Paper Mario: The Origami King producer says Miyamoto not really involved, dev team has 'almost complete control' over creative direction

Little by little, we're learning more about what's going on behind-the-scenes with the Paper Mario series. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, producer Kensuke Tanabe talked about just how much sway his team has for the game's direction, as well as Miyamoto's involvement with the project.

“Ever since Paper Mario: Color Splash, we have almost complete control over the creative direction of the game. Mr. Miyamoto checked in on development once or twice, but there were no specific requests to make changes. However, all character designs have to pass a check by our IP team, which is pretty strict. Nonetheless, we were allowed to change the outfits of some Toads in this game.”

The creative control comments were echoed by Director Masahiko Nagaya.

“Mr. Tanabe is correct about us having complete creative control over the crucial elements of the game. We were constantly checking whether or not our approach was moving too far away from the Mario universe. During development, we were also careful not to disappoint the expectations of fans of the core Mario series. As mentioned, there are strict guidelines related to the use of characters. It’s a challenge to emphasize the unique aspects of the game while still adhering to the guidelines.”