Today Nintendo gave an extended gameplay presentation for the upcoming Paper Mario: The Origami King, a Nintendo Switch title arriving in just one week.

Lasting roughly 30 minutes, the presentation was conducted through Nintendo Treehouse Live, a livestream where several Nintendo employees played through the beginning of the game together. It consisted of the opening 30 minutes or so, including The Origami King's opening cut scene and finished with the reveal trailer and some additional discussion.

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Starting out the presentation, we see the opening moments of the game where Mario and Luigi arrive at Peach's Castle. Something feels very off, however, as the brothers notice how empty the Mushroom Kingdom is, without a single Toad in sight. As Mario enters the castle, he's greeted by an origami Peach who eerily asks the plumber, "will you crease yourself, and be reborn like me?" like some sort of cult leader. When the player says no, Peach sends Mario plummeting down into the castle dungeon, where he must escape.

As he escapes, Mario helps to free Bowser and Olivia, a new character made entirely of origami, who becomes Mario's main sidekick for the adventure. We also meet the main antagonist of the game, known as King Olly. Mario eventually escapes danger and finds himself in the first area of the game, entitled Picnic Road. This is where the gameplay really starts, as Mario is able to freely roam the area to his liking.

Nintendo then showed off the game's battle mechanics, which differs to that of previous titles. Fans of the original Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door might be disappointed to see that the gameplay is different here, however it does look like somewhat of an improvement over the past couple games. It involves lining up enemies in a ring-like puzzle system, rewarding combos with additional coins. We saw a few battles against various enemy types, until finally, the gameplay presentation ended with a cool boss fight against a giant pencil case.

The first thing to notice in The Origami King is its noticeably darker tone compared to other Paper Mario titles that came before it, as it appears that it is even getting a higher age rating in some regions. It makes for a nice tonal change for the franchise, and feels different enough from other titles. Additionally, the game looks visually stunning, with a beautiful blending of 2D and 3D graphics, with the origami characters standing out the most. Though different from previous titles, The Origami King looks like great fun and an excellent addition to Nintendo's long-running franchise.

Paper Mario: The Origami King releases July 17, 2020 for Nintendo Switch.

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