Minute of Islands [Xbox]
Studio Fizbin’s Minute of Islands is a gorgeous puzzle-platformer that sees you take on the role of a girl named Mo; an apprentice of the machine; the chosen one. After becoming aware of a sudden, worrying silence, she must check on the four brothers; giant creatures bound by an eternal purpose to keep the strangely-organic engine running, powering the protective purifiers that ward off the poisonous spores polluting the air. Only, Mo finds them all unconscious, and the protection they give the archipelago has failed - starting her on a journey to investigate what has caused them to break down and fix the issue as only she knows how - uncovering more than she anticipated along the way.
Mo sets out on her quest across the islands with her Omni Switch in hand; a magical tool which will point Mo in the direction of the next objective, as well as granting access to the power needed to restore each of the purifiers. As you wander, you’ll find collectibles such as memories of Mo’s life on the islands, playing with her sister and pondering the existence of the giants. What life was left in the archipelago has mostly succumbed to the toxic spores, yet Mo continues to expose herself to them - despite the risk. The mystery of everything really pulls you in, urging you to explore further.
Visually stunning, Minute of Islands has a very comic style aesthetic akin to Adventure Time’s art, with tonnes of detail and rich colours that make every location pop. Character designs are great, with Mo herself having a cute, simple look, with her yellow cloak flowing as she moves, only briefly revealing her arms from underneath when she climbs or uses her Omni Switch. The giants have huge, fleshy bodies - and look harmless yet terrifying. The world has a lonely aura to it, with haunting areas that have turned to ruin, and macabre sights all around. The effect the spores have had, and continue to have on Mo, leads to horrifying hallucinations, and these get more intense as you progress deeper into the story.
The narrator’s voice is very calming - although it does get quite harsh at times - and gives a very mystical, creepy vibe to what she speaks - and combined with the melancholic, atmospheric soundtrack, it blends well with the themes of trying to preserve what you love, and destruction woven all through the story. Mo knows how dangerous the spores are - but feels compelled to do everything in her power to keep the machine running, whilst walking around and breathing in the deadly toxins without so much as a mask to protect herself. It does leave you with a lot of questions, such as if what Mo is doing is a constant yet fruitless effort, and to what lengths will she go to save the place she loves; her home?
There’s lots to see in Minute of Islands, and while there isn’t a whole lot of variety to the gameplay; consisting of simple platforming and logic based puzzles, it is enjoyable and interesting to work your way through the mysterious world at a leisurely pace, taking everything in. Available for £19.99 on the Xbox Store, it will give you around 5-6 hours of playtime and is ideally suited to fans of the puzzle-platforming genre.
The gorgeous art style played a big part in what interested us in the game, and the atmosphere and intrigue of finding out what deeper meaning there is to the story kept us keenly interested. Overall, we had a decent time with Minute of Islands, and would recommend it to those that are looking for a relatively relaxing-paced game, with an oddly alluring story. Studio Fizbin’s previous title, Say No! More had that same, simple style that kept us wanting to know more, so if you enjoyed that - you’ll probably have a good time here, too.
In the end, we decided to give Minute of Islands the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.
Have you played Minute of Islands yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Mixtvision for the Minute of Islands Xbox review code!
