Topic: Paper Mario: The Origami King

Several things, @FullMetalWesker .... There'll be toads who open shops, where you can buy various things! & you can use them in battle for a few different purposes, too

I still liked the gameplay. Maybe it isn't the best game but it looks fine to me.

LOL, so The Origami King.

I'm pretty excited for this game, don't get me wrong. I really am. But the battle system doesn't seem to live up to my expectations. I was expecting a deep battle system with robust risk vs. reward systems (such as choosing to line enemies up one way vs. another to minimize damage or go all out). I don't really care about EXP points, but I do want to know that I'm not the same 10 hours after I started the game. Literally any action game I can think of does this very well (looking at Astral Chain for the perfect example). Yet, Intelligent Systems seems to be stopping just short of making the battle system a memorable one rather than a forgettable mechanic (which is really not good for a game in a series whose games will forever be debated among its fans), which is a shame. For some reason, enemies seem hesitant to attack you, and you get multiple turns to attack for some odd reason. Boss battles seem to have some challenge and depth to them though, so that's good. Of course, I'll have to play the game to see if it holds up.

And then there's what seems to be the busted economy of this game. Blocks giving you 1000 (!!!) coins. Leaves hiding coins on one side. Patching up the land gives you coins. Battling gives you coins. Coins are literally everywhere, and you end up walking with a ridiculous 10000+ coin wallet at the start of the game. With that said, I believe I saw that some of the items and accessories in the shop cost quite a significant amount, so I guess that fixes things a little bit. I'm still a bit worried, as while the haggling demonstrated in yesterday's Treehouse Live was humorous, I was left wondering why you even had the choice to bring down the price of the orb thing in the first place. I'm hoping there's not much of that in the game, to be honest. All I'm hoping for is a balanced economy. So sure, it might be easy to obtain coins, but I also want coins to be easily taken away from me via high cost barriers (expensive items, accessories, inns, etc).

Either way, I'm still really excited. Aside from the two concerns described above, this game does look fantastic. Gamexplain uploaded a 5 minute gameplay video the other day, and I really couldn't stop smiling and/or laughing. The writing and presentation is easily top-notch. And those visuals? God-tier.

Oh wait, and it's OST? Contender for OST of the year, no doubt about it. I mean, the first trailer had that short snippet of the amazing title theme, but I didn't think they'd go so hard with the music. Literally every piece of music I've heard is fantastic. Hell, right now I'm listening to the leaked (apparent first phase, I'm not too sure and I'll just leave it at that for spoiler-y reasons) final boss theme since someone on Reddit recommended to give it a listen. I legit have no words. It would be a shame if the corresponding battle didn't live up to the music. A huge shame.

So yep, I'm excited, yet still keeping low expectations. My copy is coming from Amazon on the 21st, debating whether I should cancel my pre-order and go get it from my local Walmart instead. I think I will, honestly.

Only watched a few snippets, I already know I'll buy it anyway. But man, a festival AGAIN?! It's as if every Paper Mario game nowadays starts with a festival/invitation to a festival. It has become soooo stale, can't Nintendo come up with something better?

"Everyone just needs to come to grips with the fact that Paper Mario is not an RPG series anymore"

I agree. Nintendo really has no interest in turning it into a rpg again, otherwise they already would have done that.

Am I the only one confused as to how people are saying this game looks like more of Color Splash? Like, aside from the battle system (which looks pretty good in my opinion) there's way more variety based on what we've seen in TOK, and it seems way less linear. You might say the trailers were showing off some of the craziest stuff to really sell it, but early impressions I've seen from people who've played it say one of it's greatest strengths is its variety across the board. I think that it'll end up being my personal favorite Paper Mario game to date, but that's largely because I'm not big on rpg's. I wasn't a huge fan of all the complex-ish rpg elements in TTYD and thought they didn't always blend well with the zany, colorful, straight up fun found elsewhere (a very unpopular opinion, I know.) Going all in on that zany fun in beautiful HD with simpler rpg elements may make it easier and seemingly watered down, but if you're like me and largely just look for a fun time in games (or sucks at rpg's like me, lol) then The Origami King is looking to be a grand old time!

@DarthNocturnal The first two games are basic RPG's. The writing is what holds those games in such high regard. That's why so many screams for partners 24/7.

@DarthNocturnal Well, for me they’re complex 😂

I get what you’re saying though, it is a bit of an awkward mix in the newer games which is why I think Color Splash and Sticker Star weren’t very good. Not only did they try too hard to keep the rpg elements, but they tried changing up the battle systems to horrendous results. I think Origami King looks way better because not only is the battle system better looking imo, but the adventure stuff seems to be crazier than ever and taking stage a bit more. But that’s just me being very, very optimistic.

The reviews should be out today (Wed), right?

I'm kinda excited for this. The only PM game I've played is Sticker Star and that was a disappointment. I get that The Origami King isn't the return to form some were hoping for, but if it's an improvement over SS, which it sure looks to be, I think I'll be having a good time!

@Quarth Sticker Star's not the best place to start, heh. If you can get your hands on Paper Mario N64 or The Thousand Year Door, they're the games everyone adores. Even Super Paper Mario is good, although that's when they started experimenting with the game design for the series.

Can't wait to see if Origami King can pick the series back up.

@Quarth @TJWorks I started with Sticker Star, and it put me off the series for years. I'm glad I finally got around to playing TTYD so I could see how charming and fun the games used to be.

TOK looks VERY much in the vein of newer games, but there's no way in heck it'll be even close to as bland as SS was. It's not an RPG, but that doesn't really bother me.

@Quarth
I honestly like Sticker Star.
Indeed it has the flaws in Battle system but i really like the Summon Things in the game.
The 64 Summon Objects that much like Eidolon from Final Fantasy.
The Sticker system that required for attacking the enemies kinda remind me of FF VIII Magic Junction where you need to stock a lot of Magics to upgrade the parameter and the magics used as item instead of using MP.

NL review is up : https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/paper_ma...

@BruceCM The game has already three users ratings. All of them a 10/10. So I guess it must be really good!

@TJWorks Sadly I don't own a N64 or a GC, but hopefully Nintendo ports these games someday.

@Ralizah That's the word for it: bland. Sold my copy.

@Anti-Matter Each to their own. Glad you liked it.

I saw that myself. If it was going to be reviewed bomb I would have suspected it would be negative ones due to it not being a RPG/Sticker Star sucks.

Wow, they must have got theirs early, @Octane .... I'm still looking forward to playing it, though

@Ralizah @Quarth Well I guess I got lucky - I'm not bragging or anything, but I did start with TTYD. It was my first Mario RPG and I loved it. And I still do. I enjoyed the N64 original and Super Paper Mario, too.

Sticker Star was the last one I played - the more I played it, the worse it got for me. Especially the garbage battle system where you have a finite amount of attacks and next to no rewards for winning...whose brilliant idea was this??? I ended up skipping Color Splash because it was more of the same from what SS had. I heard it had awesome writing though.

I am happy they ditched the limited number of attacks for Origami King's battle system. I did see what reviewers were saying, it's still not quite up to TTYD standards but it looks to be a decent game. I think I'll give it a shot and judge for myself.

For me, Paper Mario was like this:

• N64 original in 2008 via Wii VC, liked it but gave up after I got completely stuck in chapter 3
• Checked Sticker Star in 2014, disliked it a lot and gave up in World 2
• Upgraded Wii VC version to Wii U VC in 2015 but didn't get around to retrying
• Managed to find TTYD for a decent price in 2015, really liked it
• Got Color Splash at launch in 2016 and really liked it
• Figured I may as well check out Super Paper Mario and it was good though I stopped as the Switch was this really cool new device at the time

It's been difficult returning to old Nintendo consoles since the Switch got a decent library.

@Grumblevolcano When I first played PM1 on the Wii VC, I got stuck in chapter 3 as well, the forest part to be more precise. I gave up on SS as well, though it was after world 2. I just couldn't handle it - I have my limits.

I know what you mean, the Switch has been my most played console these days, too. I found myself playing the Switch more than say, my PC, Wii U, and 3DS.

@MarioLover92 Color Splash's writing was indeed fun and humorous at points. It was my first Paper Mario; though flawed, I did enjoy the game. The story/writing, characters, most paint mechanics, and Thing cards were my favorite points. The biggest issues I had with it were the battle system (While interesting at first, it ranged from bland to downright tedious after awhile), and a character who can undo your paint progress shows up partway through the game.

I've also heard complaints about the Roshambo Temples, but I didn't really bother with those.

Super Paper Mario (the other PM I've played so far) was better overall IMO.