I have only played two Kirby games. The first one was a demo on my 3ds of “Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn” and one of the original Kirby games, which I played for ten minutes after we first got Nintendo Online. Both games did not impress me other than being vaguely cute. So going into The Forgotten Lands game, I was unsure what to expect. So let’s take this journey together of going through the game Kirby and the Forgotten Lands.
Visuals and Sound
The music is catchy while helping set the atmosphere of being an overall pleasant experience that will appeal to a younger audience. The melodies also provide a pleasant, relaxing environment for the older gamer who does not want to have a super intense game.
The overall visuals in the game are pretty interesting. The world, a post-apocalyptic world, seems to be somewhat based on the real world, with malls, water plants, etc., being the basis of levels. The overall look was cute, which is what I have come to expect from Nintendo when it comes to Kirby and Mario games. He is a giant pink gelatinous blob that sucks things into his mouth. If they did not make it cute and do it well, it would be terror-inducing.
Gameplay
The gameplay has two options Wild Mode and what breaks down to easy mode. I appreciate the fact that there is an easy mode option because this game is geared to a younger audience. The wild mode did not add an excessive amount of difficulty other than my health bar was smaller, but again, I can see how you would want this if you are playing this with a child. Also, there is a two-player option, which is an excellent option for someone like me, who enjoys playing games with her spouse. We have had many nights playing MarioKart, Super Smash Bros, and Wii Mario, and I can see this game being added to the queue of our date night games.
The Navi/fairy-like companion is not near as annoying and does not float around saying Hey Listen, for which I was grateful. The abilities, goals, and reward systems provide a challenge without being an unobtainable goal.
Controls
The controls are pretty basic though I admit to hitting the wrong button multiple times. Still, I lack coordination regularly, so we will not hold that against the game’s controls. I have to date only played this game on my Switch Lite, so I can not speak to how it plays with joycons or pro controller and desktop versus handheld.
Final Thoughts
The gameplay was fun and lighthearted, and the abilities and the overall experience are lovely and give what I like to refer to as a mind-numbing game. It’s not the game for if you want something to make you think and challenge you intensely, but if you want something fun and lighthearted, this game may scratch that itch.
Here at Geek Devotions, we give this a Four out of Five Glix.