Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

[Nintendoga]

Just longer battles tis all. Why have bosses with 40HP like the old games if you can kill them in 3 turns considering the amount of damage you give in this game? Why most of the bosses would be over in 3 or 4 turns, and I'm sure many would complain about how "incredibly easy they were" if it was like that. Even with the normal enemies like Goombas, you'll still probably take them out in one or two turns like before.

Of course I'm not saying that they should do this every game, but for this game it's appropriate concerning the can damage you give. But I doubt this will detract too much from the enjoyment of the full game, unless you really absolutely care about something like that.

[Solid SOAP]

I like the new concepts this game is introducing, it's turning it into more of an adventure game with puzzle and platforming elements in addition to the turnbased roots of the series. I like it, it's a unique take on the RPG genre while retaining more of Mario's platformer and adventure elements into the game.

[JezMM]

Just longer battles tis all. Why have bosses with 40HP like the old games if you can kill them in 3 turns considering the amount of damage you give in this game? Why most of the bosses would be over in 3 or 4 turns, and I'm sure many would complain about how "incredibly easy they were" if it was like that. Even with the normal enemies like Goombas, you'll still probably take them out in one or two turns like before.

Of course I'm not saying that they should do this every game, but for this game it's appropriate concerning the can damage you give. But I doubt this will detract too much from the enjoyment of the full game, unless you really absolutely care about something like that.

Erm... then reduce the damage you do too? We weren't for a second suggesting only the enemy health was the problem. Numbers in general means your attack power too. Why not just have a basic jump do 1 damage like it always did? Keep 7's and upwards for the uber attacks?

[Nintendoga]

Which is why I said they shouldn't do that for every game. It's already done for this game, nothing we can do about it, but for future Paper Mario's, they can either go back to the low damage, or keep the higher damage, considering how the majority of fans react to it after the game comes out.

[Sean]

I doubt most people are going to notice it enough to complain.

I think the first two Paper Mario games are the only RPGs out there where I feel a sense of excitement in scoring higher damage points due to the small numbers. Since I never got that feeling in M&L, I doubt I will here.

[Conando]

I don't see why it makes a difference.

[Sean]

People like the smaller numbers because Paper Mario 64 and TTYD are some of the only RPGs in existence where you always know exactly how much damage you will inflict and receive. There's no luck involved or behind-the-scenes mathematics. Everything there is to know about how the game ticks is right in front of you. With bigger numbers it gets more difficult to predict that stuff.

[Diogenes]

Just longer battles tis all. Why have bosses with 40HP like the old games if you can kill them in 3 turns considering the amount of damage you give in this game? Why most of the bosses would be over in 3 or 4 turns, and I'm sure many would complain about how "incredibly easy they were" if it was like that. Even with the normal enemies like Goombas, you'll still probably take them out in one or two turns like before.

What I'm saying is, the damage you do is going to be keyed to enemy HP, and vice versa, regardless. Whether you're doing 1 damage per turn to an enemy with 10 HP or 10 damage per turn to an enemy with 100 HP, it's the same fight. Increasing enemy HP after having increased Mario's damage output isn't really an improvement to the game so much as preserving basic gameplay balance. The real questions is what benefit is there in increasing them in the first place.

Personally I liked Paper Mario's small numbers because it made the math easier for the player and there was almost no variance in damage (since most RPGs I've seen with 3+ digit damage have some random factor; if you're fighting a guy with 100 HP left, and you have a move that averages 100 damage, you don't know for sure whether it'll kill him). This helped you plan things down almost to the individual hit point. I don't really see any reason to increase them, aside from bigger numbers being more exciting.

[Salamander]

Didn't Kingdom Hearts 3D also give you HP increases and deck capacity increases for specific fights? Although of course that was alongside a traditional level-up system. And for that matter, while the stats in Mario & Luigi were never in tiny quantities, I do remember noticing significant damage inflation between the first and second games, with much higher numbers showing up in the second. It does sound as if random battles are pretty pointless in this game, though. I'm certainly prepared to give this a shot, but introducing something original always carries with it a risk of a negative reaction if it looks like you're getting rid of much-loved staples. That's the point of having a series at all.

[Tails spin]

Didn't Kingdom Hearts 3D also give you HP increases and deck capacity increases for specific fights? Although of course that was alongside a traditional level-up system. And for that matter, while the stats in Mario & Luigi were never in tiny quantities, I do remember noticing significant damage inflation between the first and second games, with much higher numbers showing up in the second. It does sound as if random battles are pretty pointless in this game, though. I'm certainly prepared to give this a shot, but introducing something original always carries with it a risk of a negative reaction if it looks like you're getting rid of much-loved staples. That's the point of having a series at all.

but it is also nice if the rules are bent once in awhile to keep the staple from being stale. Though Super Paper Mario may have done that already.

[Nintendoga]

Nintendo Direct Footage

Level 1-6 footage

That sure does look like a Bom-Omb Battlefield eh?

[Diogenes]

Summon a goat to eat your enemies

I think this may be the greatest game ever made

[Nintendoga]

Looks like WitFolderJosh is starting to upload more footage

We should start getting reviews sometime next week.

[Nintendoga]

http://nintendoeverything.com/102954/paper-mario-sticker-star-is-4199-blocks/

People planning to download Paper Mario: Sticker Star via the eShop will have to make space for 4,199 blocks on their SD cards, which is roughly equivalent to 522 megabytes. Based on the pricing of downloadable titles though, I’d still suggest people purchase full games in store, rather than via the eShop.

[Your Vest Friend]

Mariachi power.

[Thigolf]

Why is the one in the middle called "Sombrero Guy" when all of them are wearing sombreros? oô

[Sean]

Aw yeah I'm always down for Mexican caricatures in my Mario games.

[JezMM]

I'm not even watching the videos but the preview images alone make me genuinely excited.

[Nintendoga]

New info

- gather as many stickers as you can fit in your albumn

- use them as you see fit

- not all sticker attacks work on all enemies

- you can’t hit flying guys with most Hammers

- can't use standard jump attack on spiked enemies

- Sticker Museum has a spot for each sticker in the game

- you have to find those stickers to fill the museum

- receive a prize for adding every sticker type to the museum

- collect items like Electric fans, baseball bats, lucky cats, soda and more

- have these items turned into stickers

- use these stickers to fight enemies or find secrets

- paperize scenes to find spots to put these stickers, indicated by purple blotches or red dashed lines

- some of these stickers will push the story forward

[Your Vest Friend]

More new footage.

[StaticMania]

Toad: " In the desert, water is the BOB-OMB."

Wow I never really thought I would hear such a lame pun in a sentence I never thought I would hear in a Mario game, that's not right.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Chrononego

[Nintendoga]

Toad: " In the desert, water is the BOB-OMB."

Wow I never really thought I would hear such a lame pun in a sentence I never thought I would hear in a Mario game, that's not right.

Well it is a Paper Mario game,

Funny thing though, I was playing TTYD the other day, and holy shit I've forgotten how funny the writing is.

First five minutes playing, I talk to a Bom-omb looking at Goombella & Lord Crump about to fight, and he goes

"Oye! Ain't nothing better then seeing a man go all out on his missus eh? Am I right? Har har har!"

And then when talking to Toadsworth, just seeing two Pianta Mobsters sneak up on two guards, proceeding to hold one while beating up the other, and then going like "The boss says you better have his money next time or else!" with the Guard saying "Stay down bro, just stay down! We won't forget about this!" then running off.

This game man, makes me more hyped for Sticker Star.

New vid

Gamexplain's giving their review in two days, which means we should see other reviews as well shortly.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Nintendoga

[Rinzler]

Has anyone posted this preview yet?

kers on the wall. Stickers on the doormat. Stickers in the tree, behind the building and in a Question Block. Stickers crumpled up on the ground, in a Toad’s dresser and in that hidden corner. Stickers from fallen enemies and in secret stores. Mario’s a sticker, the princess is a sticker, your sidekick is a sticker. All the Toads, Goombas and Koopas are stickers too.

In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, stickers reign supreme, and it’s your glorious job to collect every last one of them. But don’t let yourself be fooled - this is a daunting task. And from what I’ve played, an incredibly satisfying one too.

As the title would suggest, the entire world revolves around those sticky pieces of paper, from the battle system to the plot to the franchise’s signature side-splitting humor. It’s a unique angle, to be sure, one that could have easily come across as gimmicky or superfluous. But it’s actually an incredibly creative twist to the Paper Mario we all know and love.

We’ve already briefly touched on the new, sticker-fueled battle mechanics. You basically gather as many stickers as you can fit in your album, then use them as you see fit to best the various enemies. Simple, right? Maybe if it weren’t for the fact that the game forces you to be incredibly clever with your choices.

You see, not all sticker attacks work on all enemies. That would be far too easy, and the game’s going to require a lot more of you than that. For instance, you can’t hit flying guys with most Hammers, and good luck trying to use a standard Jump attack on a spiked baddie. The effect is that you have to learn each bad guy’s weakness, do your best to account for what stickers you’ll need for a given area, and manage your sticker stock accordingly. This sticker resource management adds a whole new layer to the gameplay, and makes for some tough decisions, some crazy creative wins and a whole lot of fun.

Beware the shiny, giant Goomba.

But stickers aren’t just for battling, of course. They’re also for collecting, looking at, and being shiny. That’s where the Sticker Museum comes in. While you’re figuring out which stickers to hold onto and which to ditch from a battle standpoint, you’re also going to want to hold on to at least one of each kind of sticker you come across - and especially to make room in your album for the rare stickers you’ll occasionally encounter. Doing so will be a challenge at first, as your album starts out rather small, and the collectibles tend to stack up and leave little room for battle stock - but it all pays off when you finally unlock the museum.

That’s when you get to go absolutely crazy. Here you can store and view the stickers you manage to hold onto, and where you realize how very many different varieties of stickers there really are. The museum is huge, so filling it up is quite the daunting task. It’s also quite enticing, as looking at all the stickers you’ve come across is oddly satisfying, and besides that, the Toad curator promises a prize of some sort for the daring completionists just kooky enough to go for the gold.

The game also boasts a variety of “things” to find. Electric fans, baseball bats, lucky cats, soda - if you run across some weird, non-flat object, you can take it back to the main town to transform into a sticker. These stickers can then be used to beat bad guys in some extravagant way, but are especially useful for finding secrets. With the ability to “paperize” at any moment, you’re able to get a different perspective on the world and spot certain areas with big, red squares or glowing purple spots that just scream, “sticker me!”

Find the right sticker for the right spot and something cool will happen, whether it helps you push forward in the story, unlocks a secret area or yields you some kind of prize. You’ll find these areas everywhere, and in surprising places, so keeping an eye out - and keeping a stock of various “things” and stickers always on hand - is certainly in your best interest.

I still have quite a bit of game to work my way through, and a lot of stickers still to collect, so I’m excited to keep pressing forward and see everything Sticker Star has to offer. If you love the Paper Mario series, or just have an affinity for collecting or for shiny things, this is definitely a title to keep your eye on.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star hits both the 3DS eShop and North American shelves on November 11. For more on this and other 3DS games, keep it here on IGN.

[-blank-]

Well it is a Paper Mario game,

Funny thing though, I was playing TTYD the other day, and holy shit I've forgotten how funny the writing is.

First five minutes playing, I talk to a Bom-omb looking at Goombella & Lord Crump about to fight, and he goes

"Oye! Ain't nothing better then seeing a man go all out on his missus eh? Am I right? Har har har!"

And then when talking to Toadsworth, just seeing two Pianta Mobsters sneak up on two guards, proceeding to hold one while beating up the other, and then going like "The boss says you better have his money next time or else!" with the Guard saying "Stay down bro, just stay down! We won't forget about this!" then running off.

TTYD had the best storyline in a Mario game, which is one of the reasons it's my favorite in the series. xD I should go and play it again to remember just how good it was.

[-Robin-]

TTYD is amazing, but I was more captivated by the soundtrack than anything else from the game.

If Sticker Star can present a song that is better than Rogueport's theme, then I'll be more satisfied than ever. But I'm not holding my breath; you can't overcome something that's perfect, after all.