Forums

Topic: Why Sticker Star fails and why Nintendo should stop making worse Paper Mario games

Posts 141 to 160 of 191

Spoony_Tech

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/fable-anniversary

Wow, would you look at that, Fable Anniversary edition scored worse then Sticker Star. Actually far worse! About the same user score though.

John 8:7 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.

MERG said:

If I was only ever able to have Monster Hunter and EO games in the future, I would be a happy man.

I'm memory of @Mr_Trill_281 (rip) 3-25-18

Switch Friend Code: SW-7353-2587-4117 | 3DS Friend Code: 3050-7580-4390 | Nintendo Network ID: SpoonyTech | Twitter:

LzWinky

Let's get back to the topic on why Sticker Star is an abomination rather than on trolls

Edited on by LzWinky

Current games: Everything on Switch

Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky | Nintendo Network ID: LzWinky

Nintendo_Ninja

Or, how SS isn't that bad!!!

Nintendo ID Network: Nintendo_Ninja
Mario Maker ID: LR5-VQV-THG

LzWinky

Nintendo_Ninja wrote:

Or, how SS isn't that bad!!!

Compared to the previous entries...it's really bad

Current games: Everything on Switch

Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky | Nintendo Network ID: LzWinky

GuSolarFlare

Nintendo_Ninja wrote:

Or, how SS isn't that bad!!!

I second this

goodbyes are a sad part of life but for every end there's a new beggining so one must never stop looking forward to the next dawn
now working at IBM as helpdesk analyst
my Backloggery

3DS Friend Code: 3995-7085-4333 | Nintendo Network ID: GustavoSF

Jazzer94

Unca_Lz wrote:

Nintendo_Ninja wrote:

Or, how SS isn't that bad!!!

Compared to the previous entries...it's really bad

I'd use the word flawed instead of bad.

PSN: mangaJman
SSBB FC: 1204-1132-2888
My YouTube
The Jazzloggery
Once you see you can never unsee

3DS Friend Code: 5155-3100-6367 | Nintendo Network ID: Justinius94

LzWinky

Nah, it's bad. It's a borefest of sticker collecting and platforming with very little charm that the previous titles had.

Edited on by LzWinky

Current games: Everything on Switch

Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky | Nintendo Network ID: LzWinky

Ark

I agree that Sticker Star is indeed "bad" as it's fundamentally broken even you ignore the existence of other Paper Mario games. Exploration is bogged down by meaningless fights and a messy overworld that mandates backtracking despite levels being numbered linearly. Puzzles are typically a simple case of placing the right sticker in the right place, even if that sticker doesn't seem to make sense and there's no reason that you would have even found the right object when you stumble upon that location. Simple puzzles can be effective, of course, but when most of them are the same besides being presented in a slightly different way, this isn't compelling.

Trial and error are virtually essential without a guide. For instance, if you didn't know that one boss requires hammers and you didn't have a roughly equal ratio of jump attacks to hammer attacks and decide to fight it anyway, all you can do is run. The lack of default attacks was used to mandate stickers, but inadvertently mandate tedious micromanagement for a battle system that has little to no depth compared to even many shallow JRPGs.

Not to mention that trial and error often has consequences; if you waste a giant sticker by putting it in the wrong location, it disappears and you need to track it down again and pay coins for your troubles. Coins alone aren't sufficient incentive for the player to battle since the game provides more than enough early on (especially if you go in under the false assumption that battles amount to something, which anyone who has played a JRPG before and doesn't know about Sticker Star's mechanics may well do). Again, if you run from a boss after trying to fight with an inventory the game doesn't want you to use, since there are no default attacks, you're forced to run away and lose all of the stickers you just used unless you shut the power off. The player is punished with tedium by engaging in the exploration that the game demands; coins are for people who try to play the game the right way instead of using a guide.

The few fights that are mandatory - bosses - aren't challenging in any sense of the word. They're all heavily scripted with little room for player strategy. The boss weaknesses are telegraphed in advance (such as the Pokey boss being in a baseball stadium and I believe there are some hieroglyphics beforehand) and if you lack the type of secondary sticker needed to defeat the boss (some might be immune to jumps, a sticker you'll likely have a ton of), you're usually out of luck. The fights are repetitive at best.

The game uses elements of the traditional JRPG formula to provide incentive for the player to continue (story and progression), but forgets that Mario only "progresses" by getting better stickers (which, in addition to being handed out like nothing to the point that your inventory is often overflowing and you end up tossing stickers constantly, are never needed until the later chapters in which they actually appear) and completing chapters. As for story, there are few NPCs to interact with and the plot is one of the blandest I've ever seen besides the occasional bit of humour (which even then manages to be annoyingly self-referential). These are byproducts of moving forward the story (unless you count the optional hearts, which have minimal impact on the whole experience; Mario's power boosts are still story-mandated anyway).

This takes away the player's control and makes them feel more passive participants, guiding Mario from vague point A to vague point B, never even putting on a facade that the player's influence matters since the results of everything are almost all pre-determined with little room to succeed because you applied effort in a different way. One of the game's only sidequests is filling a museum with stickers, which is a hugely repetitive task since you need to individually place down every single sticker and spend money replenishing the giant ones. This isn't challenging or fun either; it's a matter of time management and basic exploration.

The best way to succeed at Sticker Star is to know in advance what you need to do, since the game often doesn't always give hints and demands that the player be omnipotent or willing to spend more coins. This wouldn't be so offensive if the game wasn't designed like a JRPG but without the elements that make the genre enjoyable. Sticker Star feels like the very literal definition of a "time waster". There's never the illusion that what the player is doing matters; you win because you did things the "right" way.

Edited on by Ark

.

adamkop

Sticker Star was a test for the new mechanic and while it's far from perfect, I would love Nintendo to take another shot at it, making a game with bigger world, more characters and better focus on the story. Stickers were really fun for me to use, but lack of leveling and getting better gear dragged the game down a bit. If they got that back it would be much more fun in the long run.
I would also gladly see a mechanic that enabled you to buy stickers mid-fight with coins (twice the price and one per turn), as the final battle was kinda weird with how much stickers you had to use.
As for other battle mechanics, there has to be defensive gear equipable, as it could actually enable the game to be more challenging without forcing certain sticker use.
Other than that I don't really know what can be changed. I loved the style and graphics of SS. Animations were great and music really fit everywhere. I think I can say that the environments had more style and better feel to them than previous ones. World setup actually made it more enjoyable and helped with cutting down unnecessary backtracking.

adamkop

3dsplayer

Spoony_Tech wrote:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/fable-anniversary

Wow, would you look at that, Fable Anniversary edition scored worse then Sticker Star. Actually far worse! About the same user score though.

Fable did its job as a good rpg, some things like more difficult better replay value ect 10/10 might be too much but its still the best rpg i've played

Much better then most mmorpgs and single player rpgs for sure. Fable was a good game because you could in depth with pretty much anything the game almost nothing was useless. It did have some flaws though, it was quite easy, enflame is still overpowered but I'm ok with unbalanced it is a older title.

Also, this is a title that came out 04 only with updated grahpics, of course the new rpg boys are gonna hate

Edited on by 3dsplayer

League of legends username - 3dsplayer ( 2pacEn0t0ri0u3cr is currently banned)
Neopet shop - http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=bosswario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxeklRO7qWw

LzWinky

I wouldn't even call this experimental. They based the entire game around a broken mechanic and took a lot of content out as a result.

Current games: Everything on Switch

Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky | Nintendo Network ID: LzWinky

kkslider5552000

Unca_Lz wrote:

I wouldn't even call this experimental. They based the entire game around a broken mechanic and took a lot of content out as a result.

Experimental doesn't have to be good.

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
LeT's PlAy MEGAMAN LEGENDS 2 < Link to LP

mamp

kkslider5552000 wrote:

Unca_Lz wrote:

I wouldn't even call this experimental. They based the entire game around a broken mechanic and took a lot of content out as a result.

Experimental doesn't have to be good.

Isn't that kind of his point?

The cat's the only cat who knows where it's at.
NNID: Muffin-Gun

3DS Friend Code: 3136-6586-7657

3dsplayer

Why did it have to be paper mario... Should of been super mario or paper peach sticker star...

Edited on by 3dsplayer

League of legends username - 3dsplayer ( 2pacEn0t0ri0u3cr is currently banned)
Neopet shop - http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=bosswario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxeklRO7qWw

Spoony_Tech

Because Paper Mario has been different with every installment.

John 8:7 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.

MERG said:

If I was only ever able to have Monster Hunter and EO games in the future, I would be a happy man.

I'm memory of @Mr_Trill_281 (rip) 3-25-18

Switch Friend Code: SW-7353-2587-4117 | 3DS Friend Code: 3050-7580-4390 | Nintendo Network ID: SpoonyTech | Twitter:

kkslider5552000

mamp wrote:

kkslider5552000 wrote:

Unca_Lz wrote:

I wouldn't even call this experimental. They based the entire game around a broken mechanic and took a lot of content out as a result.

Experimental doesn't have to be good.

Isn't that kind of his point?

I'm worried it might not be.

Non-binary, demiguy, making LPs, still alive

Megaman Legends 2 Let's Play!:
LeT's PlAy MEGAMAN LEGENDS 2 < Link to LP

3dsplayer

Spoony_Tech wrote:

Because Paper Mario has been different with every installment.

Yeah no games are suppose to be the same there all different... Ttyd and 64 are both the same, differnt enemies partners badges bosses abilities ect.

League of legends username - 3dsplayer ( 2pacEn0t0ri0u3cr is currently banned)
Neopet shop - http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=bosswario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxeklRO7qWw

Spoony_Tech

Sometimes you experiment with a formula or series and it works a la Double Dash sometimes it doesn't. I'm not saying the Sticker Star doesn't work because I liked it but it's quite obvious a lot of people do. Luigis Mansion did a little experiment and it both worked and didn't.

John 8:7 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.

MERG said:

If I was only ever able to have Monster Hunter and EO games in the future, I would be a happy man.

I'm memory of @Mr_Trill_281 (rip) 3-25-18

Switch Friend Code: SW-7353-2587-4117 | 3DS Friend Code: 3050-7580-4390 | Nintendo Network ID: SpoonyTech | Twitter:

LzWinky

3dsplayer wrote:

Spoony_Tech wrote:

Because Paper Mario has been different with every installment.

Yeah no games are suppose to be the same there all different... Ttyd and 64 are both the same, differnt enemies partners badges bosses abilities ect.

At the same time changing too much may result in a bad game

Current games: Everything on Switch

Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky | Nintendo Network ID: LzWinky

CapeSmash

I don't hate Sticker Star because it isn't an RPG, I hate it because it's broken and it's not user friendly at all. Not to mention how heatless and generic the game's worlds and characters are. What I mean by "heartless", is that the game doesn't have the heart of the first 3 games. Also, all the NPCs in the game are Toads. Horrible game. (Again, this is coming from someone who hasn't played the first 3 games.)

Smash Mains:
N64: Captain Falcon
Melee: Mario
Brawl: Sonic
Project M: Link
Smash 3DS: Captain Falcon
Smash Wii U: Ganondorf

This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.