tearing up the City in Kirby Air Riders
Hi! It's been a while. I haven't really made a post here in a bit... Mainly because it has just been the same old same old! This weekend, however...
For those not aware I have been incredibly excited for Kirby Air Riders since its announcement, and this weekend I've been able to play it via an online demo. And oh boy has it been a treat. After the first time slot, which I woke up at 08:00 for, I wanted to write a log post about my thoughts, but... I didn't have that much to write down?
The reason behind this is simple: so much about the game is just perfect. I have enjoyed the demo thoroughly. At first I found it a little hard to control, just because it's so much faster than the original. But I'm used to it, and all the new Ride Machines, now. And now that I know what I'm doing it is nothing but pure fun.
City Trial is obviously the main attraction of the demo, which is why you can play it online. And, the 16 player limit did not disappoint. It is so much crazier. I like to describe it as "original City Trial but with like double the items and zero of the time to fuck about" because it just feels like there's constantly something happening. There's all sorts of events, but even inbetween those there's other Riders that you'll buump into. This isn't that big of a deal most of the time, however I have learned that playing aggressibvely increases the fun of the mode significantly. There's so many people to chase down and attack to reap power-up patches from that offense is rewarded a lot more than in the original where the mere 4 players were quite spread out at all times.
Air Ride is very fun also though. I particularly like Mount Amberfalls. It's just such a picturesque track. The graphics are just really unnecessarily good. and so is the music, of course. And, well, now that I've confirmed the game is fun, I do have two small other things I have noticed. One is good, one is a little bad.
The first is that in this demo the balance of Ride Machines feels a little off. There are some Ride Machines that just don't feel worth your time ever, like the now gutted Shadow Star. It's a small problem, but I've mainly been gravitating towards Wheelie Scooter, Paper Star and Battle Chariot in particular. They just feel the best, and all the others are just don't quite feel as good. This obviously can and will be fixed in the main game though. We don't have the full selection of Ride Machines, or Riders, available yet. So I'd imagine the reintroduction of old machines like the Slick Star and Swerve Star, and addition of new Ride Machines, into the mix will even things out a little. We'll see.
However, my last mainc omment is a very good one. The best thing this game does is it takes systmems that existed in the original and makes them entirely explicit. The Star Slide and the boost from defeating enemies did exist in the original game, there was just no indicator for them. Now they are made very clear to beginners, because they're important mechanics! By the way, the lesson mode and tutorial videos are very good.
Well, that's most of my thoughts. I'm enjoying this demo so much. I cannot wait for the full game. I just know it is going to be amazing. Being able to have such confidence in a game before it releases is so rare these days. It's refreshing to know that it was made with love and care and will be worth my money and time.