SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
A hilariously self-aware adventure with charming characters and captivating visuals, the latest Paper Mario is proof of Nintendo’s commitment to innovate, even if the flimsy combat is often far too tedious.
Perhaps the best thing about the latest Paper Mario is that it is unabashedly Nintendo down to the bone. While Microsoft and Sony square off for the next generation of consoles, it’s games like this that explain exactly why Nintendo hasn’t yet bothered to join in. When they play to the strengths of the Switch, magic is the inevitable result. While I have to confess now that I’ve never been a huge fan of Super Mario, this game is some of the most fun I’ve had on my Switch to date. I was laughing until my sides hurt and realised that, when shooting, stabbing and blowing things up dominate our games, just how rare it is to find a game made by people who didn’t forget that they can actually be funny.
Set in the spinoff papercraft universe, Paper Mario: The Origami King begins when the Mario Bros. receive an invitation from Princess Peach to visit the Origami Festival taking place in Toad Town. Upon arrival however, they soon discover that everything has gone awry. The evil Origami King Olly has plans to dominate the paper world, folding Princess Peach into an origami creature, spiriting away her entire castle to a remote mountaintop and wrapping it all in brightly coloured streamers. Together with Olly’s sister Olivia, Mario must journey across the Mushroom Kingdom to unravel the streamers, break into the castle and save the princess once again.
It’s a grand adventure; at roughly thirty hours from start to finish, I took quite a bit longer than I initially expected. Regardless, that time wasn’t exactly filled with nothing. The game takes Mario and company all over the Mushroom Kingdom, through new and wacky locales that are all infused with personality and charm. As someone who doesn’t really know a thing about Mario games beyond the original 2D sidescrollers that are now thirty years old, it was a pleasant surprise to find The Origami King benefitting from a suitably dramatic and incredibly funny story that tugs your heartstrings nearly as frequently as it tickles your funny bone. It’s subtly, but smartly written and even poignant at points; I am unashamed to admit that I shed a few tears. True, there’s some unnecessary narrative padding and I did occasionally sigh at the game’s insistence on having Mario journey back and forth, revisiting old areas. Luckily Nintendo’s missed opportunity to trim the excess is smoothed over by the game’s irresistible sense of breezy charm. Even when stuck in a sandpaper desert, Olivia was always on hand with an amusing pun or joke that made the meandering bearable.
In case you haven’t guessed already, Olivia is probably my favourite part of the game hands down. The cast of characters, including a few welcome series stalwarts, are all adorable and personable, but Olivia easily tops the list. Her naivete and innocence means she’s often hilarious without meaning to be, and I really began to get attached to her as we adventured across the land while she sat tucked inside Mario’s pocket. She’s a symbol of this game’s fantastic sense of self-aware, self-referential humour that makes it a laugh riot. It’s packed with cheeky references, running gags and that wonderful Nintendo silliness that seems to have seeped right into this game’s soul. I was smiling through boss battles and the almost unbearably cheesy moments where our characters spontaneously began music videos or impressively choreographed dance numbers. It’s often hilarious and silly beyond belief, but somehow never too out of left field. Perhaps The Origami King’s most dominant personality trait is its refusal to take things too seriously, and the all-pervasive sense of irreverence makes it a joy to experience.
Well for the most part. When it gets to gameplay and combat, The Origami King becomes decidedly flimsier and – if you’ll forgive the pun – a little paper-thin. Those expecting a massive Mario RPG will inevitably wind up disappointed, so it’s best to check those expectations at the door. Combat encounters are essentially variations of the same puzzle. Enemies will attack you wild Pokémon style, and appear on a board made up of concentric rings. Your task: rotate and shift the rings to line enemies up or pack them together so Mario can bounce on their heads or swing a sledgehammer at them to do damage. There are a few solid innovations here: Mario series icons like the fire flower and mushroom appear as combat items; you can throw fireballs with the fire flower for example. Mario can also equip gear: flashy hammers do more damage than the default hammer while iron boots let him squash spiky enemies, and so on.
It works. But it’s worth keeping in mind that’s all there is to the combat. Even the boss battles, which represent combat at its best, are only supersized versions of the standard encounters. The puzzles are timed which can add some pressure if you’re not tactically minded, but you have the option to spend your way out of trouble by throwing coins to the Toads for them to adjust the board for you, or alternatively you can just pay for more time in a real pinch. It even considers having a party system; occasionally your companions jump in and deal damage, but the game ultimately decides not to explore the idea any further.
Combat quickly becomes tedious rather than exciting, since the risk of losing is astronomically low. Even with the Pokémon games, random battles have utility. In The Origami King, they don’t offer experience points or items, only coins, and I always had more of those than I knew what to do with. Setting aside the boss battles, where you actually have to strategise, the puzzle combat remains stagnant after the fundamentals are drip-fed to you over the first few hours. On your journey across the Mushroom Kingdom, it becomes an annoyance.
But what a beautiful journey it is. The game’s paper visuals are full of vibrant primary colours and rendered in crisp detail on the Switch whether you’re playing on the handheld or on the TV. The world practically pops off the screen, with a truly eclectic set of expertly designed levels with their own distinct aesthetics and colour palettes. The origami characters and enemies look more 3D than their paper counterparts, who look more like moving cut-outs from a child’s sticker book. And there’s plenty of attention to detail too, even with smaller things like Mario and Olivia’s facial expressions shifting as they perfectly stomp a line of enemies in combat or dust themselves off after yet another wild gameplay sequence.
Overall, there were things my inner child really loves about The Origami King. Actually, adult me loves a lot of those things as well, even if I don’t quite have the same amount of patience for the backtracking. I don’t think either of us are particularly fond of the puzzle combat though, and it’s a shame that something which sounds like a decent concept on paper stagnates when put into practice. If you’re looking for another Mario adventure, this is a solid pick as long as you’re willing to stick through some tedium in order to get your laughs.
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