Paper Mario started out as a role-playing series through and through, with turn-based combat, experience points, and pretty much every other element found in the popular genre; these days, to the dismay of many, Paper Mario has become an action-adventure series.
In June of this year, Nintendo and Intelligent systems released Paper Mario: The Origami King being released for the Nintendo Switch, which is the 6th title in the Paper Mario series, and many fans hoped that this would be a return to form, but this was not really the case.
For those of you unaware, only the first two entries in the Paper Mario series were fully fledged RPGs, ever since Super Paper Mario released for the Nintendo Wii in 2007, the series has been straying from the original style. As it turns out, this is all very intentional, and Intelligent Systems know exactly what they are doing.
A recent interview with Paper Mario series Producer Kensuke Tanabe has revealed that the developers have moved away from the RPG style because they want to distance themselves from the Mario & Luigi series; Nintendo's RPG series set in the Super Mario Bros. universe.
"When developing Paper Mario: Sticker Star, one of our goals was to move away a bit from the traditional RPG style. Nintendo has another RPG series starring Mario and we wanted to distance ourselves from it by making an adventure game with a focus on solving puzzles," revealed Tanabe to Eurogamer Germany, as translated by Nintendo Everything.
Tanabe also reveals that he is not really sure if they will still keep moving away from the RPG style in future entries or not, but he does reveal that he wants to keep developing Paper Mario games that surprise fans of the long-running series.
"Even though we've stuck to that decision so far, we haven't decided yet whether or not we will keep doing so in the future. Personally speaking, I want to keep developing Paper Mario games that are both innovative and unique," Tanabe further explained.
The whole deal with the Paper Mario series not focusing on the RPG elements that made the series a household name has given fans a lot to talk about. Some are more than okay with all of the changes made to the series, while others wish Nintendo would deliver the RPG Paper Mario they have been wanting to play since the early 2000s.
Paper Mario: The Origami King has been very well received by fans of the series, as well as newcomers, but it is definitely not an RPG title like the original Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Maybe one day Nintendo and Intelligent Systems will decide to go back to the series' roots; until then, all fans can do, myself included, is keep hoping for the best.
The kingdom has been ravaged by an origami menace! Join Mario and his new partner, Olivia, as they team up with unlikely allies like Bowser and the Toads to battle evil Folded Soldiers.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is currently available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.