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GAMES Kirby and the Forgotten Land ACCESSIBILITY REPORT
Kirby and the Forgotten Land Accessibility ReportWe've documented 21 accessibility features for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, including Control Assists, Select Difficulty, No Repeated Pressing, Play Without Hearing and Audio Cues. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Controls but it also has features in Reading, Navigation, Difficulty, Visual and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.
Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Kirby and the Forgotten Land accessibility 18 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
Before you get to menus you are prompted to select a difficulty with an explanation of the two options and the fact you can change this later.
There are subtitles in the game, although they are of good contrast they are quite small.
You can select two control schemes, although this only swaps a couple of buttons. You can opt for Kirby to Auto Swallow. You need to hold a button in the game to suck in enemies and also again to spit them out when you are finished with abilities.
As you approach interactive items in the game they are highlighted with the button you need to press. The game also offers hints about when you need to spit out abilities to progress. Before you start a level there are a series of missions clearly listed, and you can access this within a stage at any time.
Game Details
Release Date: 25/03/2022
Out Now: Switch
Content Rating: PEGI 7
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1-2
Genres: Action, Platform (Adventure, Collecting, Fighting and Traversal)
Accessibility: 21 features
Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon
Developer: HAL Laboratory (@HAL_Laboratory)
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass
Controls
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Gamepad
Can play with the following:
Multiple Buttons & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Select Preset Controller Mappings: You can select preset button layouts from options provided by the developer.
Button Combinations
Specific button operation required to play
Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing (more than 2 times a second) is not required, can be skipped or switched to holding a button to trigger a repeated action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
Difficulty
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play.
Difficulty Options
Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.
Adjust After Setting
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Difficulty
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Difficulty accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Difficulty accessibility:
Getting Started
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Getting Started in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.
Onboarding Before Play
Before you are presented with the home screen, onboarding settings aim to aid you accessing the menus you need to adjust the game to your requirements. They can also provide an easier way of turning on important adjustments without digging through menus.
Onboarding: The first time you open the game, you are asked to confirm options for control, navigation and accessibility settings. Games can differ in what they present at this stage, but will count for this, provided they include a streamlined onboarding process.
Assistance Getting Starting
These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.
Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.
No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.
Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.
Reading
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.
Reading Level
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
Subtitles
All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.
Captions
Speaker Indicator and their Tone: Textual captions indicate who is speaking and their tone (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or character expressions with text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
Navigation
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Navigation in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.
Clarity
Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.
Menu Navigation
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
Visual
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Visual in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Audio Cues for Visual Events
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
Audio
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Audio in Kirby and the Forgotten Land which deals with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Play Without Hearing
Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson
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Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships. |
