Airship Companion
Islets (2022) comes in as an amazing salve to the most prominent tediums of Search Action design: Map Bloat, and backtracking. Search Action is an alternate name to the often touted 'metroidvania' term used more in japan, I prefer it because its contructs include games that share the design rather than aesthetic similarities. For instance, The Legend of Zelda (1986) is a top down search action game. It doesn't take much to see how that game shares a similar function of guided exploration for powerups to 'unlock' more of the map. With that said, certain irritations with the genre have existed since then.
Those who don't know, the original Metroid (1987) didn't even have a map which meant you were bumbling around in the dark looking for the next powerup. In a way, that does create a more survival horror tension to play since it centers caution, however maps have become commonplace since then in an arguably detrimental way. Take Axiom Verge's (2015) Map for reference. You would have to constantly pause and interface with it to figure out where you are and hope that the direction you were trying to go wasn't locked off by a powerup you don't have only to then have to go some other direction when you're wrong. I remember I got so lost trying to navigate it I thought I was (and might have been) softlocked. This is because the way Search Action games are structured are going to stretch out the world, you will have what you already explored but also all this new territory you found, and eventually you find yourself juggling between the two.
This is what I really love about Islets then, its entire premise is exploring different floating islands to try and connect the land as a down on your luck mouse hero. Islets succeeds in making the 'juggling' element of exploration work by first isolating each of the territories from the player until they finish a core mission on the island which then connects them to a previous island with new paths in that connection to explore. This makes the core motivation of play incredibly satisfying because the connection points allow for new roads to travel through and also means that by having several different entrypoints you can do something, usually even the entire connecting mission first, before having to worry about being locked out by not having the right upgrade to explore first.
It's hard to understate just how satisfying this is. In most other games, anything from Elden Ring (2022) to Breath of the Wild (2017) down to more indie titles like Axiom Verge or Blasphemous there is a constant need to pause the game, and search on a map. This actually has made exploration in itself so compulsively map reliant that its become a sort of mental loading time. Not to mention most maps in these games are obviously 1:1 replicas of the environment whereas most cartography would have flourishes or parts that are a bit off (probably partially caused by the fact the fast travel system is backed in). However except for rare deviations these games all share a similar momentum of going forwards. Only diviating back to older sections out of boredom, thereby making the map use automatic. Islets excels here, because when you pause to use the map you are actually charting where to go next, it feels less like being a rat lost in a scientists labyrinth, and more like an adventurer discovering lost last. Combine that with the uniquely bold downtempo music and you have a mellow take on Search Action gameplay, which has been teased at but not promised on.
Part of the reason that promise works is that Islets is a very easy low risk play experience. You lose nothing on death aside a minute at most of walkback, you can fast travel pretty easily and warp back to the last spot in a pinch thus erasing almost all but the most necessary amount of backtracking (which given the form of exploration is almost always changing spots). The currency from killing enemies automatically magnetizes to you from any distance. More importantly, the game is very platforming based because the enemies are frankly just cannon fodder for your arrows to shoot at. You are most likely not going to experience more than a half dozen deaths to almost any boss. Even if you do, there's no walkback for them, since the save point spawns you right before the fight. I actually complained about the lack of walkbacks in these titles in my Blasphemous reflection however the whole energy for this game is oriented towards a chill experience so it wouldn't make sense to punish here, not to mention there's almost no point in trying to prepare ahead of time. All and all the main experience is cashing in on the feeling of satisfaction and constant curiosity fueled progression.
There are a few aspects where I think Islets breaks that sense of immersion. The music for all the bosses is exactly the same 2 songs depending on if you are fighting them from the boat or in the sky. Throughout, you get 15 letters in your mailbox when with how nice the world feels to explore a good sense of it could have been found from doubling that number, since most of the letters are all from one other adventurer who mocks you the whole time. More notably there's constant button prompts for switches and talking to others which I've always said is unnecessary and takes away from the experience. Also, words will pop up if you go too low on health or switch weapons. I think this is my experience with esoteric to solve adventure point and click games like Grim Fandango (1998) and speaking here but I have and will always find these spontaneous prompts, popups, and phrases of character information irritating. They push too much of instrumental play at the cost of immersion. If I could rock no HUD in these, I'd be happily do so. HUD/player warning information gaudiness in general is why Rain World (2017) is on my radar for its more minimalist approach. Also, when you pause the game a timer and a percentage complete modifier greets you, which is so overnormalized in these sidescroller map exploration games. This immediately breaks any trance the experience is trying to set and runs is as a colonizing 'number crunching' experience again. I feel like almost no game every should show a percentage amount until you at least beat the game, it's a hideous little inclusion. This complaints may seem extreme, but all these function as unnecessary distractions to the course of play, and I feel we should be mindful of ways in which extraneous information is a middleman to the player beyond just load screens and front loaded tutorials, which is why I rag on these aspects as much as I do. That said, all these issues run business as usual from me, to the extent I'd be willing to overlook them except for the fact it really stumbles on making the final boss have a Boss Rush section towards the end which reads more as disappointment than chill.
Regardless of my whining the map aspect is so incredibly well realized that it's worth checking out for that reason alone. I haven't felt this refreshed from a narratively light Search Action game, much less one with a lot of map use in a long time. It also helps that unlike what I complained about with Hollow Knight, getting 100% is actually not a chore with all the warp points and an upgrade that lets you see where the level ups are, you are talking at most 10% of the overall experience is poking for these post game collectibles, compared to a more tedious 35%~ that you would usually find in other titles like Axiom Verge or Hollow Knight. Overall I'm really happy I got to chill in the world of Islets for a day, and it's very possible I might come back one day.
If anything else though, you should check out the OST. Soothing with just enough groove that you can listen to them again no problem. Minecraft tunes with a bit more gutso, fits tone perfectly.
Islets (2022) comes in as an amazing salve to the most prominent tediums of Search Action design: Map Bloat, and backtracking. Search Action is an alternate name to the often touted 'metroidvania' term used more in japan, I prefer it because its contructs include games that share the design rather than aesthetic similarities. For instance, The Legend of Zelda (1986) is a top down search action game. It doesn't take much to see how that game shares a similar function of guided exploration for powerups to 'unlock' more of the map. With that said, certain irritations with the genre have existed since then.
Those who don't know, the original Metroid (1987) didn't even have a map which meant you were bumbling around in the dark looking for the next powerup. In a way, that does create a more survival horror tension to play since it centers caution, however maps have become commonplace since then in an arguably detrimental way. Take Axiom Verge's (2015) Map for reference. You would have to constantly pause and interface with it to figure out where you are and hope that the direction you were trying to go wasn't locked off by a powerup you don't have only to then have to go some other direction when you're wrong. I remember I got so lost trying to navigate it I thought I was (and might have been) softlocked. This is because the way Search Action games are structured are going to stretch out the world, you will have what you already explored but also all this new territory you found, and eventually you find yourself juggling between the two.
This is what I really love about Islets then, its entire premise is exploring different floating islands to try and connect the land as a down on your luck mouse hero. Islets succeeds in making the 'juggling' element of exploration work by first isolating each of the territories from the player until they finish a core mission on the island which then connects them to a previous island with new paths in that connection to explore. This makes the core motivation of play incredibly satisfying because the connection points allow for new roads to travel through and also means that by having several different entrypoints you can do something, usually even the entire connecting mission first, before having to worry about being locked out by not having the right upgrade to explore first.
It's hard to understate just how satisfying this is. In most other games, anything from Elden Ring (2022) to Breath of the Wild (2017) down to more indie titles like Axiom Verge or Blasphemous there is a constant need to pause the game, and search on a map. This actually has made exploration in itself so compulsively map reliant that its become a sort of mental loading time. Not to mention most maps in these games are obviously 1:1 replicas of the environment whereas most cartography would have flourishes or parts that are a bit off (probably partially caused by the fact the fast travel system is backed in). However except for rare deviations these games all share a similar momentum of going forwards. Only diviating back to older sections out of boredom, thereby making the map use automatic. Islets excels here, because when you pause to use the map you are actually charting where to go next, it feels less like being a rat lost in a scientists labyrinth, and more like an adventurer discovering lost last. Combine that with the uniquely bold downtempo music and you have a mellow take on Search Action gameplay, which has been teased at but not promised on.
Part of the reason that promise works is that Islets is a very easy low risk play experience. You lose nothing on death aside a minute at most of walkback, you can fast travel pretty easily and warp back to the last spot in a pinch thus erasing almost all but the most necessary amount of backtracking (which given the form of exploration is almost always changing spots). The currency from killing enemies automatically magnetizes to you from any distance. More importantly, the game is very platforming based because the enemies are frankly just cannon fodder for your arrows to shoot at. You are most likely not going to experience more than a half dozen deaths to almost any boss. Even if you do, there's no walkback for them, since the save point spawns you right before the fight. I actually complained about the lack of walkbacks in these titles in my Blasphemous reflection however the whole energy for this game is oriented towards a chill experience so it wouldn't make sense to punish here, not to mention there's almost no point in trying to prepare ahead of time. All and all the main experience is cashing in on the feeling of satisfaction and constant curiosity fueled progression.
There are a few aspects where I think Islets breaks that sense of immersion. The music for all the bosses is exactly the same 2 songs depending on if you are fighting them from the boat or in the sky. Throughout, you get 15 letters in your mailbox when with how nice the world feels to explore a good sense of it could have been found from doubling that number, since most of the letters are all from one other adventurer who mocks you the whole time. More notably there's constant button prompts for switches and talking to others which I've always said is unnecessary and takes away from the experience. Also, words will pop up if you go too low on health or switch weapons. I think this is my experience with esoteric to solve adventure point and click games like Grim Fandango (1998) and speaking here but I have and will always find these spontaneous prompts, popups, and phrases of character information irritating. They push too much of instrumental play at the cost of immersion. If I could rock no HUD in these, I'd be happily do so. HUD/player warning information gaudiness in general is why Rain World (2017) is on my radar for its more minimalist approach. Also, when you pause the game a timer and a percentage complete modifier greets you, which is so overnormalized in these sidescroller map exploration games. This immediately breaks any trance the experience is trying to set and runs is as a colonizing 'number crunching' experience again. I feel like almost no game every should show a percentage amount until you at least beat the game, it's a hideous little inclusion. This complaints may seem extreme, but all these function as unnecessary distractions to the course of play, and I feel we should be mindful of ways in which extraneous information is a middleman to the player beyond just load screens and front loaded tutorials, which is why I rag on these aspects as much as I do. That said, all these issues run business as usual from me, to the extent I'd be willing to overlook them except for the fact it really stumbles on making the final boss have a Boss Rush section towards the end which reads more as disappointment than chill.
Regardless of my whining the map aspect is so incredibly well realized that it's worth checking out for that reason alone. I haven't felt this refreshed from a narratively light Search Action game, much less one with a lot of map use in a long time. It also helps that unlike what I complained about with Hollow Knight, getting 100% is actually not a chore with all the warp points and an upgrade that lets you see where the level ups are, you are talking at most 10% of the overall experience is poking for these post game collectibles, compared to a more tedious 35%~ that you would usually find in other titles like Axiom Verge or Hollow Knight. Overall I'm really happy I got to chill in the world of Islets for a day, and it's very possible I might come back one day.
If anything else though, you should check out the OST. Soothing with just enough groove that you can listen to them again no problem. Minecraft tunes with a bit more gutso, fits tone perfectly.
Erato_Heti
1 year ago