Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Game Review

In my eyes, Kirby games have always been defined by their astounding visual and musical artistic direction that is somewhat held back simple yet serviceable side-scrolling platforming gameplay. Forgotten Land represented, more than anything else, an opportunity for HAL Laboratory to break out of this mold that the series seems to be stuck in. And don’t get me wrong: I’ve always loved Kirby games. I obsess over every scrap of hidden lore I can wrap my head around and replay Kirby’s Adventure on my DS nearly once a year. But my love for the series doesn’t mean I haven’t recognized how these games have been stagnating over the past several years. I don’t blame HAL for this either; trying to come up with new side-scrolling platforming adventures once every few years while your main character is held back by the same rather limited movement options is a very big ask. And yet despite…