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rynlingI finally beat Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, but I found very little joy in the accomplishment.
There is a gauntlet of boss fights at the end of the game. After a long string of battles with regular enemies, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario fight the seven Koopalings across three successive battles. They then fight Bowser and Paper Bowser, a battle that has two stages. In the first stage, Bowser and Paper Bowser compete over who can do the most damage, but their attacks are relatively easy to dodge and counter. In the second stage, Paper Bowser transforms into a shiny set of papercraft armor that Bowserwears like a skin suit uses to defend himself and launch a set of special attacks. This is a harder fight, but by this point most players will have a stash of highly effective healing items, as well as a special "battle card" (don't ask) that can be used repeatedly to lower Bower's level by five. I remember Dreamy Bowser (from Mario & Luigi Dream Team) (yes, the final boss is called "Dreamy Bowser") (he literally sparkles) being much more difficult, but it could just be that I've gotten better at these games during the past two years.
Even with two Bowsers and all of the Koopalings in the same place at the same time, there are no jokes and no witty banter, which was a disappointment. There are also no major revelations or betrayals, and the only emotional aspect of the dialog involves just how much the Koopalings trust and respect Bowser. My own delusions regarding Bowser aside, the adoration that his minions express toward him has always been striking to me. Even in Super Mario 64, which has relatively little text, the boss monsters of each level still talk about how much they love Bowser.
The ending montage of Paper Jam is a parade of giant papercraft through the various regions of the game, which looks stunning in 3D but feels fairly routine. Right at the tail end of the game, after the credits have rolled and all the paper characters are ready to return to their paper universe, Peach hugs Paper Peach with a surprisingly long and detailed animation. It was touching, and you could tell that the game designers put a lot of thought and effort into the scene. Paper Peach eventually excuses herself, saying that she had better go check up on Paper Bowser.
Haha, of course she does. But seriously, is this ship canon now? Did I miss something?
In any case, it took me a bit more than 38 hours to complete Paper Jam. The level cap for this game is apparently 100, but I was able to breeze through the final boss fights at level 44.
Now that the Paper Jam cartridge is no longer permanently lodged in my 3DS, I've resumed my Master Quest playthrough of Ocarina of Time. Someone on Tumblr sent me an interesting Zelda/Link prompt specific to the game, but I'm having a bit of trouble remembering the interactions between Link and Sheik. I'm therefore writing the fic at the same rate as I progress through the game. Although I feel bad for making the lovely person who sent me the prompt wait, this is actually a good pace for me, and it's nice to be so close to the source text.
There is a gauntlet of boss fights at the end of the game. After a long string of battles with regular enemies, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario fight the seven Koopalings across three successive battles. They then fight Bowser and Paper Bowser, a battle that has two stages. In the first stage, Bowser and Paper Bowser compete over who can do the most damage, but their attacks are relatively easy to dodge and counter. In the second stage, Paper Bowser transforms into a shiny set of papercraft armor that Bowser
Even with two Bowsers and all of the Koopalings in the same place at the same time, there are no jokes and no witty banter, which was a disappointment. There are also no major revelations or betrayals, and the only emotional aspect of the dialog involves just how much the Koopalings trust and respect Bowser. My own delusions regarding Bowser aside, the adoration that his minions express toward him has always been striking to me. Even in Super Mario 64, which has relatively little text, the boss monsters of each level still talk about how much they love Bowser.
The ending montage of Paper Jam is a parade of giant papercraft through the various regions of the game, which looks stunning in 3D but feels fairly routine. Right at the tail end of the game, after the credits have rolled and all the paper characters are ready to return to their paper universe, Peach hugs Paper Peach with a surprisingly long and detailed animation. It was touching, and you could tell that the game designers put a lot of thought and effort into the scene. Paper Peach eventually excuses herself, saying that she had better go check up on Paper Bowser.
Haha, of course she does. But seriously, is this ship canon now? Did I miss something?
In any case, it took me a bit more than 38 hours to complete Paper Jam. The level cap for this game is apparently 100, but I was able to breeze through the final boss fights at level 44.
Now that the Paper Jam cartridge is no longer permanently lodged in my 3DS, I've resumed my Master Quest playthrough of Ocarina of Time. Someone on Tumblr sent me an interesting Zelda/Link prompt specific to the game, but I'm having a bit of trouble remembering the interactions between Link and Sheik. I'm therefore writing the fic at the same rate as I progress through the game. Although I feel bad for making the lovely person who sent me the prompt wait, this is actually a good pace for me, and it's nice to be so close to the source text.
