Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Okay, let's talk about this pile of shit.

The first three Paper Mario games had a large, unique, and memorable cast. This game has toads.
Bowser has always been one of the most memorable and well-written characters in RPGs. He is a mute in this game. Ditto for Luigi.

The game world is no longer just presented with a paper aesthetic. The paper world is now a plotpoint and gameplay gimmick. Bowser tapes toads to walls, enemies fold themselves into points to prevent you from jumping on them, and so on.
This sounds neat at first, but you get tired of the paper jokes and gimmicks really quickly.


The main problem with this game is the abysmal gameplay. The concept itself is absolutely ridiculous.
Every single attack in this game is a single-use item. The most basic jump or hammer swing is impossible without the proper sticker. Since these items are single-use only, there is no incentive to go into combat against lesser enemies. There's no experience system, and you're actively penalised for trying to fight.
There are other types of items called "things" which can be turned into large stickers that take up a lot of space in your sticker album. These are powerful attacks, but to use them a second time, you need to backtrack to where you originally found the thing, pick it up again, return to Toad Town, and sling the thing to turn it into a sticker. Everything in this game is pointless and/or needlessly time-consuming.

Every boss in this game is a massive wall of HP unless you find the proper object in the overworld and make it into a sticker. If you use this sticker on the boss, they become trivially easy.
If you decide you'd like a challenge and don't use the game-winning sticker, the game calls you stupid.

I paid $10 for this game while it was on sale and I felt ripped off.