A beginner’s guide to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

A call for help

If you’re stuck on what to do next, you only have to ask your partners! Just press the ZL Button and one of them will give you an idea of where to go. If Goombella is by your side, you can also press the X Button at any time for some useful insight on places or any people nearby.

Make a note of it

Even the famous Mario can’t do everything first time around! If you spot something strange or out-of-place you can’t work out, don’t sweat the details – just move on and come back later. You might just learn something new or make a new friend that’ll help you solve the problem!

Know your enemy

Goombella can hold her own in a fight, but she can help in other ways too! If you use her Tattle attack on someone in battle, she’ll tell you all about them: strength, tactics, the works. Then, if you happen to fight with them again in the future, you’ll always know everything you need to take them down.

Let it shine

Keep your eyes open for things that sparkle when you’re exploring! Any Shine Sprites you collect can be used by Merlon in Rogueport to power-up your partners, while harder-to-find Star Pieces are good for trading with Dazzle in Rogueport Underground for all kinds of Badges.

Bling up with Badges

Speaking of Badges, make sure you’re equipping a bunch of them. By mixing and matching Badges, you can get all sorts of benefits: new attack moves, increased strength, ways to avoid getting hurt when you’re attacked and many more. Wear the ones that work best for you!

The art of fighting

If you’re looking for help on how to finesse your fighting skills, look out for a Toad dressed all in purple – that’s the Battle Master. He knows literally EVERYTHING there is about combat, so feel free to check in with him. He’ll even let you practice your moves if you ask nicely!

Power up, your way

You know how winning fights earns you Star Points? With 100 of them, you can choose how to get stronger! Pick the one that’s right for you: Heart Points equal more health, Flower Points let you use powerful moves more often in battle and Badge Points mean you can equip more Badges.

Don’t worry if you change your mind later on though. There’s someone hidden deep in Rogueport Ruins who can help change things up…for a price, of course!

Trouble on the double

On the east side of Rogueport is the Troubles Center, where people from all over share their problems. Hunting for the Crystal Stars is super important, but there’s always time to help someone! Take a break to solve a trouble or two, and you might even get a nice reward for your efforts…or maybe even make a new friend!

Pipes, pipes everywhere

There’s a rumour going round that there’s a strange room deep underneath Rogueport that looks like it has space for…lots of Pipes?! You should definitely try to find it and then check back as you explore the world. Who knows, maybe it’ll help you revisit places you’ve already seen in half the time!

There’s plenty more to find out along the way, but your adventure is just getting started! You’d better get going – that legendary treasure isn’t gonna find itself…