This is a fantastic remake of one of my childhood favorites. Given that I never actually finished it as a kid (but have seen the rest through let's plays), my thoughts here are gonna be a mix of "how does it stack up to the game I remember it being?" and "how well does this remake do, as a game?" In the end, I think it does a really great job at both.
The plot is a fairly basic "get the seven things as some guys get in your way", but I think that's all it really needs to be here. Things happen quite quickly, but the story never feels like it's moving so fast that you don't get to enjoy anything. I honestly forgot how short-lived the actual plot presence of certain bosses was, considering how memorable they are.
The battle system is pretty good too. Just as good as I remember it being in the original, but in different ways. Like the other Mario RPGs, this one focuses on timed button presses as you hit enemies. However, SMRPG is a bit more traditional in some ways due to the relative importance of non-damaging spells and its "pick three out of the five" party setup. Overall, the game feels like what it is: an old Square game with a Mario twist.
Battles are where the bulk of the game's changes are, but I can't say that the changes are necessarily bad. I think one of the main ones that I'm a bit mixed on is that there's now a new "perfect timing" window in which basic attacks will do damage to all enemies instead of just the one. This makes both normal enemy encounters and a few bosses go by quite a bit faster. It also gives you a good source of cheap spread damage outside of just Mallow (who gets a new niche in this remake with the Thought Peek log). However, while learning how to take advantage of this is fun, it does ultimately mean that you're going to be using your spells a bit less often outside of bosses. I don't think it's a good or bad thing. It's just different.
The new action command combo system is also really cool. You get more stat boosts the more action commands you succeed on in a row, which can be super rewarding. It makes the action commands as a whole feel a lot more impactful while also providing a very good incentive to try to guard even against attacks that wouldn't do much damage.
Another new change is mid-battle character switching. Honestly, I love this one. It makes things feel so much more dynamic, especially considering that you can switch characters and use the new one in a single move. It's great. While it does mean that you don't have to worry as much about party composition, it makes it so that you end up using every character a bit more evenly because you can switch someone else in if you feel like you need to. My only real issue with this change is that if all three active party members are downed, then the game force switches the other two back in. I would have much rather this have just been a game over.
You may have noticed that the gameplay changes all make the remake a much faster experience. However, I think that actually plays to one of the strengths of the original. It's always been a pretty fast-paced game. Super Mario RPG is not a game that's interested in wasting your time. While yes, the original is harder, and the visual and musical changes do alter the atmosphere, this is a very worthy version of the game in its own right. The 2023 remake turns what has always been a great game into a condensed can of Mario RPG goodness, and I imagine that even if it won't completely replace the original for me, I will be coming back to this version as well.
The plot is a fairly basic "get the seven things as some guys get in your way", but I think that's all it really needs to be here. Things happen quite quickly, but the story never feels like it's moving so fast that you don't get to enjoy anything. I honestly forgot how short-lived the actual plot presence of certain bosses was, considering how memorable they are.
The battle system is pretty good too. Just as good as I remember it being in the original, but in different ways. Like the other Mario RPGs, this one focuses on timed button presses as you hit enemies. However, SMRPG is a bit more traditional in some ways due to the relative importance of non-damaging spells and its "pick three out of the five" party setup. Overall, the game feels like what it is: an old Square game with a Mario twist.
Battles are where the bulk of the game's changes are, but I can't say that the changes are necessarily bad. I think one of the main ones that I'm a bit mixed on is that there's now a new "perfect timing" window in which basic attacks will do damage to all enemies instead of just the one. This makes both normal enemy encounters and a few bosses go by quite a bit faster. It also gives you a good source of cheap spread damage outside of just Mallow (who gets a new niche in this remake with the Thought Peek log). However, while learning how to take advantage of this is fun, it does ultimately mean that you're going to be using your spells a bit less often outside of bosses. I don't think it's a good or bad thing. It's just different.
The new action command combo system is also really cool. You get more stat boosts the more action commands you succeed on in a row, which can be super rewarding. It makes the action commands as a whole feel a lot more impactful while also providing a very good incentive to try to guard even against attacks that wouldn't do much damage.
Another new change is mid-battle character switching. Honestly, I love this one. It makes things feel so much more dynamic, especially considering that you can switch characters and use the new one in a single move. It's great. While it does mean that you don't have to worry as much about party composition, it makes it so that you end up using every character a bit more evenly because you can switch someone else in if you feel like you need to. My only real issue with this change is that if all three active party members are downed, then the game force switches the other two back in. I would have much rather this have just been a game over.
You may have noticed that the gameplay changes all make the remake a much faster experience. However, I think that actually plays to one of the strengths of the original. It's always been a pretty fast-paced game. Super Mario RPG is not a game that's interested in wasting your time. While yes, the original is harder, and the visual and musical changes do alter the atmosphere, this is a very worthy version of the game in its own right. The 2023 remake turns what has always been a great game into a condensed can of Mario RPG goodness, and I imagine that even if it won't completely replace the original for me, I will be coming back to this version as well.