New Paper Mario!

[Sumez | 2,950]

Still playing TTYD, a little over halfway done with it, so my perspective may still change.

I like it, but I think people's glasses might be a little rose tinted. It's very easy to remember the great parts, and forget the tedious crap 

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

7 hours ago, Sumez said:

Still playing TTYD, a little over halfway done with it, so my perspective may still change.

I like it, but I think people's glasses might be a little rose tinted. It's very easy to remember the great parts, and forget the tedious crap 

I feel safe saying my view isn't "rose tinted" considering I played the game for the first time less than 5 years ago and I still consider the game to be amount one of the best games I've ever played.  I will be curious to know what you consider tedious.  One of the reasons I enjoy the Paper Mario games is because the aren't tedious.  There is no grinding required to be good at either game, and in fact the first two are designed to prevent you from grinding to get over powered early in the game.  

[Sumer | 221]

All this talk of TTYD makes me want to play my untouched copy now.  Luckily, the GameCube is currently hooked up, so I may have to sit down and play this game finally after 15 years!

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

Ive played about half of it. It's pretty good but still not quite TTYD levels. I do dig the puzzle based battles but they get kinda tiresome after a bit. The story is great all though doesn't make a whole lotta sense and just kinda happens (which is par for the course in Nintendo games, especially recent releases). It does have that charm that all the Paper Mario games have.

[Sumez | 2,950]

EDIT: Just for context, the below is TTYD talk

16 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I will be curious to know what you consider tedious.

Mostly how every chapter has you walk all the way back and forth between the same two locations over and over again. The fact that each of those treks are just a long linear path makes it super uninteresting, and occasionally they'll be sprinkled with minor puzzle obstacles along the way that are fun to solve the first time, but not 5 times in a row. Rogueport has a really fun design that's less of a singular horizontal path, and I wish more of the chapters did the same. There's no reason they couldn't.
Also, trying to avoid repetitive battles that do nothing but further slow down all this backtracking is a much bigger thing in this one than it is for Origami King, so it's confusing to me that TTYD fans will use that as a point against the new game.
The one chapter that doesn't have endless backtracking, instead lets you stay put in the same area and just fight 20 arena battles in a row, which really drags on too, in spite of the light mystery stuff sprinkled in between the fights.

And then it doesn't stop there. The "troubles" sidequesting you can do in Rogueport between the chapters mostly feel like they are designed entirely to inconvenience the player even further, adding nothing of substance, and there's a ton of them.
One quest had me just going back and forth between Glitzville and Petalburg 5 times to feed a guy hot dogs, taking the slow-ass balloon every time. It's funny considering how incredibly little loading time there is between areas in this game, it really feels like the devs still wanted you to notice it and get annoyed by it.

This stuff isn't even a "hot take". Looking around the internet it's actually a very common criticism about the game.

 

This is all about the stuff the game does poorly, of course. Most of the other stuff in the game is pretty great, so don't take this as hating on the game. I only hate the bad parts.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Sumez

[Deadeye | 1,596]

Started playing and I am about 1/2 way through.  It is so good.  Anyone else, like me, that was hesitant about buying, give it a try.  The puzzle battles are good.  I may have preferred a typical RPG, unsure about that, but I am glad Nintendo took the chance and tried something different.  Since there are not random battles, the puzzle battles doesn't become overly repetitive to me.  The boss battles are welcome change to the formula.  

My one gripe so far is just about menu options.  I wish I could speed up text and turn down or off the "speaking" noises.  

I'll see how my opinion changes by the end, but glad I listen to the positive opinions.  

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

12 minutes ago, Deadeye said:

Started playing and I am about 1/2 way through.  It is so good.  Anyone else, like me, that was hesitant about buying, give it a try.  The puzzle battles are good.  I may have preferred a typical RPG, unsure about that, but I am glad Nintendo took the chance and tried something different.  Since there are not random battles, the puzzle battles doesn't become overly repetitive to me.  The boss battles are welcome change to the formula.  

My one gripe so far is just about menu options.  I wish I could speed up text and turn down or off the "speaking" noises.  

I'll see how my opinion changes by the end, but glad I listen to the positive opinions.  

Happy to hear you're enjoying the combat. Definitely not for me, but there are clearly quite a few people who like it. And I totally forgot to gripe about the text speed. Why not give the option to click through?!?!

But yeah, I absolutely adore the visuals, the world, and the dialogue. I just can't enjoy the battle system.

Edited September 27, 2020 by DoctorEncore

[Sumez | 2,950]

Finally finished TTYD, and sure it had some good points, but also tons of annoying ones. A fine game, but it seems generally overrated. I can say now with more confidence that Origami King is without a doubt the best game in the franchise.

I've yet to play Sticker Star and Color Splash, but I wouldn't expect them to change that stance (I heard Color Splash is generally considered good much in the same way Origami King is, just that the combat system sounds unambiguously and objectively awful).

[Sumez | 2,950]

Had a lot to say about TTYD after playing it, mostly centered on the frustrating aspects about, and why Origami King is a way better sequel than it gets credit for.
So I ended up writing a full review, and figured I might as well do a blog post here on VGS for stuff like that.

 

I hope my thoughts manage to come through well enough even though my English isn't always that great.

[MegaMan52 | 2,445]

Unlike Mega Man 2, Paper Mario: TTYD deserves the praise that it receives. However, that being said, the first Paper Mario is my favorite in the series. The music is more memorable than the others, and it has a larger variety of environments than its sequel (deserts, flower fields, mansion, toy box, and summits as opposed to mostly castles and forests).

Edited September 30, 2020 by MegaMan52

[Reed Rothchild | 9,523]

@Sumez I thought it read very well.

I really need to push on Gloves for the "official" VGS review system I pitched awhile ago.

[Sumez | 2,950]

13 hours ago, MegaMan52 said:

and it has a larger variety of environments than its sequel

That's funny, because I think the one thing the sequel does have over the original is the more unique locales that you visit. Ghosts does seem to be a recurring theme for some reason, but lots of new creative ideas, too.

Generally I prefer the original, too. I'm replaying it now, and the two games are much more alike than I remembered. The single primary difference between them is that the original game has a more relaxed sidequest system and never gets bad with backtracking at all. That's a massive point in its favor.

[Deadeye | 1,596]

On 9/27/2020 at 4:44 PM, Deadeye said:

I'll see how my opinion changes by the end, but glad I listen to the positive opinions.  

Just finished it up.  No change in my opinion, great game.  So many fun surprises along the way.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

 

I played a few more hours of this yesterday and I have to say, outside of the combat, the game is fantastic. Honestly, if it had straightforward battle mechanics and a traditional experience system, it would be one of my top ten games of this generation.

So basically, even if you think you would hate the combat, I'd encourage pretty much anyone to give it a try. The writing, visuals, and animation are just so damn good, everyone should get a chance to experience them.