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What you need to know about Paper Mario: The Origami King

Brandon McIntyre
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Paper Mario: The Origami King - Arriving to Nintendo Switch July 17

Paper Mario: The Origami King, the Paper Mario series’s sixth entry, is set to release shortly as a possible comeback for the series that has lost its luster by many fans’ accounts. Since its announcement in May, Nintendo has slowly dropped information about the game through sneak peek videos explaining The Origami King‘s plot, gameplay features, characters, and more.

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Here is what you should know about Paper Mario: The Origami King on Nintendo Switch.

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When origami invades

The Origami King begins with Paper Mario and Luigi visiting Toad Town after being invited by Princess Peach, though the town is noticeably empty.

The two enter Peach’s castle, seen in the above announcement trailer. Immediately, something seems off when Princess Peach looks less like her usual Paper Mario self. The facade is soon let down, as it turns out the evil King Olly has taken over Princess Peach’s castle.

The castle is then wrapped in and ripped out of the ground by six massive origami streamers, all of which lead to distant areas Mario must travel to.

Just as prior Paper Mario entries employed other gimmicks, The Origami King‘s focal point is the use of origami. Not only are King Olly, his minions, and Mario’s main ally, Olivia, made of origami, but at times, Mario uses origami arms to solve puzzles.

Otherwise, much of the game’s world is origami-themed, with structures and landscapes partially composed of origami.

New characters and bosses

A Closer Look at Paper Mario: The Origami King - Nintendo Switch

While Mario and a folded-up Bowser both return (as allies), as well as Bowser Jr., in the new Paper Mario installment, there will be a host of characters and bosses joining the fray. In addition to King Olly and Olivia, Mario is joined by Bobby the forgetful Bob-omb; Professor Toad, a Toad who is knowledgeable on history; and Kamek, the Magikoopa obsessed with cleaning. It isn’t clear if these characters are party members who partake in battle as in the first two Paper Mario games, though the detailed gameplay trailer demonstrates they can help in fights to some degree.

Paper Mario: The Origami King has six main bosses, each based on arts and crafts. For instance, the “Colored Pencils” boss is a literal case of colored pencils while the “Rubber Band” boss is a large mummy composed of rubber bands.

A return to turn-based combat, with caveats

The Origami King returns to the traditional turn-based combat with a unique twist. Battles take place on a stage with multiple rings that can be rotated to line up rows of enemies. Once a row of enemies is lined up, players can initiate attacks to strike multiple enemies at once.

There are different types of attacks. Mario can use his traditional jump attack, though the gameplay trailer shows Mario using a Fire Flower and a Tanooki tail to deal damage against groups of foes.

The Origami King ditches some traditional turn-based RPG elements. For instance, it will not feature experience points, according to VentureBeat.

A major gameplay addition also seems to be vehicle travel. While there aren’t many details on it, the trailers indicate that Mario will travel by boat, kart, and other vehicles throughout the course of the game.

Paper Mario: The Origami King releases July 17, 2020.

Updated on July 9, 2020: Added detail regarding experience points in Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Updated on July 10, 2020: Added story details from Nintendo Treehouse: Live about Mario arriving at a desolate Toad Town.

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Brandon McIntyre
Brandon McIntyre
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