Paper Mario (Series)

[Mr EliteL]

Finally, thank you so much even if I didn't exactly want a remake of PMTTYD but at least it's something. I'm degrading my initial reaction though so I'm genuinely happy, I just hope this Remaster does well enough so then they see this is the style for Paper Mario they should stick with. I don't mind them going a different route for the past 4 games, although three weren't for me. Or they don't/never but I'll just sit on the side with my Remaster. 

[Moonface]

Yeah I'd love this game to sell so well it shows Miyamoto that people prefer this approach to Paper Mario over the later entries, and maybe it'll even dispel that stupid idea he has that there can't be new characters made for each installment of Paper Mario, even though they'll happily do that for regular Mario games.

I wonder if the game will be a straight 1:1 or if it'll add stuff like how SMRPG Remake is doing.

[queenzelda]

My husband and I think the Paper Mario series was divided by the Mario and Luigi RPG game's where the characters in that did have names. But with the Mario and Luigi rpg series gone, it's open for fresh new possibilities. I love all the Mario RPG games. We're eating hearty on the Nintendo train bois and girlz.

[Mr EliteL]

I started on M&L Superstar Saga, being my first RPG and is still my second favourite Mario game but yeah perhaps there's some truth to M&L and PM being divided in some sense during that period. The first PM being set in Mushroom Kingdom, first M&L was set in a neighbouring kingdom which had new species and characters to focus on with some familiarity to enemies we've seen before (Bean enemy being like a Goomba, Koopa versions in Beanbean) then PM went to Rogueport and M&L stayed roughly in MK but in the past, then Super Paper Mario had a mix, Bowser's Inside story was sort of a mix...well Bowser's insides was certainly different. Then perhaps got to a point of needing too much new stuff for both series they settled on more basic stuff later on.

I also wonder if there'll be new stuff but hopefully nothing like being able to damage multiple enemies from the get-go or that was an ability to gain but it wasn't clear. So hopefully not to the gameplay but I'm thinking it'll be more 1:1 for like 95% perhaps because I would like to see there being new post-game stuff as even if you beat Pit of 100 Trials before the final boss then all that's left is doing the handful of extra Requests and visiting the other areas to see NPCs. Eh if not and it is 100% a 1:1 then that's still OK with me.
Yo, I'm going to try a Pre-Hooktail Pit Run in my first playthrough! *shot* Darn wish I did more runs since the one I recorded.

[Moonface]

My husband and I think the Paper Mario series was divided by the Mario and Luigi RPG game's where the characters in that did have names.

This is a possibility since Miyamoto left Paper Mario after TTYD but was still working on Mario & Luigi until 2005. I don't know how that series handled characters post Partners in Time though, which is after Miyamoto left. If the character originality declined I would suspect Miyamoto put the same restriction on that series as he did Paper Mario, where if he isn't involved then he doesn't permit new characters to be created.

[queenzelda]

I watched someone on youtube explained why the game is coming out, so I thought it would make for an interesting conversation starter:

[Moonface]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door | Remaster Release Date
As part of Mar10 Day yesterday, Nintendo revealed that the remaster of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will be released on May 23rd.

Nintendo didn't put out a video specifically for this news, but it seems various things came out around the Internet which were combined into this video:

[Mr EliteL]

Skipped the gameplay bit but watched the screenshots and artwork from that video. The only slight problem I have is being able to see the white edges the paper which you can also see against another part of the body, but I'll get used to it. Good to know the date finally though. I wonder if there'll be anything extra like what the M&L remakes got but I suppose it would've been leaked by now, or will be if there is anything else unrevealed yet. 

[Moonface]

I watched someone on youtube explained why the game is coming out, so I thought it would make for an interesting conversation starter:

I forgot to watch this so did just now, and these are my thoughts on what the video brings up:

• I don't blame Nintendo for not wanting to remake or remaster a game unless demand is there for it. Any other company would take the same approach, even when it comes to just making sequels. That said, I feel like TTYD is frequently being talked about and is the game people talk about when it comes to Paper Mario to the point that I would have expected that continued interest and fondness for that game alone to be enough to make Nintendo consider bringing the game back in some way.
  
  
• Miyamoto's views of Paper Mario still come off as being out of touch. Saying it doesn't really need a story is nonsensical when he was the producer for the first two entries of which both were heavy on story; if he felt story wasn't needed then why make a spin-off series that started out with a heavier focus on story than any other line of Mario games?
  
  
• Furthermore, the mainline Mario games already have little focus on a story. Removing story from another line of Mario games now just takes away something that helps distinguish those games from the main ones, and given that the Paper Mario games also don't get to have original characters anymore either just strips away more of their identity. Spin-offs and side entries should be used to try out things with an IP that don't fit in the mainline games; if you start trying to make them too much like the mainline games then you're taking away the reason for them to even exist in the first place.
  
  
• The quote at 2:20 is a fine viewpoint to have, except I don't feel like TTYD is a game that isn't open to casual players. TTYD was the first Paper Mario game I ever played, and also the first Mario game period that I had sat down and played, and I finished it within a two week vacation when I visited @ShiraNoMai back in like 2012 or something. Now I'm not a casual player but if I can pick up the second entry in a series I've never played, of an IP I had never really played, in a genre I also had never played, and beat that game in a two week period then I'm sure actual casual players would be fine with it. Nintendo here is just grossly underestimating the capabilities of their players which is a trend they've been doing far too much with a lot of their games.
  
  
• I would hope Nintendo no longer have qualms about turn based games in the West, which to me should have been snuffed out with the success of Final Fantasy VII and everything else that I'm sure followed in the wake of that game being the huge success that it was (given the industry likes to follow trends that blow up). I won't be surprised if there are some in Nintendo who are still stuck in this old way of thinking though.
  
  
• It's weird to me that Nintendo are worried about the cost of a Mario RPG, yet are happy to toss out dead-on-arrival projects like Labo, Mario Kart Live, etc. that while obviously don't cost as much as a Mario RPG game would, are still things that they took a chance with but they'll be hesitant to give another chance to a series that I'm sure has brought in more money than the examples I gave in this point.
  

Skipped the gameplay bit but watched the screenshots and artwork from that video. The only slight problem I have is being able to see the white edges the paper which you can also see against another part of the body, but I'll get used to it. Good to know the date finally though. I wonder if there'll be anything extra like what the M&L remakes got but I suppose it would've been leaked by now, or will be if there is anything else unrevealed yet. 

Eh, I feel like Nintendo rarely gets their stuff leaked unless it's Pokémon related, and that probably occurs because Nintendo aren't the ones in total control of that IP. If nothing else, I do wonder if there will be any QoL changes like what we saw with the Super Mario RPG remake.


For those interested, Nintendo put out a new advertisement on their social channels that features Mario and Goombella in a few early game scenes, and I didn't post this one at the time since it is just the opening cutscene of the game but I'll post it now while I'm doing this video:

 

[Moonface]

Looks like Nintendo are ramping up the marketing for the game now that the release is just about a month away. They've been making a good number of social media posts over the last two days but these two are the only ones I saw worth embedding here (especially since embedded tweets are rather big and linking them screws over anyone without an account):

I'm saving space!

 

Also, apparently Nintendo tried to use Splatoon to market Color Splash back in the day which I never knew about:

[Mr EliteL]

I don't need any advertising, I got my order and await that day.

Huh just realised the 23rd is a Thursday, just before Friday which is usually the normal day new games release. Frick work, I need to book that weekend off or a whole week, haha.

[Moonface]

I haven't pre-ordered but I definitely intend to buy the game on release day. I hope enough people buy the game to show Nintendo what they should actually be doing with the Paper Mario IP. Maybe they'll actually be able to cast memorable characters like that crock of shit statement in that Color Splash ad claims that game has.

[Moonface]

A Closer Look at Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door HD
Get a closer look at the upcoming remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, including some new features and changes not present in the original game.



I haven't watched the video at the time of writing this so I don't know if all of these points are made in the video, but this is what has been found across various previews of the game:

• The original GameCube soundtrack can be toggled after finding a Badge near the beginning of the game that enables the feature. 
  
• The battle theme is different while fighting random battles in Boggly Woods. Whether this extends to other areas of the game isn't known.
  
• Backtracking in the latter half of the game has been addressed in some manner according to a Treehouse rep.
  
• Hooktail now says his weakness is frogs instead of crickets, matching the original Japanese script of the game.
  
• New NPC's can be used to practice battle mechanics such as Super Guards and Stylish moves.
  

[Mr EliteL]

Funny how none of the points you found were highlighted in the video. Unless the new Boggly Woods music was in there but I wasn't sure. A badge for GC music? Why not just be an option toggle? As long as the slot is 1 badge point then it's tolerable I guess. Still hope the new music will be fine to listen, but if not and if I just want more of the nostalgia trip I'll equip the badge.

Huh the Pianta Parlour's slot game is changed to making the image instead of finding 3 of the same, or whatever it was. Also we're going to get silly messages when collecting stuff it looks like, but whatever.

[Moonface]

A badge for GC music? Why not just be an option toggle? As long as the slot is 1 badge point then it's tolerable I guess. Still hope the new music will be fine to listen, but if not and if I just want more of the nostalgia trip I'll equip the badge.

Huh the Pianta Parlour's slot game is changed to making the image instead of finding 3 of the same, or whatever it was. Also we're going to get silly messages when collecting stuff it looks like, but whatever.

It'll probably cost 0BP like the Attack FX badges. There'd be no reason to make it cost BP when the only badges that do cost BP affect actual gameplay.

Also dang I really don't remember a lot of this game. When it showed Bowser gameplay I started thinking that was new for the remake but then realized if it was you'd have said something already.

I wonder if the Pianta Parlour game was changed so it doesn't resemble a slot machine and gets viewed as gambling by ratings boards which could have caused the age rating to go up. It's the only reason I could see it being changed.