Paper Mario: The Origami King, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for that Nintendo Switch, is definitely an action-adventure RPG and the sixth game in the Paper Mario series. While the game still doesn't quite go back to its heavier RPG roots from the original N64 title and The Thousand Year Door, The Origami King is a quirky, funny, and engaging game that manages to revive the charm of Paper Mario which has been missing in the previous couple of entries.
In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Mario once again has to rescue Princess Peach and save the Mushroom Kingdom. This time, the Mushroom Kingdom is threatened by King Olly, an origami man that has wrapped Peach’s castle in impenetrable streamers and converted Bowser's minions into origami warriors called Folded Soldiers. King Olly's little sister, Olivia, teams track of Mario to consider her brother down, destroy the streamers, and restore order to Princess Peach's castle.
To do this, Olivia uses her special origami folding abilities to assist Mario and overcome obstacles he can't on his own. Throughout the game, you solve puzzles and make the right path through dungeons to unlock new origami powers for Olivia. You use later these powers to conquer different areas and bosses and destroy the streamers.
The exploration and puzzle-solving in The Origami King often reminded me of The Thousand Year Door. Every new challenge was unique and the game never followed a formula. The dungeons and puzzles were typically related straight to environmental surroundings around you, much like in The Thousand Year Door.
For example, in one area, you need to solve riddles inside a desert to uncover a hidden temple. In another, you have to track the streamer over the ocean, solve puzzles on islands, and check for treasure underwater to unlock a specific door. The developers crafted the puzzles based on whereby the Mushroom Kingdom you are, making each new dungeon distinct.
The puzzles aren't easy, either. I was a little concerned at the beginning of the game because Olivia essentially gives you the tutorial to every mechanic hanging around at least two times and provides you quite a few hints using the first few challenges encountered.
However, once you have gotten through that initial portion of The Origami King, everything begins to open up and be more complex. I legitimately struggled to figure out the solution to some of the riddles and felt a sense of accomplishment each time I significantly progressed with the game.
Plus, the dungeons aren't the only puzzles in The Origami King. The whole battle system involves puzzle solving. Enemies hanging around are positioned up in a diamond ring system with four different layers. You are able to move the enemies in the ring in almost any direction in an attempt to line them up correctly within the time period limit. Essentially, you may either move four enemies right into a straight line to apply your jump or move two enemies next to two other enemies, side by side, to use your hammer inside a 2×2 grid pattern.
You can attack enemies whether or not you line them up correctly or not, but solving the puzzles has its own benefits, namely it boosts your attack power. Should you pull it off and boost your attack power, you can typically take out all enemies without taking damage.
Some of the puzzles are really simple, especially when you begin out, obviously, but the difficulty ramps in the farther you progress with the story. About halfway with the game, I went from breezing with the combat to seriously having trouble seeing puzzle solutions. Since i have couldn't solve the puzzles, I could not remove my enemies as fast, meaning I'd take a lot more damage.
Additionally, boss battles were another beast entirely and completely switched up the system, that we loved since it made in charge battles feel unique and so much more serious and tense. With bosses, instead of having Mario in the middle and lining up enemies around him, Mario's on the edge of the rings and you have to move the rings in a few patterns, following arrows, planning out routes, and landing on specific squares to attack the enemy, often from a specific direction.
Personally, while I still miss the classic battle style in the first two Paper Mario games, I ended up adoring the battle system in The Origami King. It had been complex, it was fun, and it forced me to really focus on fights 100% of times.
The Origami King is clever too, knowing that a Paper Mario game appeals to both children and older, lifelong Nintendo fans. As a result, there are lots of systems inside the game to help you out if you get stuck, in battles as well as in the planet itself.
For example, the primary assist in the battles is Toads. While you are going through the world and solving dungeons, you'll encounter hidden Toads that you could save. After saving them, they're added to your audience, like the audience in The Thousand Year Door, and you can spend coins while in battle to get their help.
The Toads will deal small quantities of damage to enemies, slowly move the rings to help you solve the puzzles, and even heal you if you spend enough coins. The different options are coins in find it hard to add time to the time period limit, too, if you are really struggling with getting a solution and don't wish to give up on having your attack bonus.
Coins are really important in Paper Mario: The Origami King, much more so compared to past Mario RPGs I've played. Coins can be used to enlist the help of Toads, boost the time limit, buy items and weapons from the store, and restore power to helpful special things you access through the game.
Personally, I never had trouble with my finances in this game. I usually had a plethora of coins on hand, however i also never asked the Toads for help or extended my time limit unless I had been in a really tough spot or needed more health in a boss battle. However, the helpful coin mechanics is definitely a plus for younger kids playing the sport that might convey more difficulty solving puzzles quickly.
Additionally, Olivia is really a useful tool for kids, too. At any time during the game, including battles, you can press X to ask Olivia for a hint. I discovered that she's typically not super helpful in battles, however when out in the planet trying to puzzle out how you can progress or how to proceed next, she's a truly invaluable resource when you get stuck.
In general, the planet is beautiful and also the game looks so, so good. The bright colors really pop and exploring the world is so much fun, especially finding Toads and restoring roads with confetti, earned from defeating enemies or hitting stuff with your hammer. I did possess some issues with the sport stuttering during boss battles after i would have Olivia play one of her origami powers, but those problems were pretty minimal and didn't happen often.
The game is legitimately funny, too. There have been many times that The Origami King would actually make me laugh aloud, which is not something which happens that often. The writing is honestly so fantastic that I feel like I can not praise it enough. Every character has their own unique, goofy personality, the Toads that simply deliver a one-liner after being rescued.
The only real gripe I have using the writing would be that the partner characters you pick up, other than Olivia, don't feel important whatsoever. There's not too many to start with, but the few which exist don't stay with you when you pay off the area where you found them. They are not super helpful in battle, either, often missing the enemies completely.
Like almost every other character hanging around, their dialog is incredible and that i loved talking with them in cutscenes and story moments, however when it came to actual gameplay, they felt tacked on. It was especially disappointing considering how important partner characters were in earlier entries within the series. It felt such as the developers attempted to return to the older era of Paper Mario, but completely missed the purpose and only gave us 1 / 2 of the personality, charm, and usefulness from the sidekicks.
Overall, though, Paper Mario: The Origami King is definitely an absolutely phenomenal game. It simultaneously constitutes a go back to what made the original games so excellent, namely the exploration and humor, while still progressing forward with new, creative battle systems and ideas. I had a blast playing with the game, finding collectibles, rescuing Toads, and saving the Mushroom Kingdom in a beautiful, paper world have a tendency to kept me laughing.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is currently available for Nintendo Switch.
