I problem you to discover a online game with a greater elevator pitch than Hello Kitty: Island Adventure. Get this: It’s Animal Crossing however with Sanrio characters. You don’t must see a single screenshot or watch a trailer to know for those who’re in or out on that concept.
Apple Arcade’s newest unique is the gaming platform’s finest hope for a subscription mover but. It’s an undeniably lovely journey constructed to ship on Apple’s promise of high-quality cellular gaming with no pesky adverts or microtransactions — and for essentially the most half, it delivers. Though it lacks key hooks that make the Animal Crossing formulation work, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure makes up for a few of its shortcomings with an infectiously optimistic angle and a downright nice visible type that I can’t assist however soak in. It’s a summer time getaway in your pocket.
Island time
It’s instantly clear what developer Sunblink is aiming to do upon firing up the journey. After a cute introduction the place Hello Kitty nearly will get a complete airplane of cute animals killed (sure, actually), gamers parachute onto an island alongside Sanrio staples like My Melody and Keroppi. Within moments of exploring that first hub space — full with a furnishings store, clothes retailer, and a city corridor the place you may test your “island vibe” rating — it’s fairly clear that Animal Crossing was a direct inspiration right here. Even its crafting animation appears to be like equivalent to the one in New Horizons.
Sunblink
That loving homage typically works to its benefit. Animal Crossing’s framework is an ideal match for the world of Sanrio, stitching collectively the mild nature of each properties. That’s baked proper into its core loop, which is constructed round creating friendships with the island’s inhabitants by giving them items. Think Persona’s social system, however with much less relationship and extra apple pie. It’s a wise technique to leverage Sanrio’s wonderful roster of characters, letting their various personalities information its wealth of quests and piecemeal development. I’ve even discovered some new favorites within the dastardly cute Kuromi and the adventurous Chococat.
Though a whole lot of Animal Crossing staples are current right here, there’s some expectation setting that’s required up entrance: It’s not a 1:1 copy of that sequence. You don’t have a home of your individual to brighten (although you may customise cabins for guests), there isn’t a 24-hour clock to plan by, and also you received’t end up planting flowers or terraforming the island to your liking. You’re extra a vacationer visiting a pre-built Hello Kitty world than a resident of it.
Sunblink
That could sound a bit of disappointing, and some components of it are. There isn’t an excessive amount of furnishings to gather at current, and clothes choices really feel equally restricted. It doesn’t have the identical stage of self-expression that makes Animal Crossing such a pleasure to return again to day-after-day. Instead, it’s extra of a inflexible Sanrio collect-a-thon with a tab stuffed with checklists to finish.
That’s not inherently a disadvantage, particularly contemplating {that a} cellular sport requires one thing a bit extra compact in scope. I’ve nonetheless loved my each day life as I catch bizarre bugs, refill my museum with fish, cook dinner each recipe I can, and take selfies with hidden Gudetamas scattered everywhere in the islands. And I’m doing all that whereas basking in its heat visible type and breezy soundtrack. Every time I load it up, it looks like I’m taking a fast getaway from my job (which, satirically, is to put in writing about this sport).
New horizons
Numerous these disappointments are simple to forgive for those who’re prepared to fulfill Island Adventure by itself phrases as an alternative of Animal Crossing’s. While that sport is a significant guiding issue, the group at Sunblink cites The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as an equally essential affect. That’s obvious, as Island Adventure is a pocket-sized open-world exploration sport at its coronary heart (full with a wall-climbing stamina system and glider-esque balloons). When seen by that lens, its movement makes much more sense.
Sunblink
Upon touchdown on the island, my quest log begins filling up with missions that ship me round a large open world. In addition to small quests that unlock options like a nature museum and a scuba masks that lets me discover underwater, there’s a sequence of mainline duties that unravel the island’s grander mysteries. Those ship me into shrine-like puzzle rooms to hunt for artifacts. None of these are notably laborious, merely having me transfer some containers onto switches, however it’s a pleasant technique to break up the life sim formulation with some conventional journey gameplay.
The style fusion does include a little bit of friction at instances. Quests are largely unlocked by reaching sure friendship ranges with every islander. However, you may solely give each 4 items a day (until utilizing a uncommon merchandise to refresh that). After my first few hours, a whole lot of my playtime turned about attempting to collect assets, flip these into the best items, and hope I’d get sufficient in at some point to unlock a brand new quest or two. That course of could be a little slow-going, making some each day check-ins really feel a bit unfulfilling.
Sunblink
Still, I received used to that gameplay movement after a bit. What I in the end need from a life sim is a few type of routine and ritual. That’s what I’ve gotten out of Island Adventure to date, checking in day-after-day to arrange some items for my mates, discover a couple of extra collectibles, and prep cabins for visiting NPCs like Dear Daniel. In between these moments, I’m embarking on a correct journey that offers me a extra concrete endgame to work in the direction of. I get to do all that whereas baking apple pies with Hello Kitty.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure isn’t a full Animal Crossing alternative, however with a 30-hour story and new content material to return over time, there’s nonetheless loads of Sanrio cuteness to obsess over. Even with some tedious gameplay loops that string out its story content material, I’m nonetheless assured a smile each time I load it up. And with no pesky microtransactions to spoil the enjoyable, it’s a welcome trip from an at-times aggressive cellular sport panorama (as long as you will have an Apple Arcade subscription). Soak in these good island vibes.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure is now obtainable on iOS units by way of Apple Arcade.
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