LogFAQs > #966528960

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

I played this game specifically in preparation to watch this run - I was going to skip it at first but instead I ended up taking a couple days off to beat it, so here I am! I'm really glad I played this game. I think this might be my favorite Kirby game ever; it feels like the first time they've ever made a Kirby game on a Mario budget, if that makes sense. A top of the line, prestige game meant to flex Nintendo's muscles and not just a solidly made, mid-budget title meant to fill the back end of a console's lineup in its waning days. It's amazing that this is the first time they've ever made a mainline 3D Kirby game! Anyway, most of the gushing about this game is probably best reserved for "Para's top 50 games 2022-2023" or whatever.

Anyway, I was really excited about this run because it's a game I really enjoyed that's super fresh in my brain, and throughout I was noticing all sort of potential speed things that would be fun. I was excited to see how Fire and Tornado would be used for movement and I was excited to see how quickly bosses would be killed (I already noticed that no-copy Kirby insanely powerful and I was right about that). I didn't expect there to be out of bounds glitches though, so this run managed to surprise.

I did kind of frame this list as an objective one - the runs I would recommend to other people, rather than merely my favorites - but it is a favorites list, really. I'm definitely biased towards certain games that I really like, and while some runs of games I don't know will occasionally really grip me, this is definitely my favorite run of the marathon so far. I'm a sucker for long adventure games where there's planning and routing and payoff, and Kirby has a lot of that with deciding what powers to carry, which Waddle Dees to save, when to buy items, etc. And otherwise this was just such a fun, cozy showcase of a new game that's sure to be part of the speedrunning canon, and I'm sure it's gonna be a highlight for me.

- One of the first things I noticed playing this game was that slide kicking and jump canceling out of it was a lot faster than walking, so I did it a lot when I played. Happy to see that I was not wrong and the speedrun has to start with this until it gets Fire/Tornado.

- It's nice to see no-copy Kirby get to shine throughout this run. As fun as copy powers are, I've always felt it's a bit of a shame that Kirby's gimmick of inhaling and spitting things out gets sidelined so often, since it's a lot of fun itself, but because of the way this game works with giving you lots of stars to work with it's an insanely powerful ability. The mix of powers and inhaling that has to be used in this run is really awesome.

- This run does start a little slow, with the first 5-10 minutes or so being really straightforward and not involving a lot of routing decisions, but it gets more interesting later on. Almost no Waddle Dees are saved early on which leaves a lot of the level unexplored, but in later levels it's more interesting because they have to spend time routing Waddle Dees in which makes the levels more dynamic and interesting.

- I like that despite not being a super speed-heavy game there's a lot of movement tech. There's a lot of slight mistakes that get made into impressive backup strats to make cycles.

- It's hilarious how many things in this game I didn't know about until I watched this run. I didn't know you could take the invincibility candy all the way to Frosty in Alivel Mall. I didn't know you could guard with ice to kill bosses quickly. I didn't even know there was a stage select!

- "Please do not greet birds by flamethrowering them."

- Stuff you can do to save time in this game: Eating a single can of tuna, so that the game does not spend two seconds giving you a hint about eating cans of tuna.

- "For me, I love sleep. (Audience applauds) "Yeah, deep sleep is so good!" (Audience applauds louder)

- Everyone raves about Wondaria Remains and all the lore behind it and I agree, it's the best themed world with the coolest environments. Speaking of which, another speedrunning thing I love about this game is how often Kirby can jump on objects to get enough height to skip over things. Since this game is such a love letter to urban exploration in abandoned places, there's something very meta about being able to parkour off of objects in a way that's neither specifically intended nor disallowed.

- Tornado movement in this game is so satisfying, and I love how much it can skip by covering tons of horizontal distance.

- "I like the ring mouth because I have a very close friend who hates it and I'm desperate to get them a figurine of that for their birthday."

- "I love how Elfilin was willing to tell you about a blueprint you left behind, but a caged Waddle Dee? That's not a priority."

- Invasion at the House of Horrors is, indeed, the best level in the game, and I'm sad they blow by it so quickly (using the patented speedrunning technique of Not Using The Provided Light Source In A Dark Area Because You Know Where Everything Is Already).

- Swallowing all the swords against Clawroline, another thing I didn't know you could do. It's really funny that you have to turn auto-powers off, because otherwise you'd gain the Sword power here - turning that feature off completely changes the nature of this fight.

- A shame how many attempts the Blizzard Bridge skip takes, but I love when there's high stakes at a GDQ run - it makes it all the more exciting when someone does pull off a difficult trick first time, and I love the nervous feeling of not knowing if someone is going to succeed. Amazing that skip even works, it's such a bizarre glitch and there's no reason for there to even be collision up there.

- They, like me, note the raw intensity of the name THE WASTES WERE LIFE BEGAN. ("It's just a normal desert level, that's the weird part")

- "Are you telling me this game has OPTIMAL SLEEPING?" This is probably the first Kirby game where obtaining the Sleep power is optimal speedrunning tech! (I love that world 5 has a lot more Waddle Dee routing)

- I have never heard of tiger stripe ice cream, but orange ice cream with licorice swirls sounds absolutely terrible. Everyone else picked normal, sensible favorite ice cream flavors, and then my guy over here with the absolute most deranged thing I've ever heard.

- I don't know if I love or hate that this game has a technique called "instant suck."

- World 6 is just great in general, I made a lot of notes like 'wow' or 'cool' but I'm not gonna repeat them all. Unfortunate that he dropped a Waddle Dee mission late though and had to repeat a level to make it up - I wondered what would happen if he missed a Waddle Dee like this, and the answer when it's the last Waddle Dee of the run is, gotta redo a level!

- "I unlocked something? Oh, fishing!"

- Leongar skip was really cool! Actually got that one more-or-less first try.

- "This game has a fear rating just because of that boss I'm pretty sure." If you played the game, you know.

- "The Wastes Where Life Began" can't even begin to compare to the title of the boss theme, "Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit." I love how extra Kirby always is.

- For some reason, there's a sliding mechanic where Kirby slides down a hill and it's only ever used in a hard to find easter egg room. I wonder if it was planned to be used somewhere else at one point.

That was a long run to have out of the way! I guess it's natural that I'll have more stuff to talk about for a run like this.