I don't quite get what you're pointing out with the M&L changes... Very little actually changed, aside from the artstyle and one or two small things? Like that obvious White Mage guy getting changed... I think we can wrap our brains around why that happened. The most outlandish one is what I assume to be the replacement of the robot dog with a mechakoopa? I get being upset over that one.
There's a lot about modern Mario that comes off to me as "sanitized", and that's not necessarily bad, because it's important to have a style guide and stick to it, especially when you're moving into uncharted territory like potentially letting indie companies work with your IPs. We're dealing with a franchise worth tens of
billions and the last thing the owner of that property would want is some new developers or even just a team of young bloods turning it on its head. I think this is a big reason that we see things like standardized Hammer Bro or Koopa designs - I mean, least we forget, there was a time that according to Mario artwork, a Koopa walked on all fours, and the sprites reflected as much, until all of a sudden they were upright in Super Mario World... until you kicked them
out of their shells and they walk either on all fours again, or so hunched over there's virtually no difference. Avoiding those inconsistencies is important.
I agree that it's disheartening to see the Hammer Bro or the Koopa have the run-of-the-mill design every time, but that doesn't preclude the possibility to use the same body type and recolor the character, or even give them some accessories to set them apart. We've seen Mario Odyssey put a hat on a Koopa (and a Goomba... and everyone else!), there's just a desire to keep things straight so that in the future, everyone knows which character they're looking at and no one has to second guess simplistic things. Ultimately, it's a franchise for the whole family but further, a game for children, and children are going to want to try and know what species their favorite character is, and if they can't figure it out, mom and dad will have to tell them.
But more importantly, look at how all of the original characters didn't suffer a redesign, or at least not much of one outside of the sprites being a different level of quality and the game being at a slightly different angle. There's nothing stopping them from making original characters, reusing original characters, etc. I totally understand that it's depressing to see another Paper Mario game come and go with nothing in the way of partners, no RPG mechanics and none of the strange and fantastic Paper Mario NPCs outside of toads and generic Bowser minions, but all the hope isn't lost and if you're super hung up on Tanabe's words, explain how this smug looking ************ happened:
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Clearly, there's some nuance to what he said, maybe something lost in translation or not easily understood. There's a very clear message that Tanabe doesn't like that the story ends up making the game feel like it isn't Mario anymore, so it could be safe to say he's simply holding himself/his team back from doing too much because he's afraid that it'll start to rob from what he views as Mario's simplistic charm. I can't speak for the guy, I'm just taking a guess.
I like to blame Miyamoto as much as the next guy, but let's be real, the only crimes he's committed have been forcing motion controls into everything he touches. If there's any water to be held by the rumor that Nintendo's going to be more open with their IPs, that thought isn't congruent with a world where they don't allow original Mario characters to be used in a Mario game. Just my two cents on the matter and I hope that this kind of rationalization helps people understand it isn't all doom and gloom for the future of Mario RPGs.
