Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a 2022 action-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the thirteenth mainline installment in the Kirby series, second on the Switch, as well as the first game in the series in full 3D, excluding spin-offs. The player controls Kirby in an adventure through the titular forgotten land to rescue Waddle Dees kidnapped by the ferocious Beast Pack. To complete each stage to save the Waddle Dees, Kirby can use a wide range of copy abilities to help battle enemies and progress.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the first platform game in the series with full 3D gameplay, where the player must guide Kirby through various different stages to save the Waddle Dees at the end. As in most Kirby games, Kirby can jump and slide as well as inhale enemies and objects which he can either spit out like projectiles or swallow to gain a copy ability. Alongside returning copy abilities, this game introduced two new copy abilities in the form of Drill and Ranger, as well as a new “Mouthful Mode” where Kirby can swallow and control larger objects, such as cars and vending machines. 

Similar to Kirby Battle Royale and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a second player can join in and play as Bandana Waddle Dee, who uses a spear as his main form of attack. Copy Abilities can be upgraded at Waddle Dee’s Weapons Shop in Waddle Dee Town. These upgrades make the Copy Abilities stronger and give them more attacks for Kirby to use. To upgrade an ability, Kirby needs to have Rare Stones. These can be obtained by completing special Treasure Road levels found throughout the game.

Kirby also needs the Blueprint for the upgrade, which can be found in a level. After completing the game, Rare Stones can be used to power up a Copy Ability, increasing the amount of damage it can deal. One day on Planet Popstar, a dark vortex appears over Dream Land, sucking up everything on the planet in its path. Kirby is among those sucked into the vortex and finds himself in an abandoned civilization informally called the “new world,” where he discovers that the Waddle Dees from Dream Land are being kidnapped by the native wildlife, the Beast Pack.

Eventually, he finds the destroyed Waddle Dee Town and a chinchilla-like creature named Elfilin, who helped the Waddle Dees settle there. Upon being rescued from the Beast Pack, Elfilin explains to Kirby that he and the Waddle Dees attempted to fight back but were overwhelmed. Kirby offers to help Elfilin rescue the missing Waddle Dees, and the two set off together (along with Bandana Waddle Dee, who optionally accompanies Kirby).