This is really the case of the story/ideas being so damn good that it cancels out how semi-mediocre the gameplay is. It took a different and bold approach to Mario story-telling and honestly, I think it paid off. If the world and overall gameplay were better it may have been the best but as it stands, it still is a solid entry that contains the heart and soul of what a Paper Mario game is supposed to be. Far greater than anything we’ve got after it. This game took so many bold choices that I strongly believe that we’ll never see anything else like it. So, in that way, I can’t help but respect it. The fact that Mario and co. are just back-seating to the REAL protags of this game being blumiere and timpani is not something I’d expect considering previous games had Mario be the star, but it’s a unique take on tradition.

So yeah, definitely great but not amazing if we were to look at the whole package. I think also 100% this game altered my viewpoint a little because when you sit down and do EVERYTHING this game has to offer, it can kind of warp your opinion in a way. For me it didn't do much but I did grow to have a deeper appreciation for this one. I totally get it if someone says this is their favorite of the original trilogy. It does somethings better than the previous and it does things worse than the previous, but what matters at the end of the day is that it's still better than anything we got after this game came out.