Topic: Paper Mario Fan Hangout

SPM has a wonderful story, great puzzles, and gameplay that stays engaging and fun the entire time it will remain my favorite paper Mario game for now but I haven't played Sticker Star, 64, or Thousand-year door although I'd really really love to play TTYD.

Played thru world 1 so far of sticker star. Really enjoying it.

RE: sticker star, got thru world 2 as well. I'm a bit shocked at how off the wall level 2 was compared to level 1. What I mean is, to progress to the main dungeon (2-5) you needed to unlock 2-4 through another level to get a necessary item to even get to 2-5. It's super strange. Especially since it's not clear at all that you're supposed to do that. Level 1 was pretty linear and understandable. But then level 2 was the complete opposite. I had to consult a guide on it for sure. Once in the dungeons though it's great fun.

I'm nearly finished with world 5 of sticker star. I guess I'm really struggling to understand why people have so many complaints about this game. It feels just as good as the original but not as good as origami king. I suppose I would have to go back and read reviews on it to see why people hated it. Because right now I'm not seeing it.

People didn't like it because at first it looked like a new 64/TTYD style narrative driven classic RPG. But it wasn't.

@Eel yea I can see it lacking in story. But the gameplay and puzzles are all there at least

First impressions do a lot. I suppose.

Alright, Time to be Hated on: I like Color Splash

While I'd prefer to go back to the classic RPG style, I've enjoyed all of the Paper Mario games to some extent.

Even Sticker Star once I accepted that I'd have to check a guide to know what Thing I'd need for each boss battle.

The style and humour make up for a lot of the problems in the later games, for me anyway

@Green_Shyguy yea that was the only thing I looked up for the most part in sticker star as well. Or if I was truly stuck. I actually just beat the game last night! Great fun.

I'd give it a chance if it was cheaper. It's still $59.99 on the eShop and the cheapest I see it for on eBay is $30. It's a Wii U exclusive that I don't see getting a port on Switch due to the GamePad functionalities and some other factors. Long story short, there's ton of others game I'd rather play before buying Color Splash. I'm sure it's a likable enough game.

I might get Origami King one day. I want to re-play the first three games at some point (I still own all three), but I don't think I'm ever going to boot up Sticker Star again.

@damien33ad The combat was the worst part of the game, there were so many time I would just skip the battle it was sooo annoying the only real time I had fun with it was the boss battles.

@damien33ad congrats man.

I found the combat annoying in TOK until I worked out that I could win every fight in the first round by using the powered up items and throwing just enough coins at the crowd for them to give you the first part of any puzzle that's not immediately solvable.

The game could obviously have used a combat system that rewards a little more invention and finesse than that, but it certainly shouldn't hold you back from finishing the game.

I thought the battles were super fun, actually.

I loved the battles in origami king, it was more challenging then previous paper Marios. All the previous ones were all similar and easy. I’d have a cuppa tea and battle with lots of time but this one was timed do decisions had to be made fast or you get penalised. Boss battles was fantastic.

You surely wouldn't get many cups of tea in during Super Paper Mario.

On the whole, I'd think that it's got the best combat system. Certainly, nobody complains too much about the fights in regular Mario platformers, and it's basically the same as those.

@Matt_Barber super paper Mario was way different but with a great story. More like a platformer. The 2d flip to 3d mechanics was brilliant. Replayed that one again last year.

I'd think that, even if they'd have stuck with an RPG combat system, it'd probably have evolved a bit over the years. And if they ever go back, it'd presumably be a system built to more modern considerations.

Just look at what happened to Final Fantasy over the intervening period. That's probably the most extreme example but even the likes of Pokemon, Xenoblade and Fire Emblem have changed a fair bit.

One thing I liked about TOK though was that it brought the crowd back into play. Indeed, that's pretty much the key to dealing with the tricker battles, much like it was in TTYD.

@Snaplocket I liked TOK's random battles quite a bit more than TTYD's, which were generally repetitive, spammy nonsense. Once the ring system becomes more challenging, every battle becomes a miniature puzzle, and I found that to be constantly engaging.

The lack of XP sucks, though.