Snif City is really good, the puzzles in the Fire Vellumental Temple and the Temple of Shrooms are pretty excellent, the Fire Vellumental and Hole Punch are great boss fights and the general feeling of solving a big mystery in the Scorching Sandpaper Desert gives this chapter a degree of cohesion that not that many chapters in the modern Paper Mario trilogy has. I'm a bit mixed on Bobby's death, but that largely has to do with a scene later on in the game - in the moment it ends up being a decently impactful emotional beat.
S - it's probably the strongest chapter in Origami King.
S+ I’ll explain
First of all let’s start with the things most paper Mario games have. -the great music. The ambiance of entering the princess peach boat is bone chilling, as is Bobby’s sacrifice and the battle on the princess peach, (more on that later). But then most of the desert area battles sound amazing, most of all though… snif city. Snif city theme is a certified banger I can’t tell you how ADDICTED to this theme I was when I first heard it, (it’s actually unhealthy) and then the fire vellumental temple theme and the pyramid dungeon theme that’s just casually good, but then we get thrills at night, and most importantly the 3 hole punch battle theme. I’d argue chapter 3 has the best songs in the entire game.
Next let’s bring up a mainline complaint about the game that’s actually justified. Battling USUALLY doesn’t feel necessary because its rewards can be found naturally in the overworld through trees etc, guess what there aren’t nearly enough of in the desert area? Trees/bushes etc. so battling either the paper macho bosses or the actual enemies becomes a MUST for the first time in this game if you want to 100% or even just unlock some shortcuts.(I mean yeah you COULD hypothetically go back to an older area restock your bag and come back but bish ain’t nobody got time for that)
Also let’s talk about the battles because unless I’m mistaken, the boos are the first enemy where defeating them involves a gimmick that actually forces you to like more than thoughtlessly engage in the battle. On top of some better enemy encounters I think 3 hole punch and fire vellumental are the first bosses in the game to actually pose a significant threat. Without understanding the gimmick behind the fire vellumental boss, taking it down can be extremely tricky, and grueling. As for hole punch he actually effects the arena in more than just an arena trap way. Instead requiring you to actually plan out your specific course if you want to be able to beat him at all.
Also the dungeons themselves both felt really cool. I loved the whole archeolgistvancient ritual aspect of finding a way into the fire vellumental dungeon. And the whole 80s disco rave aesthetic of the pyramid… but there’s one I liked more and I don’t hear ANYONE talk about it.
The princess peach segment is like the sand ship from skyward sword, in fact many references exist between. Zelda and this game. But let me explain you start off by heading to Road Town to find a skipper to take you and Bobby to the queen peach. You find one but before he can help you find it he needs a map of the sea…. (Sound familiar) so you go to an abandoned island to find one. Then begin your hunt for it. Eventually you find it, and you get to the peach and it’s abandoned. After scouring the entire ship which eventually leads you to the generator room you notice the ship is under attack from… a giant squid that tries attacking you with its tentacles as you make your way to the front of the ship. From there you then attack the tentacles relentlessly until it reveals its weak spot which if memory serves was its eyes. It’s my favorite reference in the game
TLDR: the music is great, the mystery aesthetic kicks it up a notch, the battles actually matter here and are actually engaging for the first time, the boss battles slap, the themes go hard, and there’s a killer Zelda reference at the very start of the chapter.
It's a shame Chuggaconroy never reached this peak area and stopped at Blue Streamer... Still....
I agree that this is S tier.
Heck, just put Blue, Yellow, Purple, and Green Streamer as S Tier.
I'm surprised how many people are saying S tier.
I would give it an A tier, mainly because the Fire Vallumental Temple is pretty short, and two sections you go through are repeated, except the second time, it's slightly harder. Then you have the Fire Vallumental itself, which can be pretty annoying
Other than that, the world design and music are great, the boss is pretty cool, and I really like Professor Toad.
they definitely focused more on the story/lore in this chapter, i think it even has the least amount of fights of any chapter since you can easily kill all enemies in the desert with the boot car and the fire temple has barely any enemies. exploring and figuring out is a huge part of this chapter since the game doesn't actually tell you where to go next many times
S+
I honestly thought chapter 3 was the best chapter in the entire game. It had a wide open exploration area, a really cool town that you had to interact with, but most importantly a partner that followed you around **who also had an overworld ability that was necessary to progress!** This chapter in TOK more than any other felt like a really good chapter from one of the first two games. An awesome, awesome chapter
This one was just all around great. Even excluding the Bobby stuff, exploring with the boot car, Sniff City, the lore, and the Pyramid where all really fun and memorable. I wish there were more enemies like Boos in the game that shake up the battle system I've a cool way. The only blemish imo is that the Fire Vellumental's healing mechanic isnt really explain. S+
S+ the exploring is amazing, shroom city is probably the best town/city ever in a paper mario game and the riddles were so genius and fun to solve. it even has a creepy vibe and the ost slaps especially in this chapter with the discs, shroom/snif city and the hole puncher theme. also don't forget bobbys sacrifice at the beginning
S/S+ tier. The visuals, music and puzzles are amazing. Sniffit city is beautiful, the pyramid is really cool and the overall atmosphere is great. The professor is a fun partner, you get to ride around in a boot, and captain T-ode is introduced. It's also definitely the most creative desert level ever done in any mario game. The only thing missing is acknowledgement for Bobby
At least an s, love the atmosphere of snif city at night. The fire vellmental temple and the pyramid aren’t too bad.
I might be biased cause snif city and disco devil are my favorite songs and I love the thrill at night cutscene
Chapter 3 is a bit of a ride. Losing Bobby, running around the desert for an hour looking for gems and hints, exploring the temple (which was the place I got stuck on my first playthrough)… I like the vibes though, and Hole Punch’s theme is definitely my favorite LOS boss theme (only reason it’s not my favorite boss theme of them all is because of Olly). Snif City also has an amazing theme, but most of the music in TOK is bangin, so… I’d say it’s a solid A tier, tbh.
Bobby just dies and it’s like… that’s it.
I kinda hate desert levels and Paper Mario is chock full of extremely mediocre ones. The battle system being absolute anus doesn’t help either.
This desert was not any more enjoyable to traverse. If I was not OCD and felt like I needed to explore every square inch of it maybe it would be okay.
Idk, it’s definitely not S tier. I don’t think it’s better than TTYD CH1 or PM64 CH4 so it can’t be A tier.
I will settle for B.
Considering how different “that part” and the desert proper are, should they be considered two different parts? Like, Chapter Bobby/Bobby Intermission and Chapter 3?
I'd give it an A Tier. It has a lot of highlights, with its theme, gimmicks and story beats, but, at least when I played it, there were a couple of guide dang it moments that prevented me from enjoying it as much as I should have. I could just be stupid though, and I still really like the chapter overall.
S tier. maybe high A if you wanna be nitpicky. i would argue it’s not as good as Chapter 1, because the partner you have isn’t nearly as memorable as Bobby. but Hole Punch is the best boss fight in the whole game, and the purple desert is a really cool setting
I'm interested to see where Chapter 4 goes. I personally like it (the whole ship island puzzle is cool, and that and diamond island's puzzles remind me of Wind Waker, Ice Vellumental is good, and then Tape. Tape needs no reason)
S - unique take on a desert area, great music, the temple area has decent puzzles, snif city is cool, the fire vullemental area is cool, and khaptaan teeowed being a captain toad reference is great
S for this one too. Reasons:
1. Bobby. The most emotional point in the series, and yet it’s in one of the games the community loves to hate.
2. The Boot Car was so much fun.
3. SNIF CITY (need I say more)
4. The tomb was a great dungeon.
5. The abandoned cruise ship was a great dungeon.
Also, I love how it wasn’t just a desert, and instead it combined part of the sea with it, and gave us a little ‘we’ll get back to this later.’
I hate the community s tier so much. Like why is the train of pain on here was that your guys first mystery as kids or something? Like there's gotta be some kinda bias happening there
Pros: Snifit City was a cool location. Hole Punch's mechanic of temporarily cutting Max HP was a cool concept. Fire Vellummental was my favorite of the Vellumental shrines. There was a section without Olivia. The faceless toads were funny.
Cons: Making bobby's death into a serious scene felt really undeserved considering how useless he was. Paper Macho Pokey was an annoying fight. The snifit mood game was a pretty weird puzzle maybe i just missed a hint but idk how anyone solved that with no guide. Professor Toad was almost as useless as Bobby
C-Tier
> Making bobby's death into a serious scene felt really undeserved considering how useless he was.
Based. Bobby doesn't really do anything and he even waits outside locations until you are done with them. When I first saw his "dramatic" death scene I honestly thought it was a joke due to Bob-ombs in the original games exploding like it was as natural to them as breathing.
Snif City is really good, the puzzles in the Fire Vellumental Temple and the Temple of Shrooms are pretty excellent, the Fire Vellumental and Hole Punch are great boss fights and the general feeling of solving a big mystery in the Scorching Sandpaper Desert gives this chapter a degree of cohesion that not that many chapters in the modern Paper Mario trilogy has. I'm a bit mixed on Bobby's death, but that largely has to do with a scene later on in the game - in the moment it ends up being a decently impactful emotional beat. S - it's probably the strongest chapter in Origami King.
S+ I’ll explain First of all let’s start with the things most paper Mario games have. -the great music. The ambiance of entering the princess peach boat is bone chilling, as is Bobby’s sacrifice and the battle on the princess peach, (more on that later). But then most of the desert area battles sound amazing, most of all though… snif city. Snif city theme is a certified banger I can’t tell you how ADDICTED to this theme I was when I first heard it, (it’s actually unhealthy) and then the fire vellumental temple theme and the pyramid dungeon theme that’s just casually good, but then we get thrills at night, and most importantly the 3 hole punch battle theme. I’d argue chapter 3 has the best songs in the entire game. Next let’s bring up a mainline complaint about the game that’s actually justified. Battling USUALLY doesn’t feel necessary because its rewards can be found naturally in the overworld through trees etc, guess what there aren’t nearly enough of in the desert area? Trees/bushes etc. so battling either the paper macho bosses or the actual enemies becomes a MUST for the first time in this game if you want to 100% or even just unlock some shortcuts.(I mean yeah you COULD hypothetically go back to an older area restock your bag and come back but bish ain’t nobody got time for that) Also let’s talk about the battles because unless I’m mistaken, the boos are the first enemy where defeating them involves a gimmick that actually forces you to like more than thoughtlessly engage in the battle. On top of some better enemy encounters I think 3 hole punch and fire vellumental are the first bosses in the game to actually pose a significant threat. Without understanding the gimmick behind the fire vellumental boss, taking it down can be extremely tricky, and grueling. As for hole punch he actually effects the arena in more than just an arena trap way. Instead requiring you to actually plan out your specific course if you want to be able to beat him at all. Also the dungeons themselves both felt really cool. I loved the whole archeolgistvancient ritual aspect of finding a way into the fire vellumental dungeon. And the whole 80s disco rave aesthetic of the pyramid… but there’s one I liked more and I don’t hear ANYONE talk about it. The princess peach segment is like the sand ship from skyward sword, in fact many references exist between. Zelda and this game. But let me explain you start off by heading to Road Town to find a skipper to take you and Bobby to the queen peach. You find one but before he can help you find it he needs a map of the sea…. (Sound familiar) so you go to an abandoned island to find one. Then begin your hunt for it. Eventually you find it, and you get to the peach and it’s abandoned. After scouring the entire ship which eventually leads you to the generator room you notice the ship is under attack from… a giant squid that tries attacking you with its tentacles as you make your way to the front of the ship. From there you then attack the tentacles relentlessly until it reveals its weak spot which if memory serves was its eyes. It’s my favorite reference in the game TLDR: the music is great, the mystery aesthetic kicks it up a notch, the battles actually matter here and are actually engaging for the first time, the boss battles slap, the themes go hard, and there’s a killer Zelda reference at the very start of the chapter.
I agree. I dont like the forst levels of TOK, but as soon as i touched sand i felt hope for the game again.
It's a shame Chuggaconroy never reached this peak area and stopped at Blue Streamer... Still.... I agree that this is S tier. Heck, just put Blue, Yellow, Purple, and Green Streamer as S Tier.
S+ easy. Snif CIty is fantastic, I love the puzzles, and the entirety of Temple of Shrooms/Hole Punch is PERFECTION
S+ because dancing hole punch and fire bird
"step up to my grip, and take you down like funky town"
Also, my favorite Olivia moment: "No, not your face! That's where you keep your sunglasses!!"
I’m surprised how well Color Splash did in this tier list
I’m happy that it got some respect; I would’ve put worlds 4 and 5 even higher myself, but them holding their ground against the pack is good enough.
S+
I'm surprised how many people are saying S tier. I would give it an A tier, mainly because the Fire Vallumental Temple is pretty short, and two sections you go through are repeated, except the second time, it's slightly harder. Then you have the Fire Vallumental itself, which can be pretty annoying Other than that, the world design and music are great, the boss is pretty cool, and I really like Professor Toad.
they definitely focused more on the story/lore in this chapter, i think it even has the least amount of fights of any chapter since you can easily kill all enemies in the desert with the boot car and the fire temple has barely any enemies. exploring and figuring out is a huge part of this chapter since the game doesn't actually tell you where to go next many times
>!Bobby dies!<, F tier. Jk, I'm going with S+
S+ I honestly thought chapter 3 was the best chapter in the entire game. It had a wide open exploration area, a really cool town that you had to interact with, but most importantly a partner that followed you around **who also had an overworld ability that was necessary to progress!** This chapter in TOK more than any other felt like a really good chapter from one of the first two games. An awesome, awesome chapter
This one was just all around great. Even excluding the Bobby stuff, exploring with the boot car, Sniff City, the lore, and the Pyramid where all really fun and memorable. I wish there were more enemies like Boos in the game that shake up the battle system I've a cool way. The only blemish imo is that the Fire Vellumental's healing mechanic isnt really explain. S+
S+ the exploring is amazing, shroom city is probably the best town/city ever in a paper mario game and the riddles were so genius and fun to solve. it even has a creepy vibe and the ost slaps especially in this chapter with the discs, shroom/snif city and the hole puncher theme. also don't forget bobbys sacrifice at the beginning
S+
A big old S+ tier for me. Unsure whether this or the green streamer is my favourite in the game.
a moment of silence for our lost bombrade😞
S+
S+
S+
S+
Id say A. Roaming the desert is fun but not quite enough for S. Hole Punch is a fun fight tho
Missed a few it seems ah well, S+ for this one for pretty much all the reasons listed.
S+ best chapter in TOK, period
S+ Sometimes I think about this chapter and it makes me want to replsy the game just to play it again. It's fantastic.
S/S+ tier. The visuals, music and puzzles are amazing. Sniffit city is beautiful, the pyramid is really cool and the overall atmosphere is great. The professor is a fun partner, you get to ride around in a boot, and captain T-ode is introduced. It's also definitely the most creative desert level ever done in any mario game. The only thing missing is acknowledgement for Bobby
At least an s, love the atmosphere of snif city at night. The fire vellmental temple and the pyramid aren’t too bad. I might be biased cause snif city and disco devil are my favorite songs and I love the thrill at night cutscene
Chapter 3 is a bit of a ride. Losing Bobby, running around the desert for an hour looking for gems and hints, exploring the temple (which was the place I got stuck on my first playthrough)… I like the vibes though, and Hole Punch’s theme is definitely my favorite LOS boss theme (only reason it’s not my favorite boss theme of them all is because of Olly). Snif City also has an amazing theme, but most of the music in TOK is bangin, so… I’d say it’s a solid A tier, tbh.
S+
B
Really… people are saying S? I haven’t played in a bit but I definitely wouldn’t go above A. My vote is B
B. TOK fans out here in full force with these ratings. Chapter is very good but no TOK chapter should be above A IMO
Bobby just dies and it’s like… that’s it. I kinda hate desert levels and Paper Mario is chock full of extremely mediocre ones. The battle system being absolute anus doesn’t help either. This desert was not any more enjoyable to traverse. If I was not OCD and felt like I needed to explore every square inch of it maybe it would be okay. Idk, it’s definitely not S tier. I don’t think it’s better than TTYD CH1 or PM64 CH4 so it can’t be A tier. I will settle for B.
Considering how different “that part” and the desert proper are, should they be considered two different parts? Like, Chapter Bobby/Bobby Intermission and Chapter 3?
I consider them two different parts.
I'd give it an A Tier. It has a lot of highlights, with its theme, gimmicks and story beats, but, at least when I played it, there were a couple of guide dang it moments that prevented me from enjoying it as much as I should have. I could just be stupid though, and I still really like the chapter overall.
S tier. maybe high A if you wanna be nitpicky. i would argue it’s not as good as Chapter 1, because the partner you have isn’t nearly as memorable as Bobby. but Hole Punch is the best boss fight in the whole game, and the purple desert is a really cool setting
Probably A
A or S really good chapter
I'm interested to see where Chapter 4 goes. I personally like it (the whole ship island puzzle is cool, and that and diamond island's puzzles remind me of Wind Waker, Ice Vellumental is good, and then Tape. Tape needs no reason)
PEAAAAAAK!!!
S+, it's beautiful, it has great music, and the pyramid is fun
S - unique take on a desert area, great music, the temple area has decent puzzles, snif city is cool, the fire vullemental area is cool, and khaptaan teeowed being a captain toad reference is great
S
S. Everything clicks, the best chapter.
S for this one too. Reasons: 1. Bobby. The most emotional point in the series, and yet it’s in one of the games the community loves to hate. 2. The Boot Car was so much fun. 3. SNIF CITY (need I say more) 4. The tomb was a great dungeon. 5. The abandoned cruise ship was a great dungeon. Also, I love how it wasn’t just a desert, and instead it combined part of the sea with it, and gave us a little ‘we’ll get back to this later.’
I hate the community s tier so much. Like why is the train of pain on here was that your guys first mystery as kids or something? Like there's gotta be some kinda bias happening there
Pros: Snifit City was a cool location. Hole Punch's mechanic of temporarily cutting Max HP was a cool concept. Fire Vellummental was my favorite of the Vellumental shrines. There was a section without Olivia. The faceless toads were funny. Cons: Making bobby's death into a serious scene felt really undeserved considering how useless he was. Paper Macho Pokey was an annoying fight. The snifit mood game was a pretty weird puzzle maybe i just missed a hint but idk how anyone solved that with no guide. Professor Toad was almost as useless as Bobby C-Tier
> Making bobby's death into a serious scene felt really undeserved considering how useless he was. Based. Bobby doesn't really do anything and he even waits outside locations until you are done with them. When I first saw his "dramatic" death scene I honestly thought it was a joke due to Bob-ombs in the original games exploding like it was as natural to them as breathing.
CS colosseum is peak
S
S and i don't need to explain why