LifeisXbox’s Minute of Islands review | Have you ever wondered what would happen if an apocalypse would hit? In a world where giants roam the world and play as the balancers of life? Well… Then you would get Minute of Islands. Created by Studio Fizbin. In a world that is constantly struggling to survive, you play as Mo. The sole protector and wielder of the Omnikey, it is your task to maintain balance and assure the survival of what remains of the world’s population. The giants that once roamed above ground, now retreated underground, to power a machine so big, that their power is the only thing that can keep this machine running. If they would fall asleep, the machine stops working, and the crippling fungus that otherwise is held at bay is left unchecked and starts to creep about again. Consuming and destroying everything that it touches. To awaken them? You need the omnikey! With visuals that feel as if you’re watching an episode of Adventure Times and a story so mysterious yet intriguing at the same time? You’ll quickly come to fall in love with the marvel that is Minute of Islands. A game that kept me coming back every free moment that I had. Want to find out why it had such an effect on me? Or why I am calling this one an amazing marvel to play? Then take out your rebreather and prepare yourself for this amazing journey into an apocalyptic world…! This is our review of… Minute of Islands!
ℹ️ | We played Minute of Islands for 6 hours on the Xbox Series X. This game is also available on Playstation – Nintendo Switch – PC
What we liked!
- Visually appealing | If you’ve ever seen the cartoon Adventure Time and liked the visual design? Then you’ll absolutely love Minute of Islands. While not created by the originators of the show, Studio Fizbin truly captured the magic of what makes that show work. With a visual design that resembles that showdown to the letter. Every asset just lives and breathes its own vibe, resulting in an amazing living and breathing world. The visual artists who worked on this one really outdid themselves and deserve a lot of credit. Without their efforts, I honestly believe that I wouldn’t have scored it the way I did. Not only do they put attention to detail, they thought ahead about the story as well. While the world is being slowly eaten away by an apocalyptic level fungus, there is a true beauty as well, hidden beneath it all. You’ll really see that you’re in a living world, because the environment changes and transmorphs, the longer that you play the game and return to your base island.
- Intriguing story | While it may be short? Minute of Island’s story is where the true wonder lies. You play as Mo, the sole protector of the dystopian world that has tumbled into utter chaos by a crippling fungus cloud. Bit by bit, you’ll uncover what has happened, how you got to where you are, and meet what remains of the world’s occupants. You’ll learn more about who you are and what role you play in everything. But what actually baffled me the most (and actually got a few tears out of me as well), was how the final piece of the puzzle, was only given to you at the very last minute, and how true to life it actually is and feels. But it doesn’t just stop there. There is a narrator that brings the story even more to life, pulling at your heartstrings, even more, sucking you in even deeper… Oh, the feels…! She did an amazing job as well. Truly a great masterpiece and shows, even more, how Studio Fizbin ‘s an amazing developer that deserves more credit.
- Easy game | Minute of Islands is designed to be accessible for anyone and everyone. There is nothing hard or rough about it. Feeling less like a platformer, and more as an interactive experience? Studio Fizbin’s talent really shines through. No matter what age group you are, you can fully enjoy the game at your own pace without any limiting factors if you wouldn’t be the best gamer out there. Making this one a super easy and enjoyable game. There’s only one tricky part, and that are certain jumping puzzles, but even those are super easy to get around once you see the pattern.
Somewhere between
- Clunky | Hello Mo! I pressed the jump button, not the I leap in the air and barely move forward button. While the rest of Minute of Islands is perfectly adapted and streamlined for what it offers, and the performance of itself is without a shadow of a doubt perfect? The controls are truly and utterly bothersome. Not saying that its broken. But if you get that feeling as if your character has a boulder strapped to her legs while jumping, and if you want to jump on a platform, but miss it by and X amount of pixels resulting in you falling right through it? Then you can honestly say that your controls are fully and officially CLUNKY as heck. It truly is a shame, because otherwise this was an amazingly perfect game.
- Short | While Minute of Islands has got an amazing story, it unbelievably short. Being able to complete it in a matter of a few hours really was a bummer. It left me craving for more, in a world where time was running out. I wanted to find out what happened so a certain figure at a certain time in the game. I wanted to get to know your suddenly available pet, or even more so. Where it came from..! Sigh… What ever the case may be? Minute of Island a short masterpiece, and would maybe have lost a bit of its magic if it got dragged along unnecessarily, so I can understand why the length is the way it is… I just hope a 2nd one will be in the works, eventually…
What we disliked
- Masterpieces do not have bad things | Yup, I mean it. While it is short, and clunky at times on the controllers department? There is in no way, shape or form anything bad to say about this one, except that its got no sequel. Boo Fizbin, boo!
How long to beat the story | 6 to 8 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Likewise
Similar with | Sea of Solitude
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