REVIEW: Paper Mario, The Origami King is a fun adventure on paper

Don't be "bent" in Nintendo's new plumber adventure in Paper Mario: The Origami King

Paper Mario definitely one of the franchises spin off most famous of Nintendo's mustachioed plumber.

The series is known for mixing RPG mechanics with a lot of humor and to pack it all in a world made entirely of paper.

Now, Mario returns in Paper Mario: The Origami King for one of your most eccentric and hilarious adventures.

Showmetech had access to a personal copy of Paper Mario: The Origami King to Nintendo Switch and, after a few days of intense gambling in that paper world and more than 20 hours playing with Shy Guys of origami, we bring a complete analysis of the game.

A great card

Despite being a charming franchise and with a good fan base, Paper Mario has a slightly worn formula.

However, surprisingly, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems (developer behind the Paper Mario series) managed to sew all the strange stories of the Mushroom Kingdom so perfectly that there will be few moments when you will laugh during the various hours of the game.

Paper Mario: The Origami King has many references to other Nintendo franchises

The plot does not bring anything new to those who already know the series or who are familiar with the Mario universe: Princess Peach abducted by the mysterious Origami King, which covers the Mushroom Kingdom with threatening tracks.

However, the story has a strong magical aid in the classic elements of the franchise, such as the endless tug of war of Mario and Bowser through the Princess Peach.

In addition, there are plenty of fun references to Nintendo’s vast library of games, ranging from Yoshi’s Island The Super Metroid.

However, it is a pity that this versatility in comedy and jokes does not apply to the combat system as well.

Even though the game's fighting mechanics are a lot of fun, it quickly becomes repetitive and those looking for a successor to Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door (the most influential game in the series) may be disappointed with The Origami King.

Get ready for one of Mario's greatest paper adventures

For those who have never tried a Paper Mario game before, know that, just like the previous titles, in essence a game with RPG elements that puts Mario and other characters to fight enemies in turn battles.

In addition, as much as Mario and his friends are creatures made of paper in two dimensions, the player will interact with a completely three-dimensional world, resulting in a crazy but very charming aesthetic that yields several hilarious moments.

Paper Mario: The Origami King abuses comedy and great dialogues

From folding to folding

The Origami King a title that introduces a new and fun twist on the universe in the form of the evil one King Olly, which is bending the two-dimensional residents of the Mushroom Kingdom into origami shapes including Princess Peach to turn them into mindless slaves.

The plot is simple, as in any game in the franchise, but your adventure is decorated with so many crazy moments and crazy characters that you will be involved until the end.

With Princess Peach's castle taken over by the Origami king, Paper Mario must free the kingdom of this villain by venturing into several worlds, including an abandoned samurai-style amusement park and a desert apparently trapped in an endless night cycle.

Fortunately Mario has a bag of confetti that he can throw on “broken” elements of the scenery to fix them.

Mario counts on the help of Oliva to face the evil King Olly

Unlike most classic Mario games, the characters talk a lot with Luigi, Bowser and Mario’s new companion, Olive, often punctuating conversations with games.

But certainly those who steal the army are the Toads who hide in various parts of the Kingdom, waiting for Mario to free them from their origami prisons.

While saving Toads increases the strength of a special combat-focused skill, the main incentive to rescue them will be to listen to your dialogues, which in addition to hilarious ones often break the fourth wall and speak directly to the player.

Mario must cross the different worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom and rescue his friends Toads

Something the fans of the series will find strange is the new battle system based on rings that abandon the old RPG mechanics of the franchise in favor of solving puzzles.

Each combat encounter begins with a puzzle where Mario is in charge of grouping enemies with a limited number of platform shift turns.

At the beginning of the adventure, the fighting is so easy that it borders on boredom, simply requiring you to change the Goomba in the form of an origami in a column of four so that Mario can execute a hopscotch by hitting the head or in a square formation to synchronize perfectly with the blast radius from your hammer.

In Paper Mario: The Origami King you need to line the rings of the platforms to strike your enemies

However, puzzles become more complex as the story progresses, as additional variations of enemies are introduced, such as Boos being able to become invisible to test their memory skills and enemies with immunity, showing resistance to Mario's jump attack.

Add to that Mario's skill set that doesn't change beyond the tutorial stage and the lack of an update system that provides any kind of progress and you have combat gameplay that in a matter of hours starts to get extremely repetitive.

The game has a good variety of enemies, but that doesn't stop the combat from getting repetitive

Several secondary characters occasionally give a little girl in combat, but unfortunately do not add new mechanics, simply causing damage to all enemies that you did not defeat after each turn.

This is a big missed opportunity, especially with the potential skill set that many of them have.

There are very few consequences for mistakes during combat as well.

Failing to solve a puzzle before the timer reaches zero does not result in a game over, just giving origami enemies the opportunity to attack.

At no time does the player feel really difficult in the game or problems to progress.

What you lack in challenge in The Origami King, you have in charisma

Fortunately, boss battles are more fun, with Intelligent Systems reversing the shape so that colossal enemies are in the center of the arena, instead of Mario.

This means that you must rotate the turntables several times to navigate to your opponent, while dodging missiles and trying to step on specific panels that do additional damage to your attacks.

Each boss brings a new twist to the table, requiring you to think of a good strategy instead of gross strength.

While special and boss battles are fun, they require a good deal of strategy

Rock, paper, Mario!

Paper Mario: The Origami King It is an adventure in the paper universe of Mario that relies more on his dialogues and hilarious situations than on interesting game mechanics.

Combat using puzzles was an interesting way to Intelligent Systems change the system to RPG style, but that ended up sacrificing the whole challenge of the journey.

If you’re looking for a game that’s not Mario’s classic style and want to have a good laugh, The Origami King your perfect choice on paper and in the gaming world!

Join Mario and have fun in this amazing world made of paper!

You find Paper Mario: The Origami King in physical media at Americanas for R $ 409.

Paper Mario: The Origami King

• Gameplay – 7.5 / 10
• History – 9/10
• Sound – 8.5 / 10
• Visual – 9/10

8.5 / 10

resume

With a charming look and fun dialogues, Paper Mario: The Origami King brings a different fighting mechanic to the paper series of the most famous mustachioed plumber in the gaming world.

Even if the puzzles become repetitive as the adventure progresses, the smile on the player's face with each rescued Toad will make you stuck until the end of that journey.

Pros

• Funny characters and dialogues;
• Charming looks;
• Battles against innovative bosses.

Cons

• Puzzle fighting is repetitive;
• Little challenging;
• Lack of a system of progress.