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

As a massive Paper Mario fan that has passionately yearned for a true successor to the Thousand-Year Door for over a decade, it’s a little disappointing that The Origami King once again leans towards being an action/adventure game rather than an full-on RPG. Despite this I ended up really enjoying the game for what it is rather than hating it for what it isn't. While I can't say that I've been a huge fan of where the series has gone after it broke away from its RPG roots with Super Paper Mario in 2007, The Origami King absolutely stands on its own while still keeping the series' famous humour and flair intact. No, this isn't a true successor to the RPGs from the N64 and GameCube eras, but it's hard to fault such a well made game. While The Origami King is definitely more of an action/adventure than an RPG, the game does still hearken back to the series' roots in some neat ways. The active, turn-based battle system is back, for example, but each fight takes place on this giant notched ring that you must solve in order to attack enemies. I found this system to be pretty fun for the most part and some of the later solutions can get pretty intense, especially when there's a multitude of enemies on the field. You can equip other weapons like iron boots or hurl hammers that can do more damage or keep Mario safe from spiked foes. I can potentially see some players getting fed up with the combat but you can alter the difficulty by asking for hints or by turning on puzzle solutions from the options menu. The collection of boss fights are also really cool and make you change up your tactics by adding a whole new, surprisingly-deep dynamic to the battles. I won't spoil them, but these fights ended up being some of my favourite parts of the game. The Origami King is also just a tremendously well-made video game. The visuals are bright and colourful and the team really went all-in on the paper craft aesthetic. The soundtrack is absolutely stellar and features some of the best music I've heard in a game in a long time. The writing is very clever and hilarious at times, and the game world is designed as one continuous landmass instead of a world map with bespoke stages. While I still would love to see Nintendo take another crack at making a true successor to The Thousand-Year Door, I still ended up really liking The Origami King for what it brings to table rather than loathing it for what it isn't. It's a great game, and is easily the best game the series has seen in years.