For months after its announcementKirby and the Forgotten Landwas largely a mystery, but Nintendo has now unveiled a lot more details.Kirbyfans know the game will offer new Copy Abilities like Drill and Ranger alongside plenty of Kirby’s classic powers. The game will offer two-person multiplayer using Bandana Waddle Dee, and Waddle Dee Town will serve as a hub with stores and minigames. However, whileKirby and the Forgotten Land’s Beast Pack will serve as Kirby’s enemies, it’s unclear who the game’s main antagonist will be.
Many fans suspect that Kirby’s fox-like companion Elfilin is a traitor in the making, but it’s possible that the Beast Pack has a distant leader who will threaten him. There could be a third, unconnected force responsible for laying waste to the game’s lost civilization, too. Nevertheless, signs suggest the game’s villain could be one of the franchise’s most frightening.Kirby and the Forgotten Landhas a PEGI 7 rating, partially for “Fear,” a label which the European video game content rating board has never given aKirbygame. Whoeverthe true threat awaiting Kirbymay be, they could set a new standard for the franchise’s long line of horrific foes.
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Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s Hidden Monster
Every longtimeKirbyfan knows the franchise has a habit of being cute and friendly up until the very end, when many of its true antagonists transform or unveil true forms. Zero-Two, the final boss ofKirby 64: The CrystalShards,is known for its resemblance to an angel crying blood, while the traitorous Marx’s boss forms are infamously unsettling. PEGI was invented after these bosses' appearances, but it notably passed on giving Fear ratings to otherKirbygames with creepy final bosses such as Magolor Soul fromKirby’s Return to Dream Land.
Considering how many of these adversaries either trick Kirby into helping them or hide their influence until the end of the game, it’s no surprise that fans are already speculatingElfilin will betray Kirby in the end. Once the Beast Pack is defeated, it’s possible Elfilin will somehow complete a transformation that reveals his true role inKirby and the Forgotten Land’s plot. Trailers showing a doll resembling Elfilin in one of the Beast Pack’s cages suggests there’s more to Elfilin than meets the eye, and there could be a gruesome monster in the underneath.
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Yet Elfilin is only one possibility.Kirby’s antagonists who draw on horror show up for all kinds of reasons, butKirby and the Forgotten Land’s post-apocalyptic mapmeans the game could offer something new. The environment might already hint toward some cosmic horror responsible for destroying a lost civilization, eventually leading Kirby to defeat that being before it lays waste to the world a second time. The PEGI rating makes it clear thatKirby and the Forgotten Landhas something scary in store, but it’s hard to say for sure where that frightening threat will come from.
Kirby’s Frights Define the Franchise
Although it may seem strange to think of aKirbygame earning a Fear label, it seems like an inevitable conclusion for the franchise’s brand. After decades of unsettling antagonists, it makes sense that a newKirbygame would finally receive notes about its frightening elements. WhileKirby and the Forgotten Land’s final antagonist may not be true horror game material, HAL Laboratory could still whip up a villain that seems too scary for such a lighthearted adventure. It’s great to see that, after all these years,Kirbystill hasn’t abandoned the dark elementsthat make its otherwise bright world so interesting.
Kirby and the Forgotten Landreleases on July 07, 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
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