Paper Mario The Origami King is a game where I can say showed a lot of passion and creativity behind it. The visuals and cutscenes just brim with people making the most of what they can do. The Origami King is a beautiful experience, I am honestly blown away with how pretty it is and how it uses the paper visuals on everything. Each locations is so vibrant and unique (the desert at night is still my favorite one by far).
The NPCs are fun to talk to and I enjoyed the main characters like Olivia a lot.
At the same time, while I can see the passion of people doing what they can. They are still doing what they can under the limitations and mindset that is still in place in Sticker Star (No XP, no unique character designs) and don't really fix those problems. The upgradable gear breaks and you have an extremely small variety of items, so it isn't really like the badges and item system of previous games (granted with the combat system I can understand why even if I don't like it). Mario gets slightly stronger at story points but it doesn't really change enemies giving only coins and confetti so while more necessary I slowly began skipping more fights the further I went into the game. And partners aren't controllable, are exclusive to certain areas, are temporary, and were more of a taste of what people wanted without actually fully delivering it.
Battles still aren't fun as it is more of a puzzle game than actual fighting. And you can just pay coins to complete the puzzle in battle or in game (which I steadily began to do as I, sadly began to not enjoy the puzzles the more I played). The single most enjoyable fight is the scissors because it is more fighting and less puzzles.
That said, the best parts of the game were outside of battle. The overworld itself, the visuals, the exploration, the confetti monsters were all a blast. It's just sadly, the main battles themselves...not so much. It was worth the experience even if I can't see myself playing it again
The NPCs are fun to talk to and I enjoyed the main characters like Olivia a lot.
At the same time, while I can see the passion of people doing what they can. They are still doing what they can under the limitations and mindset that is still in place in Sticker Star (No XP, no unique character designs) and don't really fix those problems. The upgradable gear breaks and you have an extremely small variety of items, so it isn't really like the badges and item system of previous games (granted with the combat system I can understand why even if I don't like it). Mario gets slightly stronger at story points but it doesn't really change enemies giving only coins and confetti so while more necessary I slowly began skipping more fights the further I went into the game. And partners aren't controllable, are exclusive to certain areas, are temporary, and were more of a taste of what people wanted without actually fully delivering it.
Battles still aren't fun as it is more of a puzzle game than actual fighting. And you can just pay coins to complete the puzzle in battle or in game (which I steadily began to do as I, sadly began to not enjoy the puzzles the more I played). The single most enjoyable fight is the scissors because it is more fighting and less puzzles.
That said, the best parts of the game were outside of battle. The overworld itself, the visuals, the exploration, the confetti monsters were all a blast. It's just sadly, the main battles themselves...not so much. It was worth the experience even if I can't see myself playing it again