How bloody awesome does Paper Mario: The Origami King look? Available for pre-load know, ahead of its July 17 launch, Paper Mario: The Origami King looks like a true return to form for the series. Set in the paper Mushroom Kingdom, this time, the titular Origami King, Olly, has stolen Princess Peach’s castle.
Not only that, Olly has used Origami to fold up the world, create havoc and attempted to prevent Paper Mario from saving the day. Luckily, Paper Mario has help from Olly’s sister Olivia who wants to put a stop to Olly’s nonsense.
Other, more familiar faces appear, including Bob-omb, Bowser Jr, Magikoopa and more. However, the folded up Bowser is sure to be a comedy king.
Paper Mario: The Origami King
When he stole Princess Peach’s Castle, Olly left five streamers attached and by following these streamers, Mario is hoping to return the castle back to where it belongs. Along the way, he’ll have to use special paper-folding techniques to open up paths, explore and keep forging ahead.
Through his journey, Mario will explore an autumn mountain, a ninja filled mansion, an underground sewer system, a desert oasis, raging rapids an ancient ruin and more. This looks to be one of the most environmentally diverse games in the Paper Mario series and the new folded paper and origami aesthetic really makes it pop.
Battling has always been at the heart of Paper Mario and in The Origami King battles take place on a 360-degree grid of rings. Enemies take up positions along the grid and Mario is able to slide the rings in order to move the enemies into more advantageous positions. When the enemies are lined up in an appropriate position, Mario gains boosts in combat which can help him win more quickly and easily.
Mario’s Boots and Hammer make a return in addition to the Fire Flower, Racoon Tail and POW block and we’re sure to see additional weapons throughout the game.
Bosses flip battles on their head. They take up residence in the centre of the circle and Mario will need to create a path to get to the boss. These bosses, members of the Legion of Stationary are all the natural enemies of paper. A box of pencils, sticky tape and a rubber band man have been revealed so far. When Mario fights these bosses, you’ll need to slide and spin the grid of circles to make a path and then use the bosses weakness against it.
For example, the box of pencils can launch ‘pencil missiles.’ If mario can get behind the box and shut its lid in time, the missiles will explode inside the box, dealing lots of damage.
Hidden throughout the game, players will find origami made from poor defenceless Toads. By whacking this origami with Mario’s hammer, you can free the toads and return them to their true, paper form. In the video, we see an origami cicada, a dog, a flower and a fried egg. Collecting Toads looks to give Mario a bonus in battle as they appear in the audience and can give Mario some assistance.
Mario is also able to repair the world by throwing confetti. He can patch holes torn in the landscape for bonus rewards as well as investigate and explore off the beaten path to find hidden items.
Paper Mario: The Origami King launches for Switch on July 17 and is available for pre-load today for those who pre-purchase.
