As someone who is such a huge fan of the Mario & Luigi games, you'd expect me to dabble in a similar alley along the years playing a Paper Mario game in any capacity, and to that I tell you the most I've gone so far into doing so is having my hands on Super Paper Mario at the ripe age of 5 years old, getting stuck about an hour through the game, and it collecting dust on the shelf for another 16 years. Fast forward to the release of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door completely remastered in all of its glory, I figured there is no better time to finally dip my foot into the series than right now.

And in doing so unveiled to me one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in my newfound gaming renaissance.

This game is genuinely incredible from start to finish, I was absolutely blown away with every passing chapter this game turned the page over to, the needle was constantly being pushed more and more and I loved every minute of it.

The cast of characters is the most likeable bunch of any cast of characters in a Mario RPG game to date, and all had me very attached from the moment I met them from Rogueport all the way to Fahr Outpost, to the moment I set sails back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Beyond their individual characteristics was their usefulness in the story, and the capabilities in which they hold and fulfill made this game feel full of life and meaning and made you completely open your mind to possibilities and capabilities in the story, game play, combat, and everything else in between.

The game follows a very steady flow and blueprint throughout the game, which makes the game really accessible and easy to grasp as the game progresses, especially with every addition of a party member and things becoming more intricate, it felt like every chapter that was being introduced expanded on the game on all fronts.

The only criticism I had of the game up until the end was how easy the boss fights felt in this game, until I eventually ate my words and was faced with one of the hardest final bosses I've had to face in a game, that quickly humbled me and this opinion really quickly.

The music was just absolutely stellar from the title screen to the credits and everything in between, it was just absolute bliss to my ears, not a single dull moment in terms of the music and sound exhibition, bravo bravo.

All in all, this game is a masterpiece, not a single flaw I can pinpoint on the surface, and all I can really say coming out of this was why oh why did I not get myself involved with this series sooner, I know there have been some duds in the series, and the fans and friends of mine who have been fans of the series have been very vocal about such tsk tsk, sticker star, but nevertheless this is my formal entry into the series and I am absolutely going to be digging into the rest of the series eventually after this, and this time it won't take another 16 years to do so.

Magisterial. Magnificent. Masterpiece.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.