My Favorites Part 1: My Favorite Video Game

My Favorite Video Game: Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door

Hello everyone, That Preppy Guy here.

It seems like one of the biggest things in game design right now is the concept of replay ability. For years designers and developers have been trying to pack so much content into their game that when people finish it they will want to immediately come back to it to see what they missed. Different endings, tons of side quests, and (unfortunately) DLC all contribute to this idea of replay ability. However, while most of that stuff is good, I think that the concept of replay ability doesn't solely hinge on the amount of content in a game. I think that if a game is good enough then people will come back to it, regardless of the fact that every time they come back it is the same experience. That is the case with me and my favorite game of all time, Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I have played this game so much that I know every piece of it from top to bottom, and yet I still see myself going back to it. So why do I love this game so much? Well, some of it is nostalgia, but there are other reasons. So let's look at Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door and see why this game keeps me coming back.

Story 

So what is this game about? Well Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door starts like any other Mario game, with a letter from Princess Peach. Peach has found a treasure map and wants Mario to come to the faraway land of Rogueport and the surrounding areas to investigate the treasure, at least I think Rogueport is faraway in comparison to the Mushroom Kingdom. The one thing about this game, and all Mario games in general, is that they aren't very good about giving locations perspective. We know Rogueport is across a body of water from the Mushroom Kingdom but we don't quite know how big that water is. Was the trip just a short jaunt, or was it a journey of days? While this is a nitpick and ultimately doesn't matter to the story, it is something that I think should be addressed. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. When Mario arrives in Rogueport he is immediately thrown into action. Mario saves a Goomba girl from a group of thugs that are trying to beat information out of her. We later come to find that the Goomba girl's name is Goombella (yeah, really original Nintendo) and that she knows a little something about this treasure that Mario is looking for. Mario and Goombella go further into the city to find the Princess and of course she's been kidnapped. Now Mario has to go around the different places surrounding Rogueport to try to find artifacts called the Crystal Stars. He and Goombella believe that, since the map that Mario has leads them to a new crystal star after they have found one, eventually the crystal stars will lead them to Princess Peach. Along the way they meet new friends, have exciting adventures, do some fetch quests to earn some coins, and uncover a plot that not only puts Princess Peach in danger, but the whole world as well.


The story of Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door is one of the best stories I have ever seen from a Mario game. Its deep, but simple enough for anyone to understand. It takes a few twists and turns but those twists make sense and are just as interesting as the story itself. Taking into account the issues with providing perspective in terms of the setting and a few questions left unanswered, like why Princess Peach was passing through Rogueport in the first place, Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door's story gets a four our of five.

Story 4/5

Graphics, Presentation, and Level Design

This game has a very unique feel when it comes to the graphics and presentation. The reason the game is called Paper Mario is because the entire game looks like one big papercraft. Everything is in a two-dimensional style and everything literally looks like paper or cardboard. While the character models and world looks 2D, everyone can move in 3 dimensions. The graphics create a certain charm and the game holds up very well because pretty much nothing else looks like it. The level design is varied all throughout the game. Mario and pals will visit many different environments through the game that include tropical, sunny islands; spooky, dark forests; flowery meadows; and cursed, shadow-covered fortresses. All of these places have their own feel and presentation to it which really helps the world feel like just that, a world. Everything is connected but also distant from each other. The people Mario and co. meet in these areas are just as varied as the places themselves, once again giving the world a more fleshed out feeling. All of this creates a feeling of a peaceful world that at the same time is not so peaceful. Overall the graphics are wonderful and still hold up after 10 years, the presentation is wonderful and creates an intriguing world, and the level design is so diverse that around every corner is something new to explore and take in. Basically, its as close to perfect as possible.

Graphics, Presentation and Level Design 5/5

Gameplay

At its core Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door is a JRPG, which means menu based and turn based combat. However, where most JRPGs just have you choose an option, press A, and see what happens, Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door uses a system called Action Commands to keep you involved. Action Commands is a system of battle that gives every attack, and some items, a certain action that has to be done so that they are executed correctly. That could be as simple as holding the control stick a certain way for a certain amount of time, or as complex as a long series of button combinations that have to be done perfectly and quickly. Action Commands are a great addition to the JRPG system because you never get bored during a battle. The game is always keeping you engaged and entertained.  I won't explain all of the aspects of battle for the sake of time, but there is one thing I would like to address as one of the only flaws in the battle system. In Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, there are a total of 7 party members that you will meet over the course of the game. However, only one can be in the overworld with you and only one can fight in battle with you. This creates a bit of a problem. Certain partners are better suited for certain enemies, which creates a sense of strategy, but also causes some turn wasting. You can switch partners in-between battle but, as mentioned in the last sentence, it wastes a turn to do so. Having to switch between partners and waste a turn can be a pain especially if it is an especially annoying enemy or one that can do a lot of damage right off the bat. This said turn wasting can cause battles to drag on if you have to switch back and forth or you make a mistake and pick the wrong party member when you are choosing. However, that is a small problem in the otherwise great battle system that Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door presents to the player. That turn wasting, coupled with a few more minor flaws, make me have to give this a lower than perfect rating, but all in all, the gameplay gets a four out of five.

Gameplay 4/5

Overall

This game is wonderful. Is the the best game I've ever played? I don't think so. Are there games that do the JRPG system better? I'd say yes. Is this my favorite game of all time? You bet it is! If you have never had the opportunity to play this game and you own a Gamecube or Wii, go find yourself a cheap copy on eBay and enjoy this treat of a game. 

Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door Final Verdict:

13/15 

Join me next time when I write about my favorite movie, Christopher Nolan's Inception. 

Until then, this is That Preppy Guy, signing off.