// Foreword
I finally played Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Somehow, Paper Mario has always eluded me. I always knew I would enjoy them, but they were never near enough to the top of my “to play” list that I actually played one of them.
This is despite the series being developed by Intelligent Systems, makers of one of my favourite franchises, Fire Emblem (which the game makes a point of telling you) and the original Paper Mario being my wife’s ALL-TIME favourite game. Suffice to say, I was overdue.
Thankfully, we live in the age of remakes and remasters, so when Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was re-released for the Switch in the highest of definitions, I knew what to do.
Buy it for my wife for her birthday.
BUT, I did partake in the video gaming with her and saw the whole thing through.
How was it? Well, here are the four things that stood out to me the most.
// Point 1: The Writing
The writing style is probably what the series is known for the most. At least, it’s what always made the games stand out to me as an outsider. They were imbued with humour and wit. “Oh yeah, those games are funny,” I would say. I was always saying this.
Well, it turns out I was correct. These games are funny. At least, this one is. The game does a great job of delivering quick zingers and funny gags without ever giving off the impression it’s trying too hard. What impressed me the most was how well the humour held up. The game is twenty years old but felt like it could have been written today.
What I didn’t expect was just how heartwarming and considerately written a lot of the characters are. Mario will amass a cast of freaks to travel with, all of whom feel entirely unique from the get-go. This is in addition to the last cast of loveable and hilarious NPCs.
The game also tackles some fairly heavy character moments, such as realizing one’s self-worth, gender identity, and the loss of a spouse, to name a few. The game weaves between funny quips and treating these characters with the upmost sincerity masterfully.
I commend the writing team of Hironobu Suzuki and Misao Fukuda and every son of a gun who translated this thing so well.
// Point 2: Art Direction
You might never have guessed, but everything is made of paper.
Remastered in HD the game looks fantastic, of course. But it’s the creative ways they apply the theme that really blew me away (and not just because of Madame Flurrie).
This simple concept is folded, crumpled, and torn to its absolute max.
Not only do you get a series of visual gags like the buildings assembling and unfolding around you when you enter, or the bosses being intricately constructed papercraft projects, but the theming gives you lots of gameplay interactions as well.
Mario can navigate the world by turning sideways to squeeze through little cracks in the wall, or can roll up into a tube to traverse short hallways. Loose corners can be blown away to reveal new areas or items. Mario transforms into a paper plane or boat to traverse in new ways.
These are just a few examples. The paper theme isn’t just superficial, but a meaningful motif that informs the game design itself.
// Point 3: Backtracking
The game gets one strike from me: backtracking.
Many times, the game makes you walk back and forth between areas you’ve already been. Go to the spooky castle – see the bad guy – follow him back to town – find him – go back to the spooky castle. This kind of thing. It’s not egregious, but it happens enough that you wonder if they felt the need to pad the game out a bit. I don’t think it needed it, personally.
This is on top of the somewhat dated fast travel system. You must travel by foot to a physical location in the hub world to access the fast travel area. There are various warp pipes around that speed things up, but it still takes time.
I don’t want to harp on these too much because this game is two decades old, as I mentioned. But playing it in today, you can feel it. I wouldn’t let it deter you from playing, but it’s there.
// Point 4: Action Commands
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door makes excellent use of Action Commands in the turn based combat.
This lets the player do some sort of unique command during an attack to increase its effectiveness. Sometimes this is just timing the attack button for when Mario lands on the Goomba’s head, but others are much more complicated. My favourite was one of the Star Power move called Art Attack. This was a costly move that let you draw shapes around the enemies, dealing good damage to everyone within your shape.
These creative additions make the combat feel fresh and engaging. Paper Mario is not the only series to do this, but they execute it perfectly.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a fan favourite for a reason. It’s cute, charming, funny, wholesome, and very, very flat. If you’re looking for a lighthearted RPG adventure, then I cannot recommend it enough.
RPGs aren’t your style, but you want something joyous and fun? Might I suggest a little game called Astro Bot.
