Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024) is a fantastic remake of one of the most beloved games of all time. The graphics have recieved a beautiful overhaul, and the game has gorgeous new lighting, and a variety of quality-of-life enhancements.

I found myself laughing out loud many times during this adventure, as the writing is witty and never misses a beat- but there are some decently hard-hitting moments in here too. I found myself caring a lot about these characters and this world by the end. It does a fantastic job applying a great deal of personality and charm to the mario universe.

The gameplay is bogged down by some harsh backtracking here and there, and some pacing issues, and some strangely boring and uninspired level design (why are 90% of the areas straight lines??) but nothing too crazy in the midst of what is otherwise a fun time. This game stands as proof that nintendo needs to hurry up and make another TRUE mario RPG.

chapters that fall woefully short of their potential; metric tons of dull, repetitive busywork; empty, boring areas made up of rectangular corridors and do-nothing dungeons

carried in its entirety by wonderful characters, engaging combat, and boatloads of charm.

surpasses the original game in some ways, falls WAY short in others. at the end of the day it's a lot of fun, but it could've been even better if they'd hired a single level designer or cut down on the time-wasters

it has its charms but i think it gets ruined by the gameplay being intolerable 90% of the time

story doesnt scream anything special, and some of the chapters drag on far longer than necessary

personally i had difficulty navigating the worlds and getting through a lot of the more out-there environments but tbf im pretty stupid so this wont be an issue for most people playing

overall it's okay but not something to write home about

Paper Mario: TTYD used to be a confusing game for me. I always wondered why so many people were practically begging for Nintendo to bring back "partners" or "not toads" or whatever. It used to be a sort of laughing stock, especially after Origami King.

I understand it now. This game is really, really good

Paper Mario, TTYD is one of the best Mario games I've played in a while, from its good ass writing, to its good storytelling, through its amazing variation in set pieces and art direction, and its great battle system, it all combines into an amazing game I couldn't recommend more. While there are some things I still find issue with (confusing areas, reliance on partner hints for me atleast), it doesn't detract from the experience at all.

This battle system is way better than Origami King as well. While I still think that game is good, this is way better. I played this game over 2-3 weeks, so I can't give anything concrete, but this is a must play for Mario & RPG Fans alike.

the return of the best gamecube game

i think its interesting that they decided to remake this game as a lot of the older mario RPGs games are more digestible in terms of characters and location. this game has some of the more deep cuts in mario lore with the amount of different settlements here (the whole series does but i think TTYD has more interesting NPCs) the game's locations have also been beautifully rendered on the switch with everything feeling more glossy and colorful. (the 30 fps is kind of annoying but i got used to it personally)

the remade OST gives the game a lot more identity with unique themes for every chapter. i found myself leaving it on but i do think it overdoes sometimes (i think the OG battle theme is still great and would've preferred it in overworld fights)

mario RPG combat has always been good with the kinetic button attack/guards and the partners in battle (with quick change equipped) makes the battles feel seamless and entertaining. the different things the partners do also help with variety and makes you really think (in terms of usefulness its like goombella>yoshi>bobbery>vivian>koops>flurrie>mowz).

the story is pretty simple but has a lot of heart to it thanks to the writing. it also gets pretty dark for a mario game which i appreciate even more nowadays.

i don't rlly have any major issues with the game honestly a lot of the complaining seems to come from the fact that people were expecting something that this game isn't which i understand but find a little silly (IMO) this is a remake (honestly more like an HD remaster if i'm being honest) of an early 2000s RPG, a lot of them were like this.

overall i still think its the best mario RPG (close with superstar saga though) and it has aged pretty well considering the type of game it is.

Finally, finally after so many years of wanting to play it and coming very close to purchasing a 300 dollar gamecube copy out of desperation I finally get to experience the game people have been swooning over since I can remember. I finally get to have so many questions answered. Is it one of the best games ever? Does it lord over the trilogy as the highest peak, is it better than my beloved Super Paper Mario?

As a new thing I wanted to try, I kept a little journal of my thoughts per chapter and had the idea to review each part episodically with a closing statement on my final thoughts on the game. This was a terrible idea as I write way too much, and feel too bad erasing huge chunks of my work. So without further ado: one of the longest reviews I've ever had to write and edit for everyone's darling Thousand Year Door.




☆Chapter 1☆
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This first chapter is a really good depiction of what to expect from ttyd and starts off very strongly with multiple genre-breaking gags to subvert the very conventional story setup with Hooktail. The toad kid talking about various Nintendo games, the game show thwomp that replaces the position of a miniboss. A chest that gives you a powerup but still dresses it as a curse which is deifnitley the best running joke in the game. Hooktail herself being defeated in a few turns because your hammer is making frog sounds. Its undiluted Paper Mario essence at its finest. Petalburg is a really soft and charming place but Koops is probably the least utilized companion, I immediately switched back to Goombella after the chapter was over because I love her and comparatively Koops seems to get kind of sidelined both gameplay-wise and in terms of an active story role. In contrast to her precdessor Goombario, Goombella to me seems like the primary party member along with Vivian; shes sassy and smart and supportive and kind of steals the show in my eyes. After chapter 1 ends we get our first actual star power that isnt ol' reliable shit fuck Sweet Treat and then its on to:


☆Chapter 2☆
---------------------------

BOGGLY WOODS!! I've seen this area plently of times before in screenshots, but the way it looks completely floored me in the remake. The black and white trees contrasting beautifully with the oil spill colored vines on the floor, its all shiny and pretty like black lacquer. The music playing in the background sings ethereal and calm. A stand out area for me of the whole game, plus it has PUNIES!! Oh, I love them so much. Leading 101 of them through the Great Tree had me smiling so wide. They get trapped in little bubbles! They learn the power of union! Every interaction I had with the sage puni and the puni siblings reinforced them as my favorite non-recruitable characters.
Flurrie is the companion that joins in this chapter and I like her a lot. She has a very large and caring presence which fits in line with her past stage life. She also likes squishy, silly punies so we have a lot in common. Unfortunately I never did use her much outside of mandatory puzzles, but its okay because Koops got used way less.


☆Chapter 3☆
---------------------------

Glitzville! The Glitz Pit! I have a feeling this is a lot of people's favorite chapter and for obvious reasons. The unconventional story structure is very cool with there being no random fights at all, instead duking it out in a wrestling arena for a shot at championship. After each fight you get a break and here it hit me just how much dialogue there was in the game because all conversations in the area change completely after almost every match. Theres a lot of events in-between fights to give the player a break and I appreciated that because I get tired of fighting pretty fast. Unravelling the conspiracy of the Glitz Pit and sneaking around was so much fun. I love old fashioned wrestling so this chapter was very charming for me. After saving his egg from becoming a hot dog or something Yoshi Kid is born, Mario is his dad and Glitzville his country. I was really happy being introduced to this guy, I think its because the process of meeting him and his connection with Mario is very different than the rest of the party who get together by chance. I feel really attached to this guy and I feel bad riding him because he is so small, but I must because Mario is so fucking slow. Jolene is also really cool- the little tidbits of information about Prince Mush throughout the game made their reunion really sweet. This area is very, very good and stands out a lot for being so different than what one would expect.


☆Chapter 4☆
---------------------------

Twilight Town, like Boggly Woods, is also incredibly gorgeous and uses its color and textures well. The design on the big moon and the palette of the woods is so pretty, mesmerizing. Everyones turning into pigs. That's Mario's least favorite animal so he goes off into the forest to help stop it. I only knew this as the Vivian chapter and I was really excited to meet her, so the chapter end fakeout got me. I thought my game crashed and I was actually gonna reboot it before I hit A on accident- which is when shadow Mario gets up and the actual premise of this segment is revealed. Im so happy I didnt know about this part because nearly every other major occurance in ttyd has been spoiled for me throughout the years, it was nice being shocked for once. The way they constantly change and subvert their own formula is so incredibly clever to me, nothing else really holds a candle to the constant creativity these chapters show. Anyway- we meet Vivian who is looking for a bomb in the bushes. I wish we could have shown her more kindness than some basic decency, but she tags along to help Mario anyways. Doopliss wants his name back so you have to treck back (again) to Creepy Steeple. I hate Creepy Steeple. Getting there is hard, leaving is hard, I know theres a pipe but I didnt find it till later. Creepy Steeple is nothing but dark and annoying and I got stuck in a room for 20 minutes because there was like, no way for the player to see the hole in the wall going into the parrot room. I guess the implication was that light is supposed to be shining out from under the gap but how was I going to know- Mario was 10 yards away and stuck behind some bars. Obtain letter P, return to Doopliss and say hes Doopliss. Go back, again, to your favorite place Creepy Steeple and walk alll the way up back to his room AGAIN. Though I dont like this dungeon, this guy is my favorite antagonist- and how could he not be with such a fashionable hat. The Doopliss fight with all your companions working against you and Vivian's story beats are really cool, and then she officially joins the party! I had her by my side for most of the game- shes very powerful fully upgraded and has a lot of relation to the main events so it felt right to have her out.

☆Chapter 5☆
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Chapter 5.... was..... uh........ Keelhaul Key... aw fuck I have to open the game and check.


Chapter 5 is the premiere of the unforgettable and culturally significant Keelhaul Key, which I remember clearly. I dont know how to properly describe this, but I noticed that ttyd has a very fluid way of managing its world. Everything seems to intersect and even random npc characters will remark on the latest happenings in Mario's adventure. Flavio looked very unique so I knew he would be a part in the story at some point, but I noticed here that the bob-omb at the counter had a progressing train of dialouge which converged with the mature toad lady character in Glitzville. Everything in this game is so alive and so smart, anyways... meeting with Bobbery had me getting misty eyed. Ttyd has no problem moving between really silly moments and touching story beats, which is something a lot of games that replicate Paper Mario struggle with. Keelhaul Key itself is a fun misadventure I suppose... I hated the backtracking though, god there is so much backtracking in this game, its insane. I fought so many fuzzies.... Pirate's Bay was not much better at all. I didnt really like this area, slow and dense. Cortez and the X-Naut showoff were the best things to come out of the chapter.


☆Chapter 6☆
---------------------------

The Excess Express...much like Glitzville in chapter 3, this segment subverts the typical story structure except it removes virtually all battles. Instead, Mario and co. take on detective work aboard an ongoing train and then platform a little in Poshley Heights with no final boss to defeat. I love this chapter. The atmosphere is immaculate. Getting to know all the passengers over the course of 3 days and solving their troubles turned it into a different sort of game for a bit. It was a very smart decision to not have any random encounters for the majority of the chapter because the mood of the Excess Express is very impressionable. Walking through the train at dusk and seeing the remaining sun shining through the windows, with that song playing in the background... its one of those Nintendo moments that I'm sure imprinted itself heavily on the people who played this as kids. The detective side of the chapter is very fun, and I enjoy how much it encourages you to interact with the people on the train as it builds your relationship to them in a unique way that isnt purely focused on rescuing them. Arriving at Poshley Heights, the area isnt that huge or noteworthy because the focus is on the train- but the Sanctum that holds the crystal star was near mythical. I just assumed we would have to fight Beldam and her sister and her not-sister Doopliss, but after their departure instead it leads you on into a mirror image of the Sanctum. Entering, its all light blues and soft light with the saddest most evocative piece of compositional music playing in the background. It was a very unexpected moment, I think I audibly said 'woah'. I dont know if it was intentional how strangely moving the Inner Sanctum was, but climbing up the sides of the building with the pretty lights and taking in that song was so peaceful and nice. Such a fitting end for a mostly nonconfrontational chapter.


☆Chapter 7☆
---------------------------

By this point, after completing every bulliten quest avaliable to me I had already figured out that backtracking was ttyd's best friend forever but I didnt think they would seriously make me go back and forth between Fahr Outpost and every other area I've been to so much. It would be comical if they hadnt made me to go Hooktail Castle 3 separate times, so I was feeling very bitter at this point when I had to walk around for no reason. Fahr Outpost itself is a military base which instills dread and isnt a lot to be remarked on, which is kind of a shame because Paper Mario's snow areas are very pretty. Getting shot to the moon also would have surprised me but I spoiled myself the day before looking on a wiki page for how to make ruin powder. The moon... is very slow. The encounters on the moon arent that fun but you're not expected to be there for long. The X-Naut building... also is not very fun. The keycard shenanigans were tedious and I resigned myself to looking at a guide to figure out where they were. Just a lot of little time wasters here... and a lot platforming. More on that and TEC later but I absolutely hate this game's jump when its used for platforming, its short and heavy and shitty and clearly wasnt made for precise-ish movements.
Fighting that robot was okay. Walking through the halls with the all the lights shut off after TEC's final message was what I'll remember most from the moon, though.


☆Chapter 8☆
----------------------------

The Palace of Shadows is another area in the remake that I had to stop and take in because it really does look absolutely beautiful and grand. The trek through the palace is very long and kind of arduous with the many puzzles and no item shops. The star tower near the end of the chapter made use of riddles and was very fun to figure out, though once again Koops was left unused in a location that utilized nearly every other companion (sorry, man). The small miniboss fight with Beldam and her new family left me a little dissapointed because Vivian didnt really have a lot to say, and I was hoping punching her sister in the hat would have given her some closure. Moving on to the next room, the fight with Grodus is really exciting but you get a sense of how powerless and kind of incompetent Peach is here. In Paper Mario n64 she's trapped on a floating castle, so theres not much she can do. Here though, shes just sleeping and weak and isnt shown even trying to break the force field bubble shes in. Im assuming Grodus gave her a concussion or something but when she gets possessed by the Shadow Queen she's not even bound, just collapsed on the floor though after the fight Goombella says shes not even hurt so why're you nappin lady?? Im getting a bit ahead of myself though, because as Grodus threatens to end Peach as a means to get Mario to stop hitting him over the head with a hammer, BOWSER appears and crushes that guy with his mighty and toned koopa body. This fight was a fun reprieve from the harshness of the rest of the palace though its unlikely you would die even if you took a few hits fighting Grodus.

Going into the basement to fight the final boss, I noticed a huge issue. There was not a pipe leading back to Rougeport in sight. I didnt have any healing items at all, but I really didnt want to make the 40 minute dash to town and back so I opted to rely on Sweet Feast instead and went into battle. The Shadow Queen is a very threatening figure compared to what Mario games had seen up until that point. The cutscene where her hands are creeping up the sides of the various buildings above ground probably would of made me cry when I was younger. Her spirit design channels a sense of fear and otherworldliness that I really enjoy. She also mentions slaves? Which means that, at the very least, the concept of slavery exists in the Super Mario world officially. Phase one of her boss fight wasnt too rough for me, I got a soft stomp on her so I managed to widdle her down pretty fast. I was mostly worried, when she invoked her spirit form, that I was going to have to do some stupid shit like from that point on she could only be damaged by Supernova, but mercifully that was not the case. As Mario is left struggling and the crystal stars fly off, the upcoming cutscene had me absolutely bawling. Im always very touched when stories end with every friend you've ever met coming together to believe in you and rally you on. Its so sad and heartwarming every time.... even Peach gathers her last bit of strength to give to Mario though she didnt seem to have any passed out on the floor moments prior. I was feeling absolutely pumped- the danger of complete global annihilation felt so real and I was completely into it, no way I was going to let anything happen to these people!! I was in tears, Punio believes in me!! I CANT let him down!

I died!

She had like 30 health left and I fucking died. It became impossible to recover the amount of health I was losing with only Sweet Treat/Feast and I had no items at all. A lot of people say that this is baby's first rpg- and I know theres probably a badge combination that makes things easier, but what the hell. The Shadow Queen is one of the hardest bosses I think I've ever fought. And I was really, really pissed because that emotional buildup was something else and it just completely evaporates upon dying. It doesnt feel half as special or urgent when you've already seen it before... also "try again"? I thought it'd just restart that phase but it put me back to entering the room which is pointless.
I buckled down to spend the next hour of my life trying to remember how to leave the building for items but then, and only after I had reloaded the game, did a pipe appear that lead to Rougeport. Why it isnt just there from the get go is beyond me, but I just got more pissed cause if I had access to that earlier that really sweet emotional moment wouldnt of been trounced for me.
Despite having healing items this fight was still incredibly hard and I barely beat it with both companion and Mario at 10 hp. The final moments of ttyd are bittersweet as we have to say goodbye to Rougeport and Mario fails to deliver TEC's final message to Peach because they both seemingly forgot. Though I didnt want this one to end so soon, the credits roll. The book closes, and that was The Thousand Year Door! Before I close with my general thoughts, I have something written for the Peach & Bowser intermissions:


☆Extra☆
-------------------

Peach and TEC initially felt to me like a demo reel for Blumiere and Tippi, but as time went on I felt really endeared toward the computer. TEC never tries to win Peach over or actively seduce her, which would be uncomfortable since shes stuck in a room with them. TEC is curious about their newfound feelings and this leads them to a sort of solace as they resolve to get her off the space station. I really like the solemn acceptance TEC goes through, never wanting Peach to stay or enter a relationship with it, settling into peace with the feelings it has found. Peach, on the other hand, despite having a role and doing things somehow feels like she doesnt have a scrap of autonomy in anything that goes down. Her email information doesnt really help at all except for the final message she sends. Out of a very creative game, these segments are probably the most typical things we see.

The Bowser intermissions also kind of only exist to jusitify his appearance in the ending, he really didnt have to be here but it was pretty funny and I'd rather be watching him get up to shenanigans than spend 30 minutes failing to make a potion with Peach


And thats it! All my thoughts on The Thousand Year Door. So the question remains: is this one of the best games ever? Does it really beat my favorite entry in the series, Super Paper Mario?
For starters, I can really understand why so many people are so fond of this game. It is incredibly special in both its gameplay aspects and its continually evolving creativity, it is a game that was created out of pure love for everything Paper Mario is and you can clearly tell by how often they remember and cherish their previous installment and continue to evolve from it.
Theres a few things I really dont like about this game, though. For one, I was constantly lost. Someone of my age really shouldnt have problems getting around in a Mario game but if Goombella didnt tell me exactly what was up I never knew what to do or where to go. Instruction and direction felt incredibly vauge at times, depth perception and lighting were definitely contributing factors to the aimlessness I felt. Speaking of depth perception, this game likes to pretend that its a platformer quite a bit when its clearly not made for that at all. The jumping feels bad and it loses all momentum when you let go of the c-stick. The mechanical room and the x-naut fortress are two areas that just suck so much because of this when it really didnt need to be included. Also, I said this before but ttyd loves making you go back to really inconvenient places again and again, almost every bulletin quest is like this and after the 20th visit back to Hooktail, it gets very tiring.
With all that though, I still really enjoyed my first experience playing ttyd in this new and improved form. I wanted to keep seeing more, even if it was doing something tedious and repetitive. It made me laugh and smile and cry... but not as much as spm so I still love that one the most. Its a very special game with a very special place in a lot of people's hearts, and I'm very glad it got the remake it deserved.
And now... I rest, wistfully stroking my copy of spm, feeling in my chest the sad truth that it will never be gifted the same attention.

While I did mostly enjoy my time with paper mario ttyd, I'm sadly not a new convert to the cult that is this games fandom. Theres a lot to like with ttyd, it looks absolutely fantastic and makes great use of its paper aesthetic, you are always in new locations with new characters and mini arcs to go through, and you progressively unlock new abilities and party members which allow for more creative exploration. The writing is also hilarious at times, moments like the crows in twilight town will stand out for me.

However, I do think sometimes the game suffers from letting a gag or gameplay flow drag on too much or happen too often. Pressing A 100 times, having to time a potion for 30 seconds, waiting 2 and a half minutes for an npc to be "ready", waking a guy up 10 times, having just one of these is a quirky funny moment, having all of them is just plain annoying. Then you have chapters like the WWE one where there is honestly too many battles overall and it drags and kills some of the underlying mystery thats taking place. Or the train ride in chapter 6, its just too much up and down the train waffling and yappin to different people. In a smaller dose both of those would be fine but they suffer because I like the mix of combat and exploration in this game, heavily focusing on one or the other loses my interest.

Maybe a hot take but I also got kinda fed up with the peach and bowser interludes, some more than others just feel like a bad joke or padding. Might seem like a lot of negatives but overall I did enjoy the game and I'm glad I got to experience it, everyone knows whats good about the game. I do love though how the yoshi always refers to you as Gonzales, hes a real homie, love that dude.

Wonderful game. Full of charm and laughter and heart and style. I never got around to playing the original, but this is easily one of my favorite games I’ve played on Switch. Someday I’ll go back and play the original to see how the two compare.

Anyways, despite being a bit tutorial heavy in the beginning, I had a surprising amount of fun with this game’s combat. The stats are kept very low for RPG standards, but it works. I found the badge system super fun and most of the time I leveled up my BP so I could do more. The combat for the most part wasn’t challenging at all, but I was having too much fun with the game that I didn’t mind.

I loved most of the characters and all of the worlds. Some of the best Nintendo games feel like the developers had a ton of fun making it and I really got that here. The train mystery level sticks out as something creative and totally fun to design. Oh and the humor had some innuendo I wasn’t expecting for a Nintendo title. But I’m not complaining.

Great game!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door já é incrível e esse remake melhora e torna mais acessível essa grandiosa e divertida aventura. Por mais que a fórmula não foi muito alterada, os desenvolvedores conseguiram deixar o backtracking, um problema no original, bem menos rigoroso e cansativo. Além disso, ganhou novos visuais lindos junto com músicas e efeitos sonoros impecáveis tornando a jornada muito mais épica do que antes. É o simples, porém muito bem feito. Também, parabenizo por deixarem uma personagem trans ser oficializada. Fico bastante feliz com o fato que agora mais pessoas possam jogar um dos melhores jogos do Super Mario que a Nintendo já produziu.

I never got to play this one as a kid, despite having watched LPs of it then, so this remake was my chance to finally play it for myself. With it though, I can really see why this game is the fan favorite.
This is where Paper Mario's battles are at its best. Partners having health feels like an improvement over the first game's system. No more stunned partners slowing things down! It also feels like every partner has a niche in this one. All of them were useful at some point in my playthrough.
Another great thing about this game's battle system is how fun it is to try out new builds. It's easy enough to swap out badges, but it's incredibly satisfying to see how a new one is going to fit into your playstyle.
I think this game's best quality is its writing though. There's a really nice variety of chapter scenarios, and each chapter has a compelling storyline on its own. The game's overall plot is also quite engaging. The X-Nauts are an entertaining villain group, and there are some fun twists and turns in how they execute their plans. The other characters are great too. Sure, most of the party members aren't especially involved in the overall narrative, but they all feel unique and likeable. It's easily the best party in the series. The game is hilarious too. I laughed out loud several times.
The only real issue I had throughout my playtime was the level design and backtracking. It can indeed get pretty bad at times. You spend a lot of time walking through areas that you've already been through. The game's structure is unfortunately pretty reliant on it. But the battles were fun enough that it didn't really bother me too much outside of side quests.
Overall, TTYD is an excellent game. I'm not sure if it's my favorite in the series, but it sure is the best at representing what I love about Paper Mario.

So much has already been said about Paper Mario TTYD, so I don't want to regurgitate each positive element. Instead, I'll focus on my favorite and least favorite aspect of the game.

The combat controls are nothing less than spectacular. Each move is ingeniously designed with the controller in mind, using inputs with buttons and joysticks to mimic the movements of the character. Whether it's flicking the joycon to launch Koops in his shell, or inputting a string of random buttons to cast a fiery spell with Vivian, each move feels special and uses the full capabilities of the controller (besides gyro, but maybe that's for the best...).

By far the worst part is the backtracking. Many mainline and side quests require extensive backtracking and tedious fetch quests. The only fast travel option is a room of warp pipes, accessible after Chapter 3; however, warp pipes to new areas do not appear until after you complete the chapter. The Switch remaster does address this with a few new shortcuts, but so much of the gameplay time is strung out by walking and unwanted enemy encounters.

Is this the best turn-based RPG of all time? It certainly ranks up there, and I could easily see this being my new favorite. But it's not immune to scrutiny, despite what some Nintendo fanboy YouTubers will lead you to believe. For as long as it took for this remake to come into fruition, it was well worth the wait.

Just to clarify, TTYD is a 5 out of 5 and one of my favorite games of all time, so the 4.5 stars is only because of some minor issues I have with the remake.

Overall, I do think that this remake is the definitive way to play the game. Lets start with the good. Probably the single best change in this game is the nerf to backtracking. There is a "level select" hub with pipes to each main area in a chapter that unlocks after you complete the chapter, this makes certain forced backtracking sections of the game infinitely more bearable. There was also some mid chapter (4 and 5 specifically) backtracking that was fixed, which is a very nice and welcome change.

The graphics/artstyle of this remake are absolutely gorgeous, and do improve on the original. That being said the original is still fantastic looking to this day, as its artstyle will never really age. Due to this graphical overhaul the game runs at 30 fps, vs the native 60 of the original, and as someone who has played the original many times it is definitely noticable. The remake feels pretty sluggish throughout, but more on that in a bit.

When I first heard the music in the reveal trailer in the "new" paper mario bombastic brassy orchestral style I was pissed. Im not a big fan of that type of music in these games. That being said as I played I came to appreciate the music in this remake. Overall I still think it is worse than the original, but new tracks have been added here, including a unique battle theme for each area, and the variety does a lot to improve the original. That being said there are too many banger tracks that are just worse in the remake that I think this is overall a bad change. There is a badge in the game that lets you use the original soundtrack though, so I suppose my complaint here is a wash.

The game feels a fair bit easier, although I think this could be due to the fps being lowered allowing for bigger frame windows. As with the SMRPG remake I think this game should have had a hard mode. I played the original as a kid, so og fans are at least pushing 30 now. A hard mode to appease the original fans would have been nice. That being said there are 2 new optional end game bosses, less than the SMRPG remake but still a welcome addition.

Back to the sluggishness of the game. There is a massive delay when scrolling text boxes or menuing in battle and it is genuinely awful. In the original you could rocket through the combat menus which made battle feel snappy. Now you have to wait for half a second, leading to constant ghost button presses that just makes the menus feel unresponsive. This doesn't seem like a hardware limitation, so I don't understand why its here.

Overall I think the remake is pretty great, I just cant help whining about some of the issues I have because of my love for this game. Now I absolutely need Nintendo to remake the original Paper Mario, because that is a great game that is in much greater need for a remake than TTYD was.

This is quite possibly one of the best remakes I've played in my life; it's filled with so much love from the development team; and this as one of my favorite childhood games; I love and appreciate every little detail they added into this game.

From the lil things, Mario being alot more animated in cutscenes, not using the same hand raised up pose for half the interactions; to major changes like Chapter 4 finally cutting down on the back tracking.

As someone who loved this game as a kid; and now nearly 10 years later; I love this remake more than anyone can imagine; this is my favorite rpg, like ever. Sure it's not as objectively good as others; but God damn the charm of the game and the badges making tons of challenge runs possible; it's just so enjoyable.

100% would recommend over the original and just in general.

the truth of the matter is that everything worth saying about this game has already been said, and said well. the original was a wonderful and creative game with a number of notable flaws keeping it back from being perfect, and this remake polishes up what made it wonderful and circumvents what made it annoying. it's really a perfect remake in my eyes.

(also wanted to make an obligatory mention of transgender vivian being re-canonized! as someone who grew up loving her character, it means a lot to see <3)

Let's get this out of the way first to piss people off: I enjoyed my time more with The Origami King than I did with TTYD remake, and I enjoyed my recent playthrough of the original Paper Mario more as well. I also found the SMRPG remake more enjoyable.

Still with me? Alright, with that, let's cut into the review. TTYD is one of my favorite games of all time. I grew up with it and probably put a handful of playthroughs into it, either to try different builds, use different partners, etc. I adore this game, which is why it hurts me to say that I think the remake has just sort of reminded me that the game hasn't aged particularly well in a handful of ways. And ultimately the things that I think are the game's strengths have--whether people want to admit it or not--been built upon in its sequels, however immensely flawed some of those games might be in other ways.

The writing in TTYD is fantastic and arguably the game's biggest strength, but barring the dud that's Sticker Star, every Paper Mario game has had fantastic writing, and depending on your purview, it's only gotten better since. The only real issue with later Paper Mario games is that my Toads aren't wearing funny hats anymore and there's no character designs for me to pledge my unflinching horniness to like in the original Paper Mario and TTYD. TTYD know how to write endearing characters, and you really feel like everyone joins Mario for their own reasons and just because Mario is such a good dude. The game's redone script is a nice fresh coat of paint for a localization that's decades old at this point.

The battle system is some good ol'-fashioned JRPG goodness, and it has badges which radically change how Mario and his partners approach combat. TTYD has some very clear rules like you can only jump on dudes in the air, touching dudes on fire is bad, some moves and partners are better than others in certain situations (but I'm only using Goombella and Vivian anyway, fuck the police) and frankly, there's a lot of flexibility to how to play the game. This is the core tenet of Paper Mario's legacy as a series, which is why psychos think all the games after TTYD suck for various reasons (hyperbole but not without reason). And it's... fine? I wouldn't call it challenging, at least not for the build I ran, and I think JRPGs have enough variance and innovation in the genre that TTYD stands out as clever and good. Not revolutionary, but some nice fun.

But ultimately this is more of a critique than a review, and there's a big component to critique in TTYD. Let's talk about the backtracking: it sucks, and even if you're trying to be tongue-in-cheek about it, that doesn't stop it from sucking. This is where the game feels like it's aged pretty substantially. TTYD ends up feeling very compartmentalized; it's not a big grandiose world to explore but it's a series of corridors that you either hang out a lot in or that you end up backtracking through a lot. You run through a lot of the same areas more than twice, or you hang out in one area for extensive periods of time. A lot of the game's overworld "exploration" involves you running errands in the same corridors or going down a linear corridor until you hit the boss of the chapter. You can almost feel the data size constraints of the Gamecube with how intentionally designed some of these levels are.

Frankly put, it's not very fun! There are a lot of highs in this game but you have to slog through a lot of repetition to get through to it. It's awfully paced in a lot of chapters where I feel like I'm just faffing about doing busy work that's meant as filler or padding to make up for the fact that this world isn't that expansive. As I've said, everything does not feel interconnected: you get to everywhere by a pipe except the two chapters where you take a vehicle, or get shot out of a cannon which is metal as hell but HEY LOOK A SHITLOAD OF RETREADING THROUGH OLD LEVELS BEFORE THAT HAPPENS, AWESOME.

To be clear, I still think TTYD is a fantastic game. But when it came down to it... I just wasn't having as much fun as I remembered. Maybe I'm just old and my tolerance for filler and backtracking has waned, but also I just replayed Paper Mario, the SMRPG remake, and TOK in the past few years. Those games come and go without the severe pacing issues while still having memorable setpieces, level design, banger soundtracks, and phenomenal writing. TTYD feels very much like a product of mid-2000s game design, which means a lot for better or worse.