Bozo Beat — Paper Mario: The Origami King Review

Both the original Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door are revered by fans of the series. Subsequent titles unfortunately proved to be major disappointments. However, Paper Mario: The Origami King garnered a lot of attention from fans hoping it would be the series’ triumphant return to form. Unfortunately for them, it isn’t. But that’s okay.

Graphics

Paper Mario: TOK’s graphics may not be anything to write home about in terms of raw fidelity, but at the same time, they don’t really need to be. The game still looks great and that’s due to its in-depth paper aesthetic. Literally everything in the game is made out of paper which really helped immerse me in the world. Nintendo’s attention to detail really paid off for this title. Additionally, Paper Mario: TOK features several diverse environments each with their own unique color palette. This also proved to be a great incentive for progression, as I was always excited to find out what the next environment would look like.

Gameplay

Paper Mario: TOK’s turn-based combat is pretty fun… for about an hour or so. Nothing about the combat system is bad, but nothing about it is particularly good either. The ability to move Mario’s surroundings and line up enemies is a fun idea, but it’s really the only thing that makes combat somewhat interesting. Even then, it still sometimes comes across as gimmicky. What’s missing is an overall sense of depth. There is no xp or leveling up, so every non-essential combat encounter is then rendered a complete waste of time. Additionally, there isn’t really a coherent party system. While Mario will sometimes be aided by a companion during combat, there’s no way to choose the characters or their attacks. On top of that, the companion’s attack will only land most of the time. When adding all of that together, by the end of the game, combat just feels like an inconvenience more than anything. However, Paper Mario: TOK does provide really fun boss fights. Each and every boss is distinct from another and requires unique strategies to defeat.

I found myself exploring the environments in Paper Mario: TOK a lot more than I thought I would. The game surprised me with its bigger, open areas such as a desert that I traversed in a boot car or the vast, Wind Waker reminiscent ocean I explored. At the same time, Paper Mario: TOK’s smaller and more dense environments are filled to the brim with hidden secrets and rewards. Although I very much enjoyed delving into these areas, much like the combat, the rewards aren’t very fulfilling from a gameplay perspective. I rarely found myself using any of the combat items I found and the collectible figurines hidden throughout the world weren’t particularly exciting either. Regardless, it was still a joy to explore the game’s heavily diverse areas such as a desert party town, a spa resort in the clouds, a dojo theme park, and several others.

Story

What mainly kept me going throughout the experience was Paper Mario TOK’s story and characters. Each new locale I discovered was filled with interesting personalities. I couldn’t help but talk to just about every character I came across. I very much appreciate the time it must have taken to give almost every background character interesting dialogue. The game’s dialogue is extremely over the top (in the best way possible) and genuinely had me laughing more than a handful of times. In addition to its non-stop humour and charm, Paper Mario also provides some really great character moments. The fact that this game got me emotionally invested in a bunch of paper cutouts is incredible. Most of my enjoyment of Paper Mario: TOK came from its memorable story and characters.

Verdict

Although it’s probably not the sequel that The Thousand Year Door fans have been waiting for, I very much enjoyed my time with Paper Mario: The Origami King. It was a very entertaining adventure that never failed to put a grin on my face. Although the gameplay was lacking in some areas, I still found plenty of fun with the game’s endearing characters and charming story.