Tendo City

I think it's so you can do the sidequests and stuff.

Yeah well she's a lying whore!

Then it's a super-secret-special-sidequest!

Look for a walkthrough somewhere, I guess.

I made the mistake of saving over my Wind Waker file right after I beat it. It asked me if I wanted to save my records or something like that... and basically, if I access the file, it starts a new game. So, yeah... at least I beat it before I lost it, but I really would've liked to beat it multiple times. The final battle was awesome, even though the ending was somewhat lackluster.

I finally got to play a bunch of Paper Mario 2 over the weekend and I really love it. I can't play anything else right now. :D It's a lot like the first game, but with enhancements everywhere. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The original PM is one of my all-time favorite RPGs. This is one of the few RPGs out there where I really enjoy doing combat. It's not overly complex combat and so far it hasn't been very difficult, but I'd much rather be playing through an RPG with this combat system than any other, and that includes the BG system.

I'm only into chapter 2 but so far the game has been quite hilarious. The "curses", Murphy, Mario snoring whenever Luigi talks to him, and all of the other dozens of little jokes here and there. All great stuff. The graphics are great, very crisp and detailed. I agree with ign that the whole "paper" theme really isn't used that much aside from the characters and a few nifty tricks, but I can't complain too much when the game is so fun to look at. Chapter 2 is simply gorgeous. I love the art in this level in particular. And the music! Man, I wish Intelligent Systems made the music for every Nintendo game. This isn't low-quality midi stuff like most of Nintendo's GC games feature, this is high-quality music. The compositions are wonderful (possibly the best GC soundtrack so far) and the sound quality itself is terrific. I really wish Nintendo would release OSTs of their games...

GOTY IMO so far. Better than GTA.

It's definitely on top of my GC list...

OB1 Wrote:I finally got to play a bunch of Paper Mario 2 over the weekend and I really love it. I can't play anything else right now. :D It's a lot like the first game, but with enhancements everywhere. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The original PM is one of my all-time favorite RPGs. This is one of the few RPGs out there where I really enjoy doing combat. It's not overly complex combat and so far it hasn't been very difficult, but I'd much rather be playing through an RPG with this combat system than any other, and that includes the BG system.

I'm only into chapter 2 but so far the game has been quite hilarious. The "curses", Murphy, Mario snoring whenever Luigi talks to him, and all of the other dozens of little jokes here and there. All great stuff. The graphics are great, very crisp and detailed. I agree with ign that the whole "paper" theme really isn't used that much aside from the characters and a few nifty tricks, but I can't complain too much when the game is so fun to look at. Chapter 2 is simply gorgeous. I love the art in this level in particular. And the music! Man, I wish Intelligent Systems made the music for every Nintendo game. This isn't low-quality midi stuff like most of Nintendo's GC games feature, this is high-quality music. The compositions are wonderful (possibly the best GC soundtrack so far) and the sound quality itself is terrific. I really wish Nintendo would release OSTs of their games...

GOTY IMO so far. Better than GTA.

The paper theme is used more later in the game as you gain new powers, and I think it was used to perfection. It wasn't shoved in your face, but it still played a major part in the game. Maybe you don't always see it in the gameplay, but cutscenes are always displaying it. I also love the fact that it seems like it might actually be a decently long Nintendo game. I'm through chapter 4 and have already played 20 hours of the game. I've been doing side-quests and other things, though, so that adds a little to the time. My favorite funny moment so far was eavsdropping on the crows in Twilight Town. Sometimes normal conversation sounds incredibly funny coming from a few birds.

Well I'm referring to the backgrounds, specifically. Most of them don't look paper-like at all.

OB1 Wrote:I finally got to play a bunch of Paper Mario 2 over the weekend and I really love it. I can't play anything else right now. :D It's a lot like the first game, but with enhancements everywhere. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The original PM is one of my all-time favorite RPGs. This is one of the few RPGs out there where I really enjoy doing combat. It's not overly complex combat and so far it hasn't been very difficult, but I'd much rather be playing through an RPG with this combat system than any other, and that includes the BG system.

I'm only into chapter 2 but so far the game has been quite hilarious. The "curses", Murphy, Mario snoring whenever Luigi talks to him, and all of the other dozens of little jokes here and there. All great stuff. The graphics are great, very crisp and detailed. I agree with ign that the whole "paper" theme really isn't used that much aside from the characters and a few nifty tricks, but I can't complain too much when the game is so fun to look at. Chapter 2 is simply gorgeous. I love the art in this level in particular. And the music! Man, I wish Intelligent Systems made the music for every Nintendo game. This isn't low-quality midi stuff like most of Nintendo's GC games feature, this is high-quality music. The compositions are wonderful (possibly the best GC soundtrack so far) and the sound quality itself is terrific. I really wish Nintendo would release OSTs of their games...

GOTY IMO so far. Better than GTA.

I agree. This is much more fun than GTA. It was supposed to hold me over until GTA was released, but instead I'm finding myself playing PM2 everyday and GTA maybe once or twice a week at best.

I'm on Chapter 8, the last chapter. I've been playing for about 44 hours. The battle system is easy to figure out, but highly enjoyable. I've rarely gotten frustrated with random battles since they're usually done and over with in less than three minutes, and I can usually continue with almost as much HP/FP and all the same items that I had to start with, unlike in RPGs such as Final Fantasy, where random battles are unavoidable, sometimes difficult and frustrating, and they drain your supply of items and HP/MP, possibly even kill you just when you're two steps away from a save point or a town. As much as I love Final Fantasy, I can only stand that for so long.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is no doubt my favorite game this year. It's also #2 on my list of GC games, just below Wind Waker. (SSB:M holds the #1 spot if you count multiplayer.)

The battles are turn-based, but not random. :)

Yeah, I prefer being able to see and avoid field enemies. It makes more sense that way and it's less annoying. You can actually use some level of skill to avoid the enemies too, whereas in RPGs with random battles, it's all a matter of luck (or the lack thereof).

Later in the game you can get a badge that will allow you to defeat weak enemies simply by bumping into them on the field map, thereby avoiding annoyingly simple battles. Very handy.

The best badge to have, though, is called Quick Change. You can buy it from Dazzle underneath Rogueport. It lets you switch partners without using a turn to do so. It costs a hefty 7 BP, but the versatility it gives you is well worth it, especially when you've got seven different partners that can all add something to a battle.

EdenMaster Wrote:Later in the game you can get a badge that will allow you to defeat weak enemies simply by bumping into them on the field map, thereby avoiding annoyingly simple battles. Very handy.

The best badge to have, though, is called Quick Change. You can buy it from Dazzle underneath Rogueport. It lets you switch partners without using a turn to do so. It costs a hefty 7 BP, but the versatility it gives you is well worth it, especially when you've got seven different partners that can all add something to a battle.

You can actually get that badge that allows you to beat weak enemies without a battle fairly early in the game. I can't remember where I got it, but I've had it for quite some time.

And I totally agree with you about Quick Change. It makes it so much easier to battle, especially against enemies that can only be defeated by a certain type of attack. I bought that badge as soon as I earned enough stars.

Cool, those badges sound awesome. I also want to get those Luigi/Wario badges as well as the 8-bit one. I remember reading about that neat little trick you could do in Mario RPG that makes Mario look like he did in SMB.

And where can I get that first badge you mentioned? That would be extremely handy.

I never got that badge that lets you switch partners without using a turn. I got it in the first Paper Mario and it's damn useful, but I don't have it in PM2.

In addition to Luigi and Wario badges, I think there's a badge that dresses Mario up in Waluigi's clothes.

OB1 Wrote:Cool, those badges sound awesome. I also want to get those Luigi/Wario badges as well as the 8-bit one. I remember reading about that neat little trick you could do in Mario RPG that makes Mario look like he did in SMB.

And where can I get that first badge you mentioned? That would be extremely handy.

That's not a badge, but yes, it does happen :). It happens very late in the game (Chapter 7 or 8, I believe), and happens much in the way it did in SMRPG. Mario ends up behind a curtain and when he walks out, he's in 8 Bits. Not only him though, all his partners are too! It's hilarious :D.

The Luigi badge is free, and it's easy enough to get, really. You can nab it very near where you obtain the Crystal Star in Chapter 6. The Wario badge on the other hand...you can only get that from Charlieton in Rogueport, to my knowledge, for an absurdly high price (something like 350 coins).

Chill Out is another good badge to have, you can get it from Dazzle too for Star Pieces. For a measly 1 BP, it completely prevents enemies from getting a First Strike in battle, even if they hit you on the field map.

I imagine you get the Waluigi thing when you combine the Luigi and Wario badges. I'd love to see what 8-bit Wario and Waluigi look like. :D

Seeing 8-bits of the partners was cool too.