Nintendo’s Reluctance to Return to What Works

Paper Mario: The Origami King is selling well and reviewing well too. Most people who play it have better things to say about it than most Paper Mario games released in the past 20 years. Still, it doesn’t quite feel the same. I’m in the camp where I agree with many fans of Nintendo in thinking things just don’t seem like they used to be. That’s on purpose, and it’s a huge part of Nintendo’s move towards innovation and art over churning out the same games over and over again.

Does that mean every game is going to be a hit? Absolutely not. There are plenty of Nintendo games that didn’t quite work out to plan. For every Breath of the Wild, we get a Chibi-Robo Zip Lash. Yeah, the highs and lows are always going to be drastic with Nintendo. That’s because Nintendo no longer wants to do the same thing that made them successful. Simply put, repeating successes doesn’t push the envelope or include new people in the gaming experience.

Nintendo is never going to push the boundaries of technology. Nor are their games going to be the best looking titles you own. Nintendo doesn’t even like creating new characters if they can help it. The goal is to create a great experience. That means adding things like Cappy instead of pushing the boundaries of what a Mario game can be. It’s not going to work for everyone. The spinning combat mechanic in The Origami King doesn’t work for everyone. That said, it does work to change things up.

We won’t ever get another Paper Mario 64 and we certainly won’t get another The Thousand-Year Door. Instead, we’ll see Nintendo try new things time and time again. Innovation is more exciting to me than a carbon copy of something I liked in the past. Let the misses come if it means we get those great games. It’s worth it to me and given Nintendo’s financial reports, it’s working for them too.