So in case you didn't know, there are some 'recut' versions of Paper Mario games. DMZapp wrote them on Fantendo. But all he did was describe the game and describe the plot.
I am actually a fan of the original Sticker Star, so I absolutely loved the recut when I found it. I wanted to port it to Fanfiction like I did with SPM2, but I knew that I had to "story-ify" the game if I wanted that. So here is the adapted Paper Mario: Sticker Star: Recut!
This chapter is everything on the game except the story. Read this if you want info on the gameplay, stickers, etc. If you don't want to spoil yourself and only want to know about things when they are introduced, feel free to skip this chapter.
General Details
Paper Mario Sticker Star Recut aims to better align the newer Paper Mario games with the original Ryota Kawade trilogy. In addition to character and story changes, the gameplay is heavily tweaked with various fixes and quality of life additions.
Changes from Original to Recut
Spoiler warning: Major spoilers for the events of Paper Mario Sticker Star follow...
General Gameplay
-The game is redesigned with "quality of life" in mind for players.
-Partners return.
-There are five new ones, alongside Kersti from the original Sticker Star.
-Things no longer take up space in the Album. Instead, they're selected from the Things menu.
-Thing Points are added. With Thing Points, Mario can regenerate Things immediately after use.
-Sticker Points are added. Using Sticker Points, you can keep your favorite stickers in the album, no matter how many times you use them.
-8 of the HP Up Hearts have been replaced with TP Up Mabobs.
-Due to the extra characters, 8 SP Up Packets have been hidden in the overworld too.
-The other 8 HP Up Hearts, as well as 8 TP Up Mabobs and 8 SP Up Packets, are buyable at shops for incremental coin prices.
-Only Worn-Out, Normal, and Megaflash rank Stickers are available from the start. Shiny, Flashy and Big Shiny will simply never spawn or appear in shops unless Mario spends a cumulative number of coins at shops.
SHINY: 500 coins
FLASHY: 2000 coins
BIG SHINY: 5000 coins
-More clues to solving puzzles and beating bosses are added ahead of time.
-Game mechanics that were never explained in the original version of the game, such as boss weaknesses, are explained ahead of time.
-Some of the clues the townsfolk gave, and even some of the townsfolk themselves, are moved into the actual levels.
-For the characters who have had their original advice moved to other characters or levels, they now talk about game mechanics not necessary to beating the game.
Overworld Gameplay
-Worlds must now be completed in order. Though there are choices at times, all worlds in a ring must eventually be cleared to unlock the next set.
1. World 1
2. Surfshine Harbor
3. World 2 and 3
4. World 4 and 5
5. World 6
-The overworld is the only way to earn more stickers. The only exceptions are Partner Stickers (spawn in the Album every 2 turns in battle) and the special enemy drop stickers (Shell, Boomerang, Barrel, etc.)
-Every single coin has been removed from the overworld. They have been replaced with Stickers.
-All mandatory Things, such as the Radiator, are relocated in such a way the player will definitely collect them.
-For example, the Snifit Host (Snob Biffet) gives Mario the Radiator just for playing the first three rounds of his game show. Meanwhile, the HP-Up Heart is now the Bonus Round prize.
-Some levels are switched around on the world map to make them optional. Mandatory Things from these levels are moved into the story levels. (Damp Oasis Sandshifter Ruins) (Shaved Ice Cave Bowser's Snow Fort)
-Paperization Zones are more lenient in the answers they accept.
-When Paperizing stickers, Mario starts at one end and continues to the other, instead of starting at the middle.
-Paperization Zones requiring Things, in addition to being bigger, have a pattern inside showing the scissors, fan and faucet. Kersti explains this at the Hither Thither Hills Paperization Zone.
-Paperization Zones requiring Scraps have a transparent image of a torn piece of paper inside. Kersti explains this at the Warm Fuzzy Plains Bridge Scrap PZ.
-Things are no longer lost if they are incorrect.
-While Sling-a-Thing is still around, Mario can eventually Paperize Things as soon as he gets them.
-Next to the Sling-a-Thing booth in Decalburg is the Boss Re-enactment Theatre. This allows Mario to refight Royal Sticker bosses.
-Sling-a-Thing at Outlook Post is replaced with the Enemy Re-enactment Theatre. This allows Mario to refight selections of minor enemies.
-Power-up Blocks for stickers are visible and explained on the field.
-Enemies no longer disappear temporarily if you run away during battle.
-Running returns to using a meter.
-The peel ability can be powered up to take more stickers off the walls on top of the one you peeled. This ability is not needed to beat the game, though, and can be toggled down in effectiveness on the Pause Menu.
-On the Pause menu, there is a Quick Recap section dedicated to each of the six worlds as a reminder for what to do next if that world hasn't been completed yet.
Battle Gameplay
-Mario can use two stickers every turn from the beginning of the game. In exchange, the Battle Roulette is gone.
-Using the Right Circle Pad, Mario can choose his target while selecting a sticker.
-Battles are now the only way to earn coins. Enemies drop a fixed amount of coins.
-Due to enemies giving out a fixed amount of coins, Comet Pieces no longer give out coins.
-While the over-KO coin bonus still exists (hitting enemies after their HP reaches 0), if an enemy is KO'd before all the hits in one sticker are used, only the first 10 over-KO hits give coins. Further ones are just to fulfill one's paperlust.
-Action Command prompts return for stickers and Things.
-All Hammer stickers now have the original Action Command. Namely, you once again hold back the Left Circle Pad until the star lights up.
-With the exceptions below, Stickers are nerfed to 80% of their original ATK.
-Every sticker and Thing now has a regen value. This value is related to the number of turns it takes for it to return in the sticker album when -SP is used on a given sticker. The counter goes down by one whenever the turn ends or the battle ends.
-Things are nerfed to 60% of their original ATK.
-Royal Sticker bosses only halve the damage done to them, instead of cutting damage they take down to 25%.
-To make up for the now forced order of worlds, extra weaknesses have been added to the first three Royal Sticker bosses.
-The song that played during the World 3 boss' "weak spot" moment now plays at said moment for all 5 Royal Sticker bosses.
Stickers
New Stickers
-Syrup: Heals 20-30 TP.
-Shiny Syrup: Heals 40-60 TP.
-Flashy Syrup: Heals 60-99 TP.
-Long-Last Shake: Heals 5 HP a turn for 3 turns.
-Long-Last Syrup: Heals 5 TP a turn for 3 turns.
Buffed Stickers
-Baahammers now work 100% of the time on most enemies and a few related mini-bosses (Stone Chomp and Big Chain Chomp).
-After clearing World 1, Mario can get Secret Doors at any shop.
-If you're using two stickers that turn, but manage to finish the battle with the first sticker, the second one stays in the sticker album. Peeling doesn't occur until the specific attack begins.
Nerfed Stickers
-Hopslippers only jump 5 times instead of 10.
-To prevent the player/Mario from simply finding and selling stickers for extra coins, stickers and Things can no longer be sold. Rather, they can be exchanged for stronger stickers when higher ranks are unlocked. (4 Normal 1 Shiny, 3 Shiny 1 Flashy, 3 Flashy 1 Big Shiny).
-If SP is used to keep healing stickers in the album, their effect is cut to half.
Story Changes
-All chapters that lacked explicit storylines now have them. In addition, World 3's story has been expanded upon.
-To better justify what happened in the original Color Splash and in the eventual recut, it's implied there's an evil presence in the Royal Stickers, especially the Gold one atop Bowser.
-While they're not completely gone, written paper jokes are cut down and replaced where they don't make sense. There's also a few lines heavily indicating the characters aren't actually made of paper, and just strongly believe it. Meanwhile, most of the visual paper jokes stay.
-All lines of dialogue that went "I'm the Toad you met at X location, just so you know" are removed and replaced with more fruitful lines of dialogue. This is to cut down on characters awkwardly reintroducing themselves.
Characters
-Kersti goes through a character arc where she realizes what a jerk she is. While she's still a jerk for a while, some of Kersti's unusually mean-spirited lines (especially in her first scene) are toned down.
-Piantas, Whittles and Nokis are added as NPCs.
-All species, including Toads, are divided by age and gender.
-Most NPCs have actual names.
-Wiggler is redesigned to individualize him from other Wigglers.
-Bowser talks in every cutscene he appears in.
-To avoid diluting his novelty and to better appeal to Paper Mario fans, Kamek is replaced with Kammy Koopa from the original games.
-Mario has his voice clips back instead of being silent.
Stat-Up Item Locations
8 of each Stat-Up Item are in shops. They cost 100 coins x the current one (ex. if it's the second one of a given stat, it costs 200 coins, third one is 300, fourth one is 400, and so on and so forth).
An asterisk (*) denotes a new location.
HP-Up Hearts
1: 1-2 (Paperize Flower stickers in the garden to restore it).
2: 2-2 (fall off side of the sphinx to obtain)
3: 2-5 (Return and talk to Shades after defeating Pokeyhotep)*
4: 3-3 (Inside the Secret Door)
5: 3-10 (Prize for clearing bonus round)
6: 4-5 (Near Comet Piece at top of level)*
7: 5-6 (In area before Petey Piranha battle)
8: 5-7 (Defeat Tryclyde)*
TP-Up Mabobs
1: 1-4 (Defeat Digga)
2: 2-1 (On slightly high platform near pyramid)
3: 3-1 (In front of Comet Piece post 3-12)
4: 3-8 (Secret cave in rightmost part of level)
5: 4-2 (On side of second ice river)
6: 5-1 (Secret hole on right of level)
7: 5-6 (In area before Petey Piranha battle)*
8: 1-7 (Defeat Goomboss)*
SP-Up Packets
1: 0-2 (Where HP-Up Heart used to be in original game)
2: 2-4 (In one of the coffins)
3: 3-5 (in cave where second Comet Piece used to be)*
4: 3-9 (Inside a cave in the poison lake- recommended post 3-12)
5: 4-3 (Given after clearing the Enigmansion)*
6: 4-6 (bring Fidgit the Gobble Fang earned from beating Gobblegut in 5-6)*
7: 5-4 (where D-Cell Battery used to be)*
8: 0-0 (Head to the newspaper house after rescuing the Blue Toad Brigade member in all 5 worlds)
Super Flags and Effects
[SUPER FLAG NAME] [How to get] [Flag effect]
Hearty Hero: Find and buy all HP-Up Hearts. Mario heals 3 HP every turn.
Kind-Sorta Cool (NEW): Find and buy all TP-Up Mabobs. Mario heals 3 TP every turn.
Sticker Hoarder (NEW): Find and buy all SP-Up Packets. Most stickers cost 3/4 the SP cost. Infinijump stickers cost 1 SP less. If this flag is toggled off and leads to the new total SP exceeding Mario's max (100), the game pauses. Mario must then take SP off applicable stickers until the total is under the max again.
Sticker Collector: Collect every sticker type in the world. Stickers regenerate 2 turns quicker.
Opening Up: Make every Secret Door appear. Enemies with unique stickers have a much higher chance of dropping them.
Luigi Legionnaire (NEW): Find Luigi in all 5 spots. The player can play as Luigi. Luigi inflicts 2 more damage with jump stickers, but 3 less with Hammer stickers.
Piece-rologist: Collect all of the Comet Pieces. Things cost 2 TP less to reuse.
Best Customer Ever: Spend 10,000 or more Coins at shops. Items at shops cost half the amount.
Perfectionist: Get a Perfect Bonus (win without forgetting to block) in 500 or more battles. Mario will only take 1/3 damage when blocking, rather than 1/2.
Mario's Excellent Journey: Perform 1,000 or more "Excellent" Action Commands in battle. Great attack executions heal Mario 2 HP and TP, while Excellents heal 4 HP and TP.
Royal Sticker Hero (NEW): Defeat Bowser. Mario can instantly turn Things into stickers as soon as he finds them, without going to the Sling-a-Thing booth.
Sandshifter Sleuth (NEW): Defeat a secret foe (Squizzard) in Queest Desert. Mario gains 2 attack on the first/only hit of hammer stickers.
Volcanic Rocker (NEW): Defeat a secret foe (Gobblegut) in Verdant Jungle. Mario gains 2 attack on the first hit of jump stickers.
Don't Pity the Fool (NEW): Defeat a secret foe (Goomboss) in a hidden place. Mario gains immunity to jumping on spiked enemies, even without Super or Iron Boots.
A Nightmare Come True (NEW): Defeat a secret foe (Tryclyde) in a shiny place. The power of all enemy attacks is reduced by 3.
To toggle Super Flag bonuses on and off, talk to the character holding the flag.
Due to the removal of the Battle Spinner, the associated Super Flag is gone.
Development
After Paper Mario Color Splash was released, though reception was mixed, there was a general consensus that Intelligent Systems should return to the style of the original game. Though Metroid Prime producer Kensuke Tanabe insisted in an interview with GameInformer the team didn't need to use old characters, fans and customers, as well as some members of Intelligent Systems' staff, did not all share his feelings.
Eventually, after a notable amount of backlash, Nintendo Switch producer Yoshiaki Koizumi was brought on to replace Kensuke Tanabe as producer (who in turn was relocated to his Metroid Prime producer duties), as well as to figure out a solution to rectify Sticker Star and Color Splash's reception. Eventually, it was decided to remake and overhaul Sticker Star and Color Splash to better match the tone and feel of the original three games. Nevertheless, some features were kept in to not alienate fans who genuinely preferred the newer games.
When Shigeru Miyamoto asked Yoshiaki Koizumi if the game really needed a story added, Koizumi responded as follows (loose translation):
"In most cases, Miyamoto-san, I would agree a story isn't needed. I even remember my sentiments for when Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was in development. However, because the Paper Mario series has generally been an RPG series, in this case, I would argue a story was needed with the first version. Also, among the feedback we have received from players, we noticed players resonated more with Color Splash's story than they did with Sticker Star. On a similar note, of all the characters who received positive feedback, the one across all of Tanabe-san's games who was most positive was Huey, an original character. I've also received anonymous complaints that Tanabe-san kept shooting down the team's more creative ideas, leading to Color Splash not reflecting what the team as a whole wanted. I am not saying 'no' to any advice you have to give, Miyamoto-san- but I am asking you to reconsider."
-Yoshiaki Koizumi
Amazed at Koizumi's response, yet still needing to perform his duties as supervisor, Miyamoto and Koizumi kept debating about various things, such as setting, gameplay and progression.
Eventually, Miyamoto and Koizumi came to a compromise. While story restrictions would be softened, and original character mandates would be migitated, there still needed to be proof that the Koizumi-headed team would fast-track mainline characters. With few exceptions, using original characters would only be allowed if a given mainline character did not make sense in a given role, if no character was able to fulfill that role, or it was nonsensical to have a character look indistinct. Finally, though more story could be added, Miyamoto reminded Koizumi that Mario had to be "cool" (in reference to a mishap with Mario's characterization in early drafts of Super Mario Galaxy).
Changes that I am making to this for the story adaptation:
-Mario talks in full words. He is not a silent protagonist.
-Partners are more active in battle, and you can control them.
-A few new events happen.
I hope you enjoy reading this adaptation of DMZapp's Sticker Star Recut. Favorites, follows, and reviews are appreciated.
Prologue coming soon!