In 2000, Nintendo released the original Paper Mario, an instant hit for RPG and Nintendo fans alike. While recent entries have left many fans disappointed, its legacy has spawned several titles from indie devs that have attempted, and generally succeeded, in emulating the joy that the original two titles brought to players.
Escape From Ever After is one of those titles. From the art style to the whimsical and comedic dialogue, it is as faithful of a tribute to old-school Paper Mario as a game can get. Beyond staying true to its inspirations, Escape From Ever After also stands out with its theme of traveling through storybook worlds to destroy capitalism. That alone would have sold me on this game, so the Paper Mario inspiration is icing on the cake.
Escape From Ever After stars Flynt Buckler, a hero from a storybook where he is tasked with destroying a terrifying dragon named Tinder in his castle. Upon arriving to the castle, however, Flynt notices that the castle has changed since his last adventure. Gone is the imposing castle architecture; instead, Tinder’s castle has been converted to an office for a company called Ever After Inc.
It’s after some digging that you realize that Ever After Inc. has been taking over storybook worlds and converting characters into employees, all to bring shareholder value to the company while getting rid of all the wholesome stories and characters that don’t comply with business demands. All I will say is that this storyline feels a bit too real right now.
As you walk around the office inside the castle, the dialogue from the storybook-characters-turned-employees is brilliant. Seeing one of Humpty Dumpty’s men talk about “that game last weekend” or a sea creature talking about Mondays is funny in its own right. It feels so out of place (go figure, most sea creatures don’t work in offices) but adds to the uncanny nature of what Ever After Inc. is doing. There were dozens of times I screenshotted dialogue because it was so funny to me.
As for the combat, that’s where the inspiration from Paper Mario shines the most. Everything from partners that join you in battle to the reaction commands for pulling off moves are as parallel to old-school Paper Mario as a game could get. You have standard attacking moves, special moves that cost MP (mocha points), and even special party moves that use SP (Synergy Points) which is earned by pulling off moves in battle. Performing these moves with reaction commands feels as fluid as I’d expect it to be, with timing feeling on point for both initiating attacks and blocking incoming damage from enemies.
The battle system and UI are one thing, but Escape From Ever After goes a step further with the world design for the storybook lands you explore. The first world you enter, which is the story of the Three Little Pigs, looks wonderful. The Enchanted Woods area especially stood out to me with its balance of fog and cooler colors to build a mysterious ambience; similar to the Lost Woods from The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time.
In addition to looking cool, there were some neat puzzles to work through while finding my way through the Enchanted Woods. Just like Paper Mario, players have to utilize abilities from their partners in the overworld to solve puzzles, and this game certainly executes that well. They aren’t the most challenging puzzles by any means, but are just complex enough to make you sit and think for a second about what to do next.
My one bit of criticism I have with this game, though, comes from keeping track of what you do in these worlds. There are a handful of sidequests you’ll find, both in the storybook worlds and at Ever After Inc. However, there is no way of keeping track of which quests are active, so it’s easy to forget to grab an item from somewhere for a quest since you can’t see what quests you’re working on. If there was a quest list in the pause menu, that would easily alleviate that inconvenience.
Inhabiting these storybook worlds is a wide variety of NPC’s that set the tone really well. In the “Three Little Pigs” story, the party stops by a village of wolves where everyone is blissfully unaware of their village’s impending destruction by Ever After Inc. Instead, the wolves are incredibly naive to the point where they think the pigs are going to be their new neighbors and do everything to justify the large corporation destroying everything while remaining completely unaware of their circumstances. This clearly mirrors a certain type of person in the real world, and they absolutely nailed it here.
In addition to background characters, the party members stand out just as well in both their personality and abilities. Your main companion is the former terrifying dragon Tinder, who has been shrunk down and restricted in their fire-breathing by Ever After Inc. While he’s not jazzed about joining his former arch nemesis on this journey, Tinder brings some humorous back and forth banter with Flynt.
Another memorable party member is Wolfgang, a wolf musician that plays a lyre. Beyond having a not-so-subtle musical reference in his name, his ability outside of battle is really neat. By inputting directions with the control stick, you can play different songs to make certain things happen in the overworld, such as growing plants or inviting a gust of wind. This is a cool mechanic, and I love the little jingles that play when you perform one of these moves.
Escape From Ever After is a game that not only stays true to its roots, but flourishes in its pursuit to take its inspiration and run with it in its own direction. The story is as wonderful as it is scarily relevant, and is complimented by a fun cast of characters and visually interesting storybook worlds to traverse through. If you’ve been looking for a game that evokes the same enjoyment of a classic Paper Mario game, look no further than this one. This is easily one of the top games I’ve played in 2026!
In 2000, Nintendo released the original Paper Mario, an instant hit for RPG and Nintendo fans alike. While recent entries have left many fans disappointed, its legacy has spawned several titles from indie devs that have attempted, and generally succeeded,…
In 2000, Nintendo released the original Paper Mario, an instant hit for RPG and Nintendo fans alike. While recent entries have left many fans disappointed, its legacy has spawned several titles from indie devs that have attempted, and generally succeeded, in emulating the joy that the original two titles brought to players.
Escape From Ever After is one of those titles. From the art style to the whimsical and comedic dialogue, it is as faithful of a tribute to old-school Paper Mario as a game can get. Beyond staying true to its inspirations, Escape From Ever After also stands out with its theme of traveling through storybook worlds to destroy capitalism. That alone would have sold me on this game, so the Paper Mario inspiration is icing on the cake.
Escape From Ever After stars Flynt Buckler, a hero from a storybook where he is tasked with destroying a terrifying dragon named Tinder in his castle. Upon arriving to the castle, however, Flynt notices that the castle has changed since his last adventure. Gone is the imposing castle architecture; instead, Tinder’s castle has been converted to an office for a company called Ever After Inc.
It’s after some digging that you realize that Ever After Inc. has been taking over storybook worlds and converting characters into employees, all to bring shareholder value to the company while getting rid of all the wholesome stories and characters that don’t comply with business demands. All I will say is that this storyline feels a bit too real right now.
As you walk around the office inside the castle, the dialogue from the storybook-characters-turned-employees is brilliant. Seeing one of Humpty Dumpty’s men talk about “that game last weekend” or a sea creature talking about Mondays is funny in its own right. It feels so out of place (go figure, most sea creatures don’t work in offices) but adds to the uncanny nature of what Ever After Inc. is doing. There were dozens of times I screenshotted dialogue because it was so funny to me.
As for the combat, that’s where the inspiration from Paper Mario shines the most. Everything from partners that join you in battle to the reaction commands for pulling off moves are as parallel to old-school Paper Mario as a game could get. You have standard attacking moves, special moves that cost MP (mocha points), and even special party moves that use SP (Synergy Points) which is earned by pulling off moves in battle. Performing these moves with reaction commands feels as fluid as I’d expect it to be, with timing feeling on point for both initiating attacks and blocking incoming damage from enemies.
The battle system and UI are one thing, but Escape From Ever After goes a step further with the world design for the storybook lands you explore. The first world you enter, which is the story of the Three Little Pigs, looks wonderful. The Enchanted Woods area especially stood out to me with its balance of fog and cooler colors to build a mysterious ambience; similar to the Lost Woods from The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time.
In addition to looking cool, there were some neat puzzles to work through while finding my way through the Enchanted Woods. Just like Paper Mario, players have to utilize abilities from their partners in the overworld to solve puzzles, and this game certainly executes that well. They aren’t the most challenging puzzles by any means, but are just complex enough to make you sit and think for a second about what to do next.
My one bit of criticism I have with this game, though, comes from keeping track of what you do in these worlds. There are a handful of sidequests you’ll find, both in the storybook worlds and at Ever After Inc. However, there is no way of keeping track of which quests are active, so it’s easy to forget to grab an item from somewhere for a quest since you can’t see what quests you’re working on. If there was a quest list in the pause menu, that would easily alleviate that inconvenience.
Inhabiting these storybook worlds is a wide variety of NPC’s that set the tone really well. In the “Three Little Pigs” story, the party stops by a village of wolves where everyone is blissfully unaware of their village’s impending destruction by Ever After Inc. Instead, the wolves are incredibly naive to the point where they think the pigs are going to be their new neighbors and do everything to justify the large corporation destroying everything while remaining completely unaware of their circumstances. This clearly mirrors a certain type of person in the real world, and they absolutely nailed it here.
In addition to background characters, the party members stand out just as well in both their personality and abilities. Your main companion is the former terrifying dragon Tinder, who has been shrunk down and restricted in their fire-breathing by Ever After Inc. While he’s not jazzed about joining his former arch nemesis on this journey, Tinder brings some humorous back and forth banter with Flynt.
Another memorable party member is Wolfgang, a wolf musician that plays a lyre. Beyond having a not-so-subtle musical reference in his name, his ability outside of battle is really neat. By inputting directions with the control stick, you can play different songs to make certain things happen in the overworld, such as growing plants or inviting a gust of wind. This is a cool mechanic, and I love the little jingles that play when you perform one of these moves.
Escape From Ever After is a game that not only stays true to its roots, but flourishes in its pursuit to take its inspiration and run with it in its own direction. The story is as wonderful as it is scarily relevant, and is complimented by a fun cast of characters and visually interesting storybook worlds to traverse through. If you’ve been looking for a game that evokes the same enjoyment of a classic Paper Mario game, look no further than this one. This is easily one of the top games I’ve played in 2026!
by Michael Fertitta
