Nintendo Switch Game Review: Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door
Every now and then a game of such simple, yet high caliber comes along out of nowhere and universally captures the hearts of every person who plays it, a feat that even some game of the year winners such as the mighty Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild fail to achieve having at least a portion of its audience finding something to gripe about. Nowadays these kinds of gems come in the form of games such as Baldur's Gate 3, but back in the day the superstars lay with games such as Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, which is by far my favourite game in the Paper Mario series. So when Nintendo announced a remake of the game I knew it was going to be a day one purchase that I would play and play until I had absolutely had my fill. So, how does this remake hold up to the original? Well, read on to find out!
Also, a quick apology before I get into this particular review - I got so engrossed in just playing the game I actually forgot to take screenshots as I went on, so I had to go back after I had finished the game to retroactively take some pictures for this review and as such my Mario's stats are well above what they should've been at the points in the game I went back to.
General Gameplay
Anyone who has had any kind of experience with the Paper Mario series will know that the general gameplay of its games is loosely defined at best and totally disconnected at worst, with some games in the franchise barely resembling the excellent standards set in the first Paper Mario game. Fortunately the Thousand Year Door was the second instalment in the long running series and as such not only continues to utilise the mechanics introduced by its predecessor but actually refines them to a point of absurd perfection in its simplicity.
Players take control of Paper Mario, a flat crafted version of Nintendo's famous plumber we have all grown to love, in his quest to recover the seven crystal stars that will break the seal to a hidden treasure below the harbour town of Rogueport. During his travels, Mario will accrue a number of companions with a variety of different abilities that will allow him to overcome certain obstacles in the game to help him continue his quest to unseal the thousand year door, from Flurrie's ability to blow away loose pieces of paper that hide various doors and chests to Baby Yoshi's ability to flutter jump across large-ish gaps.
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| Abilities like Baby Yoshi's Flutter Jump help Mario get around |
The various locations Mario journeys to will also be littered with a variety of enemies recognisable from the larger Mario franchise, many of which will initiate a battle when contact is made. For the most part this is your typical JRPG turn based battle affair with a few notable differences, the biggest being that battles are presented as stage productions complete with an audience that will interact with the battle in a variety of different ways such as filling up your star meter when you perform action commands (more on those in a moment), which in turn allows you need to use powerful crystal star abilities, however they can also mess with the battle in a variety of other too from throwing rocks and items at Mario to actually playing around with the physical stage props and, in certain boss battles can also provide a variable level of interactivity with the boss you're fighting.
Another noticeable change Paper Mario Thousand Year Door makes to the typical JRPG battle formula is how they do away with the arbitrary damage amounts and RNG attacks in favour of a much simpler and streamlined system. Each character and enemy has three different stats - HP, Attack and Defense. The amount of damage a character or enemy does is equal to their attack stat minus their target's defense stat, so as an example if you have an attack value of 2 and your opponent has a defense of 1, you will do 1 damage, which doesn't seem like a lot but considering most enemies at the beginning of the game start with about 2-4 HP it only takes a couple of attacks to take them down. You can also increase the damage you dish out and decrease the damage you receive through the aforementioned action commands, a mechanic that has transferred over from and works very similarly to the original Super Mario RPG and are pulled off by using a specific combination of button presses, typically by just hitting the A button at the right time. The form this increase in attack power takes depends on the attack you are using and is a crucial thing to consider when planning your move as this is where the simplicity of the game's battle system becomes more complex, for example Mario's jump attack action command makes him attack a second time, but his hammer attack action command doubles his attack power, which would mean an enemy's defense stat gets counted twice for the jump attack (once for each attack) but only once to the single powered up hammer attack.
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| Action commands can be executed in a variety of ways |
There are other tactical choices to consider in a battle too, for example some attacks can only harm ground enemies, some can attack aerial enemies too and some attacks will actually fact inflict damage to the attacker against specific enemy types, the most obvious example being how jump attacks will cause damage Mario against spikey enemies without the use of a certain badge. Certain enemy defenses can also be countered using non-standard attacks that are granted through either the game's badge system for Mario or by utilising the power of shine sprites you'll find to rank up Mario's partners. These non-standard attacks require FP (Flower Points) to use however, so it is unwise to throw these around willy nilly.
You can also get the jump on enemies in the field by hitting them with your hammer, jumping on them or even using a partner ability such as Koops's shell launch or Bobbery's explosion. This will start the battle with Mario using the attack they used to initiate combat as a pre-emptive strike which can also work against you if you accidentally jump on a spikey enemy. It is also worth a mention that enemies can pre-emptively strike you too!
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| Jumping on spikey enemies can really backfire |
Probably Paper Mario Thousand Year Door's most impressive feat however, at least in my eyes is how every single chapter feels like it has its own identity and occasionally feels like a completely different game altogether; whether you are fighting your way through the ranks of a gladiatorial-like league to earn the title belt or solving numerous crimes on a luxury train each of the game's chapters feel fresh and unique without ever compromising the game's identity as a whole, something that other games that have attempted similar such as Live A Live don't seem to get quite right in my opinion.
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| Chapters like the Glitzville Battle Arena help keep the game feeling fresh |
All this combined makes for a smooth and simple game to play yet oddly complex to master, making the overall game an absolute blast to play that's rarely boring and, considering everything I have mentioned has not been changed from how it worked back in the Gamecube days, goes to show that this game has aged remarkably in the last 20 years.
User Friendliness
As already stated in the gameplay section, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door streamlines and simplifies many aspects of the JRPG formula by using simple statlines and straightforward maths to work out damage meaning more or less anyone is able to calculate and strategise their attacks without being completely screwed over by random damage. In fact so simple is the game to play generally that Intelligent Systems almost entirely does away with a HUD on the field altogether (though one will pop up as a reminder if you remain inactive for a while).
Levelling up is also a very simple affair for players to compute as well. Instead of being hit with a wall of stat increases every time Mario levels up (something even Super Mario RPG did), the player will have a simple choice of increasing their HP by 5, their FP by 5 or their BP (Badge Points) by 3, the latter of the three being used to allow Mario to equip badges that can apply a variety of effects including new attacks, resistance to particular damage, increase in attack/defense and, rather humorously, to increase his FP/HP by 5. As you can imagine BP increases are rather popular mainly due to their flexibility.
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| Levelling up is as simple as 1, 2, 3 |
In addition to all this, the Switch remake of Paper Mario Thousand Year Door also adds a host of quality of life improvements such as the world pipe room that allows players to travel directly to the main areas of each chapter after using said chapter's crystal star, and the Battle Master Toad who will teach players everything they need to know about the complexities of battle. Intelligent Systems have also included a hint system whereby if the player presses LZ one of Mario's partners (usually Goombella) will give a hint as to where they need to go next, a very welcome addition when you inevitably get to that one point that will stump you.
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| The warp pipe room is a very welcome addition to the remake |
All in all the Paper Mario Thousand Year Door remake turns what was originally a very user friendly experience and makes it even chummier with the players. Between the simplistic game mechanics and the numerous quality of life additions that, if I am being honest were so well integrated into the game that I had no idea weren't even in the original base game until I did my research, players are sure to find the experience a smooth and fun ride throughout.
Controls
Paper Mario Thousand Year Door relies on a fairly straight forward "point'n'squirt" system for it's controls; the control stick moves Mario, A jumps, B performs a hammer attack, + and the D-Pad opens the menu and everything else pretty much works as onscreen prompts. It's so easy that realistically I could've combined this section in the User Friendliness section above.
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| The game will give control prompts at every opportunity |
If I have but one quibble, and I will make this quibble and drop a star on this rating so people don't get the impression that I'm a rabid, frothing at the mouth fanboy for this game, it is that Mario games tend to have their jump buttons assigned to the B button, however it is assigned to the A button in this game, which made sense back in the Gamecube days considering how prominent the A button was on the Gamecube control pad, however the Switch Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers are a different matter and this little confusion led to several instance of me falling down several pits as Mario tried whacking some imaginary foe, or missing a jump that required crucial timing. It is admittedly a minor irritation, but considering how well everything else in the game flows it really does stand out.
Graphics
Strangely, the biggest testament to Paper Mario Thousand Year Door's achievement as a remake is how little work I originally thought Nintendo did on the game's graphics. As I have pointed out a few times now this is a remake and not a remaster of the original Gamecube game, however so faithful is this remake to the original that it feels more like a remaster, and it wasn't until I googled screenshots of the original Gamecube game did I realise just how much work was put into the aesthetics and just how badly the original's graphics had actually aged. This game is seriously gorgeous and it has been brought into line with the most recent entry into the series, the Origami King.
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| Even just going to the shop, Thousand Year Door oozes charm |
It would be easy to overlook this game's graphics when compared to Nintendo's more conventionally impressive IPs graphic wise such as Xenoblade Chronicles or Metroid Prime, but the Paper Mario games have always had a unique charm and art style that Thousand Year Door absolutely nails. It's crisp, it's clean, it presents itself in the exact way it requires and I personally think it's one of Nintendo's finest games in this department.
Overall
I think I have gushed over this game enough to give everyone an idea on where this final score is going. Paper Mario Thousand Year Door is a timeless classic that has not only aged incredibly well over the last 20 years but has received the fresh coat of paint it has deserved from Nintendo for years and considering the graphical updates and quality of life improvements this remake received means the Thousand Year Door still gives the best games on the Switch a run for their money even now. Even better, because the Switch is a portable device you can now play this masterpiece when you're travelling.
I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone looking for something new to play. It's unique, it's fun, it shakes up the old and tired JRPG formula and it's hilarious to boot. Despite being the second time I've played through this game I was incredibly sad when the journey came to an end and it left me wanting more. Here's hoping that Nintendo takes the hint and releases a true successor to this game on their next system.
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