Is 100% Mario Odyssey hard?

As both a passionate Mario fan since childhood and content creator sharing my love of gaming, readers often ask me: "Is Mario Odyssey hard to fully complete?" After extensively analyzing every kingdom, moon, outfit list and brutal bonus level, my verdict is…yes – for most players, Super Mario Odyssey is exceptionally challenging to 100 percent complete.

Defining Main Story vs. 100% Completion

First, it‘s important to clarify what constitutes "completion". Simply beating the main story by chasing down Bowser and saving Peach can be done in around 10-15 hours by an experienced platformer. Odyssey eases players into its sandbox-style worlds, with accessible moons sprinkled everywhere to keep up a steady sense of progression. So far, not too difficult!

However, for us completionist gamers chasing the coveted "100%" stamp, Odyssey requires collecting all 999 Power Moons, capturing every single one of the game‘s 52 enemies, purchasing every outfit on the Crazy Cap store, and completing tutorials for 124 jumps. This mammoth task takes 50+ hours minimum for most gamers. Let‘s break down key statistics:

As this table shows, just the raw amount of collectibles and tasks is daunting. And the cleverness of hiding moons means thorough scouring of every nook and cranny across Odyssey‘s vast kingdoms. Trust me – tracking down moon #998 nearly drove me insane!

Average Hours Spent Achieving 100%

According to completion estimate site HowLongToBeat, the averages for 100% run through are:

• Main Story: 10 1⁄2 hours
• Main + Extras: 32 hours
• Completionist: 62 1⁄2 hours

So to reiterate, the basic campaign is accessible, but for us obsessed with full completion, Odyssey becomes a 60+ hour marathon requiring precision platforming skills and endless dedication.

As a comparison, Super Mario 64‘s total star tally peaks around 120, taking far less time to snag them all. So Odyssey‘s exponential moon count and dense worlds explain why hitting 100% takes so long.

Odyssey‘s Most Brutal Challenges

While much of the initial content stays fair, towards the endgame Odyssey adds immensely punishing levels reserved for only expert players with quick reflexes and deep mastery of Mario‘s moves.

The pinnacle of difficulty comes from the Darker Side and Champion‘s Road secret levels – sprawling obstacle courses without checkpoints that punish the smallest misstep with instant death. Just reaching the end of these levels before throwing your controller takes 1-2 hours of practice.

Champion‘s Road in particular took me 5 painful hours across multiple days before finally beating it flawlessly. And speedrunners like Tyron18 can complete Champion‘s Road in under 6 minutes! This shows the insane skill ceiling needed to overcome Odyssey‘s toughest trials.

So in summary: Mario Odyssey puts up little resistance for casual players breezing through the story. But "core" gamers attempting 100% completion face escalating challenges, diabolical moon placement, and time investments over 50 hours on average. Rest assured the journey stays captivating and joyful…if you have the dedication to see it through and watch those moon counts increment ever higher!

Let me know if you have any other questions about conquering Odyssey‘s epic quest for 999 moons! This is only scratching the surface of what I can share from 500+ hours mastering this phenomenal game.