When talking about Paper Mario, almost every fan of the series agrees on one thing - its new games aren't made the same way as they used to be. Ever since Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii, the series has shifted far away from the first two titles, which has left many players to feel as if the classic RPG series will never be as great as it once was. Even though 2020's The Origami King has signaled shifting back to what the series had been remembered for in some ways, some of the gamers who grew up with the Nintendo 64 and GameCube titles have become game developers themselves since. As a result, multiple indie games have tried to capture the experience themselves in recent years. The Outbound Ghost is one of them.
The Outbound Ghost is public about its Paper Mario inspiration, yet it also features numerous features and uses art direction that takes advantage of current technological capabilities in ways that sets it apart from where it began. The indie game also doesn't chase Paper Mario too closely, making strides to stand out on its own with its own unique story and combat systems. Outbound Ghost uses its own charm to fill in the blanks of what Paper Mario leaves behind in the games that aim to come after it, ending up as a perfect blend of both nostalgia and new experiences.
The Story of Paper Mario
Paper Mario is arguably famously remembered for two reasons. For its simple yet engaging combat, and it's humorous and witty story that also knew how to be serious when events called for it. In particular, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door held incredibly deep storylines behind its jokes. Some parts of the GameCube classic dealt with events such as a ride on a haunted train, and a computer who went against his programming to assist Princess Peach because he had fallen in love with her while observing her for security reasons. Yet it balanced these moments well with plenty of whimsy and humor, and there are plenty of memorable funny moments as there are tense ones.
The Outbound Ghost sees players experience the world through a gray ghost who's lost his memory. The release trailer says that each character they meet will have their own stories, with some gameplay hinting that a few of these spirits may even be playable. In what's been shown of the game so far, there's a large presence of hilarious and cartoonish dialogue through speed bubbles, which is taken straight from Paper Mario with all the expected punchlines and flavor to its writing. While The Outbound Ghost is currently playing its cards close to its chest when it comes to its darker plot elements, at the very least the influence with the game's humor is very easy to spot.
The Combat of The Outbound Ghost
Even though many players miss the great writing of the first two Paper Mario games, another thing that's missing in more recent releases is the turn-based gameplay the franchise was originally remembered for. The combat was simple, but gave fans thousands of strategic options to choose from. Each chapter of a Paper Mario game usually features a challenging boss at the end, which made reaching that point feel dramatic and earned. Some chapters even featured fake-outs where players would be tricked into thinking the final battle came too early only to find out that wasn't exactly the end.
It isn't hard to notice the clear inspiration from Paper Mario's combat when it comes to The Outbound Ghost's battle system. However, the developers have also openly stated that it also takes notes from other turn-based RPGs such as Pokemon and Bravely Default, too. It takes away Paper Mario's dramatic HP point damage presentation to replace it with constantly visible HP bars, and gives players pre-set moves with different effects on enemies' stats. Outbound aims to present a deep combat system that still remains welcoming and accessible.
All in All, Paper Mario fans who pick up The Outbound Ghost are sure to find themselves with a familiar yet brand-new experience. It has a fair deal of creativity to help it stand on its own, like how many of the creatures players can battle with are based off of virtues and emotions such as jealousy and spite. The world also seem to be littered with humorous NPCs, including a ghost named Ask who loves ketchup, specifically meant to be a reference to the first season of Pokemon.
While The Outbound Ghost may seem like a great spiritual successor to Paper Mario, fans should be careful to judge it for its own merits rather than choosing to see it completely like an old experience. Even though the game has shared plenty of details about itself publicly, there's most likely a lot more to see once it arrives on PC later this month. Only then will players know if the writing of the game as well as the combat holds up to the titles that inspired it, but so far the previews look very promising.
The Outbound Ghost is set to release on PC on September 21, with PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X releases coming soon after.
