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.

This was a really fun, chill Metroidvania with local co-op. Played this to 100% with my wife. One complaint I do have, is the game provides the typical, "You are about to enter the end game and won't be able to explore" screen. However, the first one is A LIE and it's so dumb. This isn't like a hardcore game, so why make a fake screen? We went and got all of the collectibles. Once you accept "going to the end game" you get fast travel, which would have made getting all of the collectibles 1000 times easier.
Then, you do like 3 things that you basically teleport to with fast travel and then get a screen that says the same thing, but adds, "We mean it this time."
Bad DESIGN there.

This was a unique Metroidvania style game where there is 0 combat at all. You can't jump on enemies heads, no attacks, you don't even hit the bosses at all. It is a nice change of pace but it does feel a little dull over time, luckily it sprinkles in new moves pretty often and is full of collectables to find.

The game has a great style and the animation is fun, it reminds me of the newer Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts. The cutscenes are also cute if not just a little long. I think it would be a more fun time in coop though, the way the game looks with the pulled out camera and the large gaps in between platforming objects just would lend itself to coop.

This game happened to arrive the weekend I was sick with the flu, and honestly I can't think of a better way to experience the game. It's really low stakes, sometimes in ways I wish it wasn't. The story is lackluster and there's little things like fast-travel and map design that lack polish. But if you're looking for a really laid-back Metroid-like with nice art, robust platforming, great music and a lot of Disney-themed collectibles to find, this will be for you. Just keep those expectations in check cause it probably won't blow you away. Great for kids or people just looking for something chill.

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.

Que jogo bom.
Adorei a animação, o humor e a relação entre os personagens.
Confesso que ri varias vezes jogando.
O pato donald é o melhor kkkk.
Jogaria de novo e e novo.

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.

“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.