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[xevis]

All you've argued at this point is that Sticker Star isn't an RPG because it's too shallow to be one.

Strewth. My head hurts. I'm done. Good luck with your Sticker Star hate thread.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Strewth. My head hurts. I'm done. Good luck with your Sticker Star hate thread.

Not a hate thread, it's an opinion thread. Sorry that I didn't consult you on your list of acceptable opinions to have about Toilet Paper Mario Sticker Star.

Spoiler

stole that from Tommy Tallarico

Seriously, you're so hung up on people accurately pointing out the RPG mechanics of this game, so much so that it becomes impossible for you to fathom how people can see what you cannot. Yes, the Nintendo.com website absolutely calls it an Adventure game, but this at no point can be a valid rebuttal to the point because the point is that they made an Adventure game that has distracting RPG mechanics to it. The battles are completely different? In what way? If you swapped the sticker menu for an attack menu and had EXP as a reward (the latter, by the way, is going to be present in some form in Color Splash, a game very prominently advertised as an adventure game - does that not qualify as RPG mechanics either?), it's essentially the same thing, right? And yet, those are not the only elements of battle, so how can it be completely different if similarities can be observed?

 

[Jonneh3003]

Not a hate thread, it's an opinion thread. Sorry that I didn't consult you on your list of acceptable opinions to have about Toilet Paper Mario Sticker Star.

Spoiler

stole that from Tommy Tallarico

And this goes along with not being a hate thread how?
You seem to be disregarding what the game does and instead just complaining about what it doesn't do. Have fun with it rather than comparing it to the original games. There's a reason this game was received well my critics and hated by fans, most critics probably had more of an open mind.

 

[A Link to the Past]

And this goes along with not being a hate thread how?
You seem to be disregarding what the game does and instead just complaining about what it doesn't do. Have fun with it rather than comparing it to the original games. There's a reason this game was received well my critics and hated by fans, most critics probably had more of an open mind.

This is simply disrespectful. Almost every single part of my OP is criticizing it in a vacuum, and could work if this was the only game in the series (with modifications of course to the post). If you legitimately think that I, someone who bought this game at launch knowing exactly what it was, and having faith in it being able to be a great game despite being so wildly different from other entries, am complaining about it not being an RPG or it not being TTYD2, you have either not been listening to what I've been saying or you simply do not want to engage in good faith. Yours is a straw argument, because it in no way applies to me.

 

[Krammy]

There's a reason this game was received well by critics and hated by fans, most critics probably had more of an open mind.

I actually had to look up the various reviews posted on Metacritic, because I could've sworn this game got panned across the board on release, but nope, you're absolutely correct.

Unrelated, but while I fully understand Nintendo continuing on with the series in the vein of Sticker Star because of it's high sales, I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that I'll not get to play another like Paper Mario or The Thousand Year Door. It wouldn't be so bad if the Mario & Luigi RPG series could pick up the slack, but they just don't have the same style or charm.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I actually had to look up the various reviews posted on Metacritic, because I could've sworn this game got panned across the board on release, but nope, you're absolutely correct.

Unrelated, but while I fully understand Nintendo continuing on with the series in the vein of Sticker Star because of it's high sales, I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that I'll not get to play another like Paper Mario or The Thousand Year Door. It wouldn't be so bad if the Mario & Luigi RPG series could pick up the slack, but they just don't have the same style or charm.

It's even worse for me with Mario & Luigi, because while I liked Paper Jam a lot (a good example of a game that kind of got homogenized but still had a ton of great writing and personality), I'm worried that M&L may get stuck with this trapping of reduced story focus. I think a lot of people were fairly negative towards Paper Jam too because of them talking about how they're changing Paper Mario to an adventure game (or more accurately a flexible game that can suit a number of genres), and yet some of the problems PM has starting with Sticker Star are creeping into that series. I'm just hoping that Paper Jam is just a one-off thing and not reflective of the direction the series is taking.

 

[Tezzeractor]

I had to stop playing when I got to the desert. There was absolutely nothing pushing me to keep going. That Wii U Paper Mario rumor that ended up being Color Splash made me really excited, but after seeing the reveal, and the following details about the game, I've just become super depressed.

 

[Intel_89]

I payed full price for this on day 1 and I still like it a lot.

 

[cloudyy]

An RPG that has no story, where you don't get exp from battles, and the only rewards for battling is getting items, but stocking up on coins and items is useless because boss battles are generally beat using specific items you have to find in random locations.

What is Zelda?

 

[Simbabbad]

Gonna correct you there, Super Paper Mario was still an RPG. It was just not a turn based one, it was action based.

Er, how was Super Paper Mario a RPG? At all? It was more like an action/adventure game.

Sticker Star tried to build from that by removing the linearity, 2D/3D gimmick and the tons of dialogue of Super Paper Mario. It was badly flawed because of specific issues but the direction makes sense.

 

[Cub3h]

I'm very glad this game is getting the hate it deserves, it's probably the only 1/10 game I've ever played. I bought it full price at release thinking that the 7/10 scores it was getting couldn't be that bad, especially with how amazing PM64 and TTYD were.

What makes it worse is that the graphics and music especially are good, but the game is just an absolute drag to play. When the best battle strategy is "don't fight" I don't know how this game got through play testing.

 

[Kthulhu]

I thought it was really fun despite not being like the original two games. Flawed, but fun none the less.

Which is fine, but they shouldn't have sold it like it was gonna be like the first two games. They should've made a new spin off of Mario. Sticker Star and Color Splash are insults to fans of the first two games.

 

[Bakkus]

Er, how was Super Paper Mario a RPG? At all? It was more like an action/adventure game.

Sticker Star tried to build from that by removing the linearity, 2D/3D gimmick and the tons of dialogue of Super Paper Mario. It was badly flawed because of specific issues but the direction makes sense.

It had a level up system, item management, some decent world building.

How on earth can you say Sticker Star tried to remove linearity? The world is now level based with a world map to traverse! If the 2D/3D stuff was a gimmick, what the hell do you call using one time off stickers as your means for attacking and healing? The dialouge in SPM could be a bit much at times, but i'll take what we had there any day of the year over the piss poor filth we were served with in SS and will be served in CS.

 

[Bakkus]

Lol at people still shitting on Miyamoto because how this game turned out (good btw), like he's the one who made it. He gave some notes and IS liked them, so they went for it. They made the game, not Miyamoto. If they didn't like that direction, they could've done things differently.

Sigh. For these developers, Nintendo is basically their religion, and who do you think is the god of said religion for these people? Now, would you deny the will of your god?

 

[LoveCake]

I really liked Paper Mario Sticker Star.

 

[rardk64]

I love the original post. I hate to bash on this game so much because I know of a few people that like it, but the fact is that it's a very negative sign for the future of Paper Mario games. Are we really going to never get a proper follow-up to The Thousand Year Door?

Their new presented logic is something I feared, and it makes me far more worried for the future - that the RPG mechanics were dropped because they already had an RPG in the Mario & Luigi games. I don't know about everyone else, but I personally felt the Paper Mario RPGs were superior games.

I don't need to get in another rant about every problem I had with the game - OP stated each issue perfectly. Please don't let the Paper Mario RPG style die because of the Mario & Luigi games. They're very different games.

 

[Fandangox]

How can you have a Paper Mario game where Bowser doesn't talk?

HOW?!

Another sticker thread, another chance to post this review:

...is the best game in the Paper Mario series, and I am baffled as to why it was subject to the amount of criticism it had. I had actually waited quite a while to play this game because of this criticism, and have only recently completed it.

Graphics: It's pretty indisputable that the 3DS is more recent than the Wii, Gamecube, and N64. Ergo, this game has the best graphics in the series. The Wii Paper Mario MIGHT have been better if it was really 3D.

Sound: Admittedly, there's nothing to objectively say that this soundtrack is any better or worse than the previous games. Jazz is pretty snazzy though.

Plot: The plot displays an artistic sense of minimalism seen nowhere else in the entire series. Instead of establishing many new, throwaway characters, this game focuses on the development of existing characters, like Kamek, Toad, and Bowser. In fact, Bowser's performance was astounding, conveying this menacing nature without a single line in the entire game. On the characters, I think my favorite character was either Toad, folded-hat Toad, or sepia-toned Toad. I'm glad they had these over characters like Goomba with a hat, Pink Goomba, and whatever those Pixls were in Super Paper Mario.

Gameplay: This is where I see most of the complaints about this game, and I have to disagree with all of them. One of the things that I see is the complaint about the battles having no incentive. They are wrong, as the lack of permanent reward for battles is an artistic allegory of the worklife of the average adult human. You work to get more money which allows you to work more... at repetition.

Also, I see criticism in the game's puzzle system, but I would refute that because as I see it, Sticker Star does it perfectly. Instead of using partners through trial and error, this game requires real thinking for its puzzles. The loss of a sticker for a wrong answer to the puzzle inspires real thought into the solution, rather than just blind trial and error. I would actually like to see this mechanic in the Legend of Zelda games, where you lose your item if you use it incorrectly. It would vastly improve the puzzle solving experience in that game as well, but I digress.

The last point of criticism I will cover is the battle system itself, relying on Stickers for mundane actions. However, I see the battle system as a sort of deep experience in resource management, much like the card game battle system in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The developers clearly demonstrated that they know how to make intelligent systems for games.

The entire game revolved around the idea of exploration. If you're ever at a loss for a puzzle or need some powerful stickers, it helps to comb the entire area for hidden paths. They will hold vital Things that will help you for required part of the games, deepening the experience. None of the other Paper Mario games had such hidden things, except for maybe Ms. Mows. I just wish that she was required to get past certain parts of the game, so that players would be encouraged to go out of the game's way to find her.

Overall: This game is the best experience in the entire Paper Mario series. No, one of the best gaming experiences of all time! Everything about this game is stellar, and I thoroughly recommend this game to Everyone.

Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Overall: 6.75/10 Perfect

 

[Kthulhu]

Another sticker thread, another chance to post this review:

The hell did I just read?

 

[Gsnap]

definitely the worst recent Nintendo game and one of their worst ever, really. The game is just fundamentally broken in its design in ways no other Nintendo games are. The pieces just don't fit together.

 

[A Link to the Past]

The hell did I just read?

Concurred, lol.

 

[Shiggy]

Reviewers certainly didn't lie about the quality of this game. I just finished the first world and started with the second. It's not bad, the sticker system is ok, but it's just boring. I already don't want to continue playing anymore.

There's also one big error in terms of consistency. In ordinary Mario games, you can sometimes get underground when there's quicksand, but also get back up at the same place. In this game, I went from an underground part back up. When I was on ground again, I wanted to get back underground. Thinking that standing at the location in the quicksand would bring me back, I died and lost progress of that level. Ugh.

Not sure if I want to finish this. Should've got Mario & Luigi Dream Team Bros instead.


Oh, and battles are pointless, right? I just try to walk around enemies now.

 

[Franz Brötchen]

Probably a little too ballsy to let this be my first post as a Junior but here I go:

I've literally just finished TTYD.
It is a great game, definitely. But let me be quite clear: Its combat system and the associated RPG elements (levelling, badges...) are to me the worst parts of the game. Not having played Sticker Star yet (or, indeed ever) I do believe GAF's majority that it is not an enjoyable game. But the reason for that is definitely not the combat mechanics per se but their bad execution.
I absolutely look forward to Color Splash because I'm confident that they'll do the necessary improvements on battle mechanics to make them work. The footage shown so far promises great humor worthy of the Paper Mario series. We'll probably be sad that they didn't let more NPCs be non-Toads but this won't be a deal braker for me.

I dare say that most TTYD fans delude themselves if they think they like it for being an RPG. It is the humorous moments that capitalize on different quirky characters that are the defining strength of TTYD and I'm confident that Color Splash will also deliver on humorous moments even if the quirky characters are mostly Toads in different attires.

 

[chillybright]

Late to the farty?

This should be a thing.

And game sucked. It stripped all the good things from paper mario and added meaningless gimmicks.

 

[zashga]

I liked Sticker Star a lot; it's certainly higher in my esteem than Super Paper Mario or some of the Mario & Luigi games. I get that it's different from the other Mario RPGs in some pretty significant ways, but I didn't dislike it for that. The story and characters are de-emphasized more than I'd like, but the M&L games have gone so far in that direction that Sticker Star is somewhat refreshing for its minimalism. (Dream Team in particular was so wordy and over-tutorialized that I lost interest and didn't finish it.)

It also doesn't bother me that battles don't level you up, since I'm one of the weirdos who just enjoys turn-based battles, and the battles themselves are fun. I like interesting riffs on that classic gameplay, and this game qualifies with the implied scarcity of basic actions. I never had trouble running out of stickers or felt overly restricted by them. The only gameplay aspect I don't much care for are the realistic "objects," so I'm a little bummed that those are apparently back in Color Splash.

It's no TYD, but Sticker Star is a great little game. Probably an 8/10 in my book.