Cute little game, if a little disappointing after the developer's previous effort, Sheepo. Has more combat than Sheepo, which is the disappointing part, and at first I really didn't like Islets, due to the base movement not feeling great, but with a few movement upgrades and some practice under my belt, I was converted and started really enjoying running, double jumping and dodge rolling around, completing tasks and hunting for secret rooms and ability upgrades. I really liked the little upgrade system, where you find items in various tough-to-reach spots that then let you pick one of three randomized upgrades, roguelite-style. You do end up getting all upgrades by the end, if you collect all of the things, but it was nice to (mostly) get to pick the ones I wanted first. Also liked the little attention to details, like how a character's name pops up above their speech bubble after they've introduced themselves. Lots of little care like that going on, plus charming dialogue that doesn't overstay its welcome, with the added bonus of having a mailbox that other characters send cute letters to.
The big cool thing is, of course, the game's namesake and the fact that your task is you rebuild the world and take it from separate levels to one interconnected metroidvania map and that's not something the genre has ever seen, I'm pretty sure. Now, ultimately, it doesn't really amount to much of anything on a mechanical level, since it's just another type of ability gate like needing the double jump or wall climb, as connecting the islands creates new pathways, but it's still pretty neat.
All that said, this is a smaller and less impressive game by design and definition, and while it is quite enjoyable, it doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel and, outside of the aforementioned things, it doesn't really do anything exceptional. There are no especially cool sights to experience, no especially cool rooms to discover. The final power you unlock is something as supremely boring as...a charge attack. The others are the usual, like the obligatory double jump and wall climb, with the final exception being these tracer arrows that create temporary platforms you can walk on and use to scale tall rooms. Those arrows are really cool conceptually, but I didn't find them super fun to use. Maybe because there weren't any especially fun rooms that are built around using them.
In all, this is a good, short time that is ultimately a little forgettable since it doesn't really do anything crazy. At the same time, you could do much worse than Islets if you've either played every other good metroidvania on the market, or if you're a beginner that wants a taste of the genre. It's pretty perfect for those demographics, while it's probably skippable for everyone else and not because it's bad, but because the market is so saturated and this one is more of a cute little diversion than any sort of must.
(Spoiler: bonus points for the game ending first with an adorable scrapbook with images detailing what happened after, as well as a party being thrown for our main character. So cute!)
The big cool thing is, of course, the game's namesake and the fact that your task is you rebuild the world and take it from separate levels to one interconnected metroidvania map and that's not something the genre has ever seen, I'm pretty sure. Now, ultimately, it doesn't really amount to much of anything on a mechanical level, since it's just another type of ability gate like needing the double jump or wall climb, as connecting the islands creates new pathways, but it's still pretty neat.
All that said, this is a smaller and less impressive game by design and definition, and while it is quite enjoyable, it doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel and, outside of the aforementioned things, it doesn't really do anything exceptional. There are no especially cool sights to experience, no especially cool rooms to discover. The final power you unlock is something as supremely boring as...a charge attack. The others are the usual, like the obligatory double jump and wall climb, with the final exception being these tracer arrows that create temporary platforms you can walk on and use to scale tall rooms. Those arrows are really cool conceptually, but I didn't find them super fun to use. Maybe because there weren't any especially fun rooms that are built around using them.
In all, this is a good, short time that is ultimately a little forgettable since it doesn't really do anything crazy. At the same time, you could do much worse than Islets if you've either played every other good metroidvania on the market, or if you're a beginner that wants a taste of the genre. It's pretty perfect for those demographics, while it's probably skippable for everyone else and not because it's bad, but because the market is so saturated and this one is more of a cute little diversion than any sort of must.
(Spoiler: bonus points for the game ending first with an adorable scrapbook with images detailing what happened after, as well as a party being thrown for our main character. So cute!)
Seems like if Hollow Knight didn't want my family dead and my house burned to the ground and wasn't about gross bugs. There are some really nice ideas but they are sort of tossed off too quickly instead of being explored in depth. But the thing that bumps it up for me is the characters and dialogue. Some restrained funny/silly writing that I enjoy, including some interactions that made me laugh out loud, a rarity for me in games.
Em algum momento a EPIC deu esse jogo gratuitamente. Gráficos bonitinhos e coloridos, jogabilidade de metroidvania e uma história leve e engraçadinha. Vale a pena jogar.
I was completely blind to this, I didn't even know it was a metroidvania. Luckily for me, that's one of my favorite genres.
And among the many metroidvanias I've played, this one is above average. It's fast-paced, and difficulty is just right to have some casual fun. (Maybe a LITTLE too easy for the most part)
It has some great bullet-hell segments too.
The dialogue is simple but relatively charming. The act of bringing the islands back together, combining the maps into one, is very novel - not really something I've seen before. Not that I can recall, anyway. I really like this aspect of the game.
I breezed through this game in around 6 hours, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was so hard to put down and I couldn't wait to get back to it between every session.
And among the many metroidvanias I've played, this one is above average. It's fast-paced, and difficulty is just right to have some casual fun. (Maybe a LITTLE too easy for the most part)
It has some great bullet-hell segments too.
The dialogue is simple but relatively charming. The act of bringing the islands back together, combining the maps into one, is very novel - not really something I've seen before. Not that I can recall, anyway. I really like this aspect of the game.
I breezed through this game in around 6 hours, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was so hard to put down and I couldn't wait to get back to it between every session.
metroidvania gostosinho pra jogar em um dia, comecei e finalizei no mesmo dia, divertido, sem muitos desafios, mas se gosta do estilo vale a pena.
Me ha molado mucho más de lo que pensaba.
Es sencillo, facilito y como metroidvania es basiquito, pero me ha hecho pasármelo bien y eso cuenta mucho.
Es sencillo, facilito y como metroidvania es basiquito, pero me ha hecho pasármelo bien y eso cuenta mucho.
Metroidvania gostoso de jogar, estilo de arte tão fofinho e uma progressão tão tranquila que quase me fez esquecer o quanto odeio metroidvania, vale MUITO a pena
Islets mostra que não é preciso uma grande narrativa para contar uma boa história.
Num resumo rápido: seguimos Iko, um pequeno aventureiro que tem por missão reconectar as ilhas separadas do seu mundo e trazer harmonia de volta à terra. Meio genérico, né? E é mesmo, mas o que tornou esse jogo tão bom para mim foram seus personagens.
Não espere nada muito especial no combate ou na exploração, tem características muito parecidas com quase todo bom metroidvania que você vai encontrar por aí. É bom, só que não é sensacional. Dá para ver claramente que foi produzido por um exército de um homem só. Mas ele possui uma dupla muito cativante de personagens, GreyBird e Snoot. As esporádicas interações com esse dois, que aumentam de frequência ao longo do tempo, foram fatores determinante para me apaixonar pela simples história. Existe uma bonita poesia no covarde Greybird vencendo seus medos e um humor muito divertido nas interações com o egocêntrico Snoot. Além deles, temos: o engraçadíssimo guia turístico, a florista lelé da cuca e um aventureiro sem lá muito jeito para a coisa.
Apesar da simplicidade, me peguei muito emocionado no final e muito apegado aos personagens. No fim, é uma história com claro final feliz e tá tudo certo, às vezes é só que a gente precisa mesmo. Um exemplo em que tudo dá certo.
Num resumo rápido: seguimos Iko, um pequeno aventureiro que tem por missão reconectar as ilhas separadas do seu mundo e trazer harmonia de volta à terra. Meio genérico, né? E é mesmo, mas o que tornou esse jogo tão bom para mim foram seus personagens.
Não espere nada muito especial no combate ou na exploração, tem características muito parecidas com quase todo bom metroidvania que você vai encontrar por aí. É bom, só que não é sensacional. Dá para ver claramente que foi produzido por um exército de um homem só. Mas ele possui uma dupla muito cativante de personagens, GreyBird e Snoot. As esporádicas interações com esse dois, que aumentam de frequência ao longo do tempo, foram fatores determinante para me apaixonar pela simples história. Existe uma bonita poesia no covarde Greybird vencendo seus medos e um humor muito divertido nas interações com o egocêntrico Snoot. Além deles, temos: o engraçadíssimo guia turístico, a florista lelé da cuca e um aventureiro sem lá muito jeito para a coisa.
Apesar da simplicidade, me peguei muito emocionado no final e muito apegado aos personagens. No fim, é uma história com claro final feliz e tá tudo certo, às vezes é só que a gente precisa mesmo. Um exemplo em que tudo dá certo.