The Direction of Paper Mario

This is basically Sticker Star 2.0, but a tad better.

In Paper Mario Color Splash, everything looks like paper aesthetically, which is visually pleasing. The lack of a fine story and unique characters makes this not as much fun as I really wanted it to be, but at least it isn't as soulless as the previous game.

Paint Scraps are used as incentive to make regular battles have a purpose, which can increase your max paint supply, but it’s still unnecessary to battle most of the time, as they still remain convoluted, and if you escape battles, the enemies literally disappear! This felt cheap and fundamentally wrong.

As the pain mechanic is used for progression and powering up on the overworld, the same battle system is used, and the card system used with it is a bit better, but also soon becomes a chore, as you constantly have to use it before you can attack, delaying the battles.

 

Resource management and rewards don't mean much, as the game throws so much cards and coins at you at every spot. Things also return as stationary objects, and are used for puzzle solving, but also for obtuse obnoxious moments of having to defeat certain bosses.

Koopalings also return, and the humor is witty and intact, referencing pop culture and memes, like Super Paper Mario for instance did too. Again, the world map consists of smaller parts, and isn't interconnected.

Also, Color Splash is ridiculously easy, even for Nintendo standards, and combined with the shallow battles, that is one awful combination. Despite all of the negativity and disappointment, it's still worth playing once if you are a Paper Mario fan in general or not, but it could had been so much more!

Rating: 7.4 

Paper Mario’s latest adventure on the Nintendo Switch. Once new entities known as origami invade and convert the paper figures into their ranks, it's up to Mario and his new companion Olivia to stop her brother from turning everything into origami.

The battle system is quite unique and a departure. It's still turn-based, but Mario is now confronted with a ring system, where he can either spin or slide enemies in rows or next to each other in order to attack them in the best way.

As for boss battles, the stationary (office supply)enemy is put in the center, and Mario will have to figure out through a bit of puzzle solving from outside using arrows and other special buttons in order to defeat each one of them. From elemental creatures to normal tools such as tape and hole punch being bosses, their appearance and personalities were something else.

While the normal battles quickly became redundant and repetitive, because you could only collect coins, defeating it's purpose similar to Sticker Star and Color Splash, the boss battles turned out to be entertaining and memorable.

The origami and confetti themes are fitting and work well in the paper universe, and the dialogue plus writing was spot on. The soundtrack was also noteworthy, and perhaps the desert theme during the yellow streamer episode is my favorite.

Finding and rescuing Toads can be fun to discover them, and filling out Toad Town the more you play is also a nice touch of reward. However, creativity and variety for characters are still missing. We all want unique ones, not generic ones. This design philosophy/policy remains awful and 99% of other video games don’t have this prohibition.

Origami King's new features and directions are welcomed, but the incentive for battling remains low in general. Like many other hardcore fans, I also hate the development’s strict Nintendo policy of not being able to use original NPC characters traditionally anymore, and most of us want a true sequel in the light of 64 and TTYD by now, now with Mario & Luigi's fate also being bleak.

Rating: 7.7

The spiritual successor towards Paper Mario we have been waiting for! and by we I mean the oldest Paper Mario fans around. That doesn't mean that the new Paper Mario titles are bad games with their new themes, but they did become a identity and creativity crisis for the series itself.

Hence why Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling truly is what the old fans have been waiting for since 16 or 13 years, depending on if you look at it from TTYD or SPM's release date. Developed by only 4 people from Panama of all countries, I am truly blazed away by the love and charm how this game got created!

It's not just a clone of PM 64 and TTYD's overall concepts, but it certainly has it's own identity, lore, charm and much more, plus it has quality of life improvements upon the established gameplay, it really feels like an evolution.

In combat, you can switch turns and even positions between characters, using relay functionality so that 1 of the characters can get another turn, which can sometimes be more tactical. Whoever is in front will be hit the most but they will also deal extra damage. Action Commands are back!

Kabbu, Vi and Leif are the protagonist trio of Bugaria, and the game has great writing in general for them and the NPC's in the overworld. There is great chemistry, backgrounds, lore and humor to be found, and the tattle and spy options have improved here in quantity and arguably quality.

Multiple abilities per character allow for fun puzzles and platforming moments to happen in the overworld, and the game is split up between chapters. The Cooking and Badge systems(hereby named Medal) return here, and I really, really missed them over all these years. Well, Hollow Knight also kind of has a badge system.

Hard mode is a real challenge for Paper Mario veterans, some of the bosses will eat you up, you will need to use precise movements and the right strategy to beat them. But while I was playing Hard Mode, I would also be getting more Exploration Points, and get rare Medals as rewards.

But alas, after chapter 4, I decided to turn it off, as Normal mode is a bit more fun in order to experience it all even better. Aside from a well done main storyline, the game has numerous side quests to undertake, not just fetch quests, but also unique battles and more.

With a card mini game and an arcade being present, as well as plenty of secrets to be found around, Bug Fables is a true sequel towards the turn based Paper Mario RPG's of the past, and it redeems so much, that it has filled up the void.

Rating: 8.5