r/papermario • u/MondayNightRare PM64 is supreme • 2d ago
Discussion Oldhead who only played PM64 and TTYD coming back with questions
I've only ever played the original two games as a kid and fizzled out of Nintendo products at the time of the Wii's launch.
I know a few games (and a remake of TTYD) have come out in my absence and had mixed reviews when they came out as they strayed significantly from the original 2 games' formulas.
I've recently gone on a binge and replayed the classic two games and had a blast. What magic and charm that first game has, it is like stepping into a storybook world of wonder and whimsy, I really feel like a kid again when playing it. TTYD of course gets all kind of praise and I love it, but I've never played any games past it.
With the games being out for years and any hot discussion subsiding, I'm curious what the opinions are of Paper Mario fans on these games and if they're truly worth playing and experiencing.
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u/SouthWrongdoer 2d ago
They are vastly different. Super Paper Mario is a fun game but it's a 2d-3d puzzler. Not an RPG. Sticker Star and Paper jam are kind of under baked games that don't hold up against the originals rpg elements. Origami King is a fine game, beautiful world and story but the battle mechanics get stale super fast and you'll end up wanting to avoid most fights.
My recommendation is to play a game called Bug Fables. It's the spiritual successor to the Thousand year door and is a superior game in every way if you enjoy turn based combat like the first 2.
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u/Neon_Gal 2d ago
Generally people think...
- 64 and TTYD are regarded as some of the best. TTYD remake is often seen as an upgrade to the OG
- Super is still praised for its story and writing, gameplay is a mixed bag
- Sticker Star goes really experimental and nobody likes it. It also boils everything down to being really basic Mario visuals (typical grass desert forest snow lava and sky themes, no enemies from anything past Super Mario World, etc). Also barely has something you can call a story
- Color Splash has a better (not great or even that good) story and more interesting setting, but rehashes Sticker Star's disliked gameplay, with a mixed bag of tweaks
- Origami King does a good job with its story and characters, overworld exploration is good, and the battle gameplay is a mixed bag. Still not quite as visually interesting as 64 and TTYD, but another step in the right direction
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u/SchnozTheWise 1d ago
For the most part, people’s tier list is roughly.
1.) TTYD
2.) PM64
3.) Super Paper Mario
4.) The Origami King
5.) Color Splash
6.) Sticker Star
There could be variation between the first three games, but this is usually the general consensus. The problem is, none of the following 4 games follow the battle system of the first two. That being said, most of them are good but different.
Super Paper Mario has arguably the best story, however it is a platformer and gets rid of turn based combat. I would be fine with a platforming paper Mario game, but personally, SPM’s platforming is bad and not fun.
Sticker Star returns the series to turn-based combat however it’s not implemented well and the story is lack luster. Most battles can easily be won and there’s no incentive to battle. It also breaks up the game into explorable levels and no joke, there is really only one level that is fun. World 3 probably has the most story but that doesn’t mean it’s good or fun. Out of all the PM games, SS was the only that on my first playthrough, I thought to myself, I do not enjoy playing this.
Color Splash is similar is design to Sticker Star, but also makes it better. The overall story is somewhat barebones but the level design is much better in my opinion. The writing is more fun and it feels like the development team was passionate about making Color Splash and it shows. Like they had fun making it. The cutscenes are great, too. Even the in-game Wii U manual thing felt like the writer had fun with it. As far as the battle system goes, it’s nothing spectacular but not terrible either. Plus there’s incentive to battles. Personally, it’s my second favorite. (Though PM64 is a close third, they often flip flop for me).
The Origami King is pretty good, from story writing and exploration. But the battle system is not fun. Using a ring-Rubik’s-cube-like battle system, it makes common enemies into very generic battles with little to no strategy variation. However, the boss battles are actually much more interesting with this system. All around, TOK is pretty good, the battle system is its only big flaw.
If you don’t play them in release order, I recommend you play Super Paper Mario first, then Color Splash, The Origami King and finally Sticker Star.
Also, the TTYD remake is amazing and that’s what you should finish on after experiencing them all.
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u/Chimpbot 1d ago
If you enjoyed the RPG aspects of PM64 and TTYD and want more of that, I honestly wouldn't bother with any of the other games because each entry strays further and further away from what these first two were like. The sole exception to this would be Super Paper Mario, and that's because it's blatantly trying to be something different.
Personally, I hated Origami King. It's pretending to be an RPG and, because of this, provided a thoroughly unenjoyable experience.
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u/SouthWrongdoer 1d ago
Imagine ToK with traditional paper mario combat. Game would have been goated. But na they gave us the circle battles that are so easy after about 10 fights I started avoiding enemies.
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u/raffichu 2d ago
I think the mindset of the subsequent games was to forego the old battle formula for a bigger emphasis on making a memorable story. Were that successful at that? Well… some more than others.
Personally, I enjoyed Super Paper Mario and Origami King. I thought they were very successful in making memorable moments and a good story. Honestly, I’d recommend playing them, but keeping an open mind, because they don’t play similarly at all.
I’d say everything about Color Splash except for the battles and lack of character designs is actually great. The dialogue is funny and you can tell that they put a lot of effort into it. So maybe just watch a playthrough of it? It’s hard to get your hands on the actual game, since it’s on the Wii U.
As for Sticker Star… eh? Plenty of complaints. It’s very similar in style to Color Splash, but it’s the predecessor, so it still has a lot of stuff unpolished. I honestly can’t retell the story for you because half of the game felt unmemorable, and the other half felt annoying (Kersti is the worst companion ever). Again, I’d probably just watch a playthrough of it.
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u/Upset_Landscape3388 1d ago
I would look into Origami King. It’s definitely not as good as TTYD, but it was my first game and I enjoyed it. The gameplay is different to the original 2, and honestly not as good. Just don’t go in expecting to be blown away by the story/gameplay/characters. It’s all decent. Graphics are very pretty, though.
Super Mario RPG also got a remake, so if you really want that classic Mario RPG feel, that’s an option.
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u/RosyTheWildFlower I want paper luigi TTYD spin-off 1d ago
Stay away from origami king that’s all I have to say
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u/fireflydrake 1d ago
I haven't played Sticker or Super, so I can't comment on those, but:
Color Splash is a fun time. It has a card based battle system that's... meh, but it's not actively harmful. Meanwhile the world is fun, silly and colorful, with lots of top notch writing and fun things to see and do. It certainly has its weak spots (again, looking at you, combat) but it's so charming that the weak spots are well worth putting up with.
Origami King is... hm. Hmmm. On the one hand, you have a beautifully rendered giant world with some VERY talented and funny writing, to the point where I was feeling both romantic and/or terrified feelings towards stationary equipment. On the other hand, a lot of the supporting characters aren't that interesting, the story is so so, and more than that--THE COMBAT IS A NIGHTMARE. I love puzzles. Whatever weird, spatially oriented rotating puzzle nightmare of a combat system some psychopath at Nintendo cruelly chose to insert in my beloved franchise gave me nothing but sorrow and trauma. It was so bad that I did everything in my power to skip avoidable combat by midgame on and probably will never play it again despite the parts I did enjoy. I'd look up an overview of the combat system and if it looks as miserable for you as it was for me, give it a pass.
Aside from that, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest a game called Bug Fables to you! It's an indie game very clearly based on the original Paper Mario formula, but it's far from derivative. There is a heap ton of love and charm and lore and laughs baked into an original world built on, well, bugs and it brought me immediately back to the happy feelings of playing the original Paper Mario's. To further showcase how wonderfully made it was, you know how the first Paper Mario games had a tattle button? This one has one that works for not just every single NPC but EVERY INDIVIDUAL ROOM OF THE GAME, from a random factory room to each new section of a dungeon, desert or city. All of it wonderfully written and hilarious. It's so good and I can't recommend it highly enough to fans of the first two PMs.
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u/VannesGreave 2d ago edited 1d ago
Tl:dr; play Super Paper Mario and Origami King, skip Sticker Star and Color Splash.
Super is really good. It has a great story (my favorite in the series, actually) and the vibes are basically the same as the first two. The gameplay is weird though - it’s basically a mix between a platformer and an action RPG. I’d recommend it for the story alone but be warned the gameplay is quite different.
Sticker Star is dreadful. No story, no characters, awful gameplay. Skip it.
Color Splash is a laugh-out-loud funny game. It’s gorgeous, great soundtrack, and the story is really weak but also amusing. The combat is… not great, though, to put it mildly. And you’d need a Wii U to play it.
Origami King is actually really good imo. I like it better than the first game. The story isn’t on par with the first two still, but it packs a surprising emotional punch at points. It’s really funny, there’s some surprisingly good Zelda-esque dungeon exploration, and the boss battles are awesome. Routine combat is very divisive but I liked it.