What's Your Favorite Kirby Ability?

[Tellis]

I think another way to put what Kat is saying is that, due to the dynamic camera and the fact that it has to be up close to Kirby to be effective at showing itself off, the viewpoint of the game winds up feeling... claustrophobic? At least for some people, me included.

Compared to other Kirby games that give you a wide field of view, you honestly can't see much around you, especially when the camera is pointed more behind you than in front of you (like it is in the very beginning of the first stage), which can get frustrating when you have an urge to see what's ahead. I think that, plus being able to see a detailed 3D background but not being able to travel beyond the path laid out for you makes it seems "railroaded" where previous Kirby games didn't. Even other 3D platformers (all the examples you listed off) do a fair job of still making the segment of the world you are traversing feel like the most important parts of it, either by objects only aligning to your plane or simply taking place on a thin character-wide strip of ground, whereas Crystal Shards often has these sprawling visible areas with detailed background objects. The only thing to really denote where stuff was going was the dirt path at your feet, which only serves to give the feeling that you should be able to explore more but can't.

I'm not saying people can't enjoy the game (I really wish the ability mixing thing would make a comeback, it was super fun), I'm just saying this is still valid criticism, even if it doesn't affect everyone playing hte game.

Oh, and my favorite ability is Sword. Always has been, always will be.