Might be the single greatest Mario RPG ever made.
Obviously I loved the story, unique and lovable characters and the wicked setting. Rogueport being this dingy dirty place is such an interesting thing to see in a mario game. The noose being one of the first things you see really sets the tone of this game. The areas are really interesting and impressive all throughout the game, got super into the Glitz Pitz in particular.
This game keept me engrossed throughout, never got tired of exploring the over world for secrets or messing around with badges and whatnot.
The combat was obviously really fun too, badges helped a lot by adding extra depth and strategy to the fights. I did not expect to like the audience mechanic as much as I did but it was REALLY cool. Love how they sometimes fuck with you or throw useful items at you. Or how certain types of audience members have different effects, like the bombs blowing up half the audience. OH AND WHEN BOSSES EAT AUDIENCE MEMBERS IS SO FUCKING COOL OH MY GOD. Pulling off stylish moves and impressing the audience feels great too.
The writing was shockingly funny, some of the stuff they got away with putting in the game is HILARIOUS.
Basically what I'm saying is that this game fucking ROCKS and I throughly enjoyed it.