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Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Kirby Star Allies... Friends... Helpers?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - What are these guys called?

If you have noticed a greater concentration of Kirby-based content in the past month(s) or so on KoopaTV than in the past, it's not a coincidence. We're considering Kirby Star Allies to be the next big Nintendo Switch game we'll collectively indulge in. We're totally impressed by it, and it's poised to break my long stint of supporting the Kirby series but not actually buying its games.

I have one problem with Kirby Star Allies so far, and it's a big one: what are the partners called? Are they Allies, as the game's title suggests? Are they Friends, as the name of Kirby's Friend Heart ability suggests? Or are they Helpers, as Kirby Super Star has previously called them?

Kirby Star Allies Friend Heart ability Nintendo Switch news
FRIENDS... in ALLIES. With the Friend Heart ability.
They proper-nouned Friends there, so... that could be it.


I'm telling you, this is really important. One of the best new modes from the remake of Kirby Super Star on the DS, Kirby Super Star Ultra, was Helper-to-Hero, and it got it so right. Note the name of the mode.

If Kirby Star Allies can't figure out what to call Kirby's partners, then they won't be able to make a name for a mode where you can play as one and go through an arena. If there's no name, there's no mode. If that mode doesn't exist, then Kirby Star Allies will be missing a huge opportunity as the game that is having partners make a grand and important return since Kirby Super Star.

From videos the Japanese site has released, they have a lot of solo adventuring where you are playing as a non-Kirby character. I hope that's a real thing and not just for demonstration. I want them to flesh this out!

Kirby Star Allies Broom Hatter Cleaning ChuChu copy ability
I didn't want any Valentine's Day themes in this article, but...
YOU CAN PLAY AS CHUCHU! (...Or Broom Hatter with ChuChu.) YAY!



This article doesn't appear to have much substance to it, but there is a lot if you think about it. In any case, Kirby Star Aliies is sure to continue to get attention at KoopaTV as writable things about it occur. Ludwig may or may not be jealous of Kirby's ability to make friends of his enemies so easily, since Ludwig only seems to be able to keep his enemies as his enemies, and then his friends start to hate him, too.


Kirby Star Allies has now been released, and it seems like the likely answer is that they are called Friends.
Ludwig wrote a review of Kirby Star Allies here. The terminology for partners isn't clear, but that's a small issue.

14 comments :

  1. I've played the past two Kirby titles on the 3ds and watched let-plays of all the other mainline games, so I am very interested in Star Allies. While they are not very difficult to finish, Kirby games are still quite enjoyable and full of delightful designs and catchy music. Also, I like that in recent games that there is extra lore revealed only when you pause the game during a boss fight. Still, the only real challenge comes when trying to survive the True Arena, which was brutal in the last entry. Anyway, if I had to guess, I would say that the partners are called Friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wot kind of game mode names would you make if they're called Friends?

      Delete
  2. It's possible that "Friends" could be a friendly tone, and "Allies" would be a professional one.

    Similar to how I can call my father "Papa", but when writing down some documents, I will refer to him as "Father".

    ReplyDelete

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