first you must forgor to check if the bad guy is really unconscious… then you must watch the bad guy land your best friend into a trap! and then you get forgor land! yippee!!!
When Mario and Sonic took their respective maiden bows in the third dimension, they both presented stellar introductory levels that set the tone for their respective approaches to game design. Big Bob-omb on the Summit served as an open playground where movement was entrusted to the player’s creativity and expressiveness, being incredibly loose with its object placement and usage of space to allow full freedom over Mario’s control. Emerald Coast, meanwhile, takes a more linear but more stylish and adventurous spin with its level design; focusing more on the flair and coolness of Sonic, while still maintaining a loose grip towards player interpretation, allowing for them to utilise SA1’s notoriously overpowered Spin Dash in ways that expresses creative freedom.
While both big colourful mascot kahunas took the plunge into 3D at an incredibly early stage, Kirby happily remained in 2D for decades. Therefore, when Nintendo finally announced Kirby’s first ever fully 3D mainline entry for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the pressure was on to ensure that the jump into the third axis was seamless. To do that would require a solid introductory level that captures the player’s attention and interests them into the world of Kirby and its surface level cheerfulness and subtle crust of maddening darkness.
Point of Arrival is fucking perfect.
Kirby starts off on a sunny, yet strangely deserted coastline where the only option for progress is a foggy, narrow pathway directly ahead. Entering the woods leads you to the game’s tutorial segment, where even a player completely foreign to video games before this can have a basic understanding of Kirby’s fundamentals and how he controls - he can jump, he can inhale and use inhaled objects to attack. Through the glowing sparkle on the rocks and the flower buds, you learn that you can also examine certain objects on the map for rewards. And if you were to accidentally jump again in mid-air, you’d also know he can hover!
The atmosphere also lends a lot of contributing power to Point of Arrival’s stature as a memorable, incredibly well-designed first level. For this section in particular, the densely packed, dimly-lit forest adds to that element of mystique that lingered from the beginning of the level. To add to the stillness is the noticeable lack of music. The only thing audible to the player’s ears at this point are Kirby’s every pace of movement and the distant chirping of the crickets. But occasionally, you’d hear the chirping of birds, singing an unfamiliar tune that you don’t quite recognise.
Following this, the level leads to another narrow pathway, where a crumpled empty can captures your attention. What would an empty soda be doing in the middle of the wilderness-
HOLY FUCK.
The trees part way to greet a clear, bright blue sky, while the camera swoops upwards to reveal a massive, breathtaking cityscape wrapped in overgrown foliage ahead. A vivid rainfall of flower petals greets Kirby, as if to celebrate this momentous occasion of him stepping foot into this newfound region for the first time. At the same time, an orchestral piece kicks in, a warm, inviting song that complements this grandiose entrance into the game’s opening dish. This one singular moment immediately establishes the tone for the game, and reels you in with the main hook - exploration of a long-lost environment. It’s absolutely perfect and executed with utmost professionalism. You’ll also quickly realise that the opening of this song is the exact tune the birds in the forest were humming, a great attention to detail.
As Kirby ventures forward into the new world, the game introduces Copy Abilities to the player, once again easing them into the concept with its most simple yet iconic Sword. This small, enclosed segment continues the developer’s practice of subtly introducing the various mechanics of the copy ability to the player, utilising well-placed platforms and level design to teach the player everything they need to know - the Sword can be used for a simple Slash, a Spin Slash while mid-air, and a Spin Attack when charged on the ground. Attentive players can also use the knowledge that the Sword cuts grass to cut the grass all the way back in the forest to earn 30 Star Coins for themselves, further enforcing the game’s dedication to rewarding players for keen exploration.
After another short tutorial on hovering, the game introduces a second Copy Ability - Bomb, a perfect complementary copy ability to showcase alongside Sword, as it strikes a perfect balance to express the diversity of the Copy Abilities, ranging from long ranged projectiles and close-ranged combat. Much like the previous Sword section, the game introduces basic platforming puzzles for players to dip their toes into so they can be familiarised with Bomb’s range of abilities as well. At the end of this section, you’re greeted with a downward slope, where you can discover that this game has SLOPE PHYSICS. Incidentally, Bomb is also the only projectile Kirby uses that is directly influenced by physics, making this attention to detail more impressive.
Following a cutscene, the latter half of the level is predominantly focused on THE CAR. At this point, the music has reached its second half, modulating from a C major to a D major while adding in more harmonising orchestral elements to sweeten the serotonin boost. Promotional material aside, Car Mouth serves a great introductory point to Mouthful Mode, having the most simplistic controls and self-explanatory functions. It also helps that Car Kirby’s controls are incredibly smooth and responsible, allowing you to make incredibly tight movements and turns that will be useful in future levels.
After breaking the cracked wall ahead with your Turbo Dash, the game offers you a miniature playing field to understand Kirby’s new configuration - you learn that Car Mouth retains the slope physics from before, can break past cracked surfaces, Turbo Dash basically kills everything, you can jump with the car, and when you’ve gotten a basic understanding of how the car works, you can test yourself by following the higher, more challenging pathway to collapse a bridge that rewards you with an entire pile of Star Coins! Utilising the knowledge obtained from this section, you break the rock in front of the bridge, causing the drawbridge to topple over and grant you access to the larger city ahead. Cue incredibly catching opening theme. Cue title card. That is one hell of a bold statement. Welcome to Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Welcome to 3D Kirby. Welcome to the New World.
The rest of the level is straightforward - a simple boss area with a few Awoofies you can easily handle with the knowledge the game has imbued unto you at this point, and with that, you free Elfilin, and subsequently set course for the rest of the game.
Every first level should aspire to be a stage that effectively conveys the atmosphere, setting and tone, while enabling new players to grasp the basics of the game and its controls. Most importantly, however, it should entice the player into trying out more of the game, as well as engross and immerse them into the world surrounding it. Point of Arrival, with its memorable music, clever cinematography, and intuitive tutorial feedback loop, achieves this with flying colours, serving as a great benchmark for first level game design, while also lecturing players about the importance of exploring your surroundings.
–
In reality, life often takes us on an autonomous conveyor belt. Daily life becomes a slog of a routine, with the increasing demands of modern society enslaving us to a monotone, stale lifestyle. There is no time to not go with the grain, because if one yearns for objective success in life, they must work extensively for hours to even stand a chance. We are forced into a capitalistic wasteland where nothing matters except financial stability, a crown jewel that demands complete attention. In search of this idealistic definition of success, one tends to develop tunnel vision, only perceiving the goal straight ahead and nothing more.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the antithesis to that perspective.
The titular forgotten land primarily comes to exist because mankind, so hungry to discover salvation in a promised land, worked tirelessly for it. Once they achieved that goal, however, they leapt forward recklessly, and ultimately left a perfectly content world behind. Did anyone ever regret diving brazenly into this brave new world? Did they have any second thoughts?
This is never explicitly answered, however, the consequences of humanity’s selfish desires had left its mark, with Fecto Elfilis made to suffer for it. Sure, Elfilis was an invasive force who could’ve annihilated the world, but instead of attempting to reach out to its compassionate half, mankind chose to enable its malevolent half, effectively fuelling its hatred for the world by toying with it, experimenting with it, even marketing the creature as an exhibition display without ever empathising with its enslavement. A heartless procedure conducted by success first, and the welfare of those involved second.
It isn’t surprising why Fecto Forgo was this vengeful. By single-mindedly aiming for paradise, the world they lived in was laid to waste, powerless to halt the impending apocalypse they unknowingly caused. The forgotten land that once stood proudly was once again at the mercy of Facto Elfilis, a product of humanity’s hubris, self-centeredness and misguided progression.
You may not realise it, but by showering you with Waddle Dees and hidden goodies all over the place, Kirby and the Forgotten Land aims to interest players in exploring this wasted paradise. If you were to ignore every single detail that surrounds this lovingly-crafted world, and make a straightforward beeline to the goal; you’d be pressed to believe that the game lacks substance in its level length, and you’d be justified to make that claim because the levels are, from a surface glance, shortened in their overall length.
However, in terms of overall scope, Forgotten Land absolutely hits the mark, filling every single setting with as much detail as they possibly can on the Switch’s limited hardware. Part of the reason why this works so well is because the camera does a sizable portion of heavy lifting. Its dynamic, fixed camera pans often fixates the player’s lens towards a grand, majestic view of the immediate surroundings as well as what lays beyond, often making the journey feel like a high-budget sightseeing tour. The aforementioned camera swoop to the abandoned skyline at Point of Arrival exemplifies this.
People often tend to be fascinated by pictures of abandoned architecture, and it’s not hard to see why - there’s something striking yet hauntingly beautiful about seeing the wild vegetation consume these empty buildings, places that linger with the essence of liveliness that once permeated and surrounded the atmosphere. In an ironic twist of fate, it makes people appreciate these places even more than they were when they weren’t forgotten. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is full of locations like these - the pristine shores of Everbay Coast, the vibrant joyfulness of Wondaria’s Parade and the noble clock tower at Northeast Frost Street are all given attentive detail that leaves the player wowed and impressed, while also making them wonder why the civilisation of this forgotten land chose to abandon it.
In addition, the Waddle Dee missions play a huge factor towards incentivising exploration as well. While the fact that the hidden missions are only revealed at the end a level, I’d make the counterargument that having the missions fully displayed before you even attempt the level is counterintuitive to Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s goal of having the player explore its setting by their own will, because levels would instead be considered as a checklist that they’d feel obliged to complete. Not because the world is interesting, but rather because the game directly commands them to do so. Yes, that same logic can still somewhat be applied to how missions are implemented in-game, however, by masking these missions, players will approach levels with more observation of their surroundings and investigate every nook and cranny to discover the more cleverly hidden secrets contained in the levels. These missions often reward you for taking the effort to pause along your journey to do incredibly ordinary things, such as reuniting a bunch of ducklings for their mother, FINDING THE COMPUTER ROOM, and sometimes it's as simple as making a few tulips bloom!
But that’s the point, isn’t it? Being stuck in a rat race has made society forget what it's like to live - it's the little things in life we tend to neglect. While the surroundings appear dreary and hazy in our perspective, for Kirby, it’s an adventure where you’re free to roam rampantly. Kirby and the Forgotten Land shows that even the most carelessly thrown aside world can still contain tiny slices of underappreciated beauty. Its dedication to emulating the realism of the real world in a fantastical abandoned setting draws comparisons to how we contemplate life. Perhaps if we choose to raise our heads a little more often to appreciate all the mundane little moments of excitement, or take a moment to explore the fascinating facets of the world around us, then the world we live in may no longer be forgotten.
Maybe take a detour to a road you’ve never tried before. Try petting the stray cat you often see loitering around the alleyways. Along your daily routine, stuff your belly and nap awhile. Just let your heart take the wheel and show you the way. But as you run free and explore new opportunities, never forget to stop and smell the roses.
Heart: The first of many to come.
Growing up, I simply didn’t experience video games as much as most of my peers today. My overall experience with them were primarily the Sonic and Pokemon franchises, and even then, my experience with both of their games were shallow at best.
It wasn’t until 2020 and the COVID lockdown when I began branching out, falling in love with the Zelda games. By the end of 2021, there were 4 games on my wishlist for 2022 - Legends: Arceus, Tears of the Kingdom, Sonic Frontiers and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. I also started forming my own backlog of games, a way of cataloging games from both past and present that I wanted to play that I previously missed out on.
Around the time of Forgotten Land’s release, I played through both Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby’s Dream Land and found both games charming. Despite initially only wanting to focus on what I had downloaded and listed on my backlog (weirdly enough, my Switch library was only limited to the games I owned physically at the time), the appeal of the old Kirby games combined with the growing critical acclaim the game was receiving on Backloggd.com, made me cave - I got the game and ran it on Yuzu the day after.
Everything changed.
Klonoa 2 may be my favourite game of all time, but Kirby and the Forgotten land was, in retrospect, the first time that I ever so thoroughly loved a game through all its rough patches and notable flaws. Sure, Copy Ability variety is limited, however, each ability is distinguishable from one another and alongside the Mouthful Modes, provides quality over quantity in its variation. I do wish we get more Copy Ability next game, though.
Every person has their most memorable first when it comes to video games. For a lot of people on this site, it is usually a game from their childhood, something from the late 90s or early 00s. But for me, every time my mind drifts to that first game I genuinely love wholeheartedly, it's Kirby and the Forgotten Land. A game that I can return to for some simplistic, yet warm, welcoming gameplay. A challenge that’s also willing to push my limits with its incredibly rigid Treasure Road target times. An experience where you learn you can perfect dodge during boss fights, and use that to your fullest advantage to finally take out tough bosses damageless. A place where I can relax in the peaceful hub world, greet the Waddle Dees I worked so hard to rescue and watch them greet me back, go fishing without a single worry in the world.
I may end up having more favourite video games of all time (in fact, Klonoa 2 is a perfect example of that), but Kirby and the Forgotten Land will always hold a place in my heart, even as time passes by. The memories I have experiencing this masterpiece for the first time are memories I will genuinely cherish. And I do absolutely hope that this is the first of many games to come, as I continue to break through my backlog game by game, experiencing all the joys that video games have to offer.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is my comfort food. That’s really all that matters, isn’t it?
Final rating: 10/10
Focus: How Kirby and the Forgotten Land achieves peak first level design.
Theme: Stopping to smell the roses.
Heart: The first of many to come.
ShinGen’s 2nd Favourite Video Game Ever Made
When Mario and Sonic took their respective maiden bows in the third dimension, they both presented stellar introductory levels that set the tone for their respective approaches to game design. Big Bob-omb on the Summit served as an open playground where movement was entrusted to the player’s creativity and expressiveness, being incredibly loose with its object placement and usage of space to allow full freedom over Mario’s control. Emerald Coast, meanwhile, takes a more linear but more stylish and adventurous spin with its level design; focusing more on the flair and coolness of Sonic, while still maintaining a loose grip towards player interpretation, allowing for them to utilise SA1’s notoriously overpowered Spin Dash in ways that expresses creative freedom.
While both big colourful mascot kahunas took the plunge into 3D at an incredibly early stage, Kirby happily remained in 2D for decades. Therefore, when Nintendo finally announced Kirby’s first ever fully 3D mainline entry for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the pressure was on to ensure that the jump into the third axis was seamless. To do that would require a solid introductory level that captures the player’s attention and interests them into the world of Kirby and its surface level cheerfulness and subtle crust of maddening darkness.
Point of Arrival is fucking perfect.
Kirby starts off on a sunny, yet strangely deserted coastline where the only option for progress is a foggy, narrow pathway directly ahead. Entering the woods leads you to the game’s tutorial segment, where even a player completely foreign to video games before this can have a basic understanding of Kirby’s fundamentals and how he controls - he can jump, he can inhale and use inhaled objects to attack. Through the glowing sparkle on the rocks and the flower buds, you learn that you can also examine certain objects on the map for rewards. And if you were to accidentally jump again in mid-air, you’d also know he can hover!
The atmosphere also lends a lot of contributing power to Point of Arrival’s stature as a memorable, incredibly well-designed first level. For this section in particular, the densely packed, dimly-lit forest adds to that element of mystique that lingered from the beginning of the level. To add to the stillness is the noticeable lack of music. The only thing audible to the player’s ears at this point are Kirby’s every pace of movement and the distant chirping of the crickets. But occasionally, you’d hear the chirping of birds, singing an unfamiliar tune that you don’t quite recognise.
Following this, the level leads to another narrow pathway, where a crumpled empty can captures your attention. What would an empty soda be doing in the middle of the wilderness-
HOLY FUCK.
The trees part way to greet a clear, bright blue sky, while the camera swoops upwards to reveal a massive, breathtaking cityscape wrapped in overgrown foliage ahead. A vivid rainfall of flower petals greets Kirby, as if to celebrate this momentous occasion of him stepping foot into this newfound region for the first time. At the same time, an orchestral piece kicks in, a warm, inviting song that complements this grandiose entrance into the game’s opening dish. This one singular moment immediately establishes the tone for the game, and reels you in with the main hook - exploration of a long-lost environment. It’s absolutely perfect and executed with utmost professionalism. You’ll also quickly realise that the opening of this song is the exact tune the birds in the forest were humming, a great attention to detail.
As Kirby ventures forward into the new world, the game introduces Copy Abilities to the player, once again easing them into the concept with its most simple yet iconic Sword. This small, enclosed segment continues the developer’s practice of subtly introducing the various mechanics of the copy ability to the player, utilising well-placed platforms and level design to teach the player everything they need to know - the Sword can be used for a simple Slash, a Spin Slash while mid-air, and a Spin Attack when charged on the ground. Attentive players can also use the knowledge that the Sword cuts grass to cut the grass all the way back in the forest to earn 30 Star Coins for themselves, further enforcing the game’s dedication to rewarding players for keen exploration.
After another short tutorial on hovering, the game introduces a second Copy Ability - Bomb, a perfect complementary copy ability to showcase alongside Sword, as it strikes a perfect balance to express the diversity of the Copy Abilities, ranging from long ranged projectiles and close-ranged combat. Much like the previous Sword section, the game introduces basic platforming puzzles for players to dip their toes into so they can be familiarised with Bomb’s range of abilities as well. At the end of this section, you’re greeted with a downward slope, where you can discover that this game has SLOPE PHYSICS. Incidentally, Bomb is also the only projectile Kirby uses that is directly influenced by physics, making this attention to detail more impressive.
Following a cutscene, the latter half of the level is predominantly focused on THE CAR. At this point, the music has reached its second half, modulating from a C major to a D major while adding in more harmonising orchestral elements to sweeten the serotonin boost. Promotional material aside, Car Mouth serves a great introductory point to Mouthful Mode, having the most simplistic controls and self-explanatory functions. It also helps that Car Kirby’s controls are incredibly smooth and responsible, allowing you to make incredibly tight movements and turns that will be useful in future levels.
After breaking the cracked wall ahead with your Turbo Dash, the game offers you a miniature playing field to understand Kirby’s new configuration - you learn that Car Mouth retains the slope physics from before, can break past cracked surfaces, Turbo Dash basically kills everything, you can jump with the car, and when you’ve gotten a basic understanding of how the car works, you can test yourself by following the higher, more challenging pathway to collapse a bridge that rewards you with an entire pile of Star Coins! Utilising the knowledge obtained from this section, you break the rock in front of the bridge, causing the drawbridge to topple over and grant you access to the larger city ahead. Cue incredibly catching opening theme. Cue title card. That is one hell of a bold statement. Welcome to Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Welcome to 3D Kirby. Welcome to the New World.
The rest of the level is straightforward - a simple boss area with a few Awoofies you can easily handle with the knowledge the game has imbued unto you at this point, and with that, you free Elfilin, and subsequently set course for the rest of the game.
Every first level should aspire to be a stage that effectively conveys the atmosphere, setting and tone, while enabling new players to grasp the basics of the game and its controls. Most importantly, however, it should entice the player into trying out more of the game, as well as engross and immerse them into the world surrounding it. Point of Arrival, with its memorable music, clever cinematography, and intuitive tutorial feedback loop, achieves this with flying colours, serving as a great benchmark for first level game design, while also lecturing players about the importance of exploring your surroundings.
–
In reality, life often takes us on an autonomous conveyor belt. Daily life becomes a slog of a routine, with the increasing demands of modern society enslaving us to a monotone, stale lifestyle. There is no time to not go with the grain, because if one yearns for objective success in life, they must work extensively for hours to even stand a chance. We are forced into a capitalistic wasteland where nothing matters except financial stability, a crown jewel that demands complete attention. In search of this idealistic definition of success, one tends to develop tunnel vision, only perceiving the goal straight ahead and nothing more.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the antithesis to that perspective.
The titular forgotten land primarily comes to exist because mankind, so hungry to discover salvation in a promised land, worked tirelessly for it. Once they achieved that goal, however, they leapt forward recklessly, and ultimately left a perfectly content world behind. Did anyone ever regret diving brazenly into this brave new world? Did they have any second thoughts?
This is never explicitly answered, however, the consequences of humanity’s selfish desires had left its mark, with Fecto Elfilis made to suffer for it. Sure, Elfilis was an invasive force who could’ve annihilated the world, but instead of attempting to reach out to its compassionate half, mankind chose to enable its malevolent half, effectively fuelling its hatred for the world by toying with it, experimenting with it, even marketing the creature as an exhibition display without ever empathising with its enslavement. A heartless procedure conducted by success first, and the welfare of those involved second.
It isn’t surprising why Fecto Forgo was this vengeful. By single-mindedly aiming for paradise, the world they lived in was laid to waste, powerless to halt the impending apocalypse they unknowingly caused. The forgotten land that once stood proudly was once again at the mercy of Facto Elfilis, a product of humanity’s hubris, self-centeredness and misguided progression.
You may not realise it, but by showering you with Waddle Dees and hidden goodies all over the place, Kirby and the Forgotten Land aims to interest players in exploring this wasted paradise. If you were to ignore every single detail that surrounds this lovingly-crafted world, and make a straightforward beeline to the goal; you’d be pressed to believe that the game lacks substance in its level length, and you’d be justified to make that claim because the levels are, from a surface glance, shortened in their overall length.
However, in terms of overall scope, Forgotten Land absolutely hits the mark, filling every single setting with as much detail as they possibly can on the Switch’s limited hardware. Part of the reason why this works so well is because the camera does a sizable portion of heavy lifting. Its dynamic, fixed camera pans often fixates the player’s lens towards a grand, majestic view of the immediate surroundings as well as what lays beyond, often making the journey feel like a high-budget sightseeing tour. The aforementioned camera swoop to the abandoned skyline at Point of Arrival exemplifies this.
People often tend to be fascinated by pictures of abandoned architecture, and it’s not hard to see why - there’s something striking yet hauntingly beautiful about seeing the wild vegetation consume these empty buildings, places that linger with the essence of liveliness that once permeated and surrounded the atmosphere. In an ironic twist of fate, it makes people appreciate these places even more than they were when they weren’t forgotten. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is full of locations like these - the pristine shores of Everbay Coast, the vibrant joyfulness of Wondaria’s Parade and the noble clock tower at Northeast Frost Street are all given attentive detail that leaves the player wowed and impressed, while also making them wonder why the civilisation of this forgotten land chose to abandon it.
In addition, the Waddle Dee missions play a huge factor towards incentivising exploration as well. While the fact that the hidden missions are only revealed at the end a level, I’d make the counterargument that having the missions fully displayed before you even attempt the level is counterintuitive to Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s goal of having the player explore its setting by their own will, because levels would instead be considered as a checklist that they’d feel obliged to complete. Not because the world is interesting, but rather because the game directly commands them to do so. Yes, that same logic can still somewhat be applied to how missions are implemented in-game, however, by masking these missions, players will approach levels with more observation of their surroundings and investigate every nook and cranny to discover the more cleverly hidden secrets contained in the levels. These missions often reward you for taking the effort to pause along your journey to do incredibly ordinary things, such as reuniting a bunch of ducklings for their mother, FINDING THE COMPUTER ROOM, and sometimes it's as simple as making a few tulips bloom!
But that’s the point, isn’t it? Being stuck in a rat race has made society forget what it's like to live - it's the little things in life we tend to neglect. While the surroundings appear dreary and hazy in our perspective, for Kirby, it’s an adventure where you’re free to roam rampantly. Kirby and the Forgotten Land shows that even the most carelessly thrown aside world can still contain tiny slices of underappreciated beauty. Its dedication to emulating the realism of the real world in a fantastical abandoned setting draws comparisons to how we contemplate life. Perhaps if we choose to raise our heads a little more often to appreciate all the mundane little moments of excitement, or take a moment to explore the fascinating facets of the world around us, then the world we live in may no longer be forgotten.
Maybe take a detour to a road you’ve never tried before. Try petting the stray cat you often see loitering around the alleyways. Along your daily routine, stuff your belly and nap awhile. Just let your heart take the wheel and show you the way. But as you run free and explore new opportunities, never forget to stop and smell the roses.
Heart: The first of many to come.
Growing up, I simply didn’t experience video games as much as most of my peers today. My overall experience with them were primarily the Sonic and Pokemon franchises, and even then, my experience with both of their games were shallow at best.
It wasn’t until 2020 and the COVID lockdown when I began branching out, falling in love with the Zelda games. By the end of 2021, there were 4 games on my wishlist for 2022 - Legends: Arceus, Tears of the Kingdom, Sonic Frontiers and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. I also started forming my own backlog of games, a way of cataloging games from both past and present that I wanted to play that I previously missed out on.
Around the time of Forgotten Land’s release, I played through both Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby’s Dream Land and found both games charming. Despite initially only wanting to focus on what I had downloaded and listed on my backlog (weirdly enough, my Switch library was only limited to the games I owned physically at the time), the appeal of the old Kirby games combined with the growing critical acclaim the game was receiving on Backloggd.com, made me cave - I got the game and ran it on Yuzu the day after.
Everything changed.
Klonoa 2 may be my favourite game of all time, but Kirby and the Forgotten land was, in retrospect, the first time that I ever so thoroughly loved a game through all its rough patches and notable flaws. Sure, Copy Ability variety is limited, however, each ability is distinguishable from one another and alongside the Mouthful Modes, provides quality over quantity in its variation. I do wish we get more Copy Ability next game, though.
Every person has their most memorable first when it comes to video games. For a lot of people on this site, it is usually a game from their childhood, something from the late 90s or early 00s. But for me, every time my mind drifts to that first game I genuinely love wholeheartedly, it's Kirby and the Forgotten Land. A game that I can return to for some simplistic, yet warm, welcoming gameplay. A challenge that’s also willing to push my limits with its incredibly rigid Treasure Road target times. An experience where you learn you can perfect dodge during boss fights, and use that to your fullest advantage to finally take out tough bosses damageless. A place where I can relax in the peaceful hub world, greet the Waddle Dees I worked so hard to rescue and watch them greet me back, go fishing without a single worry in the world.
I may end up having more favourite video games of all time (in fact, Klonoa 2 is a perfect example of that), but Kirby and the Forgotten Land will always hold a place in my heart, even as time passes by. The memories I have experiencing this masterpiece for the first time are memories I will genuinely cherish. And I do absolutely hope that this is the first of many games to come, as I continue to break through my backlog game by game, experiencing all the joys that video games have to offer.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is my comfort food. That’s really all that matters, isn’t it?
Final rating: 10/10
Focus: How Kirby and the Forgotten Land achieves peak first level design.
Theme: Stopping to smell the roses.
Heart: The first of many to come.
ShinGen’s 2nd Favourite Video Game Ever Made