Here's our first thoughts on Slime King Games' debut title, Under The Island!
If you’ve ever craved a trip down memory lane filled with Zelda-like experiences, game developer Slime King Games' debut title Under The Island takes you right there. In this 90s-inspired action-exploration game, ala Link’s Awakening, you traverse the map of Seashell Island, combat enemies with a hockey stick, and solve puzzles in tombs and dungeons to save the world.
If that’s enough to excite you, read on for our first impressions of the game.
Under The Island story tells a witty adventure
Under The Island’s plot centres around Nia, a teenage girl who reluctantly moves to Seashell Island with her parents. She is far from thrilled about being cut off from the world, but soon finds herself deep in a puzzling adventure–where the fate of the island, and the world, rests on her shoulders and those of her newly-acquainted friend, Avocado.
The story itself is nothing remarkable. At times, there is a noticeable lack of narrative depth in the way Nia's adventures unfold, and you don’t quite feel connected to the characters around the island. The satirical writing makes up for it though, as I still find joy reading characters’ witty exchanges in between exploration segments. I wish the story was just as interesting to play through, but this could just be an early game thing.
Fun gameplay and unique combat
Under the Island's gameplay makes up for any disappointment felt in playing through its story, however. Following the game's introduction, players are thrown right into the action. You quickly find your first weapon in a hockey stick, which has a two-hit combo that can be awkward to use during combat, as you slightly slide forward every two hits and get hit with a delay afterward. This was particularly irritating to deal with during combat, as it often disrupt my positioning and timing.
There is also a fire-spitting plant, which immediately became my favourite weapon in the game, as it adds extra twists to encounters and made puzzle-solving more fun. This handy weapon can spit fire to burn plants and unveil new pathways, melt ice cubes, light up torches in dark dungeons, and much more. You will also be able to collect bombs, though there weren't as many things you can do with it other than removing stone obstacles and blasting open closed tomb entrances.
Using your hockey stick, you can clear bushes and collect scattered coins across the map. This currency can be used to purchase items like bombs, and upgrades to your wallet size, allowing you to carry more coins.
Most enemies scattered across the map come in the form of pinecones and tree logs, which you can farm for resources. The pinecones are simple enough to kill off, but the treelogs really demand a quick hit-and-run type attack as they counters rapidly. The bosses have been incredibly fun and unique, starting with a pinecone celebrity–whom, surprisingly, you don’t attack, but instead protect and assist.
The dungeons were diverse with unique tricks and distinct design. One would force you to move rocks, or use the fire-spitting plant to light up hidden paths, and even lure animals with food to get them somewhere. There were tons of variables when solving these tomb mysteries, which made it a lot of fun.
Other than that, expect some occasional surprises, such as being able to “accidentally” smack animals with your hockey stick and then interact with them again to show them loving affection. I wasn’t entirely sure how to process this little animal abuse mechanic, but hey, I unlocked a hidden achievement for it!
Charming 2D visuals
Over in the visuals department, I thoroughly enjoyed Under The Island’s broad map and environments, which feature adorable visuals, vibrant colours, and unique NPC designs, none of which feel repetitive. Despite their 2D form, the characters convey their emotions really well, and the retro-style art lends a nostalgia-tinged sense of immersion to the whole package. It almost feels like a game I would have played on the Game Boy Advance, back in the day.
The different locations and dungeons–packed with interactive elements, puzzles, and enemies–each have their distinct differences and they are all interconnected well, especially with the fast travel feature that you can unlock by solving a specific puzzle at each location. These are fairly simple to solve, with merge and match-three concept puzzles. With the fast travel feature, it felt so much easier going back and forth around its decently broad-sized map, especially when you're still figuring out where to go in the early phase.
A difficult challenge for beginners
I never thought that I would crash out trying to solve puzzles in such an adorable setting–but Under The Island gave me a much-needed life lesson. Buyer beware: some of these puzzles I encountered in this game were pretty difficult, and I’ll humbly admit that one made me stuck for hours.
It could just be my unfamiliarity with puzzle games, so my puzzle-solving capabilities might be far off from other players. You could always look up a guide to get around this issue, of course, and I'll admit that the challenge might actually be a selling point to players more used to the Zelda-like gameplay loop which this game adopts. So if you’re someone like me–testing unfamiliar waters here–expect some genuinely hardcore challenges ahead.
That said, it would certainly be nice if the game included some kind of hint system or similar accessibility option to ease newcomers into the experience. We’re not all Sherlock Holmes, after all.
My overall thoughts
Under The Island was genuinely a fun experience, and it will be right up your alley if you enjoy a modernised old-school adventure. It ticked most of the boxes for me–it’s playful, engaging, and sports delightfully appealing 2D art. Apart from the game’s lack of gentle welcome for noobs like myself–it was a big positive!
So, if you need to scratch that indie game itch with a puzzle-packed adventure that will not disappoint, Under The Island is well worth picking up.
Under the Island is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S for US$16.99.
