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Paper Mario: Pen Power (known as Paper Mario RPG 5 in Japan) is the fifth installment in the Paper Mario series, with the first being Paper Mario. It was developed by Brock Productions and Hammer Egg House. Inc., and released for the Wii U in 2014.

The plot of the game revolves around Mario, who embarks on a mission to collect the seven Restoration Ge in order to cleanse the Star Gate. After learning that Princess Peach has been kidnapped, he also sets out on a mission to rescue her from the Greeklies. The game features an interconnecting story with intermissions visited via Pal Blocks, in which the player assumes the role of Bowser, Peach, Luigi, and Wario, all of whome have their own stories that complement the main plot.

Prologue: There Goes the Castle
Paper Mario: Pen Power opens up with Mario and Luigi in their Mushroom House, and Luigi retrieving the mail. he shows Mario a letter from Princess Peach:

Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, Pen Power brings over the core mechanics of the GameCube prequel and enhances them. Mario no longer starts his adventure with a hammer, but instead is still able to Spin Dash. Action Commands can also no longer be performed from the start. To make up for this, Mario starts off equipped with either Heart Finder or Flower Finder randomly.

A new system called Doodling was also added to the game. On the Menu Screen, Mario can select the Great Doodlepad, allowing him to draw items that he has seen before (most available items are shown on the Doodle Encyclopedia, although some are not). Doing so will turn the doodle into a real object, which can be deployed. Items can be made in the overworld or in battle; however, doing so in battle takes up one turn for Mario.

Paper Abilities
Paper Mario: Pen Power brings up new gameplay elements not present in the original Paper Mario games. One of them is F.L.U.D.D.. In his first appearance since Super Mario Sunshine, this machine allows Mario to spray water on various things. This allows him to reveal secret exits by soaking the paper and destroying it, and allows him to clean up Ink. Spraying an enemy counts as a First Strike.

Throughout the game, Mario finds three E. Gadd crates, which give Mario special abilities to use in the overworld with F.L.U.D.D.. They are all based on the abilities of F.L.U.D.D. in Sunshine. The first ability is Hover Mode, which allows Mario to hover over small gaps he cannot jump across. The next is Hyper Mode, which allows Mario to go super fast. The last, Rocket Mode, allows Mario to shoot into the air.

Background
Another element introduced in Paper Mario: Pen Power is the background scenery, which is actually accessible for Mario through certain pipes. Several places which only appear in the background can be visited this way. Certain abilities are disabled here, however. Mario's partners cannot be used in the background, Mario cannot move to a different screen/area, and he also cannot walk past any houses or locations. However, he can still place Doodles here.

Intermissions
New to this game are selectable Intermissions. Unlike previous games, Intermissions do not take placebetween chapters but instead happen when Mario uses a Pal Block. Although optional, choices made in the intermissions can postively influence the real chapters, making it useful to use them.

Battle System
Battles take place on a stage. In addition to the traditional turn-based combat, the characters on-stage interact with the scenery: sometimes the background will fall, damaging all characters on stage and possibly making them Dizzy, the audience helps Mario gain Star Power and also may throw items on stage, and lastly, some bosses even use the audience to their advantage. For example, Lurchin jumps onto the stage and rolls into the audience, increasing his mass.

Attacking enemies
While Mario and his partners are battling enemies, they can attack enemies with extra power using the Action Command. Stylish Moves are extra commands to please the crowd more and gain more star power.
 * Countdown: Tilt and hold the control stick left, then release when the red light flashes.
 * Tricky Timing: Pressing A just before landing on Mario's opponent.
 * Aiming: Aligning a cursor in the center of the targeting reticule
 * Button Mania: Holding on to or repeatedly tapping a button or input an entire sequence.

Guarding
To perform a guard action command, one must press or  when Mario's opponent is about to strike him. Guarding reduces the damage he takes from enemy attacks and help the player resist status effects. The player must time it right, though.


 * Guard: To perform a Guard move, the player must press A to dodge enemy attacks, reducing the damage they do by 1, and also protecting Mario from negative status effects. The player will have a 1/2 second to guard.


 * Superguard: To perform a Superguard move, the player must press B to dodge enemy attacks, negating the attack completely and sometimes damaging the attacker--generally a Superguard deals 1 damage to an enemy who attacks directly and none to foes who attack at range, but it does deflect Pokeys ranged attacks back at them. The player will only have a 1/4 second to superguard, making it more difficult to time than a regular guard.

Star Points
Every time Mario wins a battle, he'll earn Star Points. When Mario's Star Point Level gets up to 100, he'll choose whether to upgrade his Heart Points, Flower Points or Badge Points. Choosing HP and/or FP will raise Mario's HP or FP by 5 and choosing BP will raise Mario's BP by 3. Mario stops levelling up at 99; however, it is very hard to reach this level because, starting from level 1, the Star Point Value for every enemy decreases by one with each level up. Every 4 levels, mario will also go up a rank.

Ranks
Mario has 5 ranks; Mushroom, Fire Flower, Sleepy Sheep, Maple Syrup, and Ultra Mushroom. Every 4 levels, Mario goes up a rank; therefore, he becomes Ultra Mushroom at level 20. The rewards for reaching the rank are listed below:
 * Mushroom: All Shine Sprite Blocks and Inns are free, and the Giant's Package's price is reduced by 50%.
 * Fire Flower: Mario's speed is increased.
 * Sleepy Sheep: Mario gets 30% off in most stores.
 * Maple Syrup: Inventory is increased to 25 items max.
 * Ultra Mushroom: FP costs are reduced by 2 for each attack.

Lumas
A young inventor named Dubba is located in Westpoint Avenue and has created a machine that will steal the energy of Star Beings so that it can be transfered into other things. After visiting for the first time, Mario is able to find Lumas in specific locations and collect them in various ways. After collecting 5 Lumas, he can take them to Dubba and have a party member upgraded. When upgaded, their stats are increased and they gain a new move. After the Ultra Bulb is collected, they can be upgraded again for even better stats and another move. There are 42 Lumas total.

The Audience
The Audience determines how much Star Energy Mario recovers. It consists of various enemies and allies, and sits and cheers as the group attacks. If Mario or his allies use the Appeal action or a Stylish Move, they will recover more Star Energy. The audience is even used by various bosses. The Audience occasionally takes active participation in the battles; some spectators throw helpful or hurtful items, while others may incapacitate other audience members, making Star Power recovery more difficult.

Mario's Partners
Throughout the game, Mario, just like the past game, uses partners. His partners have purposes in both the overworld and battle. They can be upgraded by Dubba by giving him 5 Luma. Every partner knows two moves upon joining the party, learns the third after being upgraded to Super Rank, and masters the final move after attaining Ultra Rank.

Items
Items are objects that help Mario and his partners on his journey. Most of them change and heal his stats such as Heart Points (like Mushrooms), Flower Points (like Honey Syrup), Attack (like Power Punch), Defense (like Courage Shell), and some gives the player Status Ailments (like Repel Cape), but some damage the enemy (like Fire Flower) and/or give them status ailments (like Mr. Softener). Mario may hold on to 12 items on his body but he can store 30 items at any Item Shop and withdraw them at any time there. The amount of items Mario can hold will be doubled after he reaches Maple Syrup rank.

Badges
Badges are what Mario may need throughout the game. They can be purchased at the Lovely Howz, traded for Star Pieces by Dazzle, or found in one of the places Mario and company visit. The blocks in which badges are found in the field are blue and have a picture of a star on them, unlike normal item blocks which are yellow and are decaled with question marks.

When leveling up, Mario can gain Badge Points (BP) which allow him to use badges he has already found. Some of the badges add new Jump or Hammer moves to Mario's commands during battle and other new abilities. If multiple copies of the same jump or hammer badge are worn at once, the FP requirements will increase, but so will the attack power.

Badges can also affect Mario and his partners outside of battles. After the battle certain badges can increase the amount of points defeated enemies leave. Enemies might also carry badges in battle, which only Chainer can steal right away, and there's a likeliness that they might leave them when they're defeated.

Two special badges, the W Emblem and the L Emblem, can change Mario's clothing. With the W Emblem, Mario gets Wario's clothing, with the L Emblem, he gets Luigi's clothing, and with both Emblems combined, he gets Waluigi's clothing.

Unlike past games, badges can now be switched out during battle. If Mario is not a B-Lister or does not have a Fast Equip badge, he takes up one turn doing so. Fast Equip and BP Plus badges cannot be unequipped during battle, but can be equipped.

All badges found in RPGs like Paper Mario: Pen Power are listed here in detail

Bosses
Yellow signifies chapter bosses.

Bestiary
Descriptions are based on Cube's tattle descriptions.

The Pit of 100 Trials
The Pit of 100 Trials is an optional challenge. Before or after saving the world, Mario can take on the enemies found in the 100-basement floor area known as the Pit of 100 Trials. The enemies located on levels 51-99 are especially strong. Upon reaching floor 100, Mario discovers Arachadak, a tough foe to beat. After defeating Arachadak, Mario receives the Return Postage Badge, just like in the last game.

Similarities
This game has many similarities between the original Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, including these elements:
 * The opening is identical to that of the previous game, right down to Parakarry delivering a letter from Princess Peach.
 * The first partner of all three games is a Goomba. They all have headbonk and multi-bonk as attacks.
 * The second partner of all of the games is a Koopa Troopa. Both will be able to be shot out to hit switches, etc. Both of them are also able to use Shell Toss and Power Shell in battle.
 * All games have partners obtained in Chapter 3 that have first and last attacks that deal several, low power hits. Bow with her Fan attacks and Yoshi Kid with his ground pound and Stampede attacks is simliar to Chainer's Multi-Bop and Sky-Bop attacks.
 * The fourth partner of each game will help the player to travel across gaps, Parakarry, Yoshi, and Pink Yoshi. However, Goombala is much better for this pupose.
 * All games have a Bob-omb as a partner, both are able to destroy cracked surfaces; Bombette, Bobbery, and Bulkoko.
 * All of the games have a partner who is able to uncover hidden items, and whose basic attack pierces through defense; Starry, Ms. Mowz, and Eeri.
 * The main plot point of all the games are to find seven stars.
 * All of the games have an upgrade system for Mario's Jump and Hammer attacks.
 * Mario must solve a mystery in the games. A Bumptie is Mario's fellow detective in all three.
 * Chapter 1 in the games features a dungeon as the location of the boss.
 * The partner acquired in Chapter 2 in all of the games required Mario to bring them an item.
 * In all games, at one point, Mario has to chase the Chapter 3 bosses (Grubba. Tubba's Heart, and Liquidsoul).
 * Buying a Dried Shroom and another certain item along with it was a secret sign in the games that was required to reach secret character.
 * In both games, Princess Peach must make something. Also, in both games, if she makes a mistake in the directions of making it, it will come out wrong.
 * Chapter 6 takes place in a beautiful area and has a boss that can do a very high amount of damage when charged up. Also, both are blob-shaped and made up of a smaller species. Additionally, Ruff Puffs appear in the sixth chapter of both games.
 * Chapter 7 features a snowy region.
 * Chapter 8 includes a battle against Bowser before the final battle.
 * The main villain of all of the games (which have kidnapped Peach) had to be chased through long stairways in the eighth chapter of the games.
 * In all of the games, there is a scene where Mario can turn into 8-bit Mario with Super Mario Bros. music playing.
 * All of the games feature a boss who poses a threat by eating people (Tubba Blubba, Hooktai, and Mister Fuzz), and both of these bosses have a secret weakness.
 * All of the games include a test during and interlude that Princess Peach has to take and has information that will help Mario in the future.
 * All games end with a parade led by Luigi (though in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door it's not really a parade, and is mainly a line of all the character's shadows used as a way to show everyone).

Trivia

 * All of the partners from the first Paper Mario were originally going to make cameo appearances in this game, but were scrapped from the final product for unknown reasons. However, Parakarry does remain in the game, appearing at the beginning.