DP Challenge Part 11/100 - Kirby's Epic Yarn

Game: Kirby's Epic Yarn


Ranking: 12/100


Score: 89.31%


Everyone's favourite compulsive eater Kirby finds himself sucked into Patch Land, where he has to help Prince Fluff find the magic yarn to stitch the land back together and stop the evil Yin-Yarn from trying to take over the world! Oh, and in the meantime, help make people's new flats look fabulous! Just... just go with it.

Kirby grabs a cute critter and mercilessly flays it alive. Squee!

Intro

The manual is designed to completely reflect the yarn and patchwork world of the game, which makes it tie in nicely. The game allows you to start a save file, but doesn't force you to. The introduction animation is suitably cute and the narration alone made me smile; the whole tone transported me back to being six and watching 'Mr Men' on TV with jam and toast. I first thought it somewhat unusual that the makers had chosen to get a British voice actor to narrate the game... then I noticed that Quilty Square had flats and not apartments. A quick bit of research showed that this game was deliberately localised, so the European version used British English and Paul Vaughan's vocal talents (curiously, most well-known for narrating the terrifying eighties' mockumentary 'Threads', which is about a nuclear attack on the UK - assuming it's the same gentleman). I happen to think this is a really awesome touch - I can only assume that whoever narrates the other versions embodies nostalgic kids' TV as well.

Although amusing to me, the narration and written style of the story strongly suggest that nobody involved in this game takes it remotely seriously. That in itself is very funny, but the premise is that a giant pink blob with an eating addiction sucks up a magic tomato and is turned into yarn by a magic sock. You have to really sell that, otherwise people are going to think the game is stupid before they even start. Also, the navigation options aren't really intuitive. You have a directional button to scroll through options, but you have to press '2' to agree. Fine, but pressing '1' makes you agree to the one you haven't highlighted (if there are two options). A bit weird. Oh, and why does Prince Fluff look so evil? Is this meant to be a plot twist?

You have an 'A' button that isn't doing anything. Why not just use that? Or at the very least, only have one select button and make the others do nothing. Also, with a story this daft, don't act ashamed of it. Play it straight. Humour will come from the ridiculous plot.

"Button it, Fangora!" Because that's its name, and its weak spot is a button. Geddit?

Getting Going

The game has the obligatory training level before you can start properly, but it's nice and short. This initial level does a good job of showing you the basics, then as the levels progress, you get variations on these which are not spelled out. It's nice to be able to play around and actually discover how you can interact with the environment - some enemies won't actually damage you, and you can use them to climb levels. Nothing tells you this, but the way the levels are set out make it apparent that you have to do this. For example, there's a beanstalk level where you cannot reach any platforms, but there are non-hazardous enemies continually respawning and floating up on balloons; it's not an enormous stretch to work out you can jump on them and ride them upwards.  The difficult curve is gentle, but definitely present - it strikes a nice balance of being a little challenging without being cheap. Kirby also has lots of cute transformations that completely change the gameplay style, but these are illustrated nicely so you get a feel for what you can do in these different forms.

A few things stand out as being a little unusual from your platform game standards - there isn't an obvious health bar, there doesn't appear to be a life system and you don’t have a specific restart point when you die. All of this is fine, except it isn't really made clear in the game. I found the only way to work out if I had infinite health or if I could die was to literally just walk into an enemy or a bottomless pit to see what would happen - and you don't get these sorts of hazards until later on in the game. It can be a little confusing first time around trying to figure out the boundaries, as there's nothing on the HUD to make it obvious what damage you can take.

It wouldn't hurt in the first training level to spell out the health system a little bit via a hint or making the 'bead' counter flash when you take damage. Actually having some hazards that can hurt you in that first level would help you to distinguish this earlier on.        

   

Oh no! It's a sad teddy bear! Watching a teddy bear cry is genuinely the worst thing in the world. Fortunately Kirby's a dab hand with a knitting needle...

Fun

The cuteness of each level will bring a smile to your face, along with the ingenuity of creating all the various hazards in wool form. The learning curve is gentle, but present. The earliest levels provide very little in the way of hazards; even the enemies only nudge you and make cute noises. You can die from being crushed or falling into bottomless pits, and later levels exploit this by putting these hazards in places where the environment forces you towards them, thus reducing your thinking time drastically and making things feel a bit worrying. The emphasis on collecting beads and treasures is enforced from as early on as the training stage, so you'll find yourself getting a little stressed if an enemy or spike hurts you and rushing around trying to pick up the jewel beads you've dropped. The game really taps into your inner magpie as you search for hidden routes to obtain anything shiny. There is a point to all of this kleptomaniacal behaviour, too; the more beads and treasures you collect, the more flats your landlord can build, the more properties you can decorate and the more friends you can move in. Friends will offer you the chance to play bonus levels where you can win extra decorating items. So, you have dual objectives - save Patch Land, and carve out a career as an interior designer.

I'm really not sure how I feel about this whole flat decorating sub-area of the game. It doesn't really fit with the rest of the gameplay style, yet the whole element of danger in each level is solely dependent upon it. For example, if I get hit in a level, I drop beads. I want to collect beads so I can obtain more fabrics and furnishings. If I don't obtain more fabrics and furnishings, I can't decorate my flat and... oh, wait - I don't care. However, I think you have to care, because I've a suspicion you can only unlock everything in the game by collecting all the available fabrics - which you can only do by collecting all the treasures to unlock the friends, and by collecting the beads in the post-boss levels. In other words, there's a stupid sub-element to this game that you're forced to endure to fully complete it.

The interior design sub-element isn't a deal-breaker, but I think less emphasis should be placed on it. Keep the idea of needing to collect a certain amount of beads or treasures to open up extra levels, because you want to make getting hurt and dying something that's relatively imperative to avoid. However, leave the flat decorating and housewarming parts as something separate that you can do if you fancy, but you aren't blocked from accessing game content if you don't.        

...And now he's happy! Yay! And everyone knows happy teddy bears give you lollipops made out of beads... This is so cute it makes my teeth hurt!

Visuals

The visuals are cute and original - everything looks so much like a patchwork felt world, right down to the bosses and even the water lines. True, it reminds me of the fabric softener adverts where everyone is made of cloth, but it looks great. It's like playing in a Fuzzy Felt world, and enough tricks are used with the lighting and bright colours to make characters who are made with a piece of yarn stand out against the background. The bosses have a distinct colour scheme and manage to look both cute and threatening. Even the enemies are adorable.

Sometimes, the stages in each world feel a bit thrown together, aesthetics wise. For example, Hot World contains a desert level and a lava level - fair enough. However, this world also features an ice cavern and a dinosaur jungle; at this point it feels as though the makers are slightly reaching to fit the theme of the world. I have some tiny niggles with Prince Fluff - to distinguish him from Kirby, he is made of blue wool and had a crown. He also has some very evil-looking eyebrows that make him look permanently angry and plotting; which doesn't match the character you're introduced to in the narrative.

All the stages look great and distinctive, and I think it might have paid to have a few extra worlds and separate out some of the levels into clearer themes. Oh, and sort Prince Fluffs eyebrows out!

Seriously, what's up with Prince Fluff? He looks like he's plotting to destroy the world. Or he's escaped from Tracey Island.

Intelligence

There is a good variety of enemy styles; some rush towards you, some aim projectiles at you, whereas some shoot aimlessly around and others will just walk into you and do no damage. You can attack armed enemies in such a way that you steal their projectiles, which gives you more power when faced with a stream of attackers. The bosses are very unique - one of them is an evil pumpkin magician who uses a one-armed bandit to select what conjuring trick it's going to attack you with, and you can only deal damage during one of them. You are definitely can't just defeat them by hitting them with your magic string.

There's such a wide variety of enemies, and most of them are in keeping with the world you are in. This is all brilliant, but the way the game is set up means that they really aren't a threat. They can't really kill you, and you'll just lose some beads.

Perhaps some enemies that really impeded you - for example, a creature that can gobble you up and spit you back out near the start of the level. I think this game needs a few enemies that can really mess with your mojo.

Immersion

The tremendously cute environment and the fact that you have lots of short levels (I don't think any of them took longer than five minutes) make it quite easy to keep on playing without noticing the time. There will be a lot of, 'Oh, just one more,' moments as you play this game. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore to obtain treasures, and sometimes if you do something wrong, you won't be able to reach them. For example, there is one section where you transform into a digger to carve a path into some candy floss, but you need to ensure you do so in such a way that you can jump up the remnants to a treasure. Get that wrong and you won't be able to reach it. Things like this make it more absorbing than a simple 'get to the goal' objective.

You do feel as though you're going through the motions a little, though. The game mostly manages to make each level suitably different, but there are sometimes when you're glancing at your watch hoping the end of the level will bring you the boss fight and, ultimately, a new world.

There are bonus levels you can access when you find friends to move into flats in Quilty Square; some of these solely involve a transformed form of Kirby. It might be nice to break up the level structure by having levels that are solely based on a unique transformation between more standard levels.

Every natural history museum in the world knows dinosaurs are awesome; they don't know that the only way to make dinosaurs even more awesome is to make them look like Fuzzy Felt.

Cameras

The camera simply follows Kirby around a 2D world and doesn’t lose track of him. There's really not a lot you can do wrong with this.

Having said that, this game has quite the emphasis on exploration, but very little ability to view the level beyond Kirby's character. This can make finding treasures a little frustrating.

I think that having the ability to look up and down would be rather helpful; neither of these actions cause Kirby to do anything which this would impede, especially if you only look up or down if the directional pad is held for more than a few seconds.

Controls

The controls are very simple - Wii Remote on its side, and you use the direction buttons and the '1' and '2' buttons for jumping or attacking. This is probably the best set up for using the Wii Remote in this way; it avoids using awkward to reach buttons. There are also stages that utilise the Wii Remote sensors, by allowing you to draw tracks directly on screen when Kirby transforms into a train, as well as in the flat decorating parts. These add some nice variation to the standard joypad gameplay.

The menu navigation does use the more awkward buttons, and it's a little fiddly. Also, when you switch between using the Wii Remote as a pointer and on its side, it does feel clunky. In the flat decorating bits, it's not so bad as you're in no hurry, but when you're actually on screen it feels a bit slow having to switch.

I'd consider just avoiding using the Wii Remote as a pointer in levels. for those certain transformations where you need to do so, always making them separate levels would make the transition feel less messy.

Danger! Danger! That swordfish critter could make you lose some of your beads! Then you'll have to pick them up again! Which will be a mild inconvenience!

Ideas

The fact that the game has been localised for the European release is a really nice touch and helps create a nostalgia-tinged environment. The whole artistic design of the world in very unique and consistent; every little thing is in keeping with this quilting and knitting theme. There is a definite replay value, too, as you can redo any level to hunt for items you might have missed, or to reach sections that might have led to you blocking yourself off from certain treasures. Level progression is very linear, and this allows the game to be set up in such a way that you are slowly introduced to new concepts without ever having them explained to you; the progression feels quite organic and it's relatively easy to grasp each new challenge in the game. The game also has a very unusual mix of platforming and… interior design. Yes, you read that right. Throughout the levels you can collect 'treasures' which have a nice little description about how fetching it would look in a flat, and when you return to Quilty Square, you get to decorate not only your own flat, but that of prospective neighbours, too. It's... odd. Cute, but odd. Lord Kirby and Prince Fluff appear to be considering going into business together.

The natural, organic feel of progression means there are no obvious help facilities. I would argue that this presents a bit of a problem for casual gamers who might need more in the way of cues; especially when the lack of permanent death and the cute little 'play house' areas lend themselves to attracting such players.  Also, we have to face facts – as much as it made me smile, the localisation for the European release is a localisation that will only mean something to UK players.

I would think an optional 'help' facility would be a useful thing to have - something that can be switched on for new or younger game players to give them a bit more handholding when required.       

Unzipping buildings. Because using doors is so passe.

Memory

The main thing that makes this game stand out is the unique art design and the attention to detail in ensuring every tiny little thing looks like it should have been dug out from your gran's quilting kit. Each level manages to bring something unique and interesting, making the many stages per world a different experience from the others. The touching tale of burgeoning friendship between Kirby and Prince Fluff is also very adorable (and also sad, considering Kirby presumably has to return to his own world at some point). In fact, one of the interesting aspects of this game is that there is such an emphasis on friendship, even in the gameplay; your side 'quests' concerning decorating the flats in Quilty Square all lead you to make new friends who you can play with. The sound effects and music really ramp up the cute factor; even the enemies make adorable noises when they fall over, and the nursery-rhyme theme that ends each level appears to be seared into my brain. Oh, and I am never going to forget the shift from cutesy platforming into some cutesy 'Home Makeover' show.

The level diversity isn't always perfect, and the fact that some of the levels in each world feel like they've been thrown in as an afterthought, art-wise, is a bit of a shame (Cool Caverns in Hot World? Really?). There's also no real threat; If Kirby falls down a bottomless pit and drops a load of beads, it's an irritation, rather than a worry for the player. I'm also quite conscious that the very people who this game seems geared towards - younger players and players who are not used to video gaming - would feel a little lost at sea at times. Also, without the sub-activity of flat decorating and playing with your friends, the game would actually be pretty short; the DP challenge suggests playing for two hours to get a feel for the game, but I’ve found you generally need to play around twice that time to get past the tutorial style levels. Four hours of gameplay in ‘Kirby’s Epic Yarn’ got me half-way through the game.

I think the game could stand to have a few more threatening hazards; I appreciate that not having a system of limited lives encourages exploration and putting yourself in potentially stupid situations to see what happens (I also recognise that it's a bit silly when you can constantly save the game anyway), but as it stands you never feel in any danger of anything. Even just creatures or objects that force you back to a particular point would give you a slightly frustrating consequence to messing up, and thus make you want to avoid doing so. I also think that a help option, or even just a page of hints you can access from the in game menu, would be beneficial for new game players so they don't feel thrown in at the deep end; the gameplay is very natural once you get the hang of it. The only other thing I'd like to see is more obvious definition of levels between worlds. I expect deserts and lava levels in Hot World; I'd expect Cool Caverns in somewhere called Ice World.

Kirby isn't just an adventurer; he's a killer interior designer. This dinosaur-meets-Queen's-guard look is totally on-trend. 

Overall, this is a simply charming game with great attention to detail, but will be quite a quick experience unless you're willing to play house and collect furniture.