Kirby and the Forgotten Land arrives on 25th March, but as you may have seen its review embargo has dropped and the outlook is extremely positive. It seems that the cutest of IPs has transitioned rather well into 3D, building the anticipation further ahead of its release.
Digital Foundry has also done its thing, with a rather enjoyable 20 minute overview that looks at the game design, visuals, performance and all that analysis we enjoy so much from the team.
The overall word in terms of performance is that it's a good looking game that holds a reliable 30fps, with plenty of praise for the art design and technical execution. In fact, if one configuration has an 'edge' in terms of image quality it may be in handheld mode, as some compromises may be more noticeable on a large TV; that said, the overall tone is positive.
Below is Digital Foundry's summary:
Basically, all these ideas coalesce into something that I really enjoyed and is basically what I'm looking for in a 3D platformer these days. It's not going to revolutionise the genre but I don't feel it needs to - this is just solid platforming action with beautiful visuals and a fantastic soundtrack.
After covering so many triple-A heavy hitters over the past few months I really enjoyed having a chance to relax and hang out with Kirby this week. It's such a polished, complete game with a lot of heart that I think it deserves a shot if you're into this type of experience.
There you have it. Are you planning to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land this weekend?
[source youtube.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 23
The game looks great and is proof there is tonnes of life in the console yet, if a developer takes the time and effort they can produce quality looking games.
Looks beautiful
Really don't need DF to tell me what a Switch Kirby games looks like, not like we can buy it on PS5 or XSX instead, but I suppose it's good they approve.
I like how they basically flat out say, nice to review this after Elden Ring. 😂
This is the Super Mario Odessy port right??
I read an article earlier that stated:
"Running Out of Wii U Titles, Nintendo Announces Switch Port of ‘Super Mario Odyssey’"
@AzzyC That was a Hard Drive article. Pretty funny site, a video game focused offshoot of the music satire site Hard Times.
What a visually stunning game!
Looksa beauty
Kirby games had always had nice visual arts and gameplay mechanics.
@CharlieGirl 🥰 I love Kirby
I love how this site typically hates digital foundry since they are all about the graphics and not about gameplay until digital foundry says anything nice about their games. But that’s Nintendo fans. 1080p 60fps completely over rated until Mario kart deluxe comes out and it’s the best thing ever until the next game comes out and it runs either sub 60 or sub 1080.
@CharlieGirl Thanks for the reminder I need to give myself some time to completely watch the anime.
Friday at 2:30 pm (the time of my exit from work) can't come soon enough.
@HammerGalladeBro anytime is a good time for more Kirby
@sixrings I don't have an issue with folks like Digital Foundry as, from my experience, they just sorta put the information out there. Rather, it's the people that take their word as gospel and degrade a game purely because of its graphics and performance without ever touching it themselves that bother me, be it a Nintendo title or not.
Sure, there are obvious cases of poor performance and optimization that may lead someone to not purchase a game. Then some people like that will go on to articles about those games and essentially say, "DF said this game was poorly made, therefore bad game how can you play this crap?" And I feel that gives DF a bad rep and sours the mood for no reason.
To be truthful, I haven't properly watched a DF video in a loooong time so what I'm saying might be off base now and I'm glad to be told I am wrong. Just sharing my experience.
Edit: I had no idea Mario Kart was 1080p 60fps, but I think my eyes just be bad. Neat info!
John at 12:16: "Spinning apple"
Me: you uncult swine!!
Didn't you get the memo 30fps is 'unplayable'
@UsurperKing maybe but 810P in some areas scare me about future games such as BOTW2
Callling a Maxim Tomato "Spinning Apple". How does it feeeeeeeeeel?
Kirby Star Allies already pushed graphically dense enviroments and strong lighting in 30fps, only in a lesser scale. Since when have Kirby games been graphical showcases? Remember to always answer "Since Star Allies" there lol
Still this is definitely a showcase for first-party tech wizardry on Switch!
@kalosn "Since when have Kirby games been graphical showcases?"
All I'm saying is, I've yet to see an NES game that looks better than Kirby's Adventure. That game is full-on art
@sixrings
technically A lot of what they do does cover how a game plays, since a smooth framerate affects the gameplay itself.
The backlash against framerate in nintendo discussions is an odd one since nintendo often have well optimised games with decent performance, it does feel like framrate does get falsely lumped together with "graphics" because its a technical aspect (and is also a visual aspect) however quite a few games recently on console have been offering "visual" and "performance" modes, even in the past you had games like F zero X which sacrificed visual details in order to get the game running well.
from the looks of it kirby seem to strike a good balance between visuals and performance.
@HammerGalladeBro Where are you able to watch the Kirby anime?
I can only find free but shady/illegal streaming sites (which I refuse to use).
@KidBoruto Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat. The only episodes I can watch legally are the three episodes included in Kirby's Dream Collection for the Wii as well as the 3D episode available on the 3DS via My Nintendo.
@HammerGalladeBro That's unfortunate! Hopefully one day the anime will be released on Blu-Ray.
Tap here to load 23 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...