Paper Mario: The Origami King

Since the release of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, new characters in the Paper Mario series could not be modified versions of existing characters, such as a change in age or gender, and any original characters had to have had no previous involvement with the Mario universe.[31][6] Character designs went through a critical review by Nintendo's intellectual property team, although the designers were allowed to give Toads different outfits.[28] On June 12, 2020, Nintendo released another trailer revealing partners that will join Mario on his adventure and help complete tasks, such as aiding in combat.[32] Although the feature had remained absent from the games since Sticker Star, critics were still disappointed that the allies did not seem to have much functionality; some were hoping for partners that would help solve puzzles and progress in skill alongside Mario.[33][34]

Tanabe intended the origami Princess Peach to have an inhuman aura which he used to appeal to a more adult audience.[28] He visualized her approaching Mario while she turned into an origami form; the game's opening sequence eventually used this action. To ensure characters would still be recognizable in their origami form, the artists analyzed each character to determine "whether a side-on or front-on view would be best to bring out their individuality". They created real-life mock-ups to make sure the in-game forms would be similarly realistic.[31]

The Legion of Stationery is an example of the concept of having characters not involved with the Mario franchise.[36] The developers chose "objects that everyone will have interacted with at some point in their lives" for these roles. Tanabe referenced his childhood to develop these characters imagining what their weaknesses would be based on their function, such as hitting the backside of the hole punch during its boss battler to knock out previously punched paper.[6][37] He also conceptualized their attacks based on childhood imagination and how children pretend what objects could do. For example, colored pencils act as missiles in-game because of their shape.[6][38]

Mario's first partner conceptualized for the game was Bobby. He was conceived with the intention of providing more memorable events tied to specific areas, rather than having a complicated story. The Origami King established characters that would appear alongside Mario and Olivia as the game progressed. In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Tanabe claimed Bobby became just as memorable as Olivia.[31] Deciding upon other additional characters, he added "we chose the characters that would be the best fit for the events in each stage of the game". Bowser Jr. "was an exception"; the team added him as a character before they had figured out what role he would play because Masahiko Nagaya, an Intelligent Systems director, "had strong feelings about including a storyline where a son sets out to save his father".[30]

When developing Olivia, the creators aimed to give her as much personality as possible. Tanabe said most characters that aid the protagonist tend to be guides or teachers and have little personality. He wanted to have a female character with as much of an outgoing personality as possible. He modeled her on "a certain Japanese actress". Initially it took a lot of effort to write her dialogue, but toward the end of development, it became rather easy. Tanabe felt she was almost "writing her own lines".[6]

The world design and the game's locations were created before the writers produced any dialogue. During the development of a scene, and the events that were unique to each section, the creators determined the emotion these should evoke in the player such as "astonishment or enthusiasm". They decided whether a scene should be shown as a "cutscene, dialogue or as a playable mini-game". The creators worked closely with Nintendo as they produced the game's many mini games so that the rules and the degree of difficulty matched the game's intended "emotional flow".[35]

Tanabe spoke with the director of Color Splash, Naohiko Aoyama, who wanted "a battle system in which the enemies surround Mario to attack from all sides". They collaborated to form the game's ring-based combat, and Tanabe later implemented the idea of being able to slide enemies across the circles. He compared the idea to a Rubik's Cube saying, "it worked well. That is the moment I was convinced we'd be able to build our battle system." To demonstrate his idea for boss battles, Tanabe "drew concentric circles on a whiteboard, put mock-ups of some panels using magnets with arrows and other things drawn on them". He noted boss battles were designed to be "the opposite of regular battles" and worked with assistant producer Risa Tabata to simulate how the battles would work in-game, then proposed the idea to Intelligent Systems.[30]

The Origami King uses open world navigation, as opposed to the linear-based style of previous Mario games. Tanabe recalled the design team were "careful [...] to make sure there is always something in the player's field of vision to catch their attention". When asked if they had considered using a party-based system in The Origami King like the first three Paper Mario games, Tanabe replied that he never considered the idea. "[W]e chose the characters that would be the best fit for the events in each stage of the game". He felt that having partners exclusive to certain areas "create[s] more memorable moments".[30]

Responding to criticism over the game's lack of several RPG elements, Tanabe commented on the difficulty of being able to satisfy fans who prefer the RPG genre. Not wanting to ignore casual players, he implemented several puzzle solving elements hoping to satisfy the franchise's core fans. He explained that "players need to guess the weak points of bosses based on their characteristics and search for the solution to defeat them, otherwise they won't be able to win these battles. This is an adventure game after all, so it wouldn't be right if the battles didn't also have some kind of puzzle solving element!"[31] When asked if he was aware of the criticisms of the previous games, Tanabe replied that he could not address every fan suggestion. Instead, he challenged himself to move towards new and innovative concepts, and focus on them so a large audience can enjoy them.[31] He said he had not decided whether the series will return to the original RPG style.[40]

Nintendo released a trailer announcing The Origami King on May 14, 2020, alongside promotional pamphlets produced exclusively for Japan, before they released the game on July 17.[41][42] The game was leaked online a week prior to the game's launch, where players starting spreading unannounced content, such as other characters and dialogue.[43] Other people hacked the game and created a PC emulator.[44] The trailer announcement, released on YouTube, appeared without the traditional two-day notice that Nintendo had given previously.[45] VentureBeat wrote that the sudden announcement came because Nintendo was still adjusting to the transition of having employees working from home.[27] Alongside the physical copy, pre-purchases of the game at the Nintendo UK store came with a bonus pack of origami sheets and magnets.[46] After release, players discovered multiple glitches in the game that prevented the player from progressing;[47][48] Nintendo resolved these on August 5.[49] On August 28, Nintendo added Olivia, King Olly, and Origami Princess Peach as collectible spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.[50]

In the game, the first origami Toad Mario and Olivia discover complains that they have been poorly treated. The character says, "What do they have against Toads! It's not fair! Toads have rights! This is Toad abuse!" When translated into Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, the quotes about rights and freedom were removed and replaced with, "Return the smooth appearance to Toads! Give back the easy life to Toads!", referring to his paper body.[51] People who responded to the discovery on Twitter considered the change "unspeakably strange", and some wondered if Nintendo had made these changes because of the Hong Kong national security law.[52] The original poster of the comment has received some criticism from people arguing that China could not have interfered and the translation could be a pun. Nintendo released no comments about the situation.[53]

Paper Mario: The Origami King received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. The website calculated an 80/100 score based upon 114 reviews.[54]

Critics praised the game for its unique writing, appreciating each character's unique, comedic dialogue.[10][12][61] Some critics praised Olivia in particular for her personality and humor.[58][62][63][64] Bobby has received critical attention for his role in the game.[63][65] Beth Elder of Gizmodo was devastated over his death and noted the strength of storytelling in video games; she said they "can make us truly connect with their characters".[66]

In addition, critics praised the world design and mechanics for their innovation. Many of them enjoyed the paper-style worldbuilding, saying it topped the game off and paired well with the storyline.[10] The game's linear open world design was compared to the likes of The Legend of Zelda series.[59] Some critics appreciated how the world is interactive, with characters, collectible treasures, and that it seems there is something interactive almost everywhere.[64] Critics found it fun to explore and discover hidden Toads in the environment, calling the experience entertaining on its own.[20][12] Electronic Gaming Monthly praised each Toads' witty dialogue, noting how it kept the overall hunt fresh.[55] Reviewers called the soundtrack calming and catchy, and appreciated the gradual change during progression throughout each world.[19]

The game was praised for its design and concept, but criticized for dropping the role-playing elements present in previous Paper Mario titles.[20][60] Critics indicated that the game was a new and unique experience,[60] but thought the action-adventure style of gameplay did not reach the heights of previous games, such as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.[67] The game was commonly criticized for lacking an experience point (XP) system.[17][18] ESPN's Sean Morisson missed the "satisfying progression" from XP, but considering other good concepts from the game, was split on "whether it mattered all that much."[62]

The combat mechanics' reception was mixed. Many reviewers described the fighting style as innovative, a fun twist on basic formats,[20][55] with boss battles being particularly praised.[17][19] GameSpot called the new combat system clever, stating how it "[turned] the series' Achilles' heel into one of its biggest strengths".[57] Multiple reviewers from Famitsu enjoyed the combat, appreciating how the style was a strong puzzle element.[8] However, several critics judged the combat to be unrewarding, and at times, either frustrating or lacking any challenge.[20][56][12] Although Cam Shea of IGN thought the new concept was innovative, he felt the combat lacked meaning, an inconvenience rather than challenging.[20] Chris Kohler agreed in his review on Kotaku, appreciating how the reward of coins sometimes made battles worth it, but that they did not amount to much compared to XP.[17]

The Origami King launched at number two in the United Kingdom behind Ghost of Tsushima,[68] and sold 109,092 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the second best-selling game in the nation.[69] The game placed third on the July 2020 NPD charts, setting a launch month sales record for the series, and doubling the physical launch sales of Super Paper Mario in the U.S.[70][71] In July 2020, the game became the bestselling Nintendo Switch game on Amazon.[72] By December 2020, the game had sold 3.05 million copies, becoming the fastest selling game in the series and one of the best-selling games on the Switch.[73]

In 2020, the game was nominated for Best Family Game and Nintendo Game of the Year categories in the Golden Joystick Awards, but lost to Fall Guys and Animal Crossing: New Horizons respectively. In addition, the game lost to New Horizons in the Best Family Game category in The Game Awards. VentureBeat,[74] Polygon,[75] Kotaku,[76] and EGM listed the game as one of the best releases of 2020.[77] Nintendo Life and IGN rated the game among the best Nintendo exclusives of 2020.[78][79][80] The game was one of the best RPGs of 2020 by score, according to GameSpot.[81]