No Demo Has Hyped Me Up For A Game More Than Kirby And The Forgotten Land

No Demo Has Hyped Me Up For A Game More Than Kirby And The Forgotten Land

If you’re planning on getting Kirby and the Forgotten Land when it drops onto Nintendo Switch later this month, I highly recommend getting on the demo. After playing the demo of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I was even more hyped than before.

On the other hand, if you’re much too busy and you just want to know what was shown off, feel free to read on.

Kotaku AU Spoiler Warning

The demo showcases a tutorial level, which gets you familiar with the controls, as well as two more levels and a boss. Within the three levels, you’re allowed to try out three of the Mouthful Modes: Car, Vending Machine, and Cone.

What I quite enjoyed about the Mouthful Modes is that not only are they stupid fun, but they feel purposeful in their placement. While they’re certainly gimmicks, they don’t feel gimmicky. Rather, they feel like an integral part of the gameplay for where they’re placed in the levels. Better yet, the game makes it so you’re not in a certain Mouthful Mode for longer than you need to be, and that you can keep the ability that you had before becoming a car or a vending machine.

Speaking of the abilities, they’re a lot of fun. The upgraded abilities, however? So good.

On the first playthrough of the demo, you get the regular abilities like Sword and Bomb. Once you clear the demo the first time, you receive a Present Code to use in the full game and the option to play through the demo again with some of the upgraded abilities (you also get an extra Present Code if you 100% the demo, so double the presents). As we know from past trailers, you’re able to upgrade abilities at the Waddle Dee Town to use in future levels. The demo allows you to try out the upgraded version of four different abilities:

  • Sword – The Sword ability can be upgraded to Gigant Sword, which resembles the Wild Edge mini-boss. The Gigant Sword is much larger than the regular sword, has a wider range, hits harder, and also provides a powerful forward slam.
  • Cutter – The Cutter ability can be upgraded to Chakram Cutter, which is a significant upgrade from the original. The Chakram Cutter allows for Kirby to throw two chakram blades which return quite quickly and can be charged to grow real big and go out real wide. It rules.
  • Bomb – The Bomb ability can be upgraded to Chain Bomb, a smaller but purposeful upgrade. The Chain Bomb allows for multiple bombs to be thrown near each other, chaining them together and detonating if an enemy crosses the chain like a trap.
  • Ice – The Ice ability can be upgraded to Frosty Ice, a personal favourite upgrade of mine. Not only is the walrus beanie very cute, but the upgrade makes the ability even more powerful than before. Kirby not only blows icy breath to freeze enemies but also builds a snowman on the ground that can be grown larger and pushed onto enemies. The larger the snowman, the greater the damage.
Look at this funny little fella. (Image: Nintendo)

You also encounter your very first main boss, Gorimondo. You find him in the dilapidated mall, which I would’ve loved a little more time in. The concept of Kirby wandering structures forgotten by time, maybe suggesting some kind of apocalyptic event, is very up my alley.

Gorimondo is a fun boss, not super hard but that’s no surprise considering he’s the very first boss. Something that Nintendo loves to do is start their games as incredibly easy, then gradually making each stage and each boss more and more difficult. The Kirby games are also pretty well known as accessible and simple, so anything’s possible.

The Kirby demo also introduces collectable gachapon figurines of different characters and things, similarly to the collectable trophies in the Super Smash Bros series. Something here smells very Sakurai to me.

So yeah, the demo shows off a lot and has me and many others very excited for what’s to come in the full game. And then Nintendo released the overview trailer, which showed us what’s to come. So much so that I’m not entirely sure how to process all the new information.

The almost-6-minute video covers a LOT of ground. We get a look at the story of The Forgotten Land, which has put a loop of the line ‘Wait, Waddle Dees don’t belong in a cage! Set them free’ in my head until the end of time, maybe.

We then get an in-depth look at the old, new, and upgraded abilities available in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, as well as more gameplay footage of the wretched and glorious Mouthful Mode. Our round boy can do so much, and we love him for it.

Finally, we get a real fleshed-out look at Waddle Dee Town, with the town itself growing as you rescue more Waddle Dees, who must be set free as they do not belong in cages. Waddle Dee Town acts as a hub world filled with activities like fishing, shopping, and all kinds of mini-games to play with a friend.

As I watched this jam-packed video in awe, I realised just how limited the demo was. But that’s not a bad thing. The Kirby demo showed just enough for me to get excited for the full game, and the overview trailer worked as a ‘but wait, there’s more!’. In my personal opinion, that’s exactly the kind of response you want to get out of releasing a demo for your game.

All I want in life is to constantly be followed around by baby ducks. Kirby is living my dream. (Gif: Nintendo)

I think we all already knew that I was more than excited for Kirby and the Forgotten Land. But now? I am frothing at the mouth, screeching like your weird neighbour’s god-awful pet macaw that you doubt the legality of them owning, and shaking so violently that I could potentially be considered a viable green energy source.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land launch March 25th, 2022 on the Nintendo Switch.


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