Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Kirby and the Forgotten Land
No one can hold you back. New fields full of mystery. The sky's opened up, and there's so much to see.
Protagonist(s): Kirby Genre(s): Platformer Platform(s): Nintendo Switch Release: March 25, 2022 Developer(s): HAL Laboratory Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Kirby Predecessor: Kirby Star Allies Kirby Fighters 2 Successor: Kirby's Dream Buffet (by release date)

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on March 25, 2022, and is notable for being the first mainline game in the series to transition from side-scrolling 2D gameplay to that of 3D platformers.

Why It'll Never Be Forgotten

1. The transition from 2D to 3D gameplay is an excellent innovation for the mainline Kirby series, and just like the 3D Mario games, the core mechanics of the series translate near-flawlessly to the extra dimension.
   • To account for this, several quality-of-life improvements were made to the gameplay. For example, whenever Kirby sports a star at his foes, it wall automatically fly toward the nearest enemy, and he swallows any enemy with a Copy Ability by default.
2. Breathtakingly beautiful graphics that are a major step up from previous games. The mix of bright, vivid colors and detailed textures on almost everything in the game makes it feel a lot like a PS4 or Xbox One game.
3. The game's primary mechanic, Mouthful Mode, is not only a hilarious concept in and of itself, but also allows for creative puzzle design. Most Mouthful Modes are easy to control, and the best part is you don't have to drop your Copy Ability to use it; a button prompt will appear when you are close to the object in question, allowing you to take control of it and keep your Ability.
4. While there are only 12 Copy Abilities in this game, they can be by upgraded when you find Ability Scrolls in various levels. Their upgrades range from improved attack speed (Toy Hammer, Meta Knight Sword, etc.) to moves that increase your attack radius (Dragon Fire, Space Ranger, etc.)..
   • The two new Abilities, Drill Kirby (which allows Kirby to dig underground similar to Animal Kirby from Squeak Squad) and Ranger Kirby (which is literally Kirby with a gun!), are fun additions to his repertoire.
   • This game includes Treasure Road stages to encourage the player to master the various Copy Abilities (including the upgraded ones) and Mouthful Modes to gain Star Stones so they can make Ability upgrades happen.
5. As is to be expected for a Kirby game, the controls are tight and solid. While certain aspects are more limited in this came compared to others, such as flight, it makes the game more challenging while still being fun.
   • If Kirby could gain unlimited height while flying, the platforming would be less challenging.
   • This game also incorporates more action-based elements into the core gameplay, such as a perfect dodge similar to the Bayonetta trilogy or the Wild Era Zelda games.
6. The local co-op gameplay is great since, like Kirby, Bandana Dee's move set translates well to a 3D environment. His inclusion as the second player's character feels organic, as one of his goals is to rescue others of his own species.
7. Epic soundtrack composed by Yuuta Ogasawara, Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa and Yuki Shimooka, that conveys the atmosphere of the game well. The vocal theme, "Welcome to the New World," sets the tone nicely for Kirby's adventures in the New World.
8. Balanced difficulty: not too easy and not too hard.
9. Unlike most post-apocalyptic games (such as NieR: Automata, Jak II, The Last of Us and its sequel), which usually have a gloomy, serious tone from the very beginning, this one manages to maintain a fairly lighthearted and friendly environment throughout a majority of the game, while reserving most of the darker moods for Redgar Forbidden Lands and Lab Discovera.
10. Kirby's new ally, Elfilin, has a cute design and a heartwarming friendship with Kirby, especially during the Waddle Dee Town side activities. He also manages to be a helpful guide character similar to Cappy (from Super Mario Odyssey), Huey (from Paper Mario Color Splash), and Ciela (from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass).
    • The way Elfilin is connected to the main antagonist, Fecto Forgo, is quite shocking: he is in fact the benevolent half of Fecto Elfilis, and the Beast Pack was brainwashed into hunting him down to reunite Forgo with their other half. This is a twist that hasn't been done to Kirby's allies prior, as most of them have either remained loyal throughout the game (Gooey, Adeline, Ribbon, etc.) or betrayed him for their own selfish purposes (Marx and Magolor).
11. Like the previous games since Triple Deluxe, this game has a set of collectibles, this time being Figurines. You are able to find these in the stages as well as in the Gotcha Machines in Waddle Dee Town's alleyway, and they provide models of every character and item in the game.
12. Waddle Dee Town is a very busy hub world similar to that of the Super Mario Galaxy games, where completing specific tasks in each level will add more Waddle Dees to the town, thus allowing for exploration in each stage. The more Waddle Dees you collect, the larger Waddle Dee Town will become, with new buildings such as the Item Shop (where you can spend Star Coins to purchase stat-boosting potions), Waddle Dee Café (where you can purchase food items and work part-time to feed hungry Waddle Dees) and the Colosseum (where you can battle various bosses in the game, culminating in the final showdown with Chaos Elfilis).
    • The town also has three fun subgames to play, those being Flash Fishing, Waddle Dee Café: Help Wanted! and Tilt-and-Roll Kirby.
13. The boss fights are as creative as always while accommodating 3D gameplay into them. The fights start off by testing your skills while going easy (e.g. Gorimondo) and progressively build up to ones where you need quick reflexes to beat them (e.g. Sillydillo).
    • They even managed to incorporate a fight in the Colosseum against Meta Knight without brainwashing him!
    • The final boss against Fecto Elfilis is just as epic as the ones before it while also being chaotic due to the lasers and portals he creates around the arena. During the climax of the fight, he tries to bring Popstar into the new world, so Kirby must use his Big-Rig Mouth to quick-time events to seal the gate.
      • The fight against Chaos Elfilis is even more chaotic and epic than his normal form; after this battle, Elfilin absorbs Fecto Forgo's soul into him which is very heartwarming.
14. This game's Extra Game mode, a mode that is used to collect Leon's Souls, Isolated Isles: Forgo Dreams. It's the second one to be canon to the game, making Forgotten Land feel much larger than it already is. It also features the return of Morpho Knight, a boss from the previous game.

Bad Qualities

1. Some Copy Abilities are nerfed by the 3D space, such as Bomb Kirby who doesn't have the ability to rapidly toss bombs here.
2. Unlike previous games, there is no guide to using the Copy Abilities outside of Treasure Road stages, so players won't know how to use moves such as Drill Stab with Sword Kirby.
3. While the side objectives are neat, they aren't shown until you complete them or beat the level, which can be frustrating as it forces you to play the level again just to get the Waddle Dees you missed.
4. Once again, King Dedede's boss fights use the now-tired "ally is brainwashed to justify them as a boss" cliché, as he is brainwashed by Fecto Forgo. This also applies to the members of the Beast Pack (most, if not all of the bosses) as they were brainwashed by Fecto Forgo too.
5. While nowhere near as annoying Pyribbit from Triple Deluxe and Team Kirby Clash Deluxe/Super Kirby Clash, Sillydillo's boss fight is still a nasty difficulty spike despite being the boss of the fifth world: many of his moves give Kirby a small window to hit him and his roll attack pretty much requires you to know how to use the Perfect Dodge to avoid it.
6. Some abilities, such as Morpho Sword and Time Crash, can feel overpowered:
   • Each combo made with the former heals Kirby, charged attacks create fire tornadoes that deal massive damage to bosses, and the Forgo spirits don't disappear right after they hit an enemy.
   • Meanwhile, the latter deals absurd amounts of damage to bosses, thus turning the "don't take damage" objectives into a joke, and its effect doesn't end unless there are no enemies in the area.
7. The game can be scary for younger players, especially in Lab Discovera. Check the game's Nightmare Fuel page on TV Tropes to get an idea of how scary it is. Plus, it may have probably been the first Kirby game ever in history to earn a "Fear Warning" rating.

Reception

Kirby and the Forgotten Land received generally favorable reviews, scoring 85/100 on Metacritic, with many critics lauding it as one of the best Kirby games ever made. High praise was given to the exploration-based level design, upgradable Copy Abilities, Mouthful Mode, graphics and difficulty, while minor criticism was given to the sluggish movement, limited verticality, grounded environments and stale nature of the mid-bosses.

Trivia

• The first letter of each world spells "NEW WORLD" (Natural Plains, Everbay Coast, Wondaria Remains, Winter Horns, Originull Wastes. Redgar Forbidden Lands and Lab Discovera). This references the world that Kirby and friends end up in.
• This is the second game to lack a proper game over and a narrator in cutscenes, the first being Kirby's (Extra) Epic Yarn.

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