July 17th sees the launch of one of the Nintendo Switch’s most anticipated games, with Paper Mario: The Origami King releasing exclusively on the handheld platform. The Paper Mario series has been around for over two decades, though some fans have fallen out of love with the franchise after some lackluster later instalments. Hopefully, The Origami King will bring a lot of fans back.
The Origami King sees the paper version of the Mushroom Kingdom under siege by evil origami forces from another universe. Led by the villainous King Olly, lots of the Mushroom Kingdom has been forced to convert to Origami and become part of Olly’s Folded Soldiers, including Princess Peach. Naturally, it falls on everyone’s favourite mustachioed plumber to save the Kingdom for like the hundredth time.
While previous entries in the series have taken a more “traditional” RPG approach to combat, The Origami King instead utilises a ring-based system, with Mario standing in the center of various rings attempting to line-up enemies to deal massive damage. Boss fights flip the script, however, with the bosses sat in the middle while Mario uses the rings to create a path to the boss.
With plenty of unique worlds to explore and companions that can join you on your quest, Paper Mario: The Origami King looks like it could be a real hit for anyone looking for a charming adventure. However, if you’re looking for something to play once you’re finished with the game, or would like to try an older game along a similar vein, these are the games for you.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Okay, we’re starting out this list with the hardest one to actually play in the year of our lord 2020, and that’s Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Ask most Paper Mario fans which game in the series they prefer, and the answer is likely to be TTYD, but playing it now is somewhat of a herculean task unless you happen to own a working Gamecube or dabble in the Dark Arts of Dolphin emulators.
The Thousand-Year Door focuses on the town of Rogueport, where Mario and friends have arrived to enjoy a brief holiday. Naturally, this isn’t on the cards for Mario, as Peach ends up being kidnapped by The Secret Society of X-Nauts, who wish to open the eponymous door underneath Rogueport in order to claim the treasure that lays behind it.
The combat resembles a more traditional turn-based format, though players can take part in little mini-games during attacks to deal more damage, or to block themselves from attacks. With plenty of towns and areas to explore, companions to encounter and a story that still holds up as one of Nintendo’s best, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is utterly incredible and well worth playing. Now, if only Nintendo would bring it to the Switch. That’d be so much money in their pockets, but no. We’ll just get a LEGO NES set instead.
Undertale
We’re about to become another one of those people who’s telling you to play Undertale, but there’s a certain magic of Paper Mario that exists outside of its normal formula that Undertale manages to capture. It’s not just about fighting bosses and levelling up – Undertale is literally about the friends you’ve made along the way.
As a child who manages to stumble into the world of the Underground, you encounter a host of monsters who you can either murder or try to befriend. While it bears all the hallmarks of an adventure RPG, like The Origami King, the combat is unlike any other game in the genre, elevating Undertale above other titles.
Undertale is also highly replayable, with tonnes of secrets and multiple playthroughs that drastically alter how you play the game and the endings you receive. Considering that Undertale is available pretty much everywhere, including the Nintendo Switch, it’s a great game to play once you’re finished with The Origami King.
South Park: The Stick of Truth & The Fractured But Whole
While South Park’s brand of comedy might be too much for some people, there’s no denying that the past two South Park games have been great RPG titles. Better yet, The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole both offer two completely different styles of RPG and yet the series somehow manages to nail both.
The Stick of Truth is a send up of fantasy tropes seen in The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and so on, as the kids of South Park have taken to using swords and shields to beat each other up. The gameplay mostly resembles The Thousand-Year Door, with turn-based attacks that can be buffed with small mini-games.
The Fractured But Whole is a direct sequel that sees the kids dumping the fantasy gimmick in favour of superheroes. Naturally, there’s plenty of references and jokes regarding the MCU behemoth, but the gameplay is surprisingly deep too, utilising a grid-based system that rewards players for maneuvering their enemies into massive damage. It’s sort of like The Origami King, only with 1000% more piss and shit jokes.
Octopath Traveller
While you might find plenty of unique takes on the RPG genre in this list, Octopath Traveler is much more of a throwback complete with SNES style character sprites and turn-based battles. For those who prefer more old school RPG experiences, Octopath should definitely be on your list if it isn’t already.
Players pick from one of eight different characters when their game begins, before their journey’s merge towards the later stages of the game, as you try to save the world from a demonic threat. Again, it’s quite the nostalgia trip, but it definitely has enough weight to stand shoulder to shoulder with any modern offering.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
If you’re interested in the other games that The Origami King developer Intelligent Systems are working on, you should be checking out Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The most recent entry in the tactical RPG series, you join a military school that’s ruled by, you guessed it, Three Houses, and you’ll have to pick one and lead them to victory.
Three Houses features the same grid-based gameplay that fans of the series will come to expect by now, while the game’s story ensures hundreds of hours of replayability, as the house you choose to ally with greatly impacts how the story plays out. It might be too tactical in comparison to The Origami King, but if it does hook you, you’ll be playing for a long damn time.
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