Most puzzles are solved with a combination of jumping, hammering, and a handful of abilities that Mario’s companion – Olly’s sister Olivia – unlocks, such as accordion arms to pull or hit things that are out of reach, and folding herself into towering elemental allies to do things like raise the ground itself or refill a lake with water.
Here, you’re rewarded for being observant and logical, not for finding the right point-and-click adventure-style combination of random objects. There, the Thing cards you needed to make progress were hidden across the entire world, creating frustrating roadblocks. The world puzzles are all self-contained too, which is actually a big improvement from Color Splash. I don’t mind this as it helps maintain forward momentum and many of the destinations are quite large, ensuring there’s plenty to do, but it’s certainly not as open as it first appears.
At the same time, your progression is still largely linear and signposted – you’ll only ever have access to one new destination at a time, and backtracking isn’t built into the design beyond the use of Toad Town as a hub. This makes for a nice change, creating a better sense of continuity as you trek up into the mountains from Toad Town or ship out to sea. Unlike the last couple of Paper Mario games, The Origami King has ditched the concept of individual levels in favour of one big overworld. King Olly has swaddled Peach’s castle with streamers, turning it into a Christo-esque prison, and Mario must find the source of each streamer and undo them to rescue the princess. The overall structure is exactly what you’d expect, however. It’s a change that frees up Bowser and his minions to play a much more zany role, and for Intelligent Systems to deliver a more intriguing Mario story in general. The Origami King gets off to a good start, introducing the folded fiend King Olly as its villain.
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