This has me cautiously hype. I adore Paper Mario 64 and TTYD. I spent like, a decade thinking that Paper Mario 64 was my favorite console game, then I played TTYD and it was just Paper Mario 64,...
This has me cautiously hype. I adore Paper Mario 64 and TTYD. I spent like, a decade thinking that Paper Mario 64 was my favorite console game, then I played TTYD and it was just Paper Mario 64, but vertically better.
I just love the character that these games have. The latest ones have been huge bummers though, so I'm nervous about how this one will pan out, but if they've learned their lesson, I'm looking forward to a great time.
I'm not sure what the appeal is in this series anymore. The first games were Mario RPG's and they were neat because they had a fleshed out world and story, which the regular Mario games didn't....
I'm not sure what the appeal is in this series anymore. The first games were Mario RPG's and they were neat because they had a fleshed out world and story, which the regular Mario games didn't. These latest entries don't have that, so now the series is just Mario, but in paper.
I love Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand Year Door, enjoy Super Paper Mario, and am pretty indifferent to the later entries. I agree, the worlds aren't as entertaining. Those first few games are...
Exemplary
I love Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand Year Door, enjoy Super Paper Mario, and am pretty indifferent to the later entries.
I agree, the worlds aren't as entertaining. Those first few games are really creative; when you start a new chapter it feels like you're entering a village/story that has been there forever, and you get to help them with something relevant to them. For example, you'll walk into a Koopa Village ― well obviously there's a Koopa village, where else would the Koopas live? ― and need to help them with their shells. Or you'll sail to a desert island and hit up a pirate ship.
But the conflicts in the later entries feel so much more manufactured. Uh oh, Bowser's up to his usual tricks and he sent his minions to beat up ____! When the whole plot strictly revolves around the Big Bad Evil Guy it's harder to care about the small stories, which are where all the characters live.
Also, I don't really know how to phrase this, but those first* three games feel so… earnest. Like, the world and characters can be wacky and snippy, but not careless. Take Ms. Mowz: she's playful, flirty, sly; but those are facets of her character, not its foundation. I feel like the later games lean on sarcasm in dialogue rather than satire in plot or setting, and that makes them less genuine. Like clothes for characters instead of personalities.
Then there's the issue of the paper theme. In Paper Mario 64 it was strictly a technical limitation that they turned into a visual theme; in The Thousand Year Door they kept the theme and introduced thematic mechanics; in Super Paper Mario the main 3D mechanic is based on paperness; and then in Sticker Star it turned into a gimmick with the Things. To the extent that the earlier games acknowledge "paper" in-universe, they serve meaningful gameplay purposes like "roll up to get into smaller places"; but a Paper Fan in battle is worth little more than using Cut to get past a bush.
Finally, I think the battle system in the first two Paper Mario games is incredible. It's the most fun I've had with an RPG battle system. The numbers are so small that battles are almost like puzzles with discrete, limited resources. I'm so disappointed that they moved away from that, because it turns everything into a war of attrition. (The Mario & Luigi series, which I am also deeply affectionate for, suffers from this problem as well.)
I hope that this new game targets the tone of The Thousand Year Door: run-down, often dingy, and yet people stubbornly go on. I hope it revitalizes the small-number RPG mechanics. I hope "origami", however that's interpreted, informs meaningful mechanics that are used in multiple places. I hope it borrows Mario & Luigi-style overworld puzzles. I hope the towns you visit clearly have histories of their own.
Now that I'm complaining about things I want, I think that a simple grid-based tactical battle system would suit the series really well. There's always been something like this. In the original...
Now that I'm complaining about things I want, I think that a simple grid-based tactical battle system would suit the series really well.
There's always been something like this. In the original Paper Mario the shape of enemy formations and whether an enemy is flying/grounded/ceiling'd changed your attack options. The Thousand Year Door added the option to put your partner in front on the enemy turn, and added partner HP so that it was risky and rewardy.
This has me cautiously hype. I adore Paper Mario 64 and TTYD. I spent like, a decade thinking that Paper Mario 64 was my favorite console game, then I played TTYD and it was just Paper Mario 64, but vertically better.
I just love the character that these games have. The latest ones have been huge bummers though, so I'm nervous about how this one will pan out, but if they've learned their lesson, I'm looking forward to a great time.
The writing
I'm not sure what the appeal is in this series anymore. The first games were Mario RPG's and they were neat because they had a fleshed out world and story, which the regular Mario games didn't. These latest entries don't have that, so now the series is just Mario, but in paper.
I love Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand Year Door, enjoy Super Paper Mario, and am pretty indifferent to the later entries.
I agree, the worlds aren't as entertaining. Those first few games are really creative; when you start a new chapter it feels like you're entering a village/story that has been there forever, and you get to help them with something relevant to them. For example, you'll walk into a Koopa Village ― well obviously there's a Koopa village, where else would the Koopas live? ― and need to help them with their shells. Or you'll sail to a desert island and hit up a pirate ship.
But the conflicts in the later entries feel so much more manufactured. Uh oh, Bowser's up to his usual tricks and he sent his minions to beat up ____! When the whole plot strictly revolves around the Big Bad Evil Guy it's harder to care about the small stories, which are where all the characters live.
Also, I don't really know how to phrase this, but those first* three games feel so… earnest. Like, the world and characters can be wacky and snippy, but not careless. Take Ms. Mowz: she's playful, flirty, sly; but those are facets of her character, not its foundation. I feel like the later games lean on sarcasm in dialogue rather than satire in plot or setting, and that makes them less genuine. Like clothes for characters instead of personalities.
Then there's the issue of the paper theme. In Paper Mario 64 it was strictly a technical limitation that they turned into a visual theme; in The Thousand Year Door they kept the theme and introduced thematic mechanics; in Super Paper Mario the main 3D mechanic is based on paperness; and then in Sticker Star it turned into a gimmick with the Things. To the extent that the earlier games acknowledge "paper" in-universe, they serve meaningful gameplay purposes like "roll up to get into smaller places"; but a Paper Fan in battle is worth little more than using Cut to get past a bush.
Finally, I think the battle system in the first two Paper Mario games is incredible. It's the most fun I've had with an RPG battle system. The numbers are so small that battles are almost like puzzles with discrete, limited resources. I'm so disappointed that they moved away from that, because it turns everything into a war of attrition. (The Mario & Luigi series, which I am also deeply affectionate for, suffers from this problem as well.)
I hope that this new game targets the tone of The Thousand Year Door: run-down, often dingy, and yet people stubbornly go on. I hope it revitalizes the small-number RPG mechanics. I hope "origami", however that's interpreted, informs meaningful mechanics that are used in multiple places. I hope it borrows Mario & Luigi-style overworld puzzles. I hope the towns you visit clearly have histories of their own.
We will see.
Now that I'm complaining about things I want, I think that a simple grid-based tactical battle system would suit the series really well.
There's always been something like this. In the original Paper Mario the shape of enemy formations and whether an enemy is flying/grounded/ceiling'd changed your attack options. The Thousand Year Door added the option to put your partner in front on the enemy turn, and added partner HP so that it was risky and rewardy.
Do we have reason to believe there's no story in this new game?
That seems like a dangerous thing to say out loud on Nintendo fan sites. (But, pssst, I agree!)