The release of Paper Mario: The Origami King has been a subject of anticipation for many of the fans. But to those who were expecting the same old RPG the series is known for, it’s a disappointment. Thus, begging the question of whether or not the latest installment is a direct entry in the RPG series. As it appears, it could well have been a faithful rendition to the mechanics of the Paper Mario, except the final output turns out differently.
No Leveling System
Those who played the series would know from the get-go what’s being mentioned here. Unlike the first three titles in the series which employ of EXP system, The Origami King simply didn’t. Instead of combat that grants experience points as a reward for the purpose of strengthening Mario, he gets coins and confetti.
The point of engaging in a battle in-game could be summed up as a mere gathering of stuff to sustain specific in-game functions. The exhaustive nature of which may seem enough to fuel interest for players to engage in more battles. But the idea is nowhere as fun as having to grind to strengthen Mario, akin to traditional RPG.
Suffice to say that the appeal of all RPGs lies in the leveling system, which gives players the impression of self-progression, one that is born from an invested effort.
An RPG, Sort Of
This is not to say that The Origami King is removed from RPG elements, however. There is still a factor in its gameplay that is reminiscent of a role-playing game, such as the damage indicator. But, alone, this cannot fully justify a game as an RPG.
In a surprising twist as reported by Gaming Reinvented, however, it shows a line of code that is indicative that the game might have originally been planned to stick to its roots. But, for one reason or another, simply fails to become part of the final product.
Drawing from a conversation at the Mario RPG Central Discord server, user zSupermoz claims of a certain variable that exists in the game’s saved file. Which, with a simple use of a Notepad, would reveal a variable, “battle_win_exP.”
The presence of the stated variable is subject to interpretations. But the word “exP” in it is quite telling of what lies within the game’s algorithm and its potential role in the overall scheme. It is, thus, difficult not to presume that the game could have been an RPG in the traditional sense from the start.
Image used courtesy of GameXplain/YouTube Screenshot