My very first Kirby game
My experience with Kirby games
…was nonexistent until recently! Honestly, growing up I didn’t have much experience with Nintendo products. All I can remember is playing the original Super Mario Bros. and some games on GameBoy Advance (mostly Pokemon, though). You can partially blame Nintendo for that, because they haven’t been really on Polish market before Nintendo Switch release. Consoles that came before it were basically unheard of in Poland. I vaguely remember one friend I made during holidays that owned Nintendo DS with Yoshi’s Island on it (I was so jealous they didn’t let me play even one level on it! Rude!) and the other time when parents took me to their friends’ household and they had a Wii. Those, and my GameBoy Advance, and that’s all Nintendo I remember from childhood.
Only after I bought myself Nintendo Switch, I started slowly catching up with Nintendo franchises and building my game collection for the Switch. One of the games I recently bought is Kirby and the Forgotten Land (yes, I’m very quick to buy a game that came out in 2022. Get used to me usually playing games long after release) which I’ve been casually playing in my free time over these past 3 months. This game officially marks my very first Kirby game that I:
- purchased
- played
- finished
Was it any good? Did it met my expectations for a fun gameplay with adorable characters?
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
As I mentioned above, I didn’t have much contact with Kirby games, so I don’t know much about Kirby and its franchise, other than that he’s pink and round and can inhale stuff to gain its attributes. The basic stuff. So I was diving into this game with a totally oblivious newbie perspective.
To summarize - I had lots of fun!!!
It is a very fun game designed to be really casual on surface, but offering some challenge in places, mostly in post-game content. I think it was a great moment for me to pick up this game, as I needed some space to relax and clear my head from stress. And Kirby delivered! I did way more in this game than initially planned, and I left it being close to 100%. The game is overall very fun to play with, and very cute to look at, and the soundtrack slaps so hard (Wondaria I am sorry I doubted you before hearing your soundtrack! Please forgive me!🙇).
The gameplay
I would describe this game as a 3D platformer / collect-a-thon with combat elements. Main gameplay loop revolves around going through a linear level full of obstacles and enemies, and your objective is to get to the end, while optionally find and rescue kidnapped Waddle-Dees and other collectibles. I was aiming mostly for finding all Waddle-Dees in a level first-try, but some puzzles were hidden very well, which made me replay the levels to 100% them. The game is kind enough to give you tips about how to find the Waddle-Dees you missed after you finish the level, so I didn’t have to spend hours scooping entire map or asking the internet for help.
The levels are usually straightforward with some hidden passages containing collectibles.
Apart from main levels, there are also challenge levels (called Treasure). They are smaller, have a time-limit, and include thematic challenge. For instance, you are stuck to certain Copy Ability and you have to use it to hit the targets in order to unlock exit. These ones - depending on theme - weren’t as fun to me as main story levels, so I didn’t focus on clearing them before certain time limits. I just run through them to finish them and get reward that would let me upgrade Copy Abilities.
Optional stuff
From optional stuff, I did catch the largest fish (a real chonker!), did all the tablet-ball gyro puzzles, fought at the arena (I won against everyone except the very last boss. I didn’t have it in me to tryhard and beat them), did some of the fast-food gig… Yeah I think I did a lot. The only thing I was not fond of was the gatcha game. If it can be called a game - you just spam A button and hope you won’t get a figurine you already have.
Post game
No Waddle-Dee left behind!
Post-game content felt definitely higher in difficulty, and my enthusiasm towards the game started to wear off. The levels - while reused from main story - were altered enough to keep the gameplay fun, but I wish they had some soundtrack variety instead of all of them sharing the same one track. Plus each of them had the same purple-ish hue applied to them. After a while it started to get visually boring. The bosses definitely had upped in difficulty, but still they were no match for the pink round fella! I quickly went through all the levels in one go, collecting all the soul fragments. And after finishing the post-game story and fighting in the arena, I decided it is time to say farewell.
Last thoughts
Waddle-Dee, get out of there! You're ruining this moment!
I am glad I had the chance to meet Kirby, he gave me a lot of fun during the beginning of Spring. Can’t wait to play other games involving this pink round hero. But for now, it is time to pick up another title from my never-ending backlog of games.
Until next time!
