Nintendo is the great company most inclined to experiment with the limits of the medium. Trying things, experimenting, seeing what is possible to do within the video game without it ceasing to be one. Furthermore, in recent years they have decided to try to give a unique personality to each of their characters and franchises. Mario is platforms, Zelda is adventures, Donkey Kong is action, and now Yoshi seems to be exploration and experimentation. Or at least that is what their new and fascinating game suggests.
A game that is a natural encyclopedia
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the new game from Nintendo and offers us a truly unique experience: filling the pages of a book that has lost its memory, named Mr. E. But it is not just any book. It is a natural encyclopedia that contains a whole world inhabited by all kinds of adorable, terrible, and dangerous creatures that we must study and investigate to refill its pages. A feature increasingly.
How do you do that? Like any scientist would: by experimenting. Like Yoshi, being able to choose from eight of them —although the only thing that changes is their color—, we have to delve into each of the worlds and discover the different particularities of each of the little creatures we encounter. What happens if we eat them, if we stomp on them, if we throw them into the water or the mud, if we feed them apples or chilies, or if they interact with some of the other creatures.
The whole game is based on that basic principle. The empirical experience. We must ensure that we try to discover everything we can about each creature by exposing them to different situations and trying to find out how they behave and react to them. This will allow us to fill back the pages of Mr. E.
It seems childish, but it is not
This may make it seem like a children’s game or focused on a younger audience, but in reality, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a family game. Suitable for all audiences. Although children of a certain age will enjoy it, the game requires a methodical and constant approach that, while rewarding curiosity, remains purely scientific. It requires constant experimentation and trying to discover what is possible to do and what is not with each of the creatures given the elements of each of the scenarios. Or taking into account Yoshi’s own abilities.
Because this second aspect is also a key part of the matter. Although the base difficulty is practically nonexistent, as you can’t even die in most levels, there are intense spikes of difficulty in the game. If we try to achieve 100% on each page, the game will require us to platform and master the skills relatively intensely, as well as pay much more methodical attention to the environment. Additionally, after finishing the game, a whole series of activities will be unlocked that will challenge us in a way that the rest of the game did not.
This makes the game interesting and never feels easy or tedious. There is always something to do and always a challenge to overcome. Adding a constant layer of discovery and challenge.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is one of the great surprises of the year that, perhaps due to its childlike appearance and coming from Nintendo, will go unnoticed by many people. But it is a game as brilliant as it is adorable that will delight anyone looking for a game that goes beyond traditional video game design. If you ever dreamed of being like Darwin and cataloging creatures in a lost land based on their behavior and environment, this is your video game. Because there is no other like it.
