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

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

“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

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!

"I spent a lot of time praising the game, but it's all downhill from here"

Minute 17 of an hour and 20' video.

Arlo's 3D World review: Less than 5 minutes long.

Arlo's Origami King review: A literal feature length film.

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

"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

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

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

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!"

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

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."

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.

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

"You can press x to pauze the puzzle, they must have thought about that right?!"

Me, after 95%-ing it: 👁️👄👁️

You want meaningful turn-based combat? FINE! Have some combat based around turning.

...Huh? Of course I understood the feedback. You're fired!

Why is this game afraid of itself?

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: https://youtu.be/GkQhm8mcC8o?t=1141)
 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