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The Cutest Damn Thing You've Ever Seen
Kirby's Epic Yarn is one of the cutest damn games I've ever seen, period. On top of that, there is actually a really good game there, if you don't mind non-existent difficulty.
Kirby's Epic Yarn follows the story of Nintendo's famous pink puff-ball Kirby after he gets sucked into the magical world of Patch Land, where everything is made of thread, including Kirby and the various creatures he encounters. This theme makes for some interesting mechanics ranging from Kirby’s thread-whip used to manipulate objects, to the enemies themselves, which unravel into loose yarn instead of dying. The yarn whip more than makes up for Kirby's inability to eat and spit out his enemies in Patch Land.
There really is no word to describe this game but “adorable.” Honestly, if this games design doesn't touch your heart, then you don't have one. Everything about it, from the fabric and thread theme to the music and the sound effects is designed to play your heart strings like a fiddle. The fabric-based world is beautifully realized as well, from zippers and seams that reveal new areas when pulled to buildings that are actually pockets, leaving Kirby to walk around inside them leaving a little moving bulge on the surface. The theme carries over to the enemies, from thread versions of famous Kirby characters to bosses such as a giant squid with a knit cap that has to be unraveled.
There is a problem with this game however, and it's a problem with most of the Kirby games. Epic Yarn is ridiculously easy. Its easy to the point where it is literally impossible to die. If Kirby falls into a pit he is merely rescued and sent back to the nearest solid platform while losing some of his beads. The closest you can come to losing in Kirby is to finish a level without getting any medals. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s played any of the Kirby games before; they're all pretty much cake-walks. This game, however, takes that to a whole new level.
Despite the low difficulty, there is a very solid platformer at the heart of this game. Kirby twists and manipulates the world around him and his own body to get from one area to another. Everything you would expect from a good 2D platformer is here: wind and gravity mechanics, moving platform sequences, and Castlevania-style whip swinging.
Epic Yarn's low difficulty and super-cute design seem to convey the message that it is for Nintendo's new casual audience, and not for the hardcore. This game has “casual platformer” written all over it. Still, its a solid platformer that’s worth playing, if you can just get past the total absence of challenge.
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System: |
Nintendo Wii
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| Genre: |
2D Platformer
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| Experience: |
Finished the Game
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