This was quite an enjoyable game. Between the fluid movement, the sense of humor, and the scale of the world that's not too big nor too small, it's easily one of my favorite recent experiences.

I do have a few gripes however. The only collectible really worth getting are the Glimts, the floating energy spheres all around which can increase your maximum health and ultimately unlock the Iron Mouse mode (where you get one life to beat the game). The other collectibles being the Memorabilia and the Hidden Mickeys? No reward. They are there just for percentage and naught else. I would've liked a bit more reward for getting them but they were still fun to track down and figure out how to get.

Those nitpicks are really worth the full star. Still really solid gameplay, really fun to go through, doesn't wear out its welcome. It's quite great and highly encouraged. It's ideal for those experienced with Metroidvanias and also those who aren't as familiar and want to dip their toes in without too much challenge.

I only played in single-player but I hear multiplayer is where the game really shines. I eagerly look forward to seeing speedruns of this game.

“Mousetroidvania”

There is something to be said for art that offers little resistance. There’s a reason why we have The Office on as we fall asleep, why we return to Gilmore Girls in the fall, why we’ve seen Jurassic Park so many times. We appreciate being challenged and engaged, but there is also comforting reward in the elegantly simplistic experience.

Illusion Island is shocking in its effortlessness. Sure, it comes from a lineage of the combat-light and polish-heavy Disney games of the 90s, but there is a breeziness and fluidity here that those games were never interested in. The Metroidvania of it all — huge sprawling maps full of twists and switchbacks — highlights the wonderful locomotion and the understated precision of the level design. It feels like you could traverse the world in one fluid path of speedrun-esque movement as you lazily wall and double jump your way at a blissful pace. Add the stupendous and ethereal music, the classic Disney bouncing animated works, and you have a panacea for high strung gamers everywhere.

Recuerdo cuando vi este juego en los TGA. El estilo visual me pareció bastante cuco, y la verdad es que fue de los pocos que me llamó la atención en ese evento. Pero como todo, pasaron los años, y se quedó en un "lo compraré en el futuro". Hasta ahora, donde no lo compré, lo pedí prestado.
PHYSICAL FOREV-
Perdón, la review. Este juego es...muy pasable. Funcional y con momentos cómicos que admito que me han hecho reír en varias ocasiones.
La historia, más simple imposible, nos pide la tarea de encontrar 3 poderosos libros. Lo que no es tan sencillo es el proceso para llegar a ellos, ya que harán falta varias habilidades y hacer mucho backtracking.
Lo molesto de esto es que al cabo de un tiempo se vuelve una tortura, porque la habilidad de viaje rápido se consigue casi al final del juego, donde ya prácticamente no sirve para nada salvo para los que van al 100%.
Gráficamente es mu' bonito, la música está bien, pero entre el backtracking, la historia básica y bastante predecible, además de un gameplay que no llega a ser algo excepcional, cuesta recomendarlo.
Igual si eres fan de Mickey o tienes niños que les gusta puedes pasártelo bien, pero por mi parte, es algo pasable. Muy, muy, MUY pasable. No te morirás por no probarlo, pero tampoco te derretirás en el sito si lo pruebas.

EXTRA - Misterio de Monoth
Simple de narices. Vas a un sitio, te piden que busques X objeto en la zona, para luego buscar otro con las pistas que obtienes.
Todo esto para revelar una verdad que es sosa con ganas.
Al menos es gratis y tampoco afecta al juego normal, así que si quieres perder un ratito haciéndolo no te morirás.

Gawrsh, there's plenty to love about this little adventure. Even though Disney Illusion Island is probably best described as "baby's first Metroidvania" -- a phrase I use as a compliment, not an insult -- there is so much fun to be had exploring Monoth. The animation is exactly what you'd expect from Disney -- I found myself wanting more cutscenes, actually, given how beautiful and endearing they were -- and the writing is top-notch. I found myself LOLing at a few different jokes, a rarity for most games. I enjoyed the traversal, the exploration, the collectibles (especially the Memorabilia and Hidden Mickeys), and the characters (#TeamDonald), all of which culminated in a fun adventure brimming with personality. And despite there being no actual combat, I truly didn't miss it. I found dodging enemies using all of the different abilities the game throws at you to be an absolute blast.

Sure, the story was a little basic at times and the inevitable twist wasn't one that'd knock your socks off, but given that Disney Illusion Island is billed as a family-friendly jumping off point for the Metroidvania genre, it absolutely hits the mark.

Ultimately, Disney Illusion Island is a pleasant time. It's the perfect first Metroidvania game for folks who never played a game within that genre and it's a more than relaxing time for long term fans of the genre, making it still feel refreshing. Where Disney Illusion Island loses a few points though is its simplicity. The lack of combat initially wasn't that big of a deal to me, but as you spend more time with the game you realize that this game definitely could've had it. Towards the end of the game is where you specifically begin to feel that frustration. I understand that these are Disney characters, but they could've at the very least had some sort of magical ranged weapons or up close weapons given to us at the end of the game to allow us to kill some of the enemies you encounter in the later portions of this game. It's super annoying to constantly die or have a long term run brought to an end because of multiple annoying ranged enemies stopping your momentum. Like, they could've given us anything to make it a little less annoying to get through certain parts of the game and it wouldn't have taken away from the overall experience or intention of being a platformer Metroidvania family friendly game.

Really though, this is the perfect first stepping stone for a potential mini franchise from these developers. There's definitely things they could've added or changed, like gatekeeping Fast Traveling until the literal very end of the game which was.. a choice to say the least but even despite its flaws, you can see just how much love was poured into this game by these developers. Unfortunately though, despite the passion put into this game, Disney Illusion Island still left me with one final thought: I wish this was a bigger budget experience. I wish this was a new Epic Mickey game or at least something that allowed this game to have more depth because really, this game's over simplicity stops it from being a legitimately fantastic game. Hopefully these developers get a second run at a Disney game because this first game was good enough, however, a second game from them could actually be great.

Fun multiplayer adventure! I played this start to finish with my boyfriend, and we both enjoyed it a little more than I thought we would.

There’s a lot here to love, there are so many QOL features in the game that made things very convenient, including: Missed collectibles on the Map, frequent checkpoints that doubly serve as respawn points, map indicators for when an ability you’ve unlocked can unlock a new area, area completion percentages, and at least a few others I’ve forgotten. The team clearly had the player’s enjoyment on the front of their mind with these decisions, and I greatly appreciate that.
The visuals are another thing that I was constantly drawn to. While none of the areas are particularly innovative in video game settings, they’re all visually gorgeous. The characters inhabiting the world– be it the playable characters, NPCs, or enemies– are excellently brought to life through gorgeous animation and a beautiful art style that looks like it was taken directly out of a sketchbook and put into the game. The dynamic soundtrack that subtly changes as you progress through areas pairs with the fantastic visuals to create a nice, serene atmosphere.
In terms of exploring the world, it’s pretty fun! If you’re an existing fan of metroidvanias, it will probably feel a bit bare-bones, but at the very least I think it’s still enjoyable. The platforming sections aren’t anything spectacular, but they’re engaging. The real highlight comes in finding the different collectibles, which was the highlight of the whole game for me. My favorites were the areas that take up the whole screen, and you have to go through a small platforming challenge/puzzle to get the secret. The Mickey Memorabilia is super cute, and very fitting with this game releasing during the Disney 100 celebrations. There are some deeper cuts, and it feels like they’re put in there by people who have a genuine love for the Disney cartoons. I wish the outfits you unlocked were actually wearable, but as I believe the game is hand animated, I get why they aren’t.
The thing metroidvanias are known for (well, one of the things), the abilities you unlock throughout the course of your journey are fun, as well. Like the level design itself, they’re nothing crazy (don’t go in expecting to pull off some of the crazy types of things you can do in Hollow Knight, for example), but they pair nice with the world. I wish there was maybe one or two more, though, as the movement does feel a little basic.
I also enjoyed the humor, albeit it’s a little hit or miss for me. Some of it wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but there were some jokes that got a chuckle from me. The best bits are with the main 4 bantering, especially anything to do with Donald. The running joke of Donald getting junky equipment is a pretty good bit.

As for the negatives, the first is the combat. Or, the lack of it. The enemy patterns in the game aren’t really designed around combat, so it doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily missing anything by not having it, but I feel like it could have really filled a gap in the very simple run and jump gameplay. Just tweak the enemies a bit, and let the players unlock some new moves or combos throughout the game, and I feel like it would have added a lot to the game.
The closest you get to combat are the boss fights which are quite lackluster. None of them are bad, but they’re not great. They’re just fine. They don’t really outstay their welcome, at least.
Probably my biggest issue with this game is the lack of fast travel, which is gated until the very end of the game. This game has so many great QoL features that I’m utterly stumped as to why they thought this was a good idea. It’s not like you can really sequence break in this game, even if you trekked all the way back to where you wanted to go on foot. I almost certainly would’ve 100% it if it had fast travel, but once I beat it I didn’t really feel like going back and getting everything, as I much rather would do it before I beat the game. I’d like to sometime in the future, at least, but man I would have liked to have that along the way.

All in all, I found this game fun. It fell considerably short of what I feel it could have been, though. This game has a fantastic framework, built by very talented developers who clearly have a lot of passion for what they’re doing. I just wish it was a bit more out there with its ideas. I’m optimistic that this game will one day get a sequel, as I feel like they could make something splendid if the team listened to feedback and improved on this game’s shortcomings. I’d still recommend it though, especially if you, or someone you play this with, is new to metroidvanias.