A controversial, but intriguing addition to the Paper Mario series. This was the first step away from the traditional turn-based combat of the first two games into a platformer/RPG hybrid that can be isolating for fans of one genre over the other. The gameplay is fun but lacks impact, platforming is solid but narrows what can be done with level design, basically not good enough to be mainline platformer perfection, but still serviceable. The real star of the show is the story which is shockingly heartfelt and engaging to the player. The game is not afraid to be silly but knows when to dial it back to make story revelations the most impactful. This is likely the darkest and most story-heavy game in the Mario series, and it does not disappoint. I found myself emotional at various points in the game, further helped by a fantastic musical score to punch up the scenes for the most impact.
All in all, it is fun, but lacks the uniqueness of the previous entries. Largely, play for the story, as without it, there is not much to make this game particularly memorable. The story is worth it, especially for those who go in blind.

Personally: one of my favorite games of all time. Probably the most unique Fire Emblem game in the series, it is separate into different arcs and storyline perspectives until it ultimately comes together in part 4. This method of storytelling helps to lend tighter gameplay in having limited means to progress through individual chapters, due to the amount of characters usable and progression being erratic; this does cause issues in part 3 and 4, as the majority of the characters steamroll ahead or will wind up drastically unbalanced. The game is most certainly not perfect; the story can be underwritten, especially in part 4, not helped by new characters lacking backstories to make them equal to the old ones, especially due to the new support system. The support system is unique but lacks the charms of the rest of the series as it does not lead to unique conversations or character establishment, but is consistently helpful and varied in gameplay. Biorhythm is the biggest issue, being more of an irritant to make guaranteed hits that can be calculated miss and lead to killing a character, but typically it impacts nothing other than occasionally being annoying.
While this is negative, these things never bothered me, and the gameplay and constant changing of dilemma kept me engaged to the point that every playthrough felt different, due to self-imposed challenge or new strategies to try out.
All in all, a great step forward in some aspects, but a big step back in others. While subjective, I have such a fondness and always find something else to enjoy when playing the game, despite near 20 playthroughs, which is not something I am keen to do with videogames.