In this review, I will be referring a bit to the previous review I did for this game when it was an exclusive release on Apple Arcade.
The story of Hello Kitty Island Adventure hasn’t changed at all from the previous release as this is a port of the Apple Arcade release. For those that missed the first review of this game, the story is that you play as a generic-looking character that has to help Hello Kitty and their friends nurture friendships and take care of things around the island.
When I got into the Switch version of the game, I really wanted to determine if they added anything new in terms of how the game plays. Well to answer that question, no nothing has really changed in how the game plays as far as mechanics and well everything in regards to the subject.
The game consists of completing tasks on the island to unlock new areas. That could be in the form of fixing things, hunting down certain lost items, or gift-giving among your newfound friends on the island. In performing these tasks, you help to raise your friendship level and get to explore around the island. Gift-giving is used to unlock various outfits, clothing, furniture for your home, or various other items. One thing I did forget to mention originally is that gift giving is also used to get items needed to craft things which in turn will help progress through the story of the game and the overall main objective. Not only does all of this help to further the things you can do, but helps to also move along the thin story-line that you will find in the game. You’re given a cell phone that has apps on it that will help you to keep track of friendships, quests, island visitors, and daily rewards.
In addition to these things, the phone gives you access to the in-game settings, daily rewards, and online multiplayer. With multiplayer, you still have the invite-only system where you have to use a code in order to join someone’s island. But the neat thing is that with this version of the game, when you invite someone to the island once you’re in the game, it will open up your friends list and you can invite someone from there, just like most games that feature online multiplayer.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a Switch port of a once mobile game that was exclusive to Apple Arcade. Graphically, the game has gone unchanged from the original release. The environment you can move around in is still rather large with the characters being presented in a nice way with a somewhat isometric view. When it comes to performance, I was kinda disappointed. I mean this is a port of a mobile game and given what the Switch is capable of (looking at you Bright Memory Infinite) I was expecting it to be a lot better than it is. The game still suffers from a bit of stuttering and frame rate drops. In addition to the stuttering and frame drops, the game still suffers from really long load times, though the longest being the initial load in when you start the game and load your save game. The rest of the loading when navigating the island and visiting houses and shops has been significantly reduced.
While I am glad that some of the game was optimized for the Switch port, I wish it was as a whole. There is no reason why the game should have graphical stuttering and suffer from frame drops if it was properly optimized.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure on the Switch hasn’t changed in the sound department either when comparing it to the original Apple Arcade release. You still have the ambient sounds of island life, water hitting the island coast, and it still fits the game like a glove. I feel that if it didn’t have these things that it would be a rather empty experience so I am glad that it’s all still in tact here with the Switch port. Along with the ambient sounds, the character dialogue is still present here and it still sounds ok to the point you don’t feel like muting the volume or throwing on your favorite music as you travel around the island performing tasks.
With Hello Kitty Island Adventure finally leaving the confines of Apple Arcade, is it worth picking up on the Switch for yet another mobile capable outing? Well the answer is simply yes, yes it is. You see despite my issues with it being more or less the same, and not as optimized as it could be, it’s still worth playing over the original release.
The reason for this is simple, it’s not subscription based, you pay for it once and that’s it. You have it for as long as you have it installed or until the developer or publisher chooses to remove it from the store front (unless it gets a physical release, of which at the time of writing this, has yet to be confirmed or announced). Beyond the subscription aspect, the multiplayer with this port of the game was done right; as it gives the option for invite code or to invite your friends by just using your friends list.
I keep coming back to the performance issues due to lack of optimization because it truly is something that bothers me quite a bit. It’s the single thing that is holding the game back. I am hoping that over time, the game will be patched to load quicker and have a lot less issues with performance. If it doesn’t get patched, here’s hoping that it gets ported and can thrive on the Switch 2, or maybe additional platforms that can offer a bit more powerful specs.
All of this boils down to the fact that yes, I totally recommend picking up and playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure. It’s a solid adventure game that has a lot of charm and is really a lot of fun if you give it the chance.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.