Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure

Snowcastle Games’ konei Island: An Earthlock Adventure entered Early Access on August 18, 2022). You and your crew are going to have to crash land on an island and figure out how to stay alive there. It is necessary to establish a stronghold due to the presence of hostile aliens and pirates.

Several facets of Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure are sure to win you over. This isn’t your average crafting simulator. It has a heartfelt story and lovable protagonists and protagonistines who will keep you engaged for hours. So that you can see what features are available in the current Early Access version, let’s get right into the review.

The Earthlock Adventure on Ikonei Island welcomes you! An RPG titled Earthlock was released in 2018 by the same publisher. The game’s accompanying comic books were released as downloadable content (DLC) on Steam, and a complete bundle including both the game and the comic books, as well as Ikonei Island, is available for purchase.

You and your friends are out on a boat trip when a sudden storm forces you to make an emergency landing on an island you were sure didn’t exist. There are four different playable characters, but I always go with the Hogbunny. Due to the lack of multiplayer in Early Access, my kids and I had to take turns playing through the game.

You’ll soon understand why you can see that mysterious island. Eight shrines that served to conceal the land from pirates and other evil creatures have been destroyed. Beautiful Ikonei Island needs your help getting back to its former self.

Exploration is the first thing you’ll do in Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure. With no means of transportation off the island, you must locate secure means of egress. There are various regions, but the beach is where you should begin exploring and scavenging for supplies. You’re fortunate to have such a gorgeous map to help you find your way.

When you find a new piece of equipment that will be used in later upgrades or repairs, the map will be updated to reflect this. When you move the mouse pointer over specific locations, you’ll see helpful contextual information. Name, required items, and reward all appear.

The catching and placing on pedestals of frogs is one of the first tasks you’ll have in Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure. If you do, they will open up to you and share the tragic story of what befell their homeland. You’ll also get missions to upgrade different areas, complete with helpful hints along the way.

You can also find other friendly NPCs on Ikonei Island. You can count on having a few of them join your camp and lend a hand with your wares. They bring special abilities to the table, but you’ll need to provide them with training and workshops back at your outpost. However, before they can travel with you, you must first finish an introductory mission set for them.

Time spent playing Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure can quickly add up if you aren’t careful. To get to the last zone, fix the shrine, and release the tamable creature added another eight hours to my playthrough. It’s safe to say that you’ll spend at least 8-15 hours on the game.

Part of the excitement of this Earthlock journey is exploring Ikonei Island on foot and making friends with the locals. The game’s controls are intuitive, but there are also some tricky puzzles to solve. I think it’s time we looked at the game’s mechanics.

You’ll get an introduction to the game’s controls and basic objectives right away. Although the frogs play a crucial role in providing in-game tutorials, you’ll also notice that items and structures have tooltips and descriptions when you mouse over them. Even so, the frogs are essential whenever there is new information to absorb.

Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure has straightforward controls. The game recommends a controller over a keyboard and mouse in the main menu. Quickly navigate between different options without memorising any complicated button sequences.

There’s a toolbar at the bottom of the screen that acts as an inventory. Now, in the vast majority of games that offer this, you must access your inventory and manually switch items to achieve your desired effect. To quickly switch between lines, all you have to do is press the triggers. I wish more game designers had thought of this feature.

Bag space is tight early on in Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure. After taking out the pirate strongholds, you’ll find chests containing new lines for your arsenal. It’ll make it easier to stockpile materials for use in construction and agriculture down the line.

Donate or sell unused items at your home base to make room for new purchases or to clear out clutter. A key part of the mechanic is deciding where to drop your items. In situations where I am surrounded by hostiles, however, I could use a quick-drop system.

Upon settling in, you’ll find that there are venues where you can host workshops. The main nonplayer characters you’ll encounter will require them for their trades. You can get plans from them, or you can pay for the materials you need but don’t want to go out of your way to find.

The plans are crucial to the making process. In order to create useful items, you will need to use the materials you find at a crafting table, smelter, cutter, or loom. These crafting tables can’t be built without the plans. Upgrade the workshops at a later time to accommodate more blueprints.

In addition to the backpack, you can also take the tent with you as your shelter. Once inside, you’ll find a lovely room in which to arrange the beds, couches, and other furnishings you find. While this structure may not seem like much now, I hope that in the future Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure will upgrade to include a more impressive structure.

Farming is a system in the game that you’ll need to master. Seeds and other useful materials can be harvested from the abundant flora found on Ikonei Island. Any fertile land can be farmed if you have a hoe. It begins with sowing seeds and continues with watering, pollination, and finally harvesting.

While you may not want to, harvesting certain crops is necessary for progressing in the game. Farming is best done when you’re not out exploring. The plants will quickly outgrow your care and attention.

You’ll need Frogboy coins to buy blueprints and other items from the NPCs. It is possible to store any extra money or items in a chest back at your home base. If you sell them at the price listed, you’ll get the money the following morning. If you’re short on cash, don’t be afraid to sell some resources.

Defeating pirates and engaging in battle are essential components of any good adventure game. In Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure, players engage in either melee or ranged conflict. One is to fight off the nasty critters you encounter by swinging your weapon at them. The second requires you to sneak past the pirates at their bases, locate their cannons, and kill the captain.

Once you understand how a creature moves and attacks, you can easily defeat it. Either parry their projectiles or just keep slashing to keep them at bay. Stay out of sight of the pirates or you’ll have to start over.

The ability to tame specific creatures is one of the game’s cutest features (and the main reason my kids wanted to play Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure). You can tame one of the pirates to join your cause once you’ve rescued them from their base. Each one can be upgraded to increase its power and possesses a special ability that will be useful.

Each one requires its own manual to explain what it does and when you might need it. When I go to pick something up, they’re always in the way, which is the only thing I don’t like about them. You can send them home, but you’ll have to call them back later. Even so, it’s great fun to form a close relationship with them and then assume their role in a game.