It's no secret that HAL Laboratory is trying a lot of new things in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. The platforming series' shift to 3D is already dramatic after 30 years of sidescrolling play, but it's also shaking up Copy Abilities by introducing a shop where players can upgrade Kirby's skills. Neither of these is the strangest new feature of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, though. That credit most certainly goes to Mouthful Mode. When Kirby inhales certain oversized objects in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, he doesn't swallow them completely, but instead stretches his mouth over them and gains a new set of abilities.
Mouthful Mode is frankly hilarious, and it's rightly generating a ton of Kirby memes, but it's also a valuable sign of Kirby's growth. New ideas like Mouthful Mode will help HAL keep Kirby interesting for years to come. However, Mouthful Mode itself might not actually have a particularly bright future in the Kirby franchise. Because of how it interacts with the specific set pieces that populate Kirby and the Forgotten Land's environment, Mouthful Mode might be hard to use in other games. In order words, Mouthful Mode may be a star feature of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but not a core part of Kirby's future.
Mouthful Mode's Unique Context
Mouthful Mode is a valuable part of Kirby and the Forgotten Land in part because of how it makes use of the game's setting. From the moment Kirby and the Forgotten Land was revealed, it stood out to fans thanks to its highly urban post-apocalyptic landscape; to save Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack, Kirby has to explore the overgrown remnants of an ancient city. Mouthful Mode allows players to actively interact with what that city's occupants have left behind: cars, vending machines, light bulbs, traffic cones, and so on. Turning these recognizable objects into quirky power-ups that have major impacts on Forgotten Land's environment is a brilliant way to channel the game's setting into a new mechanic.
However, Mouthful Mode's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Because it's built around real objects from everyday life, there's no guarantee that Kirby will see similar objects in his next adventure. Kirby games take the titular protagonist to all kinds of colorful, fantastical worlds, and not all of them will have objects that work for Mouthful Mode. HAL can't just make up objects for Mouthful Mode either; a core part of the mechanic's concept is reusing normal objects in creative ways. Kirby settings without Forgotten Land's everyday objects will have far fewer ways to integrate Mouthful Mode while retaining its main theme, so HAL may have little choice but to leave Mouthful Mode behind.
Forgotten Land's Exclusive Mechanic
It'd be a shame if Mouthful Mode doesn't appear in Kirby again after Forgotten Land because it's so creative, but then again, it also wouldn't be the end of the world. Kirby and the Forgotten Land would be made more unique thanks to its exclusive way of engaging with Kirby's surroundings. What's more, plenty of previous Kirby games have featured exclusive mechanics, like Kirby: Planet Robobot's mech suits. These features still retain huge value in their home games, even if they never appear again in the greater Kirby franchise.
Ultimately, Kirby and the Forgotten Land looks like it's meant to experiment with the basics of Kirby, rather than introduce new core concepts or focus on a highly specific gimmick. The 3D shift, Copy Ability upgrades, and Mouthful Mode are new looks at two central Kirby concepts, after all: platforming and Copy Abilities. Mouthful Mode is a nice twist on Kirby's Copy Ability skills, if a strange one, and it's a worthy addition to Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Even if Mouthful Mode doesn't persist throughout the Kirby series, its new take on Kirby mechanics could have an impact on all kinds of future games.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases March 25, 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
