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This game is a very mixed bag for me, plain and simple, there's alot of good and bad
starting with the bad, am I the only one who finds it odd that sticker star and color splash are hated to the moon and back for their slow combat, no xp, and unoriginal characters, but TOK does the same thing except give you different variations of mario characters and ones with hats and TOK is lathered in praise by a lot of people? speaking of, looking back on it, the combat can be very unenjoyable at times, it can take a while to solve a puzzle to line up the enemies and then oops, you can't kill them, so do it again! it got very monotonous, very quickly. Also, Olly is the worst paper mario villan by far, Bowser, although generic, it makes sense, Count bleck and diemento were awesome antagonist (and I'm sure TTYD has a good one but I haven't played that yet), Meanwhile king olly only barely ever interacts with you, and his motivation is laughable, it's because a toad wrote on him.. bruh. and it wasn't even anything bad! like it's played off as a joke, but maybe don't have your villans motivation as a joke at the very climax? followed up by an emotional scene? Why not have Luigi look around the castle for the key and overhear the villans, making for more interaction with the main characters, and making him have a more dominant presence, but that might be to similar paper mario 64. Also his boss fight is low-teir. Having breaking items makes it basically just stickers again, but the game isn't made for it so it doesn't work, and is pretty bad
I also have a few nitpicks, sometimes the game would break into song and it came off as very forced, Bobby's death came too early, they should've waited a bit more especially when you learn every character leaves you by the end of the area. And Olivia's whole "seeing the world for the the first time" thing could get annoying. Badges also should've been implemented more, and so should've confetti, they both kinda feel useless. Bosses feel uninspired, can't wait for the sequel were we fight a red solo cup and a spoon.
Now for the good, which there is alot of, The boss fights are almost always excellent, and easily my favorite parts, and they should've been the the main battles, having you lead to the enemies to hit them, they're fun since they have a nice progression, they don't take to long to solve, the puzzles are fun, and they can be pretty challenging too. The characters are nice and likeable, olivia can be charming, The side characters can be charming as well, the world is atmospheric, and feels very connected, the game can also be funny as well, there were several laughs had. Luigi is always a positive, although let him be a partner, nintendo you cowards. Toad finding and treasure hunting is also a joy, and makes the world feel more full.
Overall i feel TOK is a step in the right direction, but is severely effected by its mostly bad combat, hopefully the next entry, is a good one, and while this one is good, it's not what I looking for. I'll say what every paper mario fan says, just play bug fables.
This game is a very mixed bag for me, plain and simple, there's alot of good and bad
starting with the bad, am I the only one who finds it odd that sticker star and color splash are hated to the moon and back for their slow combat, no xp, and unoriginal characters, but TOK does the same thing except give you different variations of mario characters and ones with hats and TOK is lathered in praise by a lot of people? speaking of, looking back on it, the combat can be very unenjoyable at times, it can take a while to solve a puzzle to line up the enemies and then oops, you can't kill them, so do it again! it got very monotonous, very quickly. Also, Olly is the worst paper mario villan by far, Bowser, although generic, it makes sense, Count bleck and diemento were awesome antagonist (and I'm sure TTYD has a good one but I haven't played that yet), Meanwhile king olly only barely ever interacts with you, and his motivation is laughable, it's because a toad wrote on him.. bruh. and it wasn't even anything bad! like it's played off as a joke, but maybe don't have your villans motivation as a joke at the very climax? followed up by an emotional scene? Why not have Luigi look around the castle for the key and overhear the villans, making for more interaction with the main characters, and making him have a more dominant presence, but that might be to similar paper mario 64. Also his boss fight is low-teir. Having breaking items makes it basically just stickers again, but the game isn't made for it so it doesn't work, and is pretty bad
I also have a few nitpicks, sometimes the game would break into song and it came off as very forced, Bobby's death came too early, they should've waited a bit more especially when you learn every character leaves you by the end of the area. And Olivia's whole "seeing the world for the the first time" thing could get annoying. Badges also should've been implemented more, and so should've confetti, they both kinda feel useless. Bosses feel uninspired, can't wait for the sequel were we fight a red solo cup and a spoon.
Now for the good, which there is alot of, The boss fights are almost always excellent, and easily my favorite parts, and they should've been the the main battles, having you lead to the enemies to hit them, they're fun since they have a nice progression, they don't take to long to solve, the puzzles are fun, and they can be pretty challenging too. The characters are nice and likeable, olivia can be charming, The side characters can be charming as well, the world is atmospheric, and feels very connected, the game can also be funny as well, there were several laughs had. Luigi is always a positive, although let him be a partner, nintendo you cowards. Toad finding and treasure hunting is also a joy, and makes the world feel more full.
Overall i feel TOK is a step in the right direction, but is severely effected by its mostly bad combat, hopefully the next entry, is a good one, and while this one is good, it's not what I looking for. I'll say what every paper mario fan says, just play bug fables.