I almost feel like I'm having déjà vu right now: I mentioned this previously in my review of "Yoshi's Woolly World," but check this out: that game was announced (in 2013), was later a no-show at an E3 (also in 2013), but despite skepticism resurfaced (in 2014) and finally saw release two years after it was initially announced (it came out in 2015). Now for "Yoshi's Crafted World," it was announced (in 2017), was later a no-show at an E3 (in 2018), but despite skepticism resurfaced (also in 2018) and finally saw release two years after it was initially announced (it came out in 2019). Kinda bizarre, huh? But there's something else that these two games have in common: that all the wait for them and all the questions of "where did they go?" only kind of dampened the final games.
"Yoshi's Crafted World" is far from being a bad game: after all, it's an extremely adorable and visually beautiful platformer. It's light, colorful, and extremely charming. The visuals are creative, the soundtrack is lovely, and the game succeeds at just being a nice, feel-good platformer. It's easy to get into, it controls well, it tries to do something kind of different (with the whole "switching of perspectives" thing), and this amounts to what is a very relaxing game. Oh, and side note, as someone that absolutely loves Poochy and thinks he's such an adorable character, you'll be seeing him and his pups a lot in the game, which is awesome.
Unfortunately, this leads to one of my many problems with the game: it's almost too relaxed and too easy, and while "Yoshi" games are never the most difficult, it often felt like the game just didn't care about trying to challenge you. Furthermore, the game doesn't quite use the new ideas and switched perspectives as strongly as it could've, leading to an experience that, to me, felt a bit too same-y compared to "Yoshi's Woolly World." There were several points where I'd forgotten I was playing a different game, and I thought I was just playing a Switch port of "Woolly World." And furthermore, it's kind of disappointing to me that the level design doesn't really start getting interesting until it's too late in the game. By the time we get into the more interesting levels, we're on the last world, and that's just kind of unfortunate.
All in all, as a Nintendo fan, I'm glad to see that critics and audiences are enjoying "Yoshi's Crafted World." I'm happy to see that it's selling well, and that it's doing its part to help contribute to the Switch's success. I just wish I could enjoy the game in the same way that others have. It's a nice, decent experience, but this is another situation where the long wait and speculation led to heightened expectations that the finished product just couldn't quite match. If you're a hardcore "Yoshi" fan or if you have kids, it will certainly be a great time. For me? It was just fine. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible, just an okay little adventure with the iconic green dinosaur.
Final rating: 6 out of 10 "Decent"