[1P] First Play: Coral Island
I’ve put about thirteen hours into Coral Island and my first impression is that it’s very much like Stardew Valley, but with prettier graphics. There’s a lot of familiar themes: farm crops for money, build up your farm with barns and buildings, make friends with the local community. I think the foremost way Coral Island differs is that there’s more to its overarching story than, “Oh dear, let’s save the farm for dear ol’ grandpa!” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. I do appreciate that there is more to the story, though.
Pros
- Familiar gameplay style that makes getting into the game easy.
- Underlying meaningful storyline.
- Character customization (always a pro-bonus to me!)
- Plenty of varied activities in the game to pursue.
Cons
- Items purchased with in-game currency can be fairly expensive, making it longer to achieve goals.
- Some goals seem exhaustively long.
- Not all mailbox letters persist after they’re read, meaning some of the quest breadcrumbs you’re given might get forgotten.
- Bagspace is a precious commodity and buying expansions for it is almost prohibitively expensive.
Gameplay
Gameplay, overall, is what you’d expect. I think the hardest thing to do in the game that I’ve encountered thusfar is the Bug Catching element. I find that my skill isn’t high enough to sneak up on some of the trickier bugs without getting seen or heard.
Quality of Life
There’s plenty to do on Coral Island, so it gives you a fairly good quality of life with all manner of activities and chores to keep you busy for hours on end. The one drawback, though, is your backpack space. It’s fairly expensive to buy upgrades from Sam’s General Store, but you sometimes gather so much in a day that there’s no room for it all. So, I suggest focusing on one activity a day to keep yourself from having to ditch a bunch of materials due to a full inventory.
Overall Impression
I think that Coral Island is a welcome entry into the life-sim genre. It’s familiar enough to make getting into it fairly easy, but with enough of its own personality and flair to ensure you aren’t bored by the “same old thing.”