Back when Paper Mario: The Origami King was nothing more than rumors, it was believed that the game would be a return to the series’ more traditional RPG gameplay, something fans have been wanting for a long time. That obviously didn’t happen, but the game’s producer has suggested that the door’s still open on it happening someday.
Paper Mario is a series that has had a bit of friction between what the fans want and what the developers want for quite a few years now. The N64 original and its GameCube sequel The Thousand-Year Door are fondly-remembered examples of classic RPGs, but ever since then the Paper Mario series has deviated from the formula of those two with titles that radically changed up the combat (or in the case of 2007’s 2D platformer Super Paper Mario, the entire genre).
While The Origami King has been pretty well-received, most agree that it’s puzzle-based combat system and the rest of its predecessors’ experimental combat still pale in comparison to the first Paper Mario games’ traditional battle systems. This is something that Series Producer Kensuke Tanabe touched upon during an interview with Eurogamer Germany (as translated by Nintendo Everything).
When asked, Tanabe reiterated his recent statements about finding it necessary to change up Paper Mario’s battle system with every game, stating it’d be harder for the developers to offer surprising new gaming experiences if they stuck to the “same gameplay system wanted by the fans again and again.” He said this citing the game-making philosophy he adopted from Shigeru Miyamoto, which is focusing on “developing innovative and unique gameplay systems.”
That being said, he acknowledged that he’s “not opposed to the fans’ opinions,” even if he considers his philosophy separate from them. Also, he admitted that while he wants to continue experimenting with the series beyond Paper Mario: The Origami King, “we haven’t decided yet whether or not we will keep doing so in the future.”
It’s worth noting here that one of the reasons Tanabe cited for wanting to innovate with Paper Mario came from a desire to distance it from the Mario & Luigi series, which has skewed more towards traditional RPG mechanics. However, that series has been on a decline lately, due to the lack of any new games in years and the closure of developer AlphaDream last year. As such, it’s hypothetically possible that the potential lack of competition may compel the Paper Mario team to try to do something a little more traditional with the next game, whenever that comes out.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is available for Switch.
Source: Eurogamer, Nintendo Everything