Hirogami

Origami is the Japanese art of folding a square piece of paper to create different shapes and patterns without the use of glue or scissors. A combination of the two Japanese words "oru" (to fold) and "kami" paper, origami is much more than a hobby - it's almost an art form and a way to learn spatial awareness and refine motor skills.

The game Hirogami is inspired by origami, and it all takes place in a beautiful world where everything appears to be folded from paper. You take on the role of Hiro, a former origami artist who is himself a human-like origami figure whose world has been infected and poisoned by Blight, a kind of digital curse that contrasts sharply with the digital world we live in, as opposed to the tactile and physical world from which the art of origami originates.

In a relatively linear 3D puzzle platformer, you must now fight this digital curse and cleanse nature and animals of this destructive plague. Hiro himself is initially equipped only with a sacred fan, which he (or she, Hiro is a unisex name in Japan) can use to destroy concentrations of Blight, and he/she can also 'unfold' himself/herself, turning back into a piece of paper that can squeeze through narrow passages, float over longer distances or be carried along by warm air currents.

As you progress through the game, Hiro will cleanse various animals of Blight and can then take their form. The animals have different strengths, weaknesses and special abilities - for example, the first animal is an armadillo, which can hardly jump and moves incredibly slowly. Instead, it can roll itself into a ball and, at high speed, crush boxes and enemies in its surroundings and later roll through both fire and lava. Later on, you also gain access to a toad, a large and strong gorilla and a bird, where the bird can fold itself into a paper aeroplane in some special flying levels.

The levels are designed so that you have to constantly switch between the different animals, and it looks great when Hiro folds himself from one form to another in real time. Different types of enemies must be fought with one form, while other puzzles and traps must be solved and avoided with other animal forms. It takes a little time to get the hang of it, but once you do, you can switch quickly and easily between the different origami animals.

Hirogami is actually a simply constructed puzzle platformer with a series of linear tracks that you choose from in a hub world. The game mechanics themselves are by no means new or groundbreaking, but because of the origami angle that has been applied throughout, the rudimentary mechanics are elevated to a higher level than they could achieve on their own.

The levels can be quite large, and even though there is a set route through them, there are still plenty of hidden areas to be found, many of which are only accessible if you revisit previously completed levels, but now with access to new animals and thus new abilities.

The visuals are really well done and, as mentioned, the entire game world looks like it's folded out of paper. It looks really good, as do the various animals you get access to, but unfortunately the menus don't follow the same style (which would otherwise be quite obvious), as they are rather boring and not particularly well designed.

So Hirogami looks good, and designing a game based on origami is a good idea. Unfortunately, problems begin to arise as you progress further and further into the game - which is obviously problematic. The camera is locked in place, similar to Sackboy, and can only be moved slightly from side to side and up and down, allowing you to see a little bit of your surroundings. It worked in Sackboy, but it doesn't work nearly as well in Hirogami.

This camera causes some obvious problems in assessing the distance to enemies, platforms and ledges, and it did so in Sackboy as well. The difference between the two games is that the platform challenges in Sackboy were fairly simple and forgiving, while in Hirogami they are very challenging in certain places. For this kind of demanding platform gameplay, such a static camera does not work very well, and you experience many, many frustrating deaths because of it.

This leads us to the next problem, namely the combat system. Once again, the fixed camera is the villain, because you wade into enemies without being able to judge the distance to them. Add to that a clunky combat system that is simply too slow and too clumsy when you are attacked by 8-10 enemies at the same time from all sides - some from a distance, some on ledges and others up close.

These problems are further highlighted by the fact that the game sets some goals for each level before you start. For example, you may have to complete the level in 20 minutes, free 10 animals or collect 3,000 pieces of origami paper - but also complete the level without taking damage or dying. It is problematic that the game encourages you to complete the levels on time or without dying when both the camera and the combat system are as challenging as they are.

I was quite fond of Hirogami when I started playing it, because in the simpler levels at the beginning, it kind of works. But the further you get into the game and the more the different parts of the game are pressurised by a rather high difficulty level, it all just slowly falls apart.

It's a shame, because Hirogami is beautiful and built around a good design idea, but the resulting game is mechanically just not good enough and results in one of the most frustrating games I've played in 2025.