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Kirby and The Forgotten Land | Review Mega Thread

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
30fps

Tracy Morgan Bullshit GIF by Team Coco
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Just ordered mine from the local Wallymart for curbside pickup in a few hrs. Super excited!

This will be a nice change of pace to play while also playing Elden Ring which is crushing my soul lol
 

MachRc

Member
I think people will enjoy this.

I havent played much on the switch as it has had a few dry spells minus Pokemon this and that..
Plus its powered by tegra and watching cutscene heavy nintendo games makes me wanna hurl,
but Kirby's fun. Reminds me of Mario 3d world alot. If you enjoyed that like I have you will enjoy this.
I played for like 3 hour with my kid and passed it off to him he continues to play it non stop.
Good title to get and keep in your stable of good Nintendo 1st party titles.

Here is my kids current favorite games right now. Like in order.
HIhOaKb.jpg
 

Tams

Gold Member
Picked it up on a whim. It's very relaxing, with a bit of challenge if you want the to get perfect scores. I've had to redo some levels from the beginning because I messed up, but they're short so it's not too bad.

Got a lunch tote bag with it too, even though I didn't pre-order.

This game is a mediocre cash-grab, but that where Ninty at, they have the worse crowd like they did with the Wii U and it's going to devalue their brand even more.

Oh look, a shit GAFtake already.
 

mnkl13

Member
I don't know why but i get the feeling that nintendo was playing with this concept of a kirby forgotten lands prior to the switch , but with the new console they needed a bigger hit, so they turned it into a mario game, where instead of swallowing everything, mario would just put his hat on it and become it. which is kinda the same. now they could have turned this into odyssey 2, but maybe they chose to give a little something to the kirby ip. just a feeling.
 
I don't know why but i get the feeling that nintendo was playing with this concept of a kirby forgotten lands prior to the switch , but with the new console they needed a bigger hit, so they turned it into a mario game, where instead of swallowing everything, mario would just put his hat on it and become it. which is kinda the same. now they could have turned this into odyssey 2, but maybe they chose to give a little something to the kirby ip. just a feeling.

There are similarities, but Kirby is developed by HAL which is second party. They would have been credited for Odyssey if they used some of their work.
 

Codes 208

Member
I don't know why but i get the feeling that nintendo was playing with this concept of a kirby forgotten lands prior to the switch , but with the new console they needed a bigger hit, so they turned it into a mario game, where instead of swallowing everything, mario would just put his hat on it and become it. which is kinda the same. now they could have turned this into odyssey 2, but maybe they chose to give a little something to the kirby ip. just a feeling.
Impossible seeing as to how kirby games arent actually made by nintendo. Same with pokemon, theyre second party exclusives only published by nintendo whereas games like mario and zelda are generally done in-house (with an occasional help from outside sources, like the zelda oracle games and minish cap being made by capcom)
 
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stranno

Member
Kirby and the Forgotten Land 3DS Edition (243P).



Uploaded to YT, embedded Streamable videos suck, I don't know why they force you to view them in his website..
 
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Shifty

Member
Played through the first world. It's fun, cheerful, sweet, all of those Kirby mainstay things.

Mouthful mode is less of a meme than expected - the gimmicks are well-conceived and don't outstay their welcome, though I would have preferred more depth to the core gameplay than the extra breadth that seems to be the order of business here.
That thought touches the copy abilities too - it feels like they're somewhere around the late GBA / DS games in terms of complexity, with extra breadth being added through the evolution system rather than depth of individual movesets as per the later 2D titles.

It's possible that the evolutions and later abilities will pack more stuff into each hat, so I'll have to wait and see on that front.

The controls feel a little simpler than I'd like. The realisation didn't click in the demo, but there's no run - its animation is there for regular movement, but definitely feels slower than the old games.
I was hoping they'd do smash-style inputs for that, which is how it worked on the star allies world map if I'm remembering right. I guess it's not a deal-breaker, but it would have been nice to see.

Though one thing whose absence is painfully felt is the lack of traditional Kirby pause menu. The ability flavor text and movelists have been relegated to dialogue with the ability shop waddle dee, and lore that would otherwise live in boss fight pause screens is now hidden away behind the gacha system. I do find it kind of funny seeing Kirby gleefully sink his entire net worth into a capsule machine, but having that stuff behind a button was less of a hassle.

Still, early days yet - it feels like a polished if somewhat safe step into proper 3D for our pink boi.
It's quite possible that the game is opening itself up very slowly, since the series is no stranger to revealing surprise swaths of content after tricking you into thinking the end of act 1 is actually the end of the game. Hmm hmm.

I don't know why but i get the feeling that nintendo was playing with this concept of a kirby forgotten lands prior to the switch , but with the new console they needed a bigger hit, so they turned it into a mario game, where instead of swallowing everything, mario would just put his hat on it and become it. which is kinda the same. now they could have turned this into odyssey 2, but maybe they chose to give a little something to the kirby ip. just a feeling.
Nah, the capture abilities are one tool for one job. They're more comparable to mouthful mode if anything, since they're specialized to a specific location or type of obstacle rather than acting as a variation on the core mode of play.
Copy abilities are more general-purpose, as well as being a bit deeper moveset wise - if not by as much in this game.
 
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bender

What time is it?
While it is far from challenging, I'm having a good time. There are enough bonus objectives that are hidden that it rewards exploration. I'm only one level past the first boss but the mouthful items are fairly clever.
 

Shifty

Member
Just reached the boss of world 3 - I'm starting to see how the ability stuff fits together now. The game throws all the basic copy abilities at you early, then drip feeds evolution blueprints at just the right rate to keep things fresh.
The hammer upgrade is favourite so far, though hammer has always been S-tier so that's no big shock.

Some lovely level design too; HAL have brought the series a long way from the blocky tilemaps of old. I think it starts to hit its stride a couple of stages into world 2.

And it's looking like the abilities are more nuanced than they seem at first glance; sword has the old stab -> rising chop -> spinning drop combo if you input slide -> jump -> attack, so there's probably more stuff hidden in there. Give me back my movelist screen damn it :messenger_face_steam:
 
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The hate against nintendo is the most annoying thing of the game industry.

Pretty low on the totem pole of annoying things IMO, but yeah, pretty dumb. Few companies in their position (Japanese toy company changes course and makes video games) would have made it so far without a reputation for quality games and market savvy. Now granted, they haven't gotten it right every time, and you can debate the relative liabilities of some of those successes (i. e. the Wii), but for the most part they crushed it.

Love the Mr. Sparkle avatar btw.
 

LavosBit

Neo Member
I’ve only played through the first three levels, but I like it so far. I half expect Kirby to be attacked by clickers or bloaters any moment though.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Game is fun, but co-op is kind of shitty. As the co-op waddle dee to my son playing Kirby, I get dragged off cliffs and into danger all the time because it moves me relative to Kirby. They should have added some forcing field to keep the nearly 6 year old from killing my support character. Basically it makes me yell at my kid to stop killing me. Weird co-op experience. Now if you just ignore that and act a support, it is OK I guess.

The Kirby stuff is fun, I just wisht they nailed the co-op. When I play as Kirby shit is fine.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Has there ever been a Kirby game that was even moderately difficult?

The most challenging the series ever got were in the boss rush “True Arena” modes, and even then those aren’t that difficult. Whenever complains that a Kirby game is “too easy”, its pretty safe to dismiss them as a troll.
 

Shifty

Member
World 5, and my initial worries are more or less gone. Waddle dee town is poppin', the ability escalation is great, and there's even a sort-of solution to the slow walk speed.

I'd still like the super star movelists and copy abilities back, but that's probably next game territory or so. Give waddle doo some love too willya.

And sweet galactic nova, that crash evolution :messenger_grimmacing_

iu
 
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The wait is gonna be excruciating on this one. My copy of Elden Ring isn’t even here yet and I have Bug Fables physical from LRG coming in, still playing Yakuza 2, finishing Red Dead 2 and mainlining SMTV. Phew.

Kinda feel crestfallen that the demo stole my heart away and I won’t be able to play it asap. Pro tip: don’t play this shit high meng. The coming down is soul-crushing😭
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Kirby and the Forgotten Land introduces a new spin on Kirby's familiar Copy Abilities - evolution! Upgrade Copy Abilities into stronger versions at Waddle-Dee's Weapons Shop by trading in Star Coins, found just about everywhere; Rare Stones, earned by completing Treasure Roads; and, most importantly, a Blueprint, usually discovered in sneaky hiding spots within main stages. This guide covers how to get all 24 Copy Ability Blueprints in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, in the order you'll be able to find them.

00:00 Intro
00:33 Chakram Cutter Blueprint
00:33 Volcano Fire Blueprint
00:53 Clutter Needle Blueprint
01:08 Chain Bomb Blueprint
01:23 Noble Ranger Blueprint
01:38 Toy Hammer Blueprint
02:45 Gigant Sword Blueprint
03:04 Time Crash Blueprint
03:21 Fleur Tornado Blueprint
03:39 Pencil Drill Blueprint
03:54 Meta Knight Sword Blueprint
04:30 Dragon Fire Blueprint
04:52 Frosty Ice Blueprint
05:09 Homing Bomb Blueprint
05:22 Crystal Needle Blueprint
05:59 Buzz-Saw Cutter Blueprint
06:14 Wild Hammer Blueprint
06:54 Twin Drill Blueprint
07:06 Blizzard Ice Blueprint
07:22 Space Ranger Blueprint
07:44 Deep Sleep Blueprint
08:22 Storm Tornado Blueprint
08:46 Masked Hammer Blueprint
09:09 Morpho Knight Sword Blueprint
 
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TexMex

Member
I’m a Switch hater. But this game fucking rules. It’s just so breezy and pleasant and the soundtrack is just beautiful. Loving just playing this game on ease in bed right now.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Reading all the impressions now makes me wanna buy it instantly. Goddamn, why is there so many games released and so little time to play them? 2022 is stacked already.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Just bought it for 35 pounds, looks like the perfect palet cleanser to my elden ring playthrough. With a little bit of tunic thrown in and a mid point.
 
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mrcroket

Member
Pretty low on the totem pole of annoying things IMO, but yeah, pretty dumb. Few companies in their position (Japanese toy company changes course and makes video games) would have made it so far without a reputation for quality games and market savvy. Now granted, they haven't gotten it right every time, and you can debate the relative liabilities of some of those successes (i. e. the Wii), but for the most part they crushed it.

Love the Mr. Sparkle avatar btw.
Yep, true I just say that because I'm a bit tired. Nintendo is not perfect though, but still being a company that make great games and also uniques hardwares and come with original ideas, just look the PS consoles (I'm not saying that they aren't great but they are all the same.) Without nintendo the game industry would become somewhat boring. And almost all nintendo first party games are anything from good games to timeless classics.
 

Shifty

Member
Without nintendo the game industry would become somewhat boring. And almost all nintendo first party games are anything from good games to timeless classics.

For sure. Ninty is one of the few companies that - for want of a less contrived term - seem like their development staff are still in touch with their inner child.

Kirby in particular is a great example of this; he's among the simplest characters you could invent - a circle with a smiley face, arms, and legs. Give that brief to HAL by way of Nintendo and you get a series of games that, despite being dead easy, can still warm the heart of a grumpy old cynic like myself. Give it to anyone else, and you get the The Emoji Movie :messenger_neutral:
 
Yep, true I just say that because I'm a bit tired. Nintendo is not perfect though, but still being a company that make great games and also uniques hardwares and come with original ideas, just look the PS consoles (I'm not saying that they aren't great but they are all the same.) Without nintendo the game industry would become somewhat boring. And almost all nintendo first party games are anything from good games to timeless classics.

Yeah. During the 7th and especially 8th generation, you began to see the lines blur between the competing consoles. And while it was great for getting an increasing number of console titles on the PC, it meant an increasing degree of sameness between them (with the added effect of once PC exclusives losing their PC target platform status). We may not have an industry as varied as it was 30 years ago (arcades, PCs, consoles, console like experiences from gaming computers like the MSX and Amiga, portables), but Nintendo is still in their own lane after all these years.
 

Shifty

Member
The file progress percentage seems to stick at 50% for a conspicuously long time once you hit World 5 :pie_thinking:

WILLIAM BIRKIN ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME

HAL's ability to draw from horror material and somehow make it fit just fine in an otherwise sugary sweet setting never ceases to amaze. Great stuff.
Also I totally called it on Elfilin being all evil and fucked up, though not in the way I expected.

That little lore tidbit from the lion about the planet's erstwhile inhabitants leaving for 'a land of dreams' is interesting - no doubt tying in with some of the precursor race stuff that the older games touch on with things like galactic nova and star dream.

The big hype ending is on point, up there with the 3DS games and star allies, though I think planet robobot's gurren lagann ender still takes the crown. Optimus kirby is still pretty excellent, but I was half expecting him to mouthful mode the whole of popstar back into its original orbit.

Off to the post-game content - looks like there's plenty to dig into, as always. This is a mighty fine Kirby game.

Bosses have been good too - trying to main hammer and land only max charge attacks has the faintest hint of souls about it thanks to the new dodge mechanic. And multi-star spit is still a thing when playing vanilla kirby, very satisfying.
 
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Notabueno

Banned
Thanks!

What did you find disappointing, if you don't mind me asking?

Two things:
The direction and the game design.

The graphics, sound design, creative op, interactive animation, art direction etc...are extremely poor (not bad, just really bland and poor compared to other Kirby's), but mostly importantly the game design is weak, rigid and empty which matches the overall direction. I'm not impress by the laziness in design, concept and structures, the only new thing being mouthfull abilities which are very limited in interactions, dual and evolved abilities not being new. Creative direction is incredibly weak and you can see it from the intro: they used in-game assets for a soundless, effectless rendering, and another example is when you free waddles from cage there's almost zero interaction, animation and noise. Overall the game feels pretty shallow and vapid in it's interactive design the same way, it doesn't feel really good.

Nintendo put very little effort in this game, which you could guess from the trailers, even though their main added value is game craft and design: compared to Tropical Freeze, Luigi's or Odyssey, it's very cheap, when it could have been a new 3D/adventure platformer must-have. It's the old Wii's milking and empoverishment scenario again.

If it was an AA indie game, which it clearly is comparable to, I'd say it's between "meh" and "weak" especially compared to masterpieces like Hats in Time or It Takes Two, except it's sold by a corporation as an AAA.
If I had to compare, if Super Mario Odyssey is the Mozart, Aphex Twin, Snoop Dog of 3D plateformers, Kirby Forgotten Land is the Carly Rae Jepsen but if she didn't even do Call me Maybe.

Nonetheless: great OP, it's like an interactive, animated thread.
 
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mortal

Gold Member
Two things:
The direction and the game design.

The graphics, sound design, creative op, interactive animation, art direction etc...are extremely poor (not bad, just really bland and poor compared to other Kirby's), but mostly importantly the game design is weak, rigid and empty which matches the overall direction. I'm not impress by the laziness in design, concept and structures, the only new thing being mouthfull abilities which are very limited in interactions, dual and evolved abilities not being new. Creative direction is incredibly weak and you can see it from the intro: they used in-game assets for a soundless, effectless rendering, and another example is when you free waddles from cage there's almost zero interaction, animation and noise. Overall the game feels pretty shallow and vapid in it's interactive design the same way, it doesn't feel really good.

Nintendo put very little effort in this game, which you could guess from the trailers, even though their main added value is game craft and design: compared to Tropical Freeze, Luigi's or Odyssey, it's very cheap, when it could have been a new 3D/adventure platformer must-have. It's the old Wii's milking and empoverishment scenario again.

If it was an AA indie game, which it clearly is comparable to, I'd say it's between "meh" and "weak" especially compared to masterpieces like Hats in Time or It Takes Two, except it's sold by a corporation as an AAA.
If I had to compare, if Super Mario Odyssey is the Mozart, Aphex Twin, Snoop Dog of 3D plateformers, Kirby Forgotten Land is the Carly Rae Jepsen but if she didn't even do Call me Maybe.

Nonetheless: great OP, it's like an interactive, animated thread.
Although I wouldn't necessarily agree with all of your points regarding the presentation at least, I do appreciate the thoughtful criticism.
 
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