Well they significantly reduced the backtracking in Chapters 4 and 5 so this is easily the definitive version of the game.

The Thousand Year Door has always been one of my all-time favourite games, ever since I was a kid. Still to this day I would say it's my favourite JRPG and that's likely not going to change any time soon. I already played through the original Gamecube version once every year or two, so I couldn't tell you how happy I was when this remake was announced. As much as I did enjoy Origami King, finally seeing Nintendo bring Paper Mario back to its original form was a delight in and of itself.

I don't want to ramble here too long because I think the game already gets the praise that it deserves. And judging by the ratings here on Backloggd, it seems most of the fans are incredibly satisfied with this new release. While the game remains essentially the same, there are some new additions that make this the version to play from here on out. Firstly, there's the aforementioned backtracking; which was always a big point of contention with the original. Unlike the first Paper Mario on N64 which had more wide-open level design and exploration, TTYD instead opts for a "hallway-like" structure. I'll be the first to admit you spend a good deal of this game walking back and forth, from left to right and vice versa in most areas. And Chapters 4 and 5 were especially egregious with this. But the simple placement of a pipe in the Creepy Steeple and a spring in the jungles of Keelhaul Key made a world of difference. A few quality-of-life improvements, such as the partner wheel and Goombella's hints, also help to prop up this remake as the superior release. Oh, and there's unique battle music in every chapter now. That's definitely new and really caught me off guard, as someone who has been accustomed to hearing the same battle theme for the last twenty years. And I would be remiss not to mention the updated visuals, which are simply stunning. Framerate be damned, this game looks and runs how I always imagined it would in high definition.

Normally when I play TTYD I just rush through it, skip most of the dialogue and beat the game in a little under twenty hours. This time I really wanted to savour the experience and take my time; I didn't rush the story, I did all of the troubles, and collected not all, but most of the shine sprites and star pieces. When all was said and done my playthrough was just shy of 32 hours, which feels like the perfect length for a JPRG of this kind. I know some people aren't happy that dialogue is unskippable now, and I'll admit I was mildly annoyed at that too; but the text still scrolls at the speed at which I read and I'd argue it allows for stronger characterization. Now the dialogue is paced appropriately and the Banjo-Kazooie-esque voice clips add a new level of charm to the game that didn't exist prior. Will the slower text boxes be a little annoying upon replaying it? Probably. But that's a minor blemish on an otherwise stellar experience.

I can't wait for everyone to finally try this masterpiece; now that it's on a console that people actually own. One of the definitive Mario experiences is back and better than ever.

[Gameplay]
Combat System;
One of the core elements of the gameplay in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is it's turn-based combat system, where timing is essential to dealing damage to enemies. In battle, you could have Mario & one other partner with you at a time, with each of the 7 partners having their own purpose in battle, which I will explain in the story section

In recent Paper Mario games, I feel like the combat system has made some of them unenjoyable, While The Origami King had a fun enough combat system, It didn't feel the same without partners. Sticker Star did return to turn-based combat since Super Paper Mario focused more on platforming than being a turn based RPG but Sticker Star relied on stickers for even using attacks at all, even a simple jump or normal hammer attack required stickers to even use, which made it less fun to even play at all, Unfortunately, Sticker Star ignored The Thousand Year Door in terms of the combat system. Color Splash had a similar situation since it uses battle cards instead of stickers, which you can choose to paint with the Wii U Gamepad, Neither Sticker Star nor Color Splash had fun combat systems since they were based on resources that you would find throughout the game instead of always having that particular attack ready.

While The Origami King did have a few steps in the right direction by removing stickers & cards completely, in addition to bringing back partners within battle which had been missing since The Thousand Year Door, The Origami King's partner system wasn't quite there with TTYD since the partners were pretty forgettable & all of them tied to the story, meaning that you couldn't choose which partner you had with you depending on the situation you were in within the game. The Ring system did add a fun enough twist, but I think all of this wasn't enough for The Origami King to actually be up there with the original 3, I think it's the best of the paper themed Paper Mario games but just not up there with TTYD

but did The Thousand Year Door remake fix the combat system from past games? Honestly, yes, it did. Their wasn't a resource based combat system present, & the combat did a really good job at staying true to the original Thousand Year Door game with one extra aspect added to it, The Battle Master, a new toad character who offers advice to help you in combat & you can also use this to master different moves from Mario or one of your 7 partners

Puzzle Solving & Exploration;
The puzzle design in The Thousand Year Door remake managed to stay true to the original since the game still features star pieces, which can be traded in for badges, and this time they have the additional purpose of adding in an art gallery for each chapter if you have collected all the star pieces within that area.

The Shine Sprites are used to upgrade Partners, which can grant them a new move, The Shine Sprites, just like the Star Pieces, now have a sound gallery where you can listen to the game's soundtrack, but since this section is about exploration & puzzle design, I'm going to come back to Art & Sound Galleries later in the video.

But the Star Pieces & Shine Spirtes can be found by using your partners to access specific areas or if they are just hiding out of sight. You can receive clues on where to find Star Pieces & Shine Sprites in a house below rogueport

Difficulty Level:
The chapters in The Thousand Year Door are pretty difficult, but compared to the GameCube original, some quality of life improvements made it slightly easier, such as new save blocks being added to the overworld. If you are stuck, you can press ZL to get a hint from one of your partners. If you die during a boss fight, you will respawn right before the boss fight, which is handy for saving a bit of time during gameplay. In the final boss within The Palace of Shadows, a pipe has been added to make it easier to get from the entrance to where The Shadow Queen's Boss Fight is.

[Graphics & Performance]
Visuals;
The updated graphics within the remake are visually gorgeous. The graphics were better than what I expected the game to look like. All I was expecting from The Thousand Year Door was a remaster upscaled to HD & shadow dropped after a Nintendo Direct but I'm surprised that they went the full on remake treatment instead of just remastering it to HD. The overworld has been retextured to make it pop out more, The UI design, while it stayed true to the original, was reworked to make it look appealing on modern screens. Even some 2D models have been upgraded to 3D such as Hooktail who looks even better in the remake than the original game, & The lighting in each individual area within the game looks amazing.

Art Style;
The art style hasn't really changed, since more recent paper mario games had white outlines around each individual character, which kind of made certain characters look less visually appealing but I think staying true to the original was the right choice because I don't want to imagine what a 3D model of Hooktail with white outlines around each body part would look like

Performance;
Unlike the GameCube original, which ran at 60FPS, the Nintendo Switch remake ran at 30FPS which may bother a few people who have played The Thousand Year Door, but me, I think the character movements such as Goombella still look smooth even with the downgraded framerate, I think Nintendo's Next Console will support 60FPS so maybe a patch for TTYD can improve the framerate a bit

[Characters]
Before we get into the characters themselves, I want to mention that The remake does add a fresh coat of paint for it's characters in terms of sound design since the remake applies unique sound blips for every character's dialogue sounds instead of the same one for every character, which makes it easier to identify each character.

The Main Characters;
Players will take control of Mario for most of the game, but their are segments within the game where you will play as Peach or Bowser inbetween chapters. Where Peach has her own sideplot of trying to escape the X-Naut Fortress On the moon & Bowser has his own sideplot of trying to find each individual star that would open The Thousand Year Door alogside his assistant, Kammy Koopa.

Partners;
In The Thousand Year Door, Mario has 7 permanent partners with each having their own skill set & writing but not all of them will be useful in terms of offence in battle

• Goombella- Starting off with Goombella, who was a student of Professor Frankly when she was studying at the University of Goom. In the overworld, Goombella can give Mario information about his surroundings, and in combat, doesn't do much on the offense side of things but her Tattle ability is useful for learning enemy stats such as Max HP, Attack, & Defense. it can also be used on bosses to know accurately how much health they have.

• Koops- Koops did start off as a cowardly character when he was first introduced, he changed his ways after Mario & Koops went & fought Hooktail, which changed him into a brave Koopa for his girlfriend, Koopie Koo. In the overworld, Koops can use shell toss to reach items that Mario can't & can trigger elevator buttons when Mario stands on them. In battle, Koops is more useful for defense than offense, even though Koops can still use offense moves.

• Madame Flurrie is a retired actress who joins Mario to save the Punies inside the great tree when the Great Tree is in danger. Flurrie can blow strong winds to reveal hidden areas & make enemies spin, which can distract them temporarily. In battle, she is mostly used for draining HP from enemies but she does have wind or cloud based abilities that she can use aswell

• Yoshi Kid, who is my second favourite partner in the game. Yoshi Kid doesn't have any writing behind him before you encounter him after hatching the egg in the Glitz pit. The reason Yoshi Kid stands out to me is because he will come out as a different colour depending on the player, depending on how long you spend in the Glitz pit before defeat. You can also name Yoshi Kid whatever you want, which I ended up naming Lavoshi because I ended up with Red Yoshi Kid. In the overworld, Yoshi Kid can help you travel faster & flutter over gaps that Mario can't. In battle, Yoshi Kid has a near perfect skill set to work with, since he can flutter jump, gulp enemies, throw eggs to make enemies smaller, & unleash a stampede of Yoshi's on the enemies

• Vivian is probably my favourite of the seven partners, not only because of her useful skill set but also because of her writing. Vivian was written differently compared to her sisters, Beldam & Marilyn, since she is kind & gentle with other people, The relationship between Vivian & her sisters is what made her easy to connect with. Vivian was also depicted as a trans woman in the original GameCube release in Japan, In the 2024 remake, the dialogue in Chapter 4 was rewritten to refer Vivian as a transgender woman, even if this is a family-friendly game, It's great to see more LGBTQ representation in games, especially since international laws surrounding LGBTQ have changed since 2004. Vivian in the overworld can be used by Mario to hide in the shadows, which is useful for detective parts of the Story such as 3 Days of Excess, where Vivian can be used to hide in one of the cabins just for a ghost to appear. In combat, Vivian has a fairly balanced moveset, Veil & Fiery Jinx being the 2 most useful moves that she has

• Admiral Bobbery is probably the most useful in terms of offense. Bobbery is another well-written character due to his lack of motivation to sail because his wife Scarlette died in a fever, which Bobbery blamed himself for. In the overworld, Admiral Bobbery can be used to access areas or obtain items by cracking walls. In combat, Bobbery is essential for offense, especially in the final battle with the Bob-ombast ability.

• Even though Ms. Mowz is an optional partner since she is the only partner in the game, acquiring her isn't connected to the story but instead, can be acquired through a side quest from the Trouble Center. Ms. Mowz is probably the least developed of the 7 partners since she is an in-and-out character throughout the game, as she appears in chapters 1, 2, & 3, but only for a little bit of time. In the overworld, she can be used as a radar to find things such as Star Pieces & Shine Sprites. In combat, she can be used to affect the stats of the enemies, such as Love Slap, which can deal damage by ignoring the enemy defence; Kiss Theif, which steals any item or badge the enemy might have; Tease, which can make the enemies dizzy; & Smooch, which can replenish 10 HP for Mario.

[Story]
The main story follows Mario as he collects the seven Crystal Stars to open The Thousand Year Door & uncover the ancient treasure.

• The Prologue starts the story in Rogueport where Mario uncovers the first clues about the Crystal stars & meets her first partner Goombella & her professor; Professor Frankly

• Chapter 1 is where the first Star Piece, The Diamond Star, is found, as Mario has to travel to Petal Meadows, where he meets Koops, who starts off as cowardly but becomes brave in order to stop the Dragon Hooktail.

• Chapter 2 moves onto the Great Boggly Tree where Mario & Madame Flurrie have to help the Punies where their first confrontation of The Shadow Sirens lies

• Chapter 3 is probably the weakest Chapter, in my opinion, since it involves competing in the Glitz Pit & you have to go into battle 20 times, which does affect the pacing of the chapter. Yoshi Kid was probably the best part of the whole chapter, & Rawk Hawk was a fun character aswell, I just think the gameplay loop affected the pacing of this chapter. If the Glitz Pit was a post game activity, that would be fine.

• Chapter 4 is probably my favourite, not just because Vivian was the partner introduced in this chapter but because it adds an extra challenge having to go around & guess the name of the doppelganger Mario, which ends up being Dooplis

• Chapter 5 involves travelling to Keelhaul Key where you team up with Bobbery to uncover the secrets of Cortez's treasure

• Chapter 6 is probably another favourite chapter of mine sine this one is a whodunnit kind of story to protect the garnet star.

• Chapter 7 is where you find the final star in the game. This involves going to Fahr outpost where you get blasted to the moon which is where The X-Naut fortress is located.

• Chapter 8 is the final chapter where you enter the Thousand Year Door, which leads you to the Palace of Shadow, where Mario needs to overcome trials to defeat the Shadow Queen.

While the writing does stay true to the original game, their are changes in the writing since it has been changed to stay true to the japanese release of The Thousand Year Door. In terms of changes, The underground Goombas no longer catcall Goombella & Vivian in Chapter 4 is now canonically transgender. those are the only changes I can notice in the writing.

[Changes From The Original]
Now before we move on to the summary, I want to talk about the changes made to the remake from the GameCube original

• The Battle Master is a useful feature because it can help you master particular moves & can provide tips based on Partner abilities, The Purple Toad can be found anywhere within the game's map

• A Fast travel system has been added in for each location, similar to The Origami King where you have different pipes inside the Toad Town museum which aren't unlocked based on the story but you have to find pipes & remove the stickers from them which should unlock the fast travel pipes. In the thousand year door, their is a room below Rogueport which should open new pipes if you hold the stars at The Thousand Year Door

• Vivian Is now canonically a trans woman in the remake since in the Japanese version she was always portrayed as a trans woman but the Nintendo Switch Remake finally confirms that Vivian is a trans woman through one piece of dialogue which has been changed from the original game

• The partner wheel is a useful change because it allows you to swap partners easily without having to open up the menu & change your partner, which is a time-saving feature. I think this is a feature that will return in the remake of Paper Mario 64

• The soundtrack of the game has been rearranged. Every song in the game uses new instruments which make it sound better to listen. Some new music tracks have also been composed aswell, such as battle themes being different depending on the location such as a spooky theme for twilight town & a rock theme for Glitzville. If you prefer the original GameCube soundtrack, you can obtain the nostalgic tunes badge which will change all of the music in the game to the original GameCube version, the only downgrade to this is the music variety in the remake's soundtrack

• The Art & Sound galleries can be unlocked with Star Pieces & Shine Sprites you find around the map. The art gallery can allow you to get a brief idea on what the developers were trying to do with the game & the sound gallery allows you to listen to music through out the game, even with the nostalgic tunes badge equipped, but you are losing the newly arranged tracks by doing that. Even though I would have preferred a museum style feature as seen in The Origami King which can allow you to view character models aswell, The Art & Sound Galleries are a great addition to the remake

I do think we have great changes made in the remake & I do think some of them like the partner wheel & The galleries will carry over to the remake of Paper Mario 64 & hopefully the next original Paper Mario game

[Summary]
Gameplay: 10
Graphics & Performance: 9.3
Characters: 10
Story: 9
Content: 8
Sound Design: 10
Remake Handling: 10
Difficulty: Hard
Length: 30 hours
Audience: 7+
Perk: Certified Gold

Final Score: 10/10

It Took me a while to beat compared to other Mario games because of college & stuff, but I can safely say for now that Paper Mario is back, & in the certified gold club aswell. I hope that the future of Paper Mario is exactly what The Thousand Year Door demonstrated for us

While some elements of the originals tedium cannot be entirely removed, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch serves as a shining example on how to remake a beloved game. With localization corrections and only slight alterations to mechanics and dialogue, it perfectly preserves the vision of the original title. However, its revamped HD soundtrack, astonishing lighting, expanded environment/character animations, and much needed improvements to in-game travel all serve to make this edition, in my opinion, far superior to the already great original. This game should be the standard for faithful remakes, and hopefully provide a solid blueprint for future titles in the series.

I really enjoyed my time revisiting this game! This playthrough made me realize that this game truly is the best Mario RPG to ever come out, even if I do have a few small issues with the game.

I think the biggest standout of the entire game is the cast of character. All of the partners are great honestly. Goombella and Vivian are the easiest standouts to me. Even extending beyond the playable cast, this game has the most memorable characters in the series.

Gameplay is also at its best here. While its not the most complex RPG battle system, it absolutely doesn't have to be. It knows what it wants to be, and does the absolute best job it can at being that. Combat in this game was always a joy.

I do only wish I enjoyed Chapter 5 and 6 more. Those two are probably the weakest chapters in the game for me, especially 6. But the game does pick back up in Chapter 7 (which is SO much better in the remake).

To close off, please support this game. If we want more games like this from Paper Mario, we desperately need to convey that we want specifically what this game does. As someone that doesn't hate Color Splash and Origami King, I would be so much happier with a new game like this.

I’ve always been annoyed at the constant glazing the GameCube library gets on the internet. It’s always, “the GameCube has the best Paper Mario, and the best MarioKart, and the best Smash Bros, and the best Mario Party, and the best F-Zero, and the best Pikmin, and the best Mario Tennis, and the best Metroid, and the best Mario Golf, and the best Kirby game, and the best Mario Baseball, and the best” It’s like alright I get it you grew up in the early 2000’s.

But…

if I’m being honest…

as I finally play through all these GameCube games…

they’re actually pretty good.

This is a great remake. New music and not solely redone music but additional tunes too. New bosses and a nee coat of paint. Everything is here that you would want from a remake. I found that combat was a bit harder somehow when even when playing the original last year wasn’t. It felt less responsive. But still got through it. The QOL changes they added are welcome and even relieves the backtracking a bit. But idk, i am still fond of the gamecube vibes present in the original, the sound design and music really were better to me in the original. The cacophonous remade music while fun, doesn’t keep the vibes I like from the original. Just a preference though. This is a great way to play TTYD.

As a huge fan of the original Paper Mario 64, it is an immense disappointment that I can't seem to enjoy the sequel. Of course, some of the changes are unmitigated successes - combat is more engaging, more strategic, and more fun. The writing is often charming and funny, although there's a lot more generic speech in The Thousand Year Door. The new settings are beautiful and inventive. However, locales and elocution are not what make a game great.

Exploring the levels is exhausting. Mario's movement speed is slow, and goodies are often completely hidden in order to prompt the player to comprehensively canvas every inch of floor space. Most of the levels are either hallways or mazes, with pipes used to disorienting effect. In the remake this problem balloons from inelegant to ponderous, with a low framerate, menu input stutters, and fixed-speed dialogue. On top of this, every new ability is accompanied by an excruciating tutorial.

Partners are largely one-dimensional archetypes, lacking even the rudimentary characterization that 64 offered. The Peach interludes are now regressive filler that really drives home how flavorless and dull the bad guys are. Is there any trope more played-out than a computer asking "what is love?" Chapter 3, where I am terminating this playthrough, is a great example of this game's dichotomy. You are introduced to a charming, glamorous WWE arena and tasked with fighting a sequence of boring generic enemies in a row. It's not unlike the whiplash I felt when I stumbled across the mysterious Pit of 100 Trials beneath the city streets, only to discover that it's just a repetitious, tedious combat challenge.

I really wanted to like this game, and I had hoped that the remake would elevate my experience. Instead, it's a mix of upgrades and downgrades (why is the new music so aggressive?) that took a game I felt ambivalent about and solidified my dislike.

Once upon a time I would have called myself a huge fan of the Paper Mario series. Its unique aesthetic, simple yet engaging RPG mechanics, and familiar Mario trappings were like fly paper to my child self. These days, I find it hard to consider myself an ardent fan. Because Paper Mario as a series has gone through what could be called an identity crisis, if you were to put it lightly. This is all well trodden ground at this point, so I won’t belabor this review with a pity party about how “Paper Mario sucks now” anymore than I have to. I just think it’s important context, specifically for critical analysis of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door; The final classic entry in the Paper Mario series, even though everyone playing it didn’t know that at the time. This position has given the game a sort of mythical status in the community. I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouths, but I have to wonder if the massive amount of love the Thousand Year Door has accrued over the years isn’t at least partly the result of Nintendo depriving players of this style of game for two whole decades. I’ve played the Thousand Year Door several times growing up, and just recently wrapped up my playthrough of the remake (more on that later), and while I love the game, I can’t help but notice its flaws that could’ve been ironed out with a proper sequel.

Considering the only Paper Mario game that plays like the Thousand Year Door is its predecessor, direct comparisons gel the best between these two games as opposed to future entries. But even then, comparing Paper Mario 64 to the Thousand Year Door will reveal at least one major difference between the two: its level design. The broad strokes between the two games are the same, but past surface level similarities, the philosophies between these two games are actually pretty different. The Thousand Year Door seems to prioritize what I’d call “set pieces” as opposed to the more standard RPG dungeon exploration of Paper Mario 64. Chapter by chapter, I’d say three of the eight chapters (three, four, and six) are in some way major departures from what the player would expect from an RPG level. These chapters, being the Glitz Pit, Twilight Town, and Excess Express are all highlights from players’ experiences specifically because they’re not what the player would expect to do in an RPG. However, and this probably won’t buy me any goodwill to say, but the novelty of these chapters wears thinner and thinner on repeat playthroughs. The Glitz Pit suffers the least from its novelty wearing off, as it has the backbone of the Thousand Year Door’s wonderful battle system holding it up straight. The Excess Express’s train mystery invokes feelings of classic adventure games, but once its simple puzzles are solved it can be completed in under an hour. Which is a little disappointing. Twilight Town’s false climax and the amazing events that occur afterward results in the player walking through the same forest path a total of five times. For the most part, the Thousand Year Door sacrifices interesting level design for interesting experiences. That’s all well and good, but for the instances where the level design of an area like, for example, chapter 5, doesn’t have a unique experience buoying the playthrough, it makes for a disappointing lull. Considering the game’s critical and fan reception, I’d say this gamble of focusing more on unique moments paid off for them, but it has also resulted in issues that are clear to all who’ve played this game.

Much has been said about the Thousand Year Door’s obnoxious backtracking, but personally I see this as more of a symptom of a bigger issue the game has, and it’s that the game loves to waste the player’s time. Almost as if it finds it amusing to do so. General White’s wild goose chase that occurs in the game’s homestretch is the most infamous instance of backtracking, and it definitely comes across as a joke when he’s finally discovered at the location your search began in. There’s other little examples of this throughout the whole game; This isn’t an isolated incident. Any player who takes it upon themselves to complete many of the Thousand Year Door’s side quest content will have their patience wear thin as many requests result in monotonous busywork intentionally padded to either waste their time, or fuck with them. Sometimes it’s both at once. Make sure you buy two hot dogs. However, as frustrating as this may sound, this ethos is salvaged for me thanks to the fact that many of these instances of messing with the player end up being pretty funny. Such as when Frankie says I love you to Franchesca one hundred times. Requiring an actual one hundred button presses to advance the text. Future Paper Mario games would seem to carry on this ethos of making the player the butt of the joke, but would forget to make the actual process of playing the game worthwhile, making the jokes hit a bit differently.

Paper Mario as a series has changed drastically over the past decade and a half. It’s this change in the formula that has had people so excited for this remake of the fan favorite Thousand Year Door. As a remake, it’s quite respectful to the original game. Notably it addresses the original game’s most egregious backtracking instances. But it addresses these instances by simply allowing the player to skip the brunt of them, as opposed to replacing the content with something more meaningful. I suppose that’s the other side of the “respectful remake” coin. As for changes I dislike, it’s mostly changes done to the user experience. Text speed is on a set course with no meaningful way to increase it. Audience members throwing items toward Mario now completely grind the game to a halt to give the player more of a chance to hit the corresponding button. I don’t understand why this change was made as I’ve never heard of anyone being caught unawares by the original game’s method. And of course, the game’s framerate being cut in half took quite a bit of adjustment to get used to. All of these changes combine to make the Thousand Year Door remake a much more sluggish experience than the Gamecube original, which is really unfortunate. This next one will moreso come down to personal preference, but I also wasn’t completely won over by the remixed soundtrack. In the instances where new songs were created, such as character themes and world specific battle music, I think it’s well done. But a lot of the returning tracks feel as though the “remix” is more like a newer, louder song being played over the original. At the very least this music can be reverted to the originals.

I’ve played through the Thousand Year Door a handful of times growing up. Strangely enough, each playthrough painted the game in a different light. The first time I beat it, I wondered when we would get the sequel. Some indeterminate time later, I had beaten it, sure that it was the last hurrah of a series I used to truly love. Now, with this recent playthrough of the remake under my belt, I have a renewed sense of confidence in the future of the series. This remake hadn’t materialized out of nowhere; Nintendo must’ve been aware of how revered this game was by fans. So I have some hope that a true follow up is in the cards. Some might wonder if it’s even possible to improve upon the Thousand Year Door. Personally, I think it would be easier than you’d expect. I’d start with improving upon the monotonous and bland level design, then maybe reconsider all of the backtracking. In case it wasn’t clear by this review, I don’t think the Thousand Year Door is one of the greatest games ever made or anything like that. I’m hesitant to call the game “overrated”, as that takes away much of the nuance that discussion of the Thousand Year Door deserves. Even if it is overrated, there’s a very good reason why that is: It’s an incredibly charming game that had its future snubbed. Of course the game had always been liked, but as the saying goes: “you don’t know what you got ‘till it’s gone.” Hopefully this remake can signal that the series I knew and once loved has returned, and Intelligent Systems isn’t crumpling up their thousand year door follow up and throwing it into the waste bin.

Perfect game.

Just... perfect game. Really don't know what to tell you. Brilliant combat system, beautiful pop-up book aesthetic, arguably the funniest script in a video game ever (the running bits here are on the level of Arrested Development). And all of the improvements and additions are minor but solidify this as truly one of the best games of all-time. Backtracking is mitigated, "Danger" Mario is still very much alive but you gotta work a little harder for it, and there are new secret bosses (people were asking for a Prince Mush fight and we got it), not to mention the newly polished visuals and updated soundtrack (with an option to play the original tracks instead). The only "complaint" is that the game still kinda loves wasting your time, but it's usually as a gag: see "I love you" 100 times. I laugh every time so who cares. Pure joy on a cartridge, the early Mario RPGs (especially this one) are in a league of their own.

Shoutout to my black Yoshi (oh yeah, I got the black one) telling an incel Goomba to take a "long walk off a short pier." Also Vivian is English canon trans now, hell yeah.

The Thousand Year Door is a game I’ve wanted to play since I was a kid. I liked both Color Splash and Origami King, and Super Paper Mario is still an all time favorite of mine, so I wondered if the game hailed as the best one could triumph it for years until now.

There are lots of things this game does better than everything after it, mainly the creativity. Every world is unique in style and structure, they all stand out and are memorable visually and in the writing, even if some worlds are better than others. The combat also feels great. The level up, badge, partner, and action command systems flow seamlessly together to make an easy to learn but hard to master loop that I’ve seen many RPGs try and fail to do (Yiik).

I do think there are some pitfalls though that Super Paper Mario also has, that being level design. The dungeons are mostly alright, but they’re littered with some repetitive structure and backtracking. I didn’t mind it until about world 5 or 6, where it just felt a little tiring.

That being said while I personally still like Super a little more than this, I get why this game is so loved. Here’s to hoping that one day a new Paper Mario game capture the spark this game holds.

Big surprise, The Thousand-Year Door is delightful. The battle system is surprisingly engaging due to its timed hits (even more so this time with the addition of "stylish" moves), the dynamic and malleable badge system, and the wacky diversity of its enemies and bosses. The half-diorama/half-theatre aesthetic of its world is wonderful (not to mention graphically this is a HUMUNGOUS glow-up from the Gamecube original, like damn). The various stories, characters and locales of each chapter are witty, memorable and captivating. It's easy to see why this game is so beloved and to end up loving it yourself.

All that said, I don't think that The Thousand-Year Door is some incredible jump in quality from the first game. If anything, I think the first Paper Mario impressed me way more. Where this game really leans into its dark setting and wacky presentation, the original had more whimsy that resonated with me on a deeper level. Don't get me wrong, despite my lack of personal exposure to the rest of the series, I've totally drank the Kool-Aid and am happy that this is a game that Nintendo acknowledges and rereleased; hopefully the future is bright for OG Paper Mario fans. I just don't think it's this mind-blowingly amazing experience. I just think it's genuinely great, alongside its predecessor, and this is a duology of RPGs that are easily worth your time.

Paper Mario La puerta milenaria tiene todos los ingredientes en prácticamente todos los apartados para ser considerado el mejor juego de la franquicia sin ninguna duda, aún cuando podrían haber aprovechado el remake para mejorar algunos aspectos que sí se quedan, si no cojos, claramente anclados en el momento que salieron y que hoy pueden pasar algo de factura.

En primer lugar la presentación del juego es simplemente brillante. Los diseños de cada personaje que aparece en la historia y lugares que se visitan son geniales, ya que es completamente lógico que cada Toad, Koopa, Bomb y demás seres que habitan el mundo tengan su propia vestimenta, peinado o accesorios únicos.

Quizás esto sea incluso doloroso puesto que esto es lo que debería ser en el resto de juegos posteriores y ha ocurrido exactamente lo contrario, por eso aquí incluso se disfruta mucho más.

Otro gran punto a su favor es el desenfado general y no andarse con tapujos en algunos momentos de la trama. Si es una ciudad peligrosa con mafiosos y robos, pues lo es, así te lo presentan y punto. Tratando todo con humor y buen rollo cuando toca pero avanzando en una historia típica pero con sus particularidades.

Por ejemplo, en cada zona nueva se une un compañero con su propia personalidad y habilidades que tiene su motivo para echarnos una mano creando al final un grupo bastante variopinto que da lugar a usos y combates más dinámicos.

Y es que para explorar y avanzar por el mundo de La puerta milenaria sus habilidades son más que necesarias, eso hace que siempre sea interesante volver a escenarios pasados para encontrar cosas ocultas y que en el combate sea interesante elegir el acompañante adecuado según lo requiera la ocasión.

Ahora bien, precisamente en la exploración y el combate están los dos puntos que tendrían que haber recibido algo más en este remake. Y es que el combate está bien a secas, digamos que es el A,B,C del combate de Paper Mario pero se queda ahí ya que no son del todo dinámicos.

Un combate normal contra un enemigo del montón puede ser tedioso porque aportan poca experiencia y te puede costar un par de turnos de ataque básico. E incluso puede ser frustrante si quieres analizarlo (gastando un turno) o si es de un tipo donde tienes que cambiar de compañero (gastando otro turno).

En ese sentido no es del todo divertido ir de A a B combatiendo contra enemigos normales puesto que suelen interrumpir más bien las ganas de continuar con la historia al durar tanto y ser tan intrascendentes. Sin embargo el concepto general es más que funcional y tener un abanico de posibilidades de ataque, habilidades especiales y estelares son más que suficientes para salvar cualquier combate.

En cuanto a la exploración, al igual que los personajes, hay todo un mundo original con un montón de cosas y sitios que ver que llaman mucho la atención y, con el paso de las horas, te das cuenta de todo lo que has hecho en tan poco tiempo, dejándote con una sensación súper positiva.

Recordar como hay una zona a la que ahora puedes acceder con un nuevo poder y recoger una recompensa o acceder a una nueva zona es tremendamente gratificante. Sin embargo, con el paso de las horas y la ausencia de un viaje rápido puede hacer que ir y volver los diferentes lugares no sea lo más divertido del mundo cuando, además, se junta con el punto anterior sobre combates aburridos durante el trayecto.

Así que al final acabas centrado en lo principal ya que el buen humor siempre anima a continuar y las muy diferentes situaciones en cada zona sí hacen que sea divertido pensar como se conseguirá el siguiente cristal y como será el corto de turno de Bowser y Peach para relatar la historia.

La verdad es que en eso es un 10 absoluto.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was first released when I was a stupid kid playing video games. As such, I appreciated it at the time, but I did not have the level of admiration that most of its fans do. I had a similar experience with Persona 3, though I played that for the first time much later in my life than PM: TTYD.

And much like me playing Persona 3 Reload made me understand just why people loved Persona 3 in the first place, playing through the PM: TTYD remake brought that same level of understanding.

But while Persona 3 Reload was polished and cleaned to what could be argued as a sterile sheen, the PM: TTYD remake took nearly everything that people loved about the original TTYD and made it better. And that's why, between the two, PM: TTYD is the better remake.

The art direction is the perfect balance between the original iteration of PM: TTYD and the hardcore papercraft aesthetic of Paper Mario: The Origami King. The twenty years of video game graphic advancement since the original was released have allowed the developers to create the game "as you remember it". The battle stage is especially successful here. Any time I entered a battle without a player / enemy first strike, I was completely delighted as the set pieces unfolded themselves and then the characters would run in. That alone is one of the best "surprise and delight" moments I have experienced in any video game.

The new soundtrack is also successful, though it leans more toward the jazzy tunes of recent Paper Mario entries than the original. I absolutely love it. And for those who don't, they give you a badge that plays the original GameCube soundtrack instead. Perfect.

The cast of characters remains the most diverse in any video game bearing Mario's name. It is a reminder of how criminal it was when the series pivoted to no-name characters in later entries.

My only complaint - a minor one - is that there just wasn't enough new playable content. No new Pianta Parlor games, only two (admittedly amazing) new bosses... There could have been more. But so much more effort was put into the game's art direction and presentation that it makes up for it.

I desperately hope that Nintendo and Intelligent can push the formula further. I don't want a "PM: TTYD 2" - but what I do want is a game in the series with the same core philosophy of creating a diverse, lore-heavy, but most importantly believable Mario world. Where every character has something to say, where characters of different species interact in hilarious ways... I want the next game in the series to expand the Mario lore in ways we haven't seen before.

I don't put this in my top ten, but certainly in my "S Tier". My playthrough lasted approximately 40 hours - completing the main story, one full run through the Pit of 100 Trials, and defeating two of the game's three superbosses.

+ Improves on literally everything that was great about Paper Mario 64; better partners, story, boss fights, characters, versatility with badges, battle system, world, etc.
+ Great characters (TEC, Frankly, Flavio, Pennington, Puni elder, Rawk Hawk, Jolene, Doopliss, etc.)
+ Interludes with Peach and TEC were emotional, one of the best parts of this game
+ Soundtrack is amazing
- Backtracking can be annoying sometimes, especially with Chapter 6
- I don't think Chapter 3 needed to have 20 whole battles
- Very minor issue, but having to pay to heal when it was free in PM64 was kind of strange
Chapter Ranking: 8 > 5 > 4 > 7 > 2 > 3 > 1 > 6