In ‘Paper Mario: The Origami King', You Fight Office Supplies to Save Princess Peach

The long-awaited new Paper Mario game for the Nintendo Switch is almost here, and the game promises to appease fans who remember the original Paper Mario game, played on the GameCube in 2004.

There’s been a lot of discussion around the game since its announcement. In a new trailer for The Origami King, the game’s battle system was revealed, spoiling that Mario’s greatest enemies this time around are… office supplies?

In this new installment to the Mario franchise, Mario is on a quest to save Princess Peach and her castle from Olly, the Origami King. Olly has captured the castle, forcing Mario to navigate his way through different realms before facing off with Princess Peach’s captor.

Mario is aided on his adventure by Olivia, King Olly’s sister who wants to help him save the land from her brother’s hold. The pair navigate crafty foes as they look for the streamers connected to Princess Peach’s castle. 

The battle system for The Origami King is structured around a turn-based layered ring. To best optimize all of Mario’s moves, players will be able to rotate the layers of the ring to line enemies up, knocking out multiple in one turn if done correctly. Mario fights smaller enemies from the center, while boss battles take place with the foe center-stage while the player navigates the ring to find the clearest shot.

Contrary to former games, there aren’t “original” bosses for Mario to face off against. In fact, the boss battles are against your everyday office supplies. If you thought a tape dispenser wasn’t menacing, The Origami King will attempt to prove you wrong.

Understandably, players have mixed feelings after seeing the bosses they’ll have to face in Mario’s latest quest. The advertised bosses currently include a pack of colored pencils, a man made out of rubber bands, and a tape dispenser.

While we’re sure the developers meant these bosses to add a flare of humor to the gameplay, some players are less than amused, sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

“I miss when Paper Mario just used the paper style as a cute aesthetic choice with a couple nods here and there like turning into a paper airplane rather than drilling it into your head they're made of paper every five seconds,” one Twitter user shared.

“I'd prefer unique boss design too but since the villain is literally Origami related it makes sense for the bosses to be very literal interpretations of 'enemies of paper,’” another added.

Others point out that the previous Paper Mario games took creative liberties with the bosses, using the paper-esque art style to create unique characters to battle against, while these new additions feel slightly lackluster. 

But even though some players aren’t amused by the stationary bosses, they’re still open to giving them a chance when the game is released. 

Paper Mario: The Origami King is set to be released on July 17 for Nintendo Switch, and you can watch the full trailer below.