Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

I'm going with 9/10, just having a blast with the game and I like how it's more laid back than other JRPG's, also has the best story out of the Mario RPG games that I've played so far. I didn't play the original so I can't compare it or see if it's a faithful remake but visually it's very good and on par with the last paper mario.

I can't say 100%, because I haven't gotten through all of the game yet, but I can say that the game is phenomenal.
My only issue is with how slow the battle menus are when you're selecting a move to do for that specific action. and Power Bounce seems to be nerfed so 9* for now.
Might change my score later, but for now it's 9

I can tell you this. I'm an avid disliker of turn-based RPGs and yet I already have 8h in this game and having an absolute blast. Either a 9 or a straight 10 by the time I finish it, I'm sure.

I would give it a 9 myself though the lag with wireless controllers bugs me, plus the 30FPS when they really could have done the 60. Overall, I am still loving the game.

9/10 easily. It's basically everything I wanted from a remake. Not touching what wasn't broken, but instead giving simple but effective improvements and changes that go a long way.

It is too early to say, but so far the game is great. It is everything I love about Paper Mario.

I gave both GameCube and Switch version = 7 from 10.
The reason I gave the score 7 from 10 because it's not a game like FF VIII or FF IX that made me way more impressed.
It just okay, not really Wow, even I still haven't touched my GameCube version since August 2023.

While it has the Paper Mario charm and comedy timing, it retains the repetitive nature of Super Mario RPG so that some mechanics become less interesting as you progress through the game. Never played the original, so no nostalgia here, I'd give it an 8.

I haven't finished it yet, only on chapter 3, but so far it's good. I would still say I enjoyed Origami King a lot more, both in terms of gameplay and characters/story/humor. The turn-based combat is very good in TTYD for a turn based RPG, but it's already so repetitive.

I'd give the original an 8-9 since I do have a fair amount of gripes with TTYD (overuse of death fakeouts, TEC, linear level design), but the improvements the remake made far overshadow any lingering criticisms I have for the game as a whole. It's harder to understate just how richer all of the new details, character animations, and context-sensitive music tracks make the game feel for me, not even mentioning all the QoL improvements. TTYD still isn't my favorite Paper Mario, but this remake definitely bumps it up to a 10 for me.

I've played this game several times before and I find myself shocked at how good it is. I just re-played the OG Paper Mario for N64 (Hey Felix!), and the differences in quality are night and day. I have been struggling to enjoy rpgs as much as I used to, but I am confident that The Thousand Year Door will hold up for 1000 years.

I'm still fairly early into the game so I'm not going to vote yet. But so far it seems like a solid 8/10. My score will most likely change as I play through it more though.

10/10, obviously. Love this game so much. It’s great! What other score would I give to a wonderful remake of a 10/10 game?

I only have 4 stars right now but as of now I don't really get the hype (and the hate against CS/TOK because of it)

I mean don't get me wrong, it is a fun and good game but considering how much people have hyped up the game over the years it is kinda a let down

The things I like:

• Unique character designs (that's one complain agains CS/TOK that I can completely understand)
• The tone of the game. There's surprisingly a lot of dark humor for a Mario game
• The combat system is more flashed out compared to the newer games. It could be a bit faster paced though

Things I don't like:

• The map design. For the most part it feels like I'm running from one corridor to another. TOK is way better in that aspect
• A ton of backtracking. I wouldn't mind that if I'd like the map design, which as I mentioned I don't

In conclusion I think if they'd take the characters and combat from TTYD and the map and music from TOK we'd get the perfect Paper Mario

edit: Btw I'd give it a 8-8.5/10 right now

I'm giving it a 9/10. There are too many bizarre changes from the original that keep this from being a 10.

• Slower text speed
• Softer sound effects that lack the oomph of the original
• Having to press A to enter pipes now rather than pressing down on the left stick, like in the original game, or the recent Super Mario RPG Remake (which you could either press A or Down, so they really have no excuse here...)
• Having the in-game keyboard appear for one instance, but using the system UI keyboard when you name your Yoshi
• No proper GameCube controller support, which would have helped my muscle memory woes where I jumped on a spiked enemy that was charging towards me because the rightmost face button is the X button (partner ability button) on a GameCube controller, but it's the A button (jump button) on a Switch Pro controller, so instead of throwing Koops at an incoming Spunia, I jumped and landed on op of it.
  This is just a small handful of the changes I didn't like, but there are a lot of positive changes too. Would I say it's the definitive way to play the game? Honestly I feel like that's a matter of preference at this point. If this game was a 10 out of 10 for me, I'd be able to confidently say that this is THE way to play TTYD. I wouldn't say it's on the same level as Majora's Mask 3D, more like Wind Waker HD. I wasn't crazy about ALL the changes made to that game, but I still felt like it was a decent way to play the game, and that's where I'm at with this remake.

@KayFiOS if you visit the badge shop in Rogueport, I think there’s a badge in the extra collection section that references changing Mario’s sound effects. Does that revert the sound effects to the original? (I’ve never played the original)

@FishyS To be fair, there are probably just as many fanboys that gave it a 10/10 without playing too.

Digging it so far, though the Banjo-Kazooie chatter gibberish is kind of annoying. Which is odd because that normally doesn’t bother me. The music often comes off as out of place as well. I have the retro music badge, but it allows a lot of the new music to stay. I am still getting hooked, though. Don’t play a lot of turned-based combat games, but maybe this will cure that reticence.

Highest score possible, at least when not being able to go into decimals. I'd give it a 9.7, and the subtracted points are only because the game has a weird, disgusting obsession with feet sometimes and the Switch game sometimes feels unnecessary slow (not frame rate wise, but the game makes it wait where the OG game didn't in some areas).

The game is nearly perfect in my eyes.

It's funny to see how people tend to be vocal in the comments when there is an aspect in the game we don't like. While the pool had 40% of the votes scoring 10, there is only a couple of comments out of 20 that agree with that

@SlowPokemon I haven't really used the nostalgic tunes badge that much, but I think it only changes the music.

one of the best £37 odd I have spent on Amazon for a long time (didn't get the paper plane extra, so flying around in the game instead). 4 hours in and really enjoying the game! IMO 10 out of 10 and here's hoping for Switch remakes of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess later on this year?!

Audio is way, way too low. That's my only complaint.

@KayFiOS not that badge. There’s one in the far right box full of badges that mentions sound effects specifically. I don’t know if it changes them to the original or not, but there is one.

The hill I will die on is that these games are unplayable at 30fps.

it gets a 9 score...

@rushiosan It’d be awesome if there was adjustable music/sound volume sliders. I think it sounds better in headphones, personally.

There are some parts I don't really like compared to the GC version.. But overal it's been amazing! Such a relief to finally play Paper Mario again after it's long hiatus.. even if it IS a remake.

And no, the ''false trilogy'' (Sticker Star, Color Splash, Origami King) don't count.

Love this game. Such a classic. Probably in my top 5 games ever. However, I absolutely hate it how they halved the frames. Still a brilliant game though.

@mariomaster96 old fan here and i agree map design is the one thing that feels more archaic compared to TOK. it really makes me dream for a sequel and mixes both TTYD and TOK best qualities

Not sure why this poll is out considering most people probably haven’t beat it yet, and it’s a pretty long game. Some people also are still waiting for it to arrive, I’d assume. Maybe this poll would be better if it was a month after the game’s release?

It would have been cool to see an unlockable paper luigi game included so we can finally see just what the heck was going on in the ecclaire kingdom.... or at least a new extra level

Now that I think of it, the first paper mario game is in more need of a remake/remaster than this one

This game proves that older Mario games were better, even those developed by third parties. The Thousand-year Door is Mario's best RPG, in my opinion.

So far it's fine, but it's becoming a little boring to me (just started the chapter with the ring fights and it's probably the worst chapter so far). The battle system is nothing to write home about (not even close to being as captivating as, say, Pokémon). The story is meh. I think I enjoyed The Origami King more at this point. I like the open spaces of TOK and it might have looked better if my memory serves me right.

I mean, I haven't finished it yet so I cannot, in good conscience, score it. I'll get back to you once I roll credits.

I'm playing it for the first time, and 23 hours and 36 minutes in, it's becoming one of my favorite games of all time. I loved Paper Mario 64, but this is on another level. I just hope they fix that typo (searching Pedal Meadows) on the Sound Gallery soon.

love love love this game, but the slow and unskippable dialogues are killing me... 1/3 of the game is literally hitting A for the text box. also a crime? not being able to customize the controls... I always mess up cause I wanna jump on B and hammer on Y, probably stems from the old controller button layout (which was supreme, fight me)

So far, so fun. But I'm only five hours in.
As a kid I leveled mostly HP, but now I've been exclusively leveling BP. Also, I don't think I ever realized Perfect Guard was a thing 20 years ago. So this has been quite an experience.

7/10. TTYD is a fine game in itself, but the iconic script didn't need to be touched. Literally refurbished game is just new meh graphics, a few QoL, dialogue 'updated' to appeal to current year sensitivities, and 30FPS.

7/10

I've always preferred the original Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG, and Superstar Saga over TTYD. I still enjoy it of course, but it's not a 9/10 game for me. I'm also really bothered by the frame rate being cut in half in this version. I'd give it an 8/10 if it matched the GCN version in that regard.

@DarkFighter The old controller button layout was perfect and the A button being the main and big button on GC and Wii made controls intuitive then.

Nintendo should add settings in the game's menus because since SNES and other systems (like Xbox) where the main button is the one on the left, some people never got used to how DS, 3DS, Wii U and Switch made the right button the main button.

I know you can map buttons in the console menu, but it's better when you are able to customise at least the front buttons within the game, like Breath of the Wild (partly). Running and jumping will always be like SNES taught me and DS reversed that.

@AlexanderDaniels Funny (and sad) that the definitive version is the Gamecube version: uncut and 60fps.

Well, the original is my favorite game of all-time, which is easily a 10/10 for me.

For the remake, I would give it either a 9 or a 10, but it's hard to say. In many aspects, the game improves upon the original, but there are other elements I don't think I like as much. I don't necessarily think the updated localization is objectively better. They fix a couple errors in dialogue from the original game, but they also cut out a few of the jokes they thought would be controversial in 2024 and made some strange, arbitrary changes like giving the Shadow Sirens the much more generic name of "The Three Shadows." What's up with that?

The game looks gorgeous, especially in Chapter 4, which I would say had the biggest glow-up. The music is something I'm torn about. I really appreciate all the extra music they added--this game probably has three times as much music as the original, if not even more, which is insane. Some of these remixed compositions are better than the original, but there are also several where I think the simplicity of the origonals was ruined because they added too many instruments that just kind of muddy it up. Sometimes, less is more. I'm glad we have the option for the original, though.

The sound effects unfortunately can't be changed back to the original, and as others have said, the sound effects in this game are much more subtle and less iconic compared to the original. You also can't speed through the dialogue as quickly, which is strange since Nintendo has long had such an anti-story stance. If you're playing the game for the first time, you shouldn't be skipping the dialogue anyways, but for repeat playthroughs and especially speedrunners, it's going to be a pain.

The Mario & Luigi remakes on 3DS made it much easier to fast-forward through text, so I'm shocked that isn't here. The original version of TTYD also let you rewind text in case you accidentally skipped a line of dialogue, but that isn't here at all. When an audience member is about to throw something at you, it also makes the battles grind to a halt now, which is annoying.

Characters have a TON of new animations though, which really adds to the experience and is fantastic to see! Probably my favorite new addition is seeing the characters even more expressive than ever. I could care less about the frame rate debacle--30 FPS is perfectly fine for me.

Then there's the QoL improvements like a more streamlined fast-travel, a much higher max coin cap, and increased inventory space that all go a long way. Not to mention, they restored some of the lost content from the original, which will make longtime fans such as myself very happy! The concept art is awesome to have, but it's unfortunately a but underwhelming. Most of it is basically just screenshots from the remake. Each chapter only has one picture that is actually early character designs from the original.

Nintendo really polished up this remake in every way possible, and from a gameplay perspective, the game is virtually perfect now. But in terms of presentation, in some ways I feel like they polished the game so much that some of the paint has started to chip off a little. There are things that I wish they toned down or outright just left alone.

Still a phenomenal game, but having played it so many times and already knowing all the story beats and the jokes (save for the handful that changed), it was never going to be as good as my first blind playthrough. The reason we all wanted a remake of TTYD so badly is because we want it to be the catalyst for Nintendo creating NEW games in this style that hopefully will wow me all over again. Here's hoping that in 2027, that will finally happen. See you all then!

One of my favorite games of all time yet I wouldn't give it a 10 because I think this is just the start of what they could do with the series. I'd love more badges and mechanics built onto this formula.

8/10. I forgot how much backtracking is in this game.

I really need to get a life, btw. I just beat the game yesterday, and I've already put FOURTY TWO hours into it. I don't even know how that's possible.

@Not_Soos Fair comments! The Thousand-year Door and Superstar Saga are the funniest Mario RPGs and the script is what makes them stand out, so I would have never touched the best part of any of them.

"I really need to get a life, btw. I just beat the game yesterday, and I've already put FOURTY TWO hours into it. I don't even know how that's possible."

😮 Wasn't it released four days ago? I thought beating Senua's Sacrifice (10h 7m) and Hellblade II (8h 43m) was too much playing for four days LOL.

Love the game!!! 😁
Okay how on Godly earth could someone put abysmal the lowest possible score on this! 😠

It is a phenomenal game….the only con is the lengthy tutorial so the game really doesn’t start to get good until the koopa partner

Only just got to Madame Flurry’s house so not too far into it but from what I’ve played, 9/10. Looks beautiful, genuinely funny script, plays great. I never finished it as a kid and it’s been so long since I played it so it mostly feels brand new.

The 30fps controversy is a major whoop-dee-do…maybe I’d notice the difference in feel if I just played the GC version before it but why would I do that. If we were talking a remake of say Mario Galaxy then the split frame rate would have been an issue but for a game like this I don’t care especially when the trade off is all the lovely visual touches that come in exchange.

Honestly my only major gripe so far is the sluggish text speed.

Probably a 7. With the crap translations and trying to own the chuds that these localizers do, makes me less enthusiastic about them. Graphics and gameplay are top notch. Finished Paper Mario 64 and this is an upgrade.

Changed my life, obviously a 10

I went with 7, for no other reason than I've already played it to death on gamecube and new version doesnt offer enough extra content. And it's one of those games which once you beat once, you're not going to go back to.

I was hoping after all these years i'd have forgotten most of it (which is why i bought it), but i was wrong. That said, I wanted to do "my bit" by buying it, and telling nintendo "more of this please, and less of whatever cutdown simplistic crud the new paper marios have turned into"

But I wanted to mark it higher if only because it is STILL a great game, and to negate all the idjets going on about framerate (wrongly imho)

@Elitepatriot
What is bro waffling about

10/10 for the original, maybe 8/10 for this de-make.

Here’s hoping Intelligent Systems find their way again, and I don’t mean returning to this formula with their modern “improvements”. Slow text speed and menuing?? Those would have been unthinkable for their classic games, they were the masters of snappy UI.

I only played the GameCube version years ago and remember enjoying it. But I don't have any great desire to come back to it. Those stylized graphics have aged pretty well and it doesn't seem like something that desperately needs an HD treatment. Happy for those who are enjoying it so much, though!

Dunno, haven’t finished it yet!

10/10

It’s just as good as the original but slightly better.

Easy 9. Would have been 10 at 60frame

@FishyS I guess if someone really hates Mario, Paper, RPGs, fun, good games, excellent writing, charming music....

I broke my own promise and I bought it at full retail. Honestly, I love it more than I thought. I'm 4 hours in but I've beaten it before, I believe twice, on Gamecube. TL;DR 9/10

Thoughts:

• I don't think 60fps is needed, but the conversation is hard to avoid.
• The RPG mechanics are very accessible but the extra button presses for style points can be tough to max out appeal / style in every battle. That's Nintendo 101. Easy to pick up; difficult to master.
• The characters are fantastic. Really, it's shocking how good this game is / was and how much of a misdirection they've taken the series with all of their more recent entries. It's not just the humor, it's how its conveyed these characters and how this world feels believable. Every character fits the lore and the world.
• Pacing is good, albeit a bit slower / easier than I would like at the beginning.
• The game is absolutely beautiful. It's not just higher res, it's all the new paper, card board, foam core type assets that really makes it sing.

Overall, it feels like the definitive RPG from Nintendo, still, 20 years on. And that's very impressive. It's just hard to give it a perfect score where there is a compromise. Even if it's justified.

We have friends visiting this long weekend and the game got delivered Saturday. It’s staring at me waiting to be played and I can’t wait to start it. Should be able to finally start it tonight or tomorrow at the earliest.
Can’t say what I’d give it at this point but I’m expecting a 9 or 10.
I’ve never played this entry either so it’s all going to be fresh!

5/10… just based on the original, I haven’t played the remake. Original I finished and never touched or thought about again.

I would give this game an 8. One of the first things I noticed when I started playing the game was that it felt much slower. Not talking about frame rate. The UI takes a while to respond. Before anyone can do anything, you must wait for the stars to go to your special bar.
For me, the new music hasn't been hitting that much. I got to the glitzpit and, to me, it felt like the new music was being hidden behind some sort of Japanese-style music. Yes, I can use the old music, but I want to give the new music a chance and so far it's been a disappointment.

@Banjo- that definitely feels subjective, as I've seen some people your age say Mario 3 hasn't aged well and that the newer games are just as good. In my opinion, the only Mario games that were better in the old days were the sports games, but I've sworn off most sports games in general at this point, unless it's Punch Out, ARMS, or Wii Sports Resort. Still, opinions be opinions.

And the original was actually cut from the Japanese release for western markets. The Switch remake is based off the Japanese version.
As for the framerate, let's put it this way: Im very much happy playing Kirbys Adventure and Kirby Star Allies with their standard framerates.

9/10 only because it purposely ran in 30fps. If it was accidentally 30fps then I would had been more forgiving but they knew what they are doing and purposely doing it makes them lose that point for me. It's still a great game though. If this was on the Switch 2 and it ran at 60fps, it will easily get a 7/10 due to the fact that they choose not to achieve that on Switch.

so far, a 9. Im not in love with the 3rd chapter's content structure so far, but im more than willing to keep an open mind. The combat is super fun, the characters are really interesting (although i hope they decide to take paper mario in this direction and write them even MORE in-depth, nothing crazy but a little more motivation from time to time would be nice), and i love the ost! Seriously, i dont get people's displeasure with the new ost. Its quite good, especially the rougeport themes.

At the time of writing 3%, 9 ratings out of 284, gave the switch version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 1/10 - Abysmal.

Hm.

Would be interesting to read their reasoning.

@batmanbud2 "I've seen some people your age say Mario 3 hasn't aged well."

What age do you mean? There's a big gap between GameCube and NES. Yes, I think that the older Mario games are better. Quality seemed to decrease after Wii.

Nintendo needs to stop relying on old games as its newer releases this almost the same game I played 30 years ago with a few modern tweaks

@Lofoten

Would it really? XD

One thing isn’t liking a game but objectively, it does a lot of things well. Anything lower than a 6 screams troll.

8 for me. Neither of the first two paper mario games ever did much for me.

Compared in terms of it being a Remake, for those who have played the game; does it improve better on the original respectively compared to Mario RPG?
I had a blast with the Mario RPG remake and I know this game is amazing as well, but I'm just curious.

great game, but playing through it again, it isn't flawless.

I've been enjoying my return visit to this game since I first played it as a kid back in 05 or 06. It's amazing how much stuff you forget until it's in your face and suddenly you remember it like it was yesterday

Super Mario RPG was a huge disappointment for me, and I was worried that this would be a similar situation. Thankfully, I'm really enjoying it so far, though I don't see how this is so different than Origami King.

@Ironcore I have been playing the game just fine. It isn't "Unplayable" like you claim.

@VoidofLight

Larger image
https://postimg.cc/Jy7xBzLD

@Ironcore It's also worth mentioning that the graphics of the original game (60fps) have aged perfectly fine, even more obvious if you are able to output at a higher resolution.

First time playing, I freaking love it. Only in chapter 2 but if it keeps up like this it’s a definite 10/10 for me

@Ironcore The game does not look like this at all. Even in motion. I've been sinking multiple hours into it, and I'm not sure why you keep posting these sorts of edited photos like they're fact. It only serves to hurt your argument man.

@VoidofLight These are just screenshots. This is what I see every time I there is movement on a 30fps game. Every time I show someone in person they see it too. Maybe I should video myself capturing these.

@Ironcore I mean, I've seen your peach one, but it doesn't do this for me. Even seeing this now, it doesn't ruin how the game looks or even plays for me. Maybe my eye sight isn't that sharp, but once you get used to looking at something that's 30FPS, it isn't really that bad or "unplayable."

@Ironcore The more I look at the image, the more I'm starting to doubt your claim as well. The picture is an image of a youtube video, not of the actual game itself. "BeardBear" is a youtuber that uploads a ton of walkthrough content of games. Due to youtube and how it works, it doesn't accurately display how a game actually looks while being played. Some games look actively worse- especially given what the person recorded on and with.

The image also looks less like a proper screenshot and more like something that was captured with a phone. This could also have a role in why things look worse, since it might be an issue with the monitor you're using instead of how the game actively looks in the first place. You can tell a difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS, but it never looks this bad- to the point where everything around the character blurs and creates double-images when you move.

It's the first time I played the game. And I'm having a blast. I wish I played it when it came out on the GameCube.

@VoidofLight This is exactly how it looks to me and I have tried all sorts of monitors, games and consoles from old hd readys up to 240hz gaming monitors.

These images were all taken from regular gameplay. If anything they look even more pronounced than the youtube video. Also my image of the peach gameplay was from the demo.

Character standing still - Looks sharp

Character movies - Blurs

Standing still

Moving

@Ironcore I don't know what to say- given that many people I've spoken to literally have not experienced that while playing games on the Switch. I haven't experienced anything like this when the game is in motion. Genuinely don't get what makes it like this in your case.

@VoidofLight It would be good to see it in person, lmk if you're ever in Glasgow.
Usually the reaction I get when I show people irl is "oh yeah, it does look bad" and they may say something along the lines of having never seen that before but can now not unsee it.

Some games are worse than others. I tend to find games where the character is moving left/right (such as in ac or luigis mansion) on the screen to be worse whereas a game where the character is moving forward gets away with it more as the trees etc are moving slower such as in botw. The absolute worst was pokemon on switch.

@Ironcore I mean, even after seeing this- I went back to the games and I can't see them when playing. That's what's weird for me about this whole thing. Friends who I've shown these images to also don't notice it at all while playing.

@VoidofLight The go to game I show for this is animal crossing. Fire up the game with the character surrounded by trees, look at a tree and then start walking, does the tree look as sharp (and not doubling up/ghosting etc) while walking as they do while standing?

On this paper mario, does a fence look to you the exact same while moving as it does while standing still? Look at the post on a fence and then make it move across the screen, is it completely solid or does it double up slightly?

Put down a 9 only because some of the music remixes could've been better. Though it is negated by the fact that we can change it to the original any time we want with the nostalgia badge. But still, if the remix was a bit better, then it would've been 10/10.

@Ironcore Just opened up New Horizons, and it is legit fine for me. I don't see double images when looking at trees while running. It's just normal.

@VoidofLight Thanks for checking that out. I wonder why some people see it and others dont. I’d love to play these games but I just cannot get past that. It legit hurts my eyes.

Having never played the game before I gotta say it deserves the full 10/10 outta me!

I've been loving my time spent with it so far and can't wait to get home and dive back in

@Ironcore I haven't noticed anything that bad with this particular one, but I did notice a few instances where it almost appeared as though there was another character silhouette surrounding Goombella, which kinda gave it a blurry or "glitchy" effect. Not sure if it was intended to be there or anything. But I did notice it. To the point where I had to put down my Switch for a few minutes to let my eyes stop hurting.

And that was like near the beginning of the game when you first met Goombella (or whatever their name is), but I haven't experienced it since.

A 9 for the framerate mainly and a little for some of the longer unskippable dialogue sessions. The writing is generally a treat but the gag of long winded rambling from NPCs gets a bit old at times in particular. The 30fps cap is noticeable imo also.

Otherwise its as fun as i remember it. Paper Mario with a feeling of progression and fun gameplay. As it should be. With memorable characters and charming graphics. Call the sequels what you want (I have a softspot for Super Paper Mario and feel it underrated) but games like Sticker Star lacked heart, and Origami King’s battle system was uninteresting.