I don't know why this game exists and I don't know that it knows either. it's weirdly solid despite that!
ubisoft handed mario a gun and then had a musical number where a rabbid made fun of him for not saying anything but "let's-a-go!"
I don't attribute sanctity to IPs very often, but it felt somewhat sacrilegious at first despite that... and then all of the parts started working together in ways that started really feeling like a coherent game. while I do think that this game could've been made in its entirety without any mario or rabbids branding, some of the ideas definitely work better committing to the coat of paint involved instead of just vague nods to either of them in a more agnostic/original setting.
the systems boiled down to very simple status effects (honey for no movement, ice for no skills, ink for no weapons, stone for all three) and one-off procs (vampire lets you lifesteal the afflicted target, push and bounce force movement in their respective ways, and burn makes a unit run around chaotically) combined with a simplified cover/accuracy system (if you're behind half cover it's a 50% chance to hit you) and a set of new movement abilities (slide dashes to slap enemies with and jumping off of teammates to get to places)...
it's honestly a really compelling set of mechanics strapped to a weird... facetious mess of a crossover. half of my time spent playing this game was wondering how I should take it. some people really cared about this game being something worth playing for its own sake, but it still comes across as... so insincere, so often, like they only sarcastically made a good game out of this intellectual property mishmash. it's baffling. truly one of the games of time.
I might play the sequel but I'm not in any hurry to pick it up, even if they did make a weird butch rabbid named edge to bait me. who at ubisoft did this to the world?