Story:
The story of Hello Kitty Island Adventure 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.
Gameplay:
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. Not only does all of this help to further the things you can do, but helps to also move along the thin storyline 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, online multiplayer, and even a link to the official Discord for the game. Multiplayer is lacking in the sense that it’s invite-only and makes use of codes. You have to either share your code with someone or they have to share theirs with you and then either of you can visit the others’ island.
Graphics and Performance:
Hello Kitty Island Adventure looks really good graphically for a mobile game. The environment you can move around in is rather large with the characters being presented in a nice way with a somewhat isometric view. Performance-wise, the game does fall a bit short with the stuttering as you’re walking around (which will vary in degree based on where you are and how many characters are on screen with you) and the load times being a bit longer than they should be.
Sound:
Ambient sounds on the island help to bring the island to life and works well. You can hear the water hitting the coast, birds and other wildlife calling through the air and it just fits. Various materials that you walk on make the appropriate sounds and don’t sound out of place or repetitive. Character dialogue sound effects are present, but low enough to not feel the need to mute the sound, which is a good thing.
Conclusion:
I appreciate what Hello Kitty Island Adventure is trying to do which is to capitalize on itself and appeal to as large of an audience as it can. Sanrio goes back to the nineties and is a well-established brand and worldwide for the most part. By looking at this game, you can tell right away what game franchise it is taking inspiration from for those that are familiar with it.
The lack of full online multiplayer and being on a stream-only, platform exclusive are really the only things that are holding this game back from being what it has the potential to be. If the game could offer a means to search the Internet for an ongoing game, similar to other games which I won’t name, and could branch out to other platforms, I think this game would do extremely well. You would have not only fans of Sanrio looking to pick up this game but those that just want to pick up and play a cozy game that is geared more toward family-orientated gamers. If you’re already subscribed to Apple Arcade, then you have to check out this game, it’s a lot of fun. Even if you’re not subscribed yet to Apple Arcade, I would say that this game is definitely a reason to consider subscribing. It’s a wonderful kid-friendly game that can be fun for the whole family.
DIsclaimer: A review key was provided
