just got done. we played for about 9 hours and unlocked most, but not all of the treasure, but all the extra levels. played from start to finish in co-op.
what an amazing game! i had fairly low expectations going in and i'm just blown away by the polish and the overall quality of almost every aspect of it. it's just full of such an abundance of great ideas, both in gameplay and presentation. i'd say this is the most gorgeous and beautiful looking game i've played in years. it's got such a unique vision, executed with so much care and attention to detail. it really takes the yarn and patch and stitches concept and rolls with it, never once compromises and always finds unique applications and surprising and charming ways to put an original, often unexpected spin on the tiniest of details.
i can't say i'm bothered by the fact that you can't die. the game is very clearly designed around collecting beads and getting gold medals and finding all the treasure. losing all the beads when getting hit is a sufficient punishment in this context. unlike in something like wario land shake-it, it's an integral part of the game from the very beginning. and the game is not designed around forcing you to replay levels. you can get gold medals and all the treasure on your first try if you put a bit of effort into it. that always bothered me in wario: you HAD to replay many levels to complete different challenges and find all the treasure. they all couldn't be completed in the same playthrough. i think that's a major design flaw. i'm glad kirby sidesteps this and at the same time more tightly knits the necessity of getting a high rank into the core of the game.
overall, yes, it's an easy game. some parts are considerably harder in co-op, others a little easier (some of the transformation parts). i'm not ready to call it a "relaxing" game, as some have, and claim that this is the game's main draw. i'm a big proponent of challenging games and one of my most treasured game series is classic mega man, yet i still found epic yarn to be immensely fun and fulfilling. why? let's not kid ourselves: there is skill involved in getting the highest rank in every level and finding all the treasure, and if none was needed at all, i probably wouldn't have found any of it compelling. this isn't an automated experience or a brain-dead button-mashing affair. you are still maneuvering a character through a level, you're still avoiding obstacles, killing and dodging and using enemies, exploring nooks and crannies, finding secrets and learning a large variety of (very fun) transformation gimmicks. and the game just does an excellent job of making the path through all the different levels interesting and fun. this isn't comparable to something like bayonetta's inane casual mode. on top of it, epic yarn has a large variety of neat gameplay ideas and the incredible presentation adds an important layer that helps to keep you interested in them and the world in general - it really makes you want to discover everything any given level has to offer.
i haven't mentioned the music yet, but man, how fucking fantastic is it? easily one of my favorite soundtracks of the whole decade. besides the high production values, there is the really clever instrumentation and the great, often minimalistic acoustic interpretations of classic kirby tracks. it fits like a glove with the unique visual presentation and it's equally as charming and to the point. just perfect. it's hard to pull off so much saccharine and whimsy, but tomoya tomita consistently and successfully subverts the kitsch with his often jazzy, often minimalistic but always unique spin (sometimes this involves an unexpected ukulele or a funky, filtered drumbeat...). ok, ok, there are a few stinkers in there, a few tracks that are straightforwardly cheesy and not jazzy or upbeat or original in any way. but the majority of the music is brilliant. the sound design is just as good: the effects sound crisp, sharp, fresh, varied and perfectly balanced and they have the necessary oomph when they need to.
if i'd played it last year, if it didn't come out so late in europe, it would have been high up in my top ten list. that said, i'll be sure to vote it into my goty list this year. and i'm gonna keep an eye on good-feel, despite the more uneven and somewhat forgettable wario land shake-it. they definitely have my attention now.
