Referring to the structure of classic Chinese, Japanese, and Korean plot development, kishotenketsu is a four-act form of storytelling that the Mario franchise has frequently utilised with regards to game design and each Streamer follows the structure to a T. While some Streamers are notably longer than others, Mario and Olivia never linger in the same area for too long - in large part due to the game's four act structure. The Red Streamer wraps its way up a mountain, the Blue Streamer weaves between autumnal hills and a Feudal Japan-based theme park, the Yellow Streamer takes Mario to a desert locked in perpetual darkness, the Purple Streamer spans a Great Sea ripped right out of The Wind Waker, and the Green Streamer stretches high into the heavens for a last act that's reminiscent of Nimbus Land in Super Mario RPG. ![]() In taking over Peach's Castle, Olly wraps the Mushroom Kingdom in five colour-coded Streamers - splitting the world into five key segments that Mario and Olivia need to explore. Best of all is that the story doesn't force an arbitrary connection between Mario and Olly, keeping the focus squarely on Olivia's desperation to stop her brother. Beyond their contrasting colour palettes, Olivia's kindness is in stark contrast with Olly's cruelty. ![]() Olivia also serves as a strong foil for Olly. Olivia interrupts the action a bit more than she should, but her dialogue is rarely a nuisance and her insight into Mario's world offers an outside perspective into the Mushroom Kingdom that's often missed. Olivia is the real star of the show and one of the series' best partners, if not the outright best in terms of actual depth. Olly's sister, Olivia, serves as Mario's perpetual partner throughout and is ostensibly the real main character. The opening hour is a creepy, solemn introduction that places Mario in a lifeless world overrun with Folded Soldiers and paper mâché monstrosities (referred to in-game as the cloyingly clever Paper Macho).Īlthough the overall tone never shies away from the creepiness it opens with, the narrative proper is fairly light-hearted. Origami is a legitimate threat endangering the Mushroom Kingdom and audiences are forced to confront that fact almost immediately. Cartoon violence it may be, but Olly's sheer brutality lends the narrative real stakes. Before Mario even gets to confront the king, Olly has already refolded Princess Peach, mutilated countless Toads, and crushed Bowser into a shell of his former self.īeyond the uncomfortable nature of seeing friendly faces stripped of familiarity, the quaint horror of Toads having their bodies reshaped, faces punched out, and torsos cut into pieces re-implants an important edge that Paper Mario had been missing since Sticker Star. The titular Origami King, Olly desires to rebuild the world in origami. Framed around Princess Peach throwing an Origami Festival in Toad Town, it doesn't take long for Mario's ordinarily paper world to be shaped into an Origami Kingdom where sentience, personality, and free will are folded out of all those unlucky enough to be touched by King Olly - the game's central villain. ![]() As if taking a page from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, The Origami King embraces morbidity on an unexpected scale.
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