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+--- Thread: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions (/showthread.php?tid=7369)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - A Black Falcon - 1st April 2022
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby and a lot of characters from his planet of Pop Star have been pulled into a sky portal, to a new world filled with the ruins of a civilization that seems to have destroyed itself. Considering how modern-day the ruins appear, yeah, that checks out. But Kirby and the creatures populating the game don't care too much about the mystery of why the civilization was destroyed, they have their own adventure to go through in this new world. Namely, Kirby is trying to rescue many Waddle Dees which have been kidnapped by a group of bestial badguys called the Beast Pack. It's as much of a story as a game like this needs.
The game released last Friday, and yes, I got this game right after release. And so should everyone else, because this game is great! In Kirby's first full-scale 3d platform adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a tremendously fun game that is both incredibly cute and impressively well designed. The core game control scheme and screen view is based directly on Kirby's Blowout Blast for the 3DS, and its Planet Robobot minigame predecessor. If you play Blowout Blast and then Forgotten Land, the connections aren't just obvious, they are glaring -- both games are isometric 3d platform games with a locked camera and linear levels to beat. Kirby basically controls identically in both games as well, with the same movement, running, and flying. In both games you have limited flight and a very limited max jump height. Blowout Blast is very much worth playing for anyone who hasn't, it's both fun and is interesting to see the origins of Forgotten Land's controls and level style, that is, isometric paths.
However, this gets into my biggest issue with Forgotten Land. While for the most part this game is fantastic, I have to start by mentioning my biggest issue with it. You cannot fly higher than you can jump in these games, quite unlike any 2d Kirby game, and you can only keep flying for a little while before you'll start heading back to earth. This emphasizes moving around on the ground much more than it does flying in the air, which is kind of unfortunate; the ability to fly is one of Kirby's key abilities, after all! This isn't a big deal in Blowout Blast, since that title is a battle arena focused game which has only minimal platforming and very small levels, but in the full-on 3d platformer that is Forgotten Land, it is a big deal. Where in a classic 2d Kirby game you would be flying around, here you walk almost all of the time, and actually need to make jumps and such because you can't just fly up to a platform above you! It's pretty lame really. I know this crutch is used to keep you out of areas so you have to go around and follow the path of the level and such, but still. No. This is a Kirby game, it shouldn't be like that.
However, other than that, this game is so, so much fun! You can't really tell that this is Hal's first ever full-scale 3d platformer, because Forgotten Land is a very polished game with well made stages and challenges. As always in the series this game is mostly easy, but there is a good balance of more challenging elements mixed in, including side challenge levels with tight time limits and a lot of hidden secrets in every stage. You'll find some of the stuff your first time through a level, but after the first level or so you'll never find everything on your own, some things are too well hidden. I'm still in the middle of the game so far -- I have beaten world three -- but the added replay value of being able to go back for the rest of the stuff is appealing.
On the subject of those secrets though, they take the form of Waddle-Dees. You see, for some reason, in this game Waddle Dees are now good guys, and not villains. This game is absolutely loaded with Kirby series fanservice and numerous classic Kirby enemies return, but while the game is loaded with Waddle Dees, none are villains like they used to be; now they kind of take the place of Toads and Stars in a Mario game and are NPC villagers and things to rescue in levels. Again just like in Kirby Blowout Blast, the game has multiple sub-objectives in each level. In this game, your reward for completing each one is a Waddle Dee. This time they aren't the same objectives in every stage, though; 'complete the level' is a constant, with a three Waddle Dee group locked up at each stage's end point, but beyond that each level has several hidden objectives. If you find these hidden objectives on your first play through a level that's great, but if you don't, the game will give you a hint about one undiscovered secret after each time you beat a level. Unfortunately you do need to COMPLETE a level to complete an objective if you go back into a stage, though -- you can't just do a side thing early in the level, get the Waddle Dee, and quit; you need to finish the level instead. That's a little unfortunate, but oh well. Rescued Waddle Dees go back to Waddle Dee Town, and the more you rescue the more buildings you unlock in the town. It works well, good idea. Of course everything is absurdly cute too.
The basic structure of the game is that each world has five levels, the last of which is a boss fight without a full stage beforehand, and a bunch of side challenge stages with your copy abilities. There are twelve basic copy abilities, is a decent number. There is no power combining like Kirby 2, 3, or 64, though, but the powers do change as you progress -- if you find hidden scrolls, bring them to the smith Waddle Dee in town, and pay him some currency, you will get a new, stronger version of the power. Once powered up that version of that power replaces the old one, but the game wants you to upgrade them. Some of the challenge stages require certain powered up forms of copy abilities in order to enter. Level and world length is just about right -- levels aren't quick, but don't drag on too long. It's all balanced very well.
Spicing things up ability-wise are the games' main feature, the Mouthful abilities. A Mouthful powerup is when Kirby tries to eat an inanimate object and partially becomes it. It's cute and slightly creepy stuff. Mouthful powerups are temporary powerups that you can only use in certain areas. You can't take Mouthful abilities with you, you can only use them in the area you get them in. They vary from useful game abilities such as the Car Mouth powerup shown in the games' early trailers or a water balloon mouth which allows you to spit out water to put out fire blocks and grow plants, to basic stuff like using Mouthful mode to pull the lid off of a metal container with a Waddle Dee hidden inside. Nintendo has many clever ideas in this game for Mouthful abilities and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.
I should mention how the other currency system works as well. As you play levels, you will collect many powerups which give you money. You also get money bonuses for doing things such as completing the challenge levels quickly; this is actually often pretty hard. Each time you beat a challenge level for the first time in any amount of time you get a rare star as well. Rare stars are only used, along with a bunch of currency, to upgrade your powers, but you also can spend the regular money several other ways, including on buying health items in town and on one other thing: gatcha machines. You see, this game has little toys for Kirby to collect, of the various creatures in the game, Kirby's various forms, and more. Some of the gatcha balls are hidden in stages for you to get, but you also can spend currency in town for random-draw gatcha machine buys. You always get some little statue each time you buy a gatcha, but it may or may not be one you have already. Of course this is only purchasable with in-game currency, not real money, but I can see some people really getting addicted to trying to get all of the little toys. They are pretty nicely modeled.
They lead to maybe the cutest thing in this entire game, too. So, from the figures collection screen, you can hit a button to view that figure closer up. When you do this the figure appears on a table, and you can zoom in on it and rotate it and such. And... there's a giant Kirby standing there behind the table, happily smiling while he and you look at the figure! It's the most adorable thing, I love it. It's so so cute and nice.
Overall, so far I love this game! Sure, it is apparently only 30fps, but while playing I don't notice or care. The game has fantastic art design and direction and stages are loaded with interesting things to look at. The difficulty is balanced well, with a fairly easy core quest but some nicely more challenging side stuff if you want to do everything. The levels are expertly crafted, with cleverly hidden secrets and a constant barrage of new and interesting ideas and scenarios. Trying to figure out the secret side objectives can be fun as well. I like the stage settings, it's a good mix of new and classic Kirby reference themes. Going back into a level to find more stuff is also satisfying. And all the while you've got a totally adorable and lovable character and game. This game is a definite must play, no question. I'll be finishing the rest of this one for sure.
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - Dark Jaguar - 10th April 2022
Personally I just can't believe Nintendo forgot all about the land. What's Kirby supposed to explore now?
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - A Black Falcon - 15th April 2022
... Seriously, nobody else is playing this absolutely amazing classic? It's only the best 3d platformer since at least 2017, why bother... seriously though, play it. The game is amazing and pure fun.
(10th April 2022, 1:04 PM)Dark Jaguar Wrote: Personally I just can't believe Nintendo forgot all about the land. What's Kirby supposed to explore now?
The Forgotten Land. It was forgotten when everyone left or wiped themselves out or something, but Kirby and co. are, one teleportation portal later, exploring it now.
( I imagine you're making some kind of joke, but I'm not sure what it is...)
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - Dark Jaguar - 18th April 2022
I uh, you said the joke yourself and...
Hmm, let me go ahead and say it. The title of the game says they forgot the land, so I was making a joke on that. Are, are you gonna point out that they "didn't actually forget the land"?
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - A Black Falcon - 22nd April 2022
Right now I think it's pretty easy to say that this game is my top contender for 2022 game of the year. It's just amazingly fun and is Kirby's best game in some time. I am taking my time with the game and am near the end of world six now, this game is just awesome...
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - A Black Falcon - 1st May 2022
So, I beat the 'main boss' and am in the postgame now, heading towards the true ending. And I'd say that while I love this game, the postgame isn't quite as good as the main game before, and the game ends a bit abruptly. The first six worlds are amazing, with so much charm and fun and just the right amount of challenge for a Kirby game. Every level is a joy to play through and there's plenty of entirely optional replay value if you want to go back and get everything.
However, after that it ends quite abruptly. The seventh world is just the final boss, and you fight it immediately after finishing the world six boss. It's a very cool three-part fight, but there are no levels between, unfortunately; there should have been. Also, there are some long cutscenes near the end of the game telling the story, which is fine... but at the end, why is like two thirds of this one sequence FMV, while you randomly have control for a little bit during part of it? I would have liked more gameplay there. Ah well.
Also, the game has a few QTEs, which are a big negative. No games should ever have QTEs.
And after the end, you unlock the bonus world... which is just rehashes of the old levels. Each of the six levels of the bonus world takes parts of all of the levels from each world and mashes them together into a single overlong level. with that level's boss at the end. And these levels all have odd color filters on which makes them look worse than they did before. You need to collect at least 250 of the 300 new collectibles in these levels in order to proceed, but most of those are in the same places as the hidden guys from the main game, so even if you sometimes need to do new things to get them, it's not very new. It's just the same, but a bit harder. That's alright, it reminds me of the Kirby 1 Hard mode for example, but still, I was hoping for new content and that's not here. The levels have some new challenges, and the bosses are made a bit harder and that's cool, but it's got NOTHING on the postgame world in Super Mario 3D World, for example. If only this game had a bunch of cool, tougher levels like that one has after you finish it... but no. All it's got is this slightly harder mashup or 'go back for the optional collectibles you missed, but it gets you nothing other than clear percentage'.
Also, it still seriously bugs me that Kirby can't fly forever and has a low maximum flight height. You get used to it and the game is designed around this, but Kirby should be a game about jumping and flying, but this isn't'; it's mostly a game about walking around and doing basic low jumps. It does that very very well and is incredibly fun at its best, but... I also played through the original Kirby for GB recently. It's a very short game, but in that half hour I wouldn't be surprised if I spent more time flying than I probably have in the whole fifteen hours of the main game of Forgotten Land... ah well.
Even so, this is a fantastic game and certainly is a must play. There's a reason I not only bought Forgotten Land day one but played through it and finished it so quickly, something I pretty rarely do, it's really, really good.
RE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land is adorable and fantastic - My First Impressions - Dark Jaguar - 3rd May 2022
Well I do intend on playing this at some poi- PRESS X TO NOT DIE READING THIS!