Paper Mario Origami King Has an Open World, Rotating Cast

Game Informer recently previewed Paper Mario: The Origami King, which yielded a great deal of information about the newest Paper Mario game. For one thing, Paper Mario Origami King has a kind of open-world setup, and you won’t want to get too comfy with your partner characters either.

Origami King boasts a number of massive areas, and since the game isn’t built around chapters, you’re free to explore as you see fit. The goal is reaching the five members of the Legion of Stationery. Each one guards one of the five streamers winding their way throughout the world, but Intelligent Systems told Game Informer they aren’t just in one place waiting for Mario. They’re also scattered around the world.

Aside from finding bosses, Mario encounters a number of side quests and “one-off” events, so it’s worth exploring the world.

As for how you’ll get around Origami King‘s open world, you’ve got a number of different transport modes. There’s on foot, of course, but there’s also a boat and a boot-shaped car. Periodically, Mario gets caught up in airship segments too, where you’ll have to fend off enemy (paper)aircraft.

Origami King partner characters like Bobby the Bob-omb don’t stick around forever. Intelligent Systems designed a rotating cast so you don’t have to decide which friends you should bring along. Olivia, however, remains by your side the whole time.

We already saw a few new details about Origami King’s combat, but one new tidbit is you can spend coins to get extra time if you need to mull over how you want to arrange your foes.

Toads you rescue along the way can offer hints too, if you pay them of course. And those same Toads — assuming you rescue them — flock back to Toad Town and open up important shops or areas of the town as well.

You can check out the full preview and interview over on Game Informer. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Paper Mario: The Origami King news as we near its July 17 launch date.