The Eternal Heart of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door -- Designing for Storytelling

Nothing quite like getting interrupted in the middle of a video about Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door with an advertisement for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

God I know we've talked about the Flavio glitch before, but just seeing him CONSTANTLY around is so stupidly, hilariously charming. That might actually be the best glitch that's ever existed in any video game.

Never noticed that Luigi was actually really well known this time around because of his stories. Both Pennington and the toad from the side quest know about him but not Mario. Compared to say in the M&L series where nobody even remembers Luigi's name.

Imagine being a middle age man in a snitchy town governed by the mafia, with a job that is not able to make you accomplish what you want in life, a wife that gambles all day and doesn't care for her family and 2 kids that are going through tough times and are not able to express what they feel to you. Your desperation grows stronger day by day.... and then freaking Mario shows up, bring his wierd dinosaur wrestler baby with him, listens to you, doesn't elaborate, leaves, and somehow that interaction lets you rethink about your family and how much you care for them......... man that is indeed a story to tell. Incredible video as always! I feel the intro is so good it should be put into a Koopa Museum!

Sadness and happiness is such a masterfully produced piece that it can make my eyes water decades after i heard it for the first time, even when its accompanying visuals involve Flavio interupting Mario and Peach's intimate boat ride back to the mushroom kingdom. The fact that the remake is going out if its way to remix the battle theme for every single area in the game is exactly the kind if detail that only a remake dedicated to delivering with love could ever do and it really is exactly the kind of thing that will nake me buy a game twice despite me owning the original game after all these years and knowing the remake will never give us something as wonderful as the flavio glitch. Im just incredibly eager to experience the game again even if there are no suprises left for me to encounter

This game made quite an impact on me and my older sisters. I remember playing it with them back when we were kids and voicing the characters, I remember how much I struggled to defeat the Shadow Queen for years and how happy I was when I finally did it back in middle school. The day the remake was announced, I was so shocked and excited that I actually injured my back and weakly laughed on my bed for a few minutes before going downstairs to show one of my sisters. This was the easiest preorder I’ve ever made in my life, in fact I ordered two so I can give one to my sister as an early birthday gift, and my other sister is interested in getting the game too! The characters in this game mean a lot to me, from Koops and his journey to find his courage and make his dad and girlfriend proud, to Bobbery and his coming to terms with his wife’s passing to become a valuable ally in Mario’s quest, and Vivian rising above her sister’s cruelty and fighting against the very demon she was meant to serve. It’s my hope that the remake sells well and that many more people can experience the wonderful stories and fun gameplay it has to offer.

Man, even just the little storybook opening did so much to get a young me's imagination racing. Excited for so many to experience TTYD for the first time this month

One thing I love about the game is, how you can see and pretty much feel how powerfull the crystal stars are... Some of them give you reality breaking powers (Like literally braking through the screen, tearing a hole into the background) and whenever you go to the door to get to the next location, the glash shattering effect always gives me the feeling that another part of the barrier has been broken.... Like they ooze power. Something that the pure hearts in Super Paper Mario do not... They are weak... Also, I really love how the game breaks the 4th wall at times by having lines adressing "You behind the screen" with Mario and his friends not understanding anything... Especially on the island when the bad guy says he knows that you know his true identity, but asks you to be kind and not blow his cover... It's fun any kinda destroys the cliche bad guy disguise thing by aknowledging that it's silly you wouldn't recognize them...

Great tribute. I normally had zero patience for turn-based RPGs as a kid. But the storytelling and world design of Thousand Year Door really grabbed me. Lot of fond memories here.

"IS THAT A NOOSE?" You love to see a WoolieVersus reference

It s kindof ironic that when I finished 8th grade my first paper mario was origami king and now when I am finishing high school ttyd remake comes out which will be the second paper mario game I will play

Perfect summation of just what makes this game so beautiful to me; there's even a few things I appreciate more now than I had before (I always loved all the little stories the different minor NPCs have throughout the game, but I never really thought about how it ties in with the broader theme of storytelling). Real slick editing, too. Also, I love that like 90% of the gameplay footage just has the Flavio glitch active without it ever being directly acknowledged.

Very nicely done. So many great little details, like the _eriod where you _ointedly did not _reserve instances of a certain letter, the random Gonzales Jr. color you ended up with, and Flavio.

I forgot that Flavio could follow you everywhere.

I got a lot of crap from classmates and friends in high school for enjoying this game as much as I do, and I can say that you truly captured the essence of what they failed to understand. Very nice video, for all my nostalgia.

I feel like the title of this video should be reserved for Super Paper Mario, since it has literal hearts as the main collectibles and love as the central theme (and it’s story is the best imo)

I had been a Mario fan my entire life, and while the Mario cartoons and earlier games helped me like Mario as a character, I ended up in a deep depression. This game came out at the lowest point of my life. Thanks to Nintendo Power, I was following the game's development until release. It gave me something to look forward to, and to live for. I wanted to try this game no matter what, it sounded so good... And when I got the game and played it for myself? Mario, his determination, his heroism, his kindness and strength... It did for me what it does for the NPCs of this game. To some people this is just another video game in a sea of games. For me it was a life-saver and an inspiration. That's why I not only love TTYD, but I love Mario as a character. This funny little wahoo man made it through one of the darkest and tragic moments of his life, his love being turned into a vessel for evil and turned against him, the very world itself darkening and falling to that same evil. Yet, he didn't give up. Every heart he'd touched on his adventure stood beside him. And if he could make it through that? Then I could make it through my own trials. Sorry for the ramble, but this video really inspired me to share my own story.

Wow... that conclusion in this video...starting with the Shadow Queen boss fight and onwards... was super deep... brought a few tears to my eyes... been a very long time since I've cried not by sadness, nor by laughter... this video made me cry abit by the beauty of how you spoke in conjunction with the visuals...thank you... I will now finally Subscribe to you...

Koops made me cry. This game is genuinely heartfelt and you made that apparent beautifully. Question for anyone reading this. Would Flavio be voiced by Kelsey Grammer or David Hyde Pierce?

Honestly? This has gotta be the most heartfelt video I've ever seen for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and it doesn't take a dump on any of the other Paper Mario games at any point (except Sticker Star)! This is definitely up there among my favorite videos you've put out, Pyrr. Nice work as always!