#mouthful mode puzzles were very creative and fun to play. the upgraded ability designs are so good

[plutosoda]

sooo any thoughts on katfl youd be interested in sharing? you're being v normal about it i have observed !

a process has happened to me

[veinsfullofstars]

So, I got to experience Kirby & the Amazing Mirror recently, and, while I wouldn't call it an absolute favorite, there's a lot about it that I find fascinating - the non-linear Metroidvania-eqsue design of the levels (unique for the series), the subtle hints of worldbuilding in the background art (gorgeous, btw), the introduction of one of my current favorite characters in the series (*meme-points at DMK in the distance*), the music (but that’s a given), etc. In many ways, it feels quite standout from other games in the series up to that point… though, in many others, it feels like it could've used something more, y'know? There’s a sense of underutilization in places, a repetitiveness in all the backtracking and boss encounters, even an emptiness to this strange new world we’re exploring. I'm wondering what might've been done to make the game feel more full and vibrant, to give the player more of a sense of curiosity as they explore and run around.

Now, I’m not a game designer by any means, and I have no idea if any of what I’m about to propose would be practical in either execution or the time frame the original dev team had to work with, but… it’s just fun to conceptualize sometimes, y’know? We’re playing in the space, flexing those “what if” muscles. Besides, you never know what it might spark in someone who could make something like this a reality. And, there’s little I love more than inspiring creativity.

So, hear me out (and warning for full game spoilers for KatAM and minor spoilers for the Kirby series as a whole).

Progressive Copy Abilities: So, like I said, the world is very Metroidvania-inspired in structure, right? Lots of winding corridors, interconnected paths, and secret areas, with an emphasis on backtracking to reach new places. What if the game also had a kind of progressive upgrade system used in conjunction with that structure, where you search for and acquire “keys” that open up new areas and grant access to even more abilities? It could take the place of the Spray Paint collectable, giving it more purpose beyond just cosmetics and more incentive for the player to actually seek them out and use them in the overworld. We’ve already seen something like this before in the form of Deluxe Copy Abilities from KSS, where Kirby cannot gain abilities from enemies but must instead find them hidden throughout the levels, able to switch between them at will once acquired. In KatAM, this could make backtracking feel more interesting by giving the player something they’d want to return to, wondering what secrets might lie behind ability-locked zones (similar to K64, though without the worry of losing a certain ability and having to leave the level to get it back thanks to permanent upgrades). It could also get the player to utilize the four Kirbys in more creative ways throughout the world, giving each one a specific ability and using different combinations of them to solve puzzles, bypass barriers, or defeat bosses. You could even tie the reason for this change in mechanics into the worldbuilding. For example, maybe the magical properties of the Mirror World differ to those of Popstar, affecting or even nullifying Kirby’s own inherent abilities as a result (think KatFL’s Mouthful Mode, KCC’s Kirby Ball mode, or even the scrapped Kagero Mansion concept from KSS), or maybe it could be a more significant way to show how DMK separating Kirby into four has diminished his powers, effectively “Metroiding” him as it were.

Amateur Cartography: The maps in KatAM are very big and very simplistic. It can be hard to find one’s way around all those convoluted branches and segments to get to the next area or secret. The ability to take notes in some way would be a great help. Due to hardware limitations, it might not be as intuitive as, say, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass where you can actually write on the maps, but just the option to add things like colored pins or symbol stamps as little reminders to return to points of interest would be of great help (not to mention reduce time spent needlessly running around in circles trying to find one specific room).

Counterpart Characterization: I personally like the limited cutscenes and lack of dialogue in KatAM, as it allows story to be conveyed more though what the player observes and intuits rather than what they are told is occurring. That said, I wish we got to see more of that in character moments. Despite their prominence in the opening and ending narrations, both Shadow Kirby and Dark Meta Knight appear very rarely throughout the main bulk of the game outside of brief glimpses in the overworld or in late-game boss battles respectively, giving us very little to go on as to their personalities and their roles in the world they reside in. (Not to say there’s nothing there; we’ve seen SK’s timid nature in how he hides and runs from the Kirbys, and that - though mischievous - he still seems to want to help by the food items he drops; we’ve also seen DMK’s penchant for dishonor and subterfuge in disguising himself as Meta Knight. Just a little bit of animation flourish to convey so much about them, even if it’s only implied.) Now imagine if the player could stumble upon them more throughout their travels, perhaps glimpsing them between screen transitions or wandering about in inaccessible places (think the Batamon from KDL3 or the SA-X from Metroid Fusion). What if we observe them attending to their own tasks alongside our heroes - idling, searching, spying on the Kirbys, or even interacting with enemies or each other? What if DMK makes more attempts to hinder the Kirbys in the overworld, blocking pathways with Copy Ability locks or mini-bosses? What if SK does more to help the Kirbys the further into their journey they go (his own skepticism of the newcomers softening as he sees them actually trying to help)?

Worldbuilding: Like most worlds portrayed in Kirby games, the Mirror World is vast and diverse, not unlike the lighter world it reflects. There’s already a lot of very good subtle worldbuilding in the background art and level design of KatAM - like the strange labs under Moonlight Mansion, the sunken ship at the bottom of Olive Ocean, the decrepit basement under Carrot Castle, etc. -  but it all feels a bit… underdeveloped. Not very indicative of either what this world was like before Dark Mind’s invasion (claimed to be “peaceful” in the opening cutscene but not much else) or how his corruption is actually affecting it. Maybe I’m spoiled by newer games like KatFL going out of their way to flesh out their lore, but I just wish there were more thematic elements shared between locations for players to pick up on, especially given how connected everything is vis-à-vis the Mirror Doors. I want to know more about this place, how it differs from Popstar, how its denizens thrive and survive within it, even how SK and DMK - supposedly created by the Dimension Mirror itself not long after its corruption - view it in their roles as possibly opposing guardians.

Boss/Mini-Boss Battles: This is more of a personal gripe, but I’ve never been a huge fan of repeat boss encounters. I understand the reasons for them existing - work smarter, not harder being one of them, I imagine - but it’s hard to miss the way it diminishes the impact of the fight when it’s the same Mr. Frosty or Batafire in different locations. In my onion, a boss fight (even a mini one) should feel special, the build-up to reach them tense and exciting, the actual battle unique from others the player has faced before. It could be as simple as removing extra mini-bosses and condensing the area rather than padding the game out with too many. Or you could give the extra ones palette swaps designed to fit the areas they’re found in (possibly even changing their typing as well). Or you could even include an additional element or mechanic to the battle itself to keep things interesting (like how Master Hand becomes Master Hand & Crazy Hand in the second encounter). And, to add with the previous paragraph about worldbuilding, perhaps bosses could be made even more unique by having the mirror shards they guard corrupt them in some fashion, their sprite work visibly altered (a dark aura? a reflective sheen? pieces of mirror floating around them?), their attacks and expressions more aggressive until you defeat them.

Meta Knightmare Reflected: Now, this might be a bit of a stretch, but - having played through the Magolor Epilogue - I can’t help but wonder what a KatAM side-mode featuring Meta Knight might be like. Perhaps it could take place inside the shattered Dimension Mirror parallel to events of the main game (think Meta Knightmare from KNiDL or Meta Knightmare Returns from KPR, except this could feasibly occur within canon). It could feature shorter runs through similar/remixed levels from the main game (like in the final chase sequence where the Kirbys run through single rooms from different parts of the Mirror World to get to Dark Mind) with a higher difficulty and a more chaotic structure due to Dark Mind’s corruption and the Mirror’s broken state. Not only would this give him a little more agency and characterization while he’s in “fridged” mode, but this could also be a good way to explain how MK acquired Master when he was supposedly trapped, adding a goal alongside simply trying to find a way out of the Mirror. He could even encounter DMK while he’s in there for even more drama and characterization, the knight and his dark doppelgänger locked in a tense battle for his freedom and the safety of the Mirror World.

Phew, okay, I think that’s about all I’ve got. Did that all make sense? It came from a very stream-of-consciousness-y place, so I hope I managed to sort it into something at least a little coherent. Again, this might all be impractical or slapdash or against the point of the original game, but I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it and needed to get the thoughts out somewhere. I dunno, what do you guys think? Anything you would add to this list? Or anything you would change? Or do you like KatAM just fine as is? Feel free to discuss, I’d love to hear what you all have to say on the matter.