As cute and good and nice as you expected
Yarn Yoshiis a pretty good name.Yoshi’s Woolly Worldis an okay name.
Yoshi’s Yarnis a better name and what the game should’ve been called for the sake of alliteration andYoshi’s Storysymmetry (a yarn is like a story!!!). I’m going to keep writingYoshi’s Woolly WorldasYoshi’s Yarn. Sorry.
I walked out a Sony appointment with not enough time (before my next appointment) to go back to the E3 press room, but enough time to play a game. “Is there anything here I want to play?” I wondered.Smash? Okay,Smash. I haven’t held a GameCube controller in like five days. I need my fix. But everyone was playingSmashso I went and playedYarn Yoshi.
Good decision.
Yarn Yoshiis as delightful as it looks. The way yarn platforms give slightly under the weight of your jumps gives off such a peaceful fluidity, like a long string of yarn undulating in sin waves. Hitting a knitted basket to knock out a bunch of yarn ball eggs was cute. Accidentally tonguing my co-op partner and turning them into a red yarn ball egg with eyes was a double entendre laden mistake.
While it’s a platformer, exploration and collection — unraveling secret yarn paths and wrapping up platforms with yarn to gain access to further areas — are a big part ofYarn Yoshi. You’ll sometimes find yourself stuck, with no way to continue. In this case, you’re able to start tossing yarn eggs around and try to uncover hidden items to help you continue.
The level I played seemed rather accommodating and not too tough, though with the added flurry of a co-op partner also running around and doing things I did find myself dangerously low on hearts towards the end. It also might just be that they wanted something easy for public showing (the trailer had some more challenging seeming levels).
Yoshi’s Yarngoes as all out with the yarn aesthetic asTearawaydid with papercraft. The result is cute as hell. Yoshi’s little yarn feet turn into little wheels when he runs fast. I could die. Keep making games out of strange materials, Nintendo.
