Chase Cerroni

While I still like Yoshi's Island (SNES) and Woolly World more, I have to admit that this game is pretty great. As the title implies it is indeed, a "crafted world". Everything about the art style screams creative as it pushes the limits of what a game with a craftbook aesthetic can be. Everything in the game is made from craft material, from cardboard to tin cans. The quality of levels rages from good to amazing, and the gimmicks and levels themes within them don't overstay their welcome. There are also some vehicle/minigame stages that pop up every now and then, and those are really fun as well. But as much as I enjoy playing through the game on a casual run, gathering all 693 Smiley Flowers can be an absolute pain. There's a likely chance you'll visit a stage 5 times or more just to sweep it for collectibles. The 1st time is for getting all of the hidden Smiley Flowers, 20 red coins, 100 gold coins, and 20 hearts. The 2nd visit is for going backwards through the level to get all of the Poochy Pups. The 3rd and 4th visit will most likely be for souvenirs that you can only do one at a time. And the 5th trip is for the Hide-and-Seek boxes that only appear after you beat the game. I had a great time on my first visit to most of the levels, and the second trip is a decent run of scrambling to find the Poochy Pups. But everything past that is really just padding. The act of finding the souvenirs can become extremely tedious, which is why it took me so long to 100% the game. And while nothing in the game is extemely difficult, it's sometimes hard to continue when you're stuck repeating the same level over and over again. But you may ask, what do you get by going through all the trouble of gathering every Smiley Flower in the game? A dinky costume that I'll never use because there's nothing left to do in the game. So, if you're between the option of beating the game or completing it, just beat the main story and don't look back. Don't get me wrong, I still really like this game, but doing everything in it isn't very fun or rewarding.

To get this out of the way, TTYD is not a perfect game. The backtracking is extremely annoying at some points and the levels are extremley linear. But even though these should ruin the game, the backtracking is only a real problem in Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 7, and the levels are filled with so many interconnected rooms and secrets so it doesn't feel as linear. And besides those two things the game is pretty fantastic. I only picked up this game 2 years back, so I have little nostalgia for it. So take my word for it when I say everything else about this game is near perfect. The one thing modern Paper Mario gets wrong is the battle system. The modern battle systems range from tolerable to atrocious. Even Origami King, a game I otherwise thought was great, had an extremely convoluted battle system that took up a large chunk of the game. But TTYD easily has the best battle system in the series. It has strategy, personality, and is a joy to experience. The locations are full of life, with their own specific aesthetic to give them their own flair. All of the locations had thought and care put into their layout and design. Even the characters have their own creative twist. In the modern entries they have a hard time giving any characters names, but not here. Even some of the smaller NPCs have their own names and specific personality. And finally, the story. Even though it isn't my favorite story in the series, it has a lot of artistic merit. The story starts out like a normal kidnapping situation, but it takes its own unexpected twists and turns to craft a unique and enjoyable story. Everything good about this game makes this one of my favorite gaming experiences. It may not be perfect, but it sure is close.