Game:

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)

Duration: 4:02

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36

Music used:
Devil Trigger (Valiant Hearts Cover version)- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFW2JUGxw2CxmSQUcZOkLYA

Art used:
Chain Bomb Kirby- Deviant art by Powerdrawer
Space Ranger Kirby- Redidit art posted by Imkirbyy
Sword Kirby- Pintrest art posted Diego Ebmildorou
Cutter Kirby- Official Character art from Nintendo (not sure who the specific artist is)

Yes, this game has legitimate combos, most of which are possible because of Sword Kirby’s action mechanics and the way enemy stagger states work in modern Kirby games. Basic enemies will typically die/pop in one or two hits. Certain enemies may require three or four hits max, but generally, enemies die quickly in these games; Kirby games are action platformers at the end of the day so basic enemies aren’t going to be equipped with sizable health bars if they aren’t a boss some sort.

The point in highlighting this, is that despite enemies going down in very few hits, they don’t disappear so as long as they’re stuck in a stagger animation. This hit state design sort of acts as the game’s combo system because as long as you can keep bringing on the pain and stagger lock enemies, their bodies will remain on the field to be combo-ed for lengthy periods of time, even if their health has long since depleted. If you drop your combo, the enemy will pop, signifying that there was too much time between the last hit you dished out, meaning it was no longer registered a combo happening. Sword Kirby remains the best copy ability to take full advantage of these mechanics, as 1. The ability has the most diverse move pool of the copy abilities; 2. You can smoothly link Sword Kirby’s moves together and chain fast-hitting attacks together to keep enemies constantly staggered; 3. And probably the most important to all this, Kirby spinning slash and charge-cancelled single and multi-slashes can lead to infinites, meaning you can essentially stun lock basic enemies forever. Once you master these tools and understand how to use your terrain, you can craft some pretty sick combos; it’s nuts the kind of cool stuff you can pull off.

As a runner-up, cutter Kirby is also capable of some cool set-play strategies that can lead into strong combos. The ability doesn’t have sword Kirby’s offensive fidelity, but its combo potential is respectable nevertheless. Anyway, enjoy this little combo mad I threw together. Like if you enjoyed, dislike if you didn’t, and subscribe to see me explore other video games with a similar level of nuance.

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