Paper Mario: The Origami King – Release Date, Gameplay, Trailer, and News
Paper Mario: The Origami King looks to revive one of Nintendo's most underrated franchises. Here's what you need to know:
It turns out that at least some of those recent Nintendo rumors were true as the studio has confirmed that they will release a new Paper Mario game (Paper Mario: The Origami King) in July for the Switch.
The project’s debut trailer showcases arguably its most notable feature: an origami-themed style that represents a significant change from the paper-inspired visuals of recent titles in the series. We even see instances of that old paper style conflicting with the origami visuals of this new title.
Actually, there’s a narrative explanation for the blend of origami and paper visuals. It seems that the kingdom has been taken over by the Origami King who has replaced the princess and notable locales with origami-themed alternatives.
Paper Mario‘s previous plots have surprisingly always been much more than paper-thin narratives designed to string the absurdity together, but what really has us excited about this new look are both the visuals themselves (which look incredible from an artistic standpoint) and the gameplay possibilities they offer.
We get a brief glimpse of the latter element in the debut trailer which seemingly showcases Mario having to deconstruct elements of the origami kingdom. That immediately brings to mind the “clean up” gameplay of Super Mario Sunshine, and it will be fascinating to see just how deep that system proves to be.
Speaking of new systems, Origami King will feature a fresh take on the series’ classic combat. It seems that the combat is based on a wheel that players will need to use to line-up enemies in order to perform devastating combos. Combat in these games have traditionally been more action-based, so it’ll be interesting to see how this new battlefield manipulation mechanic builds upon what we’ve previously seen.
Origami King will also feature pseudo-open-world navigation elements that allow Mario to freely traverse parts of the world on-foot and via various vehicles. It seems that these navigation aspects will actually play a pretty significant role in the game, but it’s not entirely clear how they will be incorporated into the narrative structure.
It’s also certainly worth noting that the wave of rumors which hinted that a new Paper Mario game was in development also brought news that Nintendo intends to remaster and re-release some classic Super Mario titles for the Nintendo Switch. We fully expect to hear Nintendo confirm the release of those games in the near future.
Here’s everything else we know about Paper Mario: The Origami King:
Paper Mario: The Origami King Release Date
Paper Mario: The Origami King is set to release for the Nintendo Switch on July 17.
Paper Mario: The Origami King Trailer
The latest trailer for Paper Mario: The Origami King celebrates the game’s upcoming release date with a stylish look at what’s to come:
If you want to dive deeper into Origami King‘s gameplay, be sure to watch this breakdown of the sequel’s new combat system and other highlight features:
Finally, be sure to check out the announcement trailer for Origami King:
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Matthew Byrd is Games Editor at Den of Geek and an entertainment enthusiast living in Brooklyn. When he's not exploring the culture of video games, he's…