The Paper Mario series evolves with every iteration. Paper Mario: The Origami King is no different in that sense. Don’t worry, it still feels very familiar but you might trip over the changes made. It took me some time with the game to embrace them but I’m totally on board by now.
Sibling rivalry
In Paper Mario: The Origami King, the Mushroom Kingdom is once again in peril. When visiting Princess Peach, Mario notices she’s not looking her own 2D self anymore. That’s because she’s been turned into origami by the Origami King. Going from flat to “thin-3D” makes characters act very unlike themselves. Not long after discovering the world is not filled with its normal bunch of colorful characters, King Olly appears and explained he’s taking over from now. To make things worse, he flies away with Peach’s castle. Mario is taken captured but with the help of Olivia, King Olly’s sister, he manages to escape.
Ribbons holding us back
As it turns out, King Olly is slowly turning every character in origami making them act as his army. The princess is locked in her origami form in the castle. To top things off, the castle is been wrapped with colored ribbons that tie back to the outskirts of the kingdom. With Olivia acting as your guide, you’ll need to visit each part of the kingdom and defeat whatever is holding down the streamers. Whilst going through the different areas you’ll discover many characters that need saving. Toads being rolled up in a ball or stuck to the back of signs will all be very thankful when saved and even help you out with defeating the Origami King’s minions.
Round-a-bout
Up until now, Paper Mario: The Origami King sounds more or less like your typical Paper Mario game but that’s about the change with the new battle mechanic. When you come across enemies, the battle sequence starts and puts you on a circular stage. With four circles divided into segments, each enemy takes place on one of those segments. Your boots attack can easily bounce enemies which are in a straight line while your hammer attack is most effective when your enemies are in a 2 by 2 area close to you. Before the actual pounding and hammering starts, you’ll get the change to change the battlefield by turning the circles or by sliding the segments. When you can align your enemies perfectly, you’ll get an attack bonus which in most cases means a clean fight with no damage.
While on a time limit and with a limited amount of steps to perform, you’ll be scratching your head more than once, wishing you had help. Remember those characters you saved previously… Well turns out they can actually help you out. Each saved toad will be in the stands rooting for you. If you throw out some coins before you start, they’ll help you out by either doing extra damage or even solving (part of) the puzzle depending on how much coins you threw. If you can manage to find the solution and end the fight with no damage taken, you’ll get enough coins back to make this a valuable tactic to use when things get tougher.
Boss battles mix things up
Each battle has a perfect solution which was easy to find at the start of the game but became gradually harder once I progressed. This keeps things interesting but also made battle feel more tedious than ever before. The battles in Paper Mario: The Origami King were starting to feel like the bits in between the great adventure you’d like to skip. The fact these battles didn’t earn experience like in previous Paper Mario entries, I started to avoid them when possible. They did get better when the game progressed with some variations thrown into the mix but I felt this mechanic overstated its welcome a bit fast.
Luckily you’ll have the boss fights to look forward to. Mario’s place in the center of the battlefield is taken up by the boss and Mario starts from the outside. Each ring has arrows and attack circle shattered on it. When you finish the puzzle steps, Mario will follow the arrows to hopefully end up on an attack circle near a weak point. Using your boots to jump or your trusty hammer on the right parts of the boss might make a whole lot of difference. With each boss battle throwing constant curveballs you’ll really need to think before you act in order to come out on top.
Magic circle
Around the world, magic circles appear which can activate a special power. The 1000-fold-hands power for instance will be used extensively throughout the game. When activated, Mario gets origami hands which can stretch far beyond his normal reach. These can be used to solve puzzles but also to pummel certain enemies into oblivion. What’s more unique is that they use the motion controls to perform these actions. Yanking that controller back and forth looks awkward for anyone around but is actually fun in context. If you happen to dislike these types of controls, you’ll be glad to know there is an option to switch these off. Olivia will also acquire some extra powers during your adventure which can be used by activating a magic circle so be sure to look out for these.
RPG under the rug
Paper Mario has always been the RPG-light iteration of a Mario game. Paper Mario: The Origami King is a bit lacking in that department. Mario will find a few “heart ups” which will grant him more HP and make him stronger but the classic RPG progression is just not there. All the new abilities learned are learned because you’ll need them at that specific point in the game. This makes Paper Mario: The Origami King, a very linear game which is only a problem when I consider the previous entries in the series. As it is, I like how the game plays out but I would’ve preferred some more RPG elements – like in previous Paper Mario games – in the mix.
Conclusion
Paper Mario: The Origami King has all the cutesy, filly elements tucked into the story as you’d expect from a Paper Mario. The new battle mechanic feels kind of lukewarm after a while but starts to feel great during the boss battles. The RPG elements are very watered down but when viewed as a standalone game (not part of a series) I didn’t mind it at all.
