Game Review #8

Title screen

Title: Paper Mario: The Origami King

Genre: Action-adventure, Turn-based RPG

Developer(s): Intelligent Systems

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

Release Date: July 17, 2020

About the story:

Mario and Luigi goes to Princess Peach's castle after being invited to an origami festival only to find out that someone turned the flat paper citizens into origami. After the castle was transported into a far away volcano, Mario and friends travel to save the princess and prevent a nefarious plan from taking shape.

World screen

World screen

Dungeon screen

Gameplay:

Paper Mario: The Origami King is the sixth game in the Paper Mario franchise. Paper Mario: TOK mixes several elements like action-adventure, puzzle and rpg into it's gameplay. Paper Mario has an open-world setting where the player has the freedom to travel, fight enemies, do some mini-games or just look for collectibles. The action-adventure and puzzle elements applies when travelling the world and when fighting enemies.

Ordinary battle

Boss battle

Paper Macho battle

In ordinary encounters, the player must line-up the enemies either in a straight line or in a 2x2 setting to receive the attack damage bonus while in boss battles, the player must direct Mario using the lines on the screen in order to attack the boss. Both battle modes provides the player with a couple of options to attack such as the hammer (for 2x2 melee attack) and the boots (for a straight attack), there are also a couple of offensive items that can be utilized by the player. Paper machos are a different type of enemy encounter in this game, the paper machos are like pseudo bosses and will be fought in the traditional action-rpg setting where the player gets to navigate Mario freely on the battle field to attack and/or dodge. Ordinary and boss battles doesn't give the player the freedom to do that, instead, the player is provided with a limited number of moves and a timer to line-up/move the panels in order to attack the opponent. The player can also use a couple of items while navigating the world to avoid enemies, track toads, search for collectibles.

Accessories screen

Items used on the open-world

Weapons screen

The world is riddled with puzzles that the player must solve in order to advance story wise, there are also lots of collectibles for the player to find. Some toads are vital to the plot and needs to be saved while most of the toads are optional, saving toads provides the player with points which can be used to unlock stuff from the game's gallery like art, audio, etc. Some toad NPCs that can sell important items needs to be saved too in order to access their wares. Aside from a large amount of stuff to collect in this game, there are also a lot of mini-games that can be played, some are really punishing (if you're doing a 100% completion run).

Fishing mini-game

Magic circle

Shooting mini-game

Aside from the traditional controls, Paper Mario: TOK also includes tilting the controller as part of it's integral control. From boss battles, to mini-games or just exploring the world, the game will require the player to tilt the controller into different directions to find the "right" spot, or to do a stronger attack. Weapons are destroyed after a fixed number of use but weapons and money are somewhat easy to come by in this game.

Verdict:

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Aesthetics: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5

Paper Mario: The Origami King is a very innovative game. It mixes multiple game genres without the game being a messy hodge podge. The game incorporates timed puzzles into the traditional turn-based battles to give the player a challenge. The different modes of battles can take some time to get used to but it gives a more diverse and non-repetitive approach to the game. While innovative, the game's timed puzzles can also be annoying, the game doesn't really have a replay value as well. Some parts of the gameplay aren't really explained well and there are some  minor bugs (unlocking the audio on the gallery) in-game. While the game's story is linear, both the story and dialog can play with your emotions. The game manages to provide a balance between the fun moments and the tear jerking moments. The game's use of paper mache as backgrounds is really fresh. Paper Mario: TOK has great visuals, mixing paper mache background with the paper cut-off and origami characters really looks great. The character and world designs are cute but not too childish. The game's audio score mixes well with the game, from the background music while exploring, to the battle themes and especially the cutscenes. The scoring for the somber moments really nailed it. If you're looking for a great RPG, this might not be your cup of tea since the game really lacks some of the most important aspects of a RPG. Paper Mario: The Origami King is still a great and fun game which can be played by casuals and hardcore gamers, children and adults will find this game enjoyable and worth playing.