PLATFORM: SWITCH | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Paper Mario has always done things a bit differently to the main Mario games, and The Origami King is no exception. Mario and Luigi arrive at an origami festival in Toad Town to discover that it isn’t quite the fun and carefree outing that they were expecting – King Olly has kidnapped all the Toads and wrapped Princess Peach’s castle in super-strong paper streamers, holding it hostage as part of his efforts to become the leader of a new origami kingdom. Aided by Luigi and newcomer Olivia, it’s up to Mario to track down the “Vellumentals,” ancient spirits who will grant him the magical abilities necessary for taking down King Olly once and for all…
Following an RPG-style mission structure (pretty much all that remains of the series’ role-playing roots), Mario travels through six open areas which, while fairly small, are packed with things to do. There are puzzles to solve, hidden areas to discover, Toads to rescue and tons of adorably dorky characters to interact with, and its subversive humour means that surprises are in store around almost every single corner.
TOK‘s turn-based combat follows in its Paper predecessors’ footsteps, but adds an extra dimension to battles with its new “ring system.” From his position in the centre of a circular board, Mario has a limited amount of time to slide and rotate the field in order to group enemies together before unleashing his attacks. It’s fairly easy to get to grips with, but some of these puzzles can become headache-inducingly tricky as time goes on. Successful line-ups add a damage multiplier which often allows battles to be won in a single turn, but things become much trickier if enemies are left scattered around the board. Boss battles shake things up by placing Mario on the outer ring, needing to line up the trap-filled board in such a way that he has a clear path to his enemy in the middle – these are really quite excellent, although they can be quite a test of patience at times!
As enemies are a major source of coins and confetti (two things that you need lots of throughout the game), it’s possible that the puzzle aspect of battles might start wearing a bit thin sooner rather than later. Various items eventually become available to speed things up (or to bypass the ring puzzle completely) but those who want to get straight to the fighting might find it to be a bit much. Having said that, it’s really the only potentially divisive part of an otherwise unquestionably fun package. The Origami King takes players on an endlessly delightful bright and colourful journey which is up there with the finest Mario adventures – less RPG, more laid-back action-adventure, if everything clicks with the combat system then it’ll keep you amused for a long time to come.
