in my first playthrough, i stuck very much to the rules of the show, choosing not to break a single rule. and so this run, i chose to go the exactly opposite. every time i was given the option to break a rule, i took it.

and it didn't take me very long into this playthrough to realize just how much work really went into this game, and how many leagues above most love island game seasons this really is.

it's honestly hard to know where to start in terms of how many things this game does right. each love interest is their own person, and dates will completely differ depending on who you are on them with. there are an equal number of male and female love interests, and same sex couples can occur immediately, as opposed to being always stuck to the slow burn trope like they are in love island. there are failure states!!! if you are continuously unfaithful to your partner, they will break up with you. if you continue to disregard the rules of the show, you are actually punished for it, in ways i don't even want to spoil cause i found it so cool when they happened! your character has a genuine arc they can go through, unlike love island where you're mostly just watching the story unfold to everyone around you while you are in your drama-less inseparable couple.

and this in addition to a genuinely great cast of characters, all of whom have their own arcs to go through in tandem with your own. my favorite of which are probably zayn and nora, who kind of turn the premise of the show on its head, showing that sometimes it's okay to break the rules.

i could genuinely go on and on about all the things this game does so well. if you've read my reviews of love island seasons, you'll notice that all the problems i have with the later seasons are entirely solved here.

also like! character creation with a pronoun selector completely detached from the body type i choose!! i can be the fem-presenting nonbinary person i am! it is wild that love island has still yet to even add a masc body type into their character creator. but then, i think that game will always let itself be held down by the rules of its source material. unfortunate of course. but at least i have games as inclusive as this one is :)

gosh i can't stop listing things this is going to be the most disorganized review i ever post, but also like nearly everyone is EXPLICTLY lgbtqia+ ! there is a canonically lesbian pairing, several bi people that go on dates with both men and women throughout the show, an aro character (how often do you see aromantic representation in media!! i'll tell you!! the answer is never!!!)

just a really great game. i've already started it a 3rd time

this time i chose candace :)


p.s. for the best narrative for your character, i recommend starting the game ready to break the rules a bunch. think the story works a lot better if the protagonist has some character growth to go through. i personally like to play a character that starts off afraid of commitment and learns through their mistakes that they don't have to be afraid anymore, that they're loved and that love isn't transactional. but play however you want of course! there's a surprising amount of narrative diversity in this game