What a journey this one is. A title first dropped as a joke in South Park to make Butters look uncool turns into an Apple Arcade recreation and in some way in opposition to all odds is definitely incredible. Hiya Kitty Island Journey () may appear like Animal Crossing in screenshots, however that’s actually only one side of the sport. There’s a little bit of The Legend of Zelda in right here, and it even jogged my memory of A Quick Hike at occasions. How is a recreation based mostly on Sanrio characters as intelligent and enjoyable as this? Actually a well-done effort all-around. Let’s have a look at precisely what it’s.
The very first thing you’re introduced with is a reasonably restricted character creator, after which you will discover your self on a aircraft with numerous Sanrio characters. You could have the prospect to speak to everybody, after which Kitty causes a large number, Badtz-maru drops a film reference that everybody who has performed this recreation has taken a screenshot of, and everyone seems to be compelled to parachute right down to the island under. It as soon as performed host to a theme park, and also you’re all there to… you realize, I don’t bear in mind? Go to it? Get it up and operating once more? The essential factor is that it’s a reasonably large space and never the entire passengers landed in the identical place. Most of you fortunately ended up in a central seaside space that’s good for studying easy methods to play the sport. What luck!
The varied characters will provide you with quests to finish. A few of them are fetch quests. A number of them are, actually. Finishing them will after all provide you with some rewards, and may improve your friendship stage with that character. Leveling up your friendships will provide you with entry to extra quests and extra rewards, a few of that are instruments you should utilize to discover extra of the world round you. You possibly can really discover a surprisingly giant space from the beginning, however your incapability to swim will maintain you from going too far. Ultimately you’ll get objects that permit you discover extra completely, and the world opens as much as a surprisingly large diploma. There are some overarching targets that you simply’ll come across earlier than lengthy, plus tons of smaller ones which will or might not result in one thing essential. There’s additionally an absolute bucket load of aspect actions to do like fishing and bug accumulating. There are even little mini-races that award you with trophies of assorted ranges based mostly in your time.
You’ll additionally generally end up exploring underground, in buildings, and round different constructions. There are honest-to-goodness puzzles in these locations, usually variations on swap issues however usually one thing else totally. It’s by no means excessively troublesome, possible in deference to the concept that younger children is likely to be enjoying, however a few of them do require a little bit of artistic thought. Talking of issue, there’s no actual solution to get damage or die within the recreation. At most, you possibly can find yourself falling off the display screen or into the water earlier than you may have the appropriate objects, at which level you’ll simply respawn on the final secure place your ft have been touching.
It’s attention-grabbing as a result of whereas there’s quite a lot of Animal Crossing on this recreation, there’s additionally much more construction to ship you off on linear threads if that’s what you need. Go remedy the mysteries of the islands and observe down the opposite characters. Get the entire instruments so you possibly can discover totally. Or simply dangle round and attempt to bake each single factor attainable. Go fishing for a bit. Beautify homes with furnishings that you simply purchase, discover, or craft. Invite friends and full the quests they situation. Design some new threads to your character. Put on foolish costumes. Take selfies with the entire hidden Gudetamas. See when you can enhance your island’s Vibe rating. It’s wonderful how a lot this recreation checks off the life simulation packing containers whereas additionally supplying you with extra conventional gamey bits like exploration and puzzle-solving.
The controls are quite simple, with a digital stick for transferring your character round and some buttons on the opposite aspect for utilizing your collected instruments or speaking to individuals. Urgent on the appropriate aspect wherever however the button areas makes you leap, and you’ll press it once more to drift along with your balloons. The platforming is a bit clunky at occasions and you’ll simply get caught in locations, however the recreation will at all times get you out of any messes you get into. Varied menus permit you to change your instruments or verify your objects, and a strong map and quest log make sure you’re by no means stranded about what to do. It’s also possible to simply see how a lot of every assortment you’ve completed.
Merely put, Hiya Kitty Island Journey is a recreation you possibly can actually get caught into for hours. I ran down my battery virtually with out noticing the time go by on a number of events whereas enjoying the sport for this evaluation. I used to be anticipating a easy Animal Crossing clone as a result of that’s actually all it needed to be. You don’t need to flex that onerous once you’re utilizing characters as acquainted as Kitty and My Melody, in spite of everything. It’s only a recreation for little children, proper? However developer Sunblink went and made a recreation that I feel nearly anybody can get pleasure from, no matter age or familiarity with video games. I additionally respect how cleverly written it’s. That is likely one of the secret strengths of Animal Crossing that so most of the video games impressed by it don’t get proper.
Other than some weirdness with the platforming and clipping, the one actual knock I’ve on this recreation is that the multiplayer didn’t work correctly for me throughout the entire time I used to be enjoying the sport. I wager it might be enjoyable, however for now it simply doesn’t appear to attach. I’ve been knowledgeable the developer is engaged on a repair, however proper now it’s what it’s. Fortunately the sport is immensely pleasing in single participant, so it’s not going to harm issues too badly.
I can’t consider I’m saying this, however I feel Hiya Kitty Island Journey is one in all my favourite cell video games of this yr up to now. It’s a lot greater than I anticipated it to be, a lot greater than it wanted to be, and I genuinely respect simply how compelling it’s from head to toe. I’ve been vocal amongst my friends about how Apple Arcade wants extra causes to subscribe as of late. Nicely, right here’s one extraordinarily good cause. Butters was proper the entire time.
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