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Paper Mario and the Origami King Previews

Jooxed

Gold Member
BUr0zvX.jpg



Paper Mario: The Origami King is not the return to the traditional roots of the series I was hoping for. Like other recent entries in the series, it de-emphasizes character-progression elements to provide a simplified role-playing-game experience. And yes, that means Mario doesn’t earn experience points for battles and doesn’t level up as a result of those fights


That comes down to the characters and the world. Everything everyone says is always so entertaining. One of the main concepts of the game is that the titular Origami King folded up toads and hid them around the environment. And it is a joy to discover them and then to see what they’re going to say. Paper Mario has the best kind of eye-rolling wordplay, and I’m loving that.

Developer Intelligent Systems also nailed the exploration and discovery. The locales are detailed with a ton of style. And I love moving through these spaces and looking for secrets. As part of his evil plan, the Origami King wrapped up Peach’s castle in giant paper streamers that unfurl out into the world. And it is awesome to see the blue streamer always hanging overhead and sort of drawing you along through the first area.




The comedic and visually delightful spin-off has its origins in Square’s seminal Super Mario RPG, the Super Nintendo role-playing classic that took all the hallmarks of the Final Fantasy house – strategic turn-based battles and deep levelling stats – and applied them to one of gaming’s most beloved cast of characters.

It’s this combination of charm and depth that won over fans in Paper Mario’s formative N64 years, and reached its absolute peak in the knockout classic The Thousand Year Door on Nintendo GameCube.

But ever since – whether to appeal to a broader audience, or differentiate it from the competing Mario & Luigi RPGs – the Paper Mario series has increasingly distanced itself from its role-playing roots, ditching XP, levelling and other elements in favour of a more action-focused approach



At this point, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have the Paper Mario recipe down to a science: Start with a beloved cast of characters, mix in a new battle system, add a dash of RPG elements, blend together with a healthy dose of comedy for 30-odd hours, and you’ve got yourself a brand new Paper Mario. After seven hours with the latest installment of the 20-year-old franchise, Paper Mario: The Origami King seems to follow this recipe to a ‘T’. The end result is a whimsical melange of what we’ve come to know and love about Paper Mario, although it does feel a bit predictable.



Predictability isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone wants a Paper Mario game to do a few things: tell a new story, let us play a Mario game from a different perspective, and elicit a few laughs along the way. The Origami King opens with Mario and Luigi en route to a festival at Princess Peach’s Castle. Upon arrival, they learn that Peach and several other Mushroom Kingdom denizens have been folded into evil, origami likenesses by a tiny menace named King Olly. Mario befriends Olly’s sister Olivia, a paper pixie with an almost Leslie Knope-esque energy, and the journey to restore the Mushroom Kingdom is underway.




As it stands, Paper Mario: The Origami King is shaping up to be a must-have for Nintendo fans. Everything you come to expect from a new Super Mario game is here: the humour, the colour, the characters, and the persistent charm we’ve all come to love over the last three decades. I’ve still got tons left to do before I finish but Nintendo is onto something with the Origami King and I’m having a hard time putting the game down. There is also a ton of things I’m not willing to talk about yet so stay tuned for more thoughts next week.







 
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-Arcadia-

Banned
So, still more Not Paper Mario. How thick is this company? Three installments, over not far away from a decade, and they're still at this?

That said, if you're going to do Not Paper Mario, this at least looks like a fun take on it. That should be part of the conversation. It looks like a big improvement over the last two.
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
So, still more Not Paper Mario. How thick is this company? Three installments, over not far away from a decade, and they're still at this?

That said, if you're going to do Not Paper Mario, this at least looks like a fun take on it. That should be part of the conversation. It looks like a big improvement over the last two.


Yeah I am a little disappointed at the lack of "RPG" in this but I am intrigued on how hilarious everyone is saying it is.
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I genuinely feel like some high-up producer is ass-mad over the reception Sticker Star's changes got, and won't let these games shift back to what they were, out of some personal vendetta.

I really don't have another explanation. There doesn't look to be another M&L title on the horizon, if ever. Sales roughly meet expectation for each entry of the series, relative to the consoles they're on, without big discrepancies for one style or the other... I'm just at a loss here.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Oof, no XP or level up mechanics? Was hoping this would be the game that returned Paper Mario to the glory days.
 

Shifty1897

Member
Nintendo Marketing is sending this out to die. Not included in a direct, announced one month before release, and I've seen no ads, video or otherwise. Only enthusiast gamers even know it's coming out.
 
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I'm fucking IN! I really enjoyed every Paper Mario game. Color Splash was just a bit boring, but it looked stunning at spots. I'm down for a more polished version of that.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I didn't play pervious Paper Mario games so I'm going in to this game for its own merit instead of expecting to play like "past Paper Mario".
 
I didn't play pervious Paper Mario games so I'm going in to this game for its own merit instead of expecting to play like "past Paper Mario".

Word. I mean, the first two games are the best ones in the series, but TTYD fans sound like truthers at this point. They sound like Melee fans because muh technical play. "No experience points" is the new "lower skill ceiling".
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Word. I mean, the first two games are the best ones in the series, but TTYD fans sound like truthers at this point. They sound like Melee fans because muh technical play. "No experience points" is the new "lower skill ceiling".
To me it’s very clear that they just don’t want to go back to old way of making Paper Mario for whatever reason, so should they force to do something they don’t want for sake of making fans happy?
 

Mihos

Gold Member
I always liked the paper asthetic, but it sounds like this is definitely not for me. I like leveling up and absolutely hate weapon damage. The line up stuff looks like it will get old fast.

I have never played a Mario game for the story.
 

tkscz

Member
The combat is once again pointless. I may get it for the story and world as those seem interesting, but why do they insist on adding the RPG combat if they are going to make it to where you don't want to battle?
 

jakinov

Member
Nintendo Marketing is sending this out to die. Not included in a direct, announced one month before release, and I've seen no ads, video or otherwise. Only enthusiast gamers even know it's coming out.
First two isn't a huge deal. I don't think many non-enthusiastic watch directs, and games don't really need to be announced far in advanced. Closer the marketing is to release the better. Lack of ads is concerning but they could also just be sending a lot of copies to YouTubers and focusing the marketing to cheaper online-targeted ads. I didn't see a lot of Last of Us 2 ads until it was already out and it told me to get it now.
 
Hmm don't think I'll be getting this then. Colour splash was a big mistake for me, I spent a fair few hours with it but that was just due to lack of games at the time. Now I'm also a pc gamer that's no longer an issue (I have the opposite problem actually). It does look nice but that's no where near enough for me. I wouldn't spend hours watching a TV show with this sort of ascetic and so I'm certainly not paying Nintendo prices for the pleasure of plodding around this world bored with probably no challenge.

Basically I'm grumpy that Nintendo are increasingly reducing reductive games.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
First two isn't a huge deal. I don't think many non-enthusiastic watch directs, and games don't really need to be announced far in advanced. Closer the marketing is to release the better. Lack of ads is concerning but they could also just be sending a lot of copies to YouTubers and focusing the marketing to cheaper online-targeted ads. I didn't see a lot of Last of Us 2 ads until it was already out and it told me to get it now.

Comparing brand awareness and marketing strategy of Paper Mario with The Last of Us 2?!

The likely answer is that Nintendo ran the numbers and for this title the return on investment on additional marketing worth it. They could sell more copies, but in their eyes not enough.
Simple as that, we can disagree and we could like them to push harder, but it is what it is.
 

jakinov

Member
Comparing brand awareness and marketing strategy of Paper Mario with The Last of Us 2?!

The likely answer is that Nintendo ran the numbers and for this title the return on investment on additional marketing worth it. They could sell more copies, but in their eyes not enough.
Simple as that, we can disagree and we could like them to push harder, but it is what it is.
Pointing out that focusing the marketing closer to or when you can actually get the product isn't too crazy.

I do agree that Nintendo likely doesn't think this game warrants a lot of effort in marketing.
 
Comparing brand awareness and marketing strategy of Paper Mario with The Last of Us 2?!

The likely answer is that Nintendo ran the numbers and for this title the return on investment on additional marketing worth it. They could sell more copies, but in their eyes not enough.
Simple as that, we can disagree and we could like them to push harder, but it is what it is.

Paper Mario is not comparable to TLOU2 at all, but it's not completely outrageous and they did something similar to what jakinov jakinov is suggesting with New Horizons and that game is giving TLOU2 an absolute dicking in sales.

Again, Paper Mario is not going to sell like TLOU2 and they know it. But they haven't mailed it in either, there is some buzz for the title.
 

whitesugar

Banned
sounds like its just a prettier version of the 3DS one. that game bored me to tears so looks like I will give this a miss.

really underwhelming year this for Switch
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Paper Mario is not comparable to TLOU2 at all, but it's not completely outrageous and they did something similar to what jakinov jakinov is suggesting with New Horizons and that game is giving TLOU2 an absolute dicking in sales.

Again, Paper Mario is not going to sell like TLOU2 and they know it. But they haven't mailed it in either, there is some buzz for the title.

My point was that the strategy to market a title with a buzz like TLoU, especially part II given how much it was in the news already, cannot be used to judge or compare or justify Nintendo’s strategy with Paper Mario.

Nintendo is very astute, sometimes too fiscally conservative, about their marketing spend: the title received only the minimal marketing push it needed to for the maximum return of investment. It did not get zero, it did not get massive TV and YouTube ad placement budgets either... they know how much they can sell and they spent their marketing budget to achieve it.

I do not think they have hopes to use marketing to make it a cult title that sells 30 million copies or something by force and they know they get good sales from Switch owners and long time fans while they try small changes left and right to see if they can grow their potential fanbase for the series inch by inch. I have it preordered so I guess I am one of those suckers :p.
 
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My point was that the strategy to market a title with a buzz like TLoU, especially part II given how much it was in the news already, cannot be used to judge or compare or justify Nintendo’s strategy with Paper Mario.

Nintendo is very astute, sometimes too fiscally conservative, about their marketing spend: the title received only the minima marketing push it needed to for the maximum return of investment. It did not get zero, it did not get massive TV and YouTube ad placement budgets either... they know how much they can sell and they spent their marketing budget to achieve it.

I do not think they have hopes to use marketing to make it a cult title that sells 30 million copies or something by force and they know they get good sales from Switch owners and long time fans while they try small changes left and right to see if they can grow their potential fanbase for the series inch by inch. I have it preordered so I guess I am one of those suckers :p.

You're 100% correct about everything here, except that I personally think they are probably going to amp up the marketing for it in this coming week. We're even having an event today. We definitely had Switch games coming out this year that applied the logic you presented a bit more closely.
 
If enough people don't buy it due to having a unnecessary Battle System, then it will go on Sale surely?

I will await a Sale myself as Paper Mario was about the RPG mechanics and losing that cuts these news games value for me.
 

TexMex

Member
I feel like I see Switch games on sale regularly, I don't know where the Nintendo games never go on sale sentiment comes from honestly. I got Splatoon 2 and New Super Mario Bros DX for 39 this week for example.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
BUr0zvX.jpg



Paper Mario: The Origami King is not the return to the traditional roots of the series I was hoping for. Like other recent entries in the series, it de-emphasizes character-progression elements to provide a simplified role-playing-game experience. And yes, that means Mario doesn’t earn experience points for battles and doesn’t level up as a result of those fights


That comes down to the characters and the world. Everything everyone says is always so entertaining. One of the main concepts of the game is that the titular Origami King folded up toads and hid them around the environment. And it is a joy to discover them and then to see what they’re going to say. Paper Mario has the best kind of eye-rolling wordplay, and I’m loving that.

Developer Intelligent Systems also nailed the exploration and discovery. The locales are detailed with a ton of style. And I love moving through these spaces and looking for secrets. As part of his evil plan, the Origami King wrapped up Peach’s castle in giant paper streamers that unfurl out into the world. And it is awesome to see the blue streamer always hanging overhead and sort of drawing you along through the first area.




The comedic and visually delightful spin-off has its origins in Square’s seminal Super Mario RPG, the Super Nintendo role-playing classic that took all the hallmarks of the Final Fantasy house – strategic turn-based battles and deep levelling stats – and applied them to one of gaming’s most beloved cast of characters.

It’s this combination of charm and depth that won over fans in Paper Mario’s formative N64 years, and reached its absolute peak in the knockout classic The Thousand Year Door on Nintendo GameCube.

But ever since – whether to appeal to a broader audience, or differentiate it from the competing Mario & Luigi RPGs – the Paper Mario series has increasingly distanced itself from its role-playing roots, ditching XP, levelling and other elements in favour of a more action-focused approach



At this point, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have the Paper Mario recipe down to a science: Start with a beloved cast of characters, mix in a new battle system, add a dash of RPG elements, blend together with a healthy dose of comedy for 30-odd hours, and you’ve got yourself a brand new Paper Mario. After seven hours with the latest installment of the 20-year-old franchise, Paper Mario: The Origami King seems to follow this recipe to a ‘T’. The end result is a whimsical melange of what we’ve come to know and love about Paper Mario, although it does feel a bit predictable.



Predictability isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone wants a Paper Mario game to do a few things: tell a new story, let us play a Mario game from a different perspective, and elicit a few laughs along the way. The Origami King opens with Mario and Luigi en route to a festival at Princess Peach’s Castle. Upon arrival, they learn that Peach and several other Mushroom Kingdom denizens have been folded into evil, origami likenesses by a tiny menace named King Olly. Mario befriends Olly’s sister Olivia, a paper pixie with an almost Leslie Knope-esque energy, and the journey to restore the Mushroom Kingdom is underway.




As it stands, Paper Mario: The Origami King is shaping up to be a must-have for Nintendo fans. Everything you come to expect from a new Super Mario game is here: the humour, the colour, the characters, and the persistent charm we’ve all come to love over the last three decades. I’ve still got tons left to do before I finish but Nintendo is onto something with the Origami King and I’m having a hard time putting the game down. There is also a ton of things I’m not willing to talk about yet so stay tuned for more thoughts next week.








Despite the fundamental differences between this and the previous couple Paper Mario games; it's still fun and interesting. You hear that a lot, but in order to market this to a wider audience of attention -defficet pre-teens...they needed to change parts of the format. When Paper Mario 64 came out...I remember only one kid in my school buying it. It was good; however, people almost expect Mario to be more adventure/random crap genre than rpg. I prefer the old format...but many other newer games will tote the rpg titles better this next gen.
 

Nico_D

Member
The combat looks dull and takes a lot of time for the little it offers. Maybe if/when the combat puzzles get more complicated than that...

The game is a looker tho. Will wait for reviews before deciding.
 
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