The game shows off 3D well. The dialogue is funny. There's hardly any skill involved though. Mainly you're just walking around and hoping not to get into another tedious, pointless battle that will neither harm you nor make any significant gains. Then, after you clear the first world, the second starts by gating you based on a rare sticker. So go explore all the levels in the first world again, turning them upside down looking for it and grinding (but not earning XP or anything) for hours just so you can take the next step! Seriously, who thought of that?

The game starts off with a hearty dose of charm, but the gameplay turns it into a slow, plodding chore that wears out its welcome as you retread already overly simplistic stages again and again looking for rare stickers.… Expand

It's sad how oblivious and uncaring Nintendo was with this game. This is by far the worst in the series and definitely the worst Mario game for 3DS. Almost everything that made the previous installments great and special was removed. The biggest change in this game is the pointless sticker system. If you don't know what it is, Google it because I ain't got the time to explain it. Basically it makes each battle feel like a waste of time. Since their is no leveling in this game, you don't get XP from winning battles, all you get is money, which is used to buy stickers, which are used to battle (you see what I'm getting at here). This is one of the most disappointing games in a long time, save your money and get something else.… Expand

I love you Nintendo but why would you ever make a game that goes against everything i've learned in my 20 years as an RPG player. Why would you switch up the combat system this ridiculously. This is worse than Paper Mario Wii.

Do not fix what is not broken Nintendo.

Change is bad. 'nuff said. I honestly don't know what to say about it besides how awful this one is compared to the originals. This shouldn't be classified as an RPG in any way because there's no incentive to fight and all attacks can only be used once before having to get more.

There are so many things wrong with this game, first of all the plot is too linear you play as Mario throughout the whole game you don't get to play as peach or bowser, there are no new characters other than kersti, all the characters in the game are from the Mario platformers, there are no exp so you can't level up and if you run out of stickers you have no choice but to run away, peach only has about five lines, bowser is the main antagonist and he has no dialogue, in the previous installments the main antagonist always had dialogue, and one of this game's worst problems is that luigi went from being a playable character to a glorified cameo, I have no idea what nintendo was thinking when they made this game.… Collapse

I don't understand why this game is getting such good reviews. It's terrible. The combat system is completely broken, requiring you to waste valuable time and materials (stickers) for absolutely no gain. With no leveling up, the turn based combat is pointless and time-consuming, serving no purpose but to collect money, which can be obtained far more quickly and easily by collecting "Things", turning them into stickers, and selling them. Worse yet, if you run out of stickers in combat, you are forced to run away, making the whole ordeal even more pointless. The boss battles are atrocious, requiring you to use specific stickers at specific times or else waste far too many of your stickers. To make matters worse, the specific stickers you have to use are always "Thing" stickers, which you can only ever have one of at any given time. Therefor, if you use the sticker at the wrong time, you're screwed. Worse still, if you fail to beat the boss the easy way, your partner will ridicule you for using too many stickers. The puzzles in the game can also be challenging, but too much so for my taste. Admittedly, the game looks very nice, and the music isn't terrible. But that doesn't excuse the horrid gameplay. (As I always say, gameplay before graphics.) Overall, this is a terrible game and I am sorry for buying it.… Expand

The game had little to no character development, had a generic story, was not very interesting, had a broken battle system, and was sort of tedious. I will say that it was better than "Super Paper Mario," in that at times I did not even feel like I was playing a Mario game when playing "Super Paper Mario," but ultimately I did not feel that I was really immersed into the Mario world very deeply with Sticker Star either. I didn't really "get to know" characters very well. Some of the new Mario characters are sort of annoying. Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is still by far my favorite. I wonder if Nintendo is still capable of making genuinely memorable games?… Expand

The reason this game is poor is because there is simply no 'reward' for playing this game... The story is non existent, so there's no reason to play it for that. The characters are forgettable, so they don't keep your attention. The battle system is basic and hardly challenging or interesting. The boss battles are either impossible, or annoyingly easy, since they each have a very specific weakness that renders them dead in a matter of seconds. Then there's the platforming and puzzles. neither are interesting or engaging... Basic and tedious...

So if the story isn't interesting, The gameplay is dull, and the platforming is tedious,... Why play this game? There is no reason... There is no story to grab your interest and keep you going, it is bare bones 'Bowser kidnapped the princess and stole some power'. You may say 'well isnt that EVERY mario game?" Well, more or less, yes... but every Super Mario platformer has amazing platforming and fun levels to hop around and explore. This game does not have that redeeming quality.

"Well, isnt the turn based RPG elements still here?" Not really... it doesnt seem to be a Roleplaying game... It's just a turned based card game... but instead of elegant and amazingly designed characters with awe inspiring attacks... you have a variety of shoes, hammers, and miscellaneous items... you dont level these attacks up over time, you simply find more powerful stickers in the more higher leveled areas... rendering the dozens of basic attacks you stocked up on in previous levels useless. When you're playing you dont ask yourself "Okay, which attack would be best to use against this enemy?" You ask "Where the heck did i put that shiny sticker i just found under a rock?" and occasionally you consider the fact of whether the enemy is flying or has a spike on his head...

This is a very basic game... maybe something a young kid would enjoy and flourish in. the pretty colors and enviroments would catch their attention and the light story element might keep them entertained so they dont lose interest in the walls of text. but anyone who appreciates a good story, deep and enriching gameplay, or just having fun probably should skip this game... It doesnt technically do anything that doesn't work, it just doesnt do anything that makes this game entertaining... which is why you would play a game in the first place, right?… Expand

For me it's a big disillusion. Except for some musics, there is no reason to play this game. No story, no companions, wasted combat system, no badges, no interesting npc, nothing.

This was the worst showing for Paper Mario since release. Nintendo has removed all of the RPG, all the humour and all of the more interesting settings. Besides that, progression in the game itself is slow, with countless save/load screens and arbitrary nonsense and busywork designed to lengthen game-play in an otherwise unremarkable game.