The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Mario Story

Also known in the West as Paper Mario.

This game was released on N64 as a "kind of" sequel to Super Mario RPG on SNES, only done by a completely different team. It does have some similar themes though.
Like Super Mario RPG, there's a big emphasis on well-timed button presses during battle, to add extra damage of increase defense.
Also, the ending features a long parade, like SMRPG, which was also redone in the next sequel, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, so that seems to be some kind of rule for the Mario RPG's.

Now you might think "Mario? In an RPG? That's just plain Stoopid!", but you couldn't be more wrong. It's amazing how well an RPG can work based around a character that became famous in a platform game by jumping on baddies and breaking blocks with his head. This game makes good use of Mario's jumping abilities and most of his attacks in battle are based on some of his older trademark moves, so it doesn't feel out of place at all. In fact, I'd almost go as far as saying that Mario Story does a FAR better job at implementing the real Mario feel in a (semi)3D world than Mario 64 ever did.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Mario 64 was bad (overrated, yes, but not actually bad) but I can only wonder what people are thinking when they say that game retains the feeling of the old 2D Mario's so well, because it totally DOESN'T. I can hardly think of a way in which it could have been any MORE different.

Anyway, as Square had already shown us before, Mario blends in perfectly in an RPG environment and it's really great fun! It's not a very heavy RPG by any means, it's not even half as serious or "dark" as Super Mario RPG, but that is exactly its charm.
It's a wonderfully carefree "action" RPG, filled with the trademark Nintendo self-conscious humor and actually really clever and entertaining dungeons.
Also, the game clocks in at around 20 hours, which is very respectable, and seems to be the exact right lenght. It never felt like it was dragging on, and I never had the idea it was taking too long to reach the end.

In the beginning when you haven't really unlocked anything yet, you might be a bit flustered by some of the running back and forth you have to do (for subquests only though, so that can be skipped), but soon you will find warp pipes and you'll be able to move between different parts of the world pretty quickly.
And that's a good thing, cos this game is FILLED with side-/sub- and mini-quests, loads of things to gather and collect and if you want to indulge you can easily expand the longevity of this game with several hours.

It is however, a very light, easy to digest RPG. It doesn't get really hard anywhere, puzzles are pretty simple, some bosses can be tricky but never too much.
Die-Hard RPG fans might find it a bit on the childish side. Also, don't expect to run around with a beefy mario with 9999 hit points and 255 attack power, all numbers stay very low. Your HP and MP only have two digits and you can only choose to raise either of the two with 5 points every time you level up. You also get BP, or Badge Points, which you can use to equip any of the MANY badges in this game, which have a variety of effects, like increasing attack power, adding special abilities, and loads more.

Experience is earned of course by defeating enemies, which will drop star points. Get 100 star points and you will level up, allowing you to choose which of your parameters you want to increase. The higher your level, the less star points you get, making levelling up almost impossible, but it's not really necessary anyway.

The only other thing that might bother people is Mario's innate cuteness, and the high Happiness factor of the game. Everything is really sweet and sugary, and even the bad guys will make you go 'awwwwwwww'. I understand many people are put off by this, but it is undeniable that regardless of kiddy factor this is just a fantastically enjoyable game.
If you're offended by the non-offensiveness of this game, then just do like me and give answers in Mario's stead. Mario doesn't talk, so if you want to increase the PG rating just say FUCK every time someone asks you something.

"Oh, Mr. Mario! Princess Peach has been kidnapped by that meany Bowser! He has the Star Rod to make him stronger, so we need to make sure we find all the Star Spirits and pray to them so we can get it back! First we need to go to Creamy Lovely Happy Cuteness Valley to defeat Mr. Fluffy and his evil Kittens, will you help us?"
"FUCK!"
"Oh Mr. Mario, I knew we could count on you, let's take the Flower Train of Happy Stars there right now!"
"FUCK!"

Worked for me.

A very royal 9.4 for this one, for being so much fun!

posted by Ingen! @ 11:52 AM