Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Review
For years now it has always felt that, when a Kirby game is released on a Nintendo device, that is the end or soon will be the end, of that piece of hardware. With Switch though, they have defied that trend already, releasing a mixed range of games featuring the pink hero, but while they have mostly be expansions of existing ideas or just new entries in the same gameplay type, Kirby and the Forgotten Land was all new, so after 30 years, can this old ball of delight learn some new tricks?
Nothing much changes in the story department, in fact most Kirby games begin the same way, Kirby is doing his thing on Planet Popstar and a dimensional rift of some kind opens up, sucking the hero into it and spitting him out into a new world. The same happens here, but instead of just Kirby, a lot of Waddle Dees get caught up as well and while Kirby lands on a beach in this unknown land, they are pulled further in land, which quickly leaves them ripe to be captured by the Beast Pack. Before Kirby can head off to save the day once more, he meets Elfilin, a new friend who is willing to tag along and help Kirby out. With the plan in place, basically just go and save all of them, the two venture forth and the adventure begins. The story doesn’t take too long to reach a conclusion point, after you first meet the mysterious leader of the Beast Pack, but surprise, the game tricked you and that is really only the half-way point.
The problem with the story is simple, there is nothing connecting the opening moments of the adventure, to the end and by that, I mean that we never see what the Beast Pack is up to, what they are attempting to do with all the captured Waddle Dees or anything. There are some answers to those questions by the end, but they really come so late in the process, that it is hard to feel like you are connected. By the same token Elfilin doesn’t impact the story until the very end, I won’t say why, just in case you want to be surprised, but honestly, apart from the end of stages when they pop out and do the winning dance with Kirby, you really don’t see them much. Even once the credits roll, there is more story to be had and while interesting, it still doesn’t feel connected to the main tale that is being told. Story has never been the strongest point for any Kirby game and 30 years later, they still don’t seem to care that much.
Where the care has gone though is into the world and gameplay that is being offered, the shift to include a 3rd dimension could have been just that, simply taking the Super Mario 64 route, would have been enough, but the team added so much more beyond that. The massive new addition is that of Mouthful mode, this new ability allows Kirby to inhale a number of objects, from cars to vending machines, concrete pipes to scissor lifts and while some of them are moveable, others are just stuck in place. There are a few that you will get to use over and over again and they can help you explore the various locales, and while some of them work better where paired with another option, like the car with racetracks, some of them are still fun regardless. There are a few levels where you have to make use of multiple different mouthful modes, and plenty without, so while it is used a lot, it never feels like you are stuck making use of it.
In addition to Kirby’s new inhaling option, there is still the standard inhaling of enemies to gain their powers, bombs, sword and such, but now you can upgrade them. Upgrades are done back at Waddle Dee Village, more on that in a bit, but in order to upgrade, you need to have coins and rare stones. The former you collect throughout each of the stages, they are littered all around the place, the latter however can only be obtained in treasure roads. Those are little time trial events that appear as you start to clear the main levels and will focus on a specific power, mouthful mode option or just Kirby without any additions. There are two layers to each, getting to the end, regardless of your time will net you a rare stone, the second challenge will be completing it within a set time, which gives you more coins. Upgrades also require you to obtain blueprints, some are awarded at the end of a stage, but most are found through exploration and once you have all the requirements, you can upgrade. Interestingly, if you choose not to upgrade one of them to the second level and it has a third, you can just go straight to the third.
Using a combination of mouthful mode and power-ups will be key for Kirby to not only make it to the end of each stage, but also save as many Waddle Dees along the way. Some of them are hidden and I will say hidden with a large dose of scepticism there, because hidden for the game means in plain sight, just locked behind a grate or such. The game will tell you before each stage how many are hidden, but there are also additional ones hidden from you and some will be revealed as you explore, like eating some food or destroying a wanted poster, others however won’t be shown until you are done with the stage, giving you a reason to go back in and try again. While I am not opposed to revisiting stages, I do not like the game hiding objectives from me, telling me there is a secret path is fine, I would still have to locate it while playing.
This brings up the issue I have with the gameplay, that is the flow of everything, the game constantly throws up messages explaining things, or showing you everything you unlocked, which just brings the game to a halt. I timed it, at the end of any stage, once you get the stage clear text on screen, the game averages 30 seconds, before you can start to do anything, once it has shown your rescued Waddle Dees, new treasure roads and more, leaving you just waiting until its done. The game also does something similar when you return to Waddle Dee town, as you save various Waddle Dees, you will see more buildings, mini-games and such be provided to explore, which is fine, but the game still holds your hand. Each time you return with a blueprint for the upgrade of Kirby’s powers, the game shows you the workshop and tells you, all the ones you can upgrade, after it tells you that upon collection of the blueprint. Now that seems ok, it’s a reminder of what you have collected, the problem is, the game insists on telling you each of them, in sequence, so if you have six or so, you have to see the messages, one after the other. That wouldn’t be so bad if the game didn’t do anything else, but the moment you walk into the shop, to present the blueprints and perhaps upgrade something, the game repeats the same motion, telling you everything you can now upgrade.
I understand that Kirby games generally will be aimed at younger gamers, but there is a different between having things explained in such a way that kids will understand and then brow-beating people over the head with exposition. The game doesn’t provide context for story, choose to rely on the visuals being displayed on screen, so why then it feels it needs to hold your hand through everything else makes no sense. The game is either designed for younger gamers, or is open to all and you can’t hand hold people through the experience, and expect them to have a good time. The gameplay on offer is amazing, it just gets bogged down in between all these bouts of information dumps.
Something that dwarves even that though, is the games stunning presentation, from worlds that are filled with things to see and an artistic style that gives the developers at HAL a chance to flex their design muscles. The opening moments of the game set the standard for the visuals that we see throughout the adventure, a lush jungle that is briming with plants, gives way to a city scene that is ruined and slowly being reclaimed by the land. While not a scene one would associate with a Kirby title, the story does explain what happened, but it also means that we get to experience some amazing locations, from malls to amusement parks, ancient ruins to geothermal facilities and each looks amazing. Kirby looks good in 3d, something we are not used to seeing the character in, but the eyes, on all the characters, feel out of place, like they are glued on.
The locations though are the star, which is funny given it is a Kirby game, like I said some locations are just teeming with life and even the ones that are hidden in the dark, still have plenty to see and enjoy. The downside with the locations is that they are clearly built within bubbles, there are details that stretch out as far as the eye can see, but the game is constantly keeping your exploration space narrow. Sometimes they do this with walls, fences or even powerlines, but far too often the game does it with invisible walls, which just feel so out of place, it is hard not to be let down by their appearance.
On the games audial side, the music is amazing, there is a sound test location that gets added to Waddle Dee town later on and I found myself putting on some tracks, just to enjoy them over and over again. The soundtrack that is played when you visit the amusement park locations is upbeat and fun and while it does play in all the levels, it never gets old. Some melodies do travel through the various tonal changes, so the same melody will be beach inspired in one area and then ancient in another, they all seem fresh. I do wish though that the winning music at the end of the stages was changed to match the world they were in, there is nothing wrong with the old Kirby winning music, it is iconic, but if you are making your main theme change for each location, doing the same to the win music wouldn’t have gone astray either.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an amazing game, the gameplay on offer is some of the best in the series, honestly up there with Kirby: Power Paintbrush for me. It is familiar but oh so fresh and the ability to upgrade powers, really makes it feel like you are impacting the way the game unfolds. While hiding objectives, in order to force people back into stages isn’t cool, the stages are still fun enough that repeated visits don’t wear done on the experience, sadly the games desire to constantly deliver a stream of messages and highlights to ensure people know that things have changed, throw the breaks onto the gameplay flow. If you are someone who enjoys a 3d platformer, then this is one game you should get, because it takes everything that the genre is known for and elevates almost every aspect, making this one of the finest examples ever.
The Score
9.0
Review code provided by Nintendo
The Pros
+The abilities, both all new and expanded, really keep the gameplay fresh
+With Waddle Dees hidden throughout each stage, exploring every nook and cranny is worth doing
The Cons
-Having objectives hidden is not cool though, it just feels like they are artificially inflating the game with that
-The constant handholding of exposition is not fun and seriously break the flow of the game
