Paper Mario: The Origami King

[Wraith]

Surprise.

 

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A NEW PAPER-CRAFTED MARIO ADVENTURE UNFOLDS ON NINTENDO SWITCH

The kingdom has been ravaged by an origami menace! Join Mario and his new partner, Olivia, as they team up with unlikely allies like Bowser and the Toads to battle evil Folded Soldiers.

 

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Try to free Princess Peach’s castle from the clutches of King Olly in this comedy-filled adventure, only on the Nintendo Switch system.

Out July 17th.

[Perkilator]

Well, Christ, those cutscenes were kinda dark.

[Sonictrainer]

Wait, this comes out in 2 months?

EDIT: The Japanese Site shows off a brand battle system that looks like a mix of old and new elements.

 

[Dreadknux]

@Wraith you might want to avoid making text a certain colour (the text in the quote tags are white), I'm unable to read it in the light theme.

This is a total surprise, straight outta nowhere! I mean, we all 'knew' a Paper Mario was coming due to all the rumours... but coming in July? That's quite soon!

I know a lot of people rag on the Paper Mario series these days, but I'm one of those weirdos that likes it (I enjoyed Sticker Star, until I got stuck helplessly on the world map with no idea what to do or where to go, lol!). If they tweak the battle system so you're not SOL if you happen to not have a particular item, it should be a much more refined experience.

[KHCast]

Legit surprised Covid-19 didn’t see this pushed back, that’s the biggest shock to me lol. But yeah I love the aesthetic they’re going with this time around. Gameplay wise I’ll wait and see before making any assumptions yet, but so far that’s looking about on par with what’s to be expected from a modern PM. So I’m a bit concerned, but hopeful still 

 

[Graystripe2000]

New screenshots confirm partners. 

 

[Sean]

I'm going to need a thorough breakdown of the battle system before I consider jumping on board with this. Sticker Star and Color Splash are the worst Mario games I have ever played and I'm not seeing much here that shows me this is the improvement I've been looking for.

[Salamander]

Well, this certainly looks more promising on the face of it than the past couple of entries.  Hard to make too many judgements about the battle system yet, but they're willing to make changes, which is correct.  So far as new characters versus stock characters goes, having played the extra stories in the Mario & Luigi 3DS remakes, I am now firmly in the camp that it all comes down to the writing; the extra storylines in the remakes were some of the best Mario writing ever, all with pre-established characters.  (This isn't to say that I don't care for new characters - far from it - but it's all in the context.)

[Chili Dawg]

As a man with a raging boner for 64 and Thousand Year Door I see good news and bad news here

The good news: fucking look at it, man

the bad news: fucking look closely at it, man

more good news: look more closely, man

the bad news: keep lookin'

Overall i find myself rather conflicted.

It's fucking gorgeous, no complaints there. 

Our partner is Bobomb the bobomb so yeah, but we also see a Toad with a hat so all hope may not be dead.

Not sure what to make of the battling yet, if the battle system is good, I should be good even if some other game elements of the game make me groan. There's a lot of cool, creative stuff going on, but if battling is a slog it's all for nothing.

 

[Graystripe2000]

Arms gimmick info. I saw a tweet that pointed out the consumable-based battle system didn’t seem to be returning. I’ll link it when I find it.

 

Also, here’s Something weird. 

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

You know, give them credit for trying to call back to the most popular game in the series: 

Give them less credit for calling back to the best Paper Mario game, and then immediately going back to a new battle system that looks weird and confusing.

I was really hoping that with Mario and Luigi's status now being up in the air, Nintendo would've allowed Paper Mario to go back to it's traditional gameplay, since IIRC - the reason they were insistent on changing up PM's battle system so much was due to Mario & Luigi already fulfilling the "RPG" status. 

1 hour ago, Dreadknux said:

This is a total surprise, straight outta nowhere! I mean, we all 'knew' a Paper Mario was coming due to all the rumours... but coming in July? That's quite soon!

 

1 hour ago, KHCast said:

Legit surprised Covid-19 didn’t see this pushed back, that’s the biggest shock to me lol. But yeah I love the aesthetic they’re going with this time around. Gameplay wise I’ll wait and see before making any assumptions yet, but so far that’s looking about on par with what’s to be expected from a modern PM. So I’m a bit concerned, but hopeful still 

 

Honestly, if Origami King is anything like Colour Splash, there's a high chance it's either done, or nearing completion. Colour Splash was finished five full months before the release date, and Nintendo held off on releasing it, which led to the game leaking a full two weeks early on the EShop. It's possible the game's already done, or more or less done, and Nintendo are just holding off on releasing til July.

 

[Graystripe2000]

More screenshots. Looks like we have a magikoopa partner. 

 

[Diogenes]

23 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Give them less credit for calling back to the best Paper Mario game, and then immediately going back to a new battle system that looks weird and confusing.

Seems straightforward enough so far. You can rotate the rings that make up the arena to align enemies into the same row and get certain bonuses. We obviously don't know all the nuances of the mechanic but we shouldn't expect to for a game that's only just been announced.

[Marcello]

All I want is the classic battle system... This hurts doubly so with Mario and Luigi being dead At least the new system looks better than Color Splash's.

Also disappointing to see that all the NPCs are just generic Mario characters.

[Blue Blood]

It's like a I went to the toilet in my own house and found that someone had left diarrhea all over the seat and didn't flush either. I wasn't expecting this, but I should have been about to smell it a mile off. 

[SBR2]

I do wish there were more unique designs but it looks like a lot of fun to me. I don't know the tone feels right the environments are great and the gameplay looks fun. I'm seeing very little to hate.

[Nix]

34 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I was really hoping that with Mario and Luigi's status now being up in the air, Nintendo would've allowed Paper Mario to go back to it's traditional gameplay, since IIRC - the reason they were insistent on changing up PM's battle system so much was due to Mario & Luigi already fulfilling the "RPG" status. 

To be fair to this game, AlphaDream went bankrupt late last year.  Paper Mario was probably way too far along to even consider drastically changing it.

Anyways, I'm cautiously optimistic about this game.  I'm not too adverse to the idea of Paper Mario spinning off from its RPG roots anymore, but Sticker Star and Color Splash did nothing for me.  At the very least, this game looks somewhat more engaging than those two.

[Graystripe2000]

I noticed that in the English battle screenshot, there are “hint” and “cheer” commands. Hints are obvious, but what would the audience cheering do?

[Conando]

I'm a weirdo who actually liked Color Splash (but not Sticker Star, screw that game), so consider me intrigued.

[Blue Blood]

I said this in the status updates, but I think it warrants a proper post instead. Neither the plot, the world nor the cast look like the Paper Mario I know and love. It looks like the same crap we got from Sticker Star and Colour Splash, but the trailer was put together in such a way that you think it's vibing on the plot of the TTYD and Super. It's paper puns and gimmicks in paper world. Not the worst thing, but I've never been a fan of the art style used in Colour Splash. I preferred when the series wasn't just paper jokes, which is sadly what the Origami King seems to be going for.

There are generic Mario NPCs everywhere including a Bob-omb called Bob-omb, Mario gets get a new origami themed exposition fairy partner to go along with the sticker and paint can partners from recent games whilst there's no sign of the original partner system. There might be times where you recruit some of Bowser's minions or other generic NPCs, but... eh. Give me characters. 

The plot looks darker? No, it doesn't. And being dark isn't the important thing. Being interesting and fun is what matters, which is what we got through the various chapters and overarching plots of PM, TTYD and SPM. The trailer opens with some paper puns from a somewhat possessed Peach. But I'm willing to bet they were specifically chosen to be in the trailer so that you think it's like TTYD. In actuality, it's going to be a very simple plot where a paper themed threat replaces Bowser as the big bad, and you've got to rescue Peach from it. Tell me if you think I'm wrong. Don't tell me to "wait and see", but please explain to me if you think I'm missing anything. 

The battle system looks... urgh. I'll be the first to admit that the battle system of the original game and TTYD actually isn't all that amazing. Any time I go back to those games, it doesn't take long before I start to actively avoid getting into battles because they all take so long and basically become muscle memory exercises. But I always loved how simple the HP, attack power and defence system was. Numbers were low, and there was no guesswork or mental arithmetic. I'm seeing something gimmicky here. I'm not impressed by it so far, but I really don't have anything to go on. If there's no relying on stickers, cards and paint then that's already an improvement. 

Fully expecting this to be Sticker Star 3. A few improvements here and there as with Colour Splash, but ultimately Nintendo don't want Paper Mario to be anything but a shadow of its former self and refuse to commit to any real change. Surface level improvements that pretend to listen to feedback.

[PC the Hedgehog]

Looks cute and creative, but so does every other Paper Mario game. If it can't deliver the fulfilling gameplay and lovable characters that the first three games did (and judging from the series' recent history, it's not going to), then it's a hard pass from me.

It's time to face facts: the Paper Mario that we loved back in the day is gone and it's not coming back.

[JosepHenry]

A translated look at the battle system.

Color me intrigued.

[Graystripe2000]

CONFIRMED! Partners will be in-battle, as shown in the Chinese trailer. At the 1:35 mark. 

 

[StaticMania]

The battle system looks "slow".

[Soniman]

Never actually played a Mario Party game so I obviously don't have any attachments to the old game people compare the new titles too so it looks pretty cool to me. Gonna wait for reviews and fan impressions before committing though