What is the best game similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

The closest game to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is Kingdom Hearts II, scoring 69/100 on our similarity scale. They share 4 gameplay attributes, including deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus. It's the most faithful alternative currently available.

What are the top games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

The three closest games to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are: 1. Kingdom Hearts II (69/100, 4 shared attributes) 2. Sakura Gozen (73/100, 5 shared attributes) 3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (69/100, 4 shared attributes). All share Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's most important gameplay attributes, ranked out of 32 candidates across 5 dimensions.

Is Sakura Gozen similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

Yes, very much so — Sakura Gozen scores 73/100 similarity to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. They share 5 attributes, including deep RPG systems and adventure storytelling. It's one of the most direct alternatives available.

What RPG games are similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?

The best RPG games similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are Kingdom Hearts II, Sakura Gozen, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Xenoblade Chronicles. All share the RPG genre alongside other key Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door attributes like deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus.

How is similarity to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door calculated?

We compare Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door against every game in our catalog using 5 gameplay attributes: genre, atmosphere, world structure, play modes, combat style, and more. Each category is weighted differently — genre matters more than visual style, for instance. The result is a 0-100 score reflecting how closely a game replicates the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door experience, not just whether it shares the same genre label.

32 Games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door that you should try

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Ranking compiled by Lluis Enric Mayans, Founder & Head of ContentUpdated May 19, 2026How this is calculatedOrdered by an attribute-similarity model, not editorial opinion.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is hard to replace: few games combine deep RPG systems, fantasy world and single-player focus in quite the same way. We compared Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door against over 6,700 titles across 5 gameplay attributes and found 32 genuine alternatives — not generic genre suggestions. Kingdom Hearts II, Sakura Gozen and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim lead the list, with Kingdom Hearts II reaching a 69/100 similarity score. Every game here is ranked by how closely it replicates what makes Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door special.

iRank95/ 100

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GenreRPG

Top games similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

32 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Each one has been evaluated across 5 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1Kingdom Hearts IIClosest on genre

iRank90

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyThird Person

IGDB90· 3

Year 2005Dev Square Enix Product Development Division 1 · Buena Vista GamesOn PlayStation 3 · PS4

✓ Like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, it's known for deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Its own twist: visual third person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

It predates Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by 19 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Visuals0

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#2Sakura GozenClosest overall match

iRank73

GenreRPG

SoloFantasy2D

MC73

Year 2020Dev SEGAOn PS

✓ Nearly identical: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world.

Sakura Wars, known in Japan as New Sakura Wars,[a] is a cross-genre video game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 4. The sixth mainline entry and a soft reboot of the Sakura Wars series, the game was released in 2019 in Asia and 2020 worldwide.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Visuals100

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Steam

#3The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

iRank84

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyOpen WorldExplorationFirst Person

IGDB84· 10

Year 2017Dev Bethesda Game Studios · Bethesda SoftworksOn Switch

✓ Shared with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Its own twist: open world exploration, exploration and discovery and visual first person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Visuals0

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Nintendo

#4Xenoblade Chronicles

iRank91

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyOpen WorldSci-FiExploration

IGDB91· 6

Year 2010Dev Monolith Soft · Nintendo

✓ Shared with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Stands apart with open world exploration, setting scifi and exploration and discovery, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

It predates Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by 14 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Setting64Visuals0

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Nintendo

#5Xenoblade Chronicles 3

iRank89

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyNarrativeOpen WorldSci-Fi

IGDB90· 6OC88· 130

Year 2022Dev Monolith Soft · NintendoOn Switch

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Where it differs: brings strong narrative focus, open world exploration and setting scifi, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Setting64Visuals0

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyThird Person

IGDB83· 2

Year 2007Dev Matrix Software · Square Enix

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Where it differs: brings visual third person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

It predates Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by 17 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Visuals0

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#7Final Fantasy VII Remake

iRank89

GenreRPG

SoloFantasySci-FiPost-ApocalypticThird Person

IGDB89· 10OC88· 186

Year 2020Dev Square Enix Creative Business Unit I · Square EnixOn Xbox · PS4 · Switch

✓ Shared with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Stands apart with setting scifi, post-apocalyptic world and visual third person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals and setting.

Genre100Game mode100Setting47Visuals0

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#8Xenoblade Chronicles 2

iRank84

GenreRPG

SoloFantasySci-FiThird Person

IGDB85· 14OC83· 107

Year 2017Dev Monolith Soft · NintendoOn Switch

✓ Like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, it's known for deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Stands apart with setting scifi and visual third person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Setting64Visuals0

GenreRPG

SoloMeleeCasualCozyRelaxing

Steam👍 99%· 5.9KRAWG👍 97%· 28OC84· 35

Year 2022Dev MegaWobble · Playtonic FriendsPlaytime ~4hOn PC · Nintendo

✓ Shared with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus

≠ Its own twist: vibe casual, cozy, relaxing feel and vibe relaxing, while skipping fantasy world

More from Playtonic Friends About the Game There’s a buddy atop every hill in this open-world, movement-focused adventure and they all seem to need help! Bop cardboard baddies, brave serene hills and forests, and scale sheer rocks that only a kid would dare!

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals0

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Steam

#10Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

iRank89

GenreRPG

SoloSci-FiThird Person

IGDB89· 2

Year 2007Dev Square Enix Product Development Division 1 · Square Enix

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus

≠ Its own twist: setting scifi and visual third person, while skipping fantasy world

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: setting and visuals.

It predates Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by 17 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Setting0Visuals0

Details →

#11Lost Judgment

iRank88

GenreRPG

SoloMeleeNarrativeDarkOpen World

Steam👍 94%· 9.2KIGDB81· 7OC83· 133

Year 2021Dev Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios · SegaOn Xbox · PS4 · PC

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus

≠ Its own twist: fighting mechanics, action RPG combat and strong narrative focus, while skipping fantasy world

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: setting and visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Setting0Visuals0

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyCo-opOpen WorldSci-Fi

Steam👍 89%· 46KOC76· 10

Year 2024Dev Kuro GamesOn Xbox · Android · PC

✓ Shared with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Its own twist: open world exploration, setting scifi and co op, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals and game mode.

Genre100Setting64Game mode47Visuals0

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Steam Epic Xbox

#13Pokémon Legends: Z-A

iRank79

GenreRPG

SoloOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

IGDB80· 2OC79· 128

Year 2025Dev Game Freak · NintendoOn Switch

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus

≠ Stands apart with open world exploration, exploration and discovery and visual third person, while skipping fantasy world

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals0

Details →

Nintendo

#14Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

iRank40

GenreRPG

SoloFantasyExplorationThird Person

IGDB40· 1

Year 2005Dev Genius Sonority · Nintendo

✓ If you enjoyed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, expect deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and fantasy world

≠ Stands apart with exploration and discovery and visual third person, while skipping visual 2d

Where it drifts furthest from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: visuals.

It predates Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by 19 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Visuals0

Details →

#15East Trade Tycoon: Inheritance

iRank62

GenreRPG

Solo

Steam👍 62%· 173

Year 2022Dev Kinky Lemur GamesPlaytime ~1hOn PC

✓ Nearly identical: deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus.

≠ Missing: fantasy world.

HERE IS INHERITANCE: LADEINA’S PATH ACTION ADVENTURE WITH OUTSTANDING ADULT CONTENT Join the adventure of Astarte, promising warrior, and protector of the power of Ladeina! Customize your character and play with your style! Beat your enemies, find your way, discover your destiny.

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Steam

Complete list of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door alternatives

The full catalog of games sharing gameplay DNA with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, ordered from highest to lowest similarity score. Use the filters above to narrow down by genre, setting or game mode and find the alternative that best fits your playstyle.

Where Winds Meet

RPG · Adventure

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

RPG · Adventure

Absolver

RPG · Fighting

Yakuza Kiwami 2

RPG · Adventure

Yakuza Kiwami

RPG · Adventure

DC Universe Online

RPG · Adventure

Two Worlds Epic Edition

RPG · Adventure

Smuta

RPG · Adventure

Pirates of the Caribbean

RPG · Adventure

The Forgotten City

RPG · Adventure

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

RPG

Vigil: Blood Bitterness

RPG · Adventure

花妖物语/Flower girl - 5个新角色大礼包/5 new characters bonus

RPG

Tales of Xillia 2

RPG

Two Worlds

RPG

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

RPG

Tales of Xillia

RPG

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2025Pokémon Legends: Z-A 2024Wuthering Waves 2024Where Winds Meet 2024Smuta

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best game similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?: The closest game to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is Kingdom Hearts II, scoring 69/100 on our similarity scale. They share 4 gameplay attributes, including deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus. It's the most faithful alternative currently available.
What are the top games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?: The three closest games to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are: 1. Kingdom Hearts II (69/100, 4 shared attributes) 2. Sakura Gozen (73/100, 5 shared attributes) 3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (69/100, 4 shared attributes). All share Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's most important gameplay attributes, ranked out of 32 candidates across 5 dimensions.
Is Sakura Gozen similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?: Yes, very much so — Sakura Gozen scores 73/100 similarity to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. They share 5 attributes, including deep RPG systems and adventure storytelling. It's one of the most direct alternatives available.
What RPG games are similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door?: The best RPG games similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are Kingdom Hearts II, Sakura Gozen, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Xenoblade Chronicles. All share the RPG genre alongside other key Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door attributes like deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and single-player focus.
How is similarity to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door calculated?: We compare Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door against every game in our catalog using 5 gameplay attributes: genre, atmosphere, world structure, play modes, combat style, and more. Each category is weighted differently — genre matters more than visual style, for instance. The result is a 0-100 score reflecting how closely a game replicates the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door experience, not just whether it shares the same genre label.