The greatest villain in TTYD? Back-tracking

I personally disagree on the chapter 4 ranking, while there are some changes here and there I would make about this list (mainly chapter 5 a bit lower and chapter 6 and 3 as first and second respectively) chapter 4 has to be way higher in my opinion. I didn't really find the backtracking obnoxious thanks to the newly introduced pipe and, apart from the story which is in my opinion the best out of all the chapters, I think that the two parts of backtracking (when you get your body stolen and when you get Vivian) are necessary as for the first one you really understand how missing your partners makes you much weaker as it really is necessary to run away from every battle and when you get Vivian the backtracking is ok because then you can understand Vivian's abilities by sperimenting on the enemies along the way, mainly the charging ones using veil, just my opinion tho

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

I love the way you described the segment where your partners are missing - I’ve never thought about it that way! It highlights one of the bigger themes of the game - Mario is literally nothing without his friends. I could definitely see myself rearranging this list on that factor alone. Thanks for leaving this comment!

@YoshWilbur

Ай бұрын

I agree so much! I never played the original version on Game Cube so this is coming from a new player but Chapter 4 was one of my Favourite Chapters. I was so close getting a game over when my identity was stolen and I was making my way back to the town. The music, atmosphere, story, characters and gameplay are all amazing making this chapter amazing for me.

I still can’t believe this game is real.

@EpicPaul64

Ай бұрын

Neither can I, especially since I signed Arlo's petition!

@hibob38

Ай бұрын

I know you're joking but why did you say that the US faked the moon landing 😂lol

@bluesky5384

Ай бұрын

Same! I was 14 when the OG came out. Was so happy to see this in the direct and finally get it!

This is my first time playing this game and i can see why its so beloved. I will say though i feel chapter 4 is underrated but i get the criticism. My favorite was chapter 8 mostly because it felt like an epic conclusion with incredible boss fights, atmosphere and a test of all your partner abilities.

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

I’m really happy to hear you had a great first experience! I’ve been playing almost every year since the original came out in 2004. And I hear you on Chapter 4 - I honestly like every part of this game so much that I could probably find reasons to rearrange the list any which way. Love how Chapter 8 ends things off - it’s perfect.

Here's mine. #8: Chapter 2 (The Great Boggly Tree) Though I don't dislike this chapter, it's definitely my least favorite of the bunch. Boggly Woods as a whole gives me an "off" vibe that I'm not a huge fan of. Additionally, managing the punies can be a bit of a hassle, especially in the pider room (when they run off the ledge and have to be re-collected) and the bubble room (where Flurrie has to be used to blow them across every single time you pass through here, which is more times than should be necessary). On top of that, the music in this chapter is the weakest in the entire game- the punies' theme is grating on the ears, and Magnus von Grapple's battle music is very underwhelming in the GameCube version.The switch remake fixed this aspect at least, toning down the punies' theme and giving Magnus von Grapple's theme the biggest glow-up I think I've heard in any remake! #7: Chapter 7 (Mario Shoots the Moon) Hey, Chapter 7 at number 7! I'll address the elephant in the room first: General White. Even in the switch remake, hunting him down still takes much more time than I'd like it to, and is overall an unnecessary task that adds nothing but tedium to the game. Traversing the moon can be tedious as well due to how slow Mario walks. Thankfully, this section doesn't last for very long. The X-Naut Base itself is quite cool. Though it does involve a lot of running back and forth, solving the puzzles inside is always fun. The atmosphere in the base is great too, especially when the red lights come on after TEC activates the teleporter. As far as music goes, this chapter isn't much of a standout. The X-Naut Fortress theme is pretty good, and of course, Magnus von Grapple's switch remake is great. Unfortunately, the rest of the chapter's music ranges from alright to forgettable. #6: Chapter 5 (The Key to Pirates) Chapter 5 suffers quite a bit from Paper Mario TTYD's biggest problem: backtracking. The entire first half of the chapter is just running back and forth between the settlement and the entrance to Pirate's Grotto, which gets very tedious. Other than that though, my complaints are quite minimal. The atmosphere is quite nice. I really enjoy Flavio and Cortez as characters, and the Pirate's Grotto is a very fun dungeon to traverse. The music is alright. Cortez's battle theme is great. Other than that, I hardly remember much of the music chapter 5 holds. #5: Chapter 4 (For Pigs the Bell Tolls) During my first playthrough of TTYD, chapter 4 was at the very bottom, for the same reasons you described: the relentless backtracking, and how tedious Creepy Steeple can be to traverse. It's grown on me a lot since. This chapter's plot is incredible. Mario having his body snatched, then teaming up with a supposed antagonist in order to defeat the monster who stole his identity is a super interesting concept executed exceptionally well story-wise. And I know I'm not alone when saying Vivian is one of the most lovable characters in the entire Mario franchise. The music is pretty good overall. Doopliss has my favorite battle theme from TTYD. Twilight Town, especially the Switch version, is a very good track. There aren't any other highlights that come to mind. #4: Chapter 1 (Castle and Dragon) Paper Mario TTYD starts off great with its first chapter. Though it is quite basic on paper, there are many memorable bits thrown in, such as the fuzzy horde, the Shwonk Fortress quiz, and Ms. Mowz's introduction in Hooktail Castle. The characters we meet here are great too. Koops is a highlight for sure, though the rest of the Petalburg crew is great as well. I do have some gripes with Hooktail Castle, but not necessarily for the dungeon itself; rather, how often the game wants you to revisit it. You've got to make tedious tricks back to the castle for both obtaining Ms. Mowz and unlocking ultra ranking partners with Merlon, which, probably irrationally, sours my thoughts on the area as a whole. I quite like the music here. Petal Meadows is of course one of the best location themes in the game, Hooktail Castle is very regal-sounding and memorable, and Hooktail's battle theme is pretty good too. #3: Chapter 8 (The Thousand-Year Door) I found myself struggling a bit with placing either this or Chapter 1 at #3, but I think this is a good spot for the final chapter in the game. Though the Palace of Shadow is foreboding and has a nice atmosphere, not much of it really stands out to me, with the exception of the very cool Riddle Tower. What brings the Palace of Shadow this high are the bosses. Chapter 8 throws FIVE difficult fights at you: Gloomtail, the Three Shadows, Grodus, Bowser/Kammy, and of course, the Shadow Queen. Each one of these can cause trouble if you don't know what you're getting into, especially in the case of Grodus and Bowser, who are fought back to back with no saving or healing in between. All five of these fights are super fun. Chapter 8's music is a mixed bag. Grodus's battle theme in the GameCube version is my least favorite battle theme in all of Paper Mario (though it did improve a bit in the remake). Bowser/Kammy's battle music is great. The Shadow Queen's final battle music is even better. #2: Chapter 3 (For Glitz and Glory) My number 1 and 2 picks are, in my opinion, in a league of their own compared to the other chapters. The difference between how much I like chapter 8 and how much I love chapter 3 is a larger gap than any other 2 chapters in this game. First off, there's the story. It starts off quite simple: Mario must fight his way up through the rankings to challenge Rawk Hawk and obtain the Crystal Star. However, as you progress, you learn the Glitz Pit isn't all it seems. The mysteries that unfold are fantastic, and the climax where we discover Grubba's true intentions is awesome. Chapter 3 also has my favorite cast of characters in the entire game. Jolene's mysterious nature is incredibly memorable. Grubba is always entertaining. King K may be my favorite minor character in the entire Paper Mario series. And all the other fighters we meet in the major and minor league rooms all feel distinct and real. The music is great too. Glitzville, especially in the original, is really easy to bang your head to. The Glitz Pit music tracks are memorable too. Macho Grubba's battle theme isn't among the best in the game but is still nice. So what can top all of that? #1: Chapter 6 (Three Days of Excess) Now, my reasons for loving Chapter 6 as much as I do may be a bit strange, but bear with me. I know this chapter is incredibly divisive among fans; some people love it, while others will say it's the worst in the game. I don't think I need to say that I'm one of the former. First off, the characters. While not quite as strong as chapter 3's cast, I still found myself falling in love with Chapter 6's. Pennington's unwarranted confidence is endearing. Bub and his love of trains is adorable. Chef Shimi's tendency to stumble on his words may be a bit silly, but dang it, I love it. And being able to interact with these characters over the 3 day period on the Excess Express is always a joy. The mysteries chapter 6 holds are great, but again, not quite as strong as chapter 3's. I enjoy the mini-mysteries Mario has to solve, such as finding what Bub wants for his birthday, and discovering who stole the chili (even if this one was hilariously obvious). What holds it back is the payoff, or lack thereof. Once you solve the overarching mystery of who is behind the threat, Doopliss leaves the train and that's that. There's no battle, or anything else that makes the reveal feel substantial. The whole mystery is still a blast to solve, but it could've been improved. Riverside Station is a fun dungeon. I love the puzzles, especially the tube maze and the gear platform section. Not much else to say about it. Now comes the reasons Chapter 6 is my favorite chapter. The atmosphere is magical. Throughout the ride, it's really easy to engross yourself into the game. The audio ambience, the subtle shaking, the scenery flying by out the windows, and of course the time of day changing as you progress... It's quite hard to explain, but I wanted nothing more than to ride the Excess Express myself as I was playing. And that's only half of it. I still haven't talked about the music. Chapter 6 easily has my favorite music collection in the entire game. All three Excess Express tracks work really well to engross you into the world, particularly the dusk and night tracks. I've spent much more time than I'd like to admit hanging out on the train at night, doing nothing but experiencing the catharsis of the train's music and atmosphere (Unfortunately, you can't re-experience the train at dusk after completing the chapter, which is a real bummer). I'm also a really big fan of Riverside Station's music, though not quite to the extent of the Excess Express tracks. In conclusion, it's the combination of amazing atmosphere and incredible music that cements chapter 6 as my favorite chapter in TTYD.

Great list man! I really enjoyed your ranking and agreed on Tower of Riddles being such a dread filled location. I just wish the chilling sound effects of the original game were still in there.

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Thanks, I appreciate it! I totally agree, I actually put on the nostalgic tunes badge for the tower of riddles, I just love that vibe. Also, your channel has come across my feed so many times - you do great work. Keep it up!

I will never get used to the characters having back sprites.

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

They almost feel like cursed images.

My favorite chapter was the Luigi dialogue trees

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Nintendo needs to give us a Paper Luigi spinoff!

Nice rankings bro, here are my favorites in numerical order without any explanation as to not give spoilers: #1: Chapter 1 #2: Chapter 2 #3: Chapter 3 #4: Chapter 4 #5: Chapter 5 #6: Chapter 6 #7: Chapter 7 #8: Chapter 8

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

There are some hot takes on this list

Babe wake up new TTYD Gameguy content dropped

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Appointment viewing.

0:39 “while there isn’t any death in paper Mario” Me: Bobby from the origami king.

@GameGuy53

29 күн бұрын

@@megamarvelousmarty Also the poor souls in Hooktail’s audience

@slenderfoxx3797

11 күн бұрын

Tippi and bleck Bobberys wife Hooktail TEC (I refuse to believe his revival wasn't only done so we can visit the x naut base in postgame) Luvbi

definitely agree with the keelhaul key placement, plus bobbery is my favorite partner, amazing chapter. great video bro, love your video style and it was a good time! subscribed to you, keep up the fire work 👊

My favorite chapter is the prologue

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

You’ve literally never made it past the prologue have you?

I need to buy this damn game don’t I

@randychristensen1028

Ай бұрын

I never truly understood what the hype was all about for all these years but now I know. It deserves all the praise it got

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

@@randychristensen1028 Glad to hear you had an awesome first experience! This is literally in my top 3 games of all time.

@VMan776

Ай бұрын

Yes, please!

I’d say Rawk Hawk is more of Rock or Randy Savage than Hulk Hogan, also here’s two more comparisons, Koopinator is supposed to be Undertaker and King K is Booker T

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Lol yeah I can see that for Rawk Hawk - and honestly spot on for Koopinator and King K. I just think Chapter 3 is so funny.

@BassEXE

Ай бұрын

Rawk Hawk is definitely a parody of The Rock. Rawk Hawk even refers to himself in third person when he talks calling himself "The Rawk" which is what Dwayne Johnson always does in his promos (always starting 90% of his promos calling himself "The Rock").

@VMan776

Ай бұрын

In the original game's Spanish translation, Rawk Hawk is literally named "Hawk Hogan".

I haven’t finished the game yet (I’m currently just starting the x-naut fortress in ch. 7) but I personally thought Chapter 5 had untapped potential. Sure, the climax was epic and the idea of crashing on an island and having literally NO access to the rest of the game until you finish the chapter is cool; but it felt kind of underutilized. Half of the chapter was just “run back and forth between the camp and the entrance to the dungeon” to get dialogue to then continue your errands. The actual island itself could’ve been more interesting too, it’s just a lot of barren grassland with enemies to avoid. Pirate’s Grotto was… fine, just nothing too outstandingly memorable. I really loved the idea of Chapter 5 and Bobbery’s story is fantastic I just wish they leaned into it a little more

My List 8th - Chapter 2 (Not because it’s bad, I actually really enjoyed this chapter, just that the other chapters kinda outshine it) 7th - Chapter 1 (Not much to say about this one, just plain good but I just prefer the others a bit more) 6th - Chapter 7 (The build up to this chapter was pretty cool, though the moon was a boring environment I loved infiltrating the X-Nauts base and taking the fight to their door) 5th - Chapter 5 (You get my favourite party member in this chapter and going across the sea onto a new island is pretty fun) 4th - Chapter 8 (A very cool chapter, love the design of the palace and the final boss was at least interesting in design albeit kinda weak) 3rd - Chapter 6 (I found this chapter a little bit boring at first but once you got to the station and got do some battles I think it got balanced out a bit more and ended up being a cool chapter) 2nd - Chapter 4 (The back tracking doesn’t bother me in the slightest here, I love the atmosphere, the music the story and Doo_lis) 1st - Chapter 3 (I love how this chapter adds an element of mystery to what would have otherwise been a very repetitive chapter otherwise, I wish we got Rawk Hawk as a party member though…)

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Solid list with good reasoning. I always like seeing lists that are different from mine because it shows how solid the entire game is all the way through. I could even change my mind on rankings next play through!

I know it''s your opinion, but damn, I like Chapter 4. It's top 4 for me in this game. Love the story and the back tracking didnt bother me this time around.

Great ranking

It’s so disappointing to see how many people throw Chapter 4 under the bus for such a minuet reason. The back tracking I believe is a product of its time from when this game was made. But through character development and good story they were able to bake “back tracking” into the gameplay to be meaningful. It helps show how Mario is lost without his companions and opens up the story like of Vivian becoming friends and a partner with Mario. I will admit I’m a huge sucker for horror or Halloween-esk themes in games so this chapter is actually my favorite out of all of them on that fact alone. It feels entirely different from every other chapter in the game. Also I honestly think chapter 1 & 2 are the most mundane chapters in the game and the game doesn’t really excel until you hit chapter 3. Overall I know these are opinion based videos but I wish people would try and look at chapters in a deeper way more so than surface level issues.

No death in Paper Mario? Hooktail's audience begs to differ. Sorry, I had to. I'm enjoying this comfy video very much so far.

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Oh my… you’re spot on. I’ve disrespected those poor souls… I can’t believe I disregarded the most traumatic sequence in the game. I’m glad to hear you’re liking the video though!

@imjustalittleqwerty

Ай бұрын

@@GameGuy53There are quite a few deaths in TTYD. Kolorado’s father, Hooktail and her siblings, Scarlet (Bobbery’s wife), the Shadow Queen, and probably a few others I can’t recall right now.

Looks like most people in the comments section aren't too thrilled with you ranking Chapter 4 at the bottom. Personally, I've never been a huge fan of Chapter 2, but I think I'm going to agree with you after hearing your perspective; that backtracking is pretty annoying even with the remake's changes! Overall, this was a very entertaining video, and I especially appreciate the mockery of folks who have sponsors!

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

Good to hear from you again! Yea I feel like even the strong narrative and theme of chapter 4 isn’t enough to fully save it from its gameplay issues. Regardless, I love every chapter in this game. The list is really just an excuse to talk about it lol! Glad you enjoyed the video

Adding the Pipe Room in The Underground was the best thing they could’ve done. Made looking for General White easier and faster Also, I’m 31 now. I blast this soundtrack in my car everyday😂.

@GameGuy53

16 күн бұрын

Sometimes I wonder how many people I drive by that are also just jamming out in their cars to video game or anime music.

I'm beat the main game today on the remake (beat the gamecube version a handful of times) and I'm realizing I always rank chapter 8 too low. It honestly was awesome. Might be top 4 for me now.

BRUH, chapter 4 is one of the best, chapter 2 is way worse.

@DerDustige

Ай бұрын

i agree. for me chapter 2 is the worst in this game. this chapter is just boring

@LtFred

Ай бұрын

Agreed man chapter 2 even chapter 1 are incredibly boring imo. The game does really get going til chapter 3 and beyond.

@totallynormalclonewarsfan

Ай бұрын

@@LtFred Well... I thought chapter 1 is fine, but chapter 2 is pretty bad. (Comparatively to the rest of the game, none are straight up bad, chapter 2 is just awful compared to the rest of the chapters.)

I find it so interesting how different opinions can be 😅 I personally, would rank Chapter 4 as the second best. On 1st is obviously Chapter 6, but then Chapter 4.. I Love it so much!!

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

I agree with how it’s always neat to see how different peoples’ rankings are. I think it just shows how strong the game is as a whole!

I think chapter 4 isn’t that bad in the remake so for me it’s like the 3rd best chapter in the game

I rank Chapter 4. Let's hear your rankings!

Chapter 4 back 5 times Remake backtrack 3 times. I think the first 3 trips were necessary. 1 trip do i need to explain why. 2nd trip to show how weak you are alone and 3 trip allows you to play around with vivan. After the 3 trip though thats where it shouldnhave stopped in the orginal you still had to 2 it 2 more times but the remakes stops after the 3re time.

I see your effort but i cant subscribe when you put chapter 4 at the bottom. Thats pure sacrilege

@GameGuy53

Ай бұрын

I hope to win your heart one day.

Damn bro, why you so handsome? Putting us all to shame!

Boggly woods and doopliss are the worst chapters sandwiched between two of the better ones (glitz pit and pirate one)

@Hi-fd4cw

Ай бұрын

The sandwich analogy doesn’t work when chapter 1 comes before 2

Calling chapter 4 the worst is a bad take. Chapter 2 is obviously the worst.

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but man, I disagree with just about every position on this list

WTF CHAPTER 4 number 1😂😂😂 HORRIBLE CHAPTER