Review: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Feels New Again

It seems sporty to find a way to reproach Nintendo for whatever it is. If it makes a sequel: bad. If they develop a remaster: bad. If they work on a remake: bad. As they say, not even a chili fits them. Those who are not complainers, pupes enjoy what is published and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Nintendo Switch it is a very enjoyable experience.

Yes, we already know that it came out on the Game Cube and that it could come out one day on Nintendo Switch Onlinebut in the meantime, this relaunch of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door In the form of a remaster/remake it fully fulfills the task of ensuring that the game we enjoyed a couple of decades ago can be played again today and in a certainly solid and updated way.

Nintendo makes several efforts in all its developments and bring back to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is no exception. We have a game that was already very good two decades ago, but to play it again the only way was to reconnect the Game Cube to the television and have a copy, which at the moment is a somewhat whimsical task.

It sounds a bit silly to want to explore this title again, because “it’s already over”, “it’s already been”, however, when a video game is good, there is no need to hide from it and it is totally valid to bring it back so that a new generation of gamers can experience it. Plus, if you hurry me up, we have an experience with timeless gameplay mechanics and humor that is actually really entertaining.

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In search of a door

Replicating the success of Super Mario RPG sounded like a complicated task, especially since Squaresoft had gone hand in hand to work with PlayStation. It’s not that they no longer had a relationship with Nintendo, let’s just say there were other priorities. Making an RPG sounded like a complicated task for the Big N developers and somehow they achieved it. Many were amazed by the first game in the series on Nintendo 64. Could a sequel have the same success?

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door It is a game that really stands out, because despite its “simplicity”, it is a very solid game and its story is very fun. First of all, the world of this game is made 2D/3D and they are all paper. That is the mere façade. Then, we have the princess who gets into trouble again, being captured by an admittedly strange group. From here comes a map which will take us through various scenarios and look for some crystals that will take us to the door of a thousand years.

Mario will not go alone in this story, he is accompanied by all kinds of characters with all kinds of levels of charisma, from those who stand up to whatever is put in front of them to some individuals who will feel afraid even because the wind blows. The joke of having such a diverse “cast” is because we have a very funny story. That’s right, an RPG doesn’t need very focused and mind-numbing narratives that will stress you out, the goal is to have fun and present you with a challenge worth facing.

The curious thing about this premise is that, the truth is, it is very simple. The fun is in how the story is woven, whether from the way the princess contacts Mario to the eventual participation of Bowser’s nosy character. Best of all, even though so many years have passed, the game remains fresh like freshly cut and washed lettuce, not like a product that came out a couple of decades ago.

RPG with Nintendo feel

The grace of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door It lies mainly in the fact that this is not an RPG like those from Square Enix or Atlus. Let’s say that it is a much simpler and digestible experience where what should prevail is, without a doubt, fun as such. To give you a good idea. The user interface when it comes to combat is very simple: you choose the action to perform or an item to heal yourself or recover your flower points.

When you carry out an attack, it is executed in a more powerful way when you perform the action with certain precision, such as pressing a button in time or holding the lever on one side and then moving it, in the opposite direction. It seems very simple, but precision is what gives these attacks their flavor. From here another variable appears, which is that, when a fight starts, you will be in front of an audience and the better you do things, the audience will be much more entertained and the rewards will be better.

The way in which the characters progress is very simple, but effective, since you worry about their attribute points growing, that way you focus on taking advantage of different special abilities. Since it is not a complicated system, you are more concerned with advancing the story and revealing the mystery that will lead you to find the happy door.

Because the story is pleasant and the capacity for surprise is never lost, you realize that the value of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door It goes beyond having a friendly and fun presentation, it is a complete package that feels current even though many years have passed since its launch on the Game Cube.

Remake? Remaster? Or what the hell?

Many will argue what the hell it is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the Nintendo Switch, especially because, well, there is a need among gamers to put a label on everything. Well, right off the bat, it is impossible to say that this is a remake, because even though it looks so good, it is not made from scratch as is the precise case of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Now, it is more than just a high-definition remaster, because generally, remasters are only run through a machine that re-renders them and adjusts the artwork a little so that it looks better on the most current equipment. In this beautiful case we have a game that is a remaster like the one Toys for Bob did with Crash Bandicoot, because let’s say that the skeleton is still there, but the appearance was improved in more than one line.

Maybe it is not such a transcendental detail for many, but there is also localization work for Latin America which helps make the experience even more friendly and fun. The final result is to have terminology for our region. It’s not like we don’t like what is being done for Spain, but it feels much better when there are dialogues designed for us.

On the other hand, there will be no shortage of complaints about the game’s performance. That, whether or not it has 60 frames per second, the resolution, the animations. I think we forget that this is an RPG, that it is not necessary to be so aware of the FPS and other things that, in this precise case, the truth is minuscule.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was already good, now more gamers can enjoy it

Many would consider bringing back Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door It doesn’t make much sense, but we go in parts. This, for video game critics, is the best title in the series. Not even their later installments were as applauded, they were even criticized for going too far down the path of the action RPG element instead of continuing with turn-based combat.

Now, by chance we get to the point that the game comes out on the 20th anniversary of its release. It’s not that they planned it, it was just a coincidence. Now, both the extras and the adjustments to the quality of life of the experience make the title feel rejuvenated in more than one department. Come on, video games evolved enough to take advantage of certain benefits that consoles did not have 20 years ago.

Likewise, this is a title with high narrative values. There is a lot of text which can certainly be tiring, but it is also a test for the current generation of gamers who do not have the same retention power as people who have been playing for more than 20 years. Yes, it sounds like some kind of pretext, but it is reality.

Personally, beyond analysis and criticism, this is a title that deserved a second chance. Yes, you could play it on the Cube and the Wii, but, that hardware is already on the afterlife or, failing that, we could consider it a collector’s item rather than everyday use. Playing from the Nintendo Switch is much easier, faster, more agile. It’s a good idea to have Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Should you buy Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

Under what parameters should we re-qualify a video game that shined with its own light more than 20 years ago. It would be redundant to say again that it is a great proposal whose production values ​​transcend time and that is something that players should appreciate. Yes, it is a very romantic statement, but it is reality. Now, we have to be a little more analytical and understand that this relaunch has to be criticized with a magnifying glass in hand. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door It was already very good and we should expect less from this version.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Nintendo Switch fully fulfills the objective of bringing back the best game in the Paper Mario series. Graphically, it looks renewed, as if no years had passed by. Also, its localization section for Latin America is perfectly executed. It has several quality of life adjustments that make it a must-see experience for fans of the series. It is fun, funny and still has those key elements to be considered a timeless RPG.

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We played Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by a Nintendo representative in our region.

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