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Paper Mario: The Stones of Old
The logo
The logo.
Developer(s) Outer Limits Co.
Publisher(s) Logo
Platform(s) Nintendo Switch
Genre(s) RPG
Release Date(s) TBA
Mode(s) Single player
Online multiplayer (Battle Card Mode)
Age Rating(s) ERating 3Rating
Media Included Unknown

Paper Mario: The Stones of Old is the upcoming sixth Paper Mario title, being released on the Nintendo Switch. It follows Mario and brand new partners in an adventure through a strange new land on a quest to save the world from a new villain. It is heavily inspired by Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

Gameplay

Paper Mario: The Stones of Old borrows most of its mechanics from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, with very small adjustments. Paper abilities from that game return, along with the ability to use your hammer and action commands from the start of the game. The game also uses the same partner mechanics, giving partners their own set of Health Points. However, this time, partners get a separate Flower Points meter, which is shared among them. Because of this, leveling up will now only increase Flower Points by 3 for both Mario and his partners' meters, rather than by 5.

Stickers from Paper Mario: Sticker Star do not return, and instead, items and badges from the previous installments return, serving the same functions as before.

Paper Abilities

Paper Abilities from The Thousand Year Door return, being given to Mario in a very similar way to the first. However, rather than having to bring a key to a locked chest with a spirit inside, there will be magical, rune-like circles in certain areas, and Mario must bring a specific item to the spot. Once he steps inside, the item will disappear, the circle will grow, and Mario will be "cursed" with these new powers. Alongside Plane, Paper, Tube, and Boat mode, there are two new Paper Abilities: the Paper Fan, which allows Mario to blow away pieces of paper to reveal secrets behind them (similarly to Flurrie's overworld power from The Thousand Year Door), and one more that is currently unknown.

Boomerang

Along with regaining his Jump and Hammer abilities from previous games, Mario will now be able to use a Boomerang to attack enemies from afar and to collect items that are out of reach. It effectively replaces Koops' and Kooper's Shell Toss ability from previous games.

Background

The background from The Thousand Year Door, and later, Super Paper Mario, also returns, allowing Mario to explore the background of levels and discover secrets or access hidden areas. Like in these games, partner and item use is disabled in the background, and Mario can not move into a different area until he returns to the normal world.

Intermissions

Like in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, players will be able to assume control of both Peach and Bowser during the intermissions between chapters in their own side stories, and will now be also taking control of Luigi. All three stories will tie into Mario's.

Dialogue Branching

Dialogue has received an overhaul, as certain characters now offer multiple dialogue choices, and will gain new ones overtime. When talking to a specific character, as long as they have no new story driven dialogue (which will take priority over other choices and happen automatically when speaking to them), you will be able to select one of several different topics to speak to them about. This offers more diversity when talking to NPC's, and allow opportunities to learn about secrets in the world or new quests.

If you have picked a trouble from the Trouble Center, and Mario needs to speak to the character whose trouble was picked for a separate quest, rather than having to finish the trouble before talking to them, or having to speak to them regarding the other quest before finishing the trouble, Mario can select which of the two topics he would like to initiate a conversation about.

Day and Night Cycle

Time now passes while Mario is on his adventure, with every hour in real life equating to four hours in-game. Day time is considered to be 6AM to 6PM, while night time is 6PM to 6AM. Certain events, enemies, items, and characters can only be encountered at certain times of day. Sleeping in a bed during one of the time periods will now fast forward time to the start of the next in addition to healing Mario and his partners.

Mario's House

At any point after the start of Chapter One, after collecting 500 coins, Mario can speak to the mayor of Mushroom Square and ask about purchasing an empty house in the west side of the town. Once purchased, Mario can store up to 100 items and 9999 coins in the house, and will be able to sleep to restore HP, FP, and Ancient Power for free, rather than having to pay to use a Toad House or use an item.

Logbook

Whenever Mario receives a new quest or task, it will be recorded in Mario's logbook as a way to help keep track of your current objectives. This applies to things such as Trouble Center tasks, sidequests, doing favors for NPCs, and even your current goal to progress in the chapter. All completed tasks will be recorded in a separate list.

Battle Card Mode

For the full list of Battle Cards in the game, see Paper Mario: The Stones of Old/List of Battle Cards.

Battle Card Mode is an online mode that allows two players to fight each other in a Paper Mario-styled battle using Battle Cards that they have collected in their journey. Cards are scattered as hidden loot all across the world, but can also be dropped by enemies or purchased in shops. They are similar to Catch Cards from Super Paper Mario.

Plot

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Mario's Partners

  • Goomberis - Tattle
  • Kablooey - Bomb
  • Detective Bones - Bone Toss
  • A Monty Mole - Hide
  • A Fly Guy - Carry
  • A Venus Fire Trap - Fireball
  • A Parabeetle - Hover
  • A Bumpty - Snowball
  • A Toad - Unknown

Stones of Old

Tattle Log

For the full list of enemies and bosses in the game, see Paper Mario: The Stones of Old/Tattle Log.

The tattle log is a list of all of the enemies and bosses that Goomberis has used her Tattle ability on in battle. The Log lists their name, their Health, Attack, and Defense points, their attacks, where they can be found, an image of them, and a brief summary about them. If an enemy that can only be encountered once in battle is not tattled on, their page can be found in a trash bin in Mushroom Square and added to the log after they are defeated.

Boss Battles

Items

For the full list of items in the game, see Paper Mario: The Stones of Old/List of items.

Items are objects that Mario can collect to help him on his journey. Some replenish Health and Flower Points or increase the attack and defense stats of Mario and his partners, while others injure Mario's opponents or reduce their attack and defense stats.

Mario can carry up to 10 items on himself from the beginning of the game, but through finding Strange Sacks, he can increase that to 20 and then finally 30. Aside from that, Mario can store up to 40 items in any item shop he encounters, and can also store up to 100 items in his house in Mushroom Square once it has been purchased, meaning a grand total of 170 items can be stored at any given time.

Badges

For the full list of badges in the game, see Paper Mario: The Stones of Old/List of badges.

Badges are a type of item that can be equipped to serve as an aid to Mario, either in a battle or in the overworld. Each Badge uses a certain amount of Badge Points in order for it to be equipped

Star Pieces

Locations

  • Mushroom Square - The main hub of the game.
  • Mushroom Caverns - A series of caverns that reside right below Mushroom Square.

Trouble Center Quests

The Trouble Center from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door returns, this time being located in a back alley in the downtown section of Mushroom Square. Inside, Mario will find a board that has a list of favors that citizens around the world need help with, ranging from simple tasks such as helping people find lost items, to more challenging tasks such as having to locate elusive badges. Once a trouble is solved, the person who requested it will give Mario a reward. Every time a chapter is completed, more troubles will appear on the board.

There are a total of 120 troubles to be completed.

Pit of 100 Trials

References to other games

  • Super Mario Bros. 2 - Tweeters return as enemies, and Birdo spits out egg projectiles during the battle with her, much like during her battles in this game.
  • Paper Mario - Like in both this game and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Parakarry makes a cameo in the beginning of the game to deliver a letter to the Mario brothers. Chapter Four features an extraordinary location containing Shy Guys. Chapter Five features a tropical island featuring a village with Yoshis in it located right beside a jungle. Many enemies, items, and badges from this game also return.
  • Super Mario Sunshine - A location in Chapter Two contains many references to Super Mario Sunshine; it contains Piantas, palm trees, a Polluted Piranha Plant, houses that resemble those in Delfino Plaza, and a mansion that resembles Hotel Delfino. Aside from that, the three Nokis that appear in the Clam Cups on Pinna Park appear as non-playable characters, alongside other members of the Noki species, and Shine Sprites return as a collectible item.
  • Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - Partners continue to have their own health bar. There is a Tattle Log with a list of all the enemies Mario has tattled in. Toadette returns to give you the upgraded boots and hammer. Paper Abilities, as well as the minigames that were available in the Pianta Parlor in Rogueport, also return, featuring two new ones; one of which is directly taken from Flurrie's overworld ability from this game. Many enemies, items, and badges from this game also return.
  • Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The Elite Trio and Chuboomba appear as minibosses.
  • Super Paper Mario - Koopa Strikers return as enemies.
  • Mario Kart 8 - The Noki species retains their updated design from the Water Park course in this game.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Paper Mario: The Stones of Old/Gallery.
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