{"id":467,"date":"2018-03-23T00:52:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T04:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=467"},"modified":"2018-03-23T00:52:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T04:52:42","slug":"game-ramblings-68-kirby-star-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=467","title":{"rendered":"Game Ramblings #68 &#8211; Kirby Star Allies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kirby.nintendo.com\/star-allies\/?gclid=CJHS2LLKgdoCFc7rDQod7NoG9A&amp;gclsrc=ds\">More Info from Nintendo<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Genre<\/strong>: Platformer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform<\/strong>: Switch<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>TL;DR<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Really low difficulty continues to be the weak point of the series<\/li>\n<li>Solid amount of content, lots of hidden secrets, really good end boss sequence<\/li>\n<li>AI characters are surprisingly competent as co-op replacement; combinations of powers are a compelling addition to the Kirby formula<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It&#8217;s been kind of the standard fare for the Kirby series over the last 10 years or so that the games end up being really solid, have one neat twist to their mechanics to stay fresh, but end up being really too easy.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Planet Robobot\u00a0<\/em>gained a mech suit to do occasional wrecking of things.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Triple Deluxe\u00a0<\/em>brought in a lot of use of multiple planes of depth.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Epic Yarn<\/em> had the obvious visual style and strong environmental manipulation.\u00a0 By and large they have all been really good games that leaned on just being purely fun, rather than difficult.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Star Allies<\/em> doesn&#8217;t change that at all, this time playing into a multiple character theme where you can recruit enemies to help you out, as well as combine their powers to solve puzzles.\u00a0 It&#8217;s definitely an easy game, but it didn&#8217;t end up hampering the experience in a negative way.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_469\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-469\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-469\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_visuals.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-469\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This game is flat out gorgeous right form the start.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I know this is a weird place to start rambles, but holy hell this game is beautiful to a point that really caught me off guard.\u00a0 While the Kirby series has always held its own pretty well, and in some cases had some unique visual treatments, I was not expecting this one to impress me so much.\u00a0 That screenshot above is the spawning spot for the first level in the game, and it continues to impress throughout.\u00a0 There&#8217;s a large variety in visual themes from deserts to forests to fields and later on right into space.\u00a0 Each level is distinct from the other, so as a player I never grew bored of the areas I was going through.\u00a0 For a game built around keeping relatively similar gameplay throughout, this was a huge help to not feeling burned out on the experience.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_470\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-470\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-470\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_combo.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-470\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Combos are the new thing in the game, and they end up working out really well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But enough about that, let&#8217;s talk about what this game brought to the series; combination powers and multi-character gameplay, and how they feed into each other.<\/p>\n<p>This game is 100% a four-character experience, and it doesn&#8217;t matter if that&#8217;s AI or players controlling it.\u00a0 Anyone can drop in and take over a party member, but the AI are competent on their own to help you out.\u00a0 However, the great part of the whole system is that everyone but player 1 is controlling an enemy archetype.\u00a0 Combined with Kirby&#8217;s continued ability to copy powers, this gives the party access to 4 core powers at once.\u00a0 This is backed by the fact that AI\u00a0attack when needed and use their powers to clear puzzles, allowing the player to focus on simply exploring and finding secrets in most cases, rather than finessing the AI into precise spots.<\/p>\n<p>The good thing that comes out of this system is that you can also combine powers.\u00a0 The screenshot above is one of them (rock power +ice power), and this combination mechanic is used in a ton of ways.\u00a0 Weapon-based powers can all gain elements to do new things.\u00a0 The ninja power can gain wind to throw air columns.\u00a0 Swords can gain fire to burn everything it touches.\u00a0 The rock gaining ice allows it to slide along killing enemies.\u00a0 However, this is also backed by some clever environmental mechanics.\u00a0 The ice power can freeze waterfalls.\u00a0 The bug power allows you to throw characters through breakable walls.<\/p>\n<p>The end result of all of this is that the game&#8217;s difficulty can be low without negatively impacting the game.\u00a0 The challenge becomes the puzzle solving involved in using your party to find secrets in the environment, whether it be switches to open secret levels or puzzle pieces to collect for pictures.\u00a0 It&#8217;s by far the most puzzle solving I&#8217;ve done in a Kirby game, and it makes for a really satisfying loop in trying to find all the little secrets in each level.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_471\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-471\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-471\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_boss.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-471\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classic bosses return, but that shouldn&#8217;t be a surprise at this point.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In no surprise though, this game also doesn&#8217;t steer away from some classic expectations of the series.\u00a0 Standard bosses return, like the Whispy Woods tree or Kracko.\u00a0 You still romp through Dream Land for a while.\u00a0 The majority of the enemies that are there are still powers from past games.\u00a0 However, it never feels dull.\u00a0 It reuses what is expected of the series in new ways, either through new mechanics added to the bosses, or clever new uses for the absorbed powers.\u00a0 It gives the right blend of nostalgia and new, which has been a hallmark of the series for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Admittedly though, I did mostly play this game as a sort of no-thought gap game.\u00a0 I knew there were games coming out soon that I wanted to play (<em>looking at you Ni no Kuni 2<\/em>), so I didn&#8217;t want to play something long.\u00a0 This was a quick hitter, easily finishable in 6-8 hours.\u00a0 It&#8217;s also not difficult, so the level of frustration is low.\u00a0 However, it&#8217;s just flat out fun.\u00a0 It doesn&#8217;t take itself too seriously, once again brings some new mechanics into the series, but still plays enough of the old beats to be familiar.\u00a0 While it&#8217;s hardly going to be a game of the year candidate, it&#8217;s pretty easy to recommend taking a look at this one at the very least.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_website.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-468\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kirby_website.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"32\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Also, as mentioned in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=79\">Kirby: Planet Robobot ramblings<\/a>, Nintendo has once again put in an updated little adorable Kirby icon for their website.\u00a0 Nice touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More Info from Nintendo Genre: Platformer Platform: Switch TL;DR Really low difficulty continues to be the weak point of the series Solid amount of content, lots of hidden secrets, really good end boss sequence AI characters are surprisingly competent as co-op replacement; combinations of powers are a compelling addition to the Kirby formula It&#8217;s been &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=467\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Game Ramblings #68 &#8211; Kirby Star Allies&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,83],"tags":[54,86,19,84],"class_list":["post-467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-platformer","category-switch","tag-kirby","tag-nintendo","tag-platformer","tag-switch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=467"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":473,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467\/revisions\/473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}