Last month Paper Mario: The Origami King released on the Nintendo Switch (to much critical praise). Series producer, Kensuke Tanabe has been out and about discussing the various creative restrictions tied to the latest game, and all previous Paper Mario games since Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the 3DS.
In an interview ith German website PCGames, Tanabe discussed the battle system in Paper Mario specifically, noting how his team strived to keep things fresh by changing the battle system in each entry.
Striving to find new and innovative systems is the foundation of the philosophy my team and I are following when developing games. As such, I think it’s a necessity that the combat system changes in every game.
When Paper Mario was first released way back on the N64, it was a traditional RPG. This carried through to its Gamecube sequel, The Thousand Year Door, however it has made some significant changes in each installment since then. The main focus in Origami King is its focus on collecting coins, and not about gaining experience points in the traditional sense.
In the past, changes to the Paper Mario formula has been linked to Shigeru Miyamoto – the creator of Mario. Around the time of Stick Star’s release, Tanabe stated:
Aside from wanting us to change the atmosphere a lot, there were two main things that Miyamoto-san said from the start of the project—”It’s fine without a story, so do we really need one?” and “As much as possible, complete it with only characters from the Super Mario world.
But being unable to use new characters is pretty strict. Of course, we could not make any new enemy characters, and as for allies among the Super Mario characters, there’s really only Toad in various colors!
What are your thoughts on the latest Paper Mario? Did the battles hook you, or did the lack of traditional trimmings let you down? Let me know in the comments below.
Source – PCGames.de via NintendoEverything.com
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