Wii-U thoughts so far

[Blu]

A Thousand Year Door is usually the fan-favorite of the series right? I've never played any of the games and wouldn't be sure jumping into the Wii-U's entry is the best course of action. I could be wrong though!

[Tanooki]

Thousand Year Door is the only one I was finding enjoyable, but in the end I found it 6mo ago and sold it after about 2-3mo because with a 4 year old I had no time for the game and figured someone else would. Between that, the horrid N64 game, and the odd Wii almost platformer, plus the checkered reviews I've seen for handheld releases I'd have to agree. The Gamecube one is the only shining beacon of excellence in the series and I'd buy it again time permitting. If they ever made a remaster of it for say the NX since it's handheld, I'd be all over it big time (as with any solid Gamecube outing.)

[PartridgeSenpai]

A Thousand Year Door is usually the fan-favorite of the series right? I've never played any of the games and wouldn't be sure jumping into the Wii-U's entry is the best course of action. I could be wrong though!

Save the N64 one and the Gamecube one, which are quite similar with the Gamecube one basically being a direct evolution on the N64 one, they're all quite different games mechanically. You could totally hate one and really love another. Other than the paper aesthetic, the only other thing they share are an odd-ball sense of humor (more-so than the Mario & Luigi games, I would say).

I'm really quite curious as to why Tanooki hates the N64 one so much, while he likes the Gamecube one so much. The two games are very, very similar mechanically, and I'd say they're both fine if not great little alt-JRPG's, so I don't really understand his dissonance in opinion O.o

As for Color Splash, I'll probably wait for you guys' opinion on it before I try and hunt for it. I have basically zero times for that kind of thing right now anyway, so I wouldn't even get to play it until like Xmas time or something.

[ElkinFencer10]

I've only played the N64 one (although I have the Wii and Wii U releases), and I absolutely adored it. It felt very much like an evolution of the SNES Super Mario RPG to me.

[alienjesus]

I've played all the Paper Mario's except the Wii U one (which I need to start still) and I like them all.

The N64 and Gamecube ones are definitely the high points for me - they're where the formula was at it's absolute best in my opinion.The battle system is better in Thousand Year Door, but I think I prefer the environments and characters in the N64 one a little more.

The Wii one is an odd duck - it is completely unique on it's gameplay, and I really didn't like the setting. However, it's still a fun game with some interesting and odd ideas with some great writing on top. I like it.

Stick Star is undoubtedly the weakest, although I hate it far less than most online. It had some interesting ideas, but the way they made the battle system worthless and the lack of funny writing the series had been known for was a real let down. I hear the Wii U one is a bit like 'What if Sticker Star had been done right' though, so I'm looking forward to playing it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I have played through Paper Mario, Paper Mario: TTYD, and Super Paper Mario. I adored all of them, but the original is probably my favorite. I would love to see it remastered in HD.

[ElkinFencer10]

I have played through Paper Mario, Paper Mario: TTYD, and Super Paper Mario. I adored all of them, but the original is probably my favorite. I would love to see it remastered in HD.

I know it's been re-released to death, but I'd love to see a full-scale and full-budget console-quality HD remaster of Ocarina of Time.

[Tanooki]

I'm really quite curious as to why Tanooki hates the N64 one so much, while he likes the Gamecube one so much. The two games are very, very similar mechanically, and I'd say they're both fine if not great little alt-JRPG's, so I don't really understand his dissonance in opinion O.o

Very simple reasoning. The game gimps the RPG aspect of it and turns itself into a strict timing game or you die in the back half/third of the game. I've had it twice, once when it retailed in the 90s, again maybe within the last 5 years. I do not do well with audio queues for timing. The game gives you so few HP, even with leveling up as you play along, you can not survive late in the game without mastery of the timed hit to DEFEND against incoming attacks. I couldn't do it, so I ended up stuck. In the game Nintendo designed Character Lv limits, so if you are that, all future fights are just 1XP total.

Basically pre-wall (area wants you Lv10 and no higher) -- A LV10 battle would be: 3 guys worth 1, 4, 5 XP gets 10 XP in a battle pre-cap. Post-wall(I'm now Lv11) total fight = 1XP.

That's the only reason. I liked the story, the characters, the environment, bosses, you name it. It's the wall and only the wall. The Gamecube game doesn't pull this crap that I noticed as I could level up if I went back a bit to where stuff would re-populate if I had problems. I will always dissuade people from playing that game if they go in wanting an RPG because it's a timing rhythm game under the hood.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Very simple reasoning. The game gimps the RPG aspect of it and turns itself into a strict timing game or you die in the back half/third of the game.

Yeah...It's battle system is really unlike what you find in other RPGs. I thought of each battle as a rhythm-based puzzle. Through good-timing and creative use of badges and partners, it is possible to escape most - if not all- encounters - completely unscathed and doing so (or getting close to doing so) is critical to victory late in the game.

[MrPopo]

I'd argue the RPG mechanics are extremely strong, they just come at you in a different fashion. The combat algorithm is incredibly simple; attack - defense = damage. This means using a badge that increases your attack by one can be enough to break through enemy defenses, or hit that breakpoint where now you kill an enemy in one attack rather than two. It gets even richer in Thousand Year Door with the availability of things like the Danger Mario build. The first two Paper Marios definitely scratched me itch for optimizing numbers that I enjoy in RPGs.