History YMMV / PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor

* EvenBetterSequel: Widely agreed to be a better game than its predecessor for multiple reasons. Namely an improved battle system, more unique locales, even more memorable characters, a far more original plot, epic boss fights and more. The result is a game that is often seen as the best of the ''Paper Mario'' series and even the ''Mario'' [=RPGs=] in general, and maybe one of the best ''Mario'' games ever made as a whole.

** All of Mario's party members comment on how eerie and unsettling the Palace of Shadows feels, and while the music is suitably so, the design of the area doesn't quite give off that impression thanks to its ornate magenta-and-gold décor and the rose motifs that show up everywhere. Many of the rooms are looming, not particularly well-lit, and filled with dangerous traps and enemies, but there's nothing about the palace itself that comes off as disturbing at first glance.
* OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler:The Shadow Queen]] only appears in [[spoiler:the final room of the game as the surprise final boss]], but [[spoiler:she definitely makes the most of her only scene and became one of the most well-liked ''Mario'' villains]].
* {{Padding}}: A common complaint about the game is that the level layouts and chapter objectives often leave Mario running back and forth across areas in-between more engaging segments:

* PlayerPunch:

** Watching Vivian get bullied by her sisters. Even when you first meet them, it's bound to make the player feel horrible for her.

** In the eyes of many, this game is the golden standard for ''Mario'' spinoffs and even ''Mario'' games, period. The opinion that this game is anything less than the best in the series is very much a minority opinion, even with the excessive backtracking. The fact that not only this was stuck on the [=GameCube=] for the longest time, but also that subsequent games abandoned the traditional RPG style that this game perfected to mixed to negative reception make this game particularly coveted.

** The FinalBoss, [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]] stands out. After her introduction and the HopelessBossFight, followed by [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome one of the best moments in the entire game]], she proves to be a shockingly tough boss in an otherwise not-too-difficult game (depending on how you play it, of course) with a very varied moveset, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic dark yet blood-pumping music]] and the fact that she's an all-out MarathonBoss with a whooping 150 HP, which is impressive considering that only one other enemy, the optional {{Superboss}} Bonetail, has HP going into triple digits.

** Magnus Von Grapple. Both versions, fought as the second and seventh chapter boss respectively, with [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic one of the best boss themes in the game]], also have quite interesting attacks with some hilarious dialogue. And even though the 2.0 version has [[ThatOneAttack one attack that's hard to avoid]], it doesn't change that it's one of the more challenging bosses.
** Grodus. He's the boss of Chapter 8 (not counting Bowser, who's fought right after with no chance to stop and heal), and boy, does he put up a fight, being a ShieldedCoreBoss that uses several dangerous tricks but isn't unfair at all, and best of all, this is the same asshole that has been hunting you down for nearly the entire game, kidnapped Peach and threatened to rule the world, so beating up his ass results in a very strong CatharsisFactor.
** Bowser in both instances he's fought. Yeah, [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere he has almost zero reason to be there]] [[spoiler:except for accidentally saving Mario from Grodus,]] but he puts up one hell of a fight either way, ''especially'' the second time around when he's aided by [[TheDragon Kammy Koopa]] and you're likely worn out from defeating Grodus.

* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Awesome Video Game Levels]]:

** [[spoiler:Macho Grubba]] from Chapter 3. Despite having a whopping 60 HP, which is massive for this point, considering that the last chapter boss only had 30 HP and the next one will only have 40 HP, he's still incredibly easy to beat with attacks that are easy to Superguard. He spends most of his turns getting temporary stat buffs instead of attacking, and is more vulnerable to status effects than most bosses.
** Grodus. While his attacks deal a lot of damage and come with annoying status effects, he has only 50 HP and 1 Defense, [[GlassCannon which isn't much for this late in the game]]. Additionally, the [[GoddamnedBats Grodus X]] minions he summons can draw out the fight, but they go down easily to pretty much any attack that hits all enemies. For a fight that was built up for virtually the entire game, it's not unheard of for it to be over in less than five turns. Of course, Grodus is likely intentionally made relatively easy because of the fight with [[spoiler:Bowser and Kammy]] immediately afterwards, with no chance to heal beforehand.

** [[spoiler:Beldam, not Grodus, was the one behind everything. While the Shadow Queen turning on Grodus is to be expected of [[EvilIsNotAToy powerful evil beings]], the subsequent reveal that Beldam was using Grodus and knew this would happen comes completely out of left field, with the only evidence in support of it being that the Shadow Queen is also a LivingShadow.]]

* [[AwesomeBosses/VideoGames Awesome Bosses]]:

** Beldam. Some love her for [[spoiler:turning out to be the real main antagonist with her plot to revive the Shadow Queen]] and being fun to fight in the Shadow Siren boss fights. Others hate her for her total verbal abuse toward Vivian and Doopliss, two of the most popular characters in the game. There's also debate as to whether it was right for her to be EasilyForgiven at the end of the story [[KarmaHoudini despite everything she caused]].

** The BigBad's plan in this game is [[spoiler: to revive a demon by having it possess the princess's body, so they can serve their master once again]]. A few years later, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks another Nintendo villain would have the exact same plan and motive.]]

** Rawk Hawk is a mid-boss, but his awesomeness is comparable to that of a major one. With [[AutobotsRockOut epic rocking music]], awesome build-up and a challenging but fair fight (especially in BP-only runs), it makes for a memorable fight.

** Bobbery's backstory involving [[TheLostLenore Scarlette]] qualifies him as one.

** In the Japanese version, Hooktail hates the sounds of frogs. The sound effect used for the Attack FX R badge is the sound of Japanese species of frog. It was likely changed to crickets because people outside of Japan wouldn't recongize the sound as a frog.

** In the Japanese version, Hooktail hates the sounds of frogs. The sound effect used for the badge is from a Japanese species of frogs. It was likely changed to crickets because people outside of Japan wouldn't recongize the sound as a frog.

* ShockingMoments: A remake of ''The Thousand-Year Door'' was considered the Holy Grail for ''Mario'' RPG fans, as the original game had been declared a [=GameCube=] classic by the community and thought of as a last hurrah of sorts before [[ExecutiveMeddling widely disliked changes and limitations were introduced]] to the ''Paper Mario'' series that started with ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar Sticker Star]]''. ''TTYD'' was never ported to eighth or ninth generation systems and, outside of a VocalMinority, was thought to be doomed to obscurity until the September 2023 Direct revealed the remake to the world to massive acclaim.

* ShockingMoments: A remake of ''The Thousand-Year Door'' was considered the Holy Grail for Mario RPG fans, as the original game had been declared a [=GameCube=] classic by the community and thought of as a last hurrah of sorts before [[ExecutiveMeddling widely disliked changes and limitations were introduced]] to the ''Paper Mario'' series that started with ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar Sticker Star]]''. ''TTYD'' was never ported to eighth or ninth generation systems and, outside of a VocalMinority, was thought to be doomed to obscurity until the September 2023 Direct revealed the remake to the world to massive acclaim.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The implementation of the diorama-inspired style of the original ''TTYD'' onto the more paper-extensive post-''Color Splash'' art style makes for a drop-dead ''gorgeous'' visual style, with the entire world looking as if it was made of card stock. The animation of the characters is even more fluid than in the original game, and far more expressive.

** In the eyes of many, this game is the golden standard for ''Mario'' spinoffs and even ''Mario'' games, period. the opinion that this game is anything less than the best in the series is very much a minority opinion, even with the excessive backtracking. The fact that not only this was stuck on the [=GameCube=] for the longest time, but also that subsequent games abandoned the traditional RPG style that this game perfected to mixed to negative reception make this game particularly coveted.

* FriendlyFandoms: Fans of ''TTYD'' began to mingle with fans of ''VideoGame/PrincessPeachShowtime'' since both of them have theater aesthetics and trailers for both games were released on the September 14th 2023 Direct.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: For years, there had been a fictional idea for a remake of this game on the Switch on the site Website/{{Fantendo}} born out of nostalgia for the game. Their hypothetical wishes became reality come the reveal of the remake.
* HilariousInHindsight: About a year before the remake was revealed, one fan commented "Imagine a Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remaster appearing in a Nintendo Direct with this music playing," on a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ2I7I_BlfU&lc=Ugzs8IhvOg3NTRfycQZ4AaABAg video for the Intro Story music]]. Come a year later, that's exactly what happened.

** [[spoiler:Was Vivian really ever evil like her sisters, or did she just go along with them because they were all she had? On that note, did Beldam's abuse and Mario's kindness towards her convince her to have a change of heart, or was she always good and was just simply too afraid of Beldam to leave?]]

** Not even the ''[[EldritchAbomination Shadow Queen]]'' is safe from this. More specifically, the effect she has on people under her DemonicPossession. Many fan artists opt to make the possessed person's clothes (often Peach) skimpier after their EvilCostumeSwitch--because it seems EvilIsSexy is a law of nature.

** Vivian gets a lot of this in particular. Often, she will be given [[BuxomBeautyStandard actual breasts]] and a more [[HumanityEnsues realistic humanoid figure]] instead of the wispy spirit look she has in game. She is also often [[TransgenderFetishization given a penis]], because of her being a trans woman in the Japanese, French, Italian, and Spanish versions.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The reveal trailer kicks off with a remix of the main theme from ''Paper Mario 64'', which is basically Nintendo's way of saying "Yes, classic ''Paper Mario'' is back." The rest of the trailer features the updated versions of Petal Meadows, the battle theme, Bowser's theme, and the title screen, which sound even better than before.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The trailer kicks off with a remix of the main theme from ''Paper Mario 64'', which is basically Nintendo's way of saying "Yes, classic ''Paper Mario'' is back."

* EvilIsSexy: [[spoiler:Possessed Peach]] has this appeal.

** Grodus. While his attacks deal solid damage and come with annoying status effects, he has only 50 HP and 1 Defense, [[GlassCannon which isn't much for this late in the game]]. While the [[GoddamnedBats Grodus X]] minions he summons can draw out the fight, they go down easily to pretty much any attack that hits all enemies. For a fight that was built up for almost the entire game, it's not unheard of for it to be over in less than five turns. Perhaps justified because of the fight with [[spoiler:Bowser and Kammy]] immediately after it with no chance to heal beforehand.

** Chapter 2 is a tedious escort mission through the Boggly Tree with a confusing layout and lots of backtracking, which is sometimes cited as [[SlowPacedBeginning a roadblock]] for players replaying the game.

** The FinalBoss, [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]] stands out. After her introduction and the HopelessBossFight, followed by [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome one of the best moments in the entire game]], she reveals herself as a severely difficult boss in an otherwise not-too-difficult game (depending on how you play it, of course) with a very varied moveset, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic dark blood-pumping music]] and the fact that she's an all-out MarathonBoss with a whooping 150 HP, which is impressive considering that only one other enemy, the optional {{Superboss}} Bonetail, has HP going into triple digits.

* SequelDifficultySpike: While the game isn't too much harder in comparison to the previous game, it's still quite a bit difficult overall; enemies have more health and strength than they did before and they can also carry items and use them against you. The game also has several kinds of NonStandardGameOver (some you can get around while others you'd have to jump into them on purpose) whereas the previous game didn't have any. Some bosses have attacks that can't be guarded or super guarded.

* SignatureScene: [[spoiler:The Shadow Queen's awakening and the world being plunged into darkness because of it, followed by her DemonicPossession of Peach]], thanks to how much build up there is to it and how surprisingly creepy it is for a ''Mario'' game.

** [[spoiler:Bowser's appearance out of nowhere]] in the final chapter, primarily because [[spoiler:Mario is likely worn out from the preceding battle with Grodus. Bowser and Kammy both have quite a bit of health and hit hard, and you have no opportunity to heal in between.]] Most guides recommend you grind so that you level up on Grodus for a full heal to avoid getting completely trashed.

* IKnewIt: The annoucement of the remake of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' showed that Nintendo was interested in reviving Mario's older role-playing adventures. This lead many to speculate that a remake of this game was in the cards due to its popularity.

** Many players claim that using Flurrie's Gale Force to remove enemies in-battle does not grant any experience points, which is not true at all. This confusion probably arises from the fact that Gale Force is mostly used to remove boss and enemy add-ons, which do not grant any experience points when defeated.

* IKnewIt: The annoucement of the remake of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' showed that Nintendo was interested in reviving Mario's older role-playing adventures. This lead many to speculate that a remake of this game was in the cards due to it's popularity.