The best soups are made in old pots. An adage that Nintendo appreciates and which seems to satisfy its fans. There are countless remasters and remakes at Big N, which has made them a real business between two new releases. But is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. The public is very present and we actually quite like (re)discovering good old hits. Not long ago, it was Mario RPG in particular that experienced this. A somewhat forgotten game, but which gave all its bases to another franchise, that of Paper Mario. It’s precisely one of them that’s coming back today.
It has crossed time since the beginning of the 2000s, received a makeover in Nintendo’s studios and landed on Nintendo Switch in this rainy month of May 2024. Paper Mario The Millennium Door is the new remak-ster, a a mixture of the two, from the eponymous game released on GameCube in 2004. An atypical title, far from the platformers which form the backbone of the plumber and his troupe, but which left an impression enough to give birth to a slew of others games from the same series. So it was with twenty more years under my belt that I set out to rediscover this little potential hit on Nintendo Switch.
Paper Mario is talkative, but has things to tell
Somewhere in the famous Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach stumbles upon a magical treasure map. A piece of paper which reveals the location of a thousand-year-old treasure hidden in the bowels of the earth beneath a port city infested with brigands. Without a second thought, she sets out in search of the treasure and calls on her good old friend Mario who is taking it easy in his country house. The mustachioed man thus takes to the sea to find the princess and help her in her research, except that when he arrives there, there is no longer Peach. The rest, you see it coming, we put on our overalls and our boots, and we set off in search of it, hoping at the same time to discover the many secrets surrounding this mysterious treasure map.
Obviously, storytelling has never been the license’s strong point. Except that here, in case you’re not used to the Paper Mario franchise, we’re on a drastically different experience. Very inspired by Mario RPG, it is a very talkative game. The writing is also designed to please and be accessible to as many people as possible. In Nintendo language, that means that we are on something very light, even childish. A tale that will never get out of hand or become more complex in any way. So no big surprises, but some fun twists all the same. On the other hand, it is difficult for adult players not to lose patience with certain lengths that we would have happily avoided. We are thinking in particular of the tutorial phases which, even if we wish to avoid them, are still explained to us through lengthy dialogues which force us to constantly go through the discussion bubbles. Wearing, and as a bonus, it slows down the start of the game for nothing, which struggles a little to start. Paper Mario The Millennium Door is extremely accessible, even in its gameplay, even if it is enhanced with RPG mechanics and turn-based combat.
A game that is still as accessible and open to all
Don’t worry, there aren’t 36 pieces of gear to polish, nor a ton of weapons to find or skills to unlock. Only game mechanics to learn and a few badges which will act as equipment and special skills. These are unlocked in many ways, either by simply advancing in the game, or by purchasing them from merchants for example. They allow us to get our hands on special skills or passives to make our lives easier by offering us bonuses in life points, resources or even additional damage and attacks. Nothing too complicated to learn, but impactful enough to become important and be used intelligently. Finally, know that you can change them on the fly and revise your strategy as you see fit.
Yes, because Paper Mario is a casually strategic game. Our good plumber has useful abilities in combat, such as jumping or even the hammer blow, to be used carefully. The enemies that we encounter will indeed have strong and weak points that must be taken into account when the time comes. For example, don’t jump on the head of an enemy who has a hat full of spikes, just as you shouldn’t hope to hit a flying enemy with a hammer blow. To this are added the abilities given by the badges or unlocked little by little with the story and we obtain turn-based combat which becomes interesting as the adventure progresses, where at the start we will find the time a little long.
Mario knows how to fight, even turn-based
Mario can also be accompanied by traveling companions, who also have their own unique abilities. As with Mario RPG, the only resources that will need to be monitored will be your life points, heart points (PC) and flower points (PF), the equivalent of mana. These are the latter which will be used to launch special shots. A final resource, represented by a star, will allow you to trigger powerful and unique attacks, offensive or useful, it’s up to you. In any case, you will have to think carefully before using them since these attacks cannot be machine-gunned all the time. To do this, we will need to collect Star Energy by successfully completing attacks and pleasing our audience. Because yes, in Paper Mario, each fight takes place on stage, in a play with a friendly or enemy audience who will react to each attack. If necessary, they can even throw objects on stage, bonuses or penalties, which will impact the progress of the fight.
In any case, avoiding taking hits and succeeding in your attacks will be mandatory to unleash your omnipotence when the time comes. While also knowing that you can inflict more damage, or on the contrary block as much as possible, by succeeding in the small occasional QTEs which add a little pep to each blow given or received. Same thing for special attacks which sometimes come in the form of fun mini-games. It breaks the routine if not transcendent, that’s always a bonus.
Paper Mario is beautiful, and very successful artistic
Although generally easy, Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door could leave its young audience in the lurch. You have to remember that, even if it’s a Mario, it’s also an RPG which offers turn-based combat and turns out to be very talkative. However, we will quickly be fooled by its hyper-successful, cardboard artistic direction. More than at the time on Gamecube, Paper Mario is indeed here made of paper. The gameplay very often plays with plans or by transforming our Mario into a little origami, a boat or a plane, constantly bringing us back to childhood while making us smile. The recipe always works wonderfully, there’s no denying it.
Visually, we are in the middle of a tale made of kraft paper. Mario is flat and flips around when moved. The same goes for all the characters we come across. NPCs, allies or enemies who benefit from real care, not only visually, since their design is the coolest, but also in terms of treatment since they have a personality and are sometimes very funny.
©KiKiToès – GB 
©KiKiToès – GB
A pleasure to (re)discover
The general atmosphere relaxes and feels great. It’s colorful, the plans are very beautiful and obviously the graphics are finer than on Gamecube. Moreover, in 2024, we will notice improvements on the interface, more readable and pleasant, but also on the decorations. The game is prettier, not surprisingly, but there are also some new textures, and more detail, or play with the backgrounds than back then. A real visual and sound change since the themes have also been freshened up just as new sounds have been added to the whole to match the evolution of the series since the 2000s. The result is clear, Paper Mario La Porte Millénaire is superb, it’s very beautiful, warm and colorful.
Furthermore, if new players are discovering the game for the first time, old players who were able to play the original will be happy to see that there are a few little new features here and there. I won’t say more so as not to spoil the surprise, especially since we can say it, there’s nothing to get excited about while playing, but little things have evolved. And that’s not a bad thing, it allows nostalgic fans to have another discovery session as well as new players to taste a 20-year-old hit in its most beautiful packaging.
