Yoshi And The Mysterious Book Review

Your eyes are deceiving you dear reader. This is not a book review, this is a review for Yoshi the green dinosaur’s latest platforming adventure. Yoshi And The Mysterious Book. The Mysterious Book is the first mainline Yoshi title since Yoshi’s Crafted World in 2019, but unlike its woolen predecessor, the wool has gone walkies, replaced with a picturebook motif with vibrant eye-popping illustrations. Once again, Nintendo’s jolly green dinosaur ingratiates us with a pleasant and relaxing platformer with inventive ideas, though this enigmatic tome is still familiar Yoshi fare. 

Can Bowser Jr. ever stop meddling in things he cannot understand? Browser’s little spiked tortoise-shelled offspring enters a darkly-lit hallowed library and witnesses a huge pile of discarded books atop a staircase. Within the pile lies a mysterious book, which he opens and becomes immediately fascinated by because there’s a huge metamorphing bird in its pages, and mini Bowser wants to find it. So off he goes in his flying Koopa car to search for the creature. On the way, however, he decides to use a magical magnifying glass to enter the book instead, so the Koopa car crashes on Yoshi’s Island. The resident Yoshis discover it, and they come to realize the front cover has a face who awakens as a moustachioed old chap called Mr Encyclopedia, who opens himself up so you can start this unique storybook adventure. 

As premises go, The Mysterious Book is as straightforward as it gets, and the air of mystery surrounding this pageturner helps curiosity spring into fervent life. Nintendo games aren’t typically big on engrossing yarns and The Mysterious Book is no different, but less is more here, so younger players can enjoy the cheery storybook aesthetic and not become bored with Mr E’s gentlemanly prattling.

Experimentation and new ideas are at the apex of The Mysterious Book experience. Every level throws new and quirky puzzles and platforming challenges at you, while at the same time playing like a soft, snuggly and fluffy cloud. This latest Yoshi tale is chock-full of vibrant and colourful lands to explore and discover, and will be a jubilant breath of fresh air for anyone who has missed Yoshi’s big platforming adventures since Crafted World in 2019 or Woolly World in 2015 on Wii-U.

Not only is Mr E a Mysterious Book, but the lands Yoshi gleefully traverses are mysterious as well. Each level contains a surprising new gimmick, always managing to keep the gameplay fresh and exciting. For example, in one level you’re jumping on lily pads suspended above creatures to form a beat to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and in the next you’re utilizing frogs who blow bubbles you can hop between to reach otherwise inaccessible platforms in the sky. Heck, one level takes place inside a ruddy big fish, which injects The Mysterious Book with some unexpected excitement. There’s also a section where you use a creature as a drill, no doubt inspired by Pepper Grinder from 2024.  The freshness of such variety is admirable, so much so that you’ll keep pondering how developers Good-Feel keep coming up with new ideas.

One way to describe The Mysterious Book is kinda like Pokemon Snap without the cameras and on-rails gameplay. Instead you have active biological discovery in the form of puzzling and platforming. Oh, and there’s more variety in The Mysterious Book’s pinky than in the entirety of either Pokemon Snap game. The Mysterious Book carries with it the gentleness and easygoing nature of a Kirby game to.Just swap out the object-sucking pink puff ball with a creature-sucking green dinosaur who can turn his prey into eggs he can throw to solve headscratchers. 

Levels are compact and small in duration despite their openness, which could be seen as inconvenient given that the abilities and unique puzzles seemingly don’t have enough breathing room. However, each level is its own self-contained memorable moment, and with the oodles of charm bursting out of them like a fire hydrant with a rainbow’s array of glowing colours, the specialty of each and every stage is wonderfully realized. 

Bolstering The Mysterious Book’s discovery-led qualities is the relaxed and open elements of the gameplay. Players don’t need to be careful as there are no life bars to worry about, which of course removes the challenge that veterans of the series may miss, but the beauty within The Mysterious book is nestled in the ways it can joyfully surprise you. If you can let go of your pre-conceived notions of what videogames are “meant to be” then you’ll gain plenty of appreciation for what The Mysterious Book has to offer.

With the game oozing new ideas like a field of flowers blossoming in a field during the summer, the uniqueness of the mechanics introduced aren’t expanded upon. This may be because every level and discovery is special in and of itself, but it would’ve been nice if some of the better mechanics were revisited as you progress. The Stickiwick ability where Yoshi turns into a dino spider is inspired, so why not more levels that encourage the use of this mechanic? Later in the game you do get the opportunity to use the powers of every creature you’ve logged, but new levels taking advantage of them are few, and you can’t chain them together either.

The Mysterious book is essentially like a vacation where you learn about new creatures, document and name them as you please. Mr E will recommend names for the critters you discover if you have trouble thinking of a suitable name. If you think Crazee Dayzee is a name that’s a tad too subversive and untamed for a flower, or if you believe Croakaoke is too similar to a creature with a rasping voice who also likes singing Karaoke, then you can decide what to call them. The problem is the names selected by Mr E are official canon, so whatever names you choose for them are nothing but nicknames.

Another point of contention (besides the game’s easiness) is the new artstyle The Mysterious Book adopts. Jettisoning the woolen aesthetic from Woolly World and Crafted World may seem like a step back for many, but despite its simplicity, the newer art style is lavish and beautifully integrated to illustrate Yoshi’s existence within a giant bestiary. Levels sing with an array of hues and the hand-drawn instruction adds a layer of fictional panache that coheres brilliantly with the beautiful presentation.

The sound design pops with glee too. Whether you’re listening to Mr E’s rambles as if he were a character in Banjo Kazooie, or hearing Yoshi’s constipated desperation as he tries to stay afloat mid-air, The Mysterious Book is as much a pleasure to listen to as it is to look at and to play. 

Few games burst with the imagination and whimsy of Yoshi And The Mysterious Book. The artfully pristine levels and the mechanical invention tucked inside every one is dazzling and serene to behold. The relaxed pressure-off gameplay accommodates the creature-finding exploration seamlessly, and The Mysterious Book will easily bring magic and wonder to the eyes of youngsters as they revel in the joys of discovery. Yes, The Mysterious Book is easy, the great mechanics could’ve used some fleshing out, and the visuals aren’t quite as pleasing as its crafty predecessors, but it’s hard not to be giddy and delighted by this new Yoshi-fronted pearl of platforming pleasure. Yoshi is back in a bodacious and beguiling new way.