Games

Reviewed: Paper Mario: The Origami King


Paper Mario: The Origami King Review
Title: Paper Mario: The Origami King
Genre: Adventure, Action
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: July 2020

Overall Score: 9/10

Flat versus folded, paper versus origami! Grab your switch and get ready to be enveloped by a crafty new Paper Mario world overrun by a creased menace! Paper Mario: The Origami King is a must have for veterans and newcomers to the franchise alike with its comedy-filled story, and interactive paper world.  Take it from an Nintendo 64 Paper Mario veteran who’s seen it all, this title is sure to thrill!

Paper Mario: The Origami King is one of the most highly anticipated classic Mario remasters that was announced by Nintendo earlier this year. Fans of the Paper Mario series can rejoice that Origami King returns to the series RPG-roots, while appealing to new players with completely reinvented gameplay and visual design.

Get ready to fold, rip, flatten, and peel your way through this exciting new world with innovative features and techniques that will inspire your creativity. Paper Mario: The Origami King  strives to overcome the issues from previous games which left fans yearning for that nostalgic classic Paper Mario gameplay. With reinvented battle mechanics and a visually stunning 2D meets 3D world, Nintendo once again shows why it’s known as the king of innovating franchise games, while still staying true to their origins and roots. Paper Mario: The Origami King is going to be the game that fans have been waiting for and everyone will be talking about!

Graphics

2D meets 3D with flat friends and folded foes in a world that uses unique properties of paper in colourful and detailed environments. The 2D characters and elements of the game are nostalgic to the original Paper Mario titles, while the new origami ones create a 3D style that feels fresh and exciting. The games graphics far surpass any of the previous Paper Mario titles. Combining both side scroller and 3D gameplay, the visual styles for both dimensions breathe life and meaning into the story, and the textures and details allow players to interact and view their surrounding environment with a more complex and challenging perspective.

The graphics of this game are the best in the franchise with landscapes looking crisp and colourful yet  still being cartoony and cute. The visuals of Paper Mario: The Origami King match other successful Nintendo Switch titles. Taking advantage of the Switches high graphic capabilities and motion controls, Origami King enhances its immersive effect which encourages players to feel connected and excited about its world. With buildings and nature alike being made of cardboard, rolled up and corrugated paper, tissue paper, origami and more, players feel mesmerized and inspired in a world of art supplies that have come alive in creative and silly ways.

Paper Mario: The Origami King Review
via Nintendo.com

Storyline

The Origami King’s story impresses with new offbeat characters and comical dialogues, bringing to life a new Paper Mario adventure. The game returns to the classic Mushroom Kingdom which has been taken over by a fearsome origami king who plans to refold the world to his liking. The story quickly adds twists and turns to the plot as Mario teams up with an origami ally to take on folded foes. Players will quickly fall in love with this character’s quirky comments and dialogue throughout the game.

As a veteran of the Paper Mario series, The Origami King’s story far exceeded my expectations and took me by surprise at each plot twist. Unexpected bosses, allies, and side characters keep the story from becoming stale while you explore forest, deserts, oceans and other environments. The game’s story had a nostalgic air about it very similar to past Paper Mario games. That being said, the game successfully broke away from its old shadows to imerge new and relevant by incorporating fresh ideas that reinvent it as its own stand-alone title.

Battle System

The battle system in The Origami King has been my favourite out of all the installments in the Paper Mario franchise. The system has been revamped to include the usual turn-based battles with a new puzzle-based system that allows you to optimally place the enemies for extra damage. The new puzzle-based system brings a challenge of varying enemy difficulties that makes fights more dynamic than ever before. The game still includes the classic and fun combat of jumping on enemies, using a hammer, and items to take down a variety of foes as expected of any self respecting Mario game, but with a new layer of complexity.

Get ready to enter a re-imagined rotating arena that has an audience to help Mario and cheer him on with a diorama-like backdrop that matches your surroundings. With new combat moves and surprises added to battles the game adds a fun twist to how Mario can take on bad guys! But it doesn’t stop there! This game is packed with new features such as accessories and power ups that buff Mario for battle and allows players to customize for combat.

Bosses have been improved from past games, finally becoming a real threat once again, while still being fun to take down! But don’t get too confident yet players! Each new boss you face has their own unique puzzle aspect to them, giving players a sense of fulfillment after each section. I’d brush up on past Paper Mario game bosses if I were you to prep yourself for the battles to come with The Origami King!

Paper Mario: The Origami King Review
via Nintendo.com

Innovation

The Origami King is the innovative Paper Mario title fans have long waited for! This game improves where Paper Mario Sticker Star fell flat (no pun intended) and left fans disappointed. A well remastered version of Paper Mario 64, this game was everything I wanted from a classic Paper Mario game while improving and correcting previous games mistakes. The game revamped the battle system, bringing back the classic turn-based style but adding more challenge with a new puzzle mechanic that adds difficulty with each and every new enemy.

The game also brings back a large world size to explore with different environments comparable to Paper Mario 64, with tons of new secrets and hidden treasures to interact with. That being said, don’t pull up a walkthrough just yet! The game has new items that players can experiment with to solve puzzles and hunt down hidden collectibles.

Getting released on the Nintendo Switch also means players can expect to utilize all the new features the system has over the older systems. You’ll be using the Switches motion controls to peel, pull, and pummel this 3D paper world. With all these new features, get ready to dedicate hours upon hours to exploring beautiful paper landscapes with tons of extra hidden features to find when the main storyline is completed.

Paper Mario: The Origami King
via Nintendo.com

Overall Gameplay

This game is an absolute hit for new and veteran Mario Paper players alike! The creators brought back everything from previous Paper Mario titles that fans loved but developed further by fixing mistakes past games made creating a refreshing game that feels nostalgic and new all at once. The only reason this game didn’t get a perfect score from me is that the game’s initial tutorial walkthrough felt a little long with constant hints feeling a bit overbearing.

Players who pick up on gameplay mechanics fast will get a little exasperated getting hints often, but new players will appreciate the help to get them started. If you’re looking for a whimsical world filled with silly characters, an easy to love sidekick, puzzles, exploring, and much more, than this Paper Mario title is perfect for you!

Paper Mario: The Origami King
via Nintendo.com

Which all adds up to give us…

Paper Mario: The Origami King ( Nintendo Switch)

Overall Score 9/10

 

Check out the original trailer for Nintendo’s Paper Mario: The Origami King

A Closer Look at Paper Mario: The Origami King – Nintendo Switch

Also check out our recent in-depth review of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

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