Review of Hello Kitty Island Adventure: A tropical haven
Our Verdict
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a polished, adorable Sanrio life sim jam-packed full of delicious treats and areas to explore on launch. The perfect game for fans of cats, cakes, and cuteness.
I knew I wanted to play this game as soon as I heard about it. Because of my Little Twin Stars and Pompompurin tattoos and other accessories, everybody who has met me in person knows that I'm a major admirer of Sanrio. Despite Hello Kitty being quite popular in the US and the UK, many people in the West have never heard of Sanrio. However, this game is ideal for the legions of devoted Sanrio fans who exist worldwide.
In the Apple Arcade-only life simulation game Hello Kitty Island Adventure, you create your own adorable mascot and make friends with a large cast of well-known figures on a tropical island when your flight's cake-baking machine breaks down and forces you all to leap to safety. I doubt you even understand what whimsy is if it isn't enough to pique your interest right away.
In spite of the title of the game, My Melody and her gift store, Small Gift, Big Smile—Sanrio’s catchphrase—are at the centre of the narrative. She receives an invitation to establish a store on this enigmatic resort island, so the whole crew—Pochacco, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru, and Hello Kitty herself—boards an aircraft to accompany her. Much like in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you begin in a tiny region and meet new people, locations, and things as you go.
As one would expect from a Sanrio game, friendship is the primary gameplay mechanism in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. By giving the island's residents presents from categories they like, you may strengthen your friendships with them and advance the main plot while also unlocking cosmetics. For instance, Keroppi loves animals, while My Melody is fond of sweets. The personalities and language of each character seem distinct and real, which makes it even more enjoyable for fans to converse with and get to know their favourite Sanrio characters in-game.
That being said, you may start right away without having any previous Sanrio expertise. The game presents each character to you as if you've never met them before, making no assumptions about the player's background. This was helpful to me since, while I am somewhat acquainted with Kuromi and My Melody, for example, I am not as familiar with Badtz-Maru and Hangyodon. But now that we've had in-game chats, Badtz-Maru is gradually moving up my list of favourites.
As you would expect from a life simulation game, Hello Kitty Island Adventure includes fishing, crafting, cooking (so much cooking, I'm in love), resource collection, insect capturing, and much more! I don't feel compelled to accomplish everything at once since there is so much to discover and do. The fact that Stardew Valley throws so many challenging objectives at you at once is one of the reasons I don't like the game, but I do like how much more laid back Hello Kitty Island Adventure is.
I did not anticipate discovering the mystery areas, however. The game consists of both single-player puzzles tied to narrative quests and multiplayer riddles that need to be completed with a friend's assistance. I suggest using the official Discord server if you're concerned about getting assistance from others. My experience with the game has been very easy so far thanks to the fan and developer community, plus there is a channel just for matching up players to play multiplayer.
I'm using an iPhone SE 2022 for gaming, and although I haven't had any problems with performance, my phone does heat up a lot when playing and drains its battery quickly. It's difficult to determine how much of this is due to the game and how much to the device, but if you own an older model, keep this in mind.
To be honest, I have a hard time finding the drawbacks since there aren't many. Personally, I think it's a bit awkward to manage the on-screen joystick, but you may not mind if you play games like this on your phone or if you use a controller. I was initially irritated by how fetch-quest-heavy several of the missions may seem, but that's much less of an issue now that I've achieved quick travel.
Given the quantity and calibre of gameplay that Hello Kitty Island Adventure offers right out of the gate, together with the announcement that version 1.1 will include new characters and UX changes as early as August, I would contend that this game is well worth the Apple Arcade membership cost for die-hard Sanrio fans. Really, I do! This game has the potential to become for Sanrio lovers what Animal Crossing: New Horizons was for those living under lockdown if Sunblink can continue to release updates on a regular basis. I really recommend giving Apple Arcade a try if you already pay for it; there is something for everyone to enjoy and it is quite cute.
That concludes our review of Hello Kitty Island Adventure. See our My Hello Kitty Cafe codes guide for more adorable finds, or read up on the latest Tamagotchi Hello Kitty editions.