So, this is hardly breaking news by now, but I wanted to talk about it all the same. So yeah, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is coming to Switch! At last, Switch players will have a good game in the series to enjoy (lol)!
Look, let’s just get this out of the way: if you like Paper Mario: The Origami King and/or Paper Mario: Color Splash, then that’s fine! I’m glad you’re having fun! That said though, I’ve pretty much hated everything Nintendo has done with the Paper Mario series after Super Paper Mario, and it’s largely because of what it accomplished with Paper Mario: TTYD. With TTYD, those of us who were around for the GameCube days got a taste of what was basically Paper Mario perfected, and have been watching with gritted teeth ever since as the series has drifted further and further away from that ideal. And now, everyone who never got to play it originally will know our pain at last!
The version that’s coming to the Switch next year looks to be a 100% faithful recreation of the GameCube original. Its visuals have been upgraded to the new style, but other than that this is the same game. There are no annoying color mechanics, no goofy (ultimately shallow) spinning system, no consumable attacks, no confetti, NO STICKERS, and no cringey writing that revolves entirely around paper puns or pointing out that the world is paper (WE GET IT ALREADY!!). Also, we get real side characters rather than just Toad #511 or Koopa #63. (Seriously, what happened to this series?!)
Now, I acknowledge that my nostalgia for this game is almost certainly affecting my judgement here. I’m naturally going to favor games I grew up with. For me this is great, but for younger player who grew up with the new games, Paper Mario: TTYD could very well wind up feeling like the 20 year old game that it is. Maybe the combat system will be too simplistic. Maybe the writing will feel dated. I don’t know. Still, more options are always better, and I really hope everyone will be able to get some enjoyment out of it again. Who knows, maybe Nintendo would be willing to bring back some of its charms in the next game if this sells well-enough. Guess we’ll see.
Are you excited for this or not? Have you played Paper Mario: TTYD before? What do you think of the more recent games in the series?
Image from the Nintendo eShop page
VIRTUAL BASTION 
This announcement is a very pleasant surprise. I am also excited about the Super Mario RPG remake that’s coming out soon! Hopefully by some miracle, there will be a new Mario & Luigi game and a new Paper Mario game in the classic style (if this remake sells well). I would also like to see a new Mario RPG in the style of Super Mario RPG. The more Mario RPG games, the merrier.
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