It’s no secret that HAL Laboratory is trying a lot of new things inKirby and the Forgotten Land. The platforming series' shift to 3D is already dramatic after 30 years of sidescrolling play, but it’s also shaking up Copy Abilities by introducing a shop where players can upgrade Kirby’s skills. Neither of these is the strangest new feature ofKirby and the Forgotten Land, though. That credit most certainly goes to Mouthful Mode. When Kirby inhales certain oversized objects inKirby and the Forgotten Land,he doesn’t swallow them completely, but instead stretches his mouth over them and gains a new set of abilities.
Mouthful Mode is frankly hilarious, and it’s rightly generatinga ton ofKirbymemes, but it’s also a valuable sign ofKirby’s growth. New ideas like Mouthful Mode will help HAL keepKirbyinteresting for years to come. However, Mouthful Mode itself might not actually have a particularly bright future in theKirbyfranchise. Because of how it interacts with the specific set pieces that populateKirby and the Forgotten Land’s environment, Mouthful Mode might be hard to use in other games. In order words, Mouthful Mode may be a star feature ofKirby and the Forgotten Land,but not a core part ofKirby’s future.
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Mouthful Mode’s Unique Context
Mouthful Mode is a valuable part ofKirby and the Forgotten Landin part because of how it makes use of the game’s setting. From the momentKirby and the Forgotten Landwas revealed, it stood out to fans thanks to its highly urban post-apocalyptic landscape;to save Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack, Kirby has to explore the overgrown remnants of an ancient city. Mouthful Mode allows players to actively interact with what that city’s occupants have left behind: cars, vending machines, light bulbs, traffic cones, and so on. Turning these recognizable objects into quirky power-ups that have major impacts onForgotten Land’s environment is a brilliant way to channel the game’s setting into a new mechanic.
However, Mouthful Mode’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Because it’s built around real objects from everyday life, there’s no guarantee that Kirby will see similar objects in his next adventure.Kirbygames take the titular protagonist to all kinds of colorful, fantastical worlds, and not all of them will have objects that work for Mouthful Mode. HAL can’t just make upobjects for Mouthful Modeeither; a core part of the mechanic’s concept is reusing normal objects in creative ways.Kirbysettings withoutForgotten Land’s everyday objects will have far fewer ways to integrate Mouthful Mode while retaining its main theme, so HAL may have little choice but to leave Mouthful Mode behind.
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Forgotten Land’s Exclusive Mechanic
It’d be a shame if Mouthful Mode doesn’t appear inKirbyagain afterForgotten Landbecause it’s so creative, but then again, it also wouldn’t be the end of the world.Kirby and the Forgotten Landwould be made more unique thanks to its exclusive way of engaging with Kirby’s surroundings. What’s more, plenty of previousKirbygames have featured exclusive mechanics, likeKirby: Planet Robobot’s mech suits. These features still retain huge value in their home games, even if they never appear again in the greaterKirbyfranchise.
Ultimately,Kirby and the Forgotten Landlooks like it’s meant to experiment with the basics ofKirby, rather than introduce new core concepts or focus on a highly specific gimmick. The 3D shift, Copy Ability upgrades, and Mouthful Mode are new looks at two centralKirbyconcepts, after all: platforming and Copy Abilities.Mouthful Mode is a nice twiston Kirby’s Copy Ability skills, if a strange one, and it’s a worthy addition toKirby and the Forgotten Land.Even if Mouthful Mode doesn’t persist throughout theKirbyseries, its new take onKirbymechanics could have an impact on all kinds of future games.
Kirby and the Forgotten Landreleases June 14, 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
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