This is probably one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. Sure, it might be a "typical JRPG" in terms of story, having a "hero and party members on a journey to defeat a dark lord" formulaic plot, but the characters and world in this game are packed with charm and I loved pretty much all of the party members. DQ's structure is one of my favourites in gaming, with little sub-arcs in every new location you visit which usually have some main plot stuff in the background, and DQ11's arcs were a lot of fun, from helping a mermaid find out what happened to her lost human love, to helping a cowardly prince avoid embarrassing himself by posing as him and competing in a horse race titled the Sand National. It's also worth mentioning that the new story stuff in the Switch version, while not the most substantial addition, really helped to bridge the gap between the second half of the game and contextualised the later events. Overall, the time I spent in this game's world was really enjoyable, and the big moments, twists and setpieces were enough for the game to feel fresh. This is a game I really loved and will definitely return to in the future for a replay.

This enhanced version of what was already one of the best games I've ever played made it even better, slating itself as my game of 2020 and earning a spot in my top 3 of all time. The new story elements such as the new Persona user Kasumi and the school psychiatrist Dr. Maruki fitted in seamlessly with the original game to create what felt like an even more complete experience, and the game's handling of Akechi, which I found to be one of the original's flaws, was executed pretty flawlessly this time (With the added development during his confidant scenes, his role in the last arc and that ending especially). The new elements added to the Palaces and boss fights were all cool too and mostly made for a better experience overall. Its low points were still low (looking at you, Okumura arc) but Royal brought the base game's highs to new levels of greatness.

As a Paper Mario purist, it feels like blasphemy to admit I enjoyed this game as much as I did. It brings back at least a semblance of the turn based system of old which I firmly believe they should have stayed with and don't see why they didn't, as well as the vibrant worlds of past PM games. This game is full of life and charm, and the writing is absolutely excellent and hilarious (it seems that Color Splash also maintained that element of a good PM game, at least). But while it had its humour and charm it was also able to hit the feels and create impactful and emotional moments (I didn't expect to see this fun, happy-go-lucky adventure dealing with themes like loss and sacrifice), too (it moved me to tears on more than one occasion). My one gripe is with the ring-based combat. It was fun and a novel idea at first, and shines its brightest during the game's boss fights (which are awesome, might I add) but I really wish they'd reserved it for just the boss fights and not EVERY SINGLE BATTLE IN THE GAME, because that really started to wear me out and get tedious around 3/4 of the way through, maybe even less. Still, though, despite not at the level of the first three games in the series, it's a good Paper Mario game, and that at least is a step in the right direction.