Topic: Paper Mario: The Origami King

So far I’ve been enjoying it.
I hate that the text is slow, real slow and you can’t skip it and that the start is slow that feels like a 2 hour tutorial. It does get challenging. I’ve already had a game over screen and I can’t remember seeing one in colour splash.

@1UP_MARIO
Ha!

So, if you decline, he offers for 6,000. If you decline again he offers for 3,000. When he got that low he said final offer, take it or leave it, so I took it. I imagine if you decline you can just talk to him again and decide to purchase for 3,000. Or maybe he goes lower, who knows!

It did start slow and part of my problem with the speed of moving is the fact toad town is so big. But now that I’m actually exploring the world and at the first boss, I have to say that it hasn’t really been an issue out in the world. Because out in the world you’re constantly doing things and smashing things and finding toads, you’re not just walking from one end of town to the other from point A to point B, doing nothing in between.

I’ll say this- I don’t wanna stop playing. And I’m in the middle of Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 3. Seriously deep into those games. I’ve been playing nonstop ever since Cold Steel 3 dropped. And yet, I just want to keep playing Paper Mario. I suppose that should speak for itself.

It's not bad so far, although battles are kind of boring. The lack of XP doesn't bother me too much, though, since the RPG mechanics of Paper Mario (at least in TTYD) never felt particularly fleshed out in the first place. I just hope there's something to do with all of this money the game is throwing at me.

Stopped somewhere outside of Peach's castle after destroying all of the goomba mechs.

The presentation and music are both fantastic. I just hope the writing and general gameplay eventually live up to it. I liked the kind of creepy tone of the game at the very beginning.

I feel like this review aptly conveys my feelings right now (which, I must admit, are changing by the hour as I play more).

@Ralizah
The combat gets more fun. I felt the same way and posted as much, kinda conflicted on the combat. Give it 2 hrs and see how you feel then. I'm starting to really take a liking to it. It starts ramping up in difficulty sooner than you think. I've been down to 15 hearts 2-3 times now. Some was taking damage falling in a hole here and there but, mostly combat. If you dont solve the puzzle, prepare to get punished. Definitely make sure to block otherwise you're taking massive damage from 4-8 enemies. Can easily lose 15-20 HP in a single round if not careful. Also the battle training lab is awesome.

The more I play the more I like it. Honestly my attitude toward the game started shifting near release, and maybe that clouded my opinion in the early game. But as I play more, the game is winning me over on it's own merits. It's a good game.

edit
The boss fights are SUPER dope! Oh my gosh, that was so heart pounding! The tension of trying to solve the path, I had to buy a ton of time, and one hit was by pure accident following a path I never intended yet landed where I was supposed to all the same lol. Wow.

I’m impressed. This game may not reach the masterpiece level of TTYD, but the boss fights are WAY better than anything this series has had to date.

Well it seems like now I can’t stop gushing.

The accessories in this game are great! Time Plus, Guard Plus and Heart Plus for Battle, Confetti Vacuum that makes confetti draw towards you from greater distances, but most of all, Toad Alert. Toad Alert gives a little jingle whenever a hidden Toad is near. I thought I had found everything in a certain area because I swear I had checked everywhere, and hit everything with my hammer. But ever since I equipped this accessory I have found half a dozen toads in the most amazing hiding places that I never would’ve found without this accessory. Even some more obvious ones that just went right over my head for some reason.

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Also, why didn’t any reviews mention you get the ability to kill enemies without going into battle right after the first boss? That’s a game changer.

And, you can increase your max confetti! So not only HP increases, but confetti bag increases. It may not be through incremental tallies via battling, but it’s a way of powering up as you progress all the same. It’s the same end result but without the mandate of X amount of battles to earn it. And with the ability to kill lower level enemies without entering battle this is all coming together very nicely.

Furthermore, the HD rumble rips in this game. I love it. Absolutely be sure to play with split joycon as intended to get the proper effect (and personally, I turned it up to high from medium- I like to really feel it when the hammer drops or the boot stomps!). You can even feel it with every strike of the hammer. It’s subtle, but it’s there. On high it’s more than subtle. And the immersion that brings cannot be overstated.

I just finished the red streamer, and my opinion of this game continues to rise. Credit where it’s due. The director may be a clown, but he still made one heckuva great game here. It’s too early to say, and I don’t want to keep jumping back-and-forth with my opinions on this game so I’ll reserve myself until later, but I might even have a controversial statement to make about this game. One that surprises even myself. But I can’t deny how I feel about this game right now. I don’t remember having this much fun with Thousand Year Door. Not going to say it’s the better game, and it may just be the rush of emotions from that exhilarating colored pencils Bossfight, but thinking back... I just don’t recall having this much fun.

We’ll see how that sentiment stands later in the game.

That's quite the turnaround, Jax, from "the director is a buffoon, the series post-TTYD is mediocrity personified, the battles are pointless, and he destroyed everything good about it." Did you reach your negativity quotient or something?

Also, how can the director be a clown if he's turning out supposedly great work?

😂😂

That was the boss in the recent stream, right? It looked boring there. Is it really better when actually fighting it?

This thread has been a ride to follow along on lol. Still heavily conflicted on if I'll ever get it. I swear, it's like every time I even consider it I remember forcing myself to play all the way through Sticker Star and my stomach just knots up at the memory.

@Ralizah
He’s a clown for religiously refusing to include certain aspects out of some inexplicable devotion to Miamoto game design philosophy, despite Miamoto game design philosophy consistently affecting game series for the worse. Irrespective of how this game pans out, I still think it’s ridiculous that he has written off certain aspects as taboo and refuses to reconsider. Even if Origami King is a 10/10, I still think his determination to do anything BUT what the original games did is irresponsible.

That being said, he has done a great job with this game. At first I was extremely hyped for this game, and I started reading reviews that were good but not exceptional, seemed the consensus was it was a decent but not fantastic game, so I went into this with a lot of my hype driven into the ground by those expectations. I had heard compelling arguments for why the battle system was subpar and why certain aspects of the game weren’t up to scratch. They were good, logical arguments the had even convinced me.

But after playing it... it’s a different story. I don’t agree with a lot of those conclusions drawn in the reviews I saw. I’m having a blast. At this point I can say I love the battle system. I’m in the Autumn Mountain about to take on the Water Vellumental. In this area is so incredible. The beginning area is kind of bog standard, what you come to expect for a typical starting area. After that the areas just gets so beautiful. I got my partner Bobby, not to mention the fact I think Olivia is maybe the best partner character in the entire series. And the banter between those two is hilarious. “Sounds like your amnesia hurt your memory AND your brainpower. You poor thing” lol. Olivia is always making smart, low-key jabs towards him 😁

But ya. The director is definitely earned my respect for this game. I don’t think that undoes his poor decision making and flagrant defiance, but at the end of the day the game is great and that’s what I care about. And, there are a lot of things in this game that hearken back to TTYD. The accessories, the partners, the audience, etc etc. And to give you a clear-cut example of what I’m talking about when I say certain aspects that were made to sound not as great in reviews have turned out to be fantastic to me, just take partners. I expected them to not really add much to the game but... they do. I like how they help out in battle sometimes but not always but you still see them there in the ring. I like it just as much as I like taking control of partners in TTYD. Can’t explain why, I just do. The main thing is having them there for party banter and personality and they knock it out of the park in that respect. Or take accessories. “It’s a half step because it doesn’t have the point allotment system”. No, but you can still only equipped a certain number of them and that kind of achieves the same thing. You’re not increasing the amount you can equip overtime but you are getting better badges overtime so at the end of the day it achieves a similar result. Or, take the open world being too big for slow travel. Yes, it does feel like that in the very beginning. And then... it doesn’t. Once you’re following the ribbons it’s no longer an issue. It is when you go back to toad town but you’re basically limited to just a few buildings you visit when you go back so even then it’s not that bad. It’s just that first time of exploring it it feels very empty and barren, and it takes forever to get anywhere you want to go.

Or take items, for example. I was made to believe you would never need any other attack item, and that it could all be done with your basic attacks. I suppose it’s possible but that’s really not ideal. I might line up some spiked enemies in a row and need to stomp on them so I’m going to use my iron boots. Or when I’m fighting a boss I might bust out the shiny hammer. I’m not using them all the time but they definitely come into play far more often then some have suggested. Or, take difficulty. I watched at least two, maybe even three reviews they all said the game was ridiculously easy and it just got boring because all the battles were easily solved on your first try. That’s categorically false, at least for me. And I consider myself a reasonably skilled gamer. It’s not dark souls but there’s definitely challenge here. Enough to keep it interesting, at least. It’s still an overall pretty easy game but I’ve found it to be just right. In the puzzles get a lot harder to solve then people made me think they were. I’m getting better at them and they do throw you some easy ones half the time, but the other half the time I usually only line them up partway correctly and there’s one or two enemies that are left by themselves.

Can I find a heart upgrades and I even found a +5 HP one from a toad I discovered, which creates even more incentive to go out there and explore every nook and cranny. The confetti bag can be upgraded as well and I noticed my attacks are doing more damage too. I don’t know how that happened but I am doing more damage than when I started the game which goes to show your attacks get more powerful as you progress too. I was led to believe the fights were boring and you would have to flee them half the time, but that it wasn’t really worth it because your success rate was only 50%. That may still be the case later in the game but for right now, it’s not an issue. I like the battles. I find them thrilling enough that I engage at a moderate rate voluntarily. Though I do kill the Goombas when I can. I could go on- there’s so many different little things that have all turned out to be much better than expected or things I didn’t expect at all they have turned out to be incredible.

And ya, the boss fights are legit. Watching them isn’t the same as fighting them. When you’re actually fighting them you’re engaged with the puzzle solving and the frantic tension of plotting your path, maximizing the bonuses on the board, And it’s a blast. I also had a suspicion of something I could do halfway through the fight but I wasn’t sure, so I hit the hint button for Olivia and sure enough, she confirmed my suspicion.

That’s another thing I love about this game. The puzzle difficulty is enough to stump me pretty often (and not just plotting your course or solving basic battle puzzles but how to attack an enemy, things like that), but they provide a hint system you can use it anytime. It counters the frustration of not being able to figure something out perfectly. I love the hint system in this game. Don’t know where to go next? Ask Olivia. Not sure if a certain move will work? Ask Olivia. And if you need an edge I love that you can pay money to gain more time or have the toads help you out in battle. Ya, I love every boss battle I’ve played so far. They are one of the highlights of the game to me.

I think it says a lot this game has 100% sold me now based on actually playing it, after having my expectations brought down low before release. Those reviews really had me convinced the game was maybe... Kirby level of good. Yoshi level of good. Mario Party level of good... which was a huge crushing blow for someone who’s hype was through the roof before hand. I went into this game with my mind set against it expecting to not enjoy it that much. And this game has made me a believer, slowly and gradually, over the past 4-5 hrs. I think that’s even more powerful when a game can convince someone it’s great who was dead set believing it wouldn’t be when they started playing. I figured it would be a good game but man... in hindsight I couldn’t disagree more with some of those review bullet points.

Of course, there’s no guarantee some aspects may not wear thin by the end of the game. So this is all subject to change (but of course- everything is always subject to change as opinions are constantly in flux as we update our beliefs from new information and experiences). 20 hours from now I might be telling you how I was bored out of my skull and couldn’t wait for the game to end. That’s possible. But right now, this very moment, 1.5 out of 5 ribbons into the game, I can tell you I’m loving it.

Reading all the comments and reviews on this game has made me recollect all the memories I had with Thousand-Year Door. Especially all those memories of those memorable bosses came flooding back in. Chapter 5, you fight a legendary dead pirate everyone's scared of. Chapter 6, you fight an unexpecting creepy monster after everyone's kidnapped by it, on top of a train. Or in chapter 3, where you face bird Hulk Hogan with his rocking theme. Not all are hits though, I remember there were boring ones as well And then there's Origami King where you have to fight tape and pencils. What's next, a stapler?

Can't wait for the next game to have Mario is facing against a boot, or socks, or even a dirty shirt.

But the obvious nature of the humor is totally there to subvert your expectations by being so blatant it's err... painful? I became fully aware of how abysmally opaque the conceit of paper characters would become once I played Sticker Star. The early minutes are quick to present to the player the notion that the fourth wall is there only as a construct to be destroyed. What remains then is a structure suspended on three pegs, and the player will never again be able to trust in the restoration of that missing narrative element. I guess that's overstating things to a certain degree. However it is true that the seeds of player distrust were embedded in the slackening of standards in the intervening years after the Thousand Year Door.

Im now 3 hours in, and I’m having fun with it, the style is adorable the writing is fun, much to exploring, toad hunting is a blast.
Walking is indeed very slow, like you can’t fast forward the talking the characters do.

At the moment I’m in love with the battle system, especially the boss fights, I’m not missing the exp, sure battles are not really rewarding but I’m liking it a lot.

Nobody's even talking at you - are you projecting? lol

@Ralizah I stopped the same place. And the music is so fun I was freaking out after hitting the first tree in Camp Toad and having the speaker fall off and the music stop. I was like WHAAAATTT!! Never could get it back on the tree until I backtracked after.

I'm going to have to read all your posts later @JaxonH you're already killing me with the spoilers on Twitter. 😉

OK, the reason I'm here - how do I light the campfire? Is it a come back and do later thing? My wife insists it is. I'm starting to think she may be right. Though after that umbrella puzzle to get on the roof - which she had to tell me how to to do, well the climbing part, I figured out the umbrella part - I feel like maybe I'm just missing something. Took me 2 trips into the house to go thru the window. Man I'm getting so stupid in my old age. 😝 Though hopefully now that I realize how clever the entire game is, not just the battles, I'll be keeping an eye out for the obvious subtle clues.

I stupidly ran the wrong direction in the whispering woods when I had the star and wasn't able to get past the thorns to the chest. I hope there's a way to backtrack with a star, or get another one at least.

I'm just glad there's a fishing mini game. Love catching cheep cheep off the dock 😁

Edit:does anyone know how long of a game this is? I havent seen any reviews yet that specify.

@rjejr
Getting on the roof was hard for me too. For some reason I just didn’t see the path to get up there even after I hit the umbrella and did the thousand arms move. I also haven’t lit the campfire but I’m pretty sure I know how. I just need to go back and try it at some point. A lot of the tricks in this game are pretty clever.

I'm really liking this game so far! The graphics, the music, the world, the characters and the music are all fantastic!

The only thing I'm not fond if is the puzzle element in the battles. Maybe it's because I'm not quick enough to see the patterns, but it's too stressful to both turn and slide because of the time limit and it doesn't help that the control is a bit slippery when turning the grid. I know I can use coins to give me more time, but I wish I could turn the timer off instead.

@Ralizah Since you asked about that star, I went back there after making it into Toad Town, before I went into the castle, and the memory matching game came back and the star that went along with completing it. The coins in the big trunk that fell from the tree also returned. And a couple of folded soldiers.

@JaxonH So, is it something we get later, accessory or item, or did I miss something the first time I was there?

I have noticed that all of the houses in Toad Town have fireplaces with chimneys so I'm guessing we get a lighter later. Or, maybe, a magnifiing glass to burn stuff in the sun. I have 3 fire flowers but no luck, can't seem to use them out of battle.

It is fun though. Unlocked warp pipe 1, still no boss battles. Not sure how people get a boss battle playing only 3 hours, I've probably played 5 and no sign of one. Only 2 of the 4 watchmacallits, I'm assuming a boss fight after I acquire the other 2.

@Quarth The first accessory on offer is a stopwatch for more time in battles, I think it adds 10 seconds. My biggest problem with the puzzle wheel set up is every single time, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I start turning the wrong way, so I start rushing to turn it back. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Even in the same battle with 2 turns. Fortunately the pull thru rather than turning doesn't seem to matter as much.

Oh tip if you haven't already done so, press the R stick in to get a top down view of the circles, makes the puzzles a bit easier to see. I do that reflexively now the start of every battle. Also the battle Toad house let's you practice once you get it unlocked. I actually lost my 2nd battle in practice. smh

@rjejr Thanks for the advice! Will try those things.