Kirby is Nintendo's go-to puffball when they want to innovate. He's been a pinball, he raced on a warp star, he's played golf and he's been in a puzzle game. Now, Nintendo handed the series reigns to GoodFeel, the team behind Wario Land: Shake It! and they decided to experiment as well. The result is Kirby's Epic Yarn, a game with a striking visual style. Does there exist flair behind the visuals? Or is a unique look all the game has?
Kirby's story here is that he gets turned to yarn by an evil Yarn Wizard named Yin Yarn. Yin Yarn then transfers Kirby to Patch Land and decides to then take over Dreamland. Kirby meets Prince Fluff who decides to team up with Kirby to take down Yin Yarn. The story isn't deep at all, but that's to be expected. The cutscenes have a narrator who speaks in voices and sounds like a narrator from a kid's show. It's nice and amusing, but it's not going to be scored.
The game plays a lot like the other Kirby games, you play on a 2D plane and move from side to side and defeat enemies. The difference here is that everything is made of yarn including Kirby and because of that, he can't suck up enemies. Instead, he throws out a loose piece of yarn and pulls the threads of your enemies. It's really simple, but it's still enjoyable. If you hold the attack button, you will hold them above your head and this will allow you to throw them as another attack. This will break blocks and some blocks can only be broke in this way.
As you explore the levels, you will see beads and they act as coins. Collect them and they can be used to buy furniture that is used to decorate the hotel in the plaza. For decorating the rooms in certain ways, you will attract tenants that will allow you to play little mini-games. You can also find treasure chests in the stages and they give furniture and music tracks. There are three chests in each stage and if you get enough beads you get a gold medal. There is no point to all of this, but it's there for those who enjoy getting everything.
The only real bad thing about the gameplay is the difficulty. The game is one of the easiest games ever created due to the fact that you can't die. No matter how much you get hurt, you'll never die. If you get crush, you'll live. If you fall in a pit, you'll get carried back. All you lose are beads. This can be super annoying and sometimes I'd rather die than lose all my beads, but that's all that happens. It's still incredibly fun, but it's super easy and not as fun as previous Kirby games.
The music is pretty catchy and totally Kirby standards. There are some remixed tracks, but most of it is original music and it's up-beat and addicting. Kirby still sounds adorable and the narrator sounds great. Not much to say, other than it's great.
The visuals are the most striking thing in the game. It's completely made of felt and yarn and it looks stunning. The whole world has stitches and seams and every enemy is made of yarn, like Kirby. The animations are fantastic and even the water looks amazing. The looks does wear thin sometimes and looks extremely artificial, like is to be expected, but it's still looks absolutely amazing. There is nothing else like it and it's definitely one of the best looking games ever created, if not the most creative.
PROs
- Kirby is adorable
- Visuals are amazing and absolutely stunning
- Gameplay is fun
- Music is catchy and up-beat
- Plenty of stages and side-things to do
- Narrator adds a nice feel
CONs
- Game is insanely easy
- Visuals start to look lifeless
Overall, Kirby's Epic Yarn is a fantastically unique game. It's got a stunning visual style, fun gameplay and catchy music. It is very easy, but that doesn't detract from the creativity on display here. Everyone who likes Nintendo should buy this game and Kirby fans should definitely take a look.
Story: N/A
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio: 9.0/10
Presentation: 10/10
TOTAL: 9.0/10