With the recently released The Super Mario Galaxy Movie prominently featuring Yoshi, a new game starring Nintendo’s iconic green dinosaur was a no-brainer. Enter Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, the first Yoshi game since 2019’s Crafted World.
Despite all that time having passed, though, The Mysterious Book feels like a logical progression thanks to its similar aesthetic inspired by arts and crafts. But The Mysterious Book takes this concept even further by having Yoshi explore a literal encyclopedia called Mr. E, lending the game a lovely storybook presentation.
At the same time, that premise also tells you upfront that this is decidedly a kids game — more so, even, than you’d say about most of Nintendo’s catalogue. In particular, “Yoshi helping Mr. E fill out his pages” is literally the only narrative here to speak of, which is minimal even by Mario standards. What’s more, Yoshi cannot take damage, and there are no game overs, further emphasizing the breezy kids-centric approach here. None of that is necessarily bad, mind you, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind going in.
Instead, The Mysterious Book uses the storybook framework to create a side-scrolling platformer experience that’s intended to evoke the wondrous feelings of having an expressive parent or teacher reading along with you. This means that players are constantly encouraged to complete the encyclopedia by interacting with the world itself, from little creatures like environment-altering flower people or a frog-esque critter that can create bubbles you can briefly float in.
In doing so, The Mysterious Book presents a gameplay loop that emphasizes creativity and discovery, from seeing what happens when Yoshi tries to gobble up something new (sometimes, its spicy or soapy taste makes him gag) to putting different critters atop his back Mario-style for effects like bubble creation, a goo that helps you stick to ceilings, or a plant that shoots water to sprout flowers. On top of that, levels don’t end simply when you reach the end of the page, as you’re tasked with finding a particular part of the page, another way that the game pushes you to interact with more of the world.
With all of that said, I found The Mysterious Book too light and easy for my tastes. I’m not even someone who likes particularly difficult games, but the complete lack of friction and basic-for-kids dialogue made it hard for me to fully get into Yoshi’s latest adventure. Compounding those issues is the fact that while there’s a constant stream of inventive new mechanics, the actual scavenger hunt-esque requirement of searching a level for the particular way to end it grew a bit repetitive over time.
Still, I recognize that I’m not the target audience for this game, so it remains to be seen how kids respond to it. (I suspect they’ll quite like it.) And if nothing else, I have to give a lot of credit to Nintendo for going for a more experimental, sandbox route with Yoshi, and hopefully, it paves the way for other experiences that build upon those principles.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on May 21. It’s worth noting that Nintendo has begun charging less for digital versions of first-party games, meaning that you can get The Mysterious Book for $84.99 from the eShop versus $99.99 from physical retailers.
Image credit: Nintendo
