Hello Kitty Island Adventure (NS) - Review
by Evan Norris , posted on 30 January 2025 / 2,101 Views
In one of the all-time great episodes of South Park, "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the grade-schooler Butters decides to quit the high-stakes, punishing World of Warcraft to return to the relaxing coziness of the then-fictional Hello Kitty Island Adventure. That was in 2006. In 2023, 17 years later, the real-life version of the game debuted on Apple Arcade. And today it arrived on Switch and PC. After spending a couple of weeks with the game, I sympathize with Butters. Island Adventure is a peaceful, cute, diverting game, although one not without flaws.
Island Adventures starts inside a passenger plane on its way to Big Adventures Park. You, the blank slate protagonist, are onboard alongside a group of Sanrio mascots, ready to start your vacation. When Hello Kitty creates a safety hazard (in the cutest way possible), everyone decides to leap from the plane and parachute down to the island below. The core group settles in rather quickly — Kitty reopens the bakery, My Melody dusts off the furniture store, Tuxedosam occupies the clothing shop, etc. — and tasks you with locating the other mascots who went astray and landed elsewhere on the island. Thus, your island adventure is born.
The storytelling in Island Adventure is fine. There isn't much drama, or intrigue, or even real conflict, but that's basically what you would expect from a cozy life simulation game. It's all about making friends, exploring at your own pace, and leaving your mark on the island. That said, developer Sunblink deserves credit for adding an overarching plotline on top of all the daily deeds and goings-on. Big Adventures Park is not all it seems at first glance. There are mysterious blob-like creatures in every corner of the island, and a strange holographic AI that seems to be suffering from a severe case of amnesia...
Helping get the island up and running, and restoring the AI's memories in the process, is a big part of your experience in Island Adventure. But it's only one of dozens of quests that you'll come across. At different times you'll do favors for your Sanrio friends, deliver items, take photos, reel in fish, catch critters, rebuild dilapidated structures, reopen rides, craft important items, and create inviting homes for Hello Kitty's visiting friends and family members. The game boasts a nice mix of short-, medium-, and long-term goals and projects, which means you'll almost always have something to do.
Almost always. If the gameplay loop in Island Adventure has a flaw, it's the reliance on friendship levels. You see, in order to trigger important quests, you have to become closer friends with Hello Kitty and her pals. That means giving them presents, particularly presents with some elemental quality important to them. My Melody adores sweets, for example, while Badtz-Maru loves pranks. At times, you'll find yourself with no available story or friendship quests, so you have to ply your neighbors with gifts to quickly level up the friendship. Not too quickly, though, since you can only gift three items per person per day. It creates a bit of a bottleneck.
Even when you do trigger that new quest, it might not always be a winner. Island Adventure, like any life sim, has its fair share of fetch quests and mindless busy work. Luckily, there are two quest categories that are mostly interesting and rewarding: "The Right Tools" and "The Island Mystery". The former unlock essential abilities and items, like the fishing pole and snorkel, and the latter open up new areas of the island and attractions.
It's here where Hello Kitty Island Adventure begins to distinguish itself from its most obvious competition, Animal Crossing. Where Nintendo's beloved life sim focuses almost exclusively on design, decoration, collecting, and socializing, Island Adventure adds a fair dose of action-adventure to the formula. You can explore caves, dive underwater, discover treasure chests, complete puzzle rooms & mini-games, and climb tall mountains. You even have a stamina meter and a bunch of balloons that act as a paraglider. There's a whisper of Breath of the Wild here.
Don't get too excited though. Most of the action-adventure elements are simplified and too easy. You might move a couple of blocks to reach a treasure chest, flip a few switches to open a door in a haunted mansion, or grab fizzy ore deposits while riding a mine cart. It's not all that thrilling or demanding. Still, the game earns kudos for adding something a little more adventurous to the life sim format.
Thanks to all these adventures, quests, and interactions, Island Adventure is packed with things to do. The game's Steam page advertises 80+ hours of content, but that actually might be selling it short. With over 30 NPCs, daily and weekly tasks, seasonal events, hundreds of achievements, and the ability to invite friends to your island for co-op high jinks, you could in theory play the game for months on end.
To do so, however, you'll have to confront some technical hiccups, at least on Switch. The game simply does not handle well on Nintendo's hybrid, which is surprising given its mobile origins and its lack of sophisticated assets. There's a certain bumpiness to the game, as frame rate hitches and momentary freezes are common. Again, this is not a graphically demanding title. In fact, the geometry, textures, lighting, and physics are all basic. Overall, Island Adventure isn't the prettiest game around, although it partially makes up for things with its adorable characters and cartoon aesthetic.
It also partly makes up for things with some surprisingly good music, courtesy of Phill Boucher. The main theme is breezy, catchy, and lovely. And all the regional themes evoke the ideal setting and vibe. The best collection of tunes comes from Gemstone Mountain, including "Rockadoodler", an Old West-inspired track with plucking strings, whistles, bull whips, and wailing vocals. It's excellent.
In "Make Love, Not Warcraft", Butters' classmates chide him for picking Hello Kitty Island Adventure over their preferred gaming experience. But there's a time and a place for games like this one, particularly in this lull between Animal Crossing releases. Indeed, if you're looking for a low-stakes, relaxing life sim to carry you over to 2027, or whenever Nintendo decides to release the sequel to New Horizons, you could do a lot worse than Hello Kitty Island Adventure. It's colorful and cozy, and packed with things to do and discover — as long as you can overcome its faults.
VGChartz Verdict
6
Decent
This review is based on a digital copy of Hello Kitty Island Adventure for the NS, provided by the publisher.
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I was planning on this as my first purchase of the new year (because I could use something relaxing and nauseatingly adorable and like the Animal Crossing type vibe here). I don't have a mobile phone, so I don't have access to that version of the game. How serious are the performance issues on the Switch version, like on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being negligible and 10 being game-breaking? The slowdown in particular: is it severe and pervasive? Like honestly would you recommend just waiting for the likely-superior PS5 version due out later in the year? I only intend to buy one version.
I would call the technical issues minor-but-persistent. Maybe a 3 out of 10, on your scale? The game will sort of hiccup or freeze in spots, particularly when entering a new zone. There are also instances of pop-in, but this is mostly obvious when the camera is pointing forward at the scenery -- for example when you're underwater.
It's not at all game-breaking, more of just a constant irritant. I hope this is helpful!
Very helpful, thanks! That doesn't sound TOO bad. Will sleep on it and make a decision on which version to get in the morning. It's between picking this up now for the Switch or getting it later for the PS5 and instead choosing Laika: Aged Through Blood as the game I buy right now. (THERE's quite the tonal difference for you!)
To update on my previous remark, in view of Lost Records (at least the first of two episodes) coming out on the 18th, I ultimately decided that my calming game needs stand to be met soon enough anyway, so I opted to get Laika now and Hello Kitty Island Adventure when it comes out for the PS5 later in the year just because I'd prefer to have the version with the best technical performance. While that means sacrificing the convenience of portability, I think on balance it sounds worth it because I still do the vast majority of my gaming, even with Switch games, in front of a TV screen anyhow. Also so far no regrets: Laika is proving wonderfully creative and emotionally rich! Plus with Rift of the NecroDancer due out in just a few days too, I will be busy between now the 18th for sure.
I'm enjoying my time with the game so far. The framerate hiccups are there but don't affect my enjoyment at all of the game. I do wish the camera could pull back just a bit, but it isn't too much of a bother. 6 is way too low for this title, but every reviewer has their own biases. If you like the cozy genre, add a point or two.
Every reviewer has their own preferences and priorities. I object to the term bias, since it suggests an opinion that is unfair or prejudiced in some way.
I'm glad you're enjoying the game!
You are attaching an emotional aspect to "bias," which you're more than entitled to, but the other words mean the exact same thing and also carry a negative connotation if viewed from the same light. I only meant to state that a 6 is too low for a game that is such a joy to play. The framerate hiccups happen between biomes, but you don't make any mention of how seamless the world is. Even going into buildings and caves doesn't involve loading. Also, you didn't even mention the multiplayer aspect of the game. It adds friendship quests that you can do with your friend and that process is quick and enjoyable allowing both players to work singularly in the game or together. Even going into ruins and caves doesn't force the players to occupy the same area. I know we're splitting hairs here, and I'd have to see your other 6 rated scores to see how they compare but to me a 6 means a game is broken and not very fun. All I'm saying is if the mood sits right with you in this game, you could definitely add a point based on your "preference, priorities" or biases.
Well, I've attached that aspect to "bias" because that's the definition. It carries a negative connotation because there's an improper/unfair/prejudiced element to it. Preferences and priorities are subjective, yes, but those words have far less baggage. I completely concur that different people like different things. Some reviewers might prioritize storytelling, some might care most about replay value, some might value performance and graphics above all else, and so on. When you use the word bias, it suggests I approached the game with some preconceived notion and didn't treat it fairly -- and I object to that.
What I absolutely DON'T object to is you saying my review is off base. I encourage the dissenting opinion. I encourage the disagreement. I just don't like that word bias, because it insults my integrity.
As for the definition of a 6/10, I invite you to review our scoring methodology: https://www.vgchartz.com/games/reviewmethodology.php. For VGChartz, a 6 is defined in the following way: "These workmanlike titles probably won't take home any awards, but they're entertaining enough, particularly for fans of the genre." So perhaps we're not too far apart, after all.
I always thought this was a real game back when Butters mentioned it in South Park all those years ago.
Same here! lol
Butters-approved.
Love this game! Got it right at launch. No regrets.
Anyone over the age of ten playing this needs to expand my understanding. Like, really? There are plenty of relaxing games that aren't infantile. Sorry, I try not to judge and each to their own and all that, but sometimes I just can't fathom it.
You try not to judge...and then judge in the pettiest way possible. Way to yuck someone's yum. Definitely enjoying my time with this game. So nice to have a daily grind that brings back those Animal Crossing memories.
^^^This is correct.
Essay Pro