Tony:
Being a huge fan of the Paper Mario franchise, I was more
than ecstatic to learn that a new Paper Mario was coming to the Nintendo 3DS,
Paper Mario: Sticker Star. At New York Comic Con, I managed to briefly explore
Mario’s new world at Nintendo’s booth, and I also got a quick feel for the
game’s new battle system.
As in other Paper Mario games, Mario and company are
literally paper-thin and live within a diorama-like world filled with trees and
rivers that look like they were made of paper. Sticker Star even went so far as
to make the very coins Mario collects to look like cardboard! Within the short
time I had with the game, Paper Mario Sticker Star’s interesting use of the
paper theme already has me guessing what surprises await later in the game.
My experience began right after Bowser Jr. took away the
bridge I was about to cross and threw its crumbled remains on an unreachable
ledge. From there, I explored the
grasslands I assumed were the first areas of the game. Even so early in the game, the environment
was filled with a number of interactive elements, from flowers which could be
folded up by a hammer to tape which hid secret caverns. While looking around, I
stumbled upon a group of scrambling toads. After talking to their leader, they
decided to help me get the bridge back from a high ledge. Rather than follow
Mario in a large group, they piled together much like a deck of cards or a stack
of papers, and when they reached the ledge, they transformed into stairs for
Mario to climb. Again, the game continued to emphasize its paper elements more
than ever.
Getting the bridge back was not enough to bring it back
across the river. In order to bring the
bridge back into the real world, Mario and his sticker partner Kersti would
have to use Paperization magic. When
using Paperization, the game world flattens, leaving Mario and Kersti to apply
the necessary sticker back onto the world, in this case, the bridge. She
mentioned that this could be used anytime if I wanted to place stickers onto
the world, but sadly, my playtime ended shortly after this so I was never able
to experiment with it.
Besides exploring the grasslands, I returned to the
overworld to explore a few other areas. I first tried to explore an area near a
desert, but the path was blocked by a large door. On the door there were
several shapes resembling various stickers I had in my collection. I most
likely needed to use Paperization here and place the correct sticker on their
respected shape in order to open the door. However, there was one shape I could
not match with my sticker collection. It
is possible that this sticker might only become available after I complete the
first area, giving access to the new region. The third area I explored was
Decalburg, the game’s central city. Here there were a number of Toads hanging
out as well as a shop where I could buy more stickers in case I ran out. There
was also a save block and heart block similar to other Paper Mario adventures.
It appears as though Mario will be returning here frequently in order to restock
before entering new areas or facing off against bosses. One interesting thing I
noticed was that the game saved every time I exited to the map. This might be a
feature to allow more on-the-go playtime.
This is the first handheld Paper Mario game, after all.
Exploring Paper Mario was fun, but the real meat of the game
was its new battle system. Surprisingly, Mario no longer has partners to assist
him in battle, including Kersti. Secondly, in order to perform any attack,
Mario needs to use a sticker. This had me concerned since this meant Mario had
limited attacks. However, these stickers are quite plentiful throughout the
world and can be easily peeled off the environments. They also come in a
variety of qualities from worn-out to shiny. The shiny stickers were rarer and
dealt more damage than the worn out sticker, which did far less. This mechanic
added a little bit of strategy on which stickers to use as well as which
stickers to collect since they take up space in Mario’s sticker book, which is
located on the bottom screen. Much like other Paper Mario RPGs, by pressing the
attack button at the right time, Mario performs a stronger attack and sometimes
even hurts nearby enemies, too. At the
end of each battle, Mario receives a bunch of coins and no experience points,
much to my surprise. Supposedly, in order to increase stats, Mario must
complete side quests rather than grind in battles and gain levels. My concern
here is that this will make battles more obsolete although Nintendo claims the
coins earned in battle are still important. I will have to play more in order
to see if that is the case. Besides that, the battle system is engaging and as
fun as in other Paper Mario games. I just hope battles do not become tiring as
I play.
Paper Mario Sticker Star is looking to be a very charming
experience with its various paper effects and sticker themes. I will have to
play it more in order to truly understand the changes made to the battle system
as well as the new level-up mechanic, though. I also hope that the lack of partners
does not take away from the experience. Besides that, Sticker Star has currently
met my expectations, and I cannot wait for it to stick to me this November.
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