Paper Mario: The Origami King

It’s no secret that Paper Mario has fallen on harsh times over the past ten years. Sticker Star and Paper Jam failed to capture the magic that Nintendo found with the series in the early 2000s. And while Colour Splash was more in-tune with Paper Mario’s roots, players didn’t entirely take to it like Nintendo had hoped they would. In fact, those games were generally so disliked, that many had considered the series dead and buried.

I didn't have any frame issues or crashes during my playthrough. The soundtrack for the game is fantastic, the characters are amusing, and the art direction is spot-on. The game is so close to being a game of the year contender, it hurts.

The saving grace is that combat isn’t all that frequent in Paper Mario: The Origami King, so it doesn’t bring the experience down all that much. You’ll have so much fun exploring its papercraft world and devouring every line of its sumptuous dialogue that you’ll just grit your teeth and persist through the battles you encounter, knowing full well that in a minute or so you’ll be back at the good stuff. It isn’t perfect, but Paper Mario: The Origami King has a huge amount of charm, and those with a keen sense of humour and adventure will find themselves effortlessly falling in love with it.

A new approach to combat transforms the series' combat from its glaring weakness into one of its biggest strengths.

Paper Mario may have shed its RPG trappings fully by this point, but that doesn't stop The Origami King from being one of the best and most memorable outings in the series' long history.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is a wonderful new entry that helps sell the idea that trying new things was the right move. While the series has had some ups and downs, Origami King nails the mix of enjoyable combat and fun gameplay. It would be nice if there was a little bit more depth to the story, but there's enough to make everything fun and lighthearted while occasionally having dynamic story moments that bring the characters together. The combat could potentially be more difficult for younger players, but it's hard not to recommend picking up Paper Mario: The Origami King when it's simply...

While it may not return to the heights of The Thousand-Year Door, Paper Mario: The Origami King is by far the best entry in the series in over a decade and gives us hope for the future of the series for the first time in awhile.

That simplicity is overridden by originality and vigor, then - but I also know all too well that some fans of the older Paper Mario games will once again walk away a little disappointed. This is still undoubtedly no Thousand Year Door. Perhaps the next outing can bring back a little of that RPG depth - but regardless of that, this is still the best Paper Mario game in years.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is far from a bad game; it’s just not one that meets its potential. This feels like a solid first step from Intelligent Systems to finally find a new groove for the franchise. Hopefully the team continues to iterate on the design and deliver a follow-up that finally mixes that classic Paper Mario tone and feel with quality gameplay that fans love. It can, and arguably should, be different from the original games, but it needs to be more than this.

The Origami King is a truly likeable game despite the shallowness of its new spin on gameplay. Its characters are winsome, its visual design is gorgeous, its world is fun to explore, and its storytelling is outside the box and playful. At the same time, however, it could be so much more. Combat is largely unfulfilling, and your journey as a whole lacks meaningful choices. For a series with RPG roots, that’s a real shame.

“Paper Mario: The Origami King is a charming Mario adventure marred by a difficult and tedious battle system.”

If you’re a fan of the series then you can’t go wrong, but it’s not the strongest game in the franchise with its plain bad battle system, regardless of how charming and beautiful it is.