Forsaken Isle
- February 6, 2015
- Smoodlez
- 3h median play time
Get on SteamForsaken Isle is a sandbox survival game set on a mysterious island. Gather resources, craft tools, and build your own shelter to withstand the dangers of the wilderness. Uncover the island's secrets, solve puzzles, and ultimately escape, but beware of the supernatural forces that lurk in the shadows.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game is fun and engaging, with a charming pixel art style that enhances the overall experience.
- The developer has returned and is actively working on updates, showing commitment to improving the game.
- There is a lot of potential for crafting, farming, and exploration, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.
- The game has been criticized for its lack of content and depth, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- Crafting can be confusing and lacks clear guidance, making it difficult for players to discover recipes organically.
- There have been long periods of inactivity from the developer, leading to concerns about the game's future and whether it will be fully completed.
- graphics47 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming and polished pixel art style, reminiscent of classic NES-era visuals. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and find it engaging, others express mixed feelings about the retro graphics and fixed resolution issues. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the game's exploration and survival elements, enhancing the overall experience.
“What drew me to this game the most is the pixelated graphics and the survival, exploring, and building aspects, living out your life on a forsaken isle surviving against things that wish you harm.”
“The pixel graphics are beautiful!”
“Unlike some pixel art games that look like the developer was attempting to be lazy with the graphics, Forsaken Isle looks well polished and refined.”
“The layout is fixed to a certain resolution, so trying to run it at something lower just positions the graphics in odd locations, making their positions not scaled correctly.”
“I am still not getting this recent 'love' for NES-era graphics.”
“You can customize your character a bit, although with 16-bit graphics, it doesn't matter much.”
- gameplay46 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received, characterized by simple controls and familiar progression mechanics, though some players find it slightly outdated for 2023. While the game shows great potential and offers a charming experience, it currently lacks content, particularly bosses, and is still in early access, leading to occasional bugs and incomplete features. Overall, the gameplay is addictive and intuitive, making it enjoyable despite its early-stage limitations.
“Even though there isn't much of an endgame yet (I've only encountered 2 bosses so far), the gameplay is addictive and oddly relaxing at the same time.”
“There is a fantastic art direction here, and the gameplay is incredibly polished.”
“Never got close to using magic in this game; it's really an 'end-game' mechanic unless you know the crafting recipes to begin with.”
“The gameplay is pretty solid, though there is a bit of a learning curve.”
“Slightly outdated gameplay for 2023, but the formula still works and is fun.”
- grinding30 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game, particularly farming, to be enjoyable and rewarding, with a simple and satisfying system that allows for quick crop growth and resource gathering. However, some express concerns about the crafting process being overly tedious without external guidance, and the rapid accumulation of food items may need balancing to maintain challenge. Overall, those who appreciate survival and sandbox genres are likely to find the grinding elements engaging and entertaining.
“This is just a small example of how cumbersome the crafting is - unless you spoil the crafting recipes on the wiki, the combinations will be far too tedious for the player to organically discover.”
“Farming is great, crops grow too fast though; by the end of a 3-hour run, I had a mass of carrots building up which pretty much kept me fed the entire game.”
“The farming in this game is absolutely fantastic and mesmerizing, easy to pick up and satisfying to do (also super quick, though I expect this to be tweaked later; currently it's way too easy to just farm up a few hundred loaves of bread and solve your hunger forever).”
- music15 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the great atmosphere and relaxing pirate tune, others criticize the lack of a consistent musical soundtrack and find the ambient sounds repetitive. Additionally, there are complaints about minimal sound effects and poor overall audio design, leading to a less immersive experience.
“The music's great.”
“I really liked the atmosphere and music.”
“Music is optional, but the pirate tune is very relaxing. I only use it when I'm trying to build an island or bridge.”
“The UI is very rough, the controls feel super clunky, and the sound/music is laughably bad.”
“No music and terrible HUD design.”
“Minimal sound effects and virtually no music.”
- story14 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is criticized for lacking depth, with many users noting the absence of a traditional narrative or quests, which contributes to a feeling of lifelessness. However, some players appreciate the simplicity of the gameplay and the focus on individual character development, expressing hope for future updates that could enhance the overall experience. Overall, while the story may not be compelling, the potential for improvement keeps players engaged.
“I haven't really found this to be an issue because I love just taking a few minutes to go into my isle and do some farming or build another room for my house and having this long-running story where I'm focused on just one character.”
“I miss the challenge and the story a bit, but otherwise a nice overall.”
“Or former 'same old story' - stuff like this has me buying few/no EA games these days.”
“- no storyline or quests makes it seem a little lifeless.”
“Looking forward to future updates and additional content, this could become a comeback story!”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its engaging music and distinctive art style, characterized as "pixely and crunchy." Reviewers appreciate the crafting elements and overall aesthetic, noting it as a standout feature within the genre.
“The crafting, atmosphere, and overall art scheme is my favorite in this type of genre.”
“I really liked the atmosphere and music.”
“The atmosphere of the game is very pixely and crunchy.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report a generally stable experience with few glitches; however, some players have encountered freezing issues during manual and autosave processes, which can be concerning due to the lack of notifications indicating that the game is saving.
“When I save the game, it freezes and doesn't give me any notification that it is actually saving.”
“It does the same thing when it autosaves - it just freezes the game for a few seconds.”
“I personally haven't come across too many glitches.”
