WARNING: Below are great big spoilers for most of the Mario RPGs, it is suggested that you do not read the following post if you have not beaten most of the Mario RPGs
Part of what I love about the Mario RPGs is their ability to create great deep worlds and characters that are ripe for exploring and learning about, as I spoke of in an earlier essay (can be found here). But you see, the thing is, the Mario RPGs don't have to focus on creating new worlds and characters, like that of Final Fantasy and other RPGs tend to always do. What makes the Mario RPG series so special, is that despite it being a huge series that spans 9 games now, and many different worlds, it still stars many familiar faces and characters, something long RPG series aren't known for doing.
What does this mean? Well, because the Mario RPG series has this trait of using familiar characters, it has the opportunity to explore these familiar faces in ways we have not seen, and also allows the writers to offer their own interpretation of these characters we've all come to know and love. But in doing so, this brings the creators of a dangerous path, that being......how do you give a personality to this character, this one that so many around the world have become used to and given their own interpretation of? How indeed, and given the fact that the Mario RPG series can be separated into 3 separate sub series, well, it becomes quite interesting to see the different ways the characters have been interpreted, and see what some like and some don't. I might go into this in more detail in a later write up, but for now, know that it's one of the many things that makes this series so interesting.
But this also poses another question. That of, how important the familiar characters should be to the main storyline, and how important the new ones should be in comparison. For indeed, when you have worlds with mostly new characters and faces, how important should the few returning ones be? Should it focus on them and their journey into this new world, or should it focus on the world and its inhabitants more, with the familiar faces being but a guide for it. It's interesting because as I played through the Mario RPGs I couldn't help but notice that the 3 series seem to place differing importance on the familiar and new characters. Below, are my theories and ideas:
New over the Old - The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario: I think The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario are the best examples of a Mario RPG focusing more on its new characters, rather then the old. Think about it. Despite the fact that Peach and Bowser have their own segments throughout The Thousand Year Door, they never actually amount to much characterization for the two of them. Peach's story is really all about the character of Tec and learning more about the X-nauts, while Bowser;s story is really for humor purposes and maybe seeing some new sides to some of the new characters. The same is true of Luigi, of whom is great for fun and hilarious stories, but it's clear his tales aren't meant to be the serious main plot of the game, as is his character, with the new villains and characters taking center stage. Super Paper Mario has the 4 return and even join up with each other, and since they go through some pretty serious moments, we do get to see them be noble and awesome and learn more about them, but generally, the story is about Tippi and Count Bleck, as well as the world of flipside and its many inhabitants, with the 4 characters taking a bit of a back seat to them all.
Old over the New - Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team: To contrast that, I think Mario and Luigi's 3rd and 4th installments are the best examples of a Mario RPG focusing more on its old characters, rather then the new. Bowser's Inside Story really is all about Bowser, his relationship with his minions, his castle, Mario, Starlow, Midbus, etc. etc. but the game always comes back to him as the center point. Mario and Luigi also have a great role, with very few NPCs having any sort of story significance, and generally just being there to offer humor, something the 2 Paper Mario games above used the old characters for more. The game is driven by the cooperation between the bros and Bowser, and we even get some great scenes that let us see more sides to the characters, and even see them develop. But as a result, we don't get as much exploration of the new characters as a result, since we're often focused on the moments of the main characters. Fawful is also an old villain who returns and seems to be a big focus, but ironically, gets ousted from his main villain role by the Dark Star, a brand new villain. Dream Team continues this trend, but instead the focus is on Luigi. In Dream Team you learn a lot about Luigi when going into the Dream's Forbidden Depths, and see his inner conscience, and Luigi's driving love for his brother is what marks a lot of the big moments in the game, with the ending having some great development for his character. Bowser also has a more main villain role in Dream Team, with him no longer being someone other villains use, like Mario RPGs normally did for their plot, and instead we get to see and learn more of Bowser as a lead villain role. Though again, this comes at the expense of the new characters and villains, who don't get as much time in the spotlight as the familiar characters, and are mostly used as comic relief.
Balance - Super Mario RPG: And to contrast the other 2, I think the game that did the best in reaching a balance of the old and new characters, was none other then Super Mario RPG, the very first one. The simple great way Mario RPG does this, is by having the main characters consist of both old and new ones, and also giving them all equal time in the spotlight and time to develop or learn more about them. We see and learn of the wonderful new characters that are Mallow and Geno, as well as see new sides to the familiar characters of Mario, Bowser, and Peach, and it helps the game to reach a nice balance between these 2 opposite poles.
I found it really interesting just imaging how the games and their stories would play out if they had different emphasis. What if say in The Thousand Year Door, Bowser and the koopas were the main villain instead of Grodus, and Grodus has the more humorous role? Or what if instead of Tippi and Bleck's story being the driving force of Super Paper Mario's story, it was changed to a story of say, Mario and Peach? And what if in Dream Team, instead of Luigi being the one who's dreams you go into, it was a brand new character, and in doing so we'd get to learn a lot about them when in Dream's Forbidden Depths? And if the final main villain turned out to be Antasma instead of Bowser? And if in Bowser's Inside Story instead of going inside Bowser the bros went into a brand new character, and if Fawful was the main villain instead of the Dark Star?
It makes me think a lot about this choice of focusing on the old and new characters, and which I prefer and why, and I'd be curious to know what you think of this as well. I definitely lean more on the old characters side, as they are familiar with me, so I enjoy seeing their characters used in a serious thoughtful manner, rather then humorous on the sidelines. I wonder what you think of this dilemma?
Though before ending this, I should say, the line does seem quite small and up to interpretation, and I think I might be wrong on some of these guesses. But that being said, I hope this got your mind racing, as it can with mine. It has me even more excited to see the new Mario RPGs, and see what they'll do with that balance as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment