Paper Mario

Actually one of the most charming games Nintendo's ever made, Paper Mario takes place in a kooky fantasy world which feels much truer to the series' cartoon absurdism than the more Square-ish stylings of Super Mario RPG. Everything from the paper-cutout presentation (and in-world physics) to the diorama-style combat system is enchanting in silly little ways. Most notably, it's one of the best-paced JRPGs ever, never falling into a lull or a lengthy backtracking session, wisely ending within twenty hours or so, but still featuring enough extra content to warrant a completionist run. It's obviously quite easy, but even this leaves a bit of room for customizable challenge runs if you feel so inclined. It may be a game of modest ambitions, but at least it does everything wonderfully.

Paper Mario was the next project of the Nintendo-affiliated prolific developer Intelligent Systems, that expanded on the idea inaugurated by Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

They began with Paper Mario, a concoction of JRPG, platformer, puzzle, and Zelda-like elements accompanied by a charming, distinct artstyle. Much like its Japanese name suggests, it feels like SMRPG designed (both mechanically and aesthetically) with Yoshi's Story in mind. Unfortunately, almost every aspect disappoints - combat is slow and lacks challenge, non-combat gameplay is predictable and sometimes tedious (especially near the end) and outside the few clever moments, the puzzles are largely derivative. The plot has the depth of a Mario platformer game, which would be fine if it didn't contain as much exposition as a typical JRPG. The whole comes across as a mere sketch of ideas - varied and undeveloped.

Paper Mario was an RPG I always wanted to try. I decided to play it with my girlfriend and just wow.

Paper Mario is one of my favorite Mario games of all time now. The game's pleasing aesthetic, and diverse and colorful cast of characters is what really drives this game for me.

The game is much like every Mario game... Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser and Mario has to save her. However, the Paper art style never got me bored and the story was quite a blast to go through.

Paper Mario is a simple Turn-Based RPG. It's a lot shorter than most RPG's and a lot more accessible. The game still provides a challenge for even seasoned gamers though

Paper Mario is a surprisingly funny game that had me laughing at certain scenes for longer than I expected.

The cast of characters are excellently written and provide a lot of fun to the game.

The only flaw is that it does have very frustrating menu navigation and the occasional difficulty spikes.

Paper Mario is an imaginative, colorful, beautiful game with so much personality and charm. A great game for people wanting to get into RPG's and a great Mario game

It's interesting what a difference in context can make in the reception of a game. Although I wouldn't necessarily call it a favorite, one game that I feel is unfairly maligned is Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, which has often been derided for its simplified turn-based RPG mechanics and inclusion of action mechanics. While Paper Mario is a much better game, it builds off some similar components and has a sterling reputation, and one wouldn't be out of line to question if the game really has so much merit, or if it's just the "Mario" pedigree that has lead to this game's ongoing acclaim.

For myself, it's very hard to separate this from the first time I played it in the waning days of the N64. I have vivid memories of renting the game at the tender age of 13 and playing through it with the aid of Nintendo Power's guide. This game not only marked the end of the 64, but also the beginning of my transition from childhood to adulthood. While I enjoyed several of the later "Mario" themed RPGs, none of them have stuck with me as this one has, and it's just one of those pieces of media that seemed to enter my life at just the right time.

The aspect of Paper Mario that stands out the most is, of course, its visual style, which eschews conventional 3D graphics for a lat paperlike quality, full of bright colors and limited animations. While this was a controversial change at the time, the game looks simply outstanding even by today's standards. Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars [スーパーマリオRPG] may have pushed the SNES to its limits, but as polygon graphics became more the norm, it quickly looked outdated, while Paper Mario's art style is simply timeless. Not to be outdone, the game also features an outstanding soundtrack by Yuka Tsujiyoko, which goes through many different styles, but always complements the action on the screen and visuals.

The events of Paper Mario play out like a storybook with a prologue and 8 chapters. The plot is a typical "Mario" story, involving a quest to yet again rescue Peach from Bowser's clutches. This time around, Bowser has also imprisoned 8 "star spirits," from whom he has stolen a magic rod that grants him invincibility. Of course, it's up to Mario to save them, as well, and their power is necessary to neutralize Bowser's new powers. Although the story was clichéd even for its time, it is told in a whimsical manner with many moments of levity. It won't necessarily make you laugh out loud too often, but it's hard to play the game without at least smiling. You also have to give Intelligent Systems credit for understanding the "Mario" universe well. While some of the key players were from previous games, the majority are entirely new creations, and none of them feel out of place. This is yet another improvement over the game's predecessor, which at times felt like a generic RPG with the "Mario" license slapped on.

The attempts to make the game family friendly did not stop with its audio visual presentation or story. RPGs are known for being stat heavy, but like the aforementioned Mystic Quest, Paper Mario strips things down to their absolute basics. As the game begins Mario and his enemies do a mere 1 damage to each other, and the stats are limited to HP, FP (stand-in for MP), Attack, and Defense. Despite this, there is a certain amount of strategy involved. Mario's primary attacks are his jump and his hammer, and while some enemies can be damaged by either, some are only susceptible to one attack, and some are simply immune to Mario's standard attacks. Besides his basic attacks, Mario can use certain items to damage enemies and also can call on the power of star spirits that he has rescued. Over the course of the game, Mario will also pick-up various badges, and some of these grant special hammer and jump attacks that Mario can use, including some that allow him to damage enemies that would otherwise be out of reach. Moreover, many of them will boost Mario's stats, allowing him to go beyond the base damage of his weapons, to better defend himself, or even to grant certain types of interactions in the world. Much of the strategy comes from deciding which badges to use.

As mentioned earlier, not all enemies can be attacked directly by Mario, and this is where Mario's partner characters become relevant. Not too far into the game, Mario will begin recruiting partner characters, 8 in total, that assist him in his quest. Each character has a helpful move that will aid Mario in solving puzzles in the world, as well as a distinct move set with each character having their own strengths and weaknesses in battle. Initially, it may seem like the partner just amounts to some extra damage, but as the roster grows, using the appropriate partner for the situation can be crucial to Mario's success or failure. Between Mario's abilities and his partner's, there is a great deal of strategy. The game presents things in a simpler manner, obviously intending to be easily understood by any audience, but the game is not always easy, and the various types of attacks essentially stand-in for having different attack types, making for a satisfying experience for players of any skill level.

The last component of play that warrants mentioning is the various action aspects of Paper Mario. While it was not the first game to include timed action commands, Paper Mario goes all in on the concept, and quick reflexes are a necessity, especially for defense. RPG stalwarts may find this annoying, but as a child with limited RPG experience, it made the experience more engaging, and I find that my preferences haven't changed much. Turned-based RPGs often bore me, and I sometimes find that I just push the command button over and over and over again. The necessity of timing the attacks ensures that the player has to pay attention. Finally, as mentioned earlier, Mario and his partners also have to perform actions in the real world to advance the story and complete side quests. This wouldn't have been a game breaking or making feature, but it goes a long way towards helping it to feel like other Mario games. When you consider how rare it is for an RPG today to be purely turn-based, it sort of feels like Paper Mario helped to lead the way, and it's a great example of how to balance between action and turn-based elements.

There are a few small gripes with the game. Although the game features a sort of hub in Toad Town, there is no way to quickly return to it, and this results in a great deal of backtracking. Sometimes, events will occur on the way back to Toad Town that justify the trip, but other times, it just seems to pad out the length of the game. The other aspect of the game that can be frustrating is its implementation of items. While useful in the early goings of the game, as Mario gains badges and rescues star spirits, the items begin to feel superfluous, and moreover, the limited inventory means that you will quickly run out of space. The game does allow you to store extra items with the various merchants in the game, which helps, but simply increasing the size of the inventory or making the items more useful would have been even better.

Overall, Paper Mario is a game that I've returned to more times than I can count, and while nostalgia for simpler times may play some role in that, it really is an outstanding game that stands up to the test of time. Love for the "Mario" property may benefit the game, but it is unique in its implementation of action elements, and it has enough traditional RPG elements to scratch that itch, as well. When you factor in the fantastic presentation of the game, it really starts to feel like nitpicking to point out its few flaws. Of the various "Mario" RPGs, this one remains my favorite, and it ranks among the best titles the N64 and 32/64-bit generation offered.

One of the disappointing aspects of the N64 was its lack of RPG, and especially seeing the PlayStation get a new one almost a monthly basis. We had to wait until Ogre Battle 64 to get a proper one, and that was amazing one. A little later we got Paper Mario, and since I wasn't a fan of Super Mario RPG at all, I actually skipped it on release.

Now 20 years later it was finally time to give it a chance, and it was to my surprise that Glitchwave users consider it one of the greatest games of all-time. As a massive RPG fan, I definitely feel that it was a must that I play to see if it really held up that way. And do put it short: It does not. While I do think it improves a lot over its predecessor Super Mario RPG, it's still keeping many of the flaws from that game. One of my main issues here is that everything is dumbed down. The battles are typical turn-based RPG, but when you start you do 1 dmg and you receive 1 dmg. There isn't much strategy to that. As you progress timed actions are introduced which allows you to do more damage if you hit the button at the right time, and the same thing for defending which will make you receive less damage. So instead of having great tactics in your battles to succeed, you are reliant on your dexterity to succeed or not. So it doesn't help that the battles are ultra repetitive, you will face the same enemies over and over again and your battle strategy remains mind-numbing and really all about hitting those timed actions. I can sort of understand why some people would like that (mostly non-RPG fans), but as my favorite genre it's taking away the best aspect of it and replacing with something that I don't like.

The story itself is about as exciting as a Saturday morning cartoon. I think they did well intro transferring the Mario story into a RPG setting, but let's face it that saving Peach from Bowser isn't the most emotionally or engaging story there is. You will encounter all the familiar enemies from the classic Mario games, and sometimes as NPCs. There game is split into 8 chapters, and on each of them you will have to save a star in order to face Bowser in the last one. As you advance you will get partners that help you in your fight, for a total of 8 in total. Each have their own ability outside of battles that will help you solve the little puzzles, some of which are a little reminiscent of Zelda games but feel a lot less exciting. In battle you are allowed to bring one of them with you, which makes you a party 2. This also very much limits the battle options as you will always only have 2 actions per turn, and your decisions are usually just juggling between AoE attacks or killing the enemies one by one (and trying to hit those damn timed actions!)

While I feel the games systems are rather dumbed down compared to most RPGs, the game isn't all that easy. The enemies hit hard and a lot of the times you might have to backtrack to get your health back. But I feel this completely breaks the flow of the game, as you will have to face the same respawning enemies all over again and they get pretty boring with a variance of only 2-3 enemies per chapter. The decision making is in 2 areas only: leveling up where you have to choose between HP, Flower Points (pretty much MP) and Badge points. The Badge points allow you to equip badges where they will aid you in various types of boosts (you can buy the badges or find them while exploring). This is one of the bigger improvements over Super Mario RPG, you have a little bit more of choices to do, but it's not quite enough to call it a great RPG.

Overall this game could have been worse. I mean compared to Super Mario RPG, I enjoyed it quite more. It does feel more like an actual quest and doesn't abruptly end too early when you are just starting to get somewhere. Intelligent Systems did a good job at taking over the series from Square and managed to make it move forward. At its core it's not something that I love, so it's not really for me, but at least they added some more interesting aspects. I found the game a little long to get through, like most RPGs it struggles in the 2nd half to keep things interesting with no new game systems introduced. On the whole this is definitely overrated, and not even comparing to todays RPGs, the RPGs released 5-6 years prior to this were far more advanced and didn't have so many bad design spots, I cannot really sing its praise like other people do but I've also played worse games than this.

"What the fuck?" said every Super Mario RPG fan circa the year 2000. Although I was too young at the time to share their befuddled disappointment, I understand that this was the sentiment with every SMRPG fan during the announcement of Paper Mario. In retrospect, I can't say I blame them. Of all the styles that could separate the aesthetic of the Mario RPG games from the main series games, why paper of all things? It probably didn't help that the project was called Paper Mario right from the get-go as if Nintendo was so confident in the stylistic choice that they wanted people to know it, putting it on full display. I guess I can admire them for their confidence, despite it making every fan skeptical.

Fortunately, I got to base my preconceived notions of this game on already playing through The Thousand-Year Door. The sequel to Paper Mario became one of my all-time favorites initially during my first playthrough of it. My experience with The Thousand-Year Door
made me quite excited to go back and play the first Paper Mario. For the most part, the first game delivered on the same quality as its sequel despite a couple of negative aspects that the sequel fixed. I liked The Thousand-Year Door much more than this game for many years, most likely because I played it first, and it was the much more polished game with snappier dialogue and more advantageous use of the paper style of the series. However, after playing both of these games back-to-back, I'm having trouble deciding which of these two games is better. The Thousand-Year Door may have more polish and style, but the first Paper Mario may be the essential Mario experience.

Like most other Mario experiences, it starts with Bowser kidnapping Peach. He crashes an extravagant party Peach is hosting in her castle. The surprise is that Bowser has somehow stacked Peach's castle onto his own beneath the ground, violently unearthing and raising it above the skies. Bowser's new trick is the star rod, a powerful artifact he stole that grants him invulnerability. He displays this to its full extent when he blasts Mario out of the window of Peach's castle, and Mario dies. No, really, Mario dies at the beginning of this game after failing to defeat Bowser. It's not a spoiler because it happens right at the beginning. The seven Star Spirits that guard the star rod resurrect Mario and their physical forms are scattered all over the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario has to rescue all of them, giving Mario their collective power to defeat Bowser once he does this. Sound familiar? That's about the extent of Paper Mario being a direct sequel to SMRPG.

The methods behind the RPG combat between SMRPG and Paper Mario couldn't be any more different. SMRPG's mission was to translate the Mario universe into the RPG genre, sharing similar qualities to most RPGs of the time. Conversely, Paper Mario's direction is to translate RPG elements that fit the Mario franchise more appropriately. I wouldn't consider any Mario game easy, but the franchise has always been comparatively more accessible than its contemporaries across any genre. The focal point of the Mario franchise is accessibility which most RPG games shy away from to maintain their niche appeal. Accessibility in gaming doesn't always have to be synonymous with banality and patronizing to the player. Paper Mario's more streamlined approach to RPG combat has given it a unique system unlike any other RPG game before or after it. Mario and his selected partner will stand on the left side of a stage-like setting with a general background representing the area. The enemies will be on the right side with an appropriate space between both parties. Mario has a selection of a jump attack, hammer attack, item selection, star powers, and tactics. Any amount of damage Mario does to enemies can be counted on all fingers, same with the damage the enemies will do to Mario (god help you on the rare occasions that an enemy can do more harm than that). The numbers in Paper Mario coinciding with statistics never surpass grade school arithmetic. This elementary range of numbers most likely wasn't done with a specifically young audience to cater to, but rather to hold the standard of Mario's worldwide appeal to a large demographic of gamers. The heart of the Paper Mario combat system lies in the action command. Pressing the A button at precise moments in combat will warrant extra damage. Blocking will decrease the damage Mario takes as well. Using the hammer requires pulling back on the control stick and releasing it at a certain point to damage the enemy. The moves partners can use require the same amount of precision and unique button combinations to execute them. It's a simple system, alright, but combat in Paper Mario is much more interactive than picking an attack or other tactic in a standard RPG.

Paper Mario also upholds a more straightforward method of RPG progression. When Mario defeats an enemy, they leave behind star points which act as experience points. Once Mario acquires 100 of these, he'll level up and get a choice to increase his health, SP, and BP by three to five. Health is self-explanatory, and SP coincides with Mario's unique attack gauge. BP relates to badge points. Badges are perks Mario acquires in the game that can either be found, bought, or traded for star pieces. They vary in use as some of them are new jump/hammer moves, increase Mario's offense or defense, and some are just for the novelty. Players have the choice to increase any of these stats any way they choose, with some opting for a balanced Paper Mario experience and some opting to only raise one stat over the others. Many experienced players usually challenge themselves by only raising BP and SP over their health, becoming a powerhouse with badge abilities while being more cautious of taking damage. A game that intentionally makes for a more accessible, streamlined RPG experience, level progression, and scaling is still as refreshing and customizable as any other RPG. Paper Mario's RPG initiative is simple and even like an RPG metric system.

At the beginning of the game, Mario ventures off the beaten path to find a quaint little house owned by a family of Goombas. The young son of this family, Goombario, is a giant fan of Mario who ecstatically joins Mario on his quest to fulfill one of his dreams. This sequence introduces one of my absolute favorite aspects of the Paper Mario series: partners. Throughout the game, several partners join Mario with their unique attributes to aid Mario during combat and solve puzzles to get through the areas of the Mushroom Kingdom. These partners are slightly more anthropomorphic/domesticated versions of Mario enemies from the original Mario games (ex. Parakarry the Parakoopa and Bow the Boo). During combat, the partners will take one turn and Mario to attack or debuff the enemy. Goombario will
bounce on enemies with his skull, similar to Mario's jump ability. Kooper the Koopa will fling his body/shell at an entire row of enemies. Bombette, the Bob-omb explodes near enemies for massive damage. Bow the Boo bitch slaps enemies and can hide Mario and make him incorporeal during combat to protect him. Watt (of which I am uncertain which Mario creature she's supposed to be) can paralyze enemies with her electric body, Sushie squirts water at enemies, and Lakilester/Spike can throw spinies at enemies. While all of these partners are useful due to their uniqueness, my favorite of the bunch is Parakarry. He's a Parakoopa mailman whose powerful, one-target attacks make for every boss's worst nightmare. The partners also have unique moves that help Mario traverse the game's overworld. Parakarry can lift Mario for a brief period to help him get over gaps, Bombette can uncover hidden areas by blowing up cracks in walls, Watt illuminates dark rooms, Sushie can swim, etc. The only partner that feels underutilized in both combat and overworld-aid is Lakilester. He's the last partner introduced, and it's way too late in the game. His ability to hover over hazards is useful a few times, and it's more than likely that most players won't upgrade him fully due to the more familiar partners holding precedence over him. Riding around on his cloud like it's a two-seated bicycle is amusing, however.

The partner aspect of this game feels so refreshing because it indicates how Paper Mario improves on the already established world of the Mushroom Kingdom and the typical Mario experience. The residents of the Mushroom Kingdom aren't just faceless pawns that Mario scrapes off the bottom of his boots. The thing that most separates the partners from the NPCs scattered around the game is a single distinguishable feature like a hat or a different color (ex. Kooper is blue and Goombario has a blue hat). However, the typical enemies in this game are still Goombas, Koopas, etc. Pondering this may lead to many questions about the different races and class dynamics in the Mushroom Kingdom, which might verge into dicey, socio-political territory. The Shy Guys seem to be the only Mario enemy that is still a race of savages in this civilized Mario world.

As characters, the partners are still a bit underwhelming. Giving a character a different color or putting a simple hat on them and calling that an improvement is indicative of the lack of character depth the Mario series has. Kooper, Watt, and Parakarry are as flat and wooden as characters like ironed pieces of cardboard. Other characters have interesting personalities, but these characteristics start to dissipate after joining Mario's team. Bow, for instance, is a self-important diva, naturally so due to her aristocratic status. She is bull-headed and brash, taking no nonsense from anyone. Once her introduction chapter ends, she never exudes these personality traits again. This happens with all of the other partners that started as unique characters. I can probably fault this to Paper Mario keeping Mario as a silent protagonist in the main series. He doesn't even utter squabbles like "let's a-go!" either. The RPG is a very dialogue-heavy game genre, and there is plenty of dialogue in Paper Mario. Most dialogue is spoken at Mario and his partners rather than a discourse between two or more characters. Once the more discernable NPCs become Mario partners, they zip their lips and seldom utter a single word, almost as if Mario is forcing them to shut up. The only exception to this is Goombario whose ability is to offer observations about areas and scenarios. Sometimes, I would travel around with him to hear his input because he's the only party member that gives it.

I also feel that referring to these playable buddies as "partners" feels a tad inappropriate. The word partners connote even importance and equality between two or more people. It's incredibly evident that the partner characters are only here to support Mario to a fault. Their subdued interactions in the dialogue already illustrate this, but it's even more apparent in combat. Unlike Mario, every partner only has two options: attacking and switching each other out for another partner. They share the SP gauge with Mario, but they don't have their health bars. Enemies will only attack Mario, and for the rare occurrences when a partner is hit, they are immobilized for a few turns. They can't use items, run away, active star power, etc. Given their roles in combat and the overworld, Mario uses these characters that should have more involvement and depth as a "Mario enemy swiss-army knife." It's a shame, considering the potential all of these partners could've had.

After beating the prologue, Mario arrives back in the Mushroom Kingdom, or at least the central area. Like the main series, the entirety of the Mushroom Kingdom is a geographically diverse place consisting of wetlands, deserts, islands, and snowy mountains. Maybe the Mushroom Kingdom has a history of imperialism like a certain other Kingdom in the real world. The hub-world of Paper Mario feels like it should be more significant than it is, considering it seems like the capital of this gigantic land, but maybe the limitations of the N64 prevented it from appearing massive as it could've been. However, it does fit the quaint look and tone of this game, which might have been intentional. The hub world is filled with Toads filling their roles in this society as cooks, store owners, and even martial arts directors. The hub-world feels cozy and lived-in, and it's precisely what I wanted in terms of experiencing arguably the most well-known video game setting in history.

As for the other places in the game, many of them follow the standard platformer, "fire world, desert world, field world, ice world" level dynamic of the main series games. Like the hub world, Paper Mario finds ways to flesh out these archetypical levels with charm and nuance. The first chapter reminds me of the first world of Super Mario Bros. 3. A grassy field seems to be the standard for Mario games to introduce players to each game. This field leads to Mario finding an ashy, grey fortress where the first boss is located, similar to the fortress levels in Super Mario Bros. 3. The desert level is undoubtedly a staple of the Mario series. The most notable is World 2 of Super Mario Bros. 3, with the angry sun stalking Mario in half of the levels. Instead of an angry sun, there's a buzzard hired by Bowser to stop Mario that you can avoid by lying to him that you're not Mario (did I mention that this game is also funny as well?), a desert outpost populated by Toads wearing burkas, fortune tellers, and masked thieves (getting more socio-political, eh Paper Mario?). There is a vast empty wasteland of sand that's easy to get lost in (and is probably the most cryptic and annoying part in the game) that leads to a labyrinthian tomb where you fight the final boss of the chapter. The desert chapter is probably my least favorite chapter in the game, but the setting and pacing of the chapter are still fully realized. The game even goes to great lengths to give depth to spinoff Mario franchises relatively removed from the mainline series. Chapter 5 takes place on a tropical island filled with Yoshis, inspired by Super Mario World 2 and the Yoshi spinoffs. The island is comprised of Yoshis living in a society governed like a tribe of natives. They have a spiritual leader that speaks of artifacts and lore surrounding the island as if this civilization of Yoshis is hundreds of years old. The amount of depth presented here is surprising for a Mario game.

My favorite chapter is the third one which involves saving a village of Boos from a seemingly indestructible monster named Tubba Blubba. He seems like an imposing force, and the stealth sections in his castle are an exciting touch to the direction of this game. His weakness is his heart which resides at the bottom of a dark well in the village, which is borderline "The Telltale Heart," the terrible secret kept hidden under the proverbial floorboards that make the villain vulnerable. The most unorthodox chapter in this game is the Shy Guy's Toybox hidden underneath the hub-world. It's a sub-society run by Shy Guys that functions off of stealing the items of the townsfolk of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Shy Guys travel by toy train and work for a dictator who rides around in a model tank. Oh, he's only a general, you say? Don't be so naive; I know a fascist fearmonger when I see one. Those Shy Guys are starving.

This game makes the best use of the RPG genre in a Mario setting with developing the world and characters of Mario to their fullest potential, but why paper? Does this aesthetic prove useless? I think it's funny that the final boss of the first chapter is a crappy paper mache Bowser, and there are some puzzles and platforming sections that use the mechanic. After playing both Paper Mario and its sequel sequentially, I noticed that this game consistently gave me a warm, fluttery feeling due to its aesthetic, music, and presentation. Paper Mario is like playing through a child's bedtime story and is presented like one. This game is equivalent to a hug from your mom or curling up with a hot tea and blanket by a fireplace. As lame as that sounds, the coziness of this game matched with all of the elements of its foundation tap into an intimately emotional place that no other game has. Once Bowser is defeated, the ending screen is Mario and Peach watching a distant fireworks show, accompanied by a tender lullaby track that always gets me a little choked up. It's a deserving, bittersweet end to an epic journey.

Much to the chagrin of every SMPRG fanboy, the first Paper Mario is the essential Mario RPG. The in-depth Mario experience realizes the potential of the characters and settings of the Mushroom Kingdom that every gamer is familiar with. It's also a unique RPG due to its simplified but invigorating combat system. Paper may have seemed like a strange design choice, but it proves to be masterful in presenting not only what looked like a children's storybook but one that has the snug feeling of one as well. It's the most extraordinary tale the Mushroom Kingdom has ever told.