Gaming Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

[Guest Tim]

I didnt play the first one, except in the store when it was on display, but the maybe 20 minutes I had was gret. The second looks 2x better. Great pics. I also agree about the fact that Nintendo should make more RPG's. I love all of theirs and they would probably even get more sales.

[Charles]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']There's only two things that will get me to purchase this game (besides watching my friends play it and liking it myself): being able to have Bowser as a full-time party member, or the game getting 9.5/10 or higher reviews from damn near every reviewer out there. I wasn't too thrilled with Paper Mario (character design and the ridiculously easy battle system had a lot to do with it), and I'm not sure how much of a deviation from that this game will turn out to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty huge Mario fan, but I care more about visual appeal than most other people, and this game doesn't do it for me.[/quote]It's disappointing that reviews weigh so heavily on a game's value for you. Although they are useful tool for guidance, I'd hardly say I need a bunch of numbers to validate a game's worth for me. I also fall into disagreement with your gripes concerning the character design. Don't get me wrong, it's your opinion and that's fine, but I've always considered the quirky character designs and abundant personality in the drawings a major selling point for this series. Those traits are infinitely more valuable to me than the amount of polygons being thrown around--especially in this genre. But, that's moot considering how I personally find the game's unique design artistically more appealing than a lot of the "technically advanced" stuff out there. Again, just a matter of taste, I suppose. At least your opinion is different.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[quote name='Charles']It's disappointing that reviews weigh so heavily on a game's value for you. Although they are useful tool for guidance, I'd hardly say I need a bunch of numbers to validate a game's worth for me. I also fall into disagreement with your gripes concerning the character design. Don't get me wrong, it's your opinion and that's fine, but I've always considered the quirky character designs and abundant personality in the drawings a major selling point for this series. Those traits are infinitely more valuable to me than the amount of polygons being thrown around--especially in this genre. But, that's moot considering how I personally find the game's unique design artistically more appealing than a lot of the "technically advanced" stuff out there. Again, just a matter of taste, I suppose. At least your opinion is different.[/quote]

Well, the reason reviews will help THIS time is because of the kind of game Paper Mario 2 is. Not that many games get reviews consistently above 95%. At MOST one game per month does, and even that's no guarantee. But the ones that do are indeed pretty decent games, and whether I'll enjoy them or not becomes more than anything a question of taste. For instance, GTA3 and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow got pretty high ratings, but they're just not my kind of game. Paper Mario sorta is, so if it's good enough to warrant praise from enough people, I'll definitely be interested in it.

But if you've seen my other game-related posts, you'll notice that I don't put too much weight on game reviews. I do, however, know what to look for in them, and use that to form my own opinion of the game.

As far as character design vs. polygon count goes, that is hardly a guaranteed tradeoff. In any case it's not polygon count that makes a game look good for me (although it may help, as is the case with Ninja Gaiden and DOA); it's general visual design. Morrowind is nothing to brag about if you're considering sheer polygon count, but the game looks gorgeous. But I'm getting off topic here. In Paper Mario's case, it's the character design (not models) that I dislike, as well as the battle system. And battle systems preferences are very personal. Heck, my favorite is Baldur's Gate's.

[Semjaza]

Well, I'm bringing this back due to new screens. This game looks amazing in my opinion. It is absolutely oozing with style.

[IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214409_26_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.gamekult.com/photos/00/00/44/42/ME0000444291_2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214402_2_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214405_11_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214408_24_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214408_23_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214408_22_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214407_20_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214406_14_big.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/852320040505_214406_15_big.jpg[/IMG]

You can get some idea of the battle system in a few of these shots too. Can't wait for E3.

[Brasil]

This game is sounding better and better the more I see and read of it. These shots are spectacular, and some of them are unbelievable. The Dry Bones (like someone has mentioned before), and the Ninjis shots are particularly interesting. Can't wait to see that stuff in action.

I was a huge fan of Super Mario RPG--I should pick-up an SNES and a few games for it...reward myself after surviving Finals Week, perhaps...--, so I'm especially interested to hear of the battle system similarities of Paper Mario 2 and SMRPG. I never had the timing for Lucky Hits, but maybe this time I will. One of my fondest memories of SMRPG was the badges/pins, and I thought I saw that Paper Mario 2 was using those accessories, so if it is, major bonus points.

I'm excited about this game. If it still sounds/looks this good in the months up to its release, I'll probably pre-order it.

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']This game looks amazing in my opinion. It is absolutely oozing with style.[/quote]

Couldn't have said it better myself; they game is looking fantastic so far. The backgrounds seem to get sharper and and cleaner every time I see new shots of the game. And you gotta love that map, heh. It looks damn cool.

E3 can't come soon enough, since I'm really looking forward to hearing more about this game, especially in regards to the battle system. It will be very interesting to see how Nintendo has refined for the GameCube. Other stuff like extras and whatnot I'm not really worried about too much, because you pretty much know that Nintendo will stuff the game with extras, heh.

[Semjaza]

Well boys and girls, Nintendo.com has a video for us...

Larger 14 MB version: [url]http://media.nintendo.com/mediaFiles/d2998fd9-4de4-4999-b974-cb162a874975.mov[/url]

Tiny 3 MB [url]http://media.nintendo.com/mediaFiles/6e77e0e5-144f-432f-98f6-9c66a321fbad.mov[/url]

REALLY needs to be seen in motion. Looks awesome.

[Shinmaru]

[url]http://cube.ign.com/articles/533/533580p1.html[/url]

According to this artcile, Paper Mario 2 has undergone a name change. It's now known as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Personally, Paper Mario 2 would have sufficed for me, but this isn't really a bad name. I'm just glad it's not Paper Mario: Attack of the Clones.

[url]http://media.cube.ign.com/media/573/573664/vids_1.html[/url]

A new video was also uploaded onto IGN's site. It's a decent enough opportunity to see more of the game in action.

---

I just want to make sure that everyone knows that Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door's American release is October 11th. I'm really anticipating this game, and I know that I'll be picking it up right away.

[Pumpkin]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=1]I played Paper Mario 1 on Nintendo 64...although I dont have a gamecube, I think Paper Mario 2 would rock. I don't really understand the name, I guess they wanted to make it look more appealing? But anyways, yeah its definately ...different..from the other mario games but still looks pretty good to me.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[lavonia]

I really loved Paper Mario. Think I'd enjoy this one as well. Thanks so much for sharing; this is exciting news. :love: I, too, always wondered why they never made more Mario RPG type games. I always enjoy this type of game.

[Semjaza]

I've told Shinmaru, but for those that don't know, Paper Mario is currently demoing at various game shops right now. I played it at a local Best Buy awhile back. It's basically the same as the E3 demo. You choose from three separate areas and mess around.

The game is absolutely gorgeous. Even movies I've downloaded have done it no justice at all. The sprites are clear and well animated, the world is sharp and colorful (and doesn't feel as simple as it does in some shots).

Gameplay is mostly the same as in Paper Mario on N64, but there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. I'm getting it.

[S9per]

I am also extremely extremely pumped about this game. I really loved the first Paper Mario and am highly anticipating this one.

It looks like everything before and more and better. :D

My two quesitons about the game though are...

One...I played the demo they have on display somewhere or another and did anyone else (who played the demo), notice that they got rid of that spin manuever that he had in the first one? I loved that little move...I NEED it back!! Anyone know what happened to it? Like, is it gone, or has it just not been "earned" yet?

Two...will it be better than Paper Mario and/or Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga? I think every game in the Mario RPG series has been better than its predecessor...which is saying quite a bit. Super Mario RPG is one of the greatest games ever and it rocks my socks off. And then Paper Mario after it I liked more, albeit the shortcomings it had. And then Mario & Luigi was just suprisingly amazing. So now my hopes for Paper Mario 2 remain high. I do think Paper Mario 2 will top Paper Mario, but I'm not so sure about it beating M&L...but, here's hoping. :D

[Purple Haze]

I don't see the all the hype about it. From what I've heard and teh screens I've seen it looks and plays just like the original Paper Mario with the new fold into aorplane abilities,etc. I'm not gonna spen 0 bucks on it but my brother loved the first one so he preordered PM2, so I'll get my chance to play it. It looks like it will be a fun Saturday game that you can play all day and not get tired.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Alastor']I don't see the all the hype about it. From what I've heard and teh screens I've seen it looks and plays just like the original Paper Mario with the new fold into aorplane abilities,etc.[/quote]

Doesn't that describe almost any sequel in existance...? If you want a vastly different game, then find a vastly different game lol. It's another Paper Mario game... I don't think one can expect major differences in style.

Anyway, I picked this up last night thanks to a trade-in. The presentation is top notch, the translation is abslolutely excellent and full of humor (which is the best part of Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi.

The graphics are wonderful. The style they're going for is somewhat minimal, as you can see in shots, but everything is vivid, clean and surprisingly detailed. The character sprites are beautiful and very well animated. They rarely get jaggy, except on very close-up views (which seem uncommon anyway). It's also pretty amazing seeing literally one hundred or more enemies on screen at a time. I didn't realize the GC could push sprites that well heh.

The music is good... I'm not finding it to be amazing, but it's not annoying. I just don't find it that memorable thus far. Sound effects are nice, with the standard Mario sounds thrown in. Not often enough to be obnoxious, thankfully.

The battle system is largely the same. It's kind of been spiced up with some ideas from Mario and Luigi, but it's still one character at a time. The addition of the audience is cooler than I expected, though.

Basically, the better you do, the more people watch your battles. When you make a good move in the battle (like perfectly timing a press), they give you Star Points that can be used for special moves. The more members in the audience, the more points you'll get at once.

More people come if you do well, people leave if you mess up, you can try and appeal the crowd to get more points and so forth. Sometimes people even throw things on stage... If you see this happening, you can press X and your character will jump into the audience and toss the guy out. You're taking a chance, though, because they might actually be throwing in something useful.

Anyway, the reason to play this game is the same as the other titles... It's charming and fun. The battle system is not mind numbingly complex, but it keeps you active the entire time, which I appreciate it. The story, while kind of standard, is really enhanced by the visuals, characters, translations and their body language. It's just a really solid game from what I've played and I cannot see that changing.

Supposedly lasts 30 to 40 hours according to reviews, and from what I've seen, there's a surprising amount of side quests.

[Shinmaru]

I bought the game today, and I've been having a hell of a time with it. If the game remains as fun and hilarious as it was during my first playthrough today, then this game will easily become my favorite GameCube release of the year. Probably one of the top games on the system, as well.

The graphics are great. Just like any other game with fantastic graphics, screens and even video don't do the game justice at all. You really have to see the game for yourself in person to see how fantastic they truly are. The moments where a ton of enemies are all on screen at once are very impressive, as well. The enemies will all be on screen, bouncing around like they're on speed or something, and the frame rate will not waver for even a moment. It's quite cool.

Battle system is by and large the same as Paper Mario's thus far. I'm on Chapter Two, and I've not really seen any significant changes to it, but it's not like Paper Mario's battle system was a piece of junk. I'm assuming that some of the other characters you acquire later on in the game will bring some different styles of attacking to the battle system, though.

The audience is pretty fun. I've not amassed that many people, myself (because I ran away from a few battles during one of the levels since I lacked the proper items needed to beat certain enemies lol), but I've gotten a couple of good crowds going. The crowds can get really loud if you get everything going well for you, especially if you're able to get three-in-a-row in the roulette parts of battles. Obviously, that helps quite a bit, heh.

Levels have been good so far. Nothing amazingly difficult, but nothing really easy, either. The difficulty has been fairly balanced thus far. There were a couple of frustrating moments that diminished the amount of fun I was having a bit, but it's nothing too major.

Lastly, I must mention that the game is simply hilarious. The dialogue is well-written, sharp and generally laugh out loud funny. I wish that there were more RPGs like this released, because I generally enjoy humor more than melodrama. I hope that's not just me. There are just several great, funny scenes I've seen in the game so far, and I'm not even that far into it (I haven't even started the third chapter yet).

I think that my favorite moments so far are [spoiler]Luigi's bizarre stories about the adventure he's going on that mirror Mario's adventure, every single second of Bowser's scenes, Madame Flurrie kissing Mario, and the Pianta thugs beating people up while Mario talks to Toadsworth in the beginning of the game.[/spoiler] Those are by no means the only funny scenes in the game so far, though, because there's tons of great stuff. Nintendo simply rocks when it comes to releasing humorous RPGs (Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, in case you need proof of their track record :p).

The game is definitely recommended, especially if you're starving for great RPGs on the GameCube. I've been looking forward to the game for months and so far the game has easily managed to live up to my mile-high expectations. Consider this: When I was playing the game today, the time flew by like nothing; I was extremely surprised to find out I'd played the game for seven and a half hours. That hasn't happened to me in a long while, heh.

[Semjaza]

It's odd that Nintendo (well, IS in this case, but they are Nintendo) doesn't make more RPGs... What they do put out is general is among the best stuff out there, in my opinion.

I played more of this game over the weekend (it's hard to split between this and SMT) and I'm really enjoying it. When I got through Hooktail's Castle, I was surprised by just how large it was. I was expecting a few rooms, but nothing as large as what actually awaits you.

The game is surprisingly challenging, much like Paper Mario on N64. I imagine partly because the paper theme gives the idea that this game is aimed towards a younger audience, it's deceptive. The game really is suitable for anyone, just like most Nintendo games.

I'm in Chapter 3, I believe.

[Shinmaru]

Yeah, I agree with you on the first point. The RPGs that Nintendo and their second-party affiliates develop and released are usually top-notch work. What I love most about them is how different they are from most games you get in the genre; a lot of the time, you just see RPGs trying to emulate Final Fantasy or something, and it's nice to have a breath of fresh air, so to speak.

I finished Chapters Three and Four yesterday after another long session (though not as long as the one on Saturday lol). Chapter Four in particular threw me for a loop, [spoiler]because of the false ending it throws at you. I swear I was really pissed for a moment like "That's IT?!" and then you see the stuff afterword with Shadow Mario and it all becomes clear lol. That was a pretty clever bait-and-switch, I think.[/spoiler]

The game is still very fun. I was correct in predicting that with new characters came modifications in the battle system - there are a few new approaches to battle with these characters that were not used in Paper Mario. Also, and I should have mentioned this before, the star power attacks add quite a bit to the game, as they get you involved in the battles just as much as the regular attacks do. I like how Paper Mario 2's battle system seems like a logical evolution from Paper Mario's battle system. It works very well.

I might play a bit more today, but I'm not sure. I have a bit of reading to catch up on, but if I do end up playing tonight I'll hopefully be able to post my thoughts in here.

[S9per]

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Edited October 22, 2016 by S9per

[Shinmaru]

Gee, I hope someone besides me is still playing this :(

Anyway, I've been at the final boss of the game for a while, but I got my *** handed to me the first time I fought it, and I've been busy with schoolwork most of the week. I'll probably beat the game sometime tonight, or perhaps tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Overall, the game has been fantastic. There are a couple of tiny flaws that I'll address later on in the post, but for the most part Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is extremely fun and fresh. There really aren't enough great things I could say about the game, really. It's easily my favorite GameCube release of the year thus far, with only perhaps Metroid Prime 2: Echoes giving it some stiff competition in a few days.

The only real complaint I have with the game is what a lot of people choose to complain about, and that is the backtracking you have to go through, especially later on in the game. However, I don't think I found this to be as big a problem as a lot of people did. It was a minor annoyance, but the game still found ways to keep my interest. [spoiler]I might be singing a different tune if it weren't for the warp pipes in Underground Rogueport, though lol.[/spoiler]

Also, I don't think that the bosses present much of a challenge until very late in the game. It's not really so bad, though, because the levels themselves provide a nice challenge; some of the puzzles you run into are pretty tricky.

Even though I'm close to beating the game, I'll likely be playing through it again, because I know that I haven't gotten anywhere near everything you can get lol. [spoiler]I've still got to explore the 100 Level Pipe thing in Underground Rogueport, I've got to buy all of the copies of the Super Luigi story, there are some rare badges I'd like to get, and I want to help out all of the people in Rogueport.[/spoiler] There are tons of things to do apart from the main quest, so I have plenty of incentive to go through the game once more.

I can't really say it enough, if you own a GameCube, and you're starving for RPGs, you have absolutely no reason (unless you're flat broke) to not buy this game. Go out and get it right now.

[Semjaza]

I think you and I are included in only a handful of people here who have the game. I wonder where Charles went? lol

I've really not gotten to play this much. I have little gaming time lately... what I do have is divided between SMT:N and Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

Last I remember, I am only in Chapter 2 or something... I just recently broke into that tree lol. I'm not far at all, it seems.

[Ninjaman]

I got this game this past Saturday and I'm only on Chapter 3 I think. I haven't been playing it that much because I haven't found a lot of time to play it.

The game has been pretty fun so far and I just met that lil Yoshi dude. I named him Yoyo. Yoyo the Yoshi, lol.

One of the best things I love about this game is how funny it is. Some of the stuff is funny as heck. I absolutely laughed when I read Goombella's Tattle dealy on Fuzzies. "Those things really suck... HP."

[S9per]

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Edited October 22, 2016 by S9per

[Ninjaman]

Thought I'd like to come and post that I beat the game a few minutes ago.

[spoiler]The final boss really did put up a good fight, though she wasn't really hard. The characters I kept using were Bobbery and that attack where he hits all the enemies (name escapes me at the moment) and Vivian with her Fiery Jinx and Veil. I was really lucky with those slots during the battle seeing as how I won 2 out of 3 of them. The funniest thing about that battle for me was that none of my characters defeated her. It was that exploding trap (those things that go off random on stage) that finished her off, lol.

I really liked this game. I thought it was kinda cool to fight "Peach". Bowser coming out nowhere after the battle with Grodus really caught me off guard, though I knew I was going to fight him sooner or later, but it was funny.

It's really cool to see Bow at Poshley Heights after you beat the game. If you remember, Bow was a character from the previous Paper Mario. This game was really awesome! ^_^[/spoiler]

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

I heard that you could get different colored Yoshis. Does anyone knows what colors, 'cause I would buy this game just for a black or blue yoshi with a mohawk. :)

[S9per]

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Edited October 22, 2016 by S9per