Paper Mario Flips the Switch! -- Paper Mario Support Thread

[Cosmic77]

I'm a little disappointed that partners may only stick with you for one chapter, but I suppose that's better than nothing. I suppose it'll make you appreciate them more for the short time that they stay.

Overall, the game looks promising. I'm especially happy with the bosses not being giant standard enemies or Koopalings.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

In fairness, it would have been kinda hard for Bobby to do his stuff since he's lacking a fuse.

It sort of reminds me of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in that sense, you rarely had anyone who stayed with you until the final stretch.

 

[KirbyMonadoBoy]

Just imagine the ARMS-trailer being like this:

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Paper Mario being revealed alongside the ARMS-rep in a 1v1 fight.

 

[zumaddy]

This game feels like they're trying to reconcile the newer style with the spirit of the original trilogy of PM titles. I'm getting TTYD, SPM and Colour Splash vibes from different parts of the games. Unfortunately they're still pushing the 'paper and craft' aspect over the 'rpg' aspect with the bosses but I do really like the rubber band boss. I wish the tape boss was a more creative shape like it.

 

[Cosmic77]

I think I may have found something that proves partners can stay with you for more than one chapter.

So this is the area where you meet Bobby.

Spoiler

As you can see, this chapter features the blue streamer.

Then we see Bobby again here.

Spoiler

This one features the purple streamer, and the boat seems to be the same one in both pics.

It's possible the boat is a mode of transportation used multiple times in the game, but the Blooper boss fight makes me think Bobby is still with Mario after the blue streamer.

 

[Mamboo07]

I'm loving that Tape boss.
(I want it in Smash as a fighter)

 

[meleebrawler]

I'm starting to think the boots and hammers you can equip, at least the more advanced varieties have Fire Emblem styled durability, and the higher amounts of cash you're getting is there to help you maintain a regular supply. Unlike the previous two games, it doesn't look like you can just rely on finding more in the field and avoid fighting too many battles.

 

[Cosmic77]

And here's Paper Mario's up-Smash.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

And here's Paper Mario's up-Smash.

I, too, would like to celebrate the opponent's defeat with him and .

 

[meleebrawler]

And here's Paper Mario's up-Smash.

We're just going to gloss over Mario casually picking up 1000 coins?

 

[Cosmic77]

We have the theme of the title screen. Not bad. Has a more serious tune than the previous two.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Remind me, how many copies did Paper Mario Color Splash sell? (Keeping in mind this is after A. coming at the tail end of the WiiU's life and B. Sticker Star/their stubborn insistence on sticking to formula poisoned the interest)

 

[meleebrawler]

Remind me, how many copies did Paper Mario Color Splash sell? (Keeping in mind this is after A. coming at the tail end of the WiiU's life and B. Sticker Star/their stubborn insistence on sticking to formula poisoned the interest)

Don't see how it matters at this point, but it was a pretty dismal 186000 copies.

Regardless of whatever following either set of games (ever) may have had, there's enough of a fresh audience on the Switch who will judge the game on it's own merits instead of endlessly comparing them to old games. Nintendo has decided long ago that more traditional RPGs will be handled by the regular Mario Bros.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Don't see how it matters at this point, but it was a pretty dismal 186000 copies.

Regardless of whatever following either set of games (ever) may have had, there's enough of a fresh audience on the Switch who will judge the game on it's own merits instead of endlessly comparing them to old games. Nintendo has decided long ago that more traditional RPGs will be handled by the regular Mario Bros.

Just curious, is all.

Though I do have to wonder what the future of the Mario and Luigi series is gonna be given the fate of the dev studio.
That's one thing Paper Mario will never fall to, at least as long as FEH is going.

 

[Cosmic77]

Color Splash sold 0.86 million copies.

That's not good, but considering how it was an end-of-life game for a disaster console, I'd chalk that up as a hollow victory for the development team. At the very least, they were able to profit from the game.

 

[meleebrawler]

Just curious, is all.

Though I do have to wonder what the future of the Mario and Luigi series is gonna be given the fate of the dev studio.
That's one thing Paper Mario will never fall to, at least as long as FEH is going.

If they still want to do regular JRPGS with Mario in the lead, they will find the means to do so, in-house or not.

But to be honest, Paper Jam has a strong case of being an example of a game that pushed it's series's mechanics as far as they could possibly go. Say what you will about the story, the game part of it had much deeper customization and depth than anything that came before. Even if AlphaDream didn't go under, it's likely the series would have started undergoing fairly drastic overhauls instead of trying to top that directly.

 

[dimensionsword64]

With all the buzz about Origami King, I've realized how much I want Paper Mario in Smash. In fact, he might be one of my most wanted DLC characters. He's got a ton of moveset potential (you could probably make an entire moveset off of any single game in the series) and he's becoming an increasingly important part of the series, now having six games (seven if you count Paper Jam). In addition to him appearing in Smash, I'd love it if he began appearing in spinoffs like Mario Kart or the Mario sports games. If we can have Tanooki Mario as a distinct character in Mario Kart, I see no reason we can't have Paper Mario.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I do find it interesting that the THINGS are now the antagonists. You think someone on the team finally got a word in edgewise?

 

[meleebrawler]

I do find it interesting that the THINGS are now the antagonists. You think someone on the team finally got a word in edgewise?

Not really. The irony is lost on old Paper Mario fans who insist they are actually uncreative compared to stuff like dragons and ghosts.

Do you ever wonder if they've been sending mixed signals this whole time clamoring for old Paper Mario despite thinking the aesthetic is secondary to it's identity? They'd be better off asking for something like Fantasy Mario. Or maybe they're actually just as uncreative as they accuse the devs of being?

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Not really. The irony is lost on old Paper Mario fans who insist they are actually uncreative compared to stuff like dragons and ghosts.

Do you ever wonder if they've been sending mixed signals this whole time clamoring for old Paper Mario despite thinking the aesthetic is secondary to it's identity? They'd be better off asking for something like Fantasy Mario. Or maybe they're actually just as uncreative as they accuse the devs of being?

It's more complicated than that. Fanbases are a bit like crockery, once fractured, they're impossible to put back together.
That's why the Sonic Fanbase SEEMS to be completely contradictory, you're actually hearing form whichever of the many factions happens to be the loudest that day.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

It's more complicated than that. Fanbases are a bit like crockery, once fractured, they're impossible to put back together.
That's why the Sonic Fanbase SEEMS to be completely contradictory, you're actually hearing form whichever of the many factions happens to be the loudest that day.

And then there's Smash, that one is a special case, as I'm sure you're aware.

Given that, it's a wonder that Beenox made any sense out of the Crash fans' loudest demands when they released the Beenox pack for Nitro-Fueled.

That being said, it's been ages since we've had an RPG that has you fight abstract objects as enemies. Paper Mario just went full-on Mother here.

 

[Pokelego999]

Did I add my support here? I don't think I have yet.

 

[TheBeastHimself]

I'd like to add my support as well! With Origami King coming out, I think it'd be awesome to see Paper Mario as a character in Smash. I know there's going to be those "ANOTHER MARIO?!" people, but like, Paper Mario would 100% work completely different. Besides, we already have , and they work more similarly to each other than Mario and Paper Mario would.

 

[zumaddy]

I'd like to add my support as well! With Origami King coming out, I think it'd be awesome to see Paper Mario as a character in Smash. I know there's going to be those "ANOTHER MARIO?!" people, but like, Paper Mario would 100% work completely different. Besides, we already have , and they work more similarly to each other than Mario and Paper Mario would.

I saw someone on reddit say we don't need another Mario because they all play the same... if Paper Mario is a semi-clone of Mario I'll be very concerned lmao.

Anyways it feels good to be excited for a Paper Mario game. I hear Color Splash is a pretty good game but at the time when they showed the trailer, the battle system and the paint bucket follower my stomach dropped. On the contrary I'm looking forward to next month

 

[UserKev]

Eh, here's a fun topic for Paper Mario fans. Choose your partners, with a Twist.

You can select any non protagonist from only Nintendo owned I.P's, Paper Mario must be the main protagonist. One character per I.P is optional, but not recommended. Final bosses cannot be chosen as partners, but enemies can be chosen. Only 5 partners are allowed.

My chosen partners to give you an idea.

Adult Purah. She is a character from Zelda: Breath of The Wild who would use Sheikah tech to aid her in battle, mini Guardian mech.

Cranky Kong. Cranky Kong is a character from Donkey Kong or arguably Mario Vs. DK who would use his cane for a variety of attacks, pogo stick, karate attacks.

The Raven, is an enemy from Yoshi's Island. His attacks would be based around fancy gravitational stomps that also release projectile sparks upon stomping the ground like Raphael The Raven's boss battle.

Mimikyu is a Ghost/Fairy Pokémon from Gamefreak's flagship series. Like its typing, Mimikyu's attacks would centered around shadow sneak, shadow claw and play rough.

Polar Bear. The Polar Bear is an enemy from the NES title Ice Climbers. His attacks would revolve around strength, heavy lifting ice block throws.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2..._features_a_seamless_open_world_and_huge_maps

Honestly, I don't mind the chapter structure being dropped, it's the one long-running thing about Paper Mario that I wasn't particularly fond of. Also, good to know they're taking steps to avoid the same issue Yooka-Laylee had with its maps.

That being said, this is the only upcoming noteworthy Nintendo release coming this month, so I figure they might be ready to reveal news shortly after it launches, at the earliest. Otherwise, we probably won't know until September.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Color Splash sold 0.86 million copies.

That's not good, but considering how it was an end-of-life game for a disaster console, I'd chalk that up as a hollow victory for the development team. At the very least, they were able to profit from the game.

I think Star Fox Zero sold under a million copies as well didn't it?

 

[Edelgard von Hresvelg]

Hey all, wanted to share my vision of a moveset for what I am calling "RPG Paper Mario". I know, I'm a dirty old-school fan who played the N64 and GCN games growing up and I consider the newer games a different genre and essentially different series, which just happens to share the same name as the older ones. If you haven't played the original two Paper Mario games, all I can say is you're not living your life to its fullest potential.

With that out of the way, I wanted to incorporate every single partner Mario has had in the Paper Mario RPGs, since they are really the life and personality of the games. So here goes:

Standard Attacks
----------------------------------------------------
Neutral A - Mario swings his hammer down
Jab A- Ms. Mowz appears in front of Mario and repeatedly slaps fighters
Forward Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer sideways
Up Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer up
Down Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer down (again)

Dash Attack - Mario does a spin dash from PM64

Forward Smash - Mario raises his hammer and brings it down. While charging, the hammer changes to Super Hammer and then Ultra Hammer.
Down Smash - Mario jumps on the shell of Kooper or Koops (it randomly changes), which slides quickly in front of and behind Mario a short distance.
Up Smash - Vivian rises from the shadows and performs a Shade Fist upwards; similar to Isabelle's up smash.

Neutral Air - Mario makes the stylish midair jumping pose from TTYD; functions similar to regular Mario's neutral air.
Forward Air - Mario holds Watt in front of him who performs a shocking burst
Back Air - Bow appears behind Mario and performs a rapid smack
Up Air - Mario raises his hands upwards to attack, like the pose he often makes
Down Air - Mario stomps on a fighter and bounces up, similar to Greninja's down air.

Grabs and Pummels
----------------------------------------------------
Grab - Mario grabs an enemy
Pummel - similar to Peach's Toad, Goombario or Goombella (it's random) pops out and makes short jumps from the ground to attack

Forward Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter forwards
Back Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter backwards
Up Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter upwards
Down Throw - Goombario/Goombella performs a full-on Headbonk

Special Attacks
----------------------------------------------------
Neutral Special - Sushie charges a water squirt or Flurrie charges a Gale Force (it's random); functions like Squirtle's water gun or Mario's FLUDD.
Side Special - Lakilester throws a spiny or Yoshi Kid throws an egg (it's random); similar to Yoshi's egg throw
Up Special - Parakarry lifts Mario similar to the Winged Pikmin
Down Special - Bombette or Bobbery (it's random) begins walking forward a short distance then explodes (like mecha-koopa but not as far)

Final Smash - All of Mario's partners from both games gather to attack your opponent in turn, and then Mario finishes it off with a hammer spin attack

Other Animations
----------------------------------------------------
Shield - Mario ducks down like when you choose to defend
Shield+B - Vivian grabs Mario and both sink into the ground, similar to what Inkling can do to refill ink.

Shield Dodge - Mario turns sideways, which makes him appear paper-thin
Forward/Back Roll - Mario spins around as he 'rolls' left or right

Up Taunt - Mario makes the animation where he lifts his hands in the air and says "Yeah!"
Side Taunt - Mario holds the brim of his hat like he does after finishing a battle
Down Taunt - A random partner appears next to Mario and makes a brief pose

Conclusion
----------------------------------------------------
My favorite thing about this moveset is that each partner character can appear in multiple ways, such as during an attack, a taunt, or Mario's Final Smash. It kind of has a flavor of Villager/Isabelle but instead of spawning various objects, Mario's partner characters appear instead. The random element of which partner visually appears could be inspired from the way regular Mario's Super Jump Punch shows Cappy or not. I opted not to reference the Star Spirits or the Crystal Stars or even most of the badgees, focusing instead on the partners and what they can bring to the table.
Of course this will never happen, since Nintendo is trying to forget the original Paper Mario games and if Paper Mario did get into Smash today, he would probably throw stickers and confetti and do a bunch of papercraft gimmicky things.
Anyway that's all bye

 

[meleebrawler]

Hey all, wanted to share my vision of a moveset for what I am calling "RPG Paper Mario". I know, I'm a dirty old-school fan who played the N64 and GCN games growing up and I consider the newer games a different genre and essentially different series, which just happens to share the same name as the older ones. If you haven't played the original two Paper Mario games, all I can say is you're not living your life to its fullest potential.

With that out of the way, I wanted to incorporate every single partner Mario has had in the Paper Mario RPGs, since they are really the life and personality of the games. So here goes:

Standard Attacks
----------------------------------------------------
Neutral A - Mario swings his hammer down
Jab A- Ms. Mowz appears in front of Mario and repeatedly slaps fighters
Forward Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer sideways
Up Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer up
Down Tilt A- Mario swings his hammer down (again)

Dash Attack - Mario does a spin dash from PM64

Forward Smash - Mario raises his hammer and brings it down. While charging, the hammer changes to Super Hammer and then Ultra Hammer.
Down Smash - Mario jumps on the shell of Kooper or Koops (it randomly changes), which slides quickly in front of and behind Mario a short distance.
Up Smash - Vivian rises from the shadows and performs a Shade Fist upwards; similar to Isabelle's up smash.

Neutral Air - Mario makes the stylish midair jumping pose from TTYD; functions similar to regular Mario's neutral air.
Forward Air - Mario holds Watt in front of him who performs a shocking burst
Back Air - Bow appears behind Mario and performs a rapid smack
Up Air - Mario raises his hands upwards to attack, like the pose he often makes
Down Air - Mario stomps on a fighter and bounces up, similar to Greninja's down air.

Grabs and Pummels
----------------------------------------------------
Grab - Mario grabs an enemy
Pummel - similar to Peach's Toad, Goombario or Goombella (it's random) pops out and makes short jumps from the ground to attack

Forward Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter forwards
Back Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter backwards
Up Throw - Goombario/Goombella bonk the fighter upwards
Down Throw - Goombario/Goombella performs a full-on Headbonk

Special Attacks
----------------------------------------------------
Neutral Special - Sushie charges a water squirt or Flurrie charges a Gale Force (it's random); functions like Squirtle's water gun or Mario's FLUDD.
Side Special - Lakilester throws a spiny or Yoshi Kid throws an egg (it's random); similar to Yoshi's egg throw
Up Special - Parakarry lifts Mario similar to the Winged Pikmin
Down Special - Bombette or Bobbery (it's random) begins walking forward a short distance then explodes (like mecha-koopa but not as far)

Final Smash - All of Mario's partners from both games gather to attack your opponent in turn, and then Mario finishes it off with a hammer spin attack

Other Animations
----------------------------------------------------
Shield - Mario ducks down like when you choose to defend
Shield+B - Vivian grabs Mario and both sink into the ground, similar to what Inkling can do to refill ink.

Shield Dodge - Mario turns sideways, which makes him appear paper-thin
Forward/Back Roll - Mario spins around as he 'rolls' left or right

Up Taunt - Mario makes the animation where he lifts his hands in the air and says "Yeah!"
Side Taunt - Mario holds the brim of his hat like he does after finishing a battle
Down Taunt - A random partner appears next to Mario and makes a brief pose

Conclusion
----------------------------------------------------
My favorite thing about this moveset is that each partner character can appear in multiple ways, such as during an attack, a taunt, or Mario's Final Smash. It kind of has a flavor of Villager/Isabelle but instead of spawning various objects, Mario's partner characters appear instead. The random element of which partner visually appears could be inspired from the way regular Mario's Super Jump Punch shows Cappy or not. I opted not to reference the Star Spirits or the Crystal Stars or even most of the badgees, focusing instead on the partners and what they can bring to the table.
Of course this will never happen, since Nintendo is trying to forget the original Paper Mario games and if Paper Mario did get into Smash today, he would probably throw stickers and confetti and do a bunch of papercraft gimmicky things.
Anyway that's all bye

Lay off the P badges, bub. You and I both know this barely reflects Paper Mario (implying he has a Captain Olimar-level of reliance on his partners to do anything), even in the older games, and judging by your passive-aggressive remark about people needing to play those games, you only crafted this moveset to vent.

 

[Edelgard von Hresvelg]

Lay off the P badges, bub. You and I both know this barely reflects Paper Mario (implying he has a Captain Olimar-level of reliance on his partners to do anything), even in the older games, and judging by your passive-aggressive remark about people needing to play those games, you only crafted this moveset to vent.

I am sorry to say you completely misjudge my character and intentions. Better luck next time.

Edit: Also I will be blocking you now. Thank you for reminding me why I left this site.

 

[meleebrawler]

You have to realize that the divide of Paper Mario games is a touchy subject, where a statement like "you haven't lived if" can easily come off as "you're an idiot if", particularly if one has already experienced less-than open minded discussion.

I've played Bug Fables and got sick of it within a few days, and even when I was it kind of felt like I was forcing myself to. It has the Yooka-Laylee problem where it isn't particularly interested in refining the formula it emulates, instead just copying it and hoping it'll be enough. The tweaks to resource management just make them more obnoxious; no special moves means an overreliance on cooking, cash-grinding and restocking inventory. It was enough to get me to wonder if I actually enjoyed "playing" the older games as opposed to experiencing them. In the end I feel similarly to Antdude's comparison: TTYD has a better battle system, but is plagued by busywork and padding between those encounters; Color Splash is more fun to explore with creative levels, but battles are less enjoyable. Their plots are relatively equal in my eyes, just enjoyable for different reasons.

With Origami King going back to a more open world, it remains to be seen if backtracking will be managed well; not overly relying on acquired abilities for overworld progression is a good start. After my experience playing Bug Fables, I don't want to hear the newer Paper Mario games have nothing good to offer in terms of gameplay.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Two weeks left before the game launches.

 

[Cosmic77]

Didn't see anyone post it yet, so here's the World 1 battle theme revealed earlier this week.

Seems like each streamer will have a theme. This is for the red one.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Didn't see anyone post it yet, so here's the World 1 battle theme revealed earlier this week.

Seems like each streamer will have a theme. This is for the red one.

That's a nice change of pace. Too many RPGs have a base fight music that you can get sick of.

 

[Honest Slug]

TTYD has a better battle system, but is plagued by busywork and padding between those encounters; Color Splash is more fun to explore with creative levels, but battles are less enjoyable. Their plots are relatively equal in my eyes, just enjoyable for different reasons.

I've seen this video and sorry but as someone who has played Color Splash I think this is hilariously wrong. Color Splash has actual levels where there are two paint stars literally right next to each other and you have to go through the exact same level twice for no good reason. I think this is just AntDude trying to be a contrarian because Color Splash's backtracking is just as bad if not worse than what was found in TTYD.

This isn't even getting into the many little moments of backtracking like the "Hero Toad hunt" you have to do for the Red Paint Star and all the times you have to go back to previous levels to complete small tasks. Unless you had the foresight to buy a Magma Burger beforehand, then that will likely also be more backtracking for your first run. The game was easy enough to where I was able to get 99% of the Things and Rescue Toads on my first try, but if you miss a couple, then that'll be even more backtracking.

This isn't to say the backtracking in Color Splash is super awful or anything but I think it's ridiculous to act like Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 in TTYD make backtracking a huge problem in TTYD but then act like this problem just doesn't exist in Color Splash.

 

[meleebrawler]

I've seen this video and sorry but as someone who has played Color Splash I think this is hilariously wrong. Color Splash has actual levels where there are two paint stars literally right next to each other and you have to go through the exact same level twice for no good reason. I think this is just AntDude trying to be a contrarian because Color Splash's backtracking is just as bad if not worse than what was found in TTYD.

This isn't even getting into the many little moments of backtracking like the "Hero Toad hunt" you have to do for the Red Paint Star and all the times you have to go back to previous levels to complete small tasks. Unless you had the foresight to buy a Magma Burger beforehand, then that will likely also be more backtracking for your first run. The game was easy enough to where I was able to get 99% of the Things and Rescue Toads on my first try, but if you miss a couple, then that'll be even more backtracking.

This isn't to say the backtracking in Color Splash is super awful or anything but I think it's ridiculous to act like Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 in TTYD make backtracking a huge problem in TTYD but then act like this problem just doesn't exist in Color Splash.

Name one chapter in TTYD (besides Glitz Pit that is mostly just a series of battles) that doesn't have you walk back and forth across a linear path at least once.

Spoiler

Chapter 1: Walk past statues and Petalburg to ruins, walk back to statues with keys and Koops. Not too bad but an omen of things to come.
Chapter 2: Walk past Sirens to the tree. Walk to Flurrie's house. Walk all the way back to Sirens and fight, then walk back to Flurrie's house again and finally get back to the tree. And the less said about herding Punis, the better.
Chapter 5: They make you walk the path between camp and the dungeon five freakin' times. And then two more times after the chapter for good measure.

Compared to TTYD, the amount of mandatory backtracking in Color Splash is downright scarce. And even then, the world map design mitigates that pretty well across larger distances.

 

[Cosmic77]

I've seen this video and sorry but as someone who has played Color Splash I think this is hilariously wrong. Color Splash has actual levels where there are two paint stars literally right next to each other and you have to go through the exact same level twice for no good reason. I think this is just AntDude trying to be a contrarian because Color Splash's backtracking is just as bad if not worse than what was found in TTYD.

This isn't even getting into the many little moments of backtracking like the "Hero Toad hunt" you have to do for the Red Paint Star and all the times you have to go back to previous levels to complete small tasks. Unless you had the foresight to buy a Magma Burger beforehand, then that will likely also be more backtracking for your first run. The game was easy enough to where I was able to get 99% of the Things and Rescue Toads on my first try, but if you miss a couple, then that'll be even more backtracking.

This isn't to say the backtracking in Color Splash is super awful or anything but I think it's ridiculous to act like Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 in TTYD make backtracking a huge problem in TTYD but then act like this problem just doesn't exist in Color Splash.

I think the big difference is that Color Splash usually has you (1) revisit a level for only a minute or two so you can talk to someone or retrieve an item, or (2) continue part of a level that was orginally inaccessible until certain conditions were met. There weren't many times when you had to run from point A to point B to point A and so forth.

TTYD does this in basically every chapter. Chapter 4 does this a ridiculous amount just to flesh itself out. The first half of chapter 2 and 5 do the same thing, albeit much less than 4. Chapter 1, 6, and 7 do this briefly as well, though most people don't complain about them.

TTYD is a great game, but exploration and platforming wasn't one of its strengths. That's one aspect about Color Splash that I feel like they did better at. Most levels aren't linear, and the game has a lot of areas where the jump is used for more than climbing up a small staircase or a random ledge

 

[meleebrawler]

I think the big difference is that Color Splash usually has you (1) revisit a level for only a minute or two so you can talk to someone or retrieve an item, or (2) continue part of a level that was orginally inaccessible until certain conditions were met. There weren't many times when you had to run from point A to point B to point A and so forth.

TTYD does this in basically every chapter. Chapter 4 does this a ridiculous amount just to flesh itself out. The first half of chapter 2 and 5 do the same thing, albeit much less than 4. Chapter 1, 6, and 7 do this briefly as well, though most people don't complain about them.

TTYD is a great game, but exploration and platforming wasn't one of its strengths. That's one aspect about Color Splash that I feel like they did better at. Most levels aren't linear, and the game has a lot of areas where the jump is used for more than climbing up a small staircase or a random ledge

5 is probably actually the most egregious example in terms of sheer amount. You walk that path between camp and the grotto five times, then two more times after the chapter for good measure. The only reason it doesn't stick out more is that it isn't as long as Twilight Trail and they don't make you do it partnerless.

Edit: Does anyone feel as though they are reintroducing more independent factions of of Mario enemies? The ones in the ninja town at least don't seem to have any ties to Bowser.

 

[Honest Slug]

I think the big difference is that Color Splash usually has you (1) revisit a level for only a minute or two so you can talk to someone or retrieve an item, or (2) continue part of a level that was orginally inaccessible until certain conditions were met. There weren't many times when you had to run from point A to point B to point A and so forth.

I've been replaying every Paper Mario game (Besides Sticker Star cuz lol Sticker Star) and after replaying Color Splash I've noted a lot of backtracking that requires you to do the exact same level twice for another paint star. Thus far this has happened in Daffodil Peak, the Chateau, Indigo Underground, Plum Park, Kiwano Temple and Mosrock Theater. There isn't any reason for this other than the devs having a hateboner for paint stars unlocking more than one pathway. This is way more prevalent than the likes of AntDude admits in his video and is very much at least equal to the busywork in TTYD.

I'd recommend replaying the game if you don't understand where I'm getting at, and I hope that doesn't come across as condescending. My first time playing this stuff didn't really phase me as the game still felt fresh at the time, now that I know what to expect this backtracking has certainly become more noticeable.

 

[Cosmic77]

I've been replaying every Paper Mario game (Besides Sticker Star cuz lol Sticker Star) and after replaying Color Splash I've noted a lot of backtracking that requires you to do the exact same level twice for another paint star. Thus far this has happened in Daffodil Peak, the Chateau, Indigo Underground, Plum Park, Kiwano Temple and Mosrock Theater. There isn't any reason for this other than the devs having a hateboner for paint stars unlocking more than one pathway. This is way more prevalent than the likes of AntDude admits in his video and is very much at least equal to the busywork in TTYD.

I'd recommend replaying the game if you don't understand where I'm getting at, and I hope that doesn't come across as condescending. My first time playing this stuff didn't really phase me as the game still felt fresh at the time, now that I know what to expect this backtracking has certainly become more noticeable.

Kiwano Temple was the only one that really bothered me, and that's because it takes at least seven minutes regardless of how fast you go. The Chateau and Plum Park take a minute or two at best to complete after the first time. The rest are only mildly annoying; you can usually fly through without battling.