Kirby Developers Explain Why Forgotten Land Was a ‘Breath of the Wild Moment’ for the Series
Since 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took the Zelda franchise in a new direction, it’s somewhat common for viewers to point to similar shifts in other game franchises as “Breath of the Wild moments.” became. Super Mario Odyssey, Sonic Frontiers, Pokemon Legend Arceus, Elden Ring, and a few other games have been described by these terms, but only because most of them had vast grasslands that swayed in the wind. not. Breath of the Wild was mentioned again when Kirby and the Forgotten Land was announced as the first fully 3D mainline Kirby game in his 30-year history of the franchise.
At the 2023 Game Developers Conference, Shinya Kumasaki, general director of the Kirby franchise, and Tatsuya Kamiyama, expert director of HAL Laboratory, felt that Kirby and the Forgotten Lands was such a moment for the series. After all, as Kirby’s first fully 3D game, it greatly changed the way players navigate levels, explore, and fight as Kirby.
In response, Kumazaki revealed that developer HAL Laboratory was not trying to develop a Kirby title with the intention of being like other games in other series. He elaborated:
“If you’re talking about what Breath of the Wild has probably revolutionized the Zelda series and revolutionized the series, I think it’s Kirby. [and the] Forgotten Land was at a tipping point of sorts. And you can think of this as the first step in his ongoing, forward-thinking challenge to create a 3D Kirby game. ”
However, Kumazaki clarified further. Just because HAL is one of his 3D Kirby he created games doesn’t mean the entire future of the franchise will follow suit.
“What really matters is what kind of gameplay experience we can deliver to our players, how we optimize that gameplay experience, and how we present it in-game.” he says. “Through Kirby’s optimal gameplay experience, we just got his 3D in this new genre as another way, another way, another form of delivering an optimal gameplay experience.”
In fact, the first thing HAL Labs was interested in making a Kirby game was the gameplay experience, and what the core gameplay ideas were, he later told me. They then decide whether the best representation of it is 2D or 3D, but they felt comfortable enough to work in 3D to fully express their ideas. He points out that it’s only been recently (likely due to a variety of simple Kirby quirks). spherical design). It wasn’t until Kirby’s Blowout Blast (his 3DS eShop title featuring basic 3D gameplay) that the team wasn’t confident enough to make the jump.
“With a title like Air Ride, we had an environment to create 3D. [game]…but what we didn’t have was creative skills and experience.And I wanted to actually experiment and see if I could bring that into the main series. [Blast] It’s when we looked at some of the previous challenges that the series faced and really leveraged the experience people had during development, the experience the team had. I began to feel that I had piled up. That’s why we tested it and it started to come together to some extent, and that’s why we felt we could offer a 3D Kirby experience that many people would be familiar with. ”
Also, whether HAL might remake Kirby games like Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe in the future, or whether the final boss of Forgotten Land is too difficult (or not challenging enough) for players. ) to Kumazaki and Kamiyama. Given Kirby’s relatable nature, keep an eye on IGN for these stories later today.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. you can find her on her twitter @duck valentine.
