Well, I've noticed quite a few review threads pop up in my short time being here so I decided hey, why not give it a shot. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, I'm willing to take it since I do want to try and improve if I ever try and do this again. Anyway, this is a little thing I'll do after playing or replaying through a game. I'll do my best to try and give an honest and fair criticism without just gushing over the game or burning it to the ground. TL;DR version is in the verdict at the end. Anyways, on with the show.
Pixel's Game Reviews (I'll probably change it) #1 - Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
Introduction: Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is the 2004 sequel to the original N64 classic, Paper Mario. Did the game live up to the first one, or was it another example of the sequel is never as good as the first.
Story- Even to this game, Mario games have been known to be very formulaic, usually saving Princess Peach from Bowser, and in the beginning, the game starts with a similar idea. Peach has invited Mario to head over to a small town, Rogueport, where she sends a letter and a map that is claimed to lead to a hidden treasure behind the Thousand Year Door deep under the ground. However, Princess Peach is soon kidnapped, but not by Bowser this time, but a group known as the X-Nauts who seek the treasure for their own desires. Mario learning that Peach has been captured, uses the map to find the seven crystal stars in seven varied locations across the land to save Peach and discover the truth of the treasure. While the plot does sound quite generic, it actually gets quite interesting the further you go on and even has some twists and turns during the adventure. Along with this overarching story are the many stories of the areas Mario visits, which are also quite well-made. The story, while not doing anything ground-breaking, was a breath of fresh air that only the Mario RPGs have been able to give us.
Presentation- Since the game is called Paper Mario, everything is mostly looks like, well, paper. The characters' paper-like aspects are all incrediably well-designed, with small details like all characters flipping whenever they turn around, giving them a 2D feel. When you enter a building, the building folds downwards as if you were opening a cardboard box and bigger enemies or character models look like folded paper. Due to this aesthetic style, the graphics still hold up well today, despite some more dated backgrounds. The colours are all vibrant and the animations are smooth. Along with the great visuals is the memorable soundtrack which helps add atmosphere to every area and even certain conversations. While the tracks in most areas serve as mostly a complement to the area, the boss music is some of the best that I have heard on the Gamecube and really deserves some recognition. Not every soundtrack will please everyone, but I felt that Paper Mario's held something musically for almost everyone.
Gameplay- Oh boy, this is going to be a bit complicated but please, bear with me. Unlike traditional Mario games, Paper Mario is a turn-based RPG. You select your attacks that you or your partner has and then you act them out with your opponent doing the same. However, Paper Mario throws in something special to make it stand out and that is the action commands. Whenever you are attacked, you can press the A button to defend yourself from the hit or, if you have better timing, you can press a different button, the B button, and damage your opponent instead. When you attack, your damage output will increase if you are able to time button presses or control stick motions correctly, whether this is holding the control stick back to charge up a hammer, pressing the A button to jump an extra time, dealing extra damage, or pressing buttons in a select order. With this combat system, it rewards players for how well they are able to perform their attacks rather than just selecting an attack and seeing the effect it has and adds that much more feeling of player input in the combat. Along with Mario are several companions that you will meet along your quest and you must also use action commands with them in order to deal extra damage. While they can't level up, they can be powered up later on in the story. When you level up, you are able to select whether you want to increase your health, flower points (or power points that allow you to perform certain attacks) or badge points, adding again to player input. Badge points allow you to equip badges which can give you certain effects in battle, such as letting you gain hp during a battle, getting an extra move, or even giving Mario a boost in power if he is in danger of defeat. As you go on your quest and retrieve the Crystal Stars, you will earn star moves which use star power to perform various special moves like causing an earthquake or gaining extra health and flower points. The star meter, which powers your star moves, can be replenished in battle by the audience. The audience comes whenever you enter a battle and send refill your star meter. Along with this, they can throw items at you, helpful and hurtful, so you better mind what they have in their arms. Some battles have enemies take advantage of your audience in certain ways but usually, they are just there to refill the star meter. Overall, the combat is well-designed and rewards skilled players with extra damage while still making them simple enough to get the hang of.
What I liked- Alright this part is more personal but I felt it should be included anyway. The dialogue is often very funny and witty with many characters pulling jokes and generally making the game enjoyable to read, despite the large amount of dialogue. The combat once again is very fun and the areas are diverse enough that they never feel to similar. While not every chapter is amazing, there are some chapters that are just so fun to play through, I am willing to play through the entire game just to revel in those amazing moments in the story, though the rest of the game is still great.
What I disliked- With my many hours playing through the game, I could only find one major fault, and that is the constant repetitive backtracking. There are segments of the game that either require you to go through one area multiple times, go on a chase to find someone who keeps disappearing, only to end up back where you started the search in the first place. There are also parts in cutscenes that really aren't necessary. Do we really need to listen to someone repeat the same phrase 100 times just for the sake of story progression?
Final Verdict: Paper Mario The Thousand Year is an amazing RPG that takes everything great from the N64 original and expands it creating an amazing experience that both RPG fans and Nintendo fans can enjoy.
Story: 8/10
Presentation: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Final Score: 8.5/10
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