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When it comes to Nintendo titles, Yoshi is something of a blind spot for me. While I’ve dabbled in the Yoshi’s Island games, the more recent entries have always managed to elude me. From the outside looking in, Yoshi has always seemed like something of a hotbed for experimentation for Nintendo, both in art style and gameplay. Woolly World and Crafted World, in particular, continue to maintain somewhat unique visual identities amongst Nintendo’s catalogue.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book feels much the same in its eagerness to toy with a new gameplay loop. Taking Nintendo’s penchant for experimenting with different ideas and taking them to their logical extremes before throwing them all away for something new in the next level. The end result is an experience that I’m sure will find an audience that adores it – those who can’t stop pulling at the threads of discovery that this game so desperately wants you to unravel – but I also can’t shake the feeling that those looking for something more structured will find The Mysterious Book somewhat underwhelming.
If there’s one department that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is entirely uninterested in experimenting with, it’s narrative. One day, an enigmatic encyclopedia aptly named Mr. E falls from the sky onto the island where Yoshis reside. Having forgotten the contents of his very own pages, Mr. E asks the Yoshis to jump into his pages and catalogue the numerous creatures and critters throughout his chapters. It’s a simple, no-nonsense setup, that doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t.
There’s also a bit of a subplot interwoven with the main narrative that follows Bowser Jr. and Kamek, who are also perusing Mr. E’s pages in the hopes of finding a mythical creature called the Bewilder Bird. It all serves as a nice backdrop for the gameplay but never goes anything beyond that. I do think the whole experience has a nice storytelling vibe, all of which is brought together by some thoughtful user interface design in its menus, all of which are done through Mr. E.
Each of Mr. E’s chapters pertains to a unique biome or environment that’s home to its own little ecosystem of flora and fauna. Everything from plants, birds, bugs, fish, and more is accounted for here, each with their own interactions with one another and the levels they’re found within. Where The Mysterious Book differs from other platformers, though, is the way in which these levels are structured.
Each is posed as a sort of research mission for whichever creature you inspected on Mr. E’s pages. You’re dropped into a sandbox-style level, each of which varies wildly in overall size, scope, and objective. These objectives aren’t initially known to you, and you’re implored to experiment with the level’s creature to find out whatever it is you need to do. You’ll almost always encounter the different things that each creature can do, which automatically get catalogued within Mr. E’s pages.
The Crayzee Dayzee, for example, will make flowers bloom when riding on a Yoshi’s back through certain foliage. They become dazed when hit by an egg, help apples grow, and even change colour under certain circumstances. Uncovering the different capabilities of each creature will reward you with Stars, unlocking new chapters for you to explore. Once you conclude a level, you can name the creature it revolves around, or just roll with Mr. E’s suggestion, and you’ll often see the same creatures in future levels.
The overall flow is great on paper and is often executed remarkably well. It combines the emergent elements of Nintendo’s recent successes with the idea of experimenting with new mechanics in each level before moving on to something new. It’s a good bit of fun to enter a new level as you try every possible interaction to see how a creature will react and if it impacts the environment.
Unfortunately, not all levels are created equal. Some are criminally short and feel that they never really have room to breathe unless you really want to press every button and twist every nob. Suffice to say, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an experience where the more you put in, the more you get out. It isn’t interested in guiding you through a curated spectacle of 2D platforming, instead dropping you into a sandbox where you find the fun yourself. Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it’s over too fast.
The Mysterious Book’s gameplay loop is undoubtedly strongest in its final few chapters, where its most inspired creatures and level designs are hiding. Interactivity between creatures crosses over intuitively, primary goals are generally more complex, and nabbing all the collectables will often have you scratching your head and thinking outside the box.
Speaking of which, each level has several iconic Smiley Flowers to collect. These can be spent on Exploration Tools to aid you in future levels or even return visits to prior ones if you’re looking for 100% completion. There are a fair few of these, but each must be equipped and placed around the screen, letting you customise your own little user interface elements. It all leans into that idea of exploration and discovery that The Mysterious Book is predicated upon.
It’s also worth mentioning that there’s zero semblance of difficulty or challenge throughout the main story. Enemies can’t do much more than knock you back; falling down a bottomless pit will instantly respawn you, and boss fights (which are few and far between) are over before they even get started. This is clearly an intentional design choice and fits with the experience, but if you like your platformers to challenge you at all, The Mysterious Book doesn’t have much to offer.
This is all wrapped up in a rather magnificent storybook-style presentation. Levels are lovingly created and brought to life by what look like hand-drawn sketches. One nice touch is that most of the animations are stop-motion, which leaves a lasting impression when contrasted against other elements that are animated more traditionally. It all looks excellent and plays smoothly, with your exploration scored by a cosy and comfortable soundtrack.
While I enjoyed Yoshi and the Mysterious Book overall, I know there’ll be people who’ll love it far more than I do, and there’ll also be people who’ll love it far less. Its willingness to experiment with all these new ideas is admirable, especially when bundled with its uniquely sublime presentation. At the same time, it falls a bit short of being an experience I’d recommend to every Switch 2 owner. If The Mysterious Book sounds like your jam, I implore you to check it out, because I’m more than sure you’ll find a lot to gush over.
