The title of this series is Really Passionate Gaming, and with initials like those, the most obvious subject of my analyses would probably be “action-adventure games,” which, you know, is what Nintendo likes to call Paper Mario nowadays. There are some who would argue otherwise, however, as the first two installments of the series were structured more like light Role-Playing Games rather than puzzle-solving-centered, superfluous combat exercises in tedium that evoke nothing but disappointment... Sorry. I got a bit ahead of myself, there. See, the Paper Mario series in general is one that I consider to be “good,” and yet, its best installment has one of the most satisfying turn-based combat systems I have ever encountered. Sadly, this combat system appeared in the second of the five games released, The Thousand-Year Door (TTYD). Before I get into the features of TTYD's combat system, I'd first like to talk about Paper Mario's identity crisis. I'm not just talking ...