4/5 ★ – PhilMyth's review of Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Originally written for Nintendo Village: https://www.thenintendovillage.com/articles/paper-mario-the-origami-king-review *** The Paper Mario series has gone through a rather interesting evolution. Beginning as a fully-fledged RPG back on the N64 and Gamecube, it’s since shifted to a pseudo-platformer in 2007’s Super Paper Mario on the Wii before arriving at the more adventure style setup of more recent releases. Paper Mario: The Origami King continues that adventure game evolution with a fantastic ride that’s easily the best Paper Mario game since the lauded Thousand Year Door. But much like the appendix that can explode and stop you in your tracks, it’s the lowly stamp of Origami King’s origins that prevents it from becoming a truly essential purchase. King Of Characters As is now the norm for the series Origami King leans into the paper aesthetic, with the mushroom kingdom now being terrorised by a folded menace who hates all flat paper. King Olly is on a mission to fold the whole world to his will - literally - and makes off with Princess Peach’s castle whilst unleashing his army of origami Folded Soldiers. Sure, as plots go, it’s your standard “tin-pot dictator kidnaps the princess in his bid for world domination” setup, but it’s carried off brilliantly by superb writing and a plethora of memorable characters. Mario’s sidekick this time around is King Olly’s sister, Olivia, and with the mustachioed plumber taking on the role of silent protagonist, it’s left to Olivia to narrate what’s going on. Her childlike wonder, enthusiasm and naivety makes her one of Mario’s more likeable companions, and by the end of the game, you genuinely care for her. This happens with all of the auxiliary characters you come across in the game too. From a Toad who’s an expert in ancient history, to a bob-omb who’s lost his fuse, the individuals who join Mario and Olivia on their quest throughout the story are all well-rounded and memorable. Not that they serve much purpose besides advancing the adventure. This isn’t a return to the party-building gameplay of Paper Mario’s RPG roots. Instead they come and go through certain sections of the game as you explore. It’s kind of a shame that - with one truly emotional exception - they get left in their relevant areas for you to return to. It would’ve been nice to have them join your party for good - the Professor Toad you meet in the desert would’ve been incredibly enthusiastic about the places you discover as you advance through the world (for example). World Of Confetti And what a world it is. This is genuinely one of my favourite incarnations of the Mushroom Kingdom to date. From rolling green hills, to a neon-hotel in the desert, icy mountains to a health-spa in the sky, Origami King is full of fantastic areas that are a delight to explore. That exploration is rewarded with all manner of side-goals and collectibles too. There’s trophies to collect, Toads to find, and Not-So-Bottomless holes to fill in with confetti. The confetti mechanic replaces the paint of Paper Mario: Color Splash, and in a similar way to that game, is vaguely satisfying whilst relatively pointless. Some progression is locked behind holes that must be filled in, but given that the game usually hands a full confetti restock right before these moments, you do wonder what the point of the obstacle really was. It’s more a hindrance for hindrance’s sake, rather than challenging you to solve any particular puzzle. Not that the game is short of puzzles mind you. As you trek across the world there’s all sorts of minigames, set pieces and even Zelda-style dungeons to overcome. Each one is just as inventive as anything found in Nintendo’s other flagship franchise, and at times Origami King felt more like a successor to Wind Waker than Thousand Year Door. Indeed, it’s when it’s forging ahead with the adventure game premise that Origami King shines. Running around each area, chatting to the wonderfully hilarious inhabitants of the various regions and learning what needs to be done to get to the next showdown is a delight. Unfortunately the unbridled joy of exploring Origami King is often rudely interrupted by the battle system. Ring Con On the surface, Origami King’s battle system is fun and inventive. Each turn-based battle challenges you with first rotating and sliding rows of enemies into position in order to maximise your damage. It’s a challenging puzzle to be solved with tangible in-battle benefits if you do so (you won’t be able to clear battles half as quickly if you fail to get the proper arrangement). In a traditional RPG - even one with a similar EXP and progression system as Thousand Year Door - it would be a welcome and refreshing change to the formula. Unfortunately, although Nintendo have taken some steps back towards the classic RPG Paper Mario setup that fans are eager for, they haven’t gone the whole hog and that sours things considerably. There’s no return of an EXP system, with battles instead rewarding you with coins. These can then be used to purchase stronger boots or hammers for Mario to use in battle, or items such as fire flowers to mix things up too. This would work, except the economy is so broken, I had nearly 20,000 coins before I even made it back to Toad Town at the beginning of the game. I was able to make it at least halfway through the game before needing to buy stronger items, and even then, I’d accrued enough cash to stock up with more than enough Flashy Iron Boots and Shiny Hammers to last me ‘til the credits. As a result - and due to the amount of time battles take because of the puzzle element - I soon found myself actively avoiding battles and cursing the moments the game made them compulsory. I was having so much fun exploring the world and advancing the story that these longwinded, ultimately pointless battles just served to sour the experience. This was made even more apparent when Mario got powerful enough (you grow in strength arbitrarily at certain points in the game) to dispatch certain enemies with a bop on the head in the field without the need to go into battle. This was far more fun than spending 5 minutes messing around with rings to defeat waves of enemies for nothing more than a few hundred unnecessary coins. Were the battles worth the grind - rewarding Mario with more health and strength via some sort of EXP system - it wouldn’t be a problem. But given every single nook and cranny of this Mushroom Kingdom is absolutely drenched in coins, there’s never a need to subject yourself to them. They only serve to put the brakes on your enjoyment of an otherwise fantastic adventure. Boss Craft Boss battles were far more entertaining however (and worthwhile, considering victory advanced the plot). These flip the ring formula on its head, placing the boss at the center and tasking the player to map out Mario’s route to a panel he can successfully attack from. Some were genuinely challenging, and each boss has their own quirks and strategies to disrupt your progress. They were, however, rendered less memorable than they may have otherwise been thanks to their appearance. In a hangover from Sticker Star and Color Splash, the main bosses in the game take the form of Things, collectively dubbed the Legion of Stationery. In a game as charming and full of inventive characters as Origami King, battling a box of pencils or a pair of scissors felt incredibly out of place and again, added a minor sour note to otherwise excellent encounters. There are however a few mini bosses throughout the game that not only take the form of in-world enemies (a giant paper mache Blooper for example), but are dealt with in real-time action battles. These were terribly enjoyable, and another agonising hint at just how good Paper Mario: The Origami King might’ve been had it fully committed to the adventure game premise. VERDICT Make no mistake, Paper Mario: The Origami King is a superb game. The consistently excellent writing and character development elevates a fairly run-of-the-mill story to a genuinely enjoyable, funny, and at times emotional, ride. The presentation is fantastic, with a gorgeous and unique Mushroom Kingdom to explore, punctuated by excellent music, satisfying puzzles and a wealth of secrets to uncover. Unfortunately, the inventive-yet-ultimately-pointless battle system, and immersion-breaking boss design, stopping the game just short from becoming yet another must-have addition for every Switch owner. The hangover of past games in the franchise prevent Origami King from realising its full potential, and it instead lands in the ‘thoroughly recommended’ category.