Under The Island Review Summary

Zelda-like charm: The game is often compared to Zelda, offering a similar charm and gameplay experience.

Vibrant and cute pixel art: The game's art style was widely praised for being cute, vibrant, and fluid, with detailed pixel art and a vibrant color palette.

Engaging story and characters: Players appreciated the narrative and character development, finding the story enjoyable with interesting twists and turns.

Clever and enjoyable puzzles: Players found the puzzles to be clever and fun, adding a challenging yet enjoyable element to the gameplay.

Solid gameplay and music: The gameplay was described as solid, complemented by good music and graphics, contributing to an overall positive experience.

Game crashes and stability: Players have reported frequent crashes, including issues with the Japanese language setting and specific events causing the game to crash.

Combat mechanics too simple: Several players have noted that the combat mechanics in the game are too straightforward and lack depth, making the combat experience less engaging.

Controller support issues: There are multiple reports of problems with controller support, including button mapping issues and joystick control problems, particularly when running.

Mini-game and puzzle difficulty: Certain mini-games and puzzles, such as the monkey fruit-catching game and decryption puzzles, are noted for being particularly difficult and frustrating.

Translation and localization issues: There are complaints about the lack of certain language translations, such as French, and issues with the quality of machine translations and Japanese localization.

Exploration and interaction: Players can explore the island and world, interacting with NPCs, items, and the environment. This includes discovering secret caves and revisiting old zones.

Adventure game with puzzles and combat: The game features a mix of adventure, puzzle-solving, and light combat mechanics. Players engage in exploration, interact with environmental puzzles, and experience simple combat scenarios.

Progression and upgrades: The game features a progression system with story progression, area progression with abilities, and collectible upgrades. Players can unlock new items and abilities that help solve puzzles and open up secrets.

Boss fights and dungeons: Boss fights in dungeons are full events, providing challenging and engaging experiences. The first dungeon and subsequent dungeons offer unique gameplay scenarios.

Controller support and settings: The game supports controllers with vibration feedback and offers button mapping options. It also includes language settings for a customized gaming experience.

Frequent crashes and kicks: Players experience frequent crashes and being kicked out of the game, including specific instances like selecting the 'Shovel' item or after rescuing a chicken at the lighthouse.

Lack of autosave feature: There are complaints about the almost non-existent autosave feature, which can lead to loss of progress.

Cloud save sync issues: There are reports of problems with cloud save synchronization, which may affect game progress.

UI elements affecting screen: Some players report issues with UI elements affecting the screen, potentially obstructing gameplay.

Fullscreen mode not working: Some players report that the fullscreen mode does not work as intended.

Recommended for Zelda fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of Zelda-like adventures, suggesting it shares similar gameplay mechanics and appeal.

Highly recommended game: The game is generally highly recommended, indicating a strong positive reception.

Steam Deck: The game has some stability issues on the Steam Deck, with multiple reports of crashes during specific events. There are also minor performance issues, such as lag spikes. However, many users report that the game runs well overall, with good compatibility, despite a minor issue with the lack of 16:10 support.