Oh boy, time to talk about Paper Mario again. I've said my piece about the series in the PM64 post, I know I have weird favorites, but ultimately Super and The Origami King are simply the Paper Mario games that resonated with me the most. I put TTYD through its paces when talking about Paper Mario 64 because there's a direct comparison there, but I'll try not to bring it up when talking about Origami King. TOK is, after all, a pretty unique game, so I want to focus solely on what the game itself does special. So no comparisons this time, let's talk about why Origami King lands so well for me personally.
MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING
But first, I want to talk about what I want from a Mario RPG. At their most fundamental level, I like Mario RPGs because they're able to shine a unique light on the Mario universe that none of the mainline games are able to. The platformers are fantastic on a gameplay level, but with a few exceptions (Sunshine, Galaxy), I always found the limited story and lack of character as a bit of a drawback. I want to be emotionally invested in the Mario cast like I would in a more story-focused platforming series like Klonoa or Sonic or something, but that's not what Nintendo is going for with Mario. The RPGs, on the other hand, are able to flesh out the Mario cast and the various species of the Mushroom Kingdom, all the while offering a nice balance of whimsical comedy and heartfelt emotional beats. I don't inherently think completely original character designs are necessary for this to happen, though. Primarily, I want Mario RPGs to have thoughtful and earnest writing that sucks me into its world and endears me to its characters.
On the gameplay front, I like how Mario RPGs are able to create a unique balance between the RPG and platformer genres, with inventive battle systems built around Mario's unique moveset (as in action commands, stylish moves, Bros Attacks, etc) and a heavy focus on overworld design that encourages platforming and exploration. Ideally, I want the best of both worlds in this aspect, though that's admittely pretty hard to find with the Paper Mario games. And finally, I'm expecting an absolutely banger soundtrack. There's not a single Mario RPG game that I'd say is weak musically, between the consistently fantastic Shimomura scores and lovably eclectic Paper Mario soundtracks, so the composers better be giving it their A-game. A heartfelt character-driven narrative, a unique RPG/platforming fusion with compelling exploration, and an impressive and impactful soundtrack. The Origami King fulfills all three of these major criteria for me, and then some.
Let's start with the story. I think that TOK has hands down the best character writing in the entire Mario franchise. There is so much heart put into how this game's characters are written, and The Origami King takes great pains to wring just enough extra depth out of both its veteran and original characters to make them really likable and engaging. It helps that you don't accumulate a massive party this time, each partner gets an entire chapter to be fleshed out before you move onto the next one. The Bowser family is probably the highlight in this aspect, they have so many amazing character moments. Kamek's role as babysitter gets a big focus, Bowser Jr sacrifices himself to save Mario, Bowser doesn't even hesitate to join Mario's side at the start of the game, it's so good. Olivia is also an absolute joy to be around. She has such a dynamic and colorful personality, and we learn a lot about her through her various ramblings over the course of the game. I'm not exactly sure if she's my favorite of the main Paper Mario characters, I think Huey is slightly better-realized, but she's still fantastic. And of course, there's Bobby who easily ranks alongside Vivian as my favorite Paper Mario partner from a story level. He's remarkably endearing, his arc about figuring out his origins is engaging, his dynamic with Mario and Olivia is adorable, and his tragic sacrifice at the end of his chapter is such a effective gut punch. Even Mario takes a bit to mourn, which is some of the most characterization he's even gotten. Just to really hammer home this game's commitment to characterization, there's a bunch of points where you come across a bench that you can use to just... sit and chat with Olivia and whoever's in your party. On the final bench, Bowser straight-up has a heart-to-heart with you about being a father. TOK shows that the team at IntSys and head writer Taro Kudo truly cares about the Mario cast, and they do a hell of a job at making me care for them too.
Beyond just the character writing, The Origami King also just has a really strong balance between comedy and drama. Color Splash was hilarious, but The Origami King is both hilarious and dark. There's so many cute and charming little details, like how you can break the speaker at a BBQ which kills the background music, or Olivia gushing over Birdo, or the random musical numbers that just pop up occasionally. On the other side of the spectrum, this game has permanent deaths that are treated with the utmost respect. Bobby and Olivia both sacrifice themselves at certain points and don't come back, which is more than I could say about TEC or Luvbi. There's also a surprising amount of body horror ranging from Peach's body being used as a tapestry to a bunch of toads having their faces hole-punched out to a buzzy beetle made of Bowser's ripped army to a cutscene where Mario gets sliced in half to a stapler boss that gets its "jaw" snapped. The Origami King feels particularly creative with how it uses its paper setting in this aspect, and you get the impression the team had a lot of fun pushing the limits with what they can get away with when the characters are made of stationary. So yeah, as far as story goes, I love what The Origami King tried to do. Sure, there aren't as many unique character designs as in other Mario RPGs, but that's not what makes for an engaging story. The writing is what makes for an engaging story, and I stand by TOK being one of the best-written pieces of Mario media ever.
Now let's talk about the gameplay. The Origami King is at its core more of an action-adventure game than an RPG. There is a much stronger focus on exploring its large open world, than there is on fighting enemies, and it shows in how much the developers seem to love letting you skip fights completely. As far as that exploration goes, TOK freaking nails it, it's easily the best in any Paper Mario game. The settings in this game are absolutely massive and a joy to explore, full of secrets and collectibles to find like crumpled toads and confetti holes to fill up. There's a ton of fun and memorable setpieces and settings, so many to even really get into. You play a soccer game with giant paper mache Shy Guys, explore a variety of Zelda-like dungeons to fight elemental monsters, wander around a shogun-themed amusement park doing various attractions and events, visit a serene spa in the middle of the jungle, wage an all-out battle inside Bowser's Castle, and my personal favorite, explore a massive ocean filled with entirely optional islands that feels ripped straight out of Wind Waker. As a matter of fact, TOK feels a lot like some of the best Zelda games in terms of its progression, it was frankly a breath of fresh air coming right between Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom.
As for the battle system, this is where things admittedly get a bit iffier. Now I'm not going to lie to you and say that the ring system in this game stacks up to the actual RPG combat of other entries in the series, of course it doesn't. However... I still don't mind it, actually? Look, if I'm not into an RPG battle system, I'll let you know. I can rant about the limited attacks in Sticker Star and Color Splash all day, but I genuinely had a good time with the ring system. I'm a puzzle fan after all, and successfully lining up the enemies was something I actually found quite satisfying. If anything, I wish the puzzles were tougher, Origami King is kind of a piece of cake overall. Thankfully, the boss fights pick up the slack in this aspect, as they can be genuinely head-scratching and tough at points. The decision to flip the system on its head by having the boss in the middle of the ring, and the player trying to chart a path to it is really creative and led to some really enjoyable encounters. The accessories system was also a pleasant surprise, they're essentially a lite version of the badges from previous games, but they get super expensive which really encouraged me to go into battles and accumulate the money I needed to buy them. If you don't like the ring system, that's totally fine, it's not something I want to see in every Paper Mario game of course. However, in a genre where I frequently tend to fall off games entirely either out of boredom or hitting a wall with a specific battle, I think it says a lot about TOK's gameplay that it managed to keep me engaged for its roughly 30 hour runtime.
In terms of its presentation, Paper Mario: The Origami King looks absolutely stellar. I don't care what anyone says, Paper Mario games should look like actual paper dioramas. It's such a lovely and charming artstyle with so much versatility and potential, and seeing how the developers try to realize everyday objects with the limited materials is always a joy. To this day, I think TOK is one of the best-looking games on the Switch, it's lush, colorful, detailed, and just plain visually-interesting. Another thing I'll defend is how the characters are paper cutouts, I vastly prefer them to the puppet tweening that the earlier games had solely for the range of expressions all the characters have (note: this came out before the TTYD remake announcement, obviously things have changed slightly). As I mentioned earlier, I think TOK does such a good job at playing around with the limitations of the paper characters, and it just leads to so many charming details and visual quirks that left me with a big grin on my face for the whole game.
And then there's the soundtrack... holy crap. I said I wanted a banger soundtrack, but The Origami King has one of Nintendo's greatest OSTs of all time. It's an eight-hour 200+ track behemoth with so many incredible tracks, from lovely area themes (Picnic Road, Autumn Mountain, Exploring The Great Sea), to catchy town themes (Snif City, Exploring Shogun Studios, Toad Town), to so many impeccable one-off tracks that have no business being as good as they are (Pool Party, MAX Power, Swan Lake - Punk Remix, Tranquil Pipes Treehouse), to an absolutely godly final dungeon theme with Yoko Shimomura doing the vocals. And that's not even getting into the battle music! Just to emphasize how much effort the music team put into this soundtrack, there's a unique version of the battle theme for every area. And the boss themes are all these heavy metal bangers, very similar to Sonic Frontiers in how they just slap you out of nowhere. The highlights for me are Disco Devil, The Shifty Sticker, Boss Fight, and The Dual-Blade Duelist, but they're all incredible. The Origami King's soundtrack is the definition of "didn't need to go this hard", and the fact that it wasn't even nominated for best music at the 2020 Game Awards still has me furious to this day.
I really don't know what else to say, Paper Mario: The Origami King is a game that just really resonates with me on every level. It taps into what I want from a Mario RPG, but in a more unconventional way. The story is this utterly wild blend of incredibly solid character writing, quirky humor, and gleefully unhinged body horror that was a joy to follow throughout. The gameplay is a really fun adventure game with incredibly engaging exploration, tons of charming and memorable setpieces, and a very unique battle system that, while flawed, I still found quite satisfying. And the presentation is absolutely gorgeous, with one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. The Origami King has so much heart and charm put into every single crease, it's a game that I will always unabashedly love, no matter what.
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