Food For Thought: Yoshi's Crafted World - Review

After spending the last 24 hours playing through Yoshi's Crafted World religiously, it's time we gather our thoughts on the game and see if the spiritual successor to Yoshi's Woolly World lives up to expectations.


Like any Yoshi game, there is a very basic story. The island the Yoshi's inhabit has a special stone, called the Sundream Stone, which Kamek and Baby Bowser set out to steal for themselves. In the process, the Dream Gems scatter all around the world, and it's up to the Yoshi's to gather all the Dream Gems and bring them back. Similar to how Woolly World had all of it's levels made from yarn, this game has all it's levels made from craft materials, winch really adds to the charm of the game. Due to the crafty feel, all levels have some sort of gimmick to them. However, a lot of these level mechanics just appear as a on-off and don't show up again. In a way it makes each level feel completely unique, but on the other hand it feel like a lost opportunity to add more depth to each level.

After you complete the level normally, you have the option of going through the level on the flip side, one of the main mechanics of this game. Doing so allows you to go through the level from behind and in reverse, letting you see what was going on behind the scenes, and how everything was constructed, as well as also showing you a few secrets you may have missed on your first run. Because this is how the game is designed, the egg throwing mechanic can now be freely controlled, and allows players to throw eggs into the background, or foreground of the level. The flip side levels act as time trials, having the player collect three Poochy Pups within a certain time limit.

The games progression is a little different than other Yoshi titles. Previously, completing the level would allow you to progress, however, this time certain characters called Blockafeller's block the path, asking for a certain amount of Smiley Flowers before the player progress. Collecting all the Smiley Flowers no longer unlocks a bonus level at the end of the world, and are now used as a pseudo currency for progression. The amount of flowers required is never anything too high, and shouldn't cause much of a hassle for regular players, but the inclusion just seems unnecessary.

Each world also has it's own boss, which are actually enjoyable, and unique this time around. In saying that, there's just something about the boss cut scenes that rub me the wrong way. Just take a look at this cut scene of the first boss. The rest of the scene is fine, but when the boss gets "constructed" the cinematic is incredibly laggy. I get this isn't a frame rate issue and is done to make the construction of the boss look more authentic, but this happens for every single boss fight, and it's just jarring to look at. In saying that, all the bosses I've come across so far have been incredibly enjoyable, so I guess I can look past it.

The amiibo functionality was really cool in Woolly World, but here it's been downgraded a lot. In the previous title, scanning an amiibo unlocked a special patterned Yarn Yoshi based off that amiibo. This time around, only the Mario series amiibo unlock anything, and it's just a costume. It would have been nice to see every amiibo have it's own unique costume, but I can understand why they decided not to. Each area does have it's own set of unique armour pieces that can be purchased at a vending machine, so at there's still the ability to customize your Yoshi to your pleasing, making up for the lack of amiibo costumes. The costumes also serve for more than just an aesthetic purpose, acting as armor to give Yoshi a few extra hit points.

Mellow Mode is back, and works exactly the same as Woolly World, adding in an easy mode for less experienced players. Personally, I don't find this game as difficult as Woolly World, so there's not much reason for me to use it. Though it does make things easier when going through a level for a second time with the sole intention of grabbing any missed collectibles.

Something everyone loved in Woolly World was the relaxing music, but that seems to have been lost in the transition to Crafted World. A lot of the tracks sound the same and nothing really stands out. Usually I'm fine with the games music playing when idling, but this time I found it so annoying I had to either turn the volume down, or go to the home menu just to stop the music from playing. Don't get me wrong, the music isn't terrible by any means, it just all sounds too similar to each other and not a soundtrack I'd go out of my way to listen to.

The game still has the same charm and feel as Woolly World, but it's just missing something, and I'm just not too sure what that is. It's still an enjoyable game, but just feels like a step back from Woolly World. However, if you're a casual Switch gamer, a Yoshi fan, or simply just love a good 2D platformer, this is a game for you. If you're still unsure if this game is for you, you can always download a demo form the eShop.