This is the best summary I could come up with:

When you connect online, you’ll see near-invisible versions of other players throughout the game’s islands and levels as they also travel the Flower Kingdom.

But these aren’t just Mario Kart-like specters to measure yourself against; they’re other players working through a level at the same time you are, meaning it feels like they’re discovering its challenges and surprises right alongside you.

I’ll occasionally notice Wonder showing me that a player is offscreen, which I’ve used as a clue to discover that there’s a hidden underground or sky area that I have to go find.

It’s kind of like how people leave messages in Elden Ring to help out other players; when I see standees hovering in midair, I rush over to try and hit an invisible block underneath.

Sometimes, these multiplayer features mean that levels already filled with mind-bending new ideas become even more of a trip, especially when three other people are trying and failing to complete a tough platforming sequence right alongside me.

But more often than not, I’m reminded of how a well-placed Elden Ring message saved me from a fearsome enemy or when I wordlessly scaled a mountain with a partner in Journey’s brilliant cooperative multiplayer.

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