Picture a platformer where you can't die, every level is a sandbox, and the game keeps throwing genuinely new ideas at you right up until the credits roll. That's what Good Feel has built with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive that launched this week to some of the most enthusiastic critical reception a Yoshi game has seen since the original Yoshi's Island hit the Super NES back in 1995.
A living book that plays like nothing else
The premise sounds simple enough. An enchanted encyclopedia named Mr. E has gone haywire, and the Yoshis are tasked with investigating the fantastical creatures filling its pages. But the execution is where things get interesting.
Rather than a traditional left-to-right gauntlet, each stage operates as its own self-contained sidescroller sandbox. Yoshi has no health bar and no game over screen. The goal is exploration and creature interaction, figuring out what each bizarre new animal can do, how it reacts to being licked or stomped, and what happens when two creatures meet. Think of it as a platformer built around the same systemic logic as Breath of the Wild, where the environment tracks weight, temperature, and water quality, and players are rewarded for experimenting rather than executing.
According to Video Games Chronicle's review, the game even scribbles Yoshi's discoveries directly onto the level scenery as a permanent knowledge base, which carries forward into later stages. Feed a stationary creature a chili and it starts moving, opening paths you couldn't reach before. That kind of cause-and-effect design runs through every world.
The creature roster is the real star
Director Masahiro Yamamoto and art director Kazumasa Yonetani have built a bestiary that doubles as a mechanical toolbox. Early stages hand you a slug that functions as a boomerang. Then comes a big-mouthed plant you can swing like a bug net. Then a googly-eyed surfboard for riding waves through treasure-filled shipwrecks. Then a fisherman, a glider, and something that turns Yoshi into a pinball.
The key here is pacing. Good Feel consistently introduces each creature mechanic, lets you play with it long enough to feel clever, then moves on before it gets repetitive. It's the same rhythm that made the best Super Mario Galaxy worlds work, and it's rare to see it applied this confidently outside a mainline Mario game.
Players can also name every creature they encounter, which Video Games Chronicle notes is already generating viral moments, including one player's Yoshi adopting a creature named "Mr. Brexit."
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive developed by Good Feel, the studio behind Yoshi's Woolly World and Kirby's Epic Yarn.
Mr. E tracks every discovery
Who this actually works for
The difficulty question is worth addressing directly. This is not a challenging platformer. There are no lives to lose, no punishing obstacle courses, and the game never demands pixel-perfect precision. Younger players will find it immediately accessible, and parents looking for a Switch 2 launch title to share with kids have a clear answer here.
For older players, the appeal sits elsewhere. The satisfaction comes from solving environmental puzzles, hunting down hidden collectibles by applying creature knowledge across revisited stages, and the general pleasure of watching Good Feel's imagination refuse to run dry. Video Games Chronicle's review describes it as a game that made the reviewer "feel smart," which is a harder trick to pull off than raw difficulty.
Yoshi's track record since Yoshi's Island has been uneven. Yoshi's New Island, Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World, and Crafted World all had their moments but none fully escaped the feeling that the series was coasting on nostalgia. Mysterious Book reads as a genuine step change, one that gives Yoshi a design framework that doesn't depend on Mario's shadow to justify its existence.
For a deeper look at the game's mechanics and hidden collectibles, the Yoshi and the Mysterious Book guide collection is the place to start once you're in. If you're exploring other adventure games on Switch 2 to pair it with, the timing couldn't be better given the console's growing library.
