Apparently I am a contrarian dipshit, and my feelings about Thousand Year Door will not rehabilitate that image. I know people really love this game, it's considered one of the strongest titles on the Gamecube and the best entry in the Paper Mario series, but man, I'm just not feeling it.
My thoughts on it aren't particularly complex, I don't have a lengthy teardown of precisely why the game didn't resonate with me, it just didn't. It's overly long with too much backtracking, dungeon gimmicks generally disinterested me, I couldn't get into the story, and aesthetically I think the leap in fidelity hurts more than it helps.
It's still a fine game. I don't hate it. I think the wrestling section is incredibly funny and well executed, definitely a highlight and probably the closest I got to really feeling as invested in the game as everyone else seems to be, but it just failed to rope me in otherwise. A real shame given how much I liked Paper Mario.
(11/8/22) Editing this into the review: I think my complaint about the aesthetic could be elaborated on a bit more: The original Paper Mario is very blocky as a consequence of being a Nintendo 64 game, and the very rudimentary shapes and hard edges that comprise geometry helps sell the papercraft aesthetic. The Thousand Year Door I think loses some of this with the bump in polygons. It's not bad by any means but between the two games I've played I definitely prefer the look of the original.
My thoughts on it aren't particularly complex, I don't have a lengthy teardown of precisely why the game didn't resonate with me, it just didn't. It's overly long with too much backtracking, dungeon gimmicks generally disinterested me, I couldn't get into the story, and aesthetically I think the leap in fidelity hurts more than it helps.
It's still a fine game. I don't hate it. I think the wrestling section is incredibly funny and well executed, definitely a highlight and probably the closest I got to really feeling as invested in the game as everyone else seems to be, but it just failed to rope me in otherwise. A real shame given how much I liked Paper Mario.
(11/8/22) Editing this into the review: I think my complaint about the aesthetic could be elaborated on a bit more: The original Paper Mario is very blocky as a consequence of being a Nintendo 64 game, and the very rudimentary shapes and hard edges that comprise geometry helps sell the papercraft aesthetic. The Thousand Year Door I think loses some of this with the bump in polygons. It's not bad by any means but between the two games I've played I definitely prefer the look of the original.
19 Comments
Did someone actually call you a 'Contrarian Dipshit'?
This comment was deleted
Not so precisely but it definitely seemed implied, yes.
Lol why? The hottest take I've seen you have is that BloodBorne is a 4/10 or something.
IIRC it was over my REmake 3 review, of all things. This happened off-site. Surprisingly I haven't been dragged on here for having a bad opinion about something... yet.
Personally the train chapter was my absolute favorite, wrestling #2 tho
@blazingwaters definitely replay this it's amazing, do not replay color splash it sucks
*play
ttyd is a 10/10 game for me and the only thing i really disagree with outside of my nostalgia for the game is the idea of aesthetic weakness. ttyd is honestly the strongest any one video games art style has ever been to me with only animal crossing coming close to the point where it's the reason i spent so much of my childhood and teenage years making art as much as i did and why i have such an appreciation for art style in video games as a whole
will refrain from calling you a contrarian dipshit though, that isn't very polite i don't think
will refrain from calling you a contrarian dipshit though, that isn't very polite i don't think
That is true, top tier artstyle for sure
Man everyone has different tastes. You like what you like. Keep fighting the power!
I think my complaint about the aesthetic could be elaborated on a bit more: The original Paper Mario is very blocky as a consequence of being a Nintendo 64 game, and the very rudimentary shapes and hard edges that comprise geometry helps sell the papercraft aesthetic. The Thousand Year Door I think loses some of this with the bump in polygons. It's not bad by any means but between the two games I've played I definitely prefer the look of the original.
Huge agree on the aesthetic, which no one ever seems to bring up. Everything in TTYD looks like it'd be smooth to the touch and it bugs me to no end, especially when compared to 64.
Shit I've been fucking murdered
puts weatherby in a bodybag as I read them their last rites
The really ridiculous part of @titledSheepChase's comment is the implication that Super Paper Mario, Sticker Star, Color Splash, Paper Jam, and Origami King are all of equal quality.
lol why was it removed by a moderator, that comment ruled.
I always kind of felt strange about TTYD since all my experience with it is through osmosis. It’s praised as one of the best games ever made but I’ve only ever heard about it being rather flawed. I want to play it for the first time soon.
I never heard anyone else have an issue with the aesthetics but I agree with you there. TTYD looks too clean and the color palette is a bit too bright and loses some of the coziness of the original. The backtracking is also pretty insufferable though I still like the game overall. Maybe it's nostalgia but the original Paper Mario is still my favorite.
BlazingWaters
1 year ago