By Isaac Espinosa

On July 17th of 2020, Paper Mario: The Origami King, debuted on the Nintendo Switch, becoming the 6th installment in this unique and iconic series. It was met with the same criticisms as prior titles Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash, such as a lack of dynamic worlds and lackluster gameplay. Still, Origami King was seen as a big improvement over those two. And now, nearly three years after Origami King was released, and with a brand new Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake coming to the Switch in 2024, it’s safe to say that a lot of fans are dying to get their hands on the game that’ll return Paper Mario to its roots. But … why?

Back in 2020, I wrote my original review of Paper Mario: The Origami King, and I had an overall positive reaction toward it. But upon revisiting the game in 2023, I found my feelings had changed. And In order to properly convey why, it’s important to understand how Paper Mario has evolved over the years. For a lot of people, Super Paper Mario, which was released to the Wii in 2007, was the beginning of a divergence from what Paper Mario had been. Thousand Year Door had simple but fulfilling turn-based combat and a world filled to the brim with characters that all seemed to have their own individual lives. All the while, it changed the formula of what a Mario-centered story could be because Thousand Year Door felt like a new side to the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario World, which other Mario Games didn’t portray with that level of depth. But with the transition from an RPG to an action-adventure platformer, Super Paper Mario fundamentally changed a lot about Thousand Year Door. So you would think this would be the point when Paper Mario went downhill, right? Surprisingly, it was not. Not only did Super Paper Mario retain the same level of world building and the same number of exclusive locations as Thousand Year Door, it had some of the most emotionally-driven storytelling that you’ll find in ANY game, not just the Mario titles. So what was it that changed about my views of Paper Mario: The Origami King, that warranted this reassessment? 

Essentially, people wanted to return to what the original Paper Mario trio of titles offered. This is not to say that Origami King is unsatisfying – far from it. It has a lot of moments that not only brought me an immense amount of joy, but also reminded me of playing the original Paper Mario trio. Yet it never felt quite the same, even in the story, where the game is supposed to be at its strongest. Sure, there are stellar moments, like the visit to Shogun Studios and the hijinx of the second world, and how each of the Area Bosses, aka the Legion of Stationery, really brings an air of pizazz that the game otherwise lacks. But these small positives are lost amid repetitive dialogue, boring interactions, and a plot that hinges on your ability to ignore a lot of believability issues. For instance, you’re just supposed to accept that there’s a magical fountain that restores the color to paper in order to make events take place, or that the main villain, Olly, wants to rid the world of Toads because they’re… annoying.

And these gripes extend to Origami King’s gameplay.

The gameplay loop of Origami King is easily the worst in the entire series, worse than Color Splash, and even worse than Sticker Star. The problem with all three is that much of the game is supposed to be paced out through initiating in combat and getting into battles, which should make the adventure seem worthwhile, like you’re excited to progress through the game. But the battles exist solely to fill your wallet with coins, so there’s not much point to them. Origami King is the biggest disappointment here: no experience points to actually incentivise you to participate in combat, nothing beyond the coins. Sure, coins actually serve a purpose in battle, such as getting Toads to solve a difficult Ring Battle puzzle or making them attack enemies. But you’ll still have more than enough coins to take on every mandatory battle in the game just by walking around in the overworld and coming upon them. The battles have no real value and are effectively a waste of time. And in a video game, there’s no worse feeling than wasting your time.

I wanted to love Origami King when I posted my initial review back in 2020, and I did. But revisiting it made me realize that the game now fails to impress me. Again, that’s due to its lackluster overall story and insufferable gameplay. That doesn’t mean Origami King doesn’t have its flashes of brilliance. Its soundtrack is beautiful, its visuals incredible. And some parts of the story are at least pretty good. But there’s a reason that a lot of fans, myself included, are excited to return to Paper Mario’s original style. 

Bronx native Isaac Espinosa is a Member at the New York Videogame Critics Circle. Along with being named the Circle’s first assistant Mentor, Isaac also published his first story in The Verge.

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