I was planning to share my opinions about the Nintendo Switch 2. Unfortunately, other than Mario Kart World, I wasn’t using it much. I dabbled in a few games, but I was having more fun playing Final Fantasy and other stuff. But now I finally have a game that I can’t put down. I couldn’t wait to talk about Donkey Kong Bananza. I still have a lot more to go, but I had to take this opportunity to share how much fun I’m having.
Destroying everything I can
What I am most enjoying about Donkey Kong Bananza is the sense of freedom I’m getting from it. I started playing this over the weekend, and I’ve only played for around six hours. But every moment I’m exploring this world, I’m in awe of what I’ve been able to do and discover.
Yes, a major part of the game is destroying environments to find treasure and giant Bananas. This is one of the rare Nintendo games where you have a skill tree. So, you want to find bananas and other things because they make you stronger/better. I am always looking for new things and seeing what I’ll come across. I will spend minutes going around a section, seeing how much I can chaos DK can cause. How many treasure chests will I find? Will I discover a hidden Banana? Or, will I come across a new section where I can challenge myself with something new?
The game wants you to find things. It wants you to see how far you can go before every rock is no more. Collect the gold and spend it on all sorts of stuff. Don’t worry, you’ll be back to collecting more gold shortly. The sense of discovery is so incredible. It doesn’t matter what I found. From a secret area or a new challenge. When I did, it only got me more engrossed in what it might offer.
Sure, there’s a story
There “appears” to be a narrative here, but I couldn’t tell you what it is. I know that DK and Pauline are trying to get free, so they need to venture deeper into the world’s core to get out. Outside of that, I am not following the story.
But that doesn’t matter, and it’s not a knock on the game. For me, that’s a bonus. The story doesn’t need to hold the game together. The main point of this game is exploration. We’re not given a counter about how many Bananas we need to collect. The game doesn’t even tell you how many you have. You have to go into the Save menu to see it.
From what I’ve seen online, there are at least 1000 Bananas to collect. Based on that, I’m only 10% of the way through it. As for how far I’ve progressed in the story, I am clueless. I could venture a guess based on the layers of the core I’ve gone through, but that doesn’t feel like a true indicator.
Digging deeper and discovering more
This could very well be a game that’s two games in one. Nintendo has done that sort of thing in the past. A game that you think you’ve reached its conclusion, only to discover that there is still more. This is a game that encourages you to take what you’ve unlocked and to return to previous sections. Use those upgrades to get to locations you couldn’t before.
I’ve also only unlocked one of the special abilities that DK can have. From the Skill tree, it looks like he can have at least four abilities. The first one you get, which gives you super strength, is a blast to use. So, I can’t wait to see what the others do. I’m glad I’ve been able to avoid spoilers, so I have no idea what to expect.
That’s also true for the callbacks. I’ve played through the Donkey Kong Country homage stage, which was a lot of fun. But, I have no idea what other references to expect. I thought for sure I would have come across other familiar characters. I do recall people mentioning that there are older characters that make appearances. So, I’m hoping I see Diddy and the rest of the Kong family at some point.
If you couldn’t tell, I love this game!
The more time I spend with Donkey Kong Bananza, the more I love it. This isn’t that ‘new toy’ feeling; I can’t stress how much fun I’m having. Mario Kart World is what most people are buying a Nintendo Switch 2 for. But Donkey Kong Bananza justifies its higher price point. I also think it will be the game that will leave a greater impact on the console.
