Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

[Kuzu]

Dream Team is only particularly long because the beginning takes a really long time to get through, once you're past the first boss its not as bad.

[Salamander]

It's pretty long if you're foolish enough to try and ace all those grindy optional missions which I no longer remember anything about except for resetting over and over so as to not fail them.

[Forte-Metallix]

Paper Petey Piranha and Papercraft Peach and Bowser Jr. confirmed!

And we get a look at a fight against Roy and Wendy Koopa!

[Tails spin]

I wonder if Roy and Wendy are the only one's we are fighting. 

Or if we fight all 7 then one of them must team up with either 2 other koopalings or some other enemy.

[MegasonicZX]

Dream Team is only particularly long because the beginning takes a really long time to get through, once you're past the first boss its not as bad.

I think the ultibed hunt and neo bowser castle were overdoing it a bit.

[PC the Hedgehog]

I think the ultibed hunt and neo bowser castle were overdoing it a bit.

I didn't mind the Ultibed hunt too much, but Neo Bowser Castle was downright insane. About the time I had to go to the dream world to stop multiple walls of fire I was like, "WHY ISN'T THIS GAME DONE YET?"

[Sean]

Looks like the game still has a pretty generic cast and setting blah. I don't really care about stuff like the Koopalings or Kamek. I'm a little freaked out at how there aren't even any M&L-exclusive characters to be found save the one helper character. At least Yoko Shimomura is still doing the music, as that's one constant of the M&L series I hope never changes

Edited December 2, 2015 by Sean

[MegasonicZX]

I didn't mind the Ultibed hunt too much, but Neo Bowser Castle was downright insane. About the time I had to go to the dream world to stop multiple walls of fire I was like, "WHY ISN'T THIS GAME DONE YET?"

Yeah, its probably the one time in the game where I literally just wanted the game to end already. Ultibed was just kind of there for me, sure you went to new areas but you were still in the same environments so it was alright but neo bowser castle literally could've just been a boss rush (without anything in between any of them) and I would've been fine with it.

[Kuzu]

Looks like the game still has a pretty generic cast and setting blah. I don't really care about stuff like the Koopalings or Kamek. I'm a little freaked out at how there aren't even any M&L-exclusive characters to be found save the one helper character. At least Yoko Shimomura is still doing the music, as that's one constant of the M&L series I hope never changes

DAMN YOU STICKER STAAAAAAAR.

[Komodin]

Looks like the game still has a pretty generic cast and setting blah. I don't really care about stuff like the Koopalings or Kamek. I'm a little freaked out at how there aren't even any M&L-exclusive characters to be found save the one helper character. At least Yoko Shimomura is still doing the music, as that's one constant of the M&L series I hope never changes

Honestly, I'm still surprised that this is still happening, even with keeping in mind on the focus on "Regular" vs. "Paper" versions of mainstays for this crossover. You'd think with all the complaints aimed at Paper Mario: Sticker Star over this happening with its frankly limited cast of characters than they'd make some attempt at rectifying this...

[sonicgirl313]

So I have started watching a LP of the game recently and I have great spoiler free news concerning Paper Jam. Nintendo actually learned from their mistake in Dream Team and made it where the tutorial is optional. They have it set up where the characters inform you that you can learn the controls by accessing the menu but if you already know the controls, you can just go straight to the battle without any annoying Toadsworth popping up and asking if you know the controls.

EDIT
Well it seems they still stuffed in a tutorial for dodging since they changed it up. Now targets flash underneath the character's feet if an enemy is aiming for them. Paper Mario also has to go through his tutorial but his mechanics are pretty much new. Oh well I'll tolerate it since it isn't like Dream Team where they had a tutorial for pretty much everything while this time the only mandatory tutorials are for the new mechanics.

[MegasonicZX]

I'm really hoping you can turn the little targets under their feet off. Part of the fun in new enemy encounters is to learn there tells for which one of the bros they're going to attack and it sort of negates that whole thing with the game telling you who its going to attack before hand (not counting the actual timing for the attack anyway).

[Sean]

You can. Chances are I'll leave them on for the beginning of the game though. Dream Team was overwhelmingly more difficult than past games and I would have appreciated the recticles back then

[Conando]

A lot of what made Dream Team more difficult is that they changed the way damage is calculated. Even Luigi could be down to half HP, or even KOed by a particularly strong move in it. I would assume Paper Jam uses the same algorithm, so it really is good that they're giving a clearer picture of who is being targeted.

[Tails spin]

A lot of what made Dream Team more difficult is that they changed the way damage is calculated. Even Luigi could be down to half HP, or even KOed by a particularly strong move in it. I would assume Paper Jam uses the same algorithm, so it really is good that they're giving a clearer picture of who is being targeted.

I boosted Luigi's defense stat so he became my wall.

[sonicgirl313]

Also it seems Nintendo removed that Level Up stat bonus where you can choose which stat you wanted to level up more. Now the stats go up at a steady pace. But I believe stats can still be upgraded with beans.

[Salamander]

Also it seems Nintendo removed that Level Up stat bonus where you can choose which stat you wanted to level up more. Now the stats go up at a steady pace. But I believe stats can still be upgraded with beans.

Wha?  But gambling on your stat boosts was fun!  Well, that's disappointing.

[Doctor MK]

Wha?  But gambling on your stat boosts was fun!  Well, that's disappointing.

Yep, it's definitely gone. Got the game today and can confirm it - thought it was a bit jarring myself, I must admit!

Anyway, played for a couple of hours or so now - beaten the first boss and papercraft battle in the grassy area, now just up to the first 'big' encounter in the desert. General impressions so far are positive, with some excellently written dialogue and jokes (which is such a relief after Sticker Star) and the Mario & Luigi formula holding up as well as it ever did. All but the most necessary of tutorials are accessed optionally (and even then I think there might be ways to skip them) and it's certainly got a much snappier start to proceedings than Dream Team. There does seem to be a bit of an over-reliance on the Paper Toad missions so far, but they're fun diversions and the game provides you with reasonable justification for doing them so it doesn't feel look too much of a chore. Also, despite being very "by the numbers" in terms of setting and characters, it manages to still make it feel fresh enough to warrant another trip round the Mushroom Kingdom - this is the generic-looking Mario RPG that Sticker Star wishes it was. Oh, and the music is really really good. Even the Petey Piranha boss music was epic, and that's only the first one!

So yeah, pleased with what I've played up to this point, and fingers crossed it continues to get better and better. It's by no means reinventing any wheels, but it still feels like a worthy enough crossover between the two Mario RPG franchises. Heck, it's just nice to be playing as Paper Mario in a decent game again!

[MegasonicZX]

Also it seems Nintendo removed that Level Up stat bonus where you can choose which stat you wanted to level up more. Now the stats go up at a steady pace. But I believe stats can still be upgraded with beans.

I said it before and i'll say it again, i'm really mixed on this one. On one hand it really sucks that we can't decide the characters' growth anymore since it did let you pretty much make them any kind of combo that you wanted, but on the other hand it keeps me from just raising my power levels (thankfully not over 9000) and pretty much destroying the game since I almost never need anything else anymore (save for stache and BP) so I can't really say this is a bad thing either.

[Tails spin]

I said it before and i'll say it again, i'm really mixed on this one. On one hand it really sucks that we can't decide the characters' growth anymore since it did let you pretty much make them any kind of combo that you wanted, but on the other hand it keeps me from just raising my power levels (thankfully not over 9000) and pretty much destroying the game since I almost never need anything else anymore (save for stache and BP) so I can't really say this is a bad thing either.

well we still have beans. But I went with making luigi a defense wall with speed and Mario with more hp and attack stats

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Dream Team was the easiest game in the series IMO. Although IDK, BiS was pretty close. I only died 1-2 times in both.

Superstar Saga was ridiculous starting with Joke's End though, and the final boss was terribly unpredictable.

But that's off-topic. Nice to know the game's pretty fun so far! It comes out around my birthday in the US so I'll probably use my birthday money for that.

[Doctor MK]

Actually, having now played a bit further, there is some customisation that can be had from levelling up.

Basically, every 5 or 6 levels or so, each character goes up a rank (you start off at Mushroom, the next one is Shell) - at which point, you can choose to upgrade them in one of several ways. You can either give them an additional slot for equipping gear, or you can choose to give them a slight HP/BP/Defence/Stache/etc. boost each time they level up. The catch with this is - while every character can get additional gear slots, you can only equip the stat bonuses to one character. So, for example, if you choose to boost Mario's HP then you can't boost any other stat, and you also can't boost Luigi's or Paper Mario's HP stat when they rank up either.

Not quite the same as it used to be, but this definitely adds some level of strategy I would imagine. Do you play it safe and fair and just give them more gear slots, or do you choose to buff one up at the cost of someone else?

Edited December 4, 2015 by Doctor MK

[Salamander]

Ah, I think Dream Team did have something like that, though; aye, here's what I wrote in the Dream Team thread two years ago: "Rank Up bonuses were a real motivating factor and I always looked forwards to getting a Rank Up because of it, and I'd be curious to hear what other people went with (POW Up +, Gear Slot +1, Gear Slot +1, Counterer, Big Lucky)."  I'm guessing they have a similar set of bonuses this time around?  Now that I remember that that exists and know that it still exists, then that is some comfort.

[Doctor MK]

Ah, I think Dream Team did have something like that, though; aye, here's what I wrote in the Dream Team thread two years ago: "Rank Up bonuses were a real motivating factor and I always looked forwards to getting a Rank Up because of it, and I'd be curious to hear what other people went with (POW Up +, Gear Slot +1, Gear Slot +1, Counterer, Big Lucky)."  I'm guessing they have a similar set of bonuses this time around?  Now that I remember that that exists and know that it still exists, then that is some comfort.

Same basic principle, yeah. As I say, I can't quite remember all the available options but there was definitely Gear Slot+1, HP+, BP+, Def+ and Stache+ (or named something like that anyway), with only Gear Slot+1 being available for all three characters and the rest being a one-time deal for whoever you select it for and no one else.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Doctor MK

[Your Vest Friend]

Spoiler

Dry Bowser has basically become the Baby Mario of the franchise, somehow.