Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Review – Creative, Cozy, and Full of Charm

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Review

Nintendo’s beloved green dino is back for an all-new adventure in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. Yoshi has taken the lead in a variety of different platforming titles. It seems that Nintendo has never been shy about using Yoshi platformers to try something new and unique. Yoshi’s Woolly World featured an adventure with a yarn element. Yoshi’s Crafted World took on the world of cardboard cutouts. And now with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Yoshi takes on an adventure deep inside the pages of a storybook. For me, this was a book that I did not want to put down.

Yoshi and Mr. E

Mr. Encyclopedia, or Mr. E for short, is a tome containing information on many wondrous creatures in their various environments. Mr. E had found himself on Yoshi’s Island, where he informed the colourful brigade of dinosaurs that he needed help restoring the information in his book. He asked Yoshi to enter his pages and discover all the wonderful things each creature was capable of in their natural habitats. Unbeknownst to Yoshi, Bowser Jr. and Kamek had already found themselves within Mr. E, as they searched for one very specific creature.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a book that combines the traditional platforming of a Yoshi game with a huge dose of discovery. Each chapter in the game features a different environment. Each level is distinguished by the specific creature Yoshi is currently investigating. While the levels aren’t particularly big, they’re filled with all sorts of unique elements to utilize as you study the creatures. And, of course, with Bower Jr. and Kamek lurking in the book, you can be sure they’ll pop up from time to time.

Detective Dino

Studying creatures comes in so many different forms. You’ll feel a bit like a detective trying to deduce discoveries. Yoshi’s classic move set is often a good starting point. Yoshi can lick the creature, or maybe even eat it. Yoshi can try throwing an egg at it or bouncing on it. Maybe a whip of his tail or carrying the creature will cause a discovery.

Each time you discover something new, a little note will be scribbled on the level. Eventually, you’ll come across one particularly significant discovery about the creature, which will allow you to end that particular exploration. Depending on how much you discovered, you’ll earn stars which will allow you to unlock more chapters.

Creatures Galore

There are all sorts of creatures in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. And the overwhelming majority of them are unique to this new title. Of course, there are a few returning characters that fans will recognize, such as Shy Guy. In the Shy Guy level, you’ll be tasked with finding and catching each coloured Shy Guy. Once they’re caught and riding Yoshi, they’ll indicate a specific item they want you to find. Finding that item will show the Shy Guy using the item, like riding a skateboard-like creature or playing a flute. These all count as new discoveries.

One creature, Glubbit, blows bubbles, allowing Yoshi to jump on each bubble. Or Yoshi can carry the creature and as Yoshi runs, the bubbles bubble out. Another creature, Slugarang, is a slug shaped like a boomerang. Throw the Slugarang and it’ll come right back to you. Avoid catching Slugarang when it’s returning, it’ll start to speed up, causing a devastating attack. Utilizing these various ways of handling creatures will help lead to more discoveries. Often using one creatures ability on another creature is yet another way of learning something new. There is a significant amount of discoveries to find in this game.

Hand-Drawn and Gorgeous

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an absolutely gorgeous game. Within the chapters are these beautiful, hand-drawn creatures and environments. Everything is so bright and vibrant. There are many moments when you’ll see an incredible amount of creatures on the screen, or particularly large creatures, and it’s really quite awesome. The environments are also quite diverse, ranging from countryside’s to seaside’s and everything in-between. The soundtrack is playful and fun with music and sound sometimes playing a key role in discoveries. It feels like a Yoshi soundtrack, and, if I’m not mistaken, there were a few moments that sounded reminiscent of past Yoshi games. I imagine Nintendo will add the Yoshi and the Mysterious Book soundtrack to Nintendo Music soon after launch, and I anticipate I’ll be enjoying it while I’m working.

Like most Nintendo platformers, the controls are very tight. Yoshi handles much as he has for decades now. Hold the jump button and he’ll flutter along in the air. This time around, his flutter jump is limitless, allowing him to flutter from one side of the level to the other. Throwing eggs is another staple of the Yoshi franchise, but you’ll find you won’t be using them quite as you might have in the past.

Immortal Yoshi

Yoshi can not die. Fall into a bottomless pit, and you’ll just be teleported back to your last firm footing. Get bumped by an aggressive creature, and you’ll just stumble back. Even boss fights are forgiving. Just keep plugging away and eventually you’ll complete each level. The challenge comes in figuring out all the unique discoveries in the game.

Credits roll after completing Chapter 6, which was a bit odd. Without spoiling anything, I can assure you there is more to the game post-Chapter 6. In fact, one thing that really impressed me was that later chapters continued to provide some very fun and amusing moments. The game never really lets up. I continually wanted to press on to see what more the game has to offer. I played for at least 7 hours when I finally finished the game, and I still have some more discoveries to go back and discover after I finish whipping up this review.

Fantastic Cozy Platformer

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a fantastic cozy platformer. Finding new discoveries never gets old. I was worried the pace might be too tame for my liking, but this simply wasn’t the case. I kept wanting to play and discover more, even after putting in 7 hours into the title. Later chapters were very rewarding, and there are enough challenging moments to keep it from feeling boring. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the perfect addition to the Switch 2 library for gamers wanting something fresh and unique.

***Yoshi and the Mysterious Book review code was provided by the publisher.***