the characters are 2d to preserve rodney's unique style of artwork, who designed all of the characters. he was asked to help design the game from an interview by masaya. like in the "paper mario" series by nintendo, all of the characters appear to be flat, two dimensional beings cut from paper while the surroundings are primarily three dimensional. the setting is a bright urban city; with its inhabitants ranging from animals (chickens, dogs, frogs, and cats), inanimate objects (onions, flowers, hammers), and some humans.