To be clear, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door takes every element from the first Paper Mario and improves on them in every way. A more epic story, deeper combat mechanics, better visuals and music and so on. The world in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door feels so real and lived in, with the hub town Rogueport being one of the most unique in a Nintendo RPG, which helped the game be memorable.
There will be only minimal discussion of the story and plot here, as even though this is a remake of a twenty-year-old game, those who have not played it yet should experience the story naturally. Just know that Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is considered a masterpiece for a reason, with the storytelling combining with fun gameplay mechanics to create something memorable. It is far from the best RPG of its era, even only counting games on the GameCube, but it pushed the Mario series in a different direction which caused fans to take notice.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a story that is darker than one might expect from a Mario title, with references to situations like crime, death and so on. That said, the story is told so well, that it just feels natural even though it is so different. It must be noted, as well, that the localization has been slightly updated to be closer to the original Japanese version. Many of the more risqué elements are still here, but there are some aspects that are different and give a different insight into the characters.
And what characters they are. Mario’s party members start out initially feeling similar to those in the first game, before more original ideas start showing up. What we get is characters with creative combat options who can be levelled up, along with having abilities that help Mario progress in the game. Mario will also find other ways to traverse the world, and it gives Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door a bit of a Metroidvania feel.
Of course, with that Metroidvania feel comes backtracking, and this remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door adds in new options for faster travel to help get around easier. You can also switch party members much faster now, and there are a number of quality of life improvements that really help the game out. We still have the game we all loved, but it feels better now and easier to get into, along with having some new explanations of the mechanics provided.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door already looked amazing on the GameCube, but this remake really makes everything shine so much more. From the world to the battle scenes, everything is touched up and looks stunning, and the music has also been remastered as well. Of course, if you want the older music, you can unlock an option in the game to get access to those as well.
As mentioned, the combat has been revamped in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door from the original games, with battles now taking place on a stage in front of an audience. The better you do in combat, the more you win over the audience, but messing up such as by failing a timed hit or guard will alienate the audience. Of course, sometimes the audience is not entirely friendly and must be dealt with, but this give the battles a unique feeling where you interact on multiple levels.
Other new additions are a revamped hint system to help you figure out what to do next, a new NPC to help you figure out what to do for sidequests, increased inventory, and faster reloading when reattempting boss fights. There does seem to have been more of an opportunity for more improvements in areas like the sidequest management, but that is a small issue. One other issue that is a bit more annoying is that while there is some new content, there is not a lot even when compared to the Super Mario RPG remake which had some interesting additions. It just feels like there could have been some more liberties taken to add to the experience.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is still an amazing game, and the updates have made it shine brighter than ever. The cast of characters is the best ever in a Mario RPG and this was a difficult game to live up to after. The series would soon go off in another direction with Super Paper Mario becoming an action RPG platformer that blended 3D and 2D mechanics, yet still felt true to the series with some incredible writing and character. After that, though, things changed.
The series never really recaptured the heights it once had, with Paper Mario: Sticker Star removing what fans likes about the series and becoming a hated experience and Color Splash doing better but still feeling directionless without the traditional elements and storytelling. The Origami King felt a bit closer to what we once had, but the combat was too complex for its own good, and the paper mechanics, while building on what was introduced in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, felt like they were used too much for the game’s own good.
If Nintendo wanted to try new things and Super Paper Mario was received well, perhaps that is the direction they should have gone in next. Maybe a Paper Mario Metroidvania could have been a thing, incorporating action RPG elements again and paper abilities to help Mario progress would have felt more natural there. Still, fans would love a return to the format of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door but expanded on rather than changed up too much.
Decades after its release, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door still holds up well, and the Switch remake has proven why so many consider it the shining star of the Mario RPGs. Some of the best writing, excellent combat and amazing music and visuals have allowed it to stand out even among the best of today’s games. While it would have been nice to have more new content, what we do have is still a fantastic update of a must-play experience. This one is highly recommended.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
