expzero:Super Paper MarioWhile the focus of this blog is going to be indie games, I can’t ignore the
expzero:Super Paper MarioWhile the focus of this blog is going to be indie games, I can’t ignore the wondrously unique experience that is Super Paper Mario.Many passed this entry in the series over, seeing it as too derivative of the Mario platformers, and damning it for straying from the RPG elements of the previous Paper Mario games. But believe me, the game feels the same way that you do.At times, Super Paper Mario feels like a hate letter to the game industry. The game hates that it is confined to the shell of a platformer for the sake of selling copies, and frequently breaks as many cliches as it possibly can. The mechanic of turning the 2D planes into 3D ones is barely even the icing on the cake.The screenshot above is from a section which parodies visual novels, actually calling out sexist and elitist male gamers for their sense of entitlement.There is an area where you literally have to run in place for a number of minutes. The game makes you think that there is some way around this. The game wants you to get angry at it. The game WANTS you to think “there’s no way this is actually what I’m supposed to be doing.” But it is.The plot is easily the darkest the Mario universe has ever seen and contains some of the most clever and empathetic villains I have ever encountered in fiction. To drive this post home without spoiling anything, I will simply tell you that there is an area where THIS is the only audio.There are certainly sections where you won’t be having fun. There are sections where the developers don’t want you to be having fun. But if you never gave Super Paper Mario a chance, I can guarantee it is nothing like you expected. It is one of the most interesting commentaries on video games I’ve ever seen, and it came from the franchise that inspired some of the most derivative works out there. Unique is an understatement. -- source link