Kirby and the Forgotten Lands is a Kirby game through-and-through, effortlessly transitioning all the charm, innocence, and gameplay of this longstanding franchise to 3D. It's a little bit surprising how well it works.
Very little of the core Kirby formula has changed. You still run through brightly colored worlds sucking up enemies and absorbing their powers, floating from platform to platform and battling the usual assortment of foes. Despite the new perspective, it never feels out of step with what's come before. Many of the copy abilities are from previous games, and while the selection is modest, the ability to upgrade them feels substantive enough that I never really felt lacking in options. The new Mouthful Mode is a lot of fun too, with the vehicle segments being particular favorites of mine.
The art direction is top tier. Kirby is quickly dropped into a brightly colored post-apocalyptic wasteland that manages to feel authentic enough to the series core aesthetics while providing moments of pause to ruminate on what this world has lost. This is sometimes played to comedic effect, especially in a later level that frequently drops the music out entirely, pulls back to give you a sense of scope to the destruction, then immediately jumps back in to the usual Kirby bops. It is unfortunate, however, that the Switch's aged hardware is holding things back. Even at moderate distances enemies will move at slideshow speeds, there's a total lack of anti-aliasing, and the framerate can be rather inconsistent. Maybe it's more worthwhile to point out when a Switch game actually runs well, but it's still unfortunate to see games like this and realize they could be that much better if Nintendo invested in a better platform.
The relatively short length of the game is somewhat elongated by the sheer glut of side content. As you save Waddle Dees in the core levels, you help to build a hub world that progressively fills itself with more to do. Kirby can take up a side gig at a restaurant that is flagrantly misappropriating his image for profit, or he can run through a tournament in the colosseum. If you want to take it a bit more slow, you can collect capsule toys and decorate Kirby's home with them. Or just take a nap! Forgotten Land is a game that can easily be taken at your own pace, and there's something very comforting about it all.
I am, however, less crazy about the challenge missions that are dispersed between the main levels. They're necessary for collecting rare stones (a crafting material needed for upgrading copy abilities), but just aren't that fun to actually engage with. Likewise, the post-game content is a bit too excessive and is largely a "hard mode" retread which you need to run through in order to get the true ending. After you clear that, you unlock one more colosseum tournament, at the end of which you fight the true true TRUE final boss of the game... I've fought variants of the final boss so much now that it just feels ridiculous and completely boring.
I would still highly recommend Kirby and the Forgotten Land to anyone who has even a passing affection for the series. It may not be my favorite in the series (I think that still goes to Crystal Shards), but it's a damn good time and the rare Switch game I'm actually glad I picked up.
Very little of the core Kirby formula has changed. You still run through brightly colored worlds sucking up enemies and absorbing their powers, floating from platform to platform and battling the usual assortment of foes. Despite the new perspective, it never feels out of step with what's come before. Many of the copy abilities are from previous games, and while the selection is modest, the ability to upgrade them feels substantive enough that I never really felt lacking in options. The new Mouthful Mode is a lot of fun too, with the vehicle segments being particular favorites of mine.
The art direction is top tier. Kirby is quickly dropped into a brightly colored post-apocalyptic wasteland that manages to feel authentic enough to the series core aesthetics while providing moments of pause to ruminate on what this world has lost. This is sometimes played to comedic effect, especially in a later level that frequently drops the music out entirely, pulls back to give you a sense of scope to the destruction, then immediately jumps back in to the usual Kirby bops. It is unfortunate, however, that the Switch's aged hardware is holding things back. Even at moderate distances enemies will move at slideshow speeds, there's a total lack of anti-aliasing, and the framerate can be rather inconsistent. Maybe it's more worthwhile to point out when a Switch game actually runs well, but it's still unfortunate to see games like this and realize they could be that much better if Nintendo invested in a better platform.
The relatively short length of the game is somewhat elongated by the sheer glut of side content. As you save Waddle Dees in the core levels, you help to build a hub world that progressively fills itself with more to do. Kirby can take up a side gig at a restaurant that is flagrantly misappropriating his image for profit, or he can run through a tournament in the colosseum. If you want to take it a bit more slow, you can collect capsule toys and decorate Kirby's home with them. Or just take a nap! Forgotten Land is a game that can easily be taken at your own pace, and there's something very comforting about it all.
I am, however, less crazy about the challenge missions that are dispersed between the main levels. They're necessary for collecting rare stones (a crafting material needed for upgrading copy abilities), but just aren't that fun to actually engage with. Likewise, the post-game content is a bit too excessive and is largely a "hard mode" retread which you need to run through in order to get the true ending. After you clear that, you unlock one more colosseum tournament, at the end of which you fight the true true TRUE final boss of the game... I've fought variants of the final boss so much now that it just feels ridiculous and completely boring.
I would still highly recommend Kirby and the Forgotten Land to anyone who has even a passing affection for the series. It may not be my favorite in the series (I think that still goes to Crystal Shards), but it's a damn good time and the rare Switch game I'm actually glad I picked up.