Paper Mario - Retro Playthrough - April 2015

[singlebanana]

Very nice! That one of the more difficult boss fights in the game. One thing I like is that they get progressively a little tougher as you go along in terms of strategy. The boss fights seem to be well planned out and I think they did a fine job in this aspect.

Also, every attack is blockable in terms of reducing some damage. Even Bowser can be blocked if you get the timing right.

[Disposed Hero]

There's also a badge called "Dodge Master" that is supposed to make it easier to dodge enemy attacks.  I've been using it for most of the game, and I feel like it has helped somewhat.

[techwizard]

i don't think i was aware of the dodge master badge, that would have helped me a lot. i found the timing for both blocking and the bonus attack damage to be really difficult through most of the game.

[MetalFRO]

I'm not familiar with Dodge Master, either.  Where does one obtain that?

Also, Chapter 6 completed as of yesterday evening!  I haven't gone through the post-chapter Princess Peach portion, but hopefully tonight, along with maybe Chapter 7

[singlebanana]

I'm not familiar with Dodge Master, either.  Where does one obtain that?

Dodge Master is purchased at the badge shop. If anyone is interested in a list of badges and where they are all found, may I suggest.......... http://shrines.rpgclassic...4/papermario/badges.shtml

[theGrue]

Man, I haven't checked in at all yet! Just completed Chapter 2 this evening, then checked in with the thread and went sidequesting for badges and such. Snagged the Peekaboo, as per the recommendation, and boy that is helpful. Also delivered a few letters, found the warp pipes from Toad Town's sewer, then delivered more letters. I'm at about 6 hours playtime, it's fun but hopefully the next couple chapters go a bit quicker!

[MetalFRO]

I spent about an hour last night on the first steps for Chapter 7, and realized very quickly that I was lacking the Ultra Boots.  Not sure how or why I missed those earlier in the game, but I'll have to backtrack some and nab those before I can get to the blue door.

[singlebanana]

Today is the last day of this month's playthrough. Please take a moment to check in and give us your thoughts on the game. Thanks for playing!

[Disposed Hero]

So now that the month is over, I guess I can finally reveal my thoughts about Paper Mario.  I really wasn't a big fan of this game.  I elaborate a bit more on it in the podcast segment, but overall I just thought the game was way too simplistic.  That's not to say that I think this is a bad game, or that I didn't get some enjoyment out of it, but this game just didn't quite 'click' with me.  I know that this game has quite a following and I can see why people like it, it's just not for me.

That being said, I hope all of our participants this month had a better experience with Paper Mario than I did.  It's one that I'm glad to have finally played and cross off my backlog.  Good luck to those of you who are still working through it!

[singlebanana]

So now that the month is over, I guess I can finally reveal my thoughts about Paper Mario.  I really wasn't a big fan of this game.  I elaborate a bit more on it in the podcast segment, but overall I just thought the game was way too simplistic.  That's not to say that I think this is a bad game, or that I didn't get some enjoyment out of it, but this game just didn't quite 'click' with me.  I know that this game has quite a following and I can see why people like it, it's just not for me.

That being said, I hope all of our participants this month had a better experience with Paper Mario than I did.  It's one that I'm glad to have finally played and cross off my backlog.  Good luck to those of you who are still working through it!

I concur with these sentiments and of course, you will hear a great deal more about our thoughts on it on the podcast. Not to worry, we don't bash this game and like Steven, we are glad we played it and got some enjoyment out of it. However, I think that having played Super Marior RPG and then this game, it definitely affected the way I felt about the latter. I think this is a realistic feeling, since I played them in order, but I could see how someone who played Paper Mario first might have enjoyed it more. PM is an RPG by definition, but I think it really struggles (or maybe attempted to on purpose) to adhere to the better mechanics of this genre and just tries to be too "cutesy". That being said, I would actually play another Paper Mario title and have heard very good things about the GC game. I think that attempting an RPG series with the Mario franchise was a great idea and can work if done well and staying true to the genre.

[MetalFRO]

I came in from the opposite direction, having never played Super Mario RPG, and having played the GameCube sequel first, I can see how the original Paper Mario was a solid start to the series, but was lacking in some aspects compared to its successor.  It certainly didn't make enough use of the "paper" concept, and had some shortcomings that I think hold it back from being absolutely essential.  It's not that far off the mark, and I definitely had fun with it, but as I mentioned on the podcast, greater things were definitely ahead for the series.  I did like the fact that it sort of combined some action elements with the battle system, i.e. the "First Strike" system, and the use of the Action Command (though that can be fiddly at times).  The game does suffer slightly from identity crisis, because it tries to combine action and platforming elements with turn-based RPG elements, and doesn't quite hit the mark on any of it the way a Nintendo game ought to.  Thankfully, the light-hearted story, fun characters, and nice graphical style help keep the game fun throughout.  Oh, and the soundtrack is only okay.