How to start playing Paper Mario: The Origami King as soon as possible

While Nintendo's lineup for the rest of 2020 is still a mystery outside of Mario 35th anniversary rumors, Paper Mario: The Origami King is the next major title that will be released very soon on July 17, the same day as Ghost of Tsushima for PS4. If you're an avid Paper Mario fan eager to see this game's new take on combat, here's what you need to know about when and how to play Paper Mario: The Origami King.

When is the Paper Mario: The Origami King release time?

The game's release time is typical of most major Nintendo-published titles for Nintendo Switch. Paper Mario: The Origami King will be released at 12 a.m Eastern on July 17, 2020. If you've pre-ordered the game digitally, it will be available for you right at midnight or the comparable time in your North American time zone. If you have a physical copy, you don't have to worry about the launch time and can just start playing as soon as you get it! But there's virtually no chance you'll be able to get it in-hand by midnight.

Can I pre-load Paper Mario: The Origami King?

Yes, you can pre-load Paper Mario: The Origami King on Nintendo Switch. As soon as you pre-order the game digitally on the Nintendo eShop, you should see the game downloading on your Nintendo Switch's home screen automatically. Once this installation is complete, you're good to go and can play Paper Mario: The Origami King right at the stroke of midnight heading into July 17. Sadly, there are no pre-order bonuses if you do this. So playing ASAP is really the only perk.

What is the Paper Mario: The Origami King file size?

While physical versions of Paper Mario: The Origami King won't take up much space on your hard drive, the digital version of the game will. Inverse can confirm after pre-loading Paper Mario: The Origami King that it has a file size of 6.4 GB. While this isn't as big as Switch RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it will still take about a fifth of your system's 32 GB memory if you haven't upgraded it.

Surprisingly, Paper Mario: The Origami King's file size is very close to that of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which clocks in at around 6.8 GB. If clearing this space does prove to be an issue for you, it may be best to pick up a retail version of the game.

What's the Paper Mario: The Origami King review score?

A lot of people were on the fence about Paper Mario: The Origami King, and yet despite a few issues, many early reviews of the game are generally positive. The game currently holds an average score of 81 on both Metacritic and OpenCritic at the time of this writing. The highest score from sites like Comicbook and GamesRadar praise Paper Mario: The Origami King's writing and visuals, calling it "charming," "lighthearted," and "a celebration of Mario."

From a story, writing, and presentation standpoint, most reviews agree that Nintendo's latest game is on point. Unfortunately, the combat and lack of real character progression have been much more divisive. "The Origami King does offer a few welcome concessions to its RPG roots, but it also shies away from growing these further over the course of the game," Eurogamer's negative review states. Ultimately, if you can get over gameplay that IGN describes as "shallow," you should enjoy the latest Paper Mario romp.

Paper Mario: The Origami King will be released July 17, 2020 for Nintendo Switch.