HAL and Kirby have finally taken this step
Speaking of the "HAL Institute", which is inextricably linked to Nintendo, there are three names that cannot be avoided. One is Satoshi Iwata, the former president of the Nintendo legend; one is Shigesato Itoi, the producer of "Earth Adventures"; the other is the creator of "Kirby star" and "Nintendo All-Star Brawl": Masahiro Sakurai.
Satoshi Iwata single-handedly brought Nintendo from the aftermath of the console wars to glory, Shigesato Itoi created masterpieces that are sung to this day, and Masahiro Sakurai left the "Pink Devil" to the HAL Research Institute, one of the most classic characters in the history of video games.
But as the once-legendary figures leave one by one, the time of HAL and the "Star Kirby" series seems to have stagnated in the past.
"HAL Institute"
Of course, the "Kirby of the Stars" series did not fall into silence.
On the contrary, after the console wars were settled, Kirby and his friends became the center of almost all the development work of the HAL Institute. From Castlevania to Multiplayer, in order to make the Star Kirby series maintain its former glory, hal developers can be said to have worked its gameplay, and a series of high-quality works can fully meet the basic requirements of players. Even the "Kirby of the Stars: Nova Alliance", which was criticized for its "lack of content" in the early stage of its release, successfully won back its reputation by relying on the free update in the later stage. But the problem is that most of the game characters who grew up with Kirby next door have already stepped onto the stage of the era called "3D".
In this context, Kirby of the Stars: Discovery will naturally attract the attention of players. After all, apart from those spin-offs that try to catch up with the "fashionable" (including Kirby's Inhalation Battle on 3DS), this is the first truly 3D work in the "Kirby of the Star" series.
Kirby of the Stars: Discovery
But first, we may want to make a simple clarification about the game type of Kirby star: Discovery. Perhaps influenced by Mario: Odyssey, many players have preconceived notions about the trailer, believing that Kirby Star: Discovery may be an "open world" game, but this is not the case.
If you want to use the analogy of "Mario", the relationship between Kirby of the Stars: Discovery and past series, just like "Mario Bros." and "Mario 3D Paradise" or "Mario 3D World", although at first glance it seems to have undergone revolutionary changes, but after getting started, you will find that they follow the same rules and ideas, both in terms of gameplay design concept and level composition mode. However, when the things that were placed on the plane in the past have a deep relationship, the design difficulty will inevitably rise by one dimension.
Kirby star: Discovery is one such game. Even if the appearance changes, it will definitely not make you feel strange.
When the cute Kirby wakes up on the beach, it is confronted by a grove of trees stretching inwards, the remains of a civilization that has never been seen before, and a new enemy called the Legion of Beasts. But for veteran players, there's also everything you've ever seen on pop stars, including the "Pink Devil" who moves from level to level on the "Jumping Star", the turban Wadou Rudi that can be used as a 2P adventure together, dozens of independent levels with different styles and themes, semi-linear, a variety of tempting food snacks, simple and straightforward mini-games, and old rivals (friends) that have remained unchanged for thousands of years.
A gyroscope mini-game reminiscent of Kirby Ball
What kind of game "Star Kirby" is, I believe it does not need too much explanation. This classic, born in the era of the popular era of side-scrolling action games, has some "anti-anachronistic" characteristics - compared with the usual action games, the protagonist in the game has no complicated movements, the downward drop speed is slow, and the enemy will not have too violent attacks, all in order to allow players to have a smooth and enjoyable game adventure. This design idea has also been completely brought into "Kirby of the Stars: Exploration and Discovery".
First of all, in terms of basic operation, this game still keeps the operation cost at the "simplest" and "minimum". In the game, players only need to use the left stick and two buttons to play most of Kirby's abilities. For those players who have long been accustomed to the basic operation, the game also added a new dodge action that can be derived from the defensive posture under the 3D perspective, and the player can achieve an attack advantage similar to slow-motion time through "perfect dodge" in battle. After getting used to the basic operation, this is also one of the most commonly used techniques when performing "advanced challenges" in this game.
Dodge dodges most attacks
But the "simplest" and "minimal" operations do not mean that the work lacks depth. As just said "advanced challenges", "using certain systems to bring more challenges to core players while ensuring the experience of all players" is also one of the charms of the Kirby series.
Today, the ability to "inhale" and "transform" has become synonymous with Kirby, and the original intention of adding this ability is actually to give players who pursue challenges a higher play cap without increasing the difficulty. Inhaling specific enemies in the ordinary form, Kirby can obtain the corresponding special abilities, and the gameplay and operation mode will also undergo great changes, and many levels that appear in the game will require players to use specific abilities to pass. But Kirby star is not a game that will be difficult for people, for more players who want to simply have fun, it will always provide you with solutions based on special abilities in the level, and the enemies or abilities set on the road may be the entrance to the next hidden level. As for whether it is possible to manage and use these transformation abilities according to the situation, it becomes one of the most interesting places.
Although most of the classic abilities are there, they lack the ability "plasma electricity" that ranked first in popularity.
In Kirby of the Stars: Discovery, Kirby has a total of twelve transformation abilities that can be used. Among them, in addition to the classic abilities such as "Sword", "Bomb", "Fire" and "Frost" that the series has never been absent, two new abilities that are very suitable for the theme of this game have also been added: "Detective Patrol" and "DrillIng". The former can use firearms to launch ranged attacks, while the latter can burrow into the ground to move, both of which will play a very important role in this game.
To be honest, in terms of the total number of abilities alone, twelve is really not much. However, for the first time, the concept of "ability enhancement" was added to this game - the ability to be inhaled by Kirby can not only be permanently stored in the "stronghold", but also can be upgraded by collecting special items.
However, these "upgrade items" have to be obtained through additional "challenge levels", and it is really not easy to "complete" these goals perfectly
Speaking of "ability upgrades", this new system can indeed give Kirby's transformation ability the most direct bonuses such as "power increase" and "attack speed increase", but more often, the upgrade is more like retaining the original characteristics and becoming another ability.
In fact, in the "Kirby of the Stars" series, the ability to have similar effects is not small (like the "Frost" and "Freeze" abilities also from The Kirby of the Stars: Fountain of Dreams, because they are too similar, they were later combined into one), and the total number of abilities of The Kirby of the Stars: Exploration and Discovery is not much, but the "upgrade" method is used to integrate a large number of similarly expressed abilities, providing at least three upgrades for each ability, which allows players to continue to get freshness from the same ability. It also avoids confusion due to too many options.
Taking the most classic "sword" ability as an example, Kirby can even use the sword of the Knight of the Charm Tower, but in the level, they all have the hard effect of "cutting the rope"
On the other hand, the biggest selling point of this game in terms of "deformation" ability is the new "stuffed mouth deformation". In one of the earliest promotional videos, Kirby accidentally sucked the car into his mouth and became a scene of "car rain cover", which once caused a heated discussion among netizens. Although Kirby's "change of car" is not the first time, it will still feel quite fresh to see this "half swallowed and half exposed" transformation method.
In the game, this so-called "stuffed mouth deformation" is different from the usual transformation ability, Kirby seems to be unable to digest items such as "cars", "vending machines", "triangle cones", etc., and can only stuff them into the mouth for temporary use, which also makes their appearance time relatively fixed. Generally speaking, "Stuffed Mouth Deformation" will only appear on the premise that the level is needed for a mechanism. For example, in front of a vending machine that can fire powerful cans, there must be a large group of enemies and obstacles that are usually not broken by attack; in front of the triangular cone that can be rushed straight down, there must be a crack hiding a dark passage. They are more closely tied to the level design than the twelve transformable abilities that can be transformed freely – and of course, the process is also very interesting.
What can fill the mouth is not just solid
As the title suggests, "Discovery through Exploration" is at the heart of everything you play. Remember when I said that this work is like the result of stretching the "Star Kirby" on the plane of the past to a dimension? The gameplay of Kirby of the Stars: Discovery is a comprehensive enhancement of the traditional exploration mode of the past.
In the 2D version of "Kirby of the Stars", players find hidden elements in the map through different skills and routes, which is the most enjoyable and painstaking gameplay of the game map in addition to the speed pass. Through the overall 3D processing, the map of this game has more possibilities, whether it is for the designer of "hiding things" or the players who are "looking for things".
In the course of the game, Kirby needs to go to each separate level to rescue the Wadouludis who are imprisoned by the Beast Army. While defeating enemies by using traps, flying over obstacles, and transforming into enemies, these levels also feature several additional objectives, the most important of which is to rescue × Wadourudi, while the others are displayed as "??? ”。
In "Kirby of the Stars: Exploration and Discovery", only by rescuing a certain number of Wadou Rudi, the next area will be opened, so it is a natural "show of hands" for Kirby to search on the way through the customs. But once you calm down, you will find that this process of "exploring and finding" is much more interesting than simply fighting monsters. Most of the time, you'll probably focus more on the corners of the map, because on any street corner, there's a separate room where Wadou Rudi is being held.
As for those that appear as "??? "Tasks, on the other hand, correspond to certain special behaviors. Sometimes it is to defeat the enemy in a specific way, sometimes to taste all the delicacies that appear in the level, sometimes to find the secret passage that is blocked, interesting and rich scene configuration, unknown conditions, and the difficulty of breaking the level is really not high, all of which further stimulate the player's desire to explore.
What's even more interesting is that this process of finding hidden elements will not make you feel any sense of repetition at all. Because, in the world of this game, there are a variety of level themes including abandoned cities, amusement parks, snowy mountains, deserts, volcanoes, factories, etc., which all give "hiding things" a unique advantage - to exaggerate, although the map of this game does not involve the concept of open world, the "sense of exploration" and "surprise" it can bring is far stronger than most games on the market.
After the 3D and exploration elements were strengthened, the series' traditional "looking for HAL hidden levels" also became more interesting
And for those who are not good at finding hidden information, or who are looking for perfect levels, Kirby of the Stars is also not a game that will be difficult for people. Whenever a player passes a level and doesn't find a hidden element, those are labeled "??? "The condition information will automatically unlock one, even if it is really not found, you can also refer to the information it gives to complete the elements."
In addition to these, this game can make players feel relaxed and happy in various places.
To be honest, as the first 3D work in the series, I was worried that Star Kirby: Discovery would roll over the classic puzzle of "2 to 3" until the game was released. After all, the compromised treatment of issues such as "deep relationships," "player visual bias," and "character orientation control" has been a common problem in this type of fixed-angle game until now (think of super Mario 3D world, which was released last year, and you know what I'm talking about).
Of course, "it's 2022, you can't turn the perspective of 3D games" We can't talk about it, after actually playing Kirby: Discovery of the Stars, although it can't be said that there is none, you really rarely feel the pressure from the above problems. Even a narrow attack can hit the enemy very easily, and the position where it falls from a high place is very accurate, because the visual deviation of the misoperation is almost non-occurrent.
It was a very peculiar experience. According to the developers of the HAL Institute the day before the game's release, this is because they use a technique similar to "stunt photography", and the collision between Kirby's attack and the enemy is determined, in addition to directly depending on the player's operation, it is closely related to the camera's viewing position - if from the player's point of view, Kirby hit the enemy, it is hit. The same applies to between scenes or objects.
If you look at it from another perspective, you'll find that the player's attacks may not actually "hit" the enemy
However, if you want to say that this work is in the process of "3D", it really has not encountered any problems, which is really unrealistic. In the actual game, Kirby occasionally encounters a situation where he is surrounded by enemies and his perspective is pulled away together, in order to make it easier for players to see the overall battlefield situation. However, due to Kirby's own inconspicuous appearance and the skill effects are too dazzling, Kirby's movements are not so easy to see. In addition, the game also has the problem of "unstable frame rate" in individual scenes - although, this pot may need to be carried by others.
In some perspectives, Kirby's figure is really inconspicuous
But even so, I must admit that HAL has shown maturity far beyond everyone's expectations in "3D". On the eve of the game's release, HAL's developers said in an interview that they hope to make players "unable to imagine that this is their first 3D action game."
Looking at the way it is now, they did.
At the end of the previous year, I reviewed the game UFO Find a Job, also produced by the HAL Institute. It was a small, small-scale game with "doll catching machine" as the main gameplay. There's nothing wrong with the quality of the game itself, but it doesn't have much depth either. From a production point of view, it is easily reminiscent of the decontamination game Box Boy developed by HAL for 3DS earlier.
At the time, I thought that the HAL Institute, which relied only on Star Kirby and a bunch of distinctly "low-risk" and "lightweight" games, was locking itself in a cage called "single product line."
Although this idea, so far has not changed much. But Kirby of the Stars: Exploration and Discovery offers hope. This step taken by HAL is of great significance to the Kirby star series and to themselves.
What's more, even after entering the 3D era, Kirby is still the Kirby we know. In fact, if you think about it carefully, whether it is in the operation, level design, hidden element search, or attack judgment, it shows the "thoughtfulness" and "care" for the player and the game character. In a sense, this is the philosophy that HAL has adhered to and learned from since Kirby's birth, and may be the main reason why Kirby of the Stars: Discoveries makes people so happy and happy.
Maybe the game is not good or not, and it doesn't have to catch up with the trend, or make the player dead.
Now, the "Pink Devil" proves it once again