While nothing about Islets instantly hooks you or blows your mind, it's a rock solid metroidvania that feels like a lot of care was poured into it.
The art style is what instantly got my attention. Very charming world and characters. The controls and movement feel really good and Iko's floatiness lets him get away with some jumps/options that are pretty fun. Bosses battles are great and provide challenge and intensity, especially the final fight. Although relative to the rest of the game, they are significantly harder. Fortunately there is always a save point immediately before the room so rematches are quick and effortless.
I really enjoyed the upgrade system - when you find an upgrade in the map, you get to choose between 3 upgrades that feel more like perks (ie fire arrows faster, pots explode on contact). There's still the ability to do what I think of as a more traditional upgrade (ie increase health, increase attack) by purchasing them from an NPC.
The islets joining together to make one cohesive map is a nice twist on the metroidvania trope. Instead of just unlocking new abilities to further your progression, you'll be provided access points to explore that were previously just edges of the islets. Whenever a new islet join I was excited to check out all the new connections.
I think if there's anywhere Islets falls short it's in the level design. Especially if you die and have to backtrack a lot of the areas you have to hike back through are very simple and just require climb, jump, climb.
While I get it's not for everyone, I found Islets to be very fun and charming. I beat it in just a few nights and kept finding myself saying "just one more upgrade" or "I'll just find the next save point". There's also a very cute & charming reward for collecting 100% of the upgrades. Just a nice cherry on top of a fun adventure.
The art style is what instantly got my attention. Very charming world and characters. The controls and movement feel really good and Iko's floatiness lets him get away with some jumps/options that are pretty fun. Bosses battles are great and provide challenge and intensity, especially the final fight. Although relative to the rest of the game, they are significantly harder. Fortunately there is always a save point immediately before the room so rematches are quick and effortless.
I really enjoyed the upgrade system - when you find an upgrade in the map, you get to choose between 3 upgrades that feel more like perks (ie fire arrows faster, pots explode on contact). There's still the ability to do what I think of as a more traditional upgrade (ie increase health, increase attack) by purchasing them from an NPC.
The islets joining together to make one cohesive map is a nice twist on the metroidvania trope. Instead of just unlocking new abilities to further your progression, you'll be provided access points to explore that were previously just edges of the islets. Whenever a new islet join I was excited to check out all the new connections.
I think if there's anywhere Islets falls short it's in the level design. Especially if you die and have to backtrack a lot of the areas you have to hike back through are very simple and just require climb, jump, climb.
While I get it's not for everyone, I found Islets to be very fun and charming. I beat it in just a few nights and kept finding myself saying "just one more upgrade" or "I'll just find the next save point". There's also a very cute & charming reward for collecting 100% of the upgrades. Just a nice cherry on top of a fun adventure.