Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn’t the kind of game I would typically pick up. I like Yoshi enough as a character, but I’m not a huge fan of 2D platformers — I haven’t even played Super Mario Bros. Wonder yet.
When I do play 2D platformers, I really enjoy fast-paced and/or collection-focused levels. So, when I got the chance to try out Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, I was wondering whether it would hold my attention. Spoiler alert: I enjoyed the game more than I expected to, but it took a while for the ball to get rolling for me.
My verdict on Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a solid way for young or casual gamers to dip their toe into platforming games. Rather than testing your fine motor skills with difficult jumps and obstacles, the levels are built on a sense of mystery and discovery. They are all bite-sized, and you can enter and exit them as you please. The graphics are gorgeous and emulate a hand-drawn style. And there are no time limits or health bars to worry about.
Low-stakes gameplay has its place (I've put 700 hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons). So, if you want to try a platforming game but find them to be too challenging or stressful, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a good choice.
But I’ve played several platformers before, and during Yoshi’s opening stages, I found the stakes to be so low that it made the game feel inconsequential. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is all about making discoveries, but it took me a while to discover anything that excited me.
Yes, the ducks play music when you bounce on them and the frogs blow bubbles. I discovered these facts as the game intended, but they didn’t ignite a feeling of joy within me — they felt like things I’d seen before in other video games.
I felt like I was looking for more depth that the game just didn’t have. I lingered in levels for ages looking for more to do. On several occasions, I thought for a moment that I’d found a secret, but I was actually just completing the level in the intended way because there was nothing else going on in the stages.
But the longer I played, the more my opinion started to change. When my Yoshi jumped on a creature’s back, causing it to freak out and run across the map at light speed with me still in tow, I cracked a smile. And I was disappointed at not finding anything extra in any of the levels — until I had Shy Guys telling me they needed me to find their hidden musical instruments so they could throw a dance party.
There is a lot of creativity to be found in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. The further you get in the game, the more the experience builds — since your actions in and knowledge of previous levels influence how you play going forward. Those rocks that always looked oh-so-breakable are even more fun to smash once you finally get the right tools. And I had a lot of fun using a bug-munching net to eat all the bees that were rude enough to sting me at the very beginning of the game.
I wish Yoshi could have grabbed me from the get-go rather than being a slow burner. But it was worth sticking around to see the surprises the game had to offer. Just be prepared for a more mellow experience.
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