HAL Laboratory states there’s “no clear timeline” for the Kirby series
The story takes a backseat to the action in the Kirby series.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, HAL Laboratory’s Shinya Kumazaki states the Kirby series has, “no clear timeline.”
According to HAL Laboratory’s general director, the main reason why Kirby’s stories have no particular order is to avoid constraint. Kumazaki adds that the creative freedom allows the developers to focus on optimizing gameplay rather than maintaining continuity. Although there’s no solid story structure among the franchise, new installments do loosely inherit major moments from previous entries.
For example, we use story elements that are effective at making each new game better, such as when the character Magolor repented his past actions and moved to Dream Land. or when Meta Knight got his revenge on Kirby.
Shinya Kumazaki
Even though the team does work to implement some of these major moments, the focus remains on the core gameplay. Kumazaki explains that when future games inherit story elements, the team first prepares detailed settings to incorporate them into the gameplay. Therefore, unlike The Legend of Zelda, another popular Nintendo property, Kirby only loosely follows previous events.
This is because, if future installments are going to inherit these story elements, we need to first prepare detailed settings for each installment. However, the main focus of the Kirby series is action and gameplay. So, we prepare the setting required to make these elements more appealing in each game.
Shinya Kumazaki
A new Kirby adventure is available now!
On March 25, Kirby and the Forgotten Land released for Nintendo Switch to mostly positive reviews. The newest 3D platformer in the series takes players on a fun adventure through a mysterious world to save the kidnapped Waddle Dees. If you haven’t played the new game yet, you can watch the official trailer below!
With the revelation that there’s no grand timeline in Kirby, what are your thoughts? Do you still keep head-canon for the series? As always, share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Via Nintendo Life
