Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)

Roll Credits?: Yes!

Surprised/Let Down/As Expected: As expected

Favorite Mechanic or Narrative Moment: Upgrading Kirby's abilities is a fun mechanic and makes you want to see what the next one does. A lot of the mechanics are introduced and built upon extremely well to introduce younger/inexperienced players to platforming and exploration games like this.

Least Favorite Thing: Difficulty was (expectedly) very low, and felt like going through the motions for most of it. It seems like a perfect family game though, and in that lens I don't see much it does poorly.

• Rating: 8/10
• Year played: 2022
• Playtime: 5+ hours
• Completion level: 19% (reached 3rd zone)

Although I found the presentation of this game absolutely delightful (hell, I loved the awoofy design so much that I made my own plush) and I really enjoyed my time spent playing it, I gotta admit it is lacking just that little something to push it up to a 5 star rating.

If I'd played this as a kid, it would have probably landed on my all-time favorites list, but these days I just don't find level-based platformer/action games to be compelling enough for me to keep playing without adding something more.

This isn't the type of game for "more" though - it's pure, simple, linear, unadulterated silly action fun - and there's nothing wrong with that. There's definitely something to be said for just finding a fun core loop, polishing it until it shines, and not allowing any bloat or feature creep to overshadow it. And they definitely accomplished that here. The power-ups are a good mix of classic Kirby staples, some brand new ones (like all the 'mouthful mode' abilities), and some extra twists thrown in with the upgrade system which helps to keep shaking things up by changing the way your abilities work throughout the game. Every time I discovered a new ability, it was a joy to try it out and see what I could do.

Actually, my absolute favorite levels were the obstacle-course-like "treasure road" challenges designed for a specific power-up. These mini-levels really gave you the opportunity to use each power-up to its absolute fullest, and are designed with speedrunning in mind. When you get the execution just right, you can chain together your actions so the entire level feels like one fluid motion, and it's incredibly satisfying. If I could, I'd just skip all the main story levels and only play the treasure ones, honestly! They're just impeccably designed.

The main levels on the other hand, while not poorly designed by any means, just didn't give me that "one more level" feeling. I guess I'm just not as into this style of gameplay as I once was, and found the game too easy to put down. So for now, it stays in my switch library unfinished, but I don't plan to uninstall it. It may not be something that really clicked with me enough to want to binge through it, but it's definitely a fun little distraction that I can see myself picking up from time to time when I just want to get absorbed in something cheery and bright and cute and not think too hard about anything for a little while.

I guess you could call this Super Kirby 3D World. I played it in co-cop with my daughter and we had lots of fun. We found it a bit more approachable but also more interesting than Kirby Star Allies and I have to say I thought the village part was less annoying than I expected. She had lots of fun trying all the opportunities in there and we didn't get lost in the collect-a-thon component. The adventure was fun and engaging, graphics are lovely, as are the rearranged musical themes, now more aligned with recent 3D Mario games. The endgame was also quite good and the extra stuff had us engaged for a while. Also, while, as usual, there's a lot of returning stuff from older Kirby games, the new elements, like the Mouthful Mode, are cute ideas. The level design is never too complex but usually interesting and the action part is quite manageable. Plus, my daughter is getting more confident with the flight or fight stuff, so we had more fun than usual on that side too. My only real complaint is that being player two is less entertaining than in other Kirby games because you don't get to use the powers. The flipside of that is that as Bandana Waddle Dee you basically have infinite respawns, which is admittedly useful when you are playing with a kid.

We had 15 fun hours, now back to the Humongous stuff...

I was trying to think of why I feel this game is four stars instead of five. It is very good. Like "I found it hard to put down" good. Like "I saved all three hundred Waddle Dees even though there is no real reward, I just like this game and Waddle Dees" good. I guess my wish would be that there was more of it.

There are really six worlds. Technically there are two more, but one world has one level and the other world has remixed versions of older levels. I don't really have any complaints about the six worlds. They have clear themes which each level explores in interesting new ways. The music is stellar. The gameplay (while easy) is bombastic and joyous. The bosses feel like perfect little capstones to each world.

The six worlds in the Forgotten Land are excellent. I just wish there were more worlds.

The power-ups this time around are spectacular. They each feel like they dynamically change the way Kirby moves and fights. They change the way you play the game. And it is just so exciting to get upgrades for your power-ups. Seeing Kirby's strength and abilities get boosted just feels natural. I hope it is a part of the games moving forward.

But there are only twelve power-ups in the Forgotten Lands. And two of those power-ups are single-use (Blast and Sleep). The ten full power-ups are great. No notes! I just wish there were more power-ups.

I think you know where I'm going with this. Multiplayer is great. I wish it could go up to four players. I wish my partners could be enemies beyond Waddle Dee. I wish there were more bosses. I wish there were more mini games in town (all the mini games are great). I wish there were more collectibles. I wish there was just more.

For a guy who is famous for being able to suck up entire planets, I was hoping he could squeeze a little more into this game.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is nice. It’s a nice game about nice things. It feels nice to play and is nice to look at. On the one hand, nice doesn’t necessarily equal great. But on the other hand, nice is… well, it’s nice.

Kirby’s first foray into 3D gaming is worth playing because of this. Have a child or loved one to play with? Buy this game! You’ll enjoy it, I promise you.

It’s a linear 3D platformer with a focus on collection and simple, repetitive action. You start a level, suck up a power, beat up some mostly harmless looking creatures, pick up some shiny things, and save some Waddle Dees. There are optional hidden objectives that reward thorough exploration to save more Waddle Dees. See something that looks slightly out of place? Interact with it and at worst you’ll get a coin.

Despite being 3D, it still looks and feels like Kirby. The biggest additions are ability upgrades and ‘Mouthful Mode’. There are 12 core abilities that can be uprgraded by finding hidden blueprints in the levels. These upgrades change the appearance and increase the power of your core abilities. I won’t spoil them, but they are substantial enough that it was exciting to try out every new addition to my arsenal.

Ever wanted to see a car or vending machine wear Kirby like a skin suit? Welcome to Mouthful Mode! By wrapping himself around certain objects, Kirby can use them to progress through the levels. Once again, every time I got to do this it was very exciting and fun, but I really don’t want spoil his various transformations.

If you’re expecting Super Mario Odyssey you’ll be sorely disappointed. This game skews younger, and can get repetitive. You’ll be fighting the same bosses again and again, and even on the ‘Wild’ difficulty setting it can feel pretty mindless. The level design is simple, with no real platforming challenges. There are seperate challenge levels, with each one requiring the use of a different ability. These are short and simple, but still a lot of fun.

That’s about it. Rescuing Waddle Dees will expand your town, resulting in some mini games. These aren’t interesting or fun, unless you really really love QTE fishing.

I don’t know guys, it’s just nice. When I bought this game I was confronted with a shelf filled with copies of this game: wall-to-wall Kirby. I have never seen Kirby get that treatment before. It was great to see the Kirby posters and cardboard displays. I love this little pink guy, and this is a solid first showing in the world of 3D gaming.