70
The Origami King is a game greater than the sum of its parts. It reaffirms Nintendo’s status as king of innovation, even if the folds don’t quite align. [Issue #2, p.66]
95
Paper Mario: The Origami King arrives on Nintendo Switch with very high quality graphics, a pleasant soundtrack and a plot full of very good humor, typical of the Paper Mario series. Among countless places to visit, bosses to win, and puzzles to solve, the game can be considered one of the best in the franchise.
70
Paper Mario deserves better. The prestige of a Final Fantasy veteran appropriating his magic onto a handicraft world deserves better. The unforgettable wit and lovable cast expanding Mario lore deserves better. And we know that Intelligent Systems can do better than committing themselves to a misguided identity crisis.
5
The "combat system" is so mind boggingly boring and repetitive that it drags all the usually well done world building and story around it (though the dialogue sometimes goes on for too long into unfunny territory or tries to make you care about things or characters you have no reason to) down to the floor. The Origami King is a game that feels outright crippled by Nintendo's stubbornness to remove the final RPG elements from this series they clearly don't want to be one.
5
Very inventive game that is marred by frustrating gameplay. Some of the puzzles and bossfights are very tedious especially the final one. The core mechanic of spinning and sliding concentric rings to line up enemies is not fun, and can actually pretty difficult. It's like having to solve a Rubik's cube. The dialog and story are meritricious trash, but that is the norm for Mario games. The final straw was the endless ending cutscenes and long unskippable credits.
7
The combat although unique, but it has its flaws. But its still easily the best thing in awhile.
Paper Mario: The Origami King
Released On:
Jul 17, 2020
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Mixed or Average
7.1
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
75% Positive
87 Reviews
87 Reviews
25% Mixed
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 7, 2020
100
Origami King is a huge game created from dozens of small entertaining levels, missions and simple quests and other things to do. While still working with years-proofed mechanics, it is not afraid to bring out something new and fun. [Issue#306]
Jul 15, 2020
90
An endlessly enjoyable story, a unique take on combat that fuses puzzle-solving with RPG traditions, and a beautiful world full of adventure makes Paper Mario: The Origami King yet another must-play Nintendo Switch experience.
User score
Mixed or Average
7.1
62% Positive
1261 Ratings
1261 Ratings
17% Mixed
341 Ratings
341 Ratings
21% Negative
416 Ratings
416 Ratings
Jan 24, 2026
10
C’est un des meilleurs jeux auquel j’ai déjà joué j’y ai passé des heures même s il est un peu court
Jan 19, 2026
10
Es un muy buen juego con una gran calidad gráfica y unas mecánicas muy bien pulidas y es una gran mejora en los juegos de paper mario
Jul 15, 2020
85
But what I actually want you to take away is that this game works despite itself. You shouldn’t miss out on the characters, writing, and world because a small fraction of the experience doesn’t work. By the end, I had largely forgotten about standard combat. I think this is the rare game that improves as you continue playing. And that culminates in a thrilling finale that comes as a huge payoff for the story. So don’t sit this one out. Pick it up, play through it, complain about it with me, but then stick around for all of its joys.
Jul 23, 2020
80
Apart from the combat part, Paper Mario: The Origami King is fun, adorable, and full of surprises.
Jul 15, 2020
80
Paper Mario: The Origami King is an adorable adventure, a breath of fresh rhythm on Nintendo Switch. The artistic direction, the well thought-out fighting system, the puzzles that require a reading of the environment and the atmosphere through the many sets make this game a real fun video candy-filled with humor and secrets, and very good experience.
Jul 27, 2020
70
The best thing I can say about Paper Mario: The Origami King is that it has some major problems, but the story is great enough and so worth experiencing that it's worth trudging through the negatives to experience it at least once. Like a lot of first-time origami projects, it starts rough, but it's worth seeing through to the end.
Jul 23, 2020
55
While Paper Mario: The Origami King makes excellent strides in terms of humor and adventure game design, it’s still sorely lacking aesthetically and features a horrendous battle system that only gets more frustrating as you play. I’ve given up on the series returning to the style of my childhood’s classics, but if the series ditches battles entirely it could make for some extremely fun adventure games.
Oct 29, 2025
10
Funny and very entertaining. An evolution of the 1000 year door. I liked the controversial fighting mechanics, because they a fresh and stay interesting. I loved the hilarious bosses as well. I also like Sticker Star on 3DS a bit but not Colour Splash on Wii U.
May 28, 2026
7
The combat although unique, but it has its flaws. But its still easily the best thing in awhile.
Aug 5, 2023
4
This Paper Mario Game was one of my biggest disappointment in my video game history. At first you are amazed about the beautiful graphics and artstyle but then when you enter a battle you can't believe what they have done. I really hated the battle-system so much that i cound not go on with this game. For me it's by far the worst Paper Mario game ever created!
Apr 16, 2021
4
What the game did right is exactly what we expect of a AAA Mario game, bright colorful world, fun uplifting music, generic characters (recolored toads in silly hats), and loads of collectibles. But we really shouldn't be praising Nintendo for what they have been doing since the WII. Intelligent systems did make a change to the Paper Mario formula but unfortunately they spoiled it. They screwed up the combat system, like all the other negative reviews. They went with a weird ring puzzle design where you attempt to line up the enemies in rows and 2x2 squares. The ring is big with lots of open spaces but they limit the amount of moves you can make per-turn allowing you to only solve most puzzles one way (like a jig-saw puzzle). They added sub weapons that you can use like fire flowers and tanuki suit tail spin but they attack in the same formation as your jump or hammer making them not very useful items. Combat partners are a joke this time around being very useless almost laughable. And to top it all off you get nothing other than coins for the 2-5mins you could be spending every encounter, no exp to make you stronger, no unique items to grind for, just wasted time and more coins for your already overflowing coin pouch. Overall this game is like a house with a nice façade but the inside is a mess.
SummaryFeaturing a new ring-based battle system that mixes puzzle-solving skills with traditional turn-based combat, Paper Mario: The Origami King aims to put new twists in the series' established formula.
Rated Efor Everyone
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
Initial Release Date:Jul 17, 2020
Developer:
Publisher:





























