Paper Mario Series

[Sigma]

Sticker Star 3.0. I can barely contain my enthusiasm or something

 

[BlueCandle]

Btw whats with modern Nintendo and their sudden obsession with Spike? That fucker is the most forced addition to the cast since Petey Piranha during the GC era. Someone at nintendo has a fetish for frogs that vomit spikey balls, I bet its Miyamoto that dirty old man.

 

[Too Many Catgirls]

I can't really put it into words, but there's been a weird stylistic change that happened around sticker start that I think really changed the series for the worse.

Allow me to help.

Sticker Star came out around the time Nintendo decided that Paper Mario was going to be the fun time happy Mario RPG while the Mario & Luigi series was going to be the serious Mario RPG. Then they decided "you know what, fuck it!", and came out with M&L: Paper Jam (an apt title) and then after that they decided to never make a Mario & Luigi game ever again and stick with Paper Mario.

Please understand.

Spoiler

Also I have a real worry that Bowser will be the fucking butterfly companion in this game, which is to say essentially useless. Until he regains his proper form and then gets brainwashed or some shit (or he just decides "fuck you", I would be okay with this) and you have to fight him. This fight will probably be okay though. Bowser fights were usually the best part in Paper Mario. I miss Thousand Year Door.

 

[Overcooked Raccoon]

I'm hopeful for OK, but I'm also miffed since both Sticker Star and Color Splash are just eh. Visual, music, and writing wise I think they're great (Color Splash mainly), but they still have problems that are obvious to even non PM fans.

I'm glad that partners are coming back (we don't know much currently?), but we need to know how the gameplay will be for battles to understand how it will work. I think using Bowser's minions will be a cool idea, but the gameplay (especially if they are partners) need to be solid or it'll feel half assed.

They're really embracing the Paper Motif ever since Sticker Star, but I feel that it works best as an effect to add on the story/world that's being built. That's just my take though.

 

[Too Many Catgirls]

I skipped Color Splash entirely, but I do have a Wii U.

Is it worth my time to pick up at a low price to fuck around and play a pretty game with no spirit?

 

[Overcooked Raccoon]

I skipped Color Splash entirely, but I do have a Wii U.

Is it worth my time to pick up at a low price to fuck around and play a pretty game with no spirit?

Watch a playthrough, appreciate the visuals, writing, and music.

Skip the god awful combat and spare your sanity.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

I'm hopeful for OK, but I'm also miffed since both Sticker Star and Color Splash are just eh. Visual, music, and writing wise I think they're great (Color Splash mainly), but they still have problems that are obvious to even non PM fans.

I'm glad that partners are coming back (we don't know much currently?), but we need to know how the gameplay will be for battles to understand how it will work. I think using Bowser's minions will be a cool idea, but the gameplay (especially if they are partners) need to be solid or it'll feel half assed.

They're really embracing the Paper Motif ever since Sticker Star, but I feel that it works best as an effect to add on the story/world that's being built. That's just my take though.

Here's another thing that bugs me about the later games and its an admittedly very minor one compared to others like the shallow combat and lack of soul. In the early games the paper was just an aesthetic no different from the early 20th century animation style of cuphead, the cel shading of wind waker, and the water color style of Okami having things like scissors, stickers, paint, and origami just kinda ruins the immersion for me

 

[Slap47]

Here's another thing that bugs me about the later games and its an admittedly very minor one compared to others like the shallow combat and lack of soul. In the early games the paper was just an aesthetic no different from the early 20th century animation style of cuphead, the cel shading of wind waker, and the water color style of Okami having things like scissors, stickers, paint, and origami just kinda ruins the immersion for me

The good games treated every chapter as though it was its own contained adventure. You went to a unique place, met unique characters and resolved a story. Each chapter may as well have been its own novella.

Now they're going for a gag manga style for some reason.

 

[Overcooked Raccoon]

Here's another thing that bugs me about the later games and its an admittedly very minor one compared to others like the shallow combat and lack of soul. In the early games the paper was just an aesthetic no different from the early 20th century animation style of cuphead, the cel shading of wind waker, and the water color style of Okami having things like scissors, stickers, paint, and origami just kinda ruins the immersion for me

I totally agree. I think what made the paper stuff stand out more was that they used it in a way that it wasn't the focus, only just an element. Like in TTYD having the paper craft transformations was a great idea of not only gameplay but also showing what your world can do without making it the key focus.

From Sticker Star onward they seemed to just think that Paper was the reason it was called Paper Mario and doubled down on it. I think if the style was blended well with the gameplay loop of 64 and TTYD it could be something great, but when you get to the Things and whole worlds being papercraft it looks great, but eats at the gameplay.

It's really apparent in Paper Jam (The Mario and Luigi game), where that game plays like a close traditional mario rpg, but the paper craft stuff is so forced in it becomes too much. Like you can tell that's all they view the series as now, instead of a cool way of telling a timeless story (Like 64 or TTYD).

Again want to state I think the worlds of SS, CS, and now OK look fantastic, but when it's tied to Paper Mario where many believe the peak was the classic loop of the first two, it feels like a style over substance issue.

 

[MysticMisty]

Here's another thing that bugs me about the later games and its an admittedly very minor one compared to others like the shallow combat and lack of soul. In the early games the paper was just an aesthetic no different from the early 20th century animation style of cuphead, the cel shading of wind waker, and the water color style of Okami having things like scissors, stickers, paint, and origami just kinda ruins the immersion for me

I don't think it's too minor of a complaint, honestly. The art style was very charming in the first two games, though I personally feel the first one had the edge with it's background art. But making everything literally paper just falls flat. It's a very situational thing that determines if it works or not, and it doesn't help that there's been several Nintendo titles within the past ten years that have been doing this sort of thing.

Sadly the "evil origami guy" plot is probably the best lead-in for the "everything is literally paper" style if the set-up is that he used his evil magic to turn the world this way. But they already used this exact style for two other games so it still fails.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

on another note remember when game informer gave ttyd a 6.75 for pretty asinine reasons?

I don't think it's too minor of a complaint, honestly. The art style was very charming in the first two games, though I personally feel the first one had the edge with it's background art. But making everything literally paper just falls flat. It's a very situational thing that determines if it works or not, and it doesn't help that there's been several Nintendo titles within the past ten years that have been doing this sort of thing.

Sadly the "evil origami guy" plot is probably the best lead-in for the "everything is literally paper" style if the set-up is that he used his evil magic to turn the world this way. But they already used this exact style for two other games so it still fails.

Oh god the late Wii U era was probably Nintendo at their worst. Many games released during that time felt so creatively bankrupt. People say Nintendo is guilty of milking their franchises and I'm usually among the first to say these critics are exaggerating but when talking about Nintendo from 2015-2016 they're 100% correct

 

[Slap47]

It's really apparent in Paper Jam (The Mario and Luigi game), where that game plays like a close traditional mario rpg, but the paper craft stuff is so forced in it becomes too much. Like you can tell that's all they view the series as now, instead of a cool way of telling a timeless story (Like 64 or TTYD).

The overarching gimmick of the early games was that you were playing a game with the story of a damn good book.

Hell, the games intros literally feature the opening of a book.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

The overarching gimmick of the early games was that you were playing a game with the story of a damn good book.

Hell, the games intros literally feature the opening of a book.

Also the aesthetic choice was probably meant to keep the game's graphics from becoming dated by the progress of technology

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Hang on we are actually getting partners? Not like a fake out or a gimmick?

 

[The Pink Panther]

Someone at nintendo has a fetish for frogs that vomit spikey balls, I bet its Miyamoto that dirty old man.

FROG?

 

[MysticMisty]

Hang on we are actually getting partners? Not like a fake out or a gimmick?

They've barely showed any gameplay, especially battle footage, so it's unclear. I myself will believe them to be (generic) allies who follow you until you clear their chapter and solve their problem until proven otherwise.

But partners alone won't be enough for me to get the game. Only if the battle system has reverted from the awful "every attack you make is done through an item" mechanic will I even consider getting this game. And only if they are genuine partners. And even then it wouldn't be a high consideration. Like, in a few years after the game is discounted down to $20 type of consideration.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

I’m a sucker for Paper Mario Color Splash on the Wii U. If anything, I’m surprised no one talks that much about the Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam that came out on the 3DS years back.

 

[Sneak 'n' Snore]

Hang on we are actually getting partners? Not like a fake out or a gimmick?

Nothing is 100% confirmed but I've seen people speculate that they might return in some form via Bowser's minions.
Mario is often seen with a Bob Omb in the trailer and I've seen screenshots of him with Kamek and Spike around, plus they're all grouped together on the cover. No one has seen them in battle though.
Also they might be restricted to only one world each individually and get snatched away for plot reasons or something

Make of that what you want

 

[UntimelyDhelmise]

Btw whats with modern Nintendo and their sudden obsession with Spike? That fucker is the most forced addition to the cast since Petey Piranha during the GC era. Someone at nintendo has a fetish for frogs that vomit spikey balls, I bet its Miyamoto that dirty old man.

Not really anything new. Ever since the mid 2000's they've had this recurring habit of bringing back an old forgotten element/character and then plastering that shit everywhere. Remember when the tanooki power-up came back and was in every single goddamn game?

There's also the Koopalings who, ever since their return in NSMBW, have managed to be shoehorned into a fuckload of titles (including Paper Mario).

 

[Brahmin Baron]

Is there actually a reason (beyond laziness) that they refuse to go back to the 64/ttyd formula and instead stick to the colour splash/sticker star style? Is this style cheaper to make? Is it so they can reuse assets from colour splash? Is nintendo just really anal about making mario too "gritty" nowadays? Or is it just that no one on the dev team actually cares?