inventory space, being forced to hold onto certain stickers for later, and constant backtracking to retrieve unobtainable stickers. Graphics and worldbuilding were praised, and was compared to the likes of Super Mario 3D Land. The game was noted as being just as unique as previous games in the franchise, with Electronic Gaming Monthly stating how the "3D-effect only enhances the visuals further". The characters were also praised for their charm and "offbeat" naturalism, however they were also criticized for lack of variety in visual design as well as the abundance of Toads instead of the diverse fictional races the series had been known for. Many critics were negative towards the removal of multiple role-playing game (RPG) elements, of which a lack of character progression, such as experience points (XP). GamesRadar+ liked the change from traditional RPG content, but believed there was "not enough of an RPG for genre buffs". Additionally, critics were disappointed in the loss of a proper story, but the comedic writing was praised; Paste reviewer Casey Malone believed the game "stands out as genuinely funny compared to most other games". Other complaints came from a lack of difficulty in standard combat. Critics found regular encountered battles to have little to no difficulty at all, with Eurogamer'' reviewer Rich Stanton believing that they "don't think I was killed by a normal enemy once". On the contrary, boss battles were considered overly difficult, being called a "nightmare", "ridiculous", and "inevitable". Notes References External links Official website 2012 video games Fantasy video games Intelligent Systems games Mario role-playing games Nintendo 3DS games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo 3DS-only games Video games developed in Japan Single-player video games Vanpool games Paper Mario Video games produced by Kensuke Tanabe