OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD There’s gonna
be spoilers!
Spoilers are coming!
Don’t watch this video if you don’t want
to be spoiled
for Paper Mario: The Origami King!
They’re coming! They’re coming right now-
Heheheheehehe heheheee gotcha, hehehe- oh
uh hi, sorry I didn’t see ya there, I was
uh, busy playing Paper Mario: The Origami
King for my Nintendo Switch!
Hah? Get it?!!
Ehhhh.
I really liked Paper Mario: The Origami King.
Before the game launched, I thought that would
end up being a controversial opinion, but
it seems like everybody is really enjoying
it for the game that it is.
Look, nobody’s calling it a masterpiece
or anything, and the legacy of the series'
past will always linger, but it’s a genuine
blast and I’m really glad that I got to experience it.
I honestly can’t recommend it enough to
fans of Mario games or adventure games in general.
But there is one aspect of the game that not
everybody seems to love, to put it gently.
That aspect of course, would be the game’s
combat.
But I'm not talking about that today.
Instead I want to focus on another area of
controversy, which is the Legion of Stationery,
a series of boss battles that are on the surface,
just fights with photorealistic art supplies.
I can totally understand why people don’t
love these, but while I was skeptical at first,
by the end of the game they actually turned
out to be my favorite part of the whole experience
in pretty much every way, and here’s why.
So, quick backstory. I don’t want to focus
too much on the early Paper Mario games, but
it’s important to bring up the first three here,
in order to explain why the Legion of Stationery
is so polarizing in the first place.
So Paper Mario 64, The Thousand Year Door,
and Super Paper Mario were all praised by
critics and adored by fans for their oddball
cast of characters, including unusual boss
battles that didn’t always rely on typical
Mario mainstays.
Sure, there were King Goomba’s and all that,
but those relatively generic ones were alongside
wild and memorable boss battles with brand
new characters,
or fresh takes on existing Mario baddies, such as-
(WACKY MUSIC)
So when Sticker Star and Color Splash started
introducing more generic boss characters alongside
their increasingly generic supporting characters,
it didn’t go over very well with fans.
I mean, I feel like it’s fair to say that
enemies like Hooktail and Rawk Hawk, with
their unique characterizations and designs,
are inherently preferable to newer baddies
such as Big Boo
and, Steak.
So when the second trailer for Origami King
chose to show off it’s new boss battles
featuring “Colored Pencils” and “Rubber
Band” it was, ehhhh...
That’s some, noooo!
Noo!
(ANNOUNCER): "shifty and sticky Tape"
Tape?!
Are you kidding me??!
Ohhhhhh :(
It certainly led to a less than stellar
response online, and I will admit, I was more
than a little unhappy with the decision.
Especially considering the fact that the rest
of the game looked really solid!
The creepy atmosphere, the tease of partners kind of returning,
the combat which I thought looked really cool...
but I already said I’m
not TALKING ABOUT THAT TODAY!
SO I thought I’d be really disappointed
with the stationery enemies when the game
finally came out.
And I was!
I really really was.
But as my time in the world of the game went
on, and I found myself more invested in the
story and general happenings, I realized how
beneficial they were to the overall experience,
in a variety of ways!
Who would have thought!
I’m gonna start by praising some aspects
of these characters that weren’t really
up for debate to begin with.
First of all, when speaking in terms of mechanics
and gameplay, I think a majority of people
would likely bring up these boss encounters
as one of the game’s highlights,
and I totally agree!
I love how open-ended the fights can be finding
solutions to these challenges.
One of the coolest things I realized early
on is that you can pretty much always fudge
these battles to walk in a direct line from
your spot outside the ring right to the boss,
but doing so won’t result in you picking
up as many goodies along the way, and some
of those goodies are essential to doing well
in the fight,
such as the hint envelopes and attack boosts.
In addition, unlike the Vellumental fights
which tend to have one “ideal” solution,
you can occasionally strategize your choices
in ways that feel more open than the rest
of the game’s combat.
Like, with the stapler for example, you can
use several different angles, though jumping
or the 1,000-Fold Arms* are preferential
to using your hammers.
You’re not bogged down with having to solve
a puzzle in one set way, you can strategize
based on what’s going on around you, and
which goodies
you want to prioritize picking up. Fun stuff!
In addition, the Legion of Stationery often
manipulate or mess with the ring that you’re
battling on, throwing additional obstacles
that you won’t find throughout the rest of the game.
I felt like those extra challenges were very
unique, I really enjoyed how they shook it
up for these moments, but it never felt like
it was something that I couldn’t overcome
by just thinking about it for a little, and
the game threw enough tools at me to help
me succeed if I was ever truly stumped.
Also, I really, really need to say that the
music in these battles, particularly the back
half, are some of the best tracks I think
I’ve ever heard in a Mario game, and quite
a few of them have entered my workout playlist
permanently.
(AAAHHHHHH!)
They’re so upbeat, so energetic, and all
of them manage to perfectly reflect the design
and characterization of the stationary item
they’re paired with.
And speaking of characterization, the main
complaint against these enemies is characterization.
As I explained earlier, people weren’t happy
with the reveal of these *things*, because
compared to the first three game’s bosses,
they came off as too silly and tongue-in cheek.
They also served as a stark reminder for what
these games used to be, and how wonderful
the antagonists’ designs could get back
in the day.
But, I gotta say, for what they were working
with, they nailed the characters of each and
every one of the Legion.
First of all, they all have unique personalities,
titles, and, AND, the colored pencils even
have a name!
Imagine that, an enemy in a Paper Mario game
with an actual NAME!
That’s rare now for some reason!
The pencils talk like a pretentious artist,
the tape is stereotypically Italian-American
for some reason, and the scissors are a noble
swordsman-type who wants to fight fair, but
when you prove your strength to him, he comes
at you with everything he has.
Also in terms of personality, I really enjoyed
how all of them were introduced.
I liked the colored pencils leaving behind
suspicious artwork throughout the lighthouse
where you meet him, or, them I guess, I mean
I think the actual pencil box is who you’re
technically fighting but it’s several colored
pencils inside, so, yeah, I guess I’m just gonna say them.
Anyway, I loved the rubber bands kidnapping
Toads and forcing them to watch his weird stage plays.
Speaking of Toads, I LOVE the hole puncher
literally mutilating 40 of them, just straight-up
stealing their faces and letting them walk
around as zombies.
Which reminds me, does anybody else get the
impression that this game’s whole “thing”
against Toads is a response to fans complaining
about Sticker Star and Color Splash having
way too many of them?
I do feel like the developers were throwing
us a bone, creating excessive violence against
Toads for our amusement, and I gotta admit,
if that’s what they were going for I appreciated it.
But going back to personality, I find it pretty
remarkable that the developers were able to
find qualities that perfectly matched each
office supply.
Like, for example, a stapler posing as a viscous
guard dog.
It makes perfect sense.
It’s mannerisms, it’s attacks, everything
about it fit with what they were going for
so well that I legitimately forgot I was just
fighting a realistic-looking stapler.
Same with the hole puncher, which is a disco
fanatic and dances when you fight it.
I don’t know how or why, but a disco hole
puncher just kind of makes sense, and it leads
to these enemies somehow managing to have
more personality than even Olly, the game’s
main antagonist whose single defining trait is that he's a
DISGUSTING RACIST.
So the other thing about these characters
would be their place in the story.
Ever since Sticker Star, the Paper Mario series
has embraced it’s uh, paper aspects, more
and more with each entry.
A lot of people don’t like this change,
because as fans will be quick to point out,
the paper was more of an artistic choice than
anything in the first three games.
But, Color Splash and now Origami King are
so pretty and so creative, they really push
the paper theme to its limits and for that
I honestly don’t mind it at all.
Also all of the origami in the game can be
recreated in real life, and that’s just really cool.
But all of that being said, when the Stationary
characters were announced, it seemed like
it was just another decision that served no
real purpose beyond the cutesy paper thing.
And, again, I agreed at first…but then about
halfway through the game, you meet Olly’s
creator, a Toad called Craftsman Toad, who
I desperately wish was any character other
than a goddamn unnamed Toad.
But when you speak to the Craftsman Toad,
he gives you a small piece of information
that explains everything you need to know
about the Legion of Stationery’s role in the story,
his exact words being, “It seems
he [Olly] also ran off with my best origami-making tools".
And, look, Origami King doesn’t have an
Oscar-worthy story or anything like that,
not at all, but this subtle piece of dialogue
does a lot of heavy lifting.
Olly, who resents his creator for giving him
life and then writing on him, ugh, decides
that he will assert his power by folding the
Mushroom Kingdom into his image, while vowing
revenge against all Toads due to the actions
of the craftsman.
Again, racism has no place in the Mario universe,
I condemn that.
All of that being said, it makes absolutely
perfect sense that, in his efforts to morph
the paper-crafted Mushroom Kingdom into a
world that represents his origami self, he
steals tools belonging to an origami craftsman,
gives them life, their overtly dramatic personalities
as well, and uses them to unleash absolute
Toad genocide.
Because at the end of the day, what’s worse
for a paper-based being than a giant pair of scissors?
Or a hole puncher, or the rest?
These are basically just giant, brutal, talking weapons
Olly has unleashed upon the world, and they
work perfectly not only with his character,
but within the story the game is telling as well.
And, again, I really wanna stress my feelings
about this game’s narrative.
The story of Origami King has a pretty strong
foundation.
Unfortunately it never seems fully eager to
push past that foundation, so what we get
is a very intriguing, but very barebones overall
story.
But this explanation for the Legion of Stationery
elegantly explains their origins, their behaviors,
and their motivations, and pushes them way
beyond just being talking office supplies.
They really ended up feeling like the exact
thing this story needed.
And with all of that being said I want to
end the video by saying this.
Oops.
Um, if it were up to me personally,
I would prefer the Paper Mario series to go
back to the style of bosses from the first
three games.
Those characters were just oozing with creativity,
personality, and they were very unique for
the Mario universe, I think we can all agree
with that.
But I really do believe that it all comes
down to this: The Origami King is a game that
succeeds at doing what it wants to do.
It’s fun in its own way even if it doesn’t
always harken back to what people wish the
game would be more like.
And I do believe that for the story that this
game is trying to tell, and the gameplay style
that this game is trying to pull off, the
Legion of Stationery are pretty much perfect,
they are exactly what they should have been
and they make the experience so much better because of it.
So with that being said, if you weren’t
a fan of them to begin with or you’re still
not a fan of them now, maybe that changed
your mind, maybe it didn’t, let me know in the comments!
BUT, I want to end this by reminding you that
I’m one of the three people in the world
who really loves the puzzle combat of Origami
King.
And for that reason if you want to throw away
everything else I said in this video, go right
ahead, I don’t blame you,
I have NO CREDIBILITY!
Thanks for watching to the end!! :)
