The best of the Paper Mario The franchise is your willingness to take a look at the inner lives of the characters who are usually at the bottom of Mario’s boots. For today’s VG Chat, Ari and Ash discuss the best character in Paper Mario: The Origami King, a little Bob-omb with a dream, Bobby.
Bobby, a name bequeathed to him by Olivia, the other star of the Olivia show (for whom Ash would die), is an amnesiac encounter between Bob-omb Mario and Olivia on their way to Autumn Mountain. He joins in the hope that traveling with the party will reactivate his memory. Finally, through the explosion of some fireworks, Bobby remembers who he is and how he lost his memory. Soon after, in a moment of heroic courage, he sacrifices his life to save Olivia’s. It’s fair to say that it left us with some feelings.
Ari Notis: There really is only one thing to discuss: Let’s talk about Bobby the Bob-Omb. How much does your heart hurt?
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Ash Parrish: Ari, it hurts SO BAD. I’m not a video game crier. It is very rare for me to break playing a game. But when Bobby was talking to Mario about how Bob-ombs should have an impact … A couple of bully tears slipped.
Ari: Yes, that line! “This is what all Bob-Omb expects: an opportunity to change something for the better. To make an impact. “And then you have that pun, right, where do you call adventure an explosion? I think it’s Dad’s first and only joke in this game that didn’t make me moan.
Ash: Do you know what really made me lose it? The quest to find your fuse. What turned out not to be his fuse but the fuse of a fallen comrade. Like how much can you hurt me Nintendo. One thing about him Paper Mario series that Kohler (RIP to a legend) played in his review It was that this series gives us the opportunity to see the invisible and silent inner life of all these “minions” that Mario has trampled on for 30 years.
Ari: RIP, actually. But yes, Origami kingIn particular, it really gives voice to the voiceless. Some previous Paper Mario the games had these really different character designs. Origami king….Not that much (As we have all heard, in very strong terms, from various corners of the Internet). Do you think Bobby’s generic character design increased or toned down the tragedy here?
Ash: Absolutely increased. He is a Bob-omb right? It doesn’t look and feel any different than Bob’s fifty ‘navels that you’ve come across as Mario over the years. That’s what gives such great strength to his character, that he has such a rich life with friends and wishes despite being so bad, Mario Baddie. I will know that I will never think of them the same way and will hesitate to kick them every time I play regularly. Mario game again.
Ari: Oh yes, I’m already feeling the side effects. My friends and I play a Smash game mode in which we only use explosives, including Bob-Ombs. And this week I couldn’t launch any Bob-Ombs, so I ended up losing every time! (And that’s the only reason I lost by the way. I would have easily won the opposite. Obviously. No need to push that …) But yeah, it’s so fascinating to see the inner lives of everyone of rank. Mario Bullies You mentioned earlier that quest where Bobby drags Mario to find the fuse. Can we talk about that for a second?
Ash: If I remember correctly, he goes on a cruise with his other friends from the bomb and brings with him the fuse of one of his exploited friends, a kind of memory like: “Look, Charles, I told you I would. Wish you had been here to see it?
Ari: Yes! And then there’s that giant blooper (which, side note, is that the same blooper from Super mario sunshine?) who ruins the cruise ship and kills all of Bobby’s friends while he sits there helplessly. So Bobby, in addition to saying to Mario: “Hey, just trust me, I have this thing that will totally save Olivia”, he also secretly pulls Mario in a quest for revenge, and then successfully enacts that revenge! Is that the most satisfying Mario story … ever?
Ash: OH SHIT! I didn’t even think so. Absolutely baller.
Ari: Then baller. And everything is precipitated by a long case of amnesia, which heals after hearing the fireworks. Then everything returns to him in an instant, and he knows exactly the sacrifice he must make, without hesitation. Ash, I think Bobby is the true hero of this game.
Ash: He is. It’s a Nintendo game, and Mario at it, but I wish we could spend more time with Olivia and his pain. I mean, it could be used to say to children who play, “Hey, it’s okay to be sad, get better, but be sad again.”
Ari: Yes, she just keeps going, right?
Ash: She is sad for a minute, Mario puts on a silly hat, then realizes, “Oh, Bobby wouldn’t want him to be sad.” And I guess it’s fair. It’s in her character to be the “oooh brilliant” type of person, especially considering what we know about her origin (which I just hit and HO MAN THAT WAS A LOT).
Ari: That’s true, she’s really irresistibly lighthearted, which I guess is built into her character. (“A LOT” is correct, but let’s save that for future sad blogs). But still! Olivia is more or less the player’s encryption, as Mario never speaks and rarely emulates. His rapid advance makes Bobby’s sacrifice a little cheaper. So yes, I really like that idea that you put forth: that tragedy and trauma can come in waves. And if you learn that lesson through a little cartoon explosive, well that’s great.
Ash: Now, I know we are both very close, but we are not done with the game yet, so there may still be time for us to find out what really happens in the end. But was I afraid, like me, that Nintendo, once being Nintendo, would make this moment cheaper by immediately revoking it?
Ari: I was. Much more. Not that I don’t want to see Bobby again! But only that bringing him back would have felt so emotionally manipulative. And then that FALSE?
Ash: From what we can say so far, I’m glad they didn’t. You called it “Ned Stark moment” from Nintendo.
Ari: It’s like that, right? Bobby is dead! He is dead and will not return. (Sorry, Ned Stark laments). It is a bold and bold move. How did it feel to see your ghost later?
Ash: He was afraid, on the one hand, that he was not going to be a ghost and just be him again. But I’m glad they put it in. Mario seems like an emotionless chud and needed guidance on how to get things back on track.
Ari: And he was able to get it from the true hero of the game. Beautiful. You told me earlier that you would go to war over Olivia. As much as it hurts, I’m there with you, do you think Bobby’s sacrifice was worth it?
Ash: If Bobby is the hero, Olivia is the star, right? He did what he did for her, not for the world, but explicitly for her. That you can go on, meet your creator, and keep creating happy memories. Yes, it was worth it.
Plus Paper Mario: The Origami King
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