Topic: Paper Mario: The Origami King

Oh my gosh. I wasn’t expecting this game to hit hard with the tragic emotion.

Origami King continues to impress me in ways I never expected.

Hope everyone is enjoying this game! It'll be a bit before I even pick it up, but I would like to get it eventually.

@MarioLover92 (Very late reply, apologies)

Other M is indeed fairly linear, though it does feel like a Metroid at its core. The game isn't an all-out maze like earlier entries but does have some secret areas and neat moments IMO. On Samus's characterization....It isn't bad for most of the game, but admittedly some of her reactions are pretty off. They'd make more sense (well, kinda) if Other M was chronologically the first game in the series. Overall, I'd say the story was average.

On Sticker Star....Who knows if I'd even finish it? XD But I am mildly curious what the infamous fuss is about, and apparently there are a couple of redeeming qualities buried in it somewhere. But no, I definitely won't ever grab it unless I find it cheap lol.

@Tyranexx It's okay, no harm done. If I do see Other M on sale and I have my backlog cleared up, I'll probably give it a shot.

By the way I'm liking TOK so far. I really like its writing, environments, and music! The ring mechanic takes some time to get used to, but there's no more one-use-only attacks, which I'm really thankful for. It may not be quite like TTYD, but I already like it wayyyyy more than SS.

@JaxonH Yeah, I met Bob-omb today. Really, really like the music and environmental theme of the second 'world' overall. Beautiful game. I think all of my reservations about this game have been swept away. The ring battles are fun as well.

I... guess I'll see about the characters and dialogue. The thing about TTYD is that the humor is weirdly dark and extremely organic. It's possibly the funniest game I've ever played. TOK is funny, too, but the characters and dialogue are much more self-consciously jokey.

Anyway, I like Olivia, but I need to see more dimension to her character. Bob-omb starts off sounding VERY snarky, which I found refreshing, but he chills out quickly, unfortunately. So many Nintendo games have toned down the snark lately (especially in Animal Crossing; I miss the sour, grumpy, and sometimes downright rude villagers). Now he just seems like an affable clutz. But I haven't spent a ton of time with him yet. I do kind of like how he'll join you in battles, although the partner mechanic here is very dumbed down compared to TTYD and presumably the original as well.

@Ralizah Thank you for writing this. It’s really good to hear some in depth thoughts, especially regarding the battle system. A lot of questions I had have been addressed.

@Ralizah Great preview! I'm definitely more interested now.

"Now, maybe I'll feel differently later, but so far I'm liking this ring system a lot more than the "jump on an enemy's head; guard; wash, rinse, and repeat" system in TTYD."

Yeah, I've played a bit of both PM64 and the original Mario RPG. And to me the combat wasn't that fun, and combine that with imo not so great music and I'm out. Maybe these games are not for me. But this new one definitely looks more interesting to me. At least combat wise.

@status-204
No worries.

Here's my review of Origami King. From what I've played so far, it's definitely a much better game than Sticker Star. The over world, music and sound effects are spot on and the battle mechanics are definitely interesting, albeit the fact that they take time getting used to. The only thing I don't like about these fights is the timer. That plus the fact that you only get a set number of moves to line up the enemies doesn't really help either because if you don't get them all lined up perfectly on the first try, you'll get burned. Even the puzzle involving the arrows to get to the first boss confused me a bit and it took me a couple of tries to beat that particular boss. Nitpicks aside, though, I would definitely recommend this game.

@MarkL1987

The only thing I don't like about these fights is the timer.

The timer is necessary. Without it, several problems occur. First, is people will spend however long it takes to line them up properly without any downside. Which means every single fight will result in the player lining them up perfectly. And that results in even more problems because then the player always wins. Always. Secondly, it could take some people several minutes to figure out. Maybe even 5 minutes. 10 minutes. That would become boring and frustrating VERY quickly. It wouldn't work. The timer is a crucial aspect of the battle system and why it works.

Furthermore, you can use coins to extend the timer if the player WANTS to continue trying to solve the puzzle. But at a cost. And that cost is key. Without it the whole thing falls apart.

That plus the fact that you only get a set number of moves to line up the enemies doesn't really help either because if you don't get them all lined up perfectly on the first try, you'll get burned

That's the whole point. You're supposed to get burned. Otherwise, the player always wins. Always. Just a robot going through motions. This is how challenge (and thus engagagment) is achieved. With infinite turns anyone could get them lined up in the time allotted. It's not hard to line them up, its only hard to line them up in a limited number of moves. That limitation is also a crucial aspect of the battle system, without which the whole thing falls apart.

why it works
The battle system is not binary. It's not "either you line them up or you dont". There are infinite shades of grey in between. You can not line it up perfectly but have it ALMOST perfect, which results in killing all but one enemy. You could do a bit worse and have everything lined up except two enemies, or even three, or four. The degree to which you skillfully line them up determines the degree of damage you do and potentially takr. This is why it works.

You are in a battle of wits, and your performance earns how much damage you potentially deal and take. You have 30 seconds to line them up as best as you can, and the better you do will result in more damage and less enemies left to deal damage. Without constraints on the player such as limited moves or time, the player would always get it right, every time, and with unlimited time also frustrate themselves in the process by taking forever to do it, making battles repetitive and boring and without purpose. No point if the rules are tilted to let you always win flawlessly.

Does this game require motion controls?

@Spanjard I believe you have to use them for 1000 fold arms sections. Unless there's an option to turn it off, im not sure.

Edit: well....I was wrong after reading others posts haha. Dont ever listen to me again 🤣

@Spanjard
No. You can disable in settings.

They're only ever used for 1,000 Fold Arms ability and for fishing anyways, and imo they're very well done. The 1,000 Fold Arms in handheld mode doesnt work as well (for that you really should be playing with a controller in hand) but fishing does.

You can do everything in the game without motion controls ... I disabled them & played on my Lite, so it's definitely possible

Just gotta say... Bobby's adorable!

@Quarth Yea I like him too. Good dialogue between him and Olivia. And I LOVEEEEDD when he was on the monorail or whatever it was and he kept inching closer to Olivia. It reminds me of the conversations I have with my kids haha

@NintendoByNature Haha, yeah. He's like a kid: naive and curious!

@Quarth exactly. Its like when we have a certain flavor of ice cream in the house that one of the kids doesn't like. I usually say, "it's fine, you don't HAVE to eat it." They eventually pull a Bobby, " fine, since its here, I might as well eat it!" Haha

@NintendoByNature Sounds like my significant other. 😂

Currently on the yellow streamer, so far Origami King has been a lot of fun though the battle system feels like Nintendo told Intelligent Systems a few years ago they can only make Fire Emblem, Paper Mario and WarioWare so they put their future Pushmo ideas into Origami King.

I wish there wasn't a time limit as these puzzles I actually want to solve but the time limit means I sometimes have to resort to the toads solving the puzzle for me.

I finished it yesterday. I really apreciated.
Intelligent Systems did really a good work. Very, very better than last 2 titles.