The indie genre is one where you are forced to innovate. This is nearly to the point where innovation itself is expected (despite being paradoxical). An amalgamation of genre tags is often the first thing that confronts you, and sometimes the last as you exit the window. But I never could have imagined a game that is equal parts Hollow Knight, Pajama Sam, and The Last of Us could both exist and pull me in to such a degree. Minute of Islands is that chimera of a game, constructing a unique narrative experience that keeps you glued to your monitor.
Studio Fizbin, based in Germany, are the developers behind Minute of Islands. The game follows the story of a young girl: Mo, who lives in an apocalyptic world filled with poisonous spores. We’re shown Mo as she is tasked with maintaining the machines that filter the poisoned air. It’s a job left to her by the powerful giants that invented those very same life-saving filters. This story is conveyed in a puzzle platforming shell with story-based exploration that’s reminiscent of the old point-and-click genre. Studio Fizbin have built a jarring and vivid world, crafting cartoon characters that feel all too real.
Minute of Islands goes all in on creating a beautiful world and story. A single narrator outlines the story’s adventures, giving the player insight to Mo’s memories and history of the world. This single narrative voice was increasingly effective when combined with muted characters. It was almost like a story book as we saw the character art move and emote in tandem with the skilled narration. These unique scenes helped me get invested into the story somewhat like a visual novel. Bits of dialogue became narrative treats between the exploration as I felt the impact of the character interactions being emphasized. But the story itself was aided by the endearing artwork. Stylistically, it feels very similar to Adventure Time in it’s later seasons. Characters are rounded and wear simple expressions. These cutesy designs contrast very nicely with the grotesque backgrounds and plotlines. It’s the fun art style that draws you in, but the story and the details in the art are what keep you engaged. Seagulls populate the beaches but some of them have wonky, bloodshot eyes, and some only sport a single leg. There’s a comforting, dark humor about it that makes the heavy story more digestible despite the occasional dead, rotting whale sitting on the beach.
Unfortunately, despite my praise for the art, I feel some of the execution has some room for improvement. Part of why I draw similarities from Minute of Islands to the point-and-click genre is the seamless fusion of background and interactable game objects. Things you interact with will not be clearly distinct from other parts of the art. It becomes a guessing game about what you can interact with and what you cannot. In games where the puzzles are more centric to the gameplay, this might be part of the fun, but the simple puzzles in Minute of Islands feel secondary to the story. Despite the premise and gameplay being relatively simple, the ability to translate to new players might prove difficult. I’d be tasked with searching for an input for Mo to plug into the machinery, but many of the mechanical parts felt blended together. I felt that my ability to find what the game wanted me to relied more on my experience with games rather than the design of the game itself. Things like darker outlines or directed lighting can be simple fixes to help point out important areas or objects, and thus translate better to the user experience.
I had similarly minor gripes with the smoothness of the platforming. The animations and art for the jumps and climbing looked great. But they only looked great. Climbing up ledges felt a few beats too slow as there was a small delay between getting up and being able to begin moving your character again. This appeared again in things like crawling through small tunnels, where the game took over with an animation rather than let the player take full reign of the movement. While the focus of the game may be the story, I think refining the mechanics of the gameplay is still very important, as it will be what the player experiences at their fingertips. Platforming should primarily be unobtrusive before beautiful. Otherwise, you might as well be playing a visual novel.
Now, I must say that if my criticisms seem nitpicky, it’s because they are. These tiny thorns in no way overshadow the great experience that was produced. I enjoyed so many things about Minute of Islands, like exploring the poisoned world and watching Mo interact with her family. I enjoyed getting immersed in the art and the well-written story, collecting bits of lore and character development as I moved forward. I enjoyed the pauses between the plot progression, taking moments to just soak in the scenery and what lay in store for Mo’s adventure. Anybody that enjoys post-apocalyptic lore or experiencing detailed character stories will assuredly enjoy Minute of Islands.
8.5/10
Check Out the Minute of Islands Trailer:
Minute of Islands is out on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 for and is also compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. To stay up to date with the latest, follow Minute of Islands on Twitter and like on Facebook, as well as check out the official website for more information.
PlayStation Review
My name is Devon Huge. I'm passionate about writing, art, games, and lists that are one item too long.
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