about skipping- and the parts we do get don't seem to agree on what, exactly, we were supposed to be learning. For a "plot-heavy" game, it's not opening with its best foot at all, is it?
Many of the game's most beloved elements aren't in play yet. We haven't seen much of Team Bleck's other members, we haven't seen anything about the game's central characters, we haven't been introduced to a mechanic that minimises some of the writing weaknesses that happen here, our toolset in general is pretty meagre (although this may also shore up some of the pacing), and the worst part of it all is that we don't even get a coherent story to make up for it. Chapter 1 of 64 could get you invested with the coolness factor of the Koopa Bros. while you were coming to grips with the new mechanics the game just let you start using. Chapter 1 of TTYD had Koops's quest to find closure with Hooktail and his father, and also fed you a lot more plot details about the Door and the treasure to get you started, even if the X-Nauts weren't introduced until afterwards. SPM is expecting you to maintain your interest purely based on the opening cutscene, the stakes of the story, and virtually nothing internal to Chapter 1 itself. Failing to bait a compelling story hook is a death knell for stories, and SPM is perhaps a textbook example of that. Regardless of whether or not you like where it goes, it is impossible to deny that it practically requires trusted recommendation or investment from spoiled later events to make it through some otherwise dull (although thankfully short) opening segments.
Mechanically, the chapter is a bit of a mixed bag. This is their chance to showcase some of the ingenuity afforded to them by the new 3D mechanic, something I'm sure Miyamoto wishes he could've been the one to design, but because this game is still being designed by RPG experts first and foremost, this game doesn't fully scratch that Mario-esque platforming that the level design evokes, which only really serves to highlight some of the narrative flaws highlighted earlier. When neither your RPG narrative or your platforming whimsy is firing on all cylinders, you look less like you have a plan and more like your cute idea to combine two disparate genres is backfiring by both genres making critical concessions to support the other. While that's not to say SPM repairs this when both RPG and platformer sides are at their most involved, having your flaws be noticeable while your strengths are being kept secret is the worst possible position to leave yourself in at this critical stage of the story. This is not a problem that many RPGs are in the habit of solving, but I think, Shhwonk Fortress aside, TTYD wasn't actually that bad about balancing secrecy with hooking the player.
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