Paper Mario: The Millennium Door, a cardboard game? – TEST

For seventeen years, it's been the same refrain: with each release of a new Paper Marioregardless of his qualities, a very vocal minority of fans complain and get angry under the pretext that “it's bad because it's not like The Millénaire Door“. Nintendo therefore decided to give in to their demands and finally offer them what they had been asking for for so many years: a remake of their beloved game. A release that we can applaud, whether we are a fan or not, because it finally makes this highly rated game on the second-hand market accessible to the general public, who will be able to judge whether or not this title is worth it. the height of the aura that surrounds him, or if he is only appreciated by fans because he constitutes a happy memory of childhood or adolescence. Unless the answer is somewhere in between? We will try to find out.

A brand new gift wrap

Obviously, when you leave a game on Game Cube to rediscover it on Switch, it's the graphics upgrade that first catches the eye. So yes, it's not the slap in the face Metroid Prime Remasteredyes, it's not in 60fps like the original, but we don't care a bit, because this Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is very visually appealing, colorful and brilliant with its small details bringing this paper world to life. And, admittedly, these character designs are arguably the best in the series' history.Intelligent Systems, and are all the more enhanced by the little animations which bring them to life and bring a few smiles here and there. Because yes, like all the others Paper Mariothe tone here is light and any excuse is good to try to make the player laugh.

People who discovered the series on 3DS, Wii U Or Switch may also be surprised by the more physical and naive humor of this episode, resembling much more than what we could find on Super Mario RPG or the series of Mario & Luigi than the hilarious replies of the characters ofOrigami King. On a purely personal note, I find the later episodes to be much funnier than this iteration Game Cubewho also has a little too much tendency to defuse his few dramatic situations, but I couldn't judge someone who told me the opposite.

And then the title still shines in its writing on a few particular points, notably on its moving ending, as well as the excellent treatment of the character of Viviane. A trans character, a rarity in video games and, moreover, Japanese video games in 2004, and who is treated with intelligence and respect, his journey giving rise to some moving lines. Obviously, nothing as precise and didactic as, for example, Ayaka's quest In Yakuza 3 (to quote a Japanese video game from the same decade), but Viviane's good representation was important for many young trans people, and I find it important to applaud and highlight this work, which shows that Japan is very far from being a country as conservative on these issues as the people don't imagine it.

Hard to find your (by) way

But let's stop digressing. The story of Paper Mario: The Millennium Door opens with our dear Princess Peach, coming face to face with a treasure map during a trip. Hastening to transmit it to Mario, she will unfortunately be kidnapped (What a surprise !) by the way, and our dear plumber will therefore have to find seven “star gems” in order to be able to discover the mystery hiding behind the treasure and save his sweetheart in the process. As you can imagine from reading this synopsis, the story of this title will be very fragmented and divided into clear chapters, each dedicated to the search for a star (with a few surprises that I won't spoil for you), all interspersed with not always exciting side passages where you play Peach and Bowser.

This structure has its advantages as well as its disadvantages: if it allows you to vary the atmospheres at regular intervals, it also fragments the world, both physically and in its narration, which struggles to give the player the illusion of a coherent and united universe. . Even just a map of this world in a menu would have given a little more structure to the whole thing, but also addressed one of the game's main concerns: the lack of fast travel. Consequence of the technical limitations of the time, undoubtedly, but also a choice of design allowing the lifespan to be unnecessarily extended (let's remind the youngest that a long lifespan was a rating criterion in its own right for magazines at the time the game was released), the title forces us to go back and forth many times which proves to be particularly painful in the long runespecially since straight-line environments do not always allow you to avoid enemies and you will also go a little in circles at times while looking for solutions that are not always very clear to the game's puzzles.

The fourth chapter is particularly symptomatic of these problems, forcing us not only to make three round trips between a village and a church (a secret passage which is fortunately unlocked for the last coming and going), but introducing a fortiori a mechanic of objects to push to progress without it being presented to us. Without being prohibitive, this lack of respect for players' time can frustrate at timesespecially for those discovering The Millennium Gate in 2024, and all the more so for a title selling as a remake and not a remaster.

It's kraft-maga time

If these concerns are recognized, although sometimes minimized, by fans, it is often a very particular point of Paper Mario: The Millennium Door which justifies as much their love of the game as their disdain of the titles that followed it: the combat system. Far from the gimmicks of the last episodes, this presents itself as a more classic turn-based J-RPG system, keeping the mechanics of Paper Mario 64which itself simplified those of Super Mario RPG. You will therefore be entitled to a very classic menu, letting you choose between normal and special jump or hammer attacks, special techniques, use of objects, and some other actions such as defending yourself or fleeing. . Tour-by-turn regulars will generally not be lostincluding by actions requiring the press of a button in a certain timing, but The Millennium Gate nevertheless has some particularities.

First of all, the presence of an audience who came to encourage you during your fights. If the crowd can sometimes be aggressive, some spectators even trying to hurt you, it remains benevolent and you will have to satisfy it in all possible ways (by making successful attacks, by greeting her…), because it allows you to win at each turn of “star energy” which you can use to launch very useful special techniques. The other particularity of the combat system lies in the presence of badges to equip: these give you advantages in combat (more hearts, better defense...) or allow you to obtain new attacks. The number of badges that can be equipped being limited, they provide an important strategic dimension, while offering a reason to look for them in the settings (and they are sometimes well hidden). Finally, leveling up does not increase all your statistics here but simply offers you a choice: improve your life bar, your skill points (allowing you to launch special attacks), or your badge points to be able to equip more badges simultaneously. It's up to you to choose whether you prefer to play it safe with a substantial life bar or focus entirely on special attacks.

If this choice is interesting, it is a bit of a shame that leveling up doesn't improve the attack, which would better mark the rise of Mario in his adventure. We may also regret the relative ease of the whole thing: we will only really be challenged during certain boss fights as well as in an optional environment requiring you to complete a hundred fights, the last twenty being particularly difficult. Speaking of optional activities, we will end by highlighting the existence of side quests bringing additional content to the game, while regretting the period design preventing us from being able to follow several of them simultaneously. Between a sometimes heavy tradition and a refreshing modernity, there is not much missing from The Millennium Gate to reach the heights.