Mario is no stranger to getting refused by pipes. If there’s nothing at the bottom, he can’t go down. However, he should be able to get to Twilight Town in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Whenever he tries, he gets spit back up. What’s the deal?
After the Peach and Bowser interludes at the end of Chapter 3, you descend back to the eponymous Thousand-Year Door and slot the next star, revealing your next destination on the map. You return to Professor Frankly who can only tell you that the next star location is near Twilight Town, and the pipe to Twilight Town is somewhere below the west side of Rogueport.
To actually find this pipe, you need to go to West Rogueport and look for a little storm drain. There’s a child cowering nearby. Turn sideways and you can slip into it. You’ll land on a platform in the underground. Hop on your baby Yoshi, then use his flutter kick to get to the platform on your left. Through the door there you’ll find the pipe I mentioned. Attempt to go down, and it will pop you back up.
You need to then return to Professor Frankly who has no idea how to get down the pipe. He suggests finding an inhabitant of Twilight Town that might be hanging around Rogueport. Now where would one be? Hmm?
Where to find Darkly in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
You need to find Darkly to get to Twilight Town in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time exploring dark alleys, so you may have already met him. He’s actually loitering in the alley right behind Professor Frankly’s house.
If you go left from Professor Frankly’s door and stop before going through the archway to Rogueport’s central square, you’ll see a brick wall behind you. Just a normal brick wall. Or is it!?
Through clever use of perspective, there’s a hidden gap in the middle of that wall. If you just push near the center, the camera will change angles and you’ll find yourself in an alleyway. Not far into it, you’ll see Darkly looking somewhat sinister but otherwise minding his own business.
When you talk to him, he’s very forthcoming with information. He says you just need something with your name written on it to go through the pipe. I guess Mario’s monogrammed hat doesn’t count. Thankfully, he’s willing to help by writing Mario’s name on his butt.
Return to the pipe that refused you before. Now you’ll be able to go down it. Now that I think of it, I have no idea why that segue was necessary. Was it entirely for the scene of Mario having his name written on his butt?
