call me an 11 year old who just found out postal was a thing but for the life of me i can't stand most cartoonsy-scrimblo-bimblo games like banjo-kazooie, mario, etc etc but i feel like the first two rayman games, beyond just being very nostalgic for me, have a more defined sense of fantasy without being over-the-top with smiling clouds, trees and loud sound effects or trying to put a joke between every word, it just feels like a wonderous world not pandering particularly to kids. not only that, this game in general is probably the definitive 3D platformer of its time and to this day. it pulls off everything right, from the controls to the pacing to the collectathon mechanics and you get fairly immersed in this small rebellious world. i really doubt that you will hate this if you at least like action games and haven't completely forgotten how childlike joy feels like, as close as many of us are to that

Kirby was one of my favorite series as a kid, but in recent years I've drifted away from it. I still liked the games and had a good enough time with most of them, but there was nothing special about it anymore. Kirby and the Forgotten Land, though, is different and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

Forgotten Land is the first 3D mainline Kirby game, but you'd never know it. Kirby works so well in 3D that I'm shocked it took this long for the switch to happen, but maybe the devs just wanted to be sure they stuck the landing. Level design benefits the most from the change, with lots of new puzzle ideas and ways to hide collectibles. I would've liked to see more open levels like the first level of the fifth world, but even without that open sandboxy vibe 3D benefits the Kirby formula immensely.

Mouthful Mode is probably my favorite Kirby gimmick yet. One of the biggest reasons why I'm not the biggest fan of Kirby Planet Robobot is the fact that the robots felt very invasive to the gameplay. If you didn't like the robot like me, then a significant portion of the game feels lacking since virtually every level had a dedicated robot section. Mouthful Mode isn't like that, though. There are some sections dedicated to it (but I actually found these fun), but the majority of the time Mouthful Mode is used to solve a puzzle, kill an enemy, or open a passageway, and then you're done. There's no long transformation cutscene or anything either. It's seamless and blends in naturally to the formula.

Possibly my favorite aspect of Forgotten Land, though, is the new purpose given to Star Coins and Waddle Dee Town in general. I personally love hub worlds, and Waddle Dee Town is a great one. The Waddle Dees are cute and it's fun to see the town grow. There are some secret collectibles and codes to find in the town that reward curiosity, minigames open up as you save more Waddle Dees, and the best part: shops in which to spend your Star Coins. No more is the outdated 100 coin = 1-UP life system. Now they're an actual currency, making getting Star Coins actually feel meaningful, and their main purpose is of course to upgrade Kirby's copy abilities, another new and great idea. Now Kirby has an actual progression system tied to its exploration. You need to explore to get scrolls to unlock upgrades and Star Coins themselves. You need Rare Stones too, and to get all of them you'll need to explore as well. Exploration feels more rewarding than it ever has before in the series, and I love it.

A major downside from the copy ability upgrade system is that there just aren't a lot of copy abilities in this game. There are only 12 main ones total, with only 10 of them being regular copy abilities. They all can be upgraded a few times, and the upgrades mostly feel very powerful and fun to use, but each upgrade level is still the basic ability at the heart of it. My favorites were Tornado, Fire, and Sword at their highest tier upgrades. Side note: Tornado is my favorite copy ability in the series and I was ecstatic to see it return.

The lack of variety shows in other ways, unfortunately. There are only four minibosses, not many basic enemy types, and copy ability move sets are relatively simple compared to other Kirby games too. I can understand limiting move sets in the transition to 3D, so I hope to see them more fleshed out in the future.

The game is very easy, even on "Wild Mode" which is just the regular difficulty, but that's okay since Kirby's core audience is kids new to video games. If you have any experience with video games at all, which I'm sure you do given that you're on this website, the main story will be a breeze, but it's way more engaging than, say, Kirby Star Allies, which was even easier. The main story is also pretty short, but there is a good amount of post game content that is also a lot more difficult and I think it's worth doing.

It's Kirby, so the story is nothing to write home about, but I will say I liked what they did with King Dedede.

The game runs well, and I never experienced any FPS drops when I played which I feel is rare for Nintendo games nowadays. The game looks good too, and the pre-rendered cutscenes in particular look great. The soundtrack is also pretty good. I wouldn't call it amazing, but it's definitely good and a couple of the tracks are standouts.

Overall, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a great game. I really enjoyed my time with it. I expected to play it, like it, and then never think about it again like I do with most Kirby games now, but Forgotten Land made an impression. I think it's the best game in the series, and I highly recommend giving it a shot.