I'm going to get ahead of myself here: This game, right here, is the creatively bankrupt game that the incredibly loud "fans" of Paper Mario want you to think the modern games like Origami King and Color Splash are. And it happened in the Mario and Luigi series.
Starting in the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo 64 era, there were two concurrent Mario RPG series. On the consoles, starting with Paper Mario 64, was the Paper Mario series. The Mario and Luigi series spans 5 games (and 2 remakes) and served as the portable equivalent to the Paper Mario games, for the most part. Paper Jam Brothers (or just Paper Jam in the United States) is the final original game made in the series, as sadly, the developers behind the series, Alphadream, were dissolved after poor sales of the two remakes.
As the title implies, Paper Jam Brothers is a crossover between these two series. So while this is the final original game in the series, there is a huge potential for it to be excellent given the vast history from both series it could draw from.
Up until this review, I had only played two of the Mario & Luigi games, the original, "Superstar Saga" and the third, "Bowser's Inside Story". Just those two were enough to make an impression on me. The game had a completely unique graphical style, with beautifully animated hand-drawn sprites that used a lot of fun animation techniques like blurring, squashing and stretching to really emphasize attacks. The stories were well written with a cast of original villains and allies, in addition to the usual Mario cast. The Mario & Luigi series in particular featured Bowser with far more personality then he had traditionally featured. No longer a one-note villain, he became a short-tempered oaf, easily played by the other villains by appealing to his vanity.
Because of the nature of this style of game, and because I anticipated enjoying myself, I gave myself more time to completely explore this game. Unfortunately, at 5 hours in there was no sign of an interesting story. Even if that were to eventually change, I presumed it would likely be too little too late. It's no good having a late game twist that would reveal it isn't completely predictable if it's still required to slog through so much to find out.And yet, I thought that perhaps it might get good despite this, so I decided I wouldn't just put in another 5 hours. I would finish the game.
So.... I'll start with the good.
This game has a very rare thing: good and original amiibo implementation. Too often amiibo at best unlock alternate costumes, but even more frequently random items. This game has a system where most amiibo from the Mario series can have additional moves that can be used in battle unlocked and assigned to them, using a consumable item found within the game. These can be buffs, debuffs, adjustments to exp payout, or just basic attacks, with many more. Each amiibo has over 20 unique moves that can be unlocked, assigned to it, and used once in battle. It's still nothing that couldn't be done outside of a menu, but as someone with an amiibo... problem... it's nice to have a use.
The animation is GORGEOUS. I was hesitant as I knew going in that some sections feature 3D models, but they are animated with the same expressive, bouncy, stretchy animations that in many ways define the series. Absolutely no notes, fantastic stuff.
There is a mid-game conversation between Peach and Paper Peach which is among some of the best writing in either series. The Princesses Peach bond over the differences in their worlds, the people in their lives, and their shared frustrations in not being able to change much in their personal lives due to the expectations their subjects have. It does unfortunately end with something I'll get back to later that is endlessly frustrating, but this is not the space for that discussion.
And that's it. It's all downhill from here folks.
So I'm going to start by spelling out the plot. See if you can spot a problem.
Luigi and Toad find a book in the attic of Peach's Castle. Upon accidentally opening it, the characters and enemies of the Paper Mario world come flying out and populate the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi, teaming up with Paper Mario seek out the Paper Toads who have been spread around the kingdom.
While doing this, Bowser and Paper Bowser kidnap Peach and Paper Peach. Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario give chase. Their progress is first blocked by a large papercraft Goomba, so they must spend time finding hidden Paper Toads before they are allowed to fight and defeat it. Then their progress is blocked by a large Pokey and Paper Pokey, so they must spend time finding hidden Paper Toads before they they are allowed to fight and defeat them. After the battle, as the team approach Bowser's Castle progress is once again impeded by an attack which leads them incapacitated, and taken to a series of islands elsewhere on the map.
To escape this island prison, the team must... find enough... Paper Toads to... yawn...
You can see where this is going. The plot entirely consists of constant interruptions and fetch quests. Nothing of consequence changes or develops. It's just busy work trying to cover for how little substance there is.
The closest to an interesting plot development is at one point, the Princesses are relocated, but it's for nothing as they are taken back to Bowser's Castle once Team Mario reach them. So basically, just another diversion to drag out this whole thing.
Now, let's talk characters.
Given this game is a combination of both the Mario & Luigi AND Paper Mario worlds, there is a plethora of fantastic characters to draw from. Additionally, these games tend to bring in new characters with each entry. Even the much-maligned Paper Mario Sticker Star had one original character in Kersti, the sentient crown that serves as Mario's companion. Paper jam Brothers has literally NO new characters. Even the companion character, Starlow, carries over from previous Mario and Luigi games. The closest to new characters are the koopalings, who had already featured in a Mario and Luigi spinoff and all have one-note personalities.
In the recent Paper Mario games, the abundance of the same looking Paper Toads is pointed to as proof that those games are narratively bankrupt. However, in both Color Splash and Origami King, while they all have similar appearances, almost every single one has unique charming dialogue filled with personality regarding their predicament. In Paper Jam, the vast majority of them never speak, existing only as items to be collected. Quite a lot of them are so bereft of personality that they are herded like cattle to collect them.
Despite having twice the number of Bowsers, they aren't given much screen time, and what little they have is nowhere near as entertaining as the usual faire in either the Mario & Luigi games or paper Mario. Outside of plotting, there is very little, particularly when compared to the highs of Bowser's Inside Story.
However, probably the most poorly treated characters are the Princesses. It is established early that Peach and Paper Peach can escape at any time after the Bowser's have them trapped in a cage that Paper Peach can easily walk out of. This is established early, and yet, despite multiple opportunities, including a time where only the particularly dim-witted and distractable Bowser Juniors are watching them, the escape attempt is held off until near the end of the game, giving the impression that it must be leading to something. Why tease and reiterate this point if it is ultimately purposeless? And yet, when they finally do attempt escape, they are recaptured IMMEDIATELY and must be rescued by Team Mario. Worse than just having them be damsels in distress, they're teased as potentially being able to save themselves, only for that to be immediately undercut and having to be rescued by the plumbers as usual.
And finally, and most egregiously, 1completely absent is Paper Luigi, who in the Paper Mario games is often a source of comedy, be it for his parallel adventures that happen off-screen, his reluctance to be involved in any heroism, or his villanous alter-ego.
So, if the plot and characters are a disappointment, perhaps the battle system makes them game worthwhile?
Much like all prior Mario RPGs, the battle system is turn-based with a timing component that can either increase damage dealt or reduced damage taken. In the Mario and Luigi series, enemies can target one or the other of Mario and Luigi, with the player hitting the corresponding button (Mario with A, Luigi B). The addition of Paper Mario to the Mario and Luigi results in three characters that need to be managed to avoid damage and deal more out. For the most part in standard battles this works fine, but early on it becomes apparent that there is a big problem: the battles last far longer than is fun, incentivizing avoiding them. However, doing so results in mandatory boss battles being even harder due to potentially under-levelled Mario brothers, making these already long battles nearly unbearable.
Boss fights in general have some particularly frustrating issues:
- Frequently bosses come out of nowhere with little warning, making chance of lost progress high and likely not being prepared. As a result almost every boss is failed first time.
- Multiple bosses have revival mechanics, which is nigh unforgivable in an RPG - at most you can get away with it once, and it is typically to teach you to kill the healer first. In this case though, where you're fighting 2 characters at once, both of them can revive the other, so it isn't even for that puirpose! And this is in addition to every boss having a second stage which is initiated by knocking them out the first time.
- Most bosses, in addition to their attacks they take on their turns, have an additional team attack they can undertake that frequently have instant KO moves that can be very difficult to avoid, meaning that the next turn is spent recovering.
- In general most bosses feel somewhat untested, as they frequently become far too difficult and repetitive, and most disapointingly: not fun.
So, the story barely exists, the characters are disapointing and the battles are frustrating. But the music is great, right? Mario and Luigi soundtracks always have bangers, right?
Well then.
All the problems with this game can be summarized with a description of the final level, Neo Bowser Castle. Neo Bowser Castle was the last level in the previous Mario and Luigi game. As you make your way in, there are multiple times where grinding is required to move forward. The final boss is a slog of battles in a row, some with instant kills, and no saving between battles, ending with a confrontation with the Bowsers.
It is a bummer that this was the final game in the Mario and Luigi series. With Paper Mario back on track, it would be great if Mario and Luigi could return with the same charm and originality that defined the series. Sadly, given the fate of Alphadream, it doesn't seem likely. Certainly if there was another in the series, none of the original creators would be returning.
Addendum:
This review has taken an absurdly long time, while up until this game I'd written something every week or so. And while this game was not on my mind the entire time, having to write something so negative was just a bummer. Every time I started writing, I'd get frustrated or mad about what I was writing about all over again.
For the sake of continuing this project, I'm not going to do this again: if I am not enjoying a game after an hour, I'll drop it. I've made my points about the Mario RPG series.
Well, almost, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is coming in a few weeks, but I'm pretty confident that I'll enjoy it more than this game, and regardless, dropping it after an hour will avoid the pitfalls of this review.
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