Nintendo excels at creating games that offer a high skill ceiling while remaining accessible. Their greatest productions are simple enough for a kid to play comfortably, yet complex enough to hold the attention of dedicated fans for years after the initial release. Such a multi-layered, encompassing design requires the kind of masterful touch that few can pull off, and it separates Nintendo from the crowd. Unfortunately, it seems that sometimes even they miss the mark. The company’s newest game, “Yoshi’s Crafted World,” charming though it may be, is far too simple to stand out among the games of the Nintendo renaissance in which it resides.
The latest Yoshi game is accessible and simple to play, but it doesn’t strike the balance that its predecessors did. “Yoshi’s Island” is known not only as an adorable, happy adventure, but also as one of the greatest platformers of its generation. “Crafted World” seems more interested in replicating the aesthetic successes of “Yoshi’s Island,” while forgetting the deep gameplay which made it a classic. A number of concessions have been made to reduce the game’s difficulty, removing almost any consequence from the equation.
Yoshi’s signature flutter jump, for example, can be repeatedly used as many times as desired; only a slight drop in altitude occurs after each jump. By tapping the button repeatedly, most large gaps in the game can be crossed thoughtlessly, trivializing much of the platforming. Even failing a jump doesn’t result in a game over. A few hearts are taken from a generous pool, and the player is flown back up to the last platform they were on, letting them have a second go right away. Much like 2010’s “Kirby’s Epic Yarn,” by the same team, it is a game where failing is more difficult than succeeding.
Instead of challenging the player with platforming, then, “Yoshi’s Crafted World” presents itself like a scavenger hunt. Each level is full of hidden objects, cleverly disguised among the set dressing. Getting from point A to point B requires little to no thought, but “Yoshi’s Crafted World” trains players to go slow, take it all in, and turn over every stone. Because this forces players to look closely at the environments, it is the game’s saving grace.
The environments in the game are downright gorgeous. As the title implies, everything is crafted. Cardboard roads are lined with paper bushes, cut-out clouds dangle above on pieces of twine, paper plates painted green make hills and mountains, and everything appears in tilt shift as though part of a diorama presented on film. There is an infectiously joyful energy — one would be hard-pressed to make it all the way through Yoshi’s latest game without smiling.
With do-it-yourself crafts as the unifying theme, the creators are free to explore all kinds of clashing types of areas and aesthetics while remaining stylistically consistent. Yoshi traverses a jungle, infiltrates a Japanese castle, rides a train through the wild-west and even flies into space.
“Yoshi’s Crafted World” does a marvelous job making the most of these environments. The imaginative set-pieces, and the ways the player is able to push and prod them, remain constantly surprising. Making my way through the game’s levels was like being inside of a pop-up book. At times it captured the child-like wonder of “Yoshi’s Island.”
But, “Yoshi’s Island” wasn’t just an aesthetic feast, it was a fun, sometimes challenging game. The childlike wonder it instills isn’t just in the pictures and music, it’s in the experience of exploring and overcoming. It’s the kind of game people will replay countless times. “Yoshi’s Crafted World,” in contrast, never dares to provide any meaningful challenge until the endgame, and by then it’s too late. It relies almost entirely on its art and loses its way in the process.
It would be unfair to compare the latest Yoshi game to franchise-redefining epics like “Breath of the Wild” or “Mario Odyssey,” but it’s hard to deny that in the age of the Switch, where bold and unconventional games are changing the Nintendo mold, the latest Yoshi game feels too safe and too simple.
The lovingly crafted visuals of “Yoshi’s Crafted World” are a wonder, and that alone is worth the time. Without gameplay one can really dig in to, players may not come back for more after the novelty fades.
