It's funny how it works. 

I look at your post and I see "maybe the best period" and I think to myself that it's pretty bold statement to make. 

I mean, you're saying it has better writing than Xenogears and Xenosaga.  Oh wait, your profile says you haven't played those. 

You're saying it's better than Suikoden and Persona games too.  Oh wait, you haven't played those either. 

Well gosh, that's a really bold statement to make especially when you've apparently skipped everything but FF7 on arguably the two biggest RPG consoles ever made.

I love the writing TTYD, but "best period"... I don't think I would make that claim about any RPG.  I simply haven't played nearly enough to even want to touch that topic but I find it simply fascinating that despite having not played a great many RPGs that you're perfectly fine with throwing that out there.

I think Paper Mario TTYD needs a shorter title. Why couldn't it be paper mario 2. It does have great writing.
Most of time I talk to the people more than play the game

Humor goes a long way, especially in the video game world where "epic" story lines are king. For this reason, I've always been a fan of humor in games, and Paper Mario (as well as Mario & Luigi) is loved for that reason as well.

I mean, I'll finish a chapter as fast as I can just to get to the Bowser parts. They're gold.

So you're saying I should come back and give you my opinion once I've played enough RPGs to meet your rigorous standards? Sorry, chief. If it makes you feel any better, I don't respect your opinion any more than you respect mine. I promise not to go out of my way to single out how little I think of your opinion, though.

I've played Xenosaga, actually. Not all the way through, because the cutscenes get terrifically boring. Too bad, because the combat is kinda fun in that one.

I'm not suggesting that you ever give me your opinion after playing more RPGs so don't worry about it.

Xenosaga's gameplay was pretty neat for its time.  It made me sad that they retooled it for Xenosaga II (which I didn't enjoy nearly as much).  If you ever get the chance to finish Xenosaga I then go for it, the ending is really enjoyable.

One thing that keeps me wondering why PM games are so underrated? Yep, rated high by critics and have good sales, i.e. success among critics and gamers, but generic "top-something jRPG lists" usually contain the same FF-like stuff with no mention of PM. Considering excellent script and fun gameplay PM2 should be like in top-10. What is lacking as jRPG? I did play most of games in the genre since SNES/PS1 days, majority of PS2 offerings, and PM2 fun-factor was really high.

Same reason SSBB isn't in lists of the best fighters - it doesn't take itself seriously enough.

Just beat Super Mario RPG. My iguana messed up my save file on my Wii VC game because he hit the power supply switch to off while I was playing Super Mario RPG. I was to Bowser's Castle at that point, but I went back to it a few days after that and now finally beat it. It sucks that if you lose power while in the middle of playing a VC game that it corrupts that VC game save file. Oh well!! I want to go back and beat that FF side boss soon. I am on to PM:TTYD now. I haven't played it at all yet (maybe like barely about 4-5 years ago). So far I have only beat Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario (N64). I have all games though and hopefully I will beat them all by next week.

ya all the Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi and Mario RPG series have hilarious script.

I agree. Even though the characters tend to be a bit long-winded, I didn't really mind due to the clever narrative. I still think the first game was one of the funniest games I've ever played. The only games that ever made me literally laugh out loud as much were Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and PM:TTYD.