Paper Mario: The Origami King is coming to the Switch, preorders open today

Nintendo surprised everyone with an out-of-the-blue announcement of a new Nintendo Switch game featuring Mario, the companyâ€™s beloved plumber, called Paper Mario: The Origami King.

The game is coming on July 17, and preorders are available now for the standard Switch game price of $60.

Paper Mario: The Origami King

Super Mario Odyssey is generally regarded as one of the best games for the Nintendo Switch, but this is the first Switch game available with the Paper Mario license. Mario games are traditionally platformers that see the characters attempting to traverse difficult terrain at reasonably high speeds. Paper Mario games slow things and feature gameplay that falls in line with some of the best RPGs. Paper Mario: The Origami King will feature more puzzles and story conversations than intense platforming.

Paper Mario games also tend to be a bit longer, which makes them a good value for the price. For example, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube takes about 30 hours to complete the main story. Finishing just the main story of Super Mario Odyssey takes just a bit over 12 hours, so thereâ€™s a definite length difference between the types of games.

The trailer showcases quite a bit of the gameplay, and it looks to fall in line with previous games in the franchise, though with some more paper manipulation that fits with the origami theme of the new game. Mario is manipulating perspective to solve puzzles, fighting in RPG-style battles, folding and shaping paper to accomplish his goals, and navigating a gorgeous world with an exciting design.

Switch Paper Mario The Origami King 1 1

Aesthetically, it looks like Nintendo is leaning even harder into the papercraft look and feel with Paper Mario: The Origami King, giving it a design that stands out from the hyper-realistic games we typically see on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Nintendo is known for taking its consoles, which generally are a step behind in terms of hardware and power, and getting the most out of them through art styles and design. This game appears to be no exception.

Nintendo hasnâ€™t been putting out a large number of games so far in 2020, but it released the massive hit in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This new Paper Mario game could be the companyâ€™s next smash success.

Interested buyers can preorder Paper Mario: The Origami King from Nintendo, GameStop, Best Buy, and at most other major retailers that tend to carry Nintendo Switch games.