I have a very specific hatred for games that don't respect my time, and Paper Mario TTYD not only does that every step, but revels in it, using its padding as a joke.

While TTYD does improve on some system of the original, its level design takes a massive hit, with most levels being a straight line you have to traverse left and right. After chapter 1, almost every chapter will see you going to an obstacle, moving all the way back to get the metaphorical key, going forward a bit, encountering another impasse, going back, and so on and so forth.

Original Paper Mario was guilty of some padding, but its backtracky chapters had hubs, big areas and circular layouts to help you. TTYD is just Flower Fields from the original over and over.

There's no amount of humor and funny dialogue that will make me want to stick with a game that so actively wants to be way longer than it can be, especially when some of its humor makes a joke of wasting your time.

Yes, the Doopliss situation is funny, but it's also one of the worst cases of padding in this game. And unfortunately, the writing isn't even as good as some other Mario RPGs.

Frankly, I'd rather have every NPC be Toad, including Mario why not, than a game that's so comfortable at wasting your time.