(Bunch of scattered, generalized thoughts)
I ultimately enjoyed this a fair bit - the levels, challenges, music and especially art direction are fairly well done for what they were going for.
I normally hate this kind of saying but while it's a great Kirby game.. it doesn't stand out that much as a 3D platformer overall. Like many others here, I agree it would have been nice if HAL went the extra mile using 3D space and the camera. It felt like half the levels were as good as Kirby 2.5D platforming could get. The other half, while they were actual proper 3D levels, none were quite up to the level of interesting design, identity, mechanics, challenge and building up of concepts that games like Super Mario 3D World achieved (or even Odyssey's peaks as much as I'm not into that game). The Kirby devs already perfected 2D platforming for the kind of charm the series is going for. They just need to do more next time to define what 3D Kirby can really be. Forgotten Land while clearly solid, is also clearly something of a stepping stone or beta of something that could be much cooler.
Minor issues I'm sure most others have are:
- The ability level up system is just meh and an odd choice in this kind of game. Most of the upgrades feel fairly identical to the base one and are just "more powerful". The main story and time trials don't really make the most use out of some abilities, though for the most part they fare well.
- Scoring high on the time trials should net you more than 50 coins honestly. At least give a 100 coins considering getting good times on these is like the hardest challenge in the game. Unless something I've yet to see is harder.
- The (not true) final boss while great was rather easy and not nearly as mechanically interesting as Robobot's final boss (or even the two bosses right before it honestly..).
I'm currently tackling post-game which is fairly fun. Overall I feel somewhat comfortable saying this is my 2nd fav Kirby I've played so far (behind Robobot). Despite all the improvements that can be made I would honestly say I still enjoyed and appreciated this more than RTDL, Superstar Ultra and the rest. I think that can be attributed to how I just generally prefer 3D games to 2D games in general.
Edit: Post-game thoughts. Bosses are generally great. I don't like the repeat levels much though. It feels like padding, I think a few short new tough areas would have been better, especially to roughly match the difficulty of the Phantom bosses.
I'm excited for the future of the series I think.
I ultimately enjoyed this a fair bit - the levels, challenges, music and especially art direction are fairly well done for what they were going for.
I normally hate this kind of saying but while it's a great Kirby game.. it doesn't stand out that much as a 3D platformer overall. Like many others here, I agree it would have been nice if HAL went the extra mile using 3D space and the camera. It felt like half the levels were as good as Kirby 2.5D platforming could get. The other half, while they were actual proper 3D levels, none were quite up to the level of interesting design, identity, mechanics, challenge and building up of concepts that games like Super Mario 3D World achieved (or even Odyssey's peaks as much as I'm not into that game). The Kirby devs already perfected 2D platforming for the kind of charm the series is going for. They just need to do more next time to define what 3D Kirby can really be. Forgotten Land while clearly solid, is also clearly something of a stepping stone or beta of something that could be much cooler.
Minor issues I'm sure most others have are:
- The ability level up system is just meh and an odd choice in this kind of game. Most of the upgrades feel fairly identical to the base one and are just "more powerful". The main story and time trials don't really make the most use out of some abilities, though for the most part they fare well.
- Scoring high on the time trials should net you more than 50 coins honestly. At least give a 100 coins considering getting good times on these is like the hardest challenge in the game. Unless something I've yet to see is harder.
- The (not true) final boss while great was rather easy and not nearly as mechanically interesting as Robobot's final boss (or even the two bosses right before it honestly..).
I'm currently tackling post-game which is fairly fun. Overall I feel somewhat comfortable saying this is my 2nd fav Kirby I've played so far (behind Robobot). Despite all the improvements that can be made I would honestly say I still enjoyed and appreciated this more than RTDL, Superstar Ultra and the rest. I think that can be attributed to how I just generally prefer 3D games to 2D games in general.
Edit: Post-game thoughts. Bosses are generally great. I don't like the repeat levels much though. It feels like padding, I think a few short new tough areas would have been better, especially to roughly match the difficulty of the Phantom bosses.
I'm excited for the future of the series I think.