Since the release of Paper Mario: The Origami King on the Nintendo Switch last month, series’ producer, Kensuke Tanabe has been discussing the creative restrictions tied to the game – reiterating how it’s been this way since Paper Mario: Sticker Star was released on the 3DS.
In another recent interview, this time with the German website PCGames, Tanabe touched on the battle system in the Paper Mario series and noted how his team strived to change the combat system in each entry to keep things fresh. Here’s the translation (via Nintendo Everything):
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.
The Paper Mario series started out as a traditional RPG series, and while it maintained this in the second outing, since then it’s continually evolved. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, for example, the focus is on collecting coins in battle, rather than gaining experience points.
Changes to the Paper Mario series over the years have also been previously linked back to Shigeru Miyamoto. Tanabe touched on this in an Iwata Asks interview around the time of Sticker Star’s release, when talking about the creation of new characters:
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!
Do you think the combat system in the Paper Mario series should be updated in every game? Do you like the way battles play out in The Origami King? Share your thoughts down below.
