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[Zonic]

Edit: Noticed Giant Bomb put their review up. Not sure I'd agree with the score(2/5) but I do kind of agree with the overall idea, that the combat is really bringing down an otherwise fantastic game.

I was listening to their podcast & man, the reviewer (Dan) was SUPER angry when he was talking about first impressions because he WANTED to like the game, but stuff like the combat was holding it back, along with the lack of unique characters in favor of toads everywhere. It was easily one of the few times the guy expressed actual anger on the podcast, especially stuff like the black shy guy that appears on the map or the Kamek battles.

I'd say it's more of a 3/5 but yes, I seem to have similar thoughts. It's SOOOO close to being a great game. It looks & sounds fantastic, and the writing is also fantastic, I've had a couple of good laughs at some lines. It's just if they tweaked/fixed a few more things, I'd probably enjoy it more. But for every thing that I like about the game, something happens that reminds me of the frustration of its design. & it's a shame, because I'm trying so hard to stick with this & want to get used to the battle mechanics (I'm slowly tolerating it more) so I can enjoy more of the great writing.

If anything, if they just made the Thing cards specifically for super strong attacks & puzzle solving, that'd fix one of the main annoyances I have with this. At least this time, they try to hint strongly at what it is you need to beat bosses, i.e. I stupidly noticed the 2nd time I was about to do the fight for the yellow prism star, the wordplay was flat-out saying what Thing I needed, but it's still frustrating when you're halfway through a boss battle & waste a ton of cards to find out "NOPE, DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT THING, TIME TO FLEE & WASTE TIME FINDING THE CORRECT CARD THAT'LL LET YOU BEAT THE BOSS"

I feel bad feeling like I'm one of the only people griping on this game, but it's because, as a fan, it's soooo close to being fun & I WANT to like it.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Also, this sums up why the Kamek battles are awful.

Wow, that's...yeah.

I was going to pick this up today but now I dunno, could be other similar problems

 

[Zafir]

I was listening to their podcast & man, the reviewer (Dan) was SUPER angry when he was talking about first impressions because he WANTED to like the game, but stuff like the combat was holding it back, along with the lack of unique characters in favor of toads everywhere. It was easily one of the few times the guy expressed actual anger on the podcast, especially stuff like the black shy guy that appears on the map or the Kamek battles.

I'd say it's more of a 3/5 but yes, I seem to have similar thoughts. It's SOOOO close to being a great game. It looks & sounds fantastic, and the writing is also fantastic, I've had a couple of good laughs at some lines. It's just if they tweaked/fixed a few more things, I'd probably enjoy it more. But for every thing that I like about the game, something happens that reminds me of the frustration of its design. & it's a shame, because I'm trying so hard to stick with this & want to get used to the battle mechanics (I'm slowly tolerating it more) so I can enjoy more of the great writing.

If anything, if they just made the Thing cards specifically for super strong attacks & puzzle solving, that'd fix one of the main annoyances I have with this. At least this time, they try to hint strongly at what it is you need to beat bosses, i.e. I stupidly noticed the 2nd time I was about to do the fight for the yellow prism star, the wordplay was flat-out saying what Thing I needed, but it's still frustrating when you're halfway through a boss battle & waste a ton of cards to find out "NOPE, DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT THING, TIME TO FLEE & WASTE TIME FINDING THE CORRECT CARD THAT'LL LET YOU BEAT THE BOSS"

I feel bad feeling like I'm one of the only people griping on this game, but it's because, as a fan, it's soooo close to being fun & I WANT to like it.

Yeah I watched the quick look before and he was saying how he was having to actively avoid fights because he just didn't enjoy them, and you know what, I can't say I'm much different.

I try and avoid fights where I can because they're just a chore to take part in. Which is a shame, really. I don't think it's dragging down my opinion of the game quite as much as it did for him, but it's still a disappointment.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Game is easily a 9/10 for me. Love the humor and settings of the game. The battle system is fine. If it was more like the first two games it would easily be the best Paper Mario.

 

[Common Knowledge]

Do the levels in this game (or at least some of them) have their own scenarios/miniature storylines or are they basically just obstacle courses that you need to get to the end of?

 

[Zonic]

Wow, that's...yeah.

I was going to pick this up today but now I dunno, could be other similar problems

The thing is, unlike in SS where they were pre-determined battles, these happen at complete random. Other things that can happen are your cards getting flipped over or Kamek taking all but 6 of your cards & you have to win to get them back.

The fact you can't flee or use the card roulette thing are kind of add to the annoyance. They're not TOO often, thankfully. I think I've had....3 or 4 so far, but it makes it more annoying when you haven't had the time to sort your cards or can't remember how far you need to go to the left to make sure you aren't using your good cards after they've been flipped or all turned to the same item.

Game is easily a 9/10 for me. Love the humor and settings of the game. The battle system is fine. If it was more like the first two games it would easily be the best Paper Mario.

I think this is part of the reason why I feel like it's so close to being a good game. If it was the traditional RPG stuff, it could've easily been something I would've possibly gone back to in the future & one of the system's best games. But at the very least, I'm still liking it much more than Sticker Star on account this actually has personality & writing.

 

[El Odio]

The seafaring sections leading to the Purple star were a bit of a mixed bag, kind of feel like the central gimmick of the islands started wearing thin, as did the surplus of 10 stack boos.
Part of me really enjoyed some of those segments while other bits not so much.

Yeah, that chapter if you wanna call it that felt like the weakest so far since it relied on the same gimmick for each stage with virtually no variation on it. That terrible but kind of boring.

Do the levels in this game (or at least some of them) have their own scenarios/miniature storylines or are they basically just obstacle courses that you need to get to the end of?

It's kind of a mixture. Some levels have you going from point A to point B with some sort of small occurrence in between while there's also stages that involve more complex scenarios like the haunted hotel, navigating a pirate ship, and competing in a game show.

 

[bart64]

Yeah I watched the quick look before and he was saying how he was having to actively avoid fights because he just didn't enjoy them, and you know what, I can't say I'm much different.

I try and avoid fights where I can because they're just a chore to take part in. Which is a shame, really. I don't think it's dragging down my opinion of the game quite as much as it did for him, but it's still a disappointment.

Wow, they must not have been paying much attention because you're supposed to avoid fights. There's very little reward and lots to lose. That's why most enemies can be avoided, there's another layer to the game where you try to run by untouched.

And it works great and the battles are really as smart as you want to make them, it just can't be apporached like a traditional rpg, at all.

 

[udivision]

Wow, they must not have been paying much attention because you're supposed to avoid fights. There's very little reward and lots to lose. That's why most enemies can be avoided, there's another layer to the game where you try to run by untouched.

And it works great and the battles are really as smart as you want to make them, it just can't be apporached like a traditional rpg, at all.

I feel like I'm reading a Phoenix Wright testimony, heh.

There's a contradiction of game design philosophy here.

 

[bart64]

I feel like I'm reading a Phoenix Wright testimony, heh.

There's a contradiction of game design philosophy here.

Overruled? Please do tell.

 

[AGoodODST]

The pirate chapter definitely overstayed its welcome. I think due to all the stacked Boos. Though to be fair every Paper Mario suffers similar problems of parts lasting to long and certain enemies taking too long to defeat.

I'd rate this as my favourite of the Paper Mario games so far (two paint stars left) I think. I really like the stage set up. Traveling to other areas was tedious in previous games, especially if you had to go through those terrible sewers. Here you get straight to the action.

So yeah, my only really issues with the game are ones I have with the series in general.

 

[gamingPotato7]

So much criticism mainly because people keep expecting games to be always the same thing. I am loving it so far, the battle system is nice and couldn't ask much more from a light hearted game like this. Its not perfect but I can end most battles in one turn and using the advanced control scheme skip a screen. The game as so much charm, so much humor. If a person doesn't play it with cynicism, I am sure most can enjoy it. Might become repetitive in the long run, but what game doesnt IMO? And about the NPCs being all Toads, if you notice the enemies have personalities. They speak during the battles and have different behaviors depending on the circumstance. The Shy Guy reading the Justice Toad book was hilarious.

 

[Vibed]

I enjoyed how the pirate chapter was one continuous story, but I honestly felt it was a little short cause I really liked the gimmick it had. I am noticing overall that the chapters are starting to become 3 levels -> boss level -> star. Much more linear.

 

[sikkinixx]

I've been watching my wife play for the past few nights and she's really into it. Writing, aesthetics etc are all stellar (I agree with Dan that less Toads would have been nice) and she likes the battles the first go around but on second/third times through an area she avoids them (which to be fair, it like most RPGs unless you wanna grind up)

I think the battle system really needed a few UI tweaks (having your cards sort into piles with a little [hammer]x10 so it would be less cluttered and easier to take stock of what you had) a quick tap to fill with paint instantly if you want to power it up. The biggest thing would be having coins that do *something* besides just buying more cards.

 

[Doorman]

Also, this sums up why the Kamek battles are awful.

I had a curse battle at one point against a Giant Goomba where Kamek turned all of my cards into Piggy Bank Replicas. Thing is, the bank doesn't do very much damage, especially to a Huge Goomba, and since it could do 16 damage to me even on block, it means the curse generated a literally-unwinnable fight.

You get bonus coins for completing curse battles, so why not give the player the option to flee from them? They're not particularly fun, interesting, or exciting to defeat anyway. If you want to have them at all, then place them in specific parts of the game and tailor the curse to make sure that it's a fight you can at least still win. But...Intelligent Systems does stuff like this with the Paper Mario series often, throwing in largely-unnecessary "challenges" outside of the player's control. It's weird that way.

The Pirate Voyage chapter has been the first time in the game where running into battles started to actually annoy me. Up to now I haven't minded running into most fights but these felt particularly draining for some reason. I also feel like the last two Big Paint Stars definitely fell into a much shorter and more linear track than the first two? The build-up to the Red star was nice because it seemed like levels were unlocking in a very open fashion and you had to do a lot in several disconnected locales in order to progress, but now it's feeling more like level > next level > next level > boss level. Almost feels like the developers went through a change of focus partway through designing the overall game scenario.

 

[El Odio]

Being about to start the level with the big orange paint star I can see and definitely agree that the game definitely does get linear in the second half but I'm kind of alright with it. The train "chapter" and the pirate one are both definitely 3 levels then the boss one but at the same time they were all pretty much set up in the first half. While going for the yellow paint star you found out about the train preparing to make it's last voyage, wrecked the tracks and briefly stopped at the cafe, while in the chapter for the blue paint star you recruited most of the blue rescue squad, saved the pirate ship and learned about their desire to travel the lost sea. So I guess in a sense I kind of liked how the framework for them was already pre-established earlier, rather than if they had just been three newly introduced and short story segments.

 

[Waddle Dee]

So, is there any set strategies for the Roshambo Temples? I want to try beating the Rock Paper Wizards and I've beaten 2 so far but it just seems like a crap shoot whether you win or not against them. Really tedious.

Anyways, I'm at the Pirate segment and so far I think the game is mostly decent. The adventure elements are easily the star of the show. The battle system is better than SS but it's still got some glaring flaws. You should never want to actively avoid battles in an RPG but sometime I've resorted to that as, do to a lack of partners/badges/etc they can become repetitive and there's no real reward for finishing the fights (at least not any that matter).

The game has more personality than I expected. Makes me wonder why they stuck with Toads since the game would have really benefited from more varied npcs. The writing is on point, though. Honestly might be better than TTYD in that regard.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Just got the orange star, despite spending a surprising amount of time doing the grill business I enjoyed this one a lot.
Aside from my brief spell of trying to figure out what Thing I was missing, was getting the smoky room hint confused with the grill that caused said smoke.

Train missions are one of the most reliable tropes in gaming I swear.

 

[Vampirolol]

I was reaching the save point in the Toad hotel when suddendly, in the real hotel I'm staying, the fire alarm went on and I had to exit so I lost my data. And of course it was a fucking simulation. Is this normal in the UK?
Btw I'll have to replay the level... at least it was fantastic.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

This ending...

Spoiler

I had the biggest smile when Paper Luigi came out and had his moment. I thought it was going to be yet another game where he does nothing, but nope, he gets to be the star of the show for a few minutes. And a reference to the MK Luigi stare of death.

I spent 4k on cards to beat Black Paint Bowser. Just loaded up on pre-painted giant hammers. My first attempt went badly, I wasn't prepared at all, and was relying mostly on the roulette to get hammers and it was taking forever. So then I accidentally died because I didn't time the block of Bowser's final move, and the next time around just loaded up on giant hammers

That Roy fight was dumb, though. Roy was just kind of slapped in at the end of the game because they had more Koopalings than paint stars. Probably should have just had one paint star use two of them as a 2v1 fight instead of that junk fight at the end.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

I don't think the review people are mentioning above is fair - a large complaint was how battles feel pointless in that you just get coins to buy more cards (not entirely true) and you don't ever see stat increases or "proper" EXP.

But saying that is like saying you should avoid battles in, I dunno, The Legend of Zelda, just because you don't see numbers go up after beating enemies.

It's funny how experience bars and levelling have conditioned people to feel that mostly trivial actions in games (most RPG battles outside of boss fights aren't actually that entertaining on their own) are meaningful, when they aren't at face value.

Color Splash's battles aren't perfect, but they certainly are better than the review makes them out to be. Especially the GamePad interface, which I've found to be extremely slick and easy to navigate by swiping my finger across the screen to get to cards. I rarely use the same cards over and over so I'm not sure how a traditional menu-based system would be any faster, or more fun.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I was reaching the save point in the Toad hotel when suddendly, in the real hotel I'm staying, the fire alarm went on and I had to exit so I lost my data. And of course it was a fucking simulation. Is this normal in the UK?
Btw I'll have to replay the level... at least it was fantastic.

Hey I had to replay the level for reasons the game demanded so in a sense it couldn't have happened to you in a better level.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I don't think the review people are mentioning above is fair - a large complaint was how battles feel pointless in that you just get coins to buy more cards (not entirely true) and you don't ever see stat increases or "proper" EXP.

But saying that is like saying you should avoid battles in, I dunno, The Legend of Zelda, just because you don't see numbers go up after beating enemies.

It's funny how experience bars and levelling have conditioned people to feel that mostly trivial actions in games (most RPG battles outside of boss fights aren't actually that entertaining on their own) are meaningful, when they aren't at face value.

Color Splash's battles aren't perfect, but they certainly are better than the review makes them out to be. Especially the GamePad interface, which I've found to be extremely slick and easy to navigate by swiping my finger across the screen to get to cards. I rarely use the same cards over and over so I'm not sure how a traditional menu-based system would be any faster, or more fun.

I'd like to see people who don't believe the game has experience points to run through with only 100 paint and see how far they make it.

I'm pretty sure some late game cards take more than 100 paint just to use.

So if you avoid all avoidable battles, you're going to run into serious resource issues late game when cards cost substantially more to use and you have to use way more of them just to get by.

I've been doing pretty much 99% of fights, and iirc, I have 300 paint and I still ran low, often, during the end of the game. I can't imagine going through the end chapters with the default amount of paint...

 

[pringles]

This game is just fantastic. I'm not super far into it (

Spoiler

just heading into Crimson Tower

) but I love it to bits so far. Funny, charming, gorgeous, great music. Battles are fun to me, if a little on the easy side and I wish there was an advanced-advanced touch controls options for giving you the ability to play cards even faster.
Most of all I just think this has to be one of the best written Nintendo games ever. Rarely does a game make me want to actually talk to every random character, but in this one there seems to be some treasure of a line or side-story hidden everywhere.

It's probably blasphemy around here but this game is clicking with me more than TTYD did.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

I'd like to see people who don't believe the game has experience points to run through with only 100 paint and see how far they make it.

I'm pretty sure some late game cards take more than 100 paint just to use.

So if you avoid all avoidable battles, you're going to run into serious resource issues late game when cards cost substantially more to use and you have to use way more of them just to get by.

I've been doing pretty much 99% of fights, and iirc, I have 300 paint and I still ran low, often, during the end of the game. I can't imagine going through the end chapters with the default amount of paint...

Good point. Right now the boos at the violet isles were giving me trouble, and to paint and use one giant fire flower almost takes up by entire paint gauge for red paint.

I think this is another case where people express their dislike for a mechanic, but they didn't even think about why the game does what it chooses to do. I get not personally getting on with an aspect of the game, but that review feels like it's dismissing the battle system for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Waddle Dee]

So, Roshambo Temples. Is there any consistent strategy with the 3rd opponents? I know about the hints for the 1st two enemies.

 

[Zonic]

I don't think the review people are mentioning above is fair - a large complaint was how battles feel pointless in that you just get coins to buy more cards (not entirely true) and you don't ever see stat increases or "proper" EXP.

But saying that is like saying you should avoid battles in, I dunno, The Legend of Zelda, just because you don't see numbers go up after beating enemies.

I think the issue is that Zelda isn't usually seen as a RPG series, but Paper Mario is. It's why Sticker Star, & to some extent Super Paper Mario, felt off to some people because it was removing the RPG elements that attracted people to 64 & TTYD. SPM still had leveling to some extent & allowed more freedom as to when you could upgrade stuff like HP, where as here & in SS, it's dedicated to only after boss battles. Color Splash makes battles feel more useful in the fact you can level up how much paint you can store, which is huge when you only have colorless cards that need to be painted in & don't want to keep finding things to refill your hammer. I still have moments where I feel like just running past enemies, but nowhere near as often as in Sticker Star.

If anything, what I've been trying to do is remember this is more of an adventure game with RPG-like combat than a full RPG like the previous games. I even recall Nintendo calling it an adventure game & not a RPG.

 

[El Odio]

I'd like to see people who don't believe the game has experience points to run through with only 100 paint and see how far they make it.

I'm pretty sure some late game cards take more than 100 paint just to use.

So if you avoid all avoidable battles, you're going to run into serious resource issues late game when cards cost substantially more to use and you have to use way more of them just to get by.

I've been doing pretty much 99% of fights, and iirc, I have 300 paint and I still ran low, often, during the end of the game. I can't imagine going through the end chapters with the default amount of paint...

300 paint at the end of the game? Sheesh, I haven't started the Sunglow Express level yet and I'm at 410.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

300 paint at the end of the game? Sheesh, I haven't started the Sunglow Express level yet and I'm at 410.

It might be 500, I don't really remember. The largest Fire Flowers take about half of my red paint. My last level just went up 10, so I think I'm at the "soft cap" of when paint levels taper off.

I actually wonder when it caps off. 999 maybe?

 

[Peff]

Most scripted encounters except for bosses drop loot, and there's a pretty obvious algorithm to modify what you get according to what you need (finishing a battle with low HP seems to dtrop a heart almost always), so I wouldn't be surprised at all if you started getting many shiny foil hammers as the game tries to catch you up. There's that and there's also the many pre-painted cards you can get by painting stuff back, so yeah, finishing the game fighting as few battles as possible is probably not very difficult at all.

 

[Joqu]

Yeah I definitely don't agree. I wish the paint levelling felt like an important levelling system to me but it doesn't. Why? It's so easy to get money in Color Splash. Most of my time with the game I've been running around with my coins maxed out. So I just buy painted cards and almost never need to worry about my paint during battles. It hasn't been this thing that matters.

 

[Zonic]

To go along with my previous post, I think another issue is that you don't get the feeling you're growing "stronger". Sure, you'll get better cards later on, can use more in one turn, & get more health, but in previous games, you were able to get more health, increase how many times you could use special attack, & be able to equip more &/or stronger badges when you wanted to, not to mention the upgrades to your boots & hammer which not only let you break things in the environment, but also made you stronger in battle.

Sticker Star let you hold more stickers & use more in a single turn, which is nice but doesn't have that same satisfaction. Again, holding more paint is kind of nice because then you don't feel as though you need to keep constantly whacking everything.....but in battle, you get sooo many pre-painted cards via blocks & random drops, I almost never use colorless cards unless it's something I truly need (i.e. a boss battle).

I think if they tweaked a few things, we could've had something truly amazing here. There is mechanics here that could work if they just fixed a few things.

Yeah I definitely don't agree. I wish the paint levelling felt like an important levelling system to me but it doesn't. Why? It's so easy to get money in Color Splash. Most of my time with the game I've been running around with my coins maxed out. So I just buy painted cards and almost never need to worry about my paint during battles. It hasn't been this thing that matters.

Pretty much. Not to mention, after I fill something in, there's usually something close by that I can hit that'll drop some paint to let me refill, & now that I'm at 300 despite only just getting the 2nd big star, I haven't had any fear of running out since reaching around 200.

Also yes, you earn coins so easily, especially via the roshambo temples, so getting cards you need isn't a huge deal. Not once have I felt poor or that I needed to go grind for coins.

 

[Joqu]

^ That old Paper Mario progression you're describing was so good. This game doesn't have that at all, I don't really feel stronger and when I do it feels way more artificial, like an arbitrary power boost because I collected a big star or having easy access to powerful cards I could get by chance in the past anyway.

And yeah, refilling paint has been a complete non-issue too (and I prefer it that way mind you) and I could buy 1-up mushrooms with the money I have anyway.

Which reminds me, why the hell can't I use mushroom cards to refill my health or paint outside of battle? ...I can't right? I'm not missing something? Because through this entire game I've had to purposefully enter battles just to be able to heal.

Anyway, there have been moments were they asked ridiculous amounts of coins of me, so I guess there's that, but regaining that money was a non issue anyway.

But it's not like I would've preferred if the game was stingier with its money, that would've just been annoying. There isn't some simple fix here, their current system is straight up broken.

And hell, I highly doubt the next Paper Mario will have a paint meter to level up, that's this game's gimmick. So their solution to Sticker Star's battle problem, even if I pretend it worked, is just a temporary one anyway. It's duct tape.

This is why I want the series the go back to the RPG roots, it's not some kind of misguided nostalgia. These were gameplay systems that worked. What they have now is a mess at its core, and it was completely avoidable


Still loving Color Splash by the way. I believe I'm right at the final area right now. But boy is it an infuriating game~

 

[Zonic]

Oh, okay. So I had the Shy Bandit finally appear. But you can chase him down before he reaches the area he'll try & suck the color of & isn't very hard. That's not as bad as I was fearing. I figured he's randomly appear, start sucking the color, then you'd have to quick go there before it drops to 0%.

I'll also say the game does a much better job of letting you know where you're suppose to go next & keeps icons on the screen to remind you of certain things you've discovered that're important to the progression. It was much easier to figure out "oh, this isn't the next location, guess it's that other area I haven't been to yet." I'm glad they fixed at least some of the problems that I had with SS unrelated to the combat.

Edit: "I called Luigi because paranormal activity is kind of his thing, but it went straight to voice mail." Heh heh heh, I'm digging the references.

 

[Corpekata]

I really should have paid more attention to pre-release stuff for this. Really not digging pretty much all the card mechanics. Thankfully I just got it from Gamefly and not a purchase.

 

[Waddle Dee]

Oh, okay. So I had the Shy Bandit finally appear. But you can chase him down before he reaches the area he'll try & suck the color of & isn't very hard. That's not as bad as I was fearing. I figured he's randomly appear, start sucking the color, then you'd have to quick go there before it drops to 0%.

Usually he's not a problem but as you progress, and the map gets bigger... he'll become more of an issue.

Anyways, Roshambo. Rock Paper Wizard. Any advice? If it's purely RNG to beat him then by god that sucks since I've been getting lots of bad luck...

 

[Zonic]

*looks at a book in the Dark Bloo Inn*

Spoiler

"The Internet (Print Edition)"

That made me laugh harder than it should've, the humor has been spot-on in this game.

Usually he's not a problem but as you progress, and the map gets bigger... he'll become more of an issue.

Anyways, Roshambo. Rock Paper Wizard. Any advice? If it's purely RNG to beat him then by god that sucks since I've been getting lots of bad luck...

Unfortunately, yes, the 3rd opponent will always come down to luck. Thankfully, it's only 100 coins to "sneak" your way back in, which is a mere drop in the (paint) bucket considering how much you get from the first two matches & how many coins in general you'll stockpile.

Edit: YOU'RE SUCH A TEASE, GAME!!! So in Dark Bloo Inn, got the item back for someone on the 2nd floor, figure "let's use paint to see what it is", then OMG

Spoiler

IT'S YOSHI, AND I CAN "GET ON"!!!

but then

Spoiler

Yoshi runs as I'm gonna jump on him & Mario just shrugs

Spoiler

Edit 2: WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL. "OH SORRY, FORGOT TO TELL YOU THERE'S A TIME LIMIT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT, SO GUESS YOU GOTTA REDO THE PUZZLE AGAIN, NOT TO MENTION REPAINT EVERYTHING"

How is it every time I find something good about this game, it has to find something of equal value that just angers me??

 

[Waddle Dee]

Spoiler

Edit 2: WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL. "OH SORRY, FORGOT TO TELL YOU THERE'S A TIME LIMIT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT, SO GUESS YOU GOTTA REDO THE PUZZLE AGAIN, NOT TO MENTION REPAINT EVERYTHING"

How is it every time I find something good about this game, it has to find something of equal value that just angers me??

Yeah, I was really digging that level until that happened... Absolute bull. I don't get why devs implement such garbage ideas into their games in order to pad them out, especially when your game is probably long enough as is. I'd rather go looking for General White again, ffs.

 

[bulletbill10]

I just finished up Dark Bloo in. Probably my favorite level so far. Lots of on point humor in that level.

I get some of the criticism this game is getting, but not the idea that you should never want to avoid battles. I avoid battles all the time in RPG's. Bravely Default was heralded for letting you completely eliminate battles if you want. And I always avoid battles in Earthbound. And I avoid them in the old Paper Mario's too, especially if I'm not getting experience for them. I really think battles are designed for you to avoid them when possible in this game. I only try to battle people I don't have a card of yet.

 

[woopWOOP]

I kind of like the battles in this game. Figuring out how to take out all the enemies in one turn with as few cards as possible (even tho I have more than plenty now) is strangely satisfying. For a turn-based RPG with a single character like this I think it's a pretty good way to do it.

I still feel the game is about a 6 or 7 out of 10 because man, the game sure loooves to slow you down. The instant death segments returning you to the titlescreen instead of having a simple retry option, getting stuck in an unwinnable boss fight when you use your Thing card too soon, some of those minigames like

Spoiler

the gameshow you have to perfect

, the utter bullshit cursed battles that makes you guess your correct attacks... it adds up.

I've got 4 paint stars now and I really want to explore more of the game and see the silly cutscenes, but it also feels more and more of a chore to actually play through it :/ ..I wonder if I'll ever bother to replay this game.

Also I liked what they did with the first Koopaling and have him walk around the stage and 'banter' with Mario for a bit, but so far every one of them after that has just been showing up for a boss battle out of the blue. Kind of disappointing.

 

[Zafir]

I just finished up Dark Bloo in. Probably my favorite level so far. Lots of on point humor in that level.

I get some of the criticism this game is getting, but not the idea that you should never want to avoid battles. I avoid battles all the time in RPG's. Bravely Default was heralded for letting you completely eliminate battles if you want. And I always avoid battles in Earthbound. And I avoid them in the old Paper Mario's too, especially if I'm not getting experience for them. I really think battles are designed for you to avoid them when possible in this game. I only try to battle people I don't have a card of yet.

The difference being Bravely Default had a good combat system.

But honestly, if they did actually let me turn off encounters a la Bravely Default, I'd be much happier. I don't mind avoiding encounters, I do mind trying to avoid encounters but being unable to do so due to them coming from off-screen or it being a tight place where you can't easily dodge.

 

[El Odio]

Man, Larry's battle theme might be the first track I feel really "meh" on in this game.

 

[n64coder]

Usually he's not a problem but as you progress, and the map gets bigger... he'll become more of an issue.

Anyways, Roshambo. Rock Paper Wizard. Any advice? If it's purely RNG to beat him then by god that sucks since I've been getting lots of bad luck...

Saw this advice over at gamefaqs.

just random, you have a 50% chance of winning each match, with a 1/8 chance of winning overall. Don't overthink it, just pick a strategy like "always pick scissors", play mindlessly and you'll win within a few minutes.

 

[Waddle Dee]

Saw this advice over at gamefaqs.

I'm not a fan of those odds, tbh. :/

 

[Zero83]

Anybody else have that issue with navigating the world map, where Mario suddenly changes direction, as if you accidently change direction with the analog stick?
It makes traversing the map a real ordeal. It happens everytime I move from one level to another. And my GamePad is functioning perfectly

It happens when I use the analog stick to pick items at the store too.

 

[ymgve]

I'm not a fan of those odds, tbh. :/

It's wrong, though. You can reliably beat the first two opponents by following the hints given by the toads outside, so your chance is 50% on beating the 3rd contestant.

Though for some reason the hints won't work if you cheat your way back in the contest by paying the shady dude 100 coins, so you gotta leave the temple and catch a star to reset it.

 

[mattiewheels]

The hell is up with these trial and error Giant Chomper chases? It always takes me way too many tries to get through.

 

[Lord Azrael]

The hell is up with these trial and error Giant Chomper chases? It always takes me way too many tries to get through.

Watch what the toads are doing.

EDIT: Looks like you edited so you probably figured it out already.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Man, I love how the scenarios in this game play out. They are brilliant self contained adventures where even the smallest details end up having some sort of significance when you play through them. What makes them feel special is how they all link in to outside events or happenings in the game world, and how the brilliant level designs allow these events to unfold in the first place.

But yeah, the violet isles quest was a superb arc for one of the big paint stars, and the trainworks saga may well end up being my favourite part of the game.

 

[Notor!ousG]

Think I'm about 5 hours into the game and the battle system doesn't feel as bad as some people write here.

The game feels extremely polished and I really enjoy the storytelling and jokes.
The only drawbacks are the countless Toads and the card system. I was

Spoiler

climbing the mountain

and was short of some cards you need to defeat some enemies.