Highlights
- Look for hidden secrets by checking behind objects and smashing everything with your hammers for collectibles and Star Pieces.
- Use a Metroidvania technique to recruit party members with unique abilities and take screenshots of hidden passages for future reference.
- Prioritize leveling up FP, then BP, and finally HP in battle to equip badges and increase Mario's health, abilities, and power for tougher challenges.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door follows a typical plot in a lot of the Mario games. Princess Peach is off doing her own thing when she sends Mario a treasure map. He sails to Rogueport to rendezvous with Princess Peach, but she is nowhere to be found. That’s when Mario meets Goombella.
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She’s studying the history of the area, which is why she joins Mario on his adventure. Together, they will unearth clues about the treasure, gain new allies, and find out what happened to Peach. That’s the basic premise of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but there is more to learn before actually starting to play it. It’s time for some tips.
6 Check Behind Objects
There Might Be A Surprise Hiding
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is technically a 2D Mario game as everything is rendered with a flat quality to mimic the obvious quality of paper. However, players should still try thinking in three dimensions as there are often secrets hidden in plain sight that can be found pretty easily if someone is paying attention.
With a little perspective, players may see a wall that doesn’t quite line up with its surroundings, only to find it obscuring an entire area. An example of this can be found on the East side of Rogueport. There can be collectibles like Star Pieces hiding too. Also, players would be wise to smash everything with their hammers from trees to grass. One never knows what they may stir up.
5 Use Screenshots To Note Items
It’s A Metroidvania Technique
Players can recruit a variety of party members in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door like any good turn-based RPG. Characters have uses outside of battle, kind of like a Metroidvania progression system. For example, Flurrie is a cloud-like character who can use the wind to reveal hidden passages.
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Panels that she can blow will have little flaps sticking out. Whenever players see something weird in the environment like a flapped panel or a cracked wall, they should take a screenshot. It’s very easy to do on the Switch since there is a dedicated button. With screenshot notes, players can remember where blocked paths were before getting the appropriate team member or power-up for Mario.
4 What Are The Collectibles For?
From Star Pieces To Shine Sprites
The aforementioned Star Pieces can be exchanged in a store below Rogueport. Once players start exploring the underground, they will come across Dazzle who collects Star Pieces. His shop is full of badges, which are essentially accessories that grant characters abilities or stat boosts.
For example, players should buy the Item Hog Badge from Dazzle as soon as possible. This will increase the likelihood of enemies dropping items after a turn-based battle. Another type of collectible that players will come across is Shrine Sprites, a homage to Super Mario Sunshine. These can be used to upgrade party members in Rogueport via the vendor Merlon. Between Goombella and Koops, Paper Mario: TTYD players should first upgrade the former for her new special ability.
3 Battle Tips
Think About Party Order
Players can have one additional character to help Mario in battle, but every party member recruited can be swapped out too. It is important to pay attention to enemy weaknesses before deciding the party's order of things. For example, if there are flying enemies and the party consists of Mario and Koops, Mario should go first.
One jump should send a flying enemy, like a Goomba, onto the stage so that Koops can hit it. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is not the hardest game in the world, but there are moments where a solid strategy will come in handy. It’s something to keep in mind for bosses especially.
2 What To Level Up First
Choosing Between HP, FP, And BP
After battle, players will earn Star Points which is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s equivalent of EXP in other RPGs. One hundred Star Points will level Mario up and players can decide to boost his HP, FP, or BP. HP is health, which should be obvious to most RPG fans, and FP is used for character abilities.
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BP is needed for equipping Badges. For the first trio of upgrades, players should prioritize FP, then BP, and finally HP. After that, players should give two more upgrades to FP and BP in whatever order they please. HP isn’t too important early on if players know how to block well, but it will become more valuable around the fourth chapter in Twilight Town.
1 Always Explore Rogueport After A Chapter
The Pit Of 100 Trials
The cool thing about Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is that Rogueport is an ever-evolving hub city. Every time players complete a chapter, there will be new things to discover. Luigi will pop up, for example, and won’t help players out much but his stories are funny. Stores can have new inventory too so it’s always a good idea to revisit them, especially the Badge shop.
With new powers, new pathways can be unlocked in the underground as well. Players may miss this but next to the titular Thousand-Year Door is a room called the Pit of 100 Trials. Players can compete in it to get prizes every ten floors and it’s worth getting to floor twenty as soon as possible to get the Fire Drive Badge. It’s a strong fire attack for Mario’s hammer.
