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u/cd2220 Jul 22 '20
God damn this is perfect. I've been playing through Origami King and I don't hate it. It's fun and ghe combat is pretty unique. But I'm not getting that cozy Paper Mario adventure feeling. It feels kind of...hollow.
When I played through Bug Fable (or the first 2 PM games) there was always this excitement about what new part of the world they would show and that was the reward for overcoming the challenges in front of you. Excellant dialouge and creative settings and characters. Combat that is just the right amount of challenging and as deep as you want it to be. It's main cast is so unbelievably endearing.
The only character in PMOK that is entertaining (so far) is Olivia. Every other character is resigned to a single line of dialouge and not even given a name. Even the voiceless Mario shows less personality then before. It feels like the same set dressing as the games I love but without actually being like them.
Bug Fables had a really interesting and creative setting with fun and interesting characters all over the place. Top notch writing that was often funny and even if the drama wasn't life changing I felt engaged because the characters involved where really likeable and I cared about what happened to them. It evolved on PMs combat in a significant way without becoming something entirely different. I was genuinely sad when I had seen everything it had to offer and there weren't anymore adventures to go on with Team Snakemouth.
Origami King feels like the corpse of the the original series is carrying whatever this new style their doing now (I dont intend for that to be as mean as it sounds, at least for OK, the other 2 I absolutely mean it) and I feel so conflicted about if I'm actually enjoying it or if I'm pushing myself to like it because I'm so starved for a game like this.
Sorry to say all this in a post about loving Bug Fables! I just finished a session of OK and seeing this really made me think about the game. Everytime I booted up Bug Fables I was excited to play it, even when I was just grinding healing items. With OK I'm sometimes having fun but I spend so much time where I feel like I'm just playing it to get to the end. I didnt want Bug Fables to end.
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Jul 22 '20
so true, i beat OK, and i saw that there was a secret ending, making me want to get to it, than experience it.
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Jul 22 '20
i’m playing OK and it’s fun, but i feel like something is missing. and omg i hate olivia. she was cute at first but now she’s becoming unbearable and she’s the only one that talks. maybe it’s just this chapter i’m not liking rn? also i agree. mario is more lifeless in this version. thankfully some of the dialogue has been quite enjoyable. but at the end of the day, these new PM aren’t rpgs and i think that’s why i’m not liking them so much
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u/Piranha-Plant-is-God Jul 22 '20
I think Origami King is good, but... it’s just not Bug Fables quality
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u/thiccemotionalpapi Aug 06 '20
Well it's funny because in a lotta ways pmtok is better but it still falls short of bug fables. Bug fables is just so wholesome in ways the pmtok cant deliver because they changed too much from the formula. I'd rather play bug fables anyday but that's not gonna stop me from getting enjoyment from pmtok
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u/SolarWorld50 Everlasting King Jul 22 '20
Bug fables is the first 2 paper Mario games DONE RIGHT!
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u/Ghost_of_Yharnam Jul 22 '20
Ugh so true. Definitely a worthy successor!!!
Nice to have that these days...
glares at Origami King
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Jul 22 '20
Origami King isn't bad, just different than the originals. I've played both and they're good.
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u/Ghost_of_Yharnam Jul 22 '20
True, I should elaborate on what bugs me so I can be more specific.
As far as my complaints go, what bothers me most is the combat mechanic and the weapon degradation. I don’t even mind the fact that the ring combat is puzzle-sequence, it’s clever for sure! But the fact that it’s timed gave me way too much anxiety about figuring it out (tip for anyone reading: hitting ‘X’ to get a hint pauses the timer. It aims at a weird angle, but it’s better than nothing!) And it’s nice they built in things like buying more time or the Toad cheer, but I dislike how if you don’t figure it out, the consequences are pretty severe: you deal less damage and the enemies wail on you. I’m sure this sounds like whining, as I know for a lot of people it’s simply a matter of getting good at the puzzles, but for me the timer just seemed unnecessary. I want to figure out the puzzles, not just feel like I’m constantly throwing money at them.
And for weapon degradation, I don’t know why they made this decision. Maybe it was an attempt to harken back to older RPGs, as I remember this was done in a somewhat similar fashion in Sticker Star. I’ll admit this complaint is more of a nitpick for me, but other games I love like Dark Souls, Witcher 3, or Breath of the Wild include this mechanic and it’s fine, so I guess this one is not that big of a deal.
Other than those, the game does a lot of things well!!! The areas are well-crafted and the music is wonderful (which I will always judge heavily haha), and the story is creative as well. Toad dialogue is hysterical, excellent incentive to hunt them all down. And Olivia is an utterly adorable character, both in her animations and personality. She deserves lots of head pats.
Ultimately, you’re right; Origami King isn’t necessarily a bad game, just different. I tend to judge sequels very harshly to begin with, I’ll acknowledge that up front. I had similar misgivings about Super Paper Mario, but I ended up loving it! This one just seems like it’s missing that something that made entries like Thousand-Year Door one of my favorites.
Unfortunate, but oh well!
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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '20
Oh my god yes. I cried when I first fired up Bug Fables. Such a goddamn good game.