Coral Island, the brand new farming and courting sim by Stairway Games, is the most recent instance of a recreation wherein pursuing a good-looking lad is sufficient to drag me via one thing I’m in any other case lukewarm on. I’ve spent chunks of my playtime chopping bushes making an attempt to make an actual farm out of my designated plot of land. But I don’t want to chop bushes, I merely want to climb Coral Island’s residents like bushes.
Coral Island begins as most Stardew Valley-likes do: your customized character arrives on the titular tropical paradise, solely to search out that the farm they’re there to domesticate is in tough form. As it seems, most of Coral Island is in a nasty means, and a predatory oil firm has arrange camp to strip it for elements and deem it a misplaced trigger. But there are many folks nonetheless dwelling right here, and for some cause their livelihoods hinge in your labor to get the island again into sustainable form.
Coral Island is a stable, if unremarkable farming sim
Coral Island’s farming mechanics are easy and intuitive, so it’s a principally frictionless expertise compared to different video games on this style. But I’ve spent round 10 hours trimming weeds, cleansing up trash, and planting crops on the farm, and it’s all the time felt like chores I’ve to do earlier than I get to discover the elements of Coral Island I get pleasure from. There’s a supernatural aspect plot I’m unraveling by making choices to an area temple, its overtly anticapitalist narrative revitalizes the burnt-out a part of my mind, and the sensation of rising a group warms my coronary heart because the state of the world threatens to freeze it over.
Like most farming sims, Coral Island is loads of “hurry up and wait,” as you plant your crops in an effort to progress just about each route within the recreation, then wait in-game days for the fruits of your labor to develop from the masochistically sluggish floor. This is how farming is in real-life, positive, however Coral Island feels so beholden to its regimented schedule that I’ve lengthy stretches of killing time with busy work between the issues I really need to see and do.
To its credit score, Coral Island is continually drip-feeding me new tales to comply with and actions to attempt. There are mini-game-driven festivals which have me participate in contests like sack races, and a potluck I can donate to that helps me really feel extra part of the island’s group. I can go diving and discover the sunken treasure I received’t discover on land. As my relationships construct with the locals, I make pals and perhaps extra. But even that’s regimented by solely permitting me to provide potential suitors presents twice in a single week—so far as I’ve gotten, that’s the one technique to progress your relationship. And with how handsome all its island residents are, ready to woo them for so long as Coral Island requires is extremely irritating.
Coral Island’s greatest characteristic is its glorious Disney-inspired character design
While I’m not thrilled with how romance works underneath the hood to this point, Coral Island’s scorching singles in your space are the draw of Stairway Games’ tackle the Stardew Valley formulation. The studio went with a Disney-esque artwork fashion for all its characters, and for those who’ve ever posted some shit about having a crush on an animated character out of your childhood, this recreation is catering particularly to you.
Coral Island’s character design is its strongest facet. Not solely is its various solid simple on the eyes, however you may get a powerful sense of their personalities simply by their portraits. Mark, the resident bear and adventurer, provides off an air of rugged stoicism. The solely cause I do know he likes me is as a result of the center meter on the connection menu goes up each time I give him a Shiitake mushroom. Scott, the native archeologist making an attempt to get the museum again on its toes, has Nathan Drake’s swagger, full with the uncovered chest however with out all of the grime and grit. Rafael, the soft-spoken blacksmith, all the time seems to be like he’s recent off the anvil, however his type eyes exude friendliness.
I need to marry all of them, and that may be a larger wrestle than clearing all the rubbish off my garden or rising the proper carrot. Coral Island, sadly, doesn’t embrace polyamory (not deliberately, a minimum of), so whereas I deal with all of the busy work ready for the subsequent relationship cutscene to set off, I’m continuously weighing the professionals and cons of my potential paramours. Mark is a canine lover and will throw me over his shoulder with minimal effort, however he’s additionally distant and emotionally unavailable. Scott is a golden retriever who likes to unbutton his shirt, however he’s additionally a little bit of a dweeb. Rafael, meanwile, appears nearly fearful of me and having any human contact.
But the reality is, loads of my early hours is simply me projecting onto these characters, as a result of whereas they’re actually a bunch of fairly faces, Coral Island’s character writing feels stretched skinny to the purpose of transparency. . There are 28 potential marriage candidates, and in between your designated relationship scenes, every character chirps the identical three or so traces at you till you give them sufficient presents to progress your bond additional. I’m nonetheless ready for the purpose the place these relationships really feel extra substantial, as proper now they’re fairly shallow. This lack of meat on the bone is primed for followers to fill within the gaps with fanfiction and artwork, however the character design looks like a carrot on a stick I’m following in search of depth.
Overall, Coral Island is a advantageous farming and relationship sim to date, and the draw is definitely in its 28 datable hotties. But 10 hours in, I really feel like I’d quite have an easy courting sim than cope with loads of the task-based filler and farming, which is okay, if unremarkable. The farming sim style is fairly bloated nowadays as everybody chases Stardew Valley’s success. At the very least, Coral Island stands out due to its distinctive visible design, which makes the courting facet of its gameplay all of the extra deliciously troublesome.
