"Paper Mario" was an interesting game at the time of its announcement...I presume, given that I was not born when it was first revealed to the world and was only two when it finally released. Still, I can imagine it being interesting: originally announced as a proper sequel to "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars" for the Nintendo 64DD (without Square's help), the game later morphed into its own entry independent from Square's SNES title. It would even go on to spawn its own franchise of titles, and it's easy to see why. Even to this day, "Paper Mario" is still an excellent RPG.
"Paper Mario" is immediately eye-catching thanks to its colorful, charming visual design. The game is bursting with life all throughout its brilliantly realized locales, and it also becomes a winner thanks to its humorous storytelling and fun characters. What really makes it stand out, though, is its very accessible and enjoyable turn-based combat and gameplay. As someone who struggles to get into turn-based games, "Paper Mario" was easy to jump into right from the start, and it never lost my interest. The worlds had plenty to explore, an extremely balanced partner system where it feels like everyone is emphasized, and the overall gameplay had plenty of depth to it. Add some sweet, catchy music as the cherry on top, and you've got an RPG that's a winner through and through.
I think the only thing I can even remotely complain about with the game is that perhaps it doesn't use the "paper" concept as much as it could? I say that in the sense that the game could probably remove the "paper" part entirely and not much would change. Even so, the general design of the game is so charming that it's easily forgivable.
Overall, "Paper Mario" is still an absolute stunner of a game. Even as someone that doesn't really play turn-based RPGs, there's so much to love about this one. If you somehow haven't gotten to experience the original "Paper Mario" game, please do yourself a favor. It is an absolute masterpiece.
Final rating: 10 out of 10 "Fantastic"