I think it was game makers toolkit that did an episode on Mario Odyssey. If I remember correctly it was a new (for the series) director and the theme of the game was “different and surprising”, so for example, every desert theme in Mario had been themed around Egypt but this time it was themed around Mexico (and cold!)

My hot take is odyssey was a success and the idea of “different and surprising” as a guide for a new 2D platform we is what gave Nintendo Mario Wonder.