Paper Mario: The Origami King released just yesterday, and while it's a beautiful, exciting, and fun new installment in a long line of beloved video games since the year 2000, it introduced completely new combat to the series: the ring battle system.
The ring battle system is brand new in Paper Mario: The Origami King. During regular combat, Mario is forced to stand at the center of several rings while his classic enemies surround him. It reprises a version of systems seen in old Paper Mario games of lining up and jumping on or hammering the villains. That in of itself isn't too difficult, but add in the added stress factor of the timer, and it's no longer such a charming variation of combat. And sure, after combating several Goombas and Troopas, it's possible to master. But reach the boss fights, and complicated is an understatement.
The boss fights are certainly not easy, but one surprisingly simple trick makes a world of a difference. Throughout Mario's adventures in Origami King, a folded friend by the name of Olivia—younger sister to King Ollie—will accompany him. She's extremely useful in that, if players forget where they're at or what they're doing in any particular part of the game, she can offer a hint by pressing "X," but she can also offer hints during battles.
This will pause the timer, and Olivia will offer Mario a hint of a solution, but the hint is typically the quickest way to finish his enemies off. For example, when fighting Koopas, she'll hint at Mario that putting a shell at the front of a line of enemies will quickly knock them out of the ring. For players who find themselves stumped during battles, this trick could be the key to mastering Origami King's battle ring system. Keep in mind, however, that this trick doesn't work in the brief and few moments where Olivia is not apart of Mario's party.
Another key piece of advice is not to overlook the accessory merchants. Early on, prior to the first boss battle, accessory merchants will sell items like Heart Plus, which adds health points at the start of battle, and Time Plus, which offers more time in battle. Their abilities will increase further into the game but players should take advantage of these right away and purchase as many as they can because the items will make a world of a difference in combat.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
