Hello Kitty Island Adventure

When it comes to lovely animals living together in harmony and forming a community, there’s only one game that comes to mind. Against all odds, Sanrio came along and challenged the king of adorable animal games with Hello Kitty Island Adventure, a game that takes all the best parts of the leading brand and makes them even more adorable.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Hello Kitty Island Adventure looks just like Animal Crossing. I’m sure the developers were well aware of that fact. That said, once you look past the common similitudes, what you find is an amazing game that feels more like a “friendship” simulator than a “town” sim like Animal Crossing.

Adorable Villagers

In Hello Kitty Island Adventure, your only mission is to have the time of your life with Hello Kitty and her friends on a tropical island. That’s it – no complex narratives or anything like that. In that aspect, the game feels like a cuter The Sims, with some dashes of Animal Crossing, of course.

The stars of the show are the villagers – I mean, the friends. Unlike Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you don’t need to worry about RNG assigning you the friends you want. From the start, players have access to most of Sanrio’s iconic mascots, ranging from Hello Kitty to Kuromi and even Aggretsuko.

Island Escapades

Quests are the bread and butter of Hello Kitty Island Adventure. You’ll have to embark on these mini adventures in order to progress your friendship level with the other islanders. The overall gameplay loop is very by the numbers, and most players would likely beat the game in a day or two – if it wasn’t for those pesky artificial limitations.

You might already know this, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure began its life as a mobile-only game, and it shows. You have a daily supply of resources that, once depleted, means it’s time to pack your things for the day. While I understand why such a limitation exists, it makes the experience feel a bit dull compared to Animal Crossing.

Still, as long as you’re not bothered by the artificial barriers hindering your progress, the world of Hello Kitty Island Adventure is so charming that you’ll thank the developers for forcing you to spend more hours on this lovely game.

A Colorful Tropical Paradise

While not exactly a visual powerhouse, the presentation in Hello Kitty Island Adventure is easily the best part of the whole package. Character models look just like miniature Sanrio models, each with a collection of lovely animations that channel their unique personalities.

Beyond island life, your friends truly shine during their quests. It was a blast seeing Aggretsuko bring out her vocal power singing just like she does in the show. It’s the sort of moment you just don’t get in Animal Crossing, and that any anime lover will love to see in a game like this. Now that I’ve been playing for a while, I think a better challenger for this game would be Doraemon Story of Seasons. Let’s just hope Nintendo’s legal department thinks the same.

Pros

• Adorable characters all around
• Entertaining quests and adventures
• Nearly endless gameplay potential

Cons

• Daily limits can make the game feel slower than it should