Mario RPGs are known for telling funny stories with quirky characters in strange locales, and it becomes clear that Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is no exception the moment you set foot in Rogueport, the game's hub world. A far cry from the idyllic Toad Towns of other games, Rogueport is a graffiti-covered seedy merchant port full of salty dogs and criminals who don't know or care who Mario is. One of the first things you see is a huge noose set up in the town square. While talking to your first partner, Goombella, if you look into the background you can see two Piantas, the goofy plant people from Super Mario Sunshine (who run a Mafia-style organized crime syndicate in this game, of course) roughing up some poor shmuck and leaving him crumpled in the street. Walk one screen to the right and Mario will get half of his coins stolen by a bandit who pulls off a fly-by mugging on him.
Thousand Year Door feels like a real adventure, a journey into treacherous unknown lands. It's divided into eight chapters, and each one involves an exciting excursion to some new corner of the country where you'll meet new characters and inevitably get dragged into some sort of fiasco. One chapter has Mario and his partners essentially become pro wrestlers, duking it out in the Glitz Pit arena for a chance of getting the mystical Crystal Star attached to the champion's belt - the champion, of course, being a Hulk Hogan-esque hawk who ruthlessly shit-talks you at every occasion. In another chapter, you travel to a haunted, twilight-drenched town where a shapeshifting bedsheet ghost has taken up residence in the nearby chapel, turning another villager into a pig every time the bell tolls.
Although the game isn't free from its faults - excessive backtracking being one of the major ones - it's full of charm at every corner, and it's always a delight to see what each new turn will bring. The character designs are also particularly deserving of praise, managing to look very unique and interesting while still fitting into the Mario style. The amount of care put into the game's presentation helps make each location feel lively and exciting to explore.
Thousand Year Door feels like a real adventure, a journey into treacherous unknown lands. It's divided into eight chapters, and each one involves an exciting excursion to some new corner of the country where you'll meet new characters and inevitably get dragged into some sort of fiasco. One chapter has Mario and his partners essentially become pro wrestlers, duking it out in the Glitz Pit arena for a chance of getting the mystical Crystal Star attached to the champion's belt - the champion, of course, being a Hulk Hogan-esque hawk who ruthlessly shit-talks you at every occasion. In another chapter, you travel to a haunted, twilight-drenched town where a shapeshifting bedsheet ghost has taken up residence in the nearby chapel, turning another villager into a pig every time the bell tolls.
Although the game isn't free from its faults - excessive backtracking being one of the major ones - it's full of charm at every corner, and it's always a delight to see what each new turn will bring. The character designs are also particularly deserving of praise, managing to look very unique and interesting while still fitting into the Mario style. The amount of care put into the game's presentation helps make each location feel lively and exciting to explore.