Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Preview: A Trailer for an Experience Beyond Paper Thin

I’ll start this preview with a disclaimer: I have not played the original Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. In fact, I’m pretty sure I haven’t finished any Paper Mario games yet. Yeah, go ahead, boo me, throw your rocks, but I’ve played a lot of Mario in my time. From mainstream games to spin-offs to the Little Mario series to the recent Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake, I’ve been playing a plumber long enough to earn my plumbing inspection certificate.

Like most fans, after the thrill of Super Mario Bros. Miracle, there’s a slightly depressing feeling knowing that we’re only getting remasters from Mario for the rest of the year, but they’re a great example of Nintendo’s commitment to What a great way to build on the promise of the character while also giving younger fans a chance to check out a new version of a classic experience. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door has the potential to be the best example of this.

We open with lovely, picturesque visuals that once again demonstrate Nintendo’s mastery of the Switch. The look of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is cartoony and charming, as you’d expect it to feel like a picture book, but even though it looks pretty good, you know you’re not putting your The console becomes a pressure cooker. After quickly setting up our story, we had some time to get to grips with the pillars of this Mario RPG: exploration and combat.

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Exploring the world in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is very creative. It’s a fun experience that gets you thinking differently than your usual Mario experience. The things you want to collect don’t just sparkle in distant places, you often have to think about your surroundings as if your surroundings were ripped from a stage play or picture book in order to understand what you need to do . Use your hammer to tip over a tree support, or jump into a pipe that takes you miles to an otherwise completely inaccessible hill. It brings the world to life, just like anyone else who inhabits it.

The battle so far may be more of a mixed bag. Again, it’s an absolute visual treat, with the variety of ways you can interact with enemies, items, and even spectators watching a stage show as you and your party battle a team of Goombas. However, I found that aside from picking up items and the odd item attack, what you as the player can do in combat can get monotonous, especially when combat comes hard and fast. I haven’t had any less fun, and I’m sure more teammates and extra power units will add more fun to life, but sometimes I find myself wanting to avoid combat more than wanting to smash everything with a hammer.

I haven’t had a chance to really immerse myself in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It’s a long enough game. Compared to something like Mario vs. Donkey Kong that could be completed in about 8-10 hours, you’re getting a more substantial and proper RPG experience here, which is nice. As you’d expect, this comes with the expected upgrade mechanics, gear to use, and a well-drilled story. Despite the stage setting, don’t expect a Shakespearean story here. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door’s narrative is simple, but so far, in that simplicity, it’s very effective. The mystery surrounding the star, Princess Peach, and your quest will take you to all corners of the game world. Like I said, standard fare, but it has timeless entertainment value that translates to all of Mario’s adventures. The dialogue is well written and accompanied by some great sound effects.

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So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. From anticipating a cute but rather forgettable Mario spin-off just to fill the time until we get a new mainline 3D game (still holding out hope for that one, Nintendo), to diving into this engaging RPG , with its impressive audio, visuals and exploration. From outside research, I’ve also seen what the game looks like on the Gamecube, which only makes the upcoming experience feel even fresher, even though the original is nearly 20 years old.