Had a lot of strange feelings when replaying this tbh. It used to be my favorite Paper Mario game (mostly since it was my first), and I’d always think about how the writing and world design were far more interesting here this than in TTYD whenever I reflected on the series. But even though I still do like it quite a bit, I’m not sure if that’s a very honest position for me anymore.
I do think it has a handful of ideas that are more realized than its GameCube predecessor (primarily how the game assigns unique mechanics to the 4 main characters that carry throughout the whole game, especially swapping to 3D). And yeah I do get more out of the writing and character dynamics here; but honestly, as I was playing more and more I found myself just puzzled at its very existence.
I understand that it was originally intended for the GameCube—and therefore might’ve faired better as a companion to TTYD than a sequel—but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this is just way too weird and different of a project to the entirety of the Paper Mario series that it’s nearly impossible to compare them side-by-side. This is a side-scrolling platformer through and through and what that genre invokes/necessitates is almost totally opposed to that of the turn-based RPG genre. It doesn’t matter how much you try to blend the two as they were made to be entirely unique experiences.
I do think it has a handful of ideas that are more realized than its GameCube predecessor (primarily how the game assigns unique mechanics to the 4 main characters that carry throughout the whole game, especially swapping to 3D). And yeah I do get more out of the writing and character dynamics here; but honestly, as I was playing more and more I found myself just puzzled at its very existence.
I understand that it was originally intended for the GameCube—and therefore might’ve faired better as a companion to TTYD than a sequel—but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this is just way too weird and different of a project to the entirety of the Paper Mario series that it’s nearly impossible to compare them side-by-side. This is a side-scrolling platformer through and through and what that genre invokes/necessitates is almost totally opposed to that of the turn-based RPG genre. It doesn’t matter how much you try to blend the two as they were made to be entirely unique experiences.
Mr. L best boy
A masterpiece of a Mario game. Princess peach saves herself, Bowser becomes your homie, and Luigi turns evil and gets a dope theme song. Count Bleck makes a cooler villain than Bowser. Each world was so colorful and unique. The pixels were charming; I loved how each of them had a unique personality. This game had a ton of references to other games/media, but they went over my head. I collected all the cards and recipes in this game, and cleared both pits of 100 trials.
The game itself is extremely easy, that is my one downside to it. However, the story is really fun, the characters are among the most memorable in the entire series and the music is good too. I found myself coming back to the game on multiple occasions, simply because the story and the fun intermissions in gameplay.