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[Draugoth]

- Genre: Exploration, Platform.

- Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch

- Media:

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Announcement Trailer
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Overview Trailer + Demo

- Developer: HAL Laboratory
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 GBP / 59,99€ EUR / $79.99 CAD
- Release Date: March 25,, 2022
- More Info: | Official Site



Review Aggregator (Opencritic): 84/100 - 93% Recommended

Review Aggregator (Metacritic): 87/100



Critic Reviews

AusGamers - Steve Farrelly - 6.5 / 10

It’s too easy. And it’s not like dialling up the AI or bolstering their numbers would help, it’s just been designed as an ultra-accessible game. And that’s fine. But for mine it’s detrimental to some of the clever ideas that do rear their head throughout, though these are more often flash-in-the-pan in terms of cadence and delivery

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CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 7.5 / 10

While a mostly fun experience, Kirby and the Forgotten Land definitely forgets a lot of the things that make the pink puffball’s games so unique.

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Cerealkillerz - Manuel Barthes - German - 8.6 / 10

With Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Nintendo is giving one of its most iconic heroes finally a 3D adventure. This convinces visually and playfully along the entire length and knows how to motivate with numerous secrets. It doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Super Mario and Link, but Kirby definitely doesn't have to hide from them anymore. In summary, a successful comeback that knows how to entertain young and old alike.

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Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 8.5 / 10

Enter Kirby and the Forgotten Lands with reasonable expectations and you’ll soon see one of the best refinements of a long-standing Nintendo formula yet. Cooperative play may waver in quality but does not diminish the wondrous experience ahead of you. On offer is plenty of platforming fun to sink your teeth into. Exploration, combat and the completionist itch that comes with a Kirby title are all present and strong here, and it also serves to be one of the longer adventures yet, with more to do than ever before. If you’re looking for the bright and joyous game to cosy up with on the couch this year, Kirby and the Forgotten Lands is without a doubt the one. Just maybe keep a suspicious eye on that beast pack.

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Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the perfect bookend an abnormally busy release calendar. Packed with tons of hidden secrets, exciting Copy abilities, and well-thought-out platforming, the Nintendo magic is on full display.

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Destructoid - Chris Carter - 9.5 / 10

I came in expecting a very serviceable Kirby adventure and got a lot more, but with those same straightforward and effortless virtues that past games have commanded.

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Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 4 / 5

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a charming platformer filled with intuitive puzzles, a genuinely intriguing world, and hysterical transformations that always made me smile.

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Enternity.gr - Hektor Apostolopoulos - Greek - 9 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of the surprises of the year and it's a must have game for all Nintendo Switch owners!

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Eurogamer - Martin Robinson - Recommended

Kirby's long anticipated move to 3D platforming sees the series step up to a new level of invention and wonder.

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Game Informer - John Carson - 9 / 10

Kirby thankfully remains as charming as ever and this new adventure can effortlessly provide hours of glee.

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GameSpot - Steven Petite - 9 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the biggest and most inventive entry in the long-running franchise.

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GamesRadar+ - Heather Wald - 4.5 / 5

Kirby's latest adventure is an absolute treat and one you won't want to miss. With more open platforming in an eye-grabbing 3D world, a generous helping of fantastic features in Waddle Dee Town, and the introduction of Mouthful Mode, Kirby and the Forgotten Land offers up a memorable experience that will undoubtedly make you smile.

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God is a Geek - Adam Cook - 9 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land adds challenge and adventure in a way that the series has never seen before. An essential purchase and a lovely surprise.

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Hobby Consolas - David Martinez - Spanish - 80 / 100

Kirby and the Forgotten Land may not be the revolution some were expecting, but it is still a great platform game. We love the new transformations, setting, and lots of extras and minigames.

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IGN - Tom Marks - 8 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land successfully warps the series' classic mix of ability-based combat, platforming, and secret hunting into the third dimension.

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Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 7 / 10

One of the best Kirby games ever made and while the formula hasn't changed as much as it first seems it's also one of the most enjoyable co-op titles of recent years.

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Nintendo Life - PJ O'Reilly - 9 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a great big colourful joyride of an adventure for our little pink pal. This first fully three dimensional mainline entry in the franchise is bursting at the seams with fun and inventiveness, managing to transpose everything we know and love about past Kirby games to this all-new arena whilst adding plenty of delightful new aspects as it goes. Mouthful Mode is just as daftly entertaining as it looked in the trailers, each and every level is packed full of secrets and dripping in wonderful detail, and there are enough side activities, collectibles and co-op fun here to keep you entertained and coming back for more for a good long while. What a grand way to celebrate 30 years of Planet Popstar's finest.

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PCMag - Will Greenwald - 4 / 5

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the series' first real step into 3D action, and the game deftly makes the transition with its many challenges and secrets. However, there's less ambition on display than you might expect.

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Polygon - Ryan Gilliam - Unscored

Kirby and the Forgotten Land burns too brightly, too soon, and that initial joy was hard to recall by the time the credits rolled.

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Press Start - Shannon Grixti - 8.5 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land takes the Kirby franchise to new heights in new and interesting ways. Whilst it's not the full step forward that I was hoping for, it's still super enjoyable and excites me for what could be next in the Kirby series.

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SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a very important game in these dark times. It can take you on a magical journey to a faraway land filled with fun and dangers. There are few minor hiccups, but the game is still really good.

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Screen Rant - Cody Gravelle - 4.5 / 5

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an excellent marriage between gameplay innovation and accessibility.

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Shacknews - Morgan Shaver - 9 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of, if not the best, Kirby games ever made.

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Spaziogames - Valentino Cinefra - Italian - 8.2 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the fresh, new start the franchise deserved.

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Stevivor - Ben Salter - 8 / 10

While it’s on the shorter side, the collection of well-designed stages are perfect for pick-up-and-play short burst gaming, and that’s exactly what I need right now.

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TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones - 4 / 5

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an absolute joy to play.

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VG247 - Tom Orry - 4 / 5

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a little safe at points to make it a proper all-timer, but I’m not sure that was ever the intention. It’s a game that is easy to like, can be played by everyone, and sits nicely alongside other Switch exclusives from Nintendo. If Kirby becoming a car is everything you want in life, good for you and welcome to your new favorite game of all time. For me, Kirby remains just below A-tier, which is still a great place to be. It’s often where some of the tastiest snacks are.

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VGC - Matthew Castle - 4 / 5

The platforming won’t give Mario any restless nights, but the exuberant creativity around it makes for a bold, buoyant adventure.

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Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 9 / 10

Playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land made me realise that I've never seen any series transition smoother to 3D gameplay. Even with its new dimension, it's undeniably Kirby through-and-through and also one of the best games in the franchise.

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Washington Post - Alyse Stanley - Unscored

“Kirby and the Forgotten Land” throws in some new elements to keep things fresh, and it executes them well for the most part. But it still feels like coming back to a familiar place and feeling like you never left, which is exactly what I, like many others, find endearing about the series.

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Wccftech - Nathan Birch - 9.5 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of the absolute best first-party titles the Nintendo Switch has to offer. The game feels great to play, looks wonderful, and introduces a vibrant and surprising world packed with new mechanics, challenges, and content. Kirby fans have been waiting a long time for his first 3D game and Forgotten Land truly is the pink one's Super Mario 64 or Zelda: Ocarina of Time, so puff out a sigh of relief and eat hearty.

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XGN.nl - Theo Weber - Dutch - 8.5 / 10

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a great adventure that's great to play. The colorful design brings this 3D Kirby adventure to life, while additions like the mouthful powers add are a fun new twist to the gameplay. It's a shame the co-op is a bit poor due to player 2 not getting the full range of powers. Nonetheless, this is a Kirby game that is worth your time!

 

[Northeastmonk]

Not bad. I’m glad Kirby is back.

 

[Toots]

More like KirbY:Automata, judging by the cover art

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Another banger by Ninty.

 

[AV]

Sweet, glad I decided to pull the trigger on this one on Friday!

 

[CosmicComet]

Nintendo has the best year.

 

[Bullet Club]

 

[Jadsey]

My kids love this game and have been playing the demo non-stop.

OP...you might want to change the genre, it is no way an open world game.

 

[PlayedStation]

Already pre-ordered...now, time to see how Tiny Tina reviews.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

It's too easy

As a gaming activist, I want Souls games to include an EASY mode.. and now I want Kirby games to include a HARD mode.

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

Are you able to play this co op the whole way thru? I saw in the direct 2 people playing.

 

[Davevil]

Apocalypse scenario for Kirby ? the fuck is in Nintendo's mind

 

[Nautilus]

Genre Open World?

For gods sake, this is not open world. Edit that out please. I would be generous by saying that phrase is misleading.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

As a gaming activist, I want Souls games to include an EASY mode.. and now I want Kirby games to include a HARD mode.

Unironically my biggest complaint with most Nintendo games.

 

[Cao Cao]

I read it is Always Online is that true?

 

[nikos]

The demo sold me on the game. My girlfriend really liked it as well. Only issue is, as with a lot of Nintendo co-op games, player 2 gets a gimped experience so we're probably better off playing it separately.

 

[DenchDeckard]

ok, ok, ok Nintendo...I'll buy it. Looks awesome!

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Great reviews. The demo is a lot of fun, very polished.

 

[amigastar]

Looks nice indeed

 

[Kokoloko85]

Nice. Was gonna buy when its on sale so maybe in 15 years

 

[Banjo64]

85 OC and 85 MC, Nintendo are smashing it at the moment and have a really strong 2022 ahead.

 

[AJUMP23]

Looks cool.

 

[LavosBit]

Looks like a nice palette cleanser from the double-fisting I’ve gotten from Elden Ring and Tunic. It kind of reminds me of that Sackboy game from a year or so back.

 

[Calm Mind]

Solution

As a gaming activist, I want Souls games to include an EASY mode.. and now I want Kirby games to include a HARD mode.

Solution: Mod Kirby into Souls game of choice. Kirby being an Eldritch terror already, he should fit in nicely.

 

[Lognor]

Much higher scores than I expected. But I'm not a Kirby fan. Kirby games are way too easy. Although it does sound like this game will be more challenging than others.

 

[fart town usa]

I was thinking about getting this cause it looks like Kirby meets Mario 3D World but I can't get another game at this point.

Gotta finish up ER, Ghostwire, and CP2077.

I'll probably get this a few months from now, it does look like a damn good time.

 

[Zannegan]

My kids love this game and have been playing the demo non-stop.

OP...you might want to change the genre, it is no way an open world game.

I was about to ask if the game opens up later or something because the demo was so linear. Too bad, I would have preferred open levels a la Mario 64.

 

[Draugoth]

I was about to ask if the game opens up later or something because the demo was so linear. Too bad, I would have preferred open levels a la Mario 64.

Fixed

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Great scores. Will be nice to play this after Elden Ring.

 

[stranno]

According to ECLIPSE, the guy that does most graphics mods for Switch, it is 960x540 to 1280x720 in portable, 1600x900 to 1920x1080 in docked. He also found the resolution values, here is at 320x180 (internal res)

 

[Deerock71]

I thought the demo un-sold me on it, because of how EASY it was. These reviews are making me reconsider, bit not day 1.

 

[Astral Dog]

Just around what i was expecting, very solid 3D debut for Kirby, should improve with sequels

 

[Max_Po]

In honor of Kirby I just released a full 3 sec fart.

 

[worldwithpyramids]

I'm really about to get tricked into buying another Kirby game I'll sleepwalk through.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Visuals are incredible for a Switch game.
HDR would really make games like this shine.

 

[Danjin44]

I enjoyed the demo a lot despite never played any Kirby game and I after intense games like Elden Ring and Triangle Strategy, this gonna be fun chill game to play.

 

[Captain Toad]

I don't understand the point of adding difficulty options if the hardest difficulty doesn't even offer a little bit of challenge.

There's nothing wrong with Kirby and recent Yoshi games' gameplay, but with absolutely no pushback in challenge, they get stale very quickly for all but the younger or newer gamers. It's odd because Nintendo games like Mario balance this stuff very well.

 

[Sausy1987]

wonder does your progress carry over from demo or do you have replay them again . o hadnt a clue about kirby before i played demo on a whim and loved it !

 

[Danjin44]

More like KirbY:Automata, judging by the cover art

The game might be take place after Automata.

 

[stranno]

ECLIPSE just released his first version of the graphics mod: 30FPS + fixed 1280x720 in Handheld Mode or 60FPS + fixed 960x540 in Handheld Mode.

Unfortunately the game uses double buffering, so it drops from 60 to 30, from 30 to 20 and from 20 to 15 if it's 1 frame lower than the target framerate. So it's not really stable on Docked Mode, resolution would have to be reduced to 540P for smooth experience.

 

[TintoConCasera]

ECLIPSE just released his first version of the graphics mod: 30FPS + fixed 1280x720 in Handheld Mode or 60FPS + fixed 960x540 in Handheld Mode.

Unfortunately the game uses double buffering, so it drops from 60 to 30, from 30 to 20 and from 20 to 15 if it's 1 frame lower than the target framerate. So it's not really stable on Docked Mode, resolution would have to be reduced to 540P for smooth experience.

Is the vanilla performance that bad that we should consider using this mod?

 

[stranno]

Is the vanilla performance that bad that we should consider using this mod?

No. It's should be almost rock solid 30 frames per second.

This mod is for locked 1280x720 on Handheld Mode and "experimental" 60FPS on both Handheld/Dock Mode.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Toots]

The game might be take place after Automata.

Yoko Taro x Nintendo shared universe
Mario and link being androids would explain a lot a stuff

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

These scores are extremely suspicious in a world where fucking Donkey Kong scored 83 on WiiU. How can Kirby of all things be so favorably reviewed when everyone knows it’s a series with almost no challenge?

The only explanation is that reviewers took a healthy spanking from Elden Ring and were so eager to get a comfort game immediately afterwards, they raised their scores for Kirby by a good 1 - 1 and a half points.
And I’m saying this as a longtime Kirby fan.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Nintendo’s insatiable pink mascot Kirby finally has his first full-featured 3D platformer adventure debuting on the Nintendo Switch and it's great! Watch our Kirby And The Forgotten Land review.

 

[Manwithoutfear]

OP your open critic link goes to ghostwire tokyo open critic.

***Edit: also, thanks for putting all this together.

 

[Shifty]

Hell yeah, Kirby's transition to proper 3D is long past due. Fingers crossed amazon breaks street date on this one and delivers it tomorrow

Looking to be a strong entry based on the demo and reviews, though I'm a little disappointed that they didn't go full Kirby Super Star with the moveset complexity - that's still the franchise peak imo.
Still, it's better than going back to the one ability = one move dark ages like they did with the GBA games, and the ability upgrade stuff seems to have potential.

Also, calling it that the little floating fox friend thing is actually super evil and fucked up by the time endgame rolls around. Can't trust anything cutesy after Magolor.

More like KirbY:Automata, judging by the cover art

Highly original reddit joke detected. You might want to pick the announce trailer mold off that one before you eat it

 

[Notabueno]

This game is a mediocre cash-grab, but that where Ninty at, they have the worse crowd like they did with the Wii U and it's going to devalue their brand even more.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Not surprised, this looks like a fun little game.

I'm actually really getting a kick out of how angry people are that the game is reviewing well. Thanks for the entertainment!