Coral Island Review

In the last few years, cozy games like Coral Island have been released in large numbers. Just like the wave that arose for the reproduction of Battle Royale games. Battle Royale games have been trying to copy PUBG and Fortnite, and many of them failed to attract the attention of gamers. Now cozy games are going the same way. Most of them are using the game formula of Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing series. Meanwhile, naturally, few of them have been able to gain an important share of the market. Except for Stardew Valley, which, of course, is often imitated by others even though it is not a completely original work.

Another cozy game available in the market is called Coral Island, which is not much different from Stardew Valley in terms of story and gameplay, and maybe at first glance, it is just another farming-social game. But this title is an exception. That is, if only one other game can repeat the success of Stardew Valley or the good old Harvest Moon games, in our opinion, it must be Coral Island. In the following, we will explain more about this opinion.

Coral Island is an exact copy of Stardew Valley in terms of story. You control a young person who has abandoned city life and turned to farming in a a village. The village has been polluted and damaged by an oil company. Instead, it has improved the economic conditions and the villagers are discussing this issue. The storyline is so barebone and familiar. Something that is more or less repeated in other games like this. Also, in terms of gameplay, the game is not much different from Stardew Valley. As expected, at the beginning of the game you are given a dirty and messy farm and a small house where you live. You have to prepare your field by mowing, axing, hoeing, plowing, watering, etc., and plant different crops based on the season you are in. Then you must place your products in a selling box to get paid.

Another way to earn cash is to complete game missions. The game does not pressure you at all on how to earn or progress. You can just complete a few requests but have a complete and perfect farm. The quests in the game are varied, although some of them seem like fetch quests. You usually complete your duties by fulfilling the demands of your fellow villagers. Typical side activities like fun mini-games, festivals, competitions, hunting insects, and fishing are also present on Coral Island. You can get ready for them by checking the in-game calendar. Also, if you are interested in social interactions such as making friends with village people and giving them gifts and even romantic relationships, these things are available too.

The more you do all these things that we have mentioned, the more the skill level of the character that you created at the beginning of the game will increase. It should be noted that, unfortunately, character creation is brutally limited, especially for face design. Another constant element of this type of game, which is exploring the mines and collecting valuable minerals, is also available with the difference that in Coral Island you can go diving and explore underwater, and even meet mermaids! With these explanations, you might ask, how is this title distinguishable from similar works? The answer is that Coral Island has a completely different personality and presentation, which is very fresh. In fact from the clean, simple, and useful user interface of the game to its stylish 3D graphics and the simple fact that the main character has a high movement speed, gives a completely new feeling to the game.

The game has a visual language that combines Western and Eastern art styles. Japanese perfectionism which says all characters must be beautiful or cute is combined with character designs similar to Disney animations. And this even applies to environment design and animals. Compared to the anime visuals of Harvest Moon games or the pixel art of Stardew Valley, Coral Island is, if not superior, at least it has its charm and is completely different from the others. Many admire the gameplay of Stardew Valley but cannot deal with its 2D, pixelated, and super minimalistic pictures. Even though I like pixel art games, I couldn’t handle the appearance of Stardew Valley. Something that is 100% different in Coral Island and I was attracted by its colorful and amusing 3D graphics from the very first look. Therefore, I believe that Coral Island is a true alternative. However, the game is not yet available on many platforms. If this game is released for Switch and mobiles, it can attract more audience.

The game is not flawless. For example, the Pokyo village is huge and has many places to visit, but you cannot define a point on the map and follow it. Also, the game doesn’t have a minimap, and all this makes navigation a bit difficult. In addition, even though the game has been in early access for a long time and fortunately it is still being updated, you can still find bugs, especially in playing sounds and music tracks.

In verdict, among the huge number of cozy games available in the market, Coral Island has been able to be different with a unique appearance and introduce itself as an alternative to similar titles. It’s as if the developers wanted to say “If Stardew Valley’s graphics don’t attract you, try our game”. Coral Island is available on PC and current-gen consoles. The game provides you with tons of fun and relaxing hours of gameplay for only 30 dollars.

The review code was provided by the publisher