GOTY 2022 & '21 - GAME OF THE YEAR(S)
(VIDEO)
This is the final nail in the coffin for my relevance as a commentator on modern games. My favourite new release of 2022 was Kirby and the Forgotten World. Dig the grave and kick me in.
Kirby is something I kind of deny to myself, because there's so much Kirby that I don't really feel aligned with. The lore, the Fox Kids series, and the all-too-frequently humdrum platformers. The dork shit. The stuff I can't imagine HAL Laboratory endorsing, let alone making. But when I see tacky Kirby merchandise aimed at those who might have never even played a videogame? I don't feel that disassociation.
To me, Kirby is a simple joy. Something you don't have to know about, but you just like. It's an invitation in to videogames. "These are fun - try them". It's primal. It reminds me why I love videogames. That simple, unpretentious fun is why Dream Land 1 and Pinball Land are tied for my favourite game in the series. Now, with Forgotten Land, there's some competition for them.
Sometimes, I feel so attuned to a new game that I get suspicious. Nintendo and HAL Laboratory saw me listing my copy of Star Allies on eBay and started drawing up plans to win me back. We've got Kirby exploring a post-human Earth. A vocal theme in a made-up language. A theme park level. Big crocodile enemies that pop up and snap at you. A dodge-roll. A wild west level where Kirby paraglides through a desert canyon. A gyro-based minigame that casts back to Tilt 'n' Tumble. A pleasant hub world that expands and gets nicer the further you go. A fucking Resident Evil 2 Scenario B homage. I couldn't believe what they had made for me.
I'm getting ahead of myself, clearly, but it's hard to look back at this game without tripping over myself remembering all the things that made me happy. What's absolutely crucial is that they've approached 3D Kirby as a challenge, and really pushed themselves to get it right. Everytime I've seen the Kirby Fanbase opine for their Mario 64, I've felt ever more distant from them - That just wouldn't work. Kirby is ambivalent to level geometry. If he can go anywhere, there's just not a game anymore. Take that away from him, and that's not Kirby. What HAL have come up with is almost akin to a scrolling beat'em up. It works here because they've engineered it to make sure the player is always king. If a hit looked like it landed - well, it landed. Kirby wins, and when Kirby wins, the player wins.
The thing is, the game is solid. They're aware of the older, sterner Kirby audience. There's genuine challenge here, and you don't have to dig far to find it. There's optional VR Missions (perhaps the PAL "Special Missions" terminology is more appropriate for Kirby) between levels, and the provided top times are properly tough. The later parts of the game give casual players a dozen opportunities to tap out and declare that they 'finished Kirby', but there's a new struggle at the other side of each one, ramping up to a ludicrous degree. Those old NoA ads about "one tough creampuff" have finally paid off.
Forgotten Land has great fun just being a platformer. You get the standard tropical level, ice level, fire level, et cetera, but they're explored so richly by HAL's artists. And with the camera positioning, lighting and overall presentation, they really shine on the screen. It's a game that looks like concept art. It's the best looking game HAL have ever made, and that's not a statement you can make lightly.
There's a statement I came across recently that I don't think is terribly fashionable, but it's one I strongly agree with. Sometimes, creators reiterate on concepts throughout their lives, not because they've run out of ideas, but because they haven't fully expressed it. There's a great joy to see people pick up ideas that they introduced in their earliest work, and decades later, really gain the knowledge and confidence to present that more eloquently to their audience. To me, when game developers do that, it's one of the most cathartic joys I can have as a long-time fan. That was Breath of the Wild, The Last Guardian and MGSV's "Hellbound" mission. Something that feels like what people dreamt of when they first played the original. We live in the future now. Our Kirby game is brilliant.
(VIDEO)
This is the final nail in the coffin for my relevance as a commentator on modern games. My favourite new release of 2022 was Kirby and the Forgotten World. Dig the grave and kick me in.
Kirby is something I kind of deny to myself, because there's so much Kirby that I don't really feel aligned with. The lore, the Fox Kids series, and the all-too-frequently humdrum platformers. The dork shit. The stuff I can't imagine HAL Laboratory endorsing, let alone making. But when I see tacky Kirby merchandise aimed at those who might have never even played a videogame? I don't feel that disassociation.
To me, Kirby is a simple joy. Something you don't have to know about, but you just like. It's an invitation in to videogames. "These are fun - try them". It's primal. It reminds me why I love videogames. That simple, unpretentious fun is why Dream Land 1 and Pinball Land are tied for my favourite game in the series. Now, with Forgotten Land, there's some competition for them.
Sometimes, I feel so attuned to a new game that I get suspicious. Nintendo and HAL Laboratory saw me listing my copy of Star Allies on eBay and started drawing up plans to win me back. We've got Kirby exploring a post-human Earth. A vocal theme in a made-up language. A theme park level. Big crocodile enemies that pop up and snap at you. A dodge-roll. A wild west level where Kirby paraglides through a desert canyon. A gyro-based minigame that casts back to Tilt 'n' Tumble. A pleasant hub world that expands and gets nicer the further you go. A fucking Resident Evil 2 Scenario B homage. I couldn't believe what they had made for me.
I'm getting ahead of myself, clearly, but it's hard to look back at this game without tripping over myself remembering all the things that made me happy. What's absolutely crucial is that they've approached 3D Kirby as a challenge, and really pushed themselves to get it right. Everytime I've seen the Kirby Fanbase opine for their Mario 64, I've felt ever more distant from them - That just wouldn't work. Kirby is ambivalent to level geometry. If he can go anywhere, there's just not a game anymore. Take that away from him, and that's not Kirby. What HAL have come up with is almost akin to a scrolling beat'em up. It works here because they've engineered it to make sure the player is always king. If a hit looked like it landed - well, it landed. Kirby wins, and when Kirby wins, the player wins.
The thing is, the game is solid. They're aware of the older, sterner Kirby audience. There's genuine challenge here, and you don't have to dig far to find it. There's optional VR Missions (perhaps the PAL "Special Missions" terminology is more appropriate for Kirby) between levels, and the provided top times are properly tough. The later parts of the game give casual players a dozen opportunities to tap out and declare that they 'finished Kirby', but there's a new struggle at the other side of each one, ramping up to a ludicrous degree. Those old NoA ads about "one tough creampuff" have finally paid off.
Forgotten Land has great fun just being a platformer. You get the standard tropical level, ice level, fire level, et cetera, but they're explored so richly by HAL's artists. And with the camera positioning, lighting and overall presentation, they really shine on the screen. It's a game that looks like concept art. It's the best looking game HAL have ever made, and that's not a statement you can make lightly.
There's a statement I came across recently that I don't think is terribly fashionable, but it's one I strongly agree with. Sometimes, creators reiterate on concepts throughout their lives, not because they've run out of ideas, but because they haven't fully expressed it. There's a great joy to see people pick up ideas that they introduced in their earliest work, and decades later, really gain the knowledge and confidence to present that more eloquently to their audience. To me, when game developers do that, it's one of the most cathartic joys I can have as a long-time fan. That was Breath of the Wild, The Last Guardian and MGSV's "Hellbound" mission. Something that feels like what people dreamt of when they first played the original. We live in the future now. Our Kirby game is brilliant.