The Nintendo Switch has been a huge success following the company's Wii U era, and a large part of that has been on the shoulders of franchises experimenting with their core formulas. Super Mario Odyssey returned to a 3D sandbox format with expansive movement and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild turned Hyrule into an open-world playground, marking two of the most notable examples. HAL Laboratory's Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the next adventure on the docket for a major Nintendo mascot, and it has a lot of the same potential.

Forgotten Land is the series' first true foray into 3D, going all the way with a traditional adventure as opposed to the 3D puzzle spin-off Kirby's Blowout Blast. Trailers leading up to Kirby and the Forgotten Land's March release have impressed fans, especially after 2018's Kirby Star Allies was a safe 2D platformer centering fanservice elements. This makes it similar to Game Freak's Pokemon franchise, which released multiple "safe" titles on the Switch before really breaking the mold with Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The success of Legends: Arceus follows a pattern set by other Nintendo IPs, which bodes well for Kirby's future.

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The Nintendo Switch As Franchise Kingmaker

Legends Arceus Glitch

Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild are just two examples of Nintendo franchises experimenting and becoming break-out successes on Switch - the latter inspiring numerous open-world games in the following years. For example, Fire Emblem: Three Houses leaned into life-sim elements more than its predecessors, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons was more about free expression with terraforming and outdoor decorating. Other titles that took more expected approaches like Luigi's Mansion 3 and Metroid Dread also become huge successes, outselling most games in their respective franchises.

The first few Pokemon games released on Switch have likewise been successful, but seem to get diminishing critical and audience receptions. Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! remade the Kanto region with Pokemon GO mechanics, but Sword and Shield were bog-standard adventures to kick off Generation 8. Sword and Shield are now the second-best selling Pokemon games, which is nothing to sneeze at, but audiences craved something more unique. The safe remakes Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl by ILCA did not deliver on that front, though they've also sold well since November 2021.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is that shake-up fans have been waiting for, taking the series in an open-world direction ala Breath of the Wild with a unique setting and various tweaks to the formula like real-time monster catching. This innovation has already paid dividends, with Pokemon Legends: Arceus becoming a massive sales success in just over a week.

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Kirby and the Forgotten Land's Time to Shine

kirby forgotten land fishing

Kirby and the Forgotten Land doesn't appear to have as many franchise-defining shifts as a game like Legends: Arceus, but taking the mascot into 3D with an evocative post-apocalyptic setting is a far cry from Kirby Star Allies. In the wake of games like Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Forgotten Land's unique hook may be just enough to crown it an achievement on Switch alongside various titles this generation.

The fact that Pokemon and Kirby are following a similar path with their Switch releases also suggests the pink puffball's next adventure has potential. Many are raving about a fresh, open-air Pokemon game, and they could do the same for a 3D Kirby adventure as its titular protagonist battles the Beast Pack. Even if it doesn't explode in popularity, Nintendo has multiple Kirby projects in development for this mascot's 30th anniversary, which means there's bound to be a lot to celebrate.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land launches March 25, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

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