Review Information
Game Reviewed Paper Mario: Great Star Offensive, by SEVA
Review Author Jackninja5
Created Jan 10 2019, 7:43 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
So this is the first Paper Mario RPG on this website. People have described the game as pretty good but personally I think it's a little overrated. Undeniably there has been a lot of work put into it and the game has its positives but there are also some significant negatives I have noticed. The game doesn't really start with a reason as to why Mario has to go down the Goomba Path which signifies a lack of story at the beginning which makes the game a little less fun when you have no motive really. The first part is very important but is a little dull in terms of gameplay and story. The graphics are really amazing though and I do like the choices for the enemies. This game definitely does have potential and is definitely not a bad game. It's really just meh for me to be honest. I also feel we're not exactly rewarded enough when we defeat enemies and that. I have not yet finished the game so maybe my review will change in the future but this is my opinion so far.
 
Pros +Graphics are spot on.
+Sound effects are brilliant.
+Intriguing and interesting choices for the game have been made.
 
Cons -Battle system is a bit poor mostly due to the dodge ability requiring an insanely precise timing to press activate, making enemies that should be otherwise easy to defeat actually a little hard to.
-Three coins after defeating an enemy is a bit too little.
-There's no real plot from what I can see.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
4 / 10
By technical standards alone, the gameplay is perfect as everything is done as it's meant to but that doesn't mean that the gameplay as a whole is flawless. At the start when doing the file selections, I was unaware of how to choose a file as that was not made obvious. It took a bit of mashing the keyboard to find out (it's "z" BTW) but that might just be me nitpicking. However, what I believe isn't nitpicking is that the battle system is quite poor in my honest opinion mostly because there is a dodge ability that is more precise on when you need to press it than an RPG should have. That might not sound so bad at first and in all fairness, that on its own is not a problem. I don't necessarily approve of it but I can live with it. However, the HP is a little low and there are always three enemies when you engage in battle. You start on 10 HP and depending on how you play even if you attack every turn, there is significantly less HP and you get a bit scared of fighting the next enemy out of fears of dying. I am referring to enemies that I presume should be the easy ones to defeat. The Mario sprites (enemy not Mario himself) only have 4 HP and only give 1-2 damage but with like 15 or 10 HP, you end up fighting with only a few left (if you manage to defeat them). One of my favourite things in games is the battles you can do and the RPG style of battle easily makes it my favourite type of game but if I'm gonna "suck" (if that's harsh, let me know and I'll change it) at it, I'd rather suck because I'm absolutely horrible at it or not yet good enough rather than it be based on the game.

Another thing I have a problem with is the blocks you get. Most of them (but not all of them) in Mario RPGs generally do only give you one coin but the blocks in this game only give you a coin. Blocks in other RPGs also give you items, which can be crucial in some areas of the game but you can only really buy items back in Toad Town which can be a pain to get to if you are far in the game already.

This next part is really just a nitpick and might be rubbish but I'm also having a bit of a ponder as to why the Goombas suddenly jump and knock into Mario via the head instead of their usual charge method. Of course, that really has nothing to do with the review as a whole and is just me being nitpicky and conservative on games again so that part is not necessarily something you have to (if you want to) "fix" for lack of a better word.

The score is a 4 out of 10 though, meaning that it's mostly negative but there are some positives to the gameplay so I'll end this section on the positives of the gameplay. The Mario sprite enemies are a highly original choice for an enemy and it does make me wonder what Bowser must have been up to. The enemies as a whole are fun to battle against if you ignore what I previously said as well so I am still able to find some enjoyment out of battles.
 
Graphics
10 / 10
Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with the graphics so I'm giving a complete 10 out of 10 for that one and I highly recommend you getting into game design. I read some reviews that had a bit of criticism of the Mario sprite but personally, I don't really see it as a problem. Yes, it's different from what you'd expect but it's actually quite cute and lovable in my eyes. The level design is also pretty amazing and it feels just like I'm playing a real Mario game so kudos for that.
 
Sound
9 / 10
Sound is generally not something I pay much attention to in games but the review would require me to comment on the sound and overall it is awesome. The sounds definitely match where they are meant to be implemented and are perfectly in sync. Sometimes the music is off though and requires a better way to be played but overall it's not bad on the ears so sound gets a 9 out of 10.
 
Replay
5 / 10
Would I replay it? Maybe. I have not yet finished the game so it is kind of hard to answer that and depending on how the rest of the game tends to be, this review might even be rewritten. It has potential but it is flawed so I will give it my overall score.
 
Final Words
5 / 10
The game has a lot of potential in it and is fun to play at some stages. The graphics are also very top notch and amazing. However, the gameplay is quite flawed (but not necessarily bad) and there is no real plot which kinda does lead me to question why I am doing things in the game. It's a 5 out of 10 from me.

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