To add to that, painting wall in patches will always be visible under certain circumstances. That's because paint is essentially a film you apply to a wall. Any

To add to that, painting wall in patches will always be visible under certain circumstances. That's because paint is essentially a film you apply to a wall. Any new film will be on top of new one and no matter how you try the border will be visible. So in order to hide the repaired area well you have to paint the whole wall from a corner to a corner. And indeed there is no better general alternative for the drywall. If you replace it with any other solution like MDF, plywood, etc. the repair process will be still the same - paper, mud, paint. But the material will cost you much more. And those materials are harder to cut, you'll definitely need to use a saw instead of a knife.