In Islets, you play as Iko, a mouse with a sword and a desire to become a heroic warrior. Their goal is to reconnect scattered floating islands by activating ancient, powerful electromagnets hidden deep within them. To do this, Iko needs to stage and fight her way through various traps and monsters while collecting upgrades and new abilities. As is often the case, you’ll be tempted by blocked exits and tantric edges that are just out of reach, knowing you’ll have to come back later with some new traversal capability.
Islets brands itself as atmospheric, and that’s something it pulls off with aplomb. When you start the game by exploring the green meadows, you eventually start encountering far more interesting and suggestive locations. Grim hollows filled with spirits, sandstone tombs, mechanical labyrinths filled with clockwork creatures – the islets have surprises for anyone hoping for a standard cutesy adventure filled with anthropomorphic animals.
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While background lore is thrown at you in the opening minutes, the world is also built through the characters you meet and the ruins you discover. The game’s writing is one of its highest points—each NPC has a defining personality, whether it’s a spirited but intimidating tour guide who’s clearly no good, or a gardener with so much passion that he’s the one he’s grown up with. Completely oblivious to deadly plants. Recurring companions in particular are the source of some honestly funny or poignant moments. There isn’t much dialogue in the game, but the little that is there seems to be well-crafted.
Platforming sounds great. The Echo’s speed is floaty but easily controlled. Bounding around the map becomes second nature as your new motion technique kicks in. The Echo’s jump height is dictated by the length of the button press and it’s easy to use, and once you’re used to climbing a wall and using sword slams for speed, grabbing upgrades can be a great way to go. To return to the earlier regions is hardly a chore. I love the ability to return and dominate places from the first hours of the game – and Islets is a rare example of a platformer that lets you do just that.
The platforming gets even more fun as you progress through the game. New areas come with new mechanics, like clouds that send you flying through the air when you touch them and single-use super jumps that you must protect. One memorable sequence involves borrowing a parasol from a giant to complete a floating gliding puzzle, but it ends very quickly without much difficulty. Of the unique platforming mechanics, very few have stayed with since its debut. I’ve really only noticed the white orbs that let you slash them for double jump recharge and the bursts of speed that are visible throughout the game—which is good, because they’ve produced some of the most heart-thumping satisfying Designed for platforming sequences.
The puzzles are great in their own right. There’s enough variety to keep things interesting, and the combat difficulty and fast platforming puzzles feel perfect. The only question I’ll mention is that once you increase your health by a reasonable amount, there are some challenges that can be completely trivialized. Why bother moving wooden posts slowly in mid-air when you can only brute-force through spike-stranded ground?
The problem lies in the game’s combat system, which requires the ability to boost your health. Echo has a sword with a three-hit combo and a bow with a quiver that recharges when he strikes enemies. To say that combat is basic will have to be overseen, but I can’t lie; it sounds very beneficial and chunky the very first. However, by the end, it feels a little overfilled. You don’t even unlock many new abilities to use in combat and add a dodge roll that’s so overpowering that you can use it to bypass an entire puzzle, and it’s clear that a little more love is needed. the wanted. It’s not bad, per se, but it just pales in comparison to the platforming.
When it comes to boss fights, the issues of the fight escalate. Some are excellent, providing reasonable challenges that it’s great to overcome, but most have little hidden platforming hurdles at heart. The worst of them all feel hopelessness in the face of anger, requiring far more dexterity and reactivity than anything else in the game. I struggled a lot with Buried Beast and Clockmaker, two early-game bosses that require far more of you than in previous areas that would feel unfair as a result. That doesn’t mean all bosses feel like it — some bosses like Stone Witch and Tomb of the 1,000 Spirits are standout encounters that other games can learn from, requiring a great balance between offense and dodging that pulls off. Seems incredibly satisfying. Yet the difficulty spikes are hard to ignore.
What makes it all the more disappointing is that the Islets have a lot of combat that feels like Excellent, The airship bosses are fantastic bullet-hell sections, and enemy placement is, in general, precise and deliberate. Standard mooks are easy to detect, counter, and kill, but when islets increase the difficulty, even the most common enemies can trip you up in a way that makes you appreciate them. In these areas, the game shines.
The more I think about it, the more I think there is a problem of identification of islets. The game seems to be an attempt at a pure platformer/Metroidvania hybrid and doesn’t quite make it. The fundamentals are definitely there, and I think it would have been a much more immersive experience if the game had leaned to one side or the other.
At this point in time, it takes a lot for Metroidvania to stand out in a sea of action platformers. With its gorgeous presentation and memorable boss fights, Eyelets does just that. It’s the tightest platforming I’ve ever had, but I felt the unbalanced combat design let it down. I really enjoyed my time with Islets – it took me about 12 hours to beat the game, and it certainly doesn’t feel like a waste of time – and I would recommend it to any Metroidvanias fan, but I don’t think so. That this is a global appeal.
Score: 3/5. A PC review code was provided for this review.
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