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In Hirogami, the new action platformer from Gyaar Studio, I've just transformed into an armadillo made out of paper - or more accurately, folded myself into its shape to make use of its abilities like an origami-powered version of Kirby. I immediately put its skills to use by curling myself into a ball to bounce off enemies to inflict damage, then crash through every single box that comes into my path. My armadillo form is the first transformation I unlock during my hands-on demo, but it isn't the last. As protagonist Hiro, I'm tasked with trying to help save this beautiful 3D origami world from a digital blight, which is mysteriously appearing throughout the lands. Armed with a paper fan, I can eradicate traces of the blight by destroying digital blocks that contrast with the paper environments, but I can also help animals that have turned aggressive after being infected.
For reasons yet unknown to me, Hiro is able to help the various inhabitants by defeating their warped forms. Facing a blighted armadillo, for example, is how I learn how to adopt its shape and take on its abilities. After jumping out of the way of its rolling charges so that it hurts itself on nearby spikes, the digital sheen of the armadillo's shell disappears, and I'm granted its powers so I can then fold myself into its form.
I only get to spend an hour with the upcoming adventure that was just announced at the Tokyo Game Show, but I'm instantly taken by its gorgeous 3D design and the way both the platforming levels and Hiro's abilities are creatively infused with the origami theme of the world.
Paper powers
As I learned during my demo session, Hirogami was brought to life by a veteran team, with some Splatoon 3 artists and developers from Tekken and Ace Combat 7 on board. Gyaar Studio is well known in Japan for being the indie label established by Bandai Namco, which was formed to give developers creative freedom to work on passion projects to bring to life their unique ideas. The only stipulation is that they need to find their own publisher, which is how the small Singapore studio behind Hirogami came to work with Kakehashi Games. The new platformer has been designed to capture a nostalgic feel and hark back to the simplicity and joy of games that developers on the team used to play.
From my time as Hiro, there's definitely a laid-back feel to the adventure, and the paper world is the kind of place you want to spend time in. The origami aesthetic of Hirogami is definitely a big draw for me, and I love how it creatively feeds into the design of the levels and how you traverse them. Instead of crouching to get through small crevices, for example, you turn into a sheet of paper to slide your way through them, and likewise when you need to jump up to a platform using wind to propel you across, becoming a piece of paper lets you soar over gaps with ease.
Every animal you can transform into also gives you new ways to overcome obstacles or fight against the blight. Alongside the armadillo that gives me the ability to quickly roll through levels, I also get to become a frog, which allows me to leap and reach platforms high up. During one novel section, I also transform into a paper airplane to fly my way over to another level. I have to try to fly into bonus pieces of paper, and blast any obstacles away by firing out crumpled up sheets, but it's a fun way of changing things up before I'm back to platforming.
Interestingly, everything you encounter is also possible to make in reality, with the publisher telling me the team had an origami expert who could make the armadillo I'm controlling out of paper. When I go into hubworld where you can go from one level to the next - not unlike Kirby and the Forgotten Land - I briefly explore the map and discover it's set within a story book, which adds to its charm and only leaves me with more questions about this world. As I reach one corner of the page I'm on, for example, I find a huge teacup sitting outside of it that makes Hiro seem so small.
Throughout my time with Hirogami, I was really drawn to the way it plays around with the idea that this paper world is under threat from something digital – as though the two formats struggle to exist together, and one corrupts the other. From its beautiful 3D style to its creative transformation abilities, I'm already looking forward to returning to this colorful origami world to see how Hiro's journey will unfold when it releases in 2025.
Look ahead to more exciting upcoming releases with our roundup of new games for 2024 and beyond.
