Aside from following a linear RPG narrative (which I'll touch on more later), the gameplay initially is very similar to the original Super Mario Bros. games and other such 2-D side-scrolling platformers. The twist this game adds is the ability to switch between exploring in 2-D and 3-D. Using this ability obviously lets you see things you couldn't before, but also provides a different way to move through the world.
The game mostly makes you use the 3-D ability as a way to find clues and solve spatial puzzles. The main goal is still to just find your way from Point A to Point B, but it's not as simple as walking to the right. Each level is a puzzle where you not only have to find the exit, but figure out how to get there. Some cliched "find-the-key-to-unlock-the-door" parts do exist in the game, but these are not the norm. Most of the time, the player must utilize their wits and all the special abilities available to them to find their way out of the level. There is a real sense of discovery in exploring the levels, especially when the player goes the extra mile to find hidden items and treasures as well.
There are enemies to battle along the way, but these seem mainly to just be a minor challenge aesthetic for players who enjoy combat or the feel of conquering bad-guys. You can technically just run past most enemies without engaging them, and the majority of them won't even give chase. As I said though, they can provide that challenge aesthetic, and there are a few areas (boss battles for example) where you can't continue through the level until you defeat them.
Sometimes, though, the enemies are not a challenge at all, just a source of sensation of triumph. While there is strategy to employ sometimes to defeat enemies, other times it's just a simple matter of jumping on their heads. There are even sections like the one pictured below where you just find a superstar power-up, transform into an 8-bit giant version of Mario and run through the area effortlessly stomping everything in his path. It's just a sensation, which is still fun, but leaves something to be desired from gamers who really want a challenge.
Now, let's consider the narrative. On the surface, it's a very simplistic story rife with RPG cliches. An evil force threatens to destroy the universe, and to stop it, the hero of legend and his party must embark on an epic journey to collect 8 magical artifacts that will give them the power to stop the forces of evil. However, what Super Paper Mario's premise lacks in originality, it makes up for in style. The whole thing is approached in a very humorous way, making tongue-in-cheek jokes at the expense of other games, of gamers, and of itself sometimes. There are parts that parody TV game shows, dating simulators, computers and anime geeks. The cutesy colorful graphics obviously appeal to kids, but the humor can certainly appeal to older gamers.
(There is occasional foreshadowing that there is more to the story than meets the eye, but I'm only about 12 hours into the experience, so I may revisit that in a future post)
The problem I see with the narrative is the few times when it offers the player "choices" to make. Super Paper Mario falls into the familiar trap of giving the player the illusion of choices (mostly by talking to certain characters and choosing what to say), when the choices have no real impact on how the story unfolds. There are even some conversations where Mario's choices to respond are "Yeah" and "Okay", or something similarly identical. There are certainly some parts of branching dialogue that made me laugh out loud (the dating sim parody, for instance), but the way the game makes pretenses of choice then says "just kidding, nothing you do matters" is bothersome.
A linear narrative is not in itself a bad thing, though. The main problem is not that the dialogue never matters, but rather that it sometimes does matter. Dialogue in the game can occasionally be a part of a puzzle that needs solving, and that is hard to distinguish from regular chatter between characters. The trouble for the player then becomes, how does one know whether the choice matters or not? Should I just say whatever is funniest and enjoy the reaction, or will saying the wrong thing cause me to be set back in solving a puzzle?
(Another thing I hope to revisit later is this concept of choice not mattering in this game. It seems to be the case that choices don't matter most of the time, but as I play the game there is no way to go back and try a different choice to see what happens, so I don't even know which parts might have been puzzles and which weren't at all. One character in the game alluded to the idea that I might be able to go back and change my choices eventually, so we'll see.)
In conclusion (for now), Super Paper Mario seems like a fun game for a variety of reasons. In terms of our 8 Types of Fun, the story provides fantasy and narrative fun (even if it is linear), the gameplay provides discovery and some challenge (I have yet to see the Pit of 100 Trials, but it sounds challenging), and the presentation throughout the whole game provides great sensational fun. The main things it lacks are fellowship (it's a one-player only game), and expression (RPGs don't let you be yourself much). While I may revisit this game later (I plan to at least discuss Princess Peach and traditional gender roles), I can at least say from the perspective of a guy who likes both RPGs and puzzle-platformers, these two styles of game can be pretty fun together.
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