Kirby and the Forgotten Land

[DisturbedSwan]

Started the demo last night. So far I’ve played two levels and there’s another to do, which is I believe a boss level of some kind. 
 

Only a small taste of the game obviously, but I’m impressed with it so far. The world is like a cartoony The Last of Us, but still manages to be really colourful and full of vibe with loads of vibrant enemies and characters popping up.

 

The way it plays isn’t anything ground breaking, it’s a relatively of the mill 3D platformer but it’s so jolly and charming that I really didn’t mind. I will say though that it is ridiculously easy so far, a platformer like this you expect this though but I do hope the difficulty ramps up as you get towards the end of the main game.

 

So yeah, so far so good. A lovely, jolly place to be and a really interesting, charming world to explore from my brief first impressions.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[mmmark]

Played the Kirby demo and loved it. Played the hard mode and it was a breeze. Not sure how easier the easy mode could be. But it’s relaxing and nice as epic yarn was which I dug. If anyone is getting it and not playing the demo..
 

[mmmark]

I’m really enjoying this. It’s charming, detailed and gorgeous. The level design and quirks keep you occupied and you really have to comb over every cm to get everything in even the easiest of levels.

 

 

 

[Pikman]

@mmmark That's what I'm after, are the hidden things interesting to find? Not the things themselves but the search for them. I love those 'aha' moments if so 🙂

[mmmark]

20 minutes ago, Pikman said:

@mmmark That's what I'm after, are the hidden things interesting to find? Not the things themselves but the search for them. I love those 'aha' moments if so 🙂

I’d say so yeah. They start off not too difficult to come across but you’ll normally finish a stage having not found something.

[Maf]

Short version: 🙌

Long Version:

Spoiler

I knew it from the trailer and playing it confirms it this is top tier video gaming. This shit is awesome.

 

Played a little under 2 hours. Cleared the first world of all Waddledee’s and Treasure Challenges. Then spent 200 bucks in the gocha machine and got about 40% of the volume 1 figures. My file reads 8% complete so this seems like it’s going to be a big game.

 

I don’t know what to say about it other than I like everything about it. It’s weird that the cutscenes don’t have sound effects only music. Makes it seems like something is missing. But apart from that exceptionally specific nitpick what’s not to love about this game.

 

I’m not even a Kirby fan. I played some of the newer ones like Epic Yarn, Mouse Attack, Mass Attack, Triple Deluxe maybe some others. I like them Ok. Not very memorable, not that interesting, nothing offensive about it, they’re totally fine if you like Kirby games, I guess.

 

This game right off the bat. Literally level 1. Such a inventive, satisfying and importantly complete level. Great opening and demonstration of what this game is going to be like. The following levels are a little smaller but no less try-hard and fun to play. After 3 open world games back to back it’s so refreshing to play a game where every inch of it is custom made. 
 

The gameplay is a wonderfully fun and mess around 3D platformer. It does a little of everything. Platforming, boss fights, power-ups, secrets, additional challenges (Which are all level specific. More of this, video games. Not junk, mindless content actual thought in to how to use the level) each power up feels naturally translated in to 3D from the 2D games and all works really well. The spike ball is a little boring but all the others I tried are cool.

 

I think what has grabbed me about this Kirby game over the others I’ve played is there’s no gimmick here. It’s a straight, traditional, level based, really well made 3D platformer.

 

One of the new features in this game is you can level up the power-ups too which is a fantastic incentive to really explore, get all the coins, and do the additional challenges. Again this is how you do video game stuff. It’s not leg work or time wasting. You get all the things you need naturally and it feeds in to better shit. Just nice

 

It’s just nice. 
 

It just kind of does everything great. Some people I saw say it’s boring because it’s too easy. They’re not wrong on the difficulty, this game is not challenging. But it’s not boring because you constantly have to think a little, search a little, experiment a little. It’s all very easy to do but the game is fun to play and poke at, so it’s interesting to just play it without it being hard. 
 

You can also balance it out with some Elden Ring if that’s your thing. Elden Ring is like reading a hard book in a dusty study and Kirby is like bubblegum soda at the beach it’s just so fun and refreshing. 
 

And the obligatory note. Yes, it looks awesome. Perfect for OLED Switch. 
 

I guess I’ve only done world 1 so can’t get too carried away just yet but if I were too I would say hey, 2022, Kirby is here and he said Waddledee’s nuts

 

[Pikman]

I'd already be playing this if it wasn't 50eur, feels too much :S
I can wait a little

[spatular]

yeah i'm really enjoying this, only half way through world 2, it's hard to explain because it's quite easy so far it might come across as boring but it's not! not so far for me anyway. having said that some of the times to beat on the challenge levels are hard to beat (you don't have to beat those), and the 3rd difficulty of the food mini game was really difficult. agree with what others have said really it's a cool game. good variety with the different abilities and things you can control

Spoiler

cars and flying

sections and stuff.

[mmmark]

When does the online leaderboard open up? I’m at the amusement park now and still nothing. 

[spatular]

i've not got nintendo online, so when you talk to the guy in the centre of town he says i'll just have to tell you what i already know, don't know if that's where the leaderboards are supposed to be? 

[mmmark]

14 hours ago, spatular said:

i've not got nintendo online, so when you talk to the guy in the centre of town he says i'll just have to tell you what i already know, don't know if that's where the leaderboards are supposed to be? 

You’re correct about that guy. I just thought he was a guide. Disappointed tho it’s not a traditional leaderboard, just a bunch of stats. 

[DANGERMAN]

I'm just entering world 4 and I'm enjoying this. I've not got much to add on what everyone else has said, it's nice and charming but very easy. The hunting around for the hidden stuff is probably the thing that's keeping it interesting.

 

If I had to pick some criticism then the finer points of the controls aren't great, targeting enemies when there's a bunch of them or the angle is strange doesn't really work as well as it could. I've also lost Kirby in fights a few times, which seems to be a general issue with how it shows depth, as I've walked in to enemies I thought were further away a few times

[spatular]

was thinking about this and i don't think there's anything bad i can say about this game... except ^ yeah that's a good point targeting can be a little off sometimes and seeing where kirby is isn't always easy. this becomes more of a problem later as you power up the abilities and kirby becomes a walking apocalypse - which is also awesome at the same time.

 

it's not all that easy imo, well it is at the start, the fighting gets harder later, but then i'm pretty bad at fighting games, beating the set times for the mini levels is sometimes pretty tricky, there's a few i can't get anywhere near - probably the combat ones. and like mmmark says it'd be good if these had leaderboards, not that i'd be able to see them if they did. the mini games are really hard too.

 

the graphics are great. the music is great. finding stuff is fun. the abilities you get are cool. the levels are interesting and mix things up. it's a great game. i've really enjoyed it.

 

there's still some mini levels i've not beaten the set time on and haven't done the latest (last?) bosh rush thing. other than that i think i've done everything.

Spoiler

seen the credits twice - after the first time there's an extra world to do with some remixed/harder levels.

oh also not collected everything but have collected a lot of stuff. and think the final/big fish might be impossible to catch. remember really liking mass attack but at the end it forces you to go back and collect loads of stuff so i gave up, lucky this doesn't do the same (or at least i collected enough stuff first time through).

[Maf]

Just finished world 2. Maybe it’s just me but I think this game is absolutely brilliant. It might not be the best 3D platformer or anything (Although probably the best one since Mario Odyssey, not counting Fall Guys) but it’s so beautiful, polished and joyous it’s a pleasure to play. It’s so feel good. I love this game. I like it 10’s of times over I’ve ever liked a Kirby game before. The developers have done an amazing job here. 

[spatular]

Apparently theres a 

Spoiler

Counter/bullet time dodge

Move in the game, looks cool, wish id known that while playing it!

[mmmark]

11 hours ago, spatular said:

Apparently theres a 

  Reveal hidden contents

Counter/bullet time dodge

Move in the game, looks cool, wish id known that while playing it!

 I think I’d forgotten or never knew about it either.

 

 

 

I love that they’ve made 

Spoiler

race tracks for when you’re a car complete with short cuts.

 

[spatular]

^ nice one, that looks cool, i'll have to go back and give it a try, still have the last boss rush to do. and yeah the 

Spoiler

car

stages are great

[Maf]

😮 what an amazing effect

 

 

[mmmark]

1 hour ago, Maf said:

😮 what an amazing effect

 

 

ikr. I haven’t used it in the field yet. I think all the upgrades are awesome. Also I completely missed theres a mr sandbag to practice against 😅

[Maf]

“Kirby is easy” he said

 

Do not try this at home. Firstly because it’s maddening and secondly because you don’t get anything but coins for it. I thought maybe you get a special statue or blueprint but no. Just 999 coins, and I spent way more than that trying to this anyway. It’s a net loss in both money and sanity.