What parents need to know
In this brand new Yoshi adventure, a mysterious book (hence the title, huh?) crashes on Yoshi Island. The book, named Mysterius, contains a guide to the creatures that live in its pages, but there is a problem; He has completely forgotten the content of his pages. In addition, an intruder, Bowser Jr and Kamek have inserted themselves between its pages and are causing mayhem.
It is therefore up to the Yoshis to enter the pages of Mysterius in order to accumulate as much information as possible on all the creatures… and maybe also to face Bowser Jr.
If at first glance, this new episode of Yoshi’s adventures gives the impression of being a 2D platform game like the previous episodes, it is more or less the case. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is first and foremost a puzzle game. Each chapter of the encyclopedia acts like a world in a traditional platformer, and each creature studied comes with its own little level.
But it’s not about getting to the end of the level or defeating enemies. In fact, Yoshi can’t even take damage or die. Rather, it is a question of discovering as much information as possible about the creature being studied and its environment. Some information is obvious to find; What happens if you try to swallow the animal in question? If we jump on him? What if we throw an egg at him?
Others require a little more exploration and reflection. For example, in the Croazo level, we realize that by jumping on each other’s heads, they sing a different note. The curious player will then jump on their heads in the right order to make them sing the C scale, which will be rewarded with stars.
Indeed, each discovery earns us stars: one for most discoveries, 2 or 3 stars for the most complex. It is these stars that allow us to unlock new chapters of Mysterius and advance in the game.
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
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| Intermediate | |
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| Experienced | |
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Evaluation
Yoshi’s universe is colorful, childlike and rather non-violent. The worst thing that can happen to a creature is to be swallowed whole.
None.
You have to know how to read a little to understand the clues left in the encyclopedia, but the language is very simple. Otherwise, no reading is required.
The Yoshis are curious, and they try to help Mysterius.
Apart from a few rare occasions where bad timing can cause us to miss an opportunity, it is impossible to lose or fail.
At $99.99 for the physical version ($84.99 for the digital version), the bill is a bit steep, but at least there are no additional expenses related to the purchase of the game. Once it is purchased, you have all the content.
Local game modes
Single player mode.
Online Game Modes
None.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
None at this time.
Our opinion
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an excellent game… as long as you’re part of the target audience and know what to expect.
One would think that this new episode of Yoshi’s adventures, and that would be quite understandable; until now, all the episodes of the franchise were more classic platform games, and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, at first glance, also presents itself as such.
But it is repeated; This new title is first and foremost a puzzle game. There are almost no platforming challenges. Yes, you can miss some awards, but that’s all. You just have to start again, it’s without consequences. We can’t die, enemies can’t even cause us damage. The real challenge is to find surprising interactions with creatures and levels, and to decode the clues bought in the encyclopedia with the money scattered throughout the levels.
It’s nice, it leaves room for exploration, and for toddlers, the fact that you can’t really “lose” will no doubt take away a lot of frustration. But this is definitely not a game for players looking for platforming challenges.
What immediately catches the eye when you launch the game for the first time is the visual style. This new episode in the adventures of the little green dinosaurs (and all the colors of the rainbow) has once again been entrusted to Good-Feel, the studio responsible for the last four games of the franchise in addition to Kirby’s Epic Yarn.
The studio always stands out for its particular visual style, and this is once again the case. For Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, we chose a visual style reminiscent of watercolours and wildlife textbooks. Everything around us looks like an illustration, and we see text appear around and on the game screen. It’s very successful, the style is both unique and charming, without being disturbing.
However, there is a small downside in terms of controls; we have assigned a lot of actions to the same button, X. It is used both to carry fruits and creatures on our backs and sometimes to activate their abilities. This strange choice led to a lot of accidental actions during our playtime, and we wonder why we didn’t use one of the many unused buttons.
In the end, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an original proposal, but one that may not be unanimous. However, its visual style and charm are likely to charm all audiences.
Note: a code has been given to us for review purposes by the publisher. It does not influence our opinion.
