Why I don't care for Super Paper Mario

[Turboo]

I felt it was an alright game on its own, it's only bad compared to the first two

I personally found the story to be the worst part of it, mostly because of Bleck, Dimentio, and Tippi. All three were edgy and overdramatic; the way they were written clashed really badly with the game's general atmosphere (the Sammer's Kingdom thing wasn't very dark, at least imo, and I can't recall anything similar happening anyway)

 

[yoshiking14x]

To me, the story and gameplay seems okay, but I am not sure about those geometrical characters.

Thats another thing. The game really wasn't ''paper'' say what you want about sticker star but at least it got the paper design right. Super Paper Mario was more Super pixel Mario.

Sticker Star is my favorite Paper Mario game so far. It's a good thing it was created.

 

[Mcmadness]

To me, the story and gameplay seems okay, but I am not sure about those geometrical characters.

Thats another thing. The game really wasn't ''paper'' say what you want about sticker star but at least it got the paper design right. Super Paper Mario was more Super pixel Mario.

Sticker Star is my favorite Paper Mario game so far. It's a good thing it was created.

Careful, thats blasphemous.

 

[Stargazing]

To me, the story and gameplay seems okay, but I am not sure about those geometrical characters.

Thats another thing. The game really wasn't ''paper'' say what you want about sticker star but at least it got the paper design right. Super Paper Mario was more Super pixel Mario.

Sticker Star is my favorite Paper Mario game so far. It's a good thing it was created.

I can see why people like it. The graphics are phenominal for the system, and when not compared to the first three, it's a good stand-alone game.

But, it's horrible to the series it's part of. The good things to me about RPG's is that they stay true to the series while bringing a well written story. Sticker Star had neither.

Since we're comparing the Paper Mario series, Super Paper Mario stayed true to the story, it's a 2D paper world, and it had the best story of any Mario game.

Since we're comparing 3DS RPG's, Dream Team was the game that stayed the truest to the battle formula, atleast, in the real world. The Dream World had gimmicks, like PiT and BIS, but the gimmicks are now a staple in the series. Dream Team had a good story.

 

[Magikrazy]

Since when are time travel and being inside Bowser staples to the series?

 

[Mcmadness]

I personally think SPM's story is so awful that I think SM64 had a better story.

I hate it that much, my biggest complaint is how the main cast takes the back seat to the one off characters where as in the other games they'd be side by side.

 

[GalacticPetey]

SPM's story may not be great but it's certainly better than "Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser, Mario has to save her."

 

[Mcmadness]

SPM's story may not be great but it's certainly better than "Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser, Mario has to save her."

My opinion on such a thing is I'd rather no plot than a crap plot.

 

[Glowsquid]

I wrote this about the game two years ago and my opinion hasn't changed much;

so I've finally rented Super Paper Mario, in part because I needed my paper mario fix and in part because of the amusing vitriol that's sometimes levelled at it on this very board, and after having played up to the end of chapter 2-1, can't say I'm impressed.

Now I know TTYD is a tough act to follow and I should appreciate Super Paper Mario as its own thing and blablabla ,but it's hard. Even as a stand-alone game, SPM (or err, what I have played of it so far) is unrelentingly mediocre and when you factor in that it's supposed to be a sequel to an excellent game, well...

mechanics complaints:

*TTYD had a great opening. Short (for a jrpg), to the point, and introduced the basics of combat well. Now, you'd expect a platform game (albeit one with heavy jrpg elements) to be even more concice. Instead, you get half-an-hour of inane dialogues and cutscenes with barely any interactivity.
*There's no tension or challenge. Enemies are slow and passive, obstacles are sparce and don't do much damage, the RPG elements mean you can take ton of punishment and recover easily... ect.
*The 3D gimmick. Nearly every puzzles so far consist of "Flip to 3D when the room looks empty and jump to hidden platform/hit object". Not very interesting.
*The bosses I've fought so far are inane. O'Chunk's an easy button-mashing fest and Fracktail is boring and weird - most of the battle is spent watching him flying in the background not doing anything, the few attacks he *does* have are very easy to avoid, and the one sorta-clever thing he does (attacking you from sideway), Tippy tells you exactly how to avoid it every time he does it. Lol.

story/script complaints:

*The script doesn't feel as inspired or self-aware as its predecessor. Villains explain their eeeeeeevil plan outloud BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!, Merlon tells Mario he is THE GREAT HERO OF LEGEND AS FORETOLD IN THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES with little traces of humour and it seems they didn't really know how to write the NPCs and just gave them weird gimmick and that's it. Now I know TTYD also had some pretty cringeworthy lines (like the final boss cutscene or every times Grodus open his trap) and weird one-note NPCs, but not as much has here. Like, in chapter 1, you meet the Mayor guy and the "joke" is that he says "Watch it" a lot. Okay?
*The flavour text is lacking. Tippy is nowhere near as witty or loquacious as Goombella and whereas nearly every tattle in TTYD is unique, a lot of them here are mad-lipped.

Additionaly though, I'd say the following: If Sticker Star is a classic case of corporate meddling, Super Paper Mario is a cautionary tale against the lack of editorial oversight. Sequences such as the Hamster wheel, Sammer Kingdom... etc feel like there was nobody behind Intelligent System's back to tell them "Hey, dude? Enough."

 

[Mcmadness]

Thats it, thats what bugs me about SPM. Its the lack of self awareness. Everything in it is played so painfully straight it just makes what is already a pretty forgetable story even more so.

I also really don't like its villains.

 

[Ray Trace]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

 

[Paper Mario]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

 

[Shyghoul]

I thought it had a good story, yeah it was cliché as shit but that didn't really bother me for some reason. probably because I haven't run into the said clichés that much.

the gameplay was average except for the hamster wheel thing which was just ridiculous.

graphics were nice

and as for the music, fuck all of it

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

"Prophecy" stories are an instant turn-off. Is that okay?

 

[Ray Trace]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

"Prophecy" stories are an instant turn-off. Is that okay?

says the person who plays and enjoys tales of symphonia

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

"Prophecy" stories are an instant turn-off. Is that okay?

says the person who plays and enjoys tales of symphonia

I didn't really play it for the story.

 

[Mcmadness]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

Super Paper Mario is one of those games you don't need to have played to understand.

 

[Magikrazy]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

In some cases, it's ok.

For example, I've never played Mario's Early Years, but I still think it's bad. Are you going to make me play through it since you can't judge what you haven't played?

 

[Glowsquid]

just noticed this in the op:

The whole thing feels like the developers wanted to write their own generic jrpg and just slapped it on PM.

That's the exact reaction I had to the ridiculously grimdark and out-of-place backstory fragments:

.11: Of Bats and Men
----------------------

"So how about we change the pace and I tell you a nice story for a change?
This is one I heard in a distant land long ago...

'Once upon a time, a man went to look for the girl he loved, who was missing.
As he passed through a forest, he found a bat stuck in a trap. He set the bat
free. It promptly thanked him and disappeared.

As he lay down to camp that night, he heard a voice and look about. He
noticed the sky was filled with a huge, round moon. There stood before him a
woman he had never seen. The bat had transformed into the species of the one
she had fallen for.' Now, I don't know if that's true or not...

The last part of the story was... 'The bat pledged eternal loyalty to the man
out of love on that night.' ...And that's the end of the story. I wonder what
happened to those two? If there's more to that story, then I'd like to hear
it."

----------------------------
5.12: Creation of the Pixls
----------------------------

"So do you know how the Pixls came to be? A powerful magician among the
Ancients created them about 3,000 years ago. He did it by transferring a
spirit into a vessel he created for that purpose.

He's said to have created 12 Pixls like this before he passed away. But his
apprentices kept researching Pixls after his game ended... They learned to
create many more Pixls based on his original 12.

These Pixls became widely used as 'thinking tools' for the grateful Ancients.
Through the work of many Pixls, the Ancients prospered as they never had
before.

But that was a long time ago... There are no more Pixls now, I understand...
Well, except for some of the original Pixls, who were scattered far and wide...
They lie in wait for a new master to arrive. I wouldn't be surprised if there
was one hiding here in this very town..."

------------------------
5.13: The Pixl Uprising
------------------------

"So have you heard about the Pixl uprising? It happened in the capital of the
Ancients some 2,000 years ago.

The Ancients lived in prosperity thanks to the work of many Pixls... But one
day that all ended. A huge Pixl calling herself the Pixl Queen suddenly
appeared... At her command, Pixls everywhere rebelled against their Ancient
masters.

It seems that most Pixls were well-contained spirits, but she was different.
In her case, a demonic spirit was contained within a Pixl vessel. And this
queen Pixl had the power to command all other Pixls.

The Ancients had become so dependent on the Pixls. They were devastated...
They suddenly lost their ability to build and rule their empire effectively...
...And what happened then, you ask? Come back for the next installment!"

-------------------------
5.14: More Pixl Uprising
-------------------------

"So now let's continue my story about the Pixl uprising...

The Ancients were overthrown and enslaved by the Pixl revolt led by the Pixl
Queen. In the midst of the ruin appeared the inheritors of the twelve original
Pixls. They defeated the waves of Pixl soldiers and freed the enslaved
Ancients.

They used Catch Cards to trap the mind-controlled Pixl soldiers, then healed
them. They saw their friends fall one after the other in battle, but they
persevered.

The last survivor managed to make it to the castle of the Pixl Queen. But the
Pixl Queen used her powers of illusion to hide. She then unleashed horrific
images upon the surviving freedom fighter.

One of the Pixls at his side was immune to this, for it could see truth. It
helped the survivor fight, and he and his Pixl finally defeated the Pixl Queen.
But in the process, the Pixl's game was ended...

Oh...Looks like the coins you paid will only get you this far through the
story!"

--------------------------
5.15: Pixl Uprising's End
--------------------------

"Now for another exciting installment in the Pixl uprising...

The vanquisher of the Pixl Queen was confronted with an awful truth. It turned
out that the Pixl Queen was actually the very first Pixl ever created...

The master magician had made her after studying the Dark Prognosticus. So when
the last surviving apprentice took the Dark Prognosticus from the queen... He
decided to disappear with the book so that this sort of catastrophe wouldn't
repeat.

But even as peace returned, the Ancients could not lose their fear of the
Pixls. So, the elders among the Ancients gathered to discuss what to do. They
decided to limit the powers of all Pixls from that day forth... And the
creation of new Pixls was outlawed.

But, as a result, the power and influence of the Ancients began an irreversible
decline. Now the secret of Pixl creation is lost forever. Though rumors
abound of awakened Ancients and newly created Pixls... Is that true? If you
know anything about it, please tell me!"

---------------------
5.16: The Pixl Queen
---------------------

"So about the Pixl Queen from the Pixl uprising... Did you know there have been
interesting theories published about her? In one book left behind by the master
magician's apprentice, I found this:

'The spirit within the Pixl Queen was not a demon, but rather a human... The
master magician had a beautiful wife, a son, and a daughter. But he lost his
wife and son in an accident. Soon after, his daughter caught a terrible
illness, and her short game ended.'

Perhaps he transferred her spirit to a Pixl vessel? ...Well, that's the
theory. Is it possible the other Pixls were spirits from the game-overed?


...Anyway, the person who published this has already disavowed that theory. I
mean, it does seem a little unlikely, right? But if it WERE true... I'd bet
the daughter was so horrified by the deeds of her father... That she wanted no
one to ever use Pixls again.

...But what do I know? I DO think nothing less would have broken the Ancients'
Pixl dependency. Oh, and some say the son of the magician miraculously
recovered from the accident. If so, the bloodline of the magician could
endure... Did they find happiness? Or otherwise..."

The hell is this bullshit? Were Fanfiction.net writers creative consultants?

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

Yeah, that sounds like every jrpg I've played/seen... kind of.

 

[Mcmadness]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

"Prophecy" stories are an instant turn-off. Is that okay?

says the person who plays and enjoys tales of symphonia

At least in Symphonia's case they make a point to emphasise that the prophecy is all ultimately a load of crap and completely fake.


And if you want to talk out of place the entire concept of ''destroying all worlds'' is about as out of place as it gets. You even travel through heaven and hell for crying out loud.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

I never played that game but the story and characters sounds terrible

Don't judge what you haven't played.

"Prophecy" stories are an instant turn-off. Is that okay?

says the person who plays and enjoys tales of symphonia

At least in Symphonia's case they make a point to emphasise that the prophecy is all ultimately a load of crap and completely fake.

Shit I didn't even reach half-way throughout the game.

 

[Mcmadness]

Its not exactly a super huge spoiler. It happens quite early on in the game's overall length.

 

[Ray Trace]

haven't we already went past that, sis?

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

Oh yeah, we did. But I didn't remember the whole thing where the plot turned on its head.

Also, stuff like Tales of Symphonia reminds me how simplistic Mario RPGs really are. It's not a bad thing per se, since the Mario RPGs focus on not teens and adults but also children as well. Despite this, I'd like a Mario RPG that doesn't stray far from the Mario route, but contains more complexity and depth as in Tales of Symphonia and... well, I haven't played too much RPGs. I've seen Baten Kaitos, Persona 3, and a bit of Golden Sun. I'd just like to see how that turns out.