I know it’s been mentioned a thousand times already but I’m going to go ahead and say it anyway.
I’ve been an avid Mario RPG fan ever since I beat Paper Mario back in… what, 2003 or something? In fact, before I was introduced to the MOTHER series, the Paper Mario franchise was my top favorite. I loved Paper Mario 64 and still consider it to be my favorite of the three that I have played so many times. I still have vivid memories of beating it for the first time with stars in my eyes. Thousand-Year Door was incredible, with superior gameplay mechanics and a wonderful story. Memories of that were so fruitful, especially considering the time I played it for the first time was also the time I got to meet my now-girlfriend in person for the first time (it was her copy). Even Super Paper Mario, which I considered to be a downgrade gameplay- and system-wise, had a story and dialogue that was amazing enough for that to just be a minor complaint.
But that was exactly it. I could forgive their dropping the star point, badge, turn-based and unique party member system in Super Paper Mario. But that was the final straw once I heard that it was dead and gone for good after the reveal of Sticker Star. Even worse, they apparently kept the linear “world level” system and there aren’t even any party members. Just… stickers. (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong on this. I would love to be wrong.)
I haven’t even played Sticker Star, but I’ve heard enough about it to know that I will probably never lay my hands on it. Miyamoto apparently said that he prefers the Paper Mario games to stray away from the RPG aspects and go for platforming but he could never have been more wrong. They had a perfect thing going and they dropped it in favor of trying to appeal to the platformer style. That is
not Paper Mario.
Sticker Star feels like a true betrayal to me.
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