The people that came up with "Olivia calls him Bobby but he's not actually called Bobby" are my favorite lawyers.

Arlo's 3D World review: Less than 5 minutes long. Arlo's Origami King review: A literal feature length film.

To this day I am super confused with the direction of the series. You don't want to continue RPG mechanics because it can be off-putting to newcomers yet you decide a tricky circle puzzle is easier than a beginners RPG

A girl I work with was playing this game, and I heard her say "Oh man, I have to do a fight? I don't want to do a fight!" and (knowing nothing about the game or its reception) I thought "That's not a good sign if someone is upset when they have to engage in the game's combat." I ended up buying it on sale because she said it was decent, and after an hour or so I'm feeling the same way. Most of the game seems fun, but when I have to do combat I'm like "I don't want to do a fight!"

To me, these teeny, tiny baby steps back toward what they did in Thousand-Year Door is like admitting defeat. It's showing they know it was better before and are iterating back to it little-by-little, but in only going back a little, it's also admitting that they just will not deliver what works. Also, yes, I think how much they hammer in "everything's paper" is a big sign that the people in charge are aware of Paper Mario on a surface level, but don't understand it. In Paper Mario 1, you had actually three moments that acknowledged it: Kammy Koopa being taped into the story to mess with the way the narrator was telling it, Mario falling off the veranda and waving down to the ground, and Mario sliding into bed. One told the story better and the other two are funny throwaway gags that are over quickly. I guess the buildings unfold too, but that's very minor and purely stylistic. Thousand-Year Door and Super went a bit heavier on it with Mario's abilities and a few more gags, but nothing too crazy. The newer games feel like someone's very lite understanding of what it is, akin to the advertisements that were made back in the day that took the title literally. Now it's constant "HAY I'M MADE OF PAPER! DID YOU KNOW YOU'RE MADE OF PAPER? CAUSE WE'RE PAPER, BABY! I STILL HAVE CREASES FROM WHEN I SLEPT ON MY FOOT WRONG. CAUSE I'M MADE OF PAPER. HEY, YOU KNOW WHERE THE SCISSORS ARE? CAUSE WE'D BETTER WATCH OUT FOR THEM! CAUSE WE'RE PAPER! OH MAN, IT'S A GOOD THING I'M A PAPER TOAD AND NOT A PAPER ALIMONY CHECK! THAT'S SO FUNNY, RIGHT?" every second of the game. I haven't yet tried Origami King, this next point is how I feel about Color Splash, so disregard it if it's no longer true in Origami King. Everyone says Color Splash is such a brilliant, funny, well-written game, and I just don't see it. When everything's a joke, nothing is. It doesn't take itself seriously for five seconds or do anything other than tell constant jokes about paper, so I'm never caught off guard or get a break from any of it. It feels like it has to jump up and down, reminding us how funny it is. EarthBound is this same type of writing done much better because many lines make you double-take, or give you sound advice about life you don't expect, or are surprisingly deep and depressing reads that relate to your darkest places in between all the jokes. You saying the story in Origami King is occasionally epic gives me a little hope I won't feel as bothered by it this time around. I plan to try it out soon, but I'm absolutely buying it used so I don't feel like I wasted my money if I'm as annoyed by it as you were. Good work on the review! I think it might be the kick I need to try out this thing I've been dreading. Also, I still maintain you should try Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition if you want story, big lore, and unique characters. I'll even help you as a personal hotline if you don't understand the gameplay!

“Throwing us a bone” *shows Mario being given bone item* 😂

The whole “spend coins to get around challenges” just sounds like real life to me

I don’t understand Tanabe’s logic in the slightest; it seems he’s just blatantly contradicting himself at this point. He often brings up the notion of keeping the world within the bounds of the established Mario universe, and yet every one of these last 3 Paper Mario entries has featured stuff that feels _glaringly_ out of place in a Mario game (giant fans, vacuum cleaners...). I certainly found those weird, pseudo-realistic objects in Sticker Star far more jarring and immersion-breaking than anything in 64 or TTYD.

_"I've spent a lot of time praising the game, but it's all downhill from here"_ says Arlo with 66 out of 83 minutes still remaining :') oh dear

"I spent a lot of time praising the game, but it's all downhill from here" Minute 17 of an hour and 20' video.

I just loved how the first time Mario and Olivia sat on a bench, when Olivia gets too close, Mario moves away, he´s like: "Ew... an origami creature"...

In case anyone doesn’t know already - if you miss the old Paper Mario mechanics, play Bug Fables, it’s great

So what you're saying is the Ring didn't Fit this Adventure?

Arlo: "I've spent a lot of time praising the game but it's all downhill from here." Me: checks time 17:05 1:05:59 remaining _Yikes_

Anyone else back to this after the Paper Mario TTYD remake announcement? Also go play Bug Fables.

For some reason I really like how Arlo calls all enemies “guys”.

Arlo: “It’s all downhill from here” *sees we’re only at **17:15* oh dear

"Why have fun when you can have something NEW?" Honestly, that sums up too many video game series.

They should make Paper Mario either just an adventure game like Zelda, or a traditional RPG like the first two games. The problem is that newcomers will find the turn based battles unnecessary and veterans will wish they had more incentive to fight.

The whole game just screams "We're working with what we've got"

"A monument to stubbornness" is the PERFECT description of the ring system.

Gotta hand it to Arlo - whether he's discussing the good or the bad, he's always passionate. (:

“If it’s not fun, why bother?” Reggie Fils-Aime I guess when he left he took that quote with him in this case? :(

It feels like the better the game is, the more frustrating the limitations are

Another thing to add to this review is the hidden requirements for "102%". Finishing the game without ever getting a Game Over, as well as finishing the game without ever equipping a battle accesory will give you two extra marks on your save file, and these are entirely missable because the game never hints at them, and because of how easy it is to die in certain challenges. I learned about them halfway through my playthrough and was pretty darn pissed by it.

It’s weird when you see Mario odyssey a game that has all entirely new things and the only thing Mario related is Mario himself. So it makes me wonder why did they have such strict limitations for paper Mario

I followed Reggie's golden rule: "If it's not fun, why bother?" Stopped somewhere in the second world because it just didn't feel worth it.

This is the same problem I've been seeing in pokemon for a while. Each new generation adds another gimmick for the sake of adding, just to say "LOOK, A NEW THING". Instead of making the game better, they want to make it "fresh"

ARLO BIG IDEA HERE: Do reviews for the old Paper Mario games. It would be fun for you to revisit them. Plus we would enjoy real, positive Paper Mario videos. I feel like it would be very fun for us and you

2:49 The artstyle and world design 10:54 collectibles 11:42 the story 13:18 the character 16:58 creativity (restrictions) (I think,it is interesting and frustrating to see, that there are (concept) art designs for the characters: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fdGBm9Bp0smnaKM.html) 29:40 the partner 32:55 the battles 53:32 boss battles 1:00:59: paper macho guys 1:03:13 first conclusion 1:08:34 xp-system 1:11:37 paper mario between RPG and new stuff + missing balancing and conclusion

I can't believe this review is three years old now, it feels like it came out just the other day and I still come back to rewatch from time to time

Watched this again. Always therapeutic when you really dig into the frustrations we share on Paper Mario. This was a fantastic video.

while i doubt anyone will really accept this point, if they wanted paper mario to be an "action adventure game" then super paper mario did a lot better than the games after it.

Arlo: starts off video by trying to get as many people to leave the video as possible

I played both bug fables and origami king in 2020. I felt I enjoyed them both equally for different reasons and would replay both. Going back to play origami king didn’t last longer than an hour for me. I’ve beaten bug fables three times now. To add insult to injury, Nintendo emailed me my top three played switch games of 2020, my number one was bug fables. I had more fun playing an indie developers version of paper mario rather than the actual new paper mario. If they don’t want it to be an rpg, they should make a new super mario rpg.

41:50 Sums it up. Combat basically has two ways its gonna go: It's either going to be just a mediocre puzzle, or it's going to be a slow boring chore where you pick off enemies one by one. There's nothing else.

Starts video: "uhhhhh why is this review the length of a movie." Gets to the end: "wait I watched the whole thing?" Great video Arlo!

Paper Mario: Can't dress up the toads or goombas too fancy. It's against the rules. Mario Kart Tour: And we'll have Mario as Santa, and we'll have Bowser as a construction worker, and we'll have Birdo dressed as a victorian era merchant fleet admiral, and...

I think they took this review to heart, seeing that were now getting a TTYD Remaster(/Remake?)

Originally the paper esthetic came from the idea that the story was well... a story. Told from a book. I think that was really cool and original. The paper esthetiv didn't change how the world worked as it was mostly just how it was presented to us. Now the esthetic is just how their world is and it doesn't feel real anymore or interesting.

"You can press x to pauze the puzzle, they must have thought about that right?!" Me, after 95%-ing it: 👁️👄👁️

My main question is "Why were they allowed to create new races for Odyssey, but not Paper Mario?"

I personally loved the ring puzzles for the bosses. I liked figuring out a puzzle to beat the boss. I hated it for the small enemies; It felt so tedious to do that over and over. I very rarely used the toads so I got frustrated a lot doing it with small enemies. The rest of the game I loved. I loved the paper world and I loved the origami theme. I've never played any of the other paper Mario games so I have nothing to compare it to. It was one of the first video games I ever finished though, so that felt good.

I used to rewatch this review over, and over, and over again. Just to get some TTYD itch. I'm so happy we now get TTYD and others get to experience its beauty. AND WE GET MORE PAPER MARIO ARLO VIDEOS YAY

“When everything feels optional, nothing feels necessary” love that.

Think about this: Paper mario can't have RPG mechanics, progression systems or useful items because they don't want it to drive off the casual crowd.... But Ring Fit Adventure can have all that. It has RPG mechanics, a good progression system and a slew of upgrades and items. A sports game can have that but paper Mario can't.

this is the nicest scathing review I’ve ever seen lol

Having an audience in the background feels like another one of those weird bone throwing concessions...it doesn't have the same style and weight that it did in ttyd.

“It’s like an entire character....created. from. LOOPHOLESSSS.” That got a laugh out of me! But it’s entirely true! An arbitrary rule that exists for no reasonnnnnnn

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 00:40 Spoilers(?) + This is gonna be harsh. 02:43 Good stuff: Graphics. 04:47 Good stuff: The world/map. 07:22 Good stuff: Cinematic. 08:03 Good stuff: Action sequences. 08:33 Good stuff: Charming and witty personality. 09:04 Good stuff: Game feel + Music + Jagged Graphics. 10:53 Good stuff: Collectibles. 11:42 Good stuff: Story and characters. 14:50 Good stuff: Humour. 15:57 Good stuff: Drama (but lack of immersion). 16:56 Creative limitations the developers bump against. 24:35 Lack of immersion. 28:18 Pseudo-TTYD elements. 32:49 Color Splash retrospective. 34:58 Ring System: Intro. 37:00 Ring System: Narrative, strategy and difficulty. 42:40 Ring System: Non-rewarding and skippable. Gimmick stubbornness. 48:27 Ring System: Incentives and balance. 53:31 Too convoluted bosses. 59:16 The combat makes the game unenjoyable. 1:00:59 The Paper Macho guys, a combat alternative. 1:03:13 Ring System shoehorning. 1:05:05 Confetti and the 1000 fold arms. 1:06:51 Ego. 1:08:50 Little tweaks that could have fixed the combat. 1:10:38 Bad game design in the name of "new" and clinging to the past. 1:13:46 Gimmicks in the way of good game design. 1:16:22 Failed potential and a lightning rod for Nintendo's problems. 1:20:46 Conclussion.

This game was the fastest i put a paper mario down, after the first boss i was like yeah ive had enough. Nintendo just hates paper mario at this point

This video was an absolute evolution in your line delivery. There's not a single line that seems like it's being read from a script in any way shape or form.

Even when I like this game a lot, I was really annoyed to hear about the core developers not listening to fans at all

"Why have fun when you can have something new?" Summarizes this franchise pretty well.

I came back to watch again after the TTYD announcement so i can appreciate what we're getting all the more.

My favorite part of this game is easily the atmosphere and style. Some tracks, particularly the one on Cresent Moon Island, combined with the gorgeous style, give this game a phenomenal atmosphere.

I found this incredibly cathartic. It voices a lot of exactly how I felt but didn’t know how to verbalize.

*"When everything is optional... nothing feels necessary" - Arlo 2020*

I beat Shadow Queen because I developed a strategy to survive her powerful attacks and deliver powerful attacks of my own. I beat Olly by creating a pathway over the right panels, tapping A millions of times, and solving a puzzle. *That says a lot, doesn’t it?*

One thing that I like about Arlo's reviews is that Arlo never lets his anger get in the way. It's very easy to give in to your frustration and throw blasphemies at whatever frustrates you, like many poeple do, but Arlo analyses what makes him frustrated. He thinks of potential solutions, and he tries to think of justifications from all sides of the argument. Within Paper Mario: The Origami King, he doesn't see a personal insult, but wasted potential. And I respect him for that.

You want meaningful turn-based combat? FINE! Have some combat based around turning. ...Huh? Of course I understood the feedback. You're fired!

Imagine playing an Assassins Creed game and every NPC’s name is “Assassin” or “Human” or “Viking” or whatever. That’s this game

It's crazy that they feel like they have to re-invent the wheel EVERY TIME when it comes to the combat. And that's the exact reason the fan base is split, OF COURSE some people prefer one while others prefer another, that's inevitable, they're creating their own problems and the more they do it the harder it will be to please everybody.

Can't wait for the TTYD remake version review

Boy that Bobby character seems interesting. I hope he stays around

This entire video feels like Arlo is preemptively having arguments with the youtube comment section, and I love it.

You're a great writer, you manage to express complex ideas in a very clear way.

My opinion is, if you're not gonna make an RPG, don't add the turn-based battles. If Paper Mario wanted to go full adventure-puzzle game, go all-in. Don't give us these RPG half-measures

"i'm not the sharpest taco on the christmas tree" 42:23 i'm going to start saying that

It's just so bizarre to me how there's an explicit rule of races not being able to vary too much in design. What a weird limitation

Origami King is the quintessential example of why Nintendo isnt dominating the industry as they should. Cause it signifies their greatest weakness: the overly ambitious nature of their sense of creativity, their over indulgence to create something "new". With all their quality, all their skills in game development, Nintendo seems to lack the FOCUS necessary to deliver on that quality in full. They have this irrational tendency to not want to be placed within the "box" of a genre. So much so they will try and avoid that fate no matter the costs. It irritates me to no end why they do this.

The hidden coffee shops are my favorite examples of world building in any game ever, they're so charming and fun

This game might as well be called Paper Mario: The Compromise. Nearly every aspect of its design refuses to commit fully one way or the other. It’s “having your cake and eating it too.” The battle system is a perfect example. It feels like the developers were forced to include turn based combat but really didn’t want to, so they made all these little failsafes to essentially make it irrelevant. It sucks, I wanted to love this game so badly. So much of it is really good, but these baffling game design choices just keep me from enjoying it.

Blue Toad #3 is such an interesting and unique character 👌

I enjoyed origami king until I realized this: the Mario rpg that started with legend of the seven stars and has lived on through Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi, as we know it, is now dead. Paper Mario is just all over the place nowadays, and the future of Mario and Luigi is uncertain. And this is really what stings about origami king to me.

Arlo, you need more videos of these lengths. You make the boring/busy works of my job something I look forward to because I can think "I CAN LISTEN TO ARLO WHILE I DO THIS TASK!!!"

One thing that bugs me that he didn't touch on is that even if you like this games battle system, it doesn't matter because the next game they'll throw it all away to do something different.

Nintendo is so innovative but stubborn at the same time. Cool peripherals, interesting ideas, but then they refuse to just have an online experience that makes sense.

Good on you for sticking to your guns and saying your criticisms. It's not criticism coming from hate, its criticism coming from a place of passion and wanting better. Anyone who doesn't understand that is stupid and their opinions literally don't matter.

This is my go to "cant sleep" video

The forest at the beginning feels like the designers fighting the restrictions imposed upon them. I never see anybody mention it, but they make a forest full of never-before-seen tree people who care deeply about 'O'l Grandsappy' who is old, (something I could have sworn was one of the restrictions- no ages), but at the end of the day it's okay because "trees" is filed under 'locations" not "characters."

I have agreed a lot with you Arlo, as much as I loved Origami King and how much I believe the devs are going on the right direction, there's still a lot of missing potential this game could've have to be a predecessor of the golden era for Paper Mario

I have yet to play Super or TTYD but I have played 64 and it was incredible, to the point that when I play Origami King the world just feels so empty

The whole thing about “newness” is the sole reason I have stopped caring about Pokémon since Gen 7.

"I can't help but feel like they were just...throwing us a bone with this sappy stuff?" 16:32 ha.

"Why have fun when you can have something NEW?" Man. What an accurate summary of Nintendo's design philosophy in general.

This is one of the best reviews ive ever heard in my life

This game is almost too cinematic. I liked the older games where everything was humble and cute and low-key, but overall very impressive.

My biggest takeaway from this review is that I should try putting sweet peppers on my pizza, that sounds pretty good.

Me 20 minutes ago: hmm Arlo hasn’t posted in a while... Me now: :o

This video stands the test of time and can be enjoyed again and again Arlo

Nintendo's so damn stingy with their creativity. I don't think they see themselves as creating art, they see themselves as manufacturing a product.

I just realized that the Ring is literally *turn-based* combat

17:00 "enough praise it's all downhill from here" LOL we got an hour and 6 minutes left and I'm ready to hear it all!!!

"I am not the sharpest taco on the Christmas tree" .... wait why?

This is probably my favorite review on your channel, I love how well you articulate your opinion on Origami King and just the state of Paper Mario as a whole. I also love your writing style when it comes to being both critical and more positive of things. 👍🏻

So what you're saying is: If you liked it (Paper Mario), then you shouldn't put a ring on it.

The fact that there are two different schools of thought floating around in Nintendo is very bizarre. They will reinvent Zelda to more closely resemble the original NES Zelda to address harsh criticism that SS got for being too dumbed down and formulaic (regardless of it getting stellar reviews at the time of release), but then Paper Mario cannot get the same treatment by taking inspiration from the original games. Why?

watching this now? feels so good

I find a small humorous irony that for being a blue monster hosting a KZfaq channel, Arlo can't get over the fact he's playing as a paper plumber fighting stationary. XD