Kirby And The Forgotten Land - What We Know So Far
One of Nintendo's most consistently adorable superstars, Kirby, is making his triumphant return to the Nintendo Switch in a new game announced during the September 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation. Fans will once again take control of the famous shapeshifting pink puffball in "Kirby and the Forgotten Land"
The new game was one of the big reveals of the Nintendo Direct presentation, although a leaked schedule reported by Polygon broke the news that a new game starring Kirby was on the way. However, the leak did have one important detail that was proved wrong by the official announcement. The translated name of the game that was revealed early worked out to "Kirby: Discovery of the Stars," so Nintendo was at least able to keep the title of the game a surprise for fans.
That leak also noted that "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" would arrive sometime in 2022. While the official reveal didn't offer many details about what to expect from the game, it did provide a more specific arrival window. Here is everything fans need to know about the release date, trailer, and gameplay of "Kirby and the Forgotten Land."
When is the release date for Kirby and the Forgotten Land?
While the actual date that "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" will launch has not been revealed by Nintendo, the announcement trailer at the September 2021 Nintendo Direct event did give the game a broad release window. Fans can expect to dive into Kirby's new adventure in Spring 2022.
When "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" arrives on the Nintendo Switch in the first half of 2022, it will be the first new game in the franchise's main storyline since 2018's "Kirby Star Allies." Once it arrives, it will join "Star Allies" and the many spin-off games that use the Kirby name on the Switch, such as "Kirby Fighters 2," which was released in 2020, and "Super Kirby Clash," which arrived in 2019.
The announcement of "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" is the piece of good news that Kirby fans have been waiting for all year, so the prospect of the game arriving within six months or so should be exciting. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly during the final few months of the game's development cycle and fans have a brand new Kirby adventure to experience next spring.
Is there a trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land?
Nintendo's announcement of "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" and the general release window for the title were delivered in a short trailer featured in the September 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation. In that video, fans can see the environment that Kirby will explore and some enemies that the player will either have to defeat or swallow whole.
One of the most immediately noticeable things presented in the trailer is the game's setting, a dilapidated urban environment being reclaimed by nature, which in some ways resembles a Nintendo rendition of "The Last of Us." After a brief tour of those empty buildings and streets, viewers then see the game's puffy pink hero wake up on an empty beach and head into town.
As Kirby begins to explore the seemingly abandoned city, some of its residents pop up to impede the player's progress. Viewers see Kirby dodge classic enemies like a Kabu, avoid the snapping jaws of a giant crocodile, and face off against a gargantuan gorilla in a preview of the challenges that will arrive with "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" in Spring 2022.
What will the gameplay of Kirby and the Forgotten Land be like?
While gameplay specifics for "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" have yet to be released by Nintendo, fans can get a broad idea of what they will do in the game from watching its trailer. As noted, the game will feature some familiar enemies and will likewise showcase some classic Kirby moves. In the trailer, fans see Kirby cross long distances by riding a star, consume a sword-wielding foe to access its powers, and eject sucked-up enemies as projectiles.
The trailer also shows a variety of angles from which gamers will be able to control Kirby. Much of the game seems to be presented in a relatively standard third-person perspective, while some portions seem to take on more of an isometric viewpoint. In addition, some segments appeared to play out from a familiar sidescrolling view as Kirby navigates obstacles and enemies.
All of these options beg one final question — how much freedom will the player have in their interactions with the abandoned city? Kirby seems to have a pretty open choice of movement in the clip shown, but the degree to which players will actually be able to get out and explore in "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" has yet to be seen.