Quick Look: Paper Mario: Color Splash

kinda think this game looks good? idk, maybe i'm not seeing the repetition of the battle system yet though, never played sticker star. That said, I didn't think the same-looking toads would bother me so much by the end of the video, but it totally does feel pretty lazy.

I really like the way this looks and I have not especially been interested in other Paper Mario games. The stuff that Dan had problems with doesn't seem to bother me. I think the novelty of everything will be enough for me to enjoy it.

"What is this motif?" (c) Brad

Brad...it's called Paper Mario

Um, guys Dan didn't rage during this or even call the game garbage or say he hated it. In fact by the end of the video he had largely turned the corner since he got heated during the Bombcast and said if you can look past the combat there was a lot of good things to find and enjoy.

Personally, I'm not sure what the beef with this game is. I've been having an absolute blast with it. The writing is fantastic, it has made me laugh on numerous occasions with references, in-jokes and various little comments here and there. The in-world gameplay is great and some of the things they do with the world as you explore are really imaginative.

The whole card-based combat thing is really not as bad or as chore-like as Dan is making out (also, the Basic + Touch controls mean you don't even have to touch the screen making it even quicker than the third option). You get so many coins from literally everything, that you can (and should) go to the shop and just stock up on cheap jumps and hammers so you never run out. Otherwise, you can just go wild with the cards as there are plenty of ways to get way more than you ever need.

If I can say anything negative it is probably about the Toads. I do kinda miss all the different types that were in the previous games but I think they do enough to differentiate each Toad you meet, color variations aside.

Some poor design decisions in this game.

I actually really loved Sticker Star. I get that people are mad because of a lot of changes to the series but as a standalone thing it's still fun and that's what matters to me.

I've played about 8 hours of this. I am just about to get the 1st paint star. I like this game, but I definitely miss the old "hardcore" rpg elements. (Let's be honest, they weren't exactly hardcore or difficult.) However, the humor and feel of this game is great. Battles don't really matter except for boss battles, but it's fine with me. It's just fine for what it is. I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that they said the mario and luigi games were going to be where you find your mario rpg fix from now on. If you liked old paper mario's, give this a shot.

I actually think Super Paper Mario is a really great game. It's just a different game than the first two entries. That said, Thousand Year Door really is an achievement and I wouldn't feel weird about it making it onto a list of the greatest games of all time. Like, games. Of all time. Not RPGs of all time. Not games of that generation. It's seriously that good.

Sticker Star was a game that made me unbelievably unhappy. Like, there were aspects of it that were fine, I guess, but man. I was totally open to the idea of changing up Paper Mario. I liked Super! But that game was a huge bummer. And as good as they can be, the Mario and Luigi games have never done it for me the same way that those first two Paper Mario games did. They're good. I just like the way the Paper Mario games are structured much, much more, and traversing the overworld and the style of puzzles and the slightly different tone to the writing... There's enough of a difference there to me that I enjoy more than the Mario and Luigi games.

From what I've seen in the comments here, though, it looks like this game isn't nearly as much of a bummer as Sticker Star. I'm really reluctant to go anywhere near it, though. Sticker Star hurt me bad. My decision to buy a 3DS was based on the fact that the next Paper Mario game was being made for it. (Thankfully, that wound up being a good decision in spite of Sticker Star.)

I feel kinda bad only talking about the older games here, but they're so much more interesting than the interpretation of Paper Mario has been for this game and the last one. And... I mean, I guess Nintendo is kind of obstinate about stuff, but maybe someday they'll reverse the decision they made about not making Paper Mario the way they made the first two.

Also, as was stated by someone else in these comments, and HD remake of Thousand Year Door would be preeeeeeeetty incredible. I'd also just love it if the GB guys had an excuse to play it. It's a really long game, and I can't expect the guys to find any time for it when there are new releases constantly coming out, but a remake would make it possible. Seriously, they all need to at least see the Glitzville section. It's such an amazing sequence, and lines up so perfectly with the staff's interests and the style of humor they appreciate. I would love see them react to it. It's so good.

Oh, a world map? Hahahaha no thanks I'm out

I played thousand year door for the first time a few years ago and it was fantastic. If you haven't played that just do it. It's great.

I've only played a bit of this so far, but you're wrong about this. From a musical perspective there's some real cool stuff in this. My favourite so far is the SMB3 toad house theme in a baroque style, since it kinda came out of nowhere.

Whoever the fuck at Nintendo decided it was a good idea to make another Sticker Star needs to be fired right now.

Wow, okay, the combat system in this seems pretty bad. I'm all for trying new stuff, but not like this.

Otherwise the game looks great, though, so it's still worth a try, I guess.

Looks cool, might have to power up my Wii U.

Man, I'm actually disappointed that there are people defending this game in the comments. Nintendo has gotten lazy. Paper Mario 1 and 2 were great RPGS (Although they don't compare at all to Mario RPG) and I never played Super Paper Mario but it looked really good to me. Why praise them from straying away from a good formula that they barely got to experiment with with a damn card-battling game?

Maybe it has good writing and an enjoyable story. Then it's just like Uncharted or The Witcher or anything else, except that you can't adjust the difficulty to a rewarding level here.

But they said "give that bone a squeeze" in a Mario game, and god dammit, I might have to get this just to own that piece of history.

@shaunk: How can anyone possibly call this a 'card battling game'? The inclusion of cards is simply a different way to present menu-based rpg command selections that also allows you to modify their power levels to varying degrees if you wish, and (contrary to what Dan said in the QL) use certain combinations of cards together in succession to first disable and then finish off certain enemies depending on the order in which they're presented. Eliminating all enemies before they have a chance to damage you nets bonuses. If anything its also just a subtle playful jab at how cards all over the place in gaming lately.

As you progress later in to the game there's actually thought you'll have to put in to the composition of your deck between cards that heal/buff you, cards that attack, and cards that will help you solve puzzles. Thinking through the stuff gets strategic and has more depth than this QL would imply. After I switched to the touch+buttons combo control Ive gotten completely used to the combat to the point where it is not the chore that Dan makes it out to be. Many cards will often already be colored, skipping that short step.

There's honestly just way too much great stuff in this game from visuals to OST to writing to characterization to a light smattering of clever & challenging puzzles/secrets/platforming to write it off. Fun and charming to the core

Man, what a bummer. The combat system seems needlessly complex and dumb downed at the same time. Pointless and tedious.

I'm actually enjoying this game...To each their own.

Visuals looks nice, but seems tedious.

See, I got TTYD when it was brand new and played through it back then, and I really don't understand why so many people gush over it. It was a lot better than the slow, fairly bland N64 game (and did the paper gimmick a lot better), but it had loads of tedious sections and enemies and wasn't as clever/funny as Mario & Luigi. Honestly, it's probably #4 in the Mario RPG series for me (which I love) but it's not even top 5 on the GameCube for me. (Superstar Saga>Mario RPG>Bowser's Inside Story>Thousand-Year Door)

Also, I'm very bummed out that this game is basically a doubling down on Sticker Star. At least it's good to hear that it's funny, because SS basically had no personality at all. That game was hot trash.