More “Dragon’s Lair” than it is “Paper Mario”, “Paper RPG” is an experimental “Choose Your Own Adventure”-ish story that has you exploring a world and trying to choose right choices over wrong choices. There’s no hardcore platforming, there are no complicated puzzles; the game plays out a bit like an interactive storybook moreso than a traditional RPG. But I found that that’s not such a bad thing in this case. While there are adults who will find they enjoy it, the game is also accessible to children who can feel like they’re adventuring (depending on the parents’ tolerance of violence, as this is a sword-in-hand adventure). Games play out quickly, as there are available endings (both good and bad) near your start position, and exploring the rest of the game doesn’t reveal a huge, expansive world, but part of the fun is coming back to find situations/endings you haven’t explored yet. But when I’m only putting in 80 Microsoft Points, an interesting art style and good music counts for more than long gameplay. If I’m paying $60 I don’t want it to be over soon, but the cheaper the game gets the more tolerant of that I become.
“Paper RPG” doesn’t take itself too seriously, there are many comedic moments (or attempts at same) that keep this game’s tongue firmly planted in its cheek. It’s definitely different than Team Shuriken’s usual breast-fest fare, and the only game of theirs I’ve deemed worth reviewing thus far. I’d stay away from all of the others which seem intent on using sex to sell half-baked pseudo-games, but this one’s worth at least downloading the free trial to show the developers that actually putting in some effort to art, music, and comedy, while keeping it classy, is worth their time.
Here’s what the developer (Team Shuriken) has to say about the game:
“Explore the comical hand drawn world of Paper RPG !”
Writings of Mass Deduction 