Kirby and the Forgotten Land differs from previous Kirby games in a variety of ways that all matter for their own reasons. It's only natural that HAL Laboratory tries to make each Kirby game different, but Kirby and the Forgotten Land tweaks fundamental aspects of the franchise in ways that seem like they could shape future Kirby games. HAL may say that future games won't necessarily be 3D, but other mechanics like Mouthful Mode and Copy Ability upgrades may still have a place in the next game. These aren't the only mechanics that deserve a second appearance; Waddle Dee Town should come back too.
Previous Kirby games have featured interactive hubs before, but Waddle Dee Town seems particularly special. Over the course of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, players rescue Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack, and these Waddle Dees help build up the hub area known as Waddle Dee Town, providing a variety of useful mechanics and fun minigames. Waddle Dee Town's usefulness and satisfying gradual build-up make a strong argument for including a similar interactive hub in a future game. As long as HAL expands on the city building mechanics, Waddle Dee Town could have a positive impact on many future Kirby games.
Building on Waddle Dee Town's Basics
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby has good reason to revisit Waddle Dee Town every time the player completes a level. Here, players can spend blueprints to get Copy Ability upgrades, but that's only one of the town's features. Once enough Waddle Dees have been rescued, Kirby can buy some useful items from various shops, including Maxim Tomatoes and stat-boosting snacks for the road. The minigames in town also serve as a good reprieve from Kirby and the Forgotten Land's usual gameplay. Whether players want to battle the game's various bosses in the Colosseum or take a break to go fishing, there's plenty for Kirby to do.
As great as Kirby and the Forgotten Land's hub is, there are plenty of ways that the next Kirby game can make it even better. For instance, it'd be nice if players had more control over the order in which they unlock the hub's amenities. Perhaps Kirby will have the power to choose a certain project to complete, and that project will complete automatically once he finds enough collectibles, prompting him to choose another project. More detailed mechanical rewards would be great too. Aside from merely healing items and general stat buffs, a new Kirby hub should sell items that provide various buffs at once, instantly provide a specific Copy Ability, and so on, introducing a little extra mechanical nuance.
Why Kirby May Reuse Waddle Dee Town
It's worth noting that Waddle Dee Town is far from the only hub area that Kirby can upgrade. For instance, in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, players can unlock certain areas in the Lor Starcutter once they have enough Energy Spheres. While the Starcutter doesn't have amenities as useful as Waddle Dee Town's shops, it does include a couple entertaining minigames that are worth earning. Waddle Dee Town suggests that HAL Laboratory is thinking about interactive hubs in Kirby again, meaning the future could hold another hub like it.
HAL would be wise to carry the idea forward into another game. City building or base building mechanics certainly don't seem like they'd be a core aspect of Kirby, but Kirby and the Forgotten Land has proven that assembling a community is actually the perfect side objective for a franchise as wholesome as Kirby. The next Kirby hub will definitely look different from Waddle Dee Town, since it'll have to play into the themes of the Kirby game in its own way, but HAL has the necessary skill to put a creative twist on Waddle Dee Town's concept. For now, fans will just have to keep hanging out with the Waddle Dees and wait to see what kind of hub HAL will make next.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is available now.
