Topic: Are You Disappointed By The Direction Recent Paper Mario Games Have Taken "Moving Away From Being RPG's"?

I was a huge fan of Paper Mario when it was released on the N64. It was a very unique and enjoyable JRPG which had some of the silliest written dialog of any RPG that I had played up to that point and then the GCN title Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door took things even further and added alot to the original formula, but then Super Paper Mario for the Wii became a sidescrolling platforming RPG which I felt was a huge step backwards for the series, but wasn't "bad". Then enters Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS which completely removed the hilarious story that Paper Mario games always possessed and merely became a simple platformer...

Unless the series returns to its roots I'll likely not return to the series anytime soon since there are already enough Mario platformers and I want to send Nintendo the message that Paper Mario should be an RPG series not another platformer series. What do you guys and gals think about my opinion and the direction the series has taken? Feel free to post your comments.

I have no problem with Super Paper Mario or Paper Mario:Sticker Star as games. As Paper Mario games though, they were a little misleading. I understand that Nintendo wanted to try out some new gameplay styles, but making them Paper Mario games was a little strange. In all honesty though, both those games probably wouldn't have done half as well as either new IP's or standalone titles. Nintendo has also done this with other games like Starfox Adventures and Kirby's Epic Yarn for example.

disappointed? a little
did I dislike of the non-RPG approach? no way to dislike it, at least for me
I'd rather have more RPG but I liked every paper mario so far!(can't say much about the First one though my only memory about it is me renting either it or smash bros. to play almost every weekend when I was a kid)

Yep.
Super Mario RPG is one of my favorite games of all time and I've really never liked the Paper Mario series.

Yeah. Super Paper Mario was pratically an indie platformer before indie platformers were cool type of deal, so it was a cool spinoff but their attempts to innovate with Sticker Star were appreciated...but not the right decision. Even as someone who kinda liked that game, I felt like I can't win with Mario ever. Literally the one Mario game I'd be glad going back to the older ones, adding a new story/characters, and calling it a day, and that's the one new Mario game that tries to change the formula. The one that least needed it.

@CapnPancakes makes a good point: would people have purchased these games, without the "false" guise (my opinion) that these were Paper Mario titles in the traditional sense? Rather than simply Mario titles with Paper based elements.

According to my sensibilities, the Paper Mario titles of late have not been equally poignant as a role-playing RPG experience. In fact Super Paper Mario left me disillusioned with the franchise; I sold the game and returned to the classic Paper Mario on N64.

The fact that even the great Shigeru Miyamoto was taken down a notch in my eyes, temporarily, following his involvement with this title...
Yea that is a thing that can't happen, so now there is bad blood with me and this series.

It's threads like this that make me wish @Bankai was still here. If he heard you people talking as if leveling & story made an RPG an RPG, he'd have a cow.

I can't explain it as well as him, but an RPG is a game where the player's choices directly influence the story and character growth (with JRPGs giving the player less control over the story than traditional RPGs).

Traditionally, the original RPGs derived from strategy games (like Risk), but featured a character (or small group of characters) fighting small groups of enemies, rather than large armies fighting other large armies.

At their core, JRPGs still follow this, even Sticker Star. While leveling has become a commonplace method for character growth in RPGs, it's not a necessity. Crimson Shroud, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, & I believe Monster Hunter are all recent RPGs that tie character growth to equipment, rather than a leveling system (the unique catch in PM:SS however, is that each piece of "equipment" has a one time use).

@RR529 the way you explained has shown me I wasn't wrong assuming it was just a leveling-less RPG at first. then people started talking so much about not being a RPG that it entered my mind!

that's one of those definitions that is incredibly out of date and flawed. His definition of RPG, like anything he's ever said, is thankfully ignored by the less smug of society (read: nearly everyone on the planet). And that wasn't his exact definiton, since his definition basically stated that most RPGs are not RPGs, thus why it is an invalid point. Your idea of what his definition meant doesn't help, as that's so vague I could probably find something that no one could consider an RPG and call it an RPG.

@RR529 Why did he get banned?

I'd like to know the story too, by the time I joined he was still around.....

I wouldn't say I've been disappointed just less impressed/amazed, the charm is still there but the execution has been off.

I can't remember exactly, but I remember him butting heads with SCAR a lot (getting to the point of being insulting) near the end, so that might have something to do with it.

@GuSilverFlame I wasn't very active the first month or two after I made my account so I never really saw Bankai's posts so was just curious.

Well, at least we have you to carry out his smug agenda (and lump folks together) !

Sticker Star is not a bad game, but it's boring and easy. Is it also barely a Paper Mario game because the best parts of the previous three were almost always story-related, & Sticker Star's story is no better than Super Mario World's. That and the battles are 100% pointless

Yes, I'm disappointed. I think the original Paper Mario is a stellar game, even if I do think it was a step down from Mario RPG (Not syaing much though, considering that was made by the masters of RPG's, Squaresoft) and held back severely by the Nintendo 64. The Thousand Year Door is, IMO, easily the best Mario game ever made (Not best Mario RPG, not best Mario spin-off, best Mario game period), even better than Square's entry into the Mario series, which is not a statement I would make lightly.

I actually did really like Super Paper Mario, but it just seemed like a supplement to a "pure" Paper Mario RPG, and considering how early of a game it was for the Wii, I really would have liked to see another, more traditional, Paper Mario on the system as well.

Sticker Star, on the other hand, I cannot say the same thing about. The RPG mechanics were so watered down and basic, and the platforming was so simple and easy, IMO it basically became a lot of walking and avoiding battles (Since fighting battles basically resulted in a loss). Super Paper Mario at least knew what Paper Mario should be in the story category, with a great story and lovable characters. Sticker Star, though, just had an excuse plot akin to those of Mario platformers. I don't think it was an abysmal game, but I just would have to say it just lacked everything that made Paper Mario games what they were, and heck, I think it just lacked what make RPG's in general enjoyable. Engrossing stories, endearing worlds, attachable characters, and deep gameplay.

All that being said, I think the best thing for the series at this point is just to go back to The Thousand Year Door, and go from there.

Yes, Paper Mario has become more and more "less RPGish" with every game since Super Paper Mario. I find it extremely strange too because Thousand Year Door pretty much perfected the formula they left with the original. Why not expand on the formula even more? That being said I am a HUGE Paper Mario fan and dont see why Nintendo should continue this trend of the Paper Mario games barely being an RPG. In other words being back the partner system. :3

We have the Mario and Luigi games now, so not really.

I've only played a bit of Thousand Year Door and most of Super Paper Mario. SPM's inbetweeny feel between a proper story based RPG and a platformer was odd, to say the least. But that's not the reason why I disliked it.

Yes!!! Sticker star was the worst thing ever! No longer will I buy a Paper Mario game without doing my research.