With multiple indie developers taking up the Paper Mario mantle — in aesthetics and gameplay — Paper Animal RPG aims to do something a bit different with this crafty style. Developed by Cuddling Raccoons Studio, Paper Animal RPG is an utterly adorable take on the N64 Paper Mario's visuals, leaning into the slightly-more pixelated side, but it mixes up the RPG side with roguelike elements.
Cuddling Raccoons launched a Kickstarter for the game a few weeks ago, and has smashed past its $40,000 goal, and as part of that campaign, the game has also secured a Switch release, which seems like the perfect home for this pixelated paper party.
The developer touts the game as not only taking inspiration from Mario's paper-thin adventures but also the Mario & Luigi series. But, more interestingly, its roguelike side comes from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, a rather accessible spin-off of both Pokémon and the popular Mystery Dungeon roguelikes. The grid-like maps are procedurally generated, and you can choose from six cuddly characters who each specialise in a different stat or skill.
You can also equip stickers and customise your character's skills during a run, and (magazine collectors will love this) there are even holographic stickers that are even stronger — but much rarer. We're raring to get our collectible hats on for this.
For a full round-up of the game, check out this summary from the developer itself:
Paper Animal RPG is a cute roguelite game where you can explore a colorful world, fight scary enemies and relax with your friends at the campfire!
The game is inspired by and pays homage to the Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi as well as the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series.
Story
Once upon a time, there was a small village, which was inhabited by many animals of all colors and sizes. The village was ruled by a kind king, who reigned with grace and maintained the order between the animals.One day, the king suddenly disappeared!
A few days later, the village fell into despair and the once so cheerful days seemed gone forever. In the midst of chaos a group of brave adventurers emerged, determined to find the whereabouts of the king!
The Game
In Paper Animal RPG you'll explore the land, moving from dungeon to dungeon in search of the kind king. Each world and map is procedurally generated, which means that no playthrough will be the same, since the map'll look different each time! This includes the available items, skills and stickers you can find, as well as the events and NPCs you'll be able to encounter.During your explorations you'll also face a great variety of enemies - ranging from cute ones to cute... and mildly scary ones. While tile-based and real-time battle systems are nothing new in themselves, Paper Animal RPG offers a fresh approach by combining them both into one unique experience.
In between dungeon floors, camp floors are spread about. These peaceful camps offer a great opportunity to cozy up, catch your breath, and take in the surroundings, but the more important thing is that you can manage your team and inventory there!
Key Features
At a glance, the game offers these features - and depending on how well the campaign does, even new ones may be added!- Procedurally generated maps!
- 6 adorable characters, specializing in power, utility and defense!
- A bunch of consumable items. Once you stea- ahem, "borrow", a cookpot from an enemy camp you can combine them and experiment with the results!
- Equip and upgrade skills suited to a character's role and customize your playstyle!
- Find stickers that grant passive abilities - if you get lucky you can even find more powerful, holographic ones!
- Defeat mean bosses, which have each an even stronger version when you start a Rewind Run!
- Classic Mode is too hard? Try Casual Mode, which features tweaked gameplay settings for an easier experience!
- Compete against other players for a global online high score who played with the same generation seed as you in Tournament Mode!
- Numerous unlockable achievements, which guide you to explore all aspects of the game!
Looking at Paper Animal RPG, as if a Paper Mario game came out on the Game Boy Advance — except you can play as a chick who doesn't like sunscreen or a frog that loves spicy candy — and we're in love with that idea.
From cooking to camping, dino egg hatching and suspiciously-familiar '?' boxes, Paper Animal RPG looks like a total delight. Just check out these screens for a little look at this deceptively cosy game:
Paper Animal RPG doesn't have an official release window yet, and there's still a week left on the game's Kickstarter, so hopefully, we'll hear a bit more about release plans in the near future. But we do know that the Switch release will be getting a physical version!
Let us know if you want to get folding in Paper Animal RPG in the comments below!
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 20
Indie developers do what Nintendon't.
I remembered I have ever watched the trailer from Wholesome Direct.
Cross my finger for physical release.
Is it me or don't they actually look like they're made of paper? I mean, the pixel art seems to overshadow that fact by a lot.
This game does look like a lot of fun, so I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. I just never really considered that they're made of paper because of the art direction. Also, the logo seems a blatant rip-off of Paper Mario, which I don't think is very classy.
A bit too far from Paper Mario for my taste, sorry.
@Pillowpants My thoughts exactly.
This looks like a charming little game. I’ll be in the lookout.
@Pillowpants
Yeah it kind of looks closer to a "HD-2D" looks with pixel sprites in a 3d landscape and a fixed angled camera.
Still has a very nice look though i agree that the logo does feel like its a bit too close to the paper Mario one.
Looks quite lovely.
Sounds like it combines elements from a lot of my favorite games, and the gameplay looks decent. I just hope the environments in the game have more variety than what was shown in the trailer.
Eww gross, the game industry eats too many member berries, just like the movie industry with all its reboots and reimaginings... We're choked with zeldalikes, metroidlikes, and probably the 3rd paper mario inspired game this year to come across this site
So firstly wow the voice on the trailer was annoying!
Secondly, as others have said it looks nothing like paper which was half the charm of Paper Mario.
Thirdly, it does look cute and fun and I will be keeping an eye on it!
I should give this a try when it comes out. I remember playing paper Mario TTYD on GameCube and I really loved it.
So combing paper Mario and PMD should be pretty good.
(Also expect more paper Mario based games if you don’t know what I’m talking about then look up paperverse)
Bunch of paper mario style games coming out that look really good.
With Nintendo no longer in the business of doing RPG style PM's and AlphaDream gone, indies are stepping up!
Looks cute and saw some gameplay on YouTube. The only thing giving me pause is whether or not I would actually put in the time on it or just go back to tried and true games, leaving this one to gather digital dust like the other indie games I’ve picked up.
Well, that and the presence of stickers…don’t ever mention stickers to a Paper Mario fan
Game looks good but those battles doesn't feel as compelling as I would had like them. Perhaps if they're turn base and had actual battle animations then maybe it'll be okay but as active battles those cheap hits just doesn't work for me. It's like playing Fire Emblem but you just had your characters killed the enemies on the field map instead of seeing some really cool battle animation kills.
Lol, that's legit the Mario font in the RPG part, nice touch
The way the title card is presented is very misleading. It gives off the impression this is going to follow in the footsteps of Bug Fables, Seahorse Saga, Flynt Buckler and the like, but the characters don't even look like they're made of paper. This looks nice and delightful in its own right, but I don't think anyone was really clamoring for another Mystery Dungeon game. I'm also a little bit put off by 'Every playthrough is completely different'. That kind of gives off the implication this might be a roguelike, or at least something along those lines.
@ParadoxFawkes Well, in all fairness, Metroidvania is basically a sub-genre. They're so common, I've basically stopped comparing them to Metroid at this point, especially since Castlevania also does the same thing. (Hence the title 'Metroidvania')
Zelda-likes do feel a tad unnecessary and I can see how one could find those oversaturated. It's not like to-down adventure started with Zelda, though, so I can overlook that too.
As for classic Paper Mario-style games, I guess I could see people getting tired of them now that there are at least 10 of them currently in production. (And yeah, if you actually look at the trailer for this and the description, you'll notice this is much more like Mystery Dungeon) I dunno, I'm personally happy with this because this is very similar to an idea I came up with for Nintendo to have one team work on classic-style PM games called 'Mario Story' while another works on the action-adventure-puzzle format they have going. Although that said, Bug Fables is the only one that's actually finished, but if Nintendo refuses to admit changing the formula was a mistake, just let other studios give us those classic Paper Mario games but without Mario characters. It's the next best thing.
At the very least, each of these titles is coming from a place of genuine passion. These aren't soulless corporations just trying to bank off of our nostalgia. These are people who are tired of Nintendo refusing to listen and basically making the kinds of games they want to see on Nintendo consoles. They're mainly making these games for themselves and those who share their love of the classics. And heck, just from a story standpoint alone, Bug Fables is better than classic Paper Mario as you consistently watch the characters grow and develop throughout the course of it. If you don't like the idea behind them, you can just, I dunno, not play them, but don't act like it's a bad thing that fans of the older PM titles are getting the very thing they've been asking for all this time and Nintendo is finally allowing it to happen.
@ndunsmo, i really wanted to play bug fables but it seemed too much like paper mario, my thing is why do these games copy like the style and UI and the way power points work... I wouldn't mind the style if the gameplay was unique or I wouldn't mind the gameplay being the same if the style was unique but they copy both, I agree with Nintendo not giving fans what they asked for so we get fan games but it seems like there are far too few games who have their own identity... example guacamelee is a metroidvania but the moment to moment gameplay is so different I can appreciate the nostalgia nods and also enjoy it for what it is because the world pulls me in, bug fables makes me want to just play paper mario because it looks stylistically similar and plays similar. Here's hoping they do give us a proper paper mario sequel to the first two games🙂
Looks more Starfy than Paper Mario, but that's ok.
... Wun can only hope.
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