There’s one thing instantly inviting about Seashell Island. Its colourful biomes, offbeat residents, and puzzle-packed ruins make it really feel like a dream vacation spot for any tropical trip. However quickly after Below the Island begins, any relaxation and leisure rapidly turns right into a mission to avoid wasting the island from slipping away solely.
In Below the Island, a brand new 2D action-adventure RPG out of Slime King Video games, you play as Nia, a lady who strikes to Seashell Island together with her archeologist mother and father whereas they examine the island’s mysterious ruins. The island, although stunning, has a couple of unusual traits about it, specifically that for 3 months yearly, storms encircle the island and shut it off from the skin world.
Quickly after arriving, you meet the native tour information, a lady named Avocado, and when Nia breaks the “no-touchy-touchy” rule of the island god’s shrine, the duo falls into an underground temple. It appears like the attractive beginnings of a life-long friendship, however actually, it’s extra like a trauma-bonding second, as you meet an odd birdman and study the true purpose behind the storms: the island is sinking, and you’ll want to acquire 4 gears to reserve it and all of its inhabitants from impending doom. Conveniently, these gears are scattered throughout the island. So, after all, it’s as much as you to get better them. Conveniently. Hrmph.
Make no mistake, although: This journey is one you most undoubtedly need to embark on. In your quest to gather these gears and save Seashell Island, you’ll meet the bizarre and wacky locals, collect tools to tackle dungeons, and resolve difficult puzzles alongside the way in which. Seashell Island is completely teeming with hidden secrets and techniques, and weaving collectively all of the unfastened threads the sport offers you is an extremely enjoyable expertise. And to prime all of it off, it’s finished towards a stunning 2D background with a ‘90s allure lifelong players are certain to understand.
You begin your journey armed with an outdated hockey stick, which you employ to pummel monsters and smash absolutely anything that appears breakable, together with the locals’ private belongings. From there, Below the Island turns you unfastened, sending you zigzagging throughout the island’s many biomes, from icy peaks that home penguins who flip into kitchen home equipment (sure, you learn that proper) to dusty dunes filled with foodies. In every of those areas, hidden behind puzzles and boss fights, you’ll discover further instruments—like bombs, animal treats, and a fireball-spewing plant—that assist you in clearing obstacles. It’s a basic, puzzle-first loop impressed by old-school The Legend of Zelda, however filtered by way of a world that’s extra foolish than sacred.
Puzzles vary from logic grids and weight-based scales to block-pushing rooms that solely make sense in case you search out the right sequence. Others require you to hit switches in a exact order, usually with minimal steering past a obscure trace or environmental nudge. Below the Island hardly ever holds your hand, and that’s precisely why its puzzles land so properly—even when most of them aren’t overwhelmingly tough. Your success comes from cautious statement and trial-and-error, not brute drive, making every breakthrough really feel genuinely earned.
That very same belief within the participant carries over into quests. Some quests aren’t marked and even clearly launched in any respect. A random NPC may casually point out how they need their home had extra vegetation, whereas one other tells you about their plan to settle household beef with the facility of a picnic. It’s simple to brush these moments off as small discuss or filler dialogue, however they’re usually real leads that may spiral into optionally available goals and hidden rewards. In Below the Island, a part of the thriller isn’t simply fixing issues, however discovering them within the first place, a design alternative that completely rewards curious gamers who refuse to go away any stone unturned.
The excellent news is Below the Island is chock filled with any such intrigue. The unhealthy information is that preserving observe of all of those unfastened threads generally is a little bit of a headache. There’s no quest log, neither is there a map-marker system so that you can make be aware of any blocked paths you may need to ultimately return to. So in case you’re aiming for 100-percent completion, you’ll simply need to regularly revisit the island’s many areas, or one way or the other mentally retailer the entire places you’ll want to ultimately head again to. Fortunately, the island isn’t too huge, and its fast-travel system considerably cuts down on the time it takes to retrace your steps. Nonetheless, I can’t assist however want it had some type of journal or different quest-tracking machine to maintain its many leads from slipping by way of the cracks.
Whereas discovering the entire island’s to-dos may be difficult, fight hardly ever places up a lot of a battle. You’ll be able to improve your well being bar or your tools, however I discovered most of these upgrades pointless. I didn’t even use the ramen to heal till midway by way of the sport, and I solely restocked bombs as soon as. That’s partly as a result of assets are all over the place: grass tufts regularly drop hearts, bombs, and different necessities, and so they respawn just by leaving and re-entering an space. Boss fights observe that very same forgiving curve, with most happening in only a few makes an attempt, and one falling in beneath three minutes on my first strive.
Below the Island’s fight might lack chunk, however its sense of journey greater than makes up for it. The liberty to discover feels revitalizing, and the sport’s honey-sweet humor had me chortling on the most random moments. And there’s simply a lot to do: you’ll be able to fish, fill pages in a monster guide, and acquire hidden soundtracks. There are secret paths, a museum that doubles as an achievement showcase, and never one, not two, however 4 complete mini-games so that you can play whereas on a break from the principle journey. You’ll be able to get pleasure from a lecture on determinism from a ghost hen on the native haunted coop or compete in a cook-off in entrance of a hungry crowd. Oh, and you’ll undertake stray canines and pet all of the island cats. Want I say extra?
You don’t have to spend a lot time on Seashell Island earlier than you notice simply how a lot coronary heart it has. Between the sheer number of actions and the cautious consideration paid to each nook of the map, it’s clear that the builders respect gamers’ time and need the expertise to really feel persistently rewarding. The phrase “labor of affection” will get thrown round, however Below the Island truly earns it. It’s a joyful, curious journey that rewards exploration, respects your intelligence, and leaves you smiling lengthy after the credit roll.
