Yes, the backtracking is a bit padded and annoying - even with the updates - and yes, the characters brazenly point it out. Yes, Bowser's butt monkey phase stuck in our mouths a bit too long after this. Yes, it's a shame the updated graphics didn't get a nice 60 FPS treatment to go along with them. Yes, I had this in the back of my head as "that game that accidentally turned me into an internet gremlin 20 years ago"; I expected that I'd bought this remake as a little nostalgia romp to reminisce, enjoy the vibes of a game that runs entirely on vibes, and shelve it again.
But nah, this fuckin script is so good, man. Paper Mario 64 out-Marios this with pristine charm, and Super Mario RPG is more... RPG...-y. But this game never strains to outdo either, and it ends up better at both. All the standard JRPG dialogue to tell you where to go has just enough little tongue-in-cheek asides, lampshade mounts, brick jokes, and fourth wall breaks peppered in to keep your eyes on each and every dialogue line, Tattle, and signpost. It lets Mario run free as a pastiche of himself; that deviation could've come across as grimy as the town it starts in - if it ever tilted into a level of smarmy, self-fellating self-reference*. But it doesn't. It keeps convincing you to believe in it anyway, and that bastion of monumental Mario consistency stands right behind the actual gameplay. The love for setting the mood and adventure keeps the heart, even as it occasionally stops to literally rip something to shreds.
After I played Paper Mario and TTYD as a kid, I tried to play a ton of other RPGs. I didn't like most of em - but I thought it was because they lost that interactive bit in the battle system. I get why now! You know what's a better gameplay loop that I'll fall for, every time, far more than numbers going up? Make me think I might laugh every time I hit a button.
I thought I remembered know what's around every corner. I don't. When I don't, I cackle. When I do, I still cackle. It loves itself for what it is. I love it.
(Also, y'know, gimme some of those numbers going up. As a treat.)
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* Sometimes I wonder if Miyamoto saw the series going here and jerked too hard backwards. Y'know, restrictions breed creativity! Here's a neat idea for a restriction: restrict Miyamoto to a dungeon and let the team create their own fucking game
But nah, this fuckin script is so good, man. Paper Mario 64 out-Marios this with pristine charm, and Super Mario RPG is more... RPG...-y. But this game never strains to outdo either, and it ends up better at both. All the standard JRPG dialogue to tell you where to go has just enough little tongue-in-cheek asides, lampshade mounts, brick jokes, and fourth wall breaks peppered in to keep your eyes on each and every dialogue line, Tattle, and signpost. It lets Mario run free as a pastiche of himself; that deviation could've come across as grimy as the town it starts in - if it ever tilted into a level of smarmy, self-fellating self-reference*. But it doesn't. It keeps convincing you to believe in it anyway, and that bastion of monumental Mario consistency stands right behind the actual gameplay. The love for setting the mood and adventure keeps the heart, even as it occasionally stops to literally rip something to shreds.
After I played Paper Mario and TTYD as a kid, I tried to play a ton of other RPGs. I didn't like most of em - but I thought it was because they lost that interactive bit in the battle system. I get why now! You know what's a better gameplay loop that I'll fall for, every time, far more than numbers going up? Make me think I might laugh every time I hit a button.
I thought I remembered know what's around every corner. I don't. When I don't, I cackle. When I do, I still cackle. It loves itself for what it is. I love it.
(Also, y'know, gimme some of those numbers going up. As a treat.)
---
* Sometimes I wonder if Miyamoto saw the series going here and jerked too hard backwards. Y'know, restrictions breed creativity! Here's a neat idea for a restriction: restrict Miyamoto to a dungeon and let the team create their own fucking game