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One of the presents I got for my birthday was the new 3DS Paper Mario game. I've spent about a day playing it, have gotten to the beginning of the second world, and have a few thoughts on it that will probably be TL;DR. I'm going to write them out anyway because I've learned that WANTING to write about something is a state of mind I should generally grab onto.

First of all, the overall feel of the PM franchise is there, from the cute graphics to the witty and amusing dialogue, so no disappointment there. By now characters have all but given up any pretense of NOT being made of paper, and the puns and references to it are pretty much everywhere now. Part of this is probably because the plot of the game largely revolves around stickers, which are used for battle and to make progress through levels. I'll explain in a moment, but first, a general overview of battle

Battle feels like a cross between the old PM RPGs for N64/GCN and the more recent Paper Mario for Wii. Battles are turn based, but you get no experience for winning them. How well you do in battles will determine how many coins you get, as taking no damage nets you a coin bonus, and how many battles you win in a stage determines the coin bonus you'll get at the end of that stage. Coins are almost like the new experience, and here's why:

Remember when I said that stickers are used in battle? Well, stickers are the ONLY thing used in battle. Not only that, all of them are single use. What happens when you run out of them? Frankly, I'm not sure. There are stickers plastered all over the background to more or less "recharge" your attacks, but not all of them are all that strong. In order to get the sticker load-out that you want, you're better off buying them from the store. Stronger stickers cost more, and I think you can see where this is going. Not only that, but you can use coins in battle to help you use more than one sticker at a time, which is important if you want to end up taking less damage and getting the end of battle bonuses.

Additionally, there are "things" scattered around the world, 3-D objects that are clearly not made out of paper. You can collect these and turn them into stickers which will either have an effect on the stage when placed in certain spots, OR deal fairly high damage in battle. Some are larger than normal stickers and take up more space in your limited inventory. Now, here's the part that really made me want to write this. Once used, the "thing" that was turned into a sticker can be found where you originally found it in the level. Alternately, you can pay a shady toad to get the item back. So I either A) can use up coins, which are basically my EXP, to buy back the item, or I can B) go through the stage that I've already been through to get it again, GAINING coins along the way. To an OCD person like me, the choice is obvious.

Other thoughts: I was somewhat disappointed to find out that it doesn't seem like you get partners like in the old PM RPGs, since I thought they brought a lot of character to the game. Your singular companion, Kersti, functions a lot like Tippi did in SPM, so you're not totally alone, but still. Also, on the whole sticker collecting thing, there's a place where you can go and paste stickers in a sort of collectible museum. With about 150 stickers of varying rarity, I can tell this is going to take me a while.

So those are my main thoughts so far. It's really fun, and I'm quite addicted to it right now. Still got a lot to do and explore~

TL;DR: Captures the charm of other PM games. Coins are the new EXP (kinda). The right stickers can save your life. 3-D objects in a world of paper are strangely awesome. Goombella is still best partner. Recommended.

Second Impressions:

Well, I'm about 65% to 70% through the game now (I think), so time to update a little bit.

First, I can't stress how strongly sticker selection plays into getting ahead in this game. For example, every boss has some kind of gimmick, usually requiring a thing sticker be used at a particular time, in order to beat them most effectively. The first two bosses I beat, the game actually TOLD me that I basically did it wrong, but it didn't tell me how to do it RIGHT. The third boss I fought, I beat the hard way, then went back with a sticker I that thought would help take him down easily, and was right. For the fourth one, I picked the right ones up front, and everything was fine for the whole battle.

On top of that, I've found my new favorite stage. If I clear all of the shiny goombas out in the level, I earn about 800 coins in one go, which is a profit of at LEAST 500 for how much I spend on the stickers to breeze through it. Keeping track of just how much damage you can do with which stickers and what situations they're best used in makes you kill bad guys more effectively.

Lessee...OH. I found out that most stores have a second page that you can scroll to that I didn't even know about. Man, I'm an idiot.

Anyway, still a fun game. Definitely having to think more than I expected...of course, I'm not using any guides for it either, so that helps.

Final note: XD3R-B8HH-9ZR2-FL16. What does it MEAN? I don't know. But it's in the game. Maybe it's a future download code?