ISLAND
Sanzenkai Setsuna awakens on the shore of isolated island Urashima with no memories of his past. Befriending three local girls, Rinne, Karen, and Sara, Setsuna's quest to discover the secrets of Urashima and how they tie into his own past - and future - begins.
ISLAND is a visual novel, anime and story rich game
developed by Frontwing
and published by Frontwing USA.
Released on August 23rd 2018 is available only on Windows
in 3 languages: English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.
It has received 1,600 reviews of which 1,522 were positive and 78 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 18.69€ on Steam and has a 45% discount.
The Steam community has classified ISLAND into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS: 7/8.1/10
- Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: VRAM320MB, 1280×720
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- Sound Card: Support for PCM playback through DirectSound
- Additional Notes: Windows Media Player 9 equivalent or higher
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Your Cold Hands On My Face Without spoiling the plot, ISLAND is a deeply immersive journey that masterfully balances heartfelt character interactions with mind-bending twists. The game reflects on human relationships, loss, and the passage of time. For fans of visual novels who appreciate narratives with emotional stakes and a strong sense of mystery, ISLAND offers a memorable experience that lingers long after the credits roll. The soundtrack is incredible—easily one of my all-time favorites. The storytelling is expertly woven, steadily peeling back layers of mystery with well-considered pacing. Each route rewards you with revelations, and the multiple branching paths ensure a personal and captivating narrative experience. You'll often find yourself questioning how much of what you’re experiencing is real, as the story skillfully blends scientific elements with psychological and emotional tension. At the start, the main character’s background is a complete mystery due to his near-total memory loss. As the story unfolds, fragments of his memories begin to resurface, offering several possibilities for his true backstory . The narrative masterfully maintains its enigmatic nature for much of the game, but never in a way that feels frustrating or unfair. I often found myself uncertain about which version of his past was real, with the mystery persisting until roughly the midpoint of the game . Another major highlight is the flowchart system, which allows players to revisit any part of the story they’ve unlocked. This feature eliminates the need for multiple saves or guides, making it easy and spoiler-free to explore every branch and uncover all the endings. If there’s one potential drawback, it’s that not all players may find an ending among the multiple options that feels truly satisfying . For those left wanting more, I recommend checking out the ISLAND anime series as a complement to the game. I felt very good while staying on Urashima Island and I cannot wait to return to it. * *) ISLAND sequel please FRONTWING!
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To be or not to be, the game. Introduction ISLAND is a visual novel with plotge, galge, and slice-of-life elements developed by Frontwing, the same minds behind the amazing ATRI My Dear Moments. While I recognize mixing and matching can be very effective to create something unique, it's not always well-executed. Let's see if this game does it well in this regard. Solid worldbuilding, with some caveats The game is set, for the most part, in a remote island called Urashima Island. The name Urashima isn't just for show, though. People familiiar with the theory of relativity will know about the Urashima Effect, and it's a very important plot point for the main story. There is some important established facts, like the conflict between the three most prominent families on the island, an ongoing illness tied with the three families and the existence of technology, apparently, from the future. There are also rules established, all about time travel. Those rules function as it should, for the most part, because there are some issues. The game establishes chronoquakes, and judging by the way it's presented, I thought they'd be important, but never come into play. Another thing worth of mention is when cold sleep machines are established, it's also established that they are time machines that can only send people into the future, but, later in the midsummer arc, the way everything is laid out by one of the characters, it gives the impression that cold sleep machines can also bring people into the past. This apparent contradiction in the time travel rules doesn't break the narrative, because it doesn't affect major payoffs, but creates a cognitive dissonance in the audience, hurting the suspension of disbelief. That being said, I like that most of all the important rules and established facts in this game are relevant to the story. That's a sign of good worldbuilding. Solid plot, save for the pacing and the impossible twist I liked the plot of this game. It's not a deep plot by any standards, but I think an adventure for self-discovery is a story that can be relatable to anyone. But what matters is how it's executed, and that's when some issues start to creep up. There are some tonal clashes, but they aren't too egregious, but the pacing is extremely slow. That's something common in slice-of life stories, stories about characters, not about an overarching chain of events, otherwise known as a plot. I don't think it's wise to mix slice-of-life with plot, because that can result in a poorly paced story. There were times that I just wanted to quit playing because nothing was happening. The other thing is about the time travel rule contradiction I discussed in the previous section. Take this with a grain of salt, but I think the writers wanted to introduce a plot twist at the expense of internal consistency. Whether this happened by choice or by accident, it's up to interpretation. Other than that, setups and payoffs worked as they should, and the game is pleasantly light in conveniences and contrivances. The Shakesperian main character and his lovers Setsuna or not Setsuna. This is a question that the main character asked for more times that I could count. There are interesting questions than can be asked about what defines a person, but it's sometimes a bit overdone, and sometimes can be counterproductive to the story. Setsuna can be pretty strange sometimes, because sometimes takes things seriously, and sometimes it's a total goofball. He is the main source of the tonal clashes this game has. His development matches the pacing of the game, which can disuade players from continuing the story. The heroines are likable and fun, but they change very little throughout the story. Their arcs are basic and almost barebones, but they do pay the price for their mistakes, and they learn a little from them. I don't think characters always must change for the story to function, but this particular story demands change from the characters, and they barely keep up. Of course, this only applies to the heroines. Gameplay and presentation This is a branching visual novel, and as such, the player can gain access to different storylines and endings through the choice system. It's a basic decision-making mechanic that functions as expected. And the player gets an assortment of bad endings, a good ending for each heroine, and a very unorthodox true ending. There is a flowchart that doubles as a tool to keep track of the story, and a tool to jump to a certain scene, which I found quite useful, because it negates the overuse of saving and loading, especially when the player wants to make a different choice. As for the art direction and character design, they are good, but they didn't age quite well. Sound design is decent and the music is context and tone appropiate. I was a bit surprised when I found out that Yukari Tamura (the VA for Rinne) participated in this project (she voiced Suzuha in Steins;Gate), but she does a great job, as well as the rest of the cast. I don't have an issue with localization, but that may be because my limited knowledge of Japanese. This game is pretty light on fanservice, for the people who complain about it. Conclusion: A good but could be better kind of game ISLAND is a game that does things mostly right. The plot doesn't have much issues, there is solid worldbuilding, and the characters, however basic, are likable. But there are some unfortunate issues, like the contradicting rules of time travel and the pacing. That last one can be a dealbreaker if you aren't a patient reader, and you'd feel like you wasted your time. In the end, mixing and matching genres didn't do too much damage to the story, and does the key elements right, so I can confidently recommend this game to other readers.
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While I don't think the final ending that I arrived at after 35 hours was perfect, the story leading up to it was super engaging for the most part. A bit over midway through, when I was expecting the story to end on an unsatisfying note, my jaw was dropped instead. After that point it was hard to put my Steam Deck down (by the way, ISLAND works flawlessly on the Deck, contrary to Valve's compability rating). This review does not include any story spoilers. ISLAND is a visual novel that doesn't contain any red herrings - because the story has gulped down all the fish and is now coloured red all the way through as a result. You are constantly presented with bits and pieces of information, but never enough for you to piece it together - instead it throws you deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is understanding the story. For example - right off the bat, ISLAND presents itself as a time-travel story. The protagonist wakes up on a beach with no memories and only a CD on him. You, the reader, is constantly presented with theories regarding his origins - is he from the future? The past? Is he a complete nuthead who thinks they're time-travelling? You more or less have no way to say for certain, until very late in the story. You think the story is convoluted after reading the prior paragraph? Maybe slightly. But while the truth of the events happening is hidden behind layers and layers of information, all the elements come together nicely enough in the end, albeit I needed a little bit of suspension of disbelief at the way ISLAND presented its conclusion. Other than that - the music is great, the visuals look clean, and the English translation feels polished. You most likely will not need a guide to get to all the endings, which is a breeze of fresh air compared to some other VNs that have convoluted ending flags just for the sake of it. But I'd like to note that ISLAND is fairly heavy on anime-isms - your standard character archetypes, casual sexual harassment, etc, which I don't exactly find super appealing, but am able to look past if the rest of the package is good enough. So maybe this is not the VN for you if you can't stand that kind of stuff. All in all, if you want to get sucked into a mystery story that keeps you guessing, ISLAND is a great pick.
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My friend made me play this and I honestly can't remember a single thing that happened in it except that it made my friend sound like a major nonce. Thumbs up for that alone
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 17 November 2024 16:15 |
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| SteamSpy data | 18 December 2024 19:48 |
| Steam price | 23 December 2024 20:20 |
| Steam reviews | 23 December 2024 22:00 |
Online players
14
Developer
Frontwing
Publisher
Frontwing USA
Release
23 Aug 2018
Platforms