The Origami King is an exercise in expectations. The Paper Mario of Thousand-Year Door fame has been run through the shredder. Combat reads more puzzle mini-game than complex turn-based RPG. Some might peg it as a platforming adventure, but I see it as an elaborate dollhouse. Mario’s time with Olivia is precious but says little about the world they occupy other than functioning as a set piece for consistently hilarious gags. I wonder how it might perform if battles were scrapped entirely—if we just wandered the expanse of the Mushroom Kingdom admiring lovingly crumpled papercraft and chatting with neurotic toads.
