Ahead of the game’s launch, review aggregator Metacritic has published the Metascore for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.

With 73 critic reviews at the time of this writing, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has been given a Metascore of 81. Metacritic classifies this score as “Generally Favorable”. The previous installment Yoshi’s Crafted World currently has a score of 79.

Check out what some of the reviews had to say below:

VGC ~ 100
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book powers along with the kind of breathless imagination typically associated with mainline Super Mario adventures, with new ideas and gameplay mechanics stretching across the margins of its pages. A brilliant, unique siderscroller.

Siliconera ~ 90

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is not only an unusual platformer, its experimental nature can make it feel like an entirely new type of experience. I’m delighted by the idea of popping in and out of levels to investigate new finds about creatures and learning about what to expect from them based on an array of interactions. Especially since each case feels quite different from the other, turning every character into a puzzle to solve. It feels like a casual, relaxed sort of safari.

Destructoid ~ 85

Yoshi’s first adventure on the Nintendo Switch 2 is an adorable and delightful romp that rewards the player’s sense of discovery, curiosity, and whimsy at every corner.

IGN ~ 60
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an undeniable delight, with adorable storybook creatures that are amusing to learn about in your first, surprise-filled encounters with them. But while there’s impressive variety on display, it comes at the cost of depth. Nearly all of its best ideas are left to wilt on the vine – especially one clever mechanic that could have supported an entire game on its own, but instead arrives far too late and then disappointingly disappears. Its open-ended levels certainly had me smiling, but only on my initial run through them, and the long list of potential Discoveries offers too few moments to take what you’ve learned and think creatively to solve a problem. That’s a significant weakness for a game that’s all about experimentation. The result is the most charming video game bubble wrap you’ll ever pop, and not much more.

NintendoLife ~ 60
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn’t a bad game. There’s a lot of fun to be had in discovering the many creatures hidden within Mr. E’s pages, though it also suffers from a repetitive structure that doesn’t evolve or provide any sense of meaningful challenge. Visually, it also lacks the punch that Woolly World and Crafted World offered, and it frankly looks pretty bad in handheld mode…If you’ve got young children who are eager to see more from Yoshi after catching him in the Mario Galaxy Movie, then this will provide a few hours’ worth of fun while getting them used to basic platforming tropes. Otherwise, I’d probably recommend a Switch Online subscription to check out Yoshi’s Island for the SNES.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.