Maybe I'm being unfair to this game, since I'm comparing it to later Mario RPGs (specifically Superstar Saga and TTYD), but... meh?

The constant across the other two I've played so far is that they compensate the simple combat and non-existent plot with tons of charm thanks to the character interactions, and an overworld that is more involved/interactive than usual for the genre.

This one here is very much victim of some "first game syndrome". There is barely any character interactions to speak of, and most of the charm comes from the sprite animations - which become more and more scarce the more you play the game. If at the beginning I had a goofy smile seeing Mario doing silly mimicry, by the end of it all, this becomes just a standard "people talking to each other in bland dialogue" JRPG.

The overworld also offers not much of anything, and actually annoyed me on occasion. Having to do some minor platforming with this isometric view wasn't very elegant, and I found the game visually unappealing. This pseudo-3D look hasn't aged gracefully imo.

There is also nothing to the combat. Everyone sharing the same MP pool just makes everything extremely limited, especially when the strongest attacks cost 15+ FPs (by endgame, I had 75 total). All summarized by one of the most mind-numbing JRPG final bosses I've ever faced, with its humongous 8000 HP, and a battle that boils down to "physical attacks only".

What an extraordinarily "it's okay" JRPG this is. At 15 hours long, it's harmless at least.

At least I can finally say that the crowds begging for Geno in Smash are fucking insane, what a nothing character.

Reviewed on Jun 05, 2023


2 Comments


9 months ago

I think it gets by a lot on the basic premise of "Mario, but a JRPG." I think I find it a little more appealing but I also think Paper Mario is the stronger game.

8 months ago

@Weatherby (responding a month later, don't mind me) honestly, I suspect there were some issues during development, because this game loses A LOT of steam as it goes, imo. It kinda overlaps with Square and Nintendo's relationship completely melting, FFVII came out a mere year later. So maybe that little fiasco impacted this game, idk