Paper Mario: The Origami King is the Nintendo Switch’s summer beach read game

It’s Mario’s 35th birthday and the Nintendo Switch has a new Mario game. But it’s not what you might expect. Paper Mario: The Origami King is not a platform jumper like Super Mario Maker 2or a 3D experience like Super Mario Odyssey. It’s … a role-playing game. Or a story-based journey. Is it like Pokemon? Not really. It’s a bit like Zelda. It’s like older Paper Mario and Mario RPG games. But also not. It actually reminded me of Sony’s classic vita game tearaway.

If you have a small child who loves Mario and wants a reserved role-playing game to be played this summer, this is the game. Get it. But is it all I wanted? Maybe not, but I’m not sure if it’s for me at all. Playing a Mario game always feels like picking up a million old memories. There were so many, of so many strange types, that a new one feels like a game: “What does this remind me of?”

The last Paper Mario game was on Wii U in 2016 (Paper Mario: Color Splash), but the one I fell in love with was on Wii, Super Paper Mario, in 2007. It was a game in which 2D Mario (made of paper, of course) explored a 2D world that sometimes turned into 3D, almost like the indie game Fez. It was weird and addictive and broke the fourth wall, storytelling and literally in the changing dimensional design of the game.

Paper Mario games were spin-offs of the Mario RPG games, which combined level-up, hit points, weapons and items, as well as Mario characters. Paper Mario works with the strange idea that Mario and his friends are all 2D stickers. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, these stickers live in a 3D world, but even an evil being has folded creatures into origami and paper mache enemies. I can’t explain why, just join in.

I went through part of the game and the structure is: talk to things, find hidden toad stickers in secret places, find your way to a boss temple, unlock the next areas. The levels are 3D and there are some basic jumps and platforms, but all battles are turn-based, in an arena where enemies have to be lined up like a puzzle in patterns. Parts of the open world have gaps in which the paper surface has broken apart, and Mario collects confetti to spray on these areas and to unlock additional secrets. Mario can also sprout huge arms of folding paper that can tear away parts of the world. OK, it’s all a little weird.

Paper Mario’s world exploration can feel like Mario or Zelda, but in a much simpler way. Moving sometimes feels too slow for me. There are many conversations that you can click through. You may be wondering: Scott, if you don’t like these types of games, why play? I’m not sure I don’t like it, I just don’t love it. The gameplay repeated. And still I went on. Note: I feel that way Pokemon gamesAlso and they suck me in the end. And a lot of people love Pokemon games.

Mario can’t level up exactly, but there are many weapons and items and there is a city where secrets, a museum and new items open up. I can already say that this is a game full of small unlockable Easter eggs to discover. It feels like a big book I’ve read to relax … a sprawling beach, something you just have to go through at your own pace.

Paper Mario games are often funny and fun. So far, this one has not been as strange as I expected, but it is cute. My children looked at me playfully and wanted to try it. I played because I had to log in for a few hours. I’m going to immerse them next.

However, this is a single player game and there is only one space per switch player profile. So, families … set up a profile for your kids or let them wait for you to finish playing, or play on a second switch on Wi-Fi and don’t set up cloud storage.

As mentioned above, I kept thinking of Tearaway, a 2013 PlayStation Vita game that also takes place in a papercraft universe and has a partially torn world that can be fixed. It was also a combination of 3D action and role playing. Paper Mario: Origami King is Nintendo’s tearaway. I would have liked a game that went even further with the ideas, but maybe that will come. If you’re all out of Mario and need a weird Mario for your family, this is your best bet for a while. But with games like Super Mario Maker 2 and Super Mario Odyssey that already exist, it’s at the bottom of my list.

Paper Mario: The origami king arrives on the switch on July 17th. I have played for several hours so far and will continue to play.

Currently running:
Look at that:

We play Lego Super Mario: Nintendo comes to life in bricks

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