Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

[JezMM]

Well I finally finished the damn forest world.  It feels pretty refreshing to have a whole new aesthetic to explore again at last.  That world could have really used another couple of songs/scenery variations for the courses.

 

The last few courses were pretty fun though.  The Snifit one in particular was a good laugh.  What would a Paper Mario game be without...

 

The traditional quiz show segment.

Edited January 8, 2013 by JezMM

[SchemingMinor]

Is anyone else wondering besides me that this game might have DLC in the future? The game seems too short on its own, and only one Mario game has had DLC content to "expand" the game play  (I'm still waiting and looking at you Mario Kart 7.)

[JezMM]

Is anyone else wondering besides me that this game might have DLC in the future? The game seems too short on its own, and only one Mario game has had DLC content to "expand" the game play  (I'm still waiting and looking at you Mario Kart 7.)

Too short?  I've only just beaten World 3 and I've clocked 11 hours so far.

 

Though granted aside from the museum I haven't particularly noticed anything side quest-ish to do after the story...

Like... at all.

[Diogenes]

Oh hey. I had noticed the life bars swaying from time to time, but I figured it was just random; I only just now noticed they sway if you shake the 3DS a bit.

[SuperStingray]

Oh hey. I had noticed the life bars swaying from time to time, but I figured it was just random; I only just now noticed they sway if you shake the 3DS a bit.

The shiny stickers' reflections also move with the tilt, which was a pretty brilliant detail.

Edited January 9, 2013 by SuperStingray

[Swiss]

Yahtzee shares his thoughts...it's as you'd expect!

 

As for my own thoughts, I'm pretty bored and don't feel like I can be bothered to go back to it and I'm only at the end of World 2. The one time I thought I finally had a reason to own this bloody console and it's another huge let-down. Hoorah.

[JezMM]

Gotta say that was a pretty fair review.  It's a shame because I was hoping he'd throw in the "I admit it is FUN despite all this", if he had I would have completely agreed with the review entirely.  Because I do enjoy the game, it's just so... not what Paper Mario is about.

[Doctor MK]

Gotta say that was a pretty fair review.  It's a shame because I was hoping he'd throw in the "I admit it is FUN despite all this", if he had I would have completely agreed with the review entirely.  Because I do enjoy the game, it's just so... not what Paper Mario is about.

 

Yep, I second this. Usually I find that Yahtzee can nitpick just for the sake of nitpicking, but here... pretty much everything he said rings true. There are moments of brilliance in Sticker Star but it never ever even touches upon what made Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand-Year Door such classics. It's a shame, and a sorely missed opportunity.

[Diogenes]

So I'm at the final boss fight, and I think it's safe to give my (mostly) final thoughts on the game.

 

It's definitely worse than the first two PMs, and debatably worse than SPM. It's not an entirely terrible game; there's some pretty nice moments and some good ideas, but it just doesn't come together.

 

I think the worst part of it isn't the lack of story, or the changes to the battle system, but how the Things are handled, especially regarding boss fights. Unless you're willing to expend pretty much your entire stock of stickers (and even that might not be enough), you'll need a particular Thing sticker (or several Thing stickers) and to use them at the right time to have a chance at beating a boss. But it's entirely possible that, 1, you haven't picked up the right Thing, 2, you have, but you haven't turned it into a sticker yet, 3, you have, but you've since used the sticker and you haven't replaced it, 4, you simply don't know which sticker the boss is weak to, or 5, you have the right sticker but you don't know when it's supposed to be used, and you end up wasting it. There are too many ways this can go wrong for something that is damn near required for most bosses, and ends up requiring either tedious guesswork and busywork, a FAQ, or dumb luck. The idea of using specific stickers to counter bosses and their abilities is a good one, but they made the process too difficult, they didn't give you room to experiment, meaning it only works if you already know what you have to do.

 

Overall I think it's a formula that could match or exceed TTYD, but the regressive attitude towards the story and the unpolished mechanics prevent it from reaching its potential.

[Solkia]

So I'm only at world 1-4 and already bored of it.

 

Should I finish it?

 

And I only need the poison mushroom sticker to open the world 2 door, have no idea where to find it.

 

I also have no idea where the bat is.

 

Did I mention I think the SMB3 map shit was a stupid choice? I'm not playing a platformer, I'm playing an RPG. Open world plzkthanx.

 

I guess I'll finish it. Nothing better to do.

 

EDIT: are there any side quests in this game?

Edited January 14, 2013 by Underaged Hot Anime Girl

[Thigolf]

Why are you even bothering about world 2 already? You still got a few levels in World 1.

[Solkia]

I don't know when the next boss is, and Carbo said I'd need the bat. I looked up where to find the bat and it said World 2-2.

 

I'm at a fortress, so I'm assuming there's a boss there.

 

EDIT: oh apparently the huge beetle wasn't a boss.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Underaged Hot Anime Girl

[Carbo]

You need the bat for the boss in World 2. Sorry if I didn't specify that it was the second boss though.

The boss in World 1 is comparatively simple but the Fan sticker is that guy's weak point. Use that on the boss when he turns into the form that starts showing creases/being loose.

[Solkia]

Alright.

 

I'm assuming the Fan Sticker is available to just purchase now?

[Carbo]

Once you've used the fling-a-thing to turn an object into a sticker you can buy Things in the booth to the left of the fling-a-thing. You can't have multiples of the same Thing though so be sure to use it when it counts.

When it comes to the world 2 boss

You want to use the Baseball Bat when the Pokey is fully extended in order to do the most damage

[Solkia]

okay, thanks

[Kamicciolo]

The boss in World 1 is comparatively simple but the Fan sticker is that guy's weak point. Use that on the boss when he turns into the form that starts showing creases/being loose.

 

Isn't the first boss's weakness the Scissors? Or is it a case of multiple weaknesses? I know Kersti gives you the tip of breaking the boss apart, which is why I'd just assume just the Scissors would work.

 

Anyways I got the game for christmas and have been playing it on and off since then (just beat the 4th boss recently, and making my way to #5, so don't think there's much left). With the actual boss of each chapter I think they put a bit too much dependence on the Things though, since it seems like they have a higher defense before the correct thing is used on them, so your normal stickers kinda end up wasted trying to whittle them down to the point where you use it (the 3rd boss was especially noticeable with this, especially with his bullshit "poison hurts aim" thing...). The normal battles are still fun though and the sticker system is cool, but it really doesn't give much incentive to actually use it when you can just bypass most of the enemies. Music's pretty decent as well.

 

Also how were you meant to beat that Big Boo? Cause I didn't have a clue how to turn the lights back off once he went invisible. I ended up having restart the battle and use one of the Infinite Jump stickers on him right from the start to take him down on the first turn...

[Komodin]

Isn't the first boss's weakness the Scissors? Or is it a case of multiple weaknesses? I know Kersti gives you the tip of breaking the boss apart, which is why I'd just assume just the Scissors would work.

 

With the first boss, both the Fan and the Scissors can work on it. 

[JezMM]

On the subject of boss dumb-ness, I actually died on the Blooper boss and Kersti still didn't even give me a hint on what thing sticker I was meant to use.  I always experiment with every thing sticker I get then quit without saving just to see what they all do, and I never for a second thought the Sponge would be useful since it was something that affected me rather than him.

 

And despite this lack of hint, Kersti still ragged on at me for using a load of stickers on the boss, even though I simply used about 4 Thing stickers for massive damage and then finished him off with just a handful of shiny jumps.  Grr.

Edited January 14, 2013 by JezMM

[Thrippa]

Yes, the boss fights at a minimum need better hints, as I recently failed 2nd boss after going through all 5 or 6 thing stickers I had.  40 points of damage (if you're lucky) on a 300-hp enemy doesn't accomplish much, and since you only get one of each thing, you don't get much chance to experiment to see when the stickers are best used.  Unless you restart, and restart, and restart, which is time-consuming and unfortunately tedious, as the battles themselves aren't much fun.  I've been putting stickers in the museum since that, but I'm about to run out of undisplayed stickers, I think, and have to go back to the boss anyway.

 

Although I did learn the secret of the fairy flower rings this time around.

[Solkia]

Wait, Kertsi yells at you for using too many stickers? What is this, Tales of the Abyss?

Edited January 14, 2013 by Underaged Hot Anime Girl

[Komodin]

Well, I finally managed to beat the Tower Power Pokey... barely, at that. If that thing's any indication for what lies in store for the rest of the game, then I'm probably in for one heck of a hard time...

[Kamicciolo]

Well, I finally managed to beat the Tower Power Pokey... barely, at that. If that thing's any indication for what lies in store for the rest of the game, then I'm probably in for one heck of a hard time...

 

I wouldn't worry too much, use the right Thing on the third boss and you're fine. the next two bosses after that are even easier, since you don't need a particular Thing to beat them (I didn't at least :V).

 

I will warn that the 3rd world/chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones though, so prepare yourself. :V

[Your Vest Friend]

A bit longer?! It's the most laborious part of the game!

[Kamicciolo]

...you don't believe breaking bad news gently do you... :V

 

At the very least, there is Hit it or Snifit to look forward to (even though the name of it seems a little wrong to me for some reason...).

Edited January 15, 2013 by Kamicciolo