Hi Kitty Island Journey Assessment – Assessment

Taking us again to 2020, other people flocked to the breakout Transfer hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a life-sim island sport the place you collect assets to construct homes in addition to friendships. Those new neighboring population was your best possible buddies, and amidst the pandemic, that’s one thing that everybody sorely wanted. Day by day pleasant interactions and endorphin-releasing duties are one of the extra poignant bullet issues at the record of many who made Animal Crossing: New Horizons lightning in a bottle. But, it by no means actually hit for me.

Bringing us ahead to 2024, I used to be given the chance to play Hi Kitty Island Journey at the Nintendo Transfer at Summer season Recreation Fest, and I used to be briefly enraptured. Its use of the Hi Kitty IP to create the sort of heat and inviting setting for gamers drew me in, however then it expanded additional with an enormous island map to discover. I used to be excited for the longer term, particularly because it was once already successful on Apple Arcade, with a yr’s value of content material ready to switch over. The only factor that caught out again then regardless that, was once the efficiency, which actually left one thing to be desired. Inconsistent body fee and hitching have been only some problems to call, however I will luckily say that the ones worries are nearly solely solved.

Beginning off our journey into the Hi Kitty international, we’re given our personal non-public customizable avatar, then we’re briefly dropped out of a aircraft into the aforementioned island. From right here it’s a smattering of quests to seek out your mates, gather pieces, and liberate increasingly sections of the sizable map. Discovering and assembly the characters is a handy guide a rough and simple technique of exploration, however they arrive with such various personalities that I all the time sought after to be told extra from them. Badtz-Maru is a mischievous but in addition conspiracy-having cool man at the island, all the time prepared to industry comedian books with you. Pochacco is a health fanatic who needs to get you hyped on images. They also have visitor persona Retsuko, the offended, steel track loving pink panda from the Netflix collection: Aggretsuko. Taking into consideration I’m somebody who feels totally ambivalent in opposition to the Hi Kitty franchise, this was once all new to me.

The characters are lovely, a laugh and all deliver one thing new to the desk. What actually drew me in regardless that was once the exploration. The island is in fact lovely large, with numerous actions strewn about to stay me lively. With Animal Crossing, I felt the thrill was once a bit too passive for me, however right here, I used to be all the time looking for new pieces, quests, and characters, making new discoveries alongside the best way. The arena map is peppered with assets, upgrades, and numerous actions that span foot races, mini puzzle dungeons, photograph ops or even mine cart rides. Normally all these video games can crush me, however this was once that easiest candy spot of content material. My exploration normally ended in a brand new dungeon and even a completely new a part of the map. It felt a bit extra attractive to me than what I had skilled prior to now in different an identical video games.

Hi Kitty Island Journey additionally endured to enlarge in sudden tactics for me. Each time I felt like I had explored lots of the island, I’d uncover the haunted island or interwoven underground mines, and even the beneath sea kingdom. The development pacing is about in the sort of smart way that you simply by no means actually end a space, prior to the following is unlocked, whole with (in fact) extra new characters, quests, demanding situations and crafting fabrics. It was once truthfully roughly sudden how a lot this hooked me in.

Dipping deeper into the mechanics, most often talking Hi Kitty Island Journey is a scavenging sport, discovering all forms of pieces littered at the floor in each and every corner and cranny. Hiking a volcano will maximum usually result in a rarer crafting subject material, whilst strawberry packing containers discovered all over the island can also be proficient to positive buddies. It’s a actually pleasurable loop of exploring for brand spanking new fabrics to finish quests, craft or reward to buddies to spice up friendship ranges to liberate new cosmetics or quests. Crafting is excellent for making new equipment for exploration, and even crafting furnishings to embellish properties in a similar fashion to Animal Crossing. Hardly ever did any subject material move to waste.

The dungeons, alternatively, are very similar to Breath of the Wild. Chew sized mini puzzles that train a brand new mechanic, awarding a different chest as soon as finished, and an non-compulsory hidden chest for the extra intrepid. They’re inoffensive little one-offs which can be breezy however forgettable. I in fact discovered that there weren’t just about sufficient of them, and sought after extra from this a part of the island’s options. Nonetheless, there’s much more to find within the sport with cooking, worm accumulating, hat buying and selling, egg images and so a lot more. Every time a brand new mechanic was once presented, I used to be excited to re-explore the island with a brand new function that recontextualized what I used to be seeing.

That still speaks to the reside provider side of Hi Kitty Island Journey itself. There are day by day login bonuses, quests, and a gentle move of match updates that may introduce much more to the already bustling island. This can also be noticed at the authentic Apple Arcade free up which has been going sturdy with updates since its authentic free up in 2023. On best of the promise of loads of long run content material, it sort of feels that developer Sunblink has additionally discovered the body fee problems and muddy visuals that plagued the Summer season Recreation Fest Transfer demo. The sport’s body fee does a just right task at staying stable for probably the most section. however there’s nonetheless some choppiness in positive gameplay transitions. It’s no longer easiest however an enormous development. The visuals also are crisp and glance as just right as Animal Crossing did on Transfer.

As somebody new to the Hi Kitty franchise, I’ve fallen in love with Hi Kitty Island Journey. It supplies the attraction of an Animal Crossing sport, however specializes in the exploration, growing moments of journey and a laugh throughout the best way. Taking a mine cart trip thru a volcano with your mates is a blast, and wandering thru a haunted area with Kuromi the goth persona is hilarious. The body fee and visuals have noticed a limiteless development from earlier demos. Whilst I do want there have been extra of positive actions just like the dungeons, I will not wait to log again in to look what new adventures will look ahead to my subsequent yr of updates. Hell, I’m excited to log again in to do my dailies! I all the time roughly understood the Animal Crossing collection, however Hi Kitty Island Journey is what I’ve all the time sought after them to be. At this fee, I higher get started buying groceries on the native Too Cool retailer for Badtz-Maru merch. That persona simply will get me.