Petit Island is an adorable indie game from Xelo Games that takes you to a volcanic tropical island. You’ll explore and photograph lovable residents and landmarks as you follow your Grandpaw’s tracks. It’s a relaxing story-driven adventure with a slight hint of collectibles. Although the enjoyment of fishing, hunting insects and meeting many cute characters is undeniable, the game has a few underdeveloped ideas that reduce its full potential.
Petit Island invites you to adventure as a kitten named Lily. She is a kitten who has heard many stories about Petit Island from her sick Grandpaw. His memories are fading, and Lily would like to help him remember his past adventures. So it’s time to grab your little camera and document everything on your trip.
Simple customizations allow you to style Lily to your liking. I loved the cute pink combos and the option to set Lily as an orange cat instead of the default calico. And with Lily forgetting her phone and credit card at the airport right at the start, she didn’t exactly help dispel internet rumors that orange cats share a brain cell.
After leaving the airport, there is a lot to see, and I wanted to start exploring right away. And so I did! I walked a bit to enjoy the sights, like a tropical beach with strange piles of sand and a playground. But I soon found myself on a quick side mission to earn a few “dollarydoos” (or “duit” as they call them here), to buy a tram ticket from the airport to the island itself.
One of the first tasks on the island was to photograph the local painters in search of the special one Grandpaw told you about. Each chapter is like this, introducing a new gameplay element or tool, like a fishing rod or insect net, that Lily can use on the island. It’s a nice way that Petit Island continues to give you something new to learn and do.
Soon I needed more money, luckily I unlocked the fishing rod and the insect net. With these tools in hand, I was able to start building my collection of bugs and fish, and even sell some of them to buy other items.
There was a lot of going back and forth around the small island, and at times I wished there were fast travel points. Luckily, you get access to collectible mounts that help you get across the island a little faster. “Bananallama” was a welcome addition to my backpack. My little machete legs get tired fast!
Despite her small legs, Lily has to do some light platforming every now and then. This never takes too long and is pretty easy. Lily even has a little yellow umbrella to help her glide safely whenever needed. The animations are full of sweetness. I especially love Lily’s little bouncy animation as she runs around town.
While doing all this, exploring and collecting, you will meet the characters of Petit Island. They were all really adorable. I especially liked the three MusCATeers, who are actually three machetes in the same coat, though I think they missed an opportunity to double down on the pun here. MeowsCATeers might be a better name? Another interesting character was Grandpaw’s best friend, a lovable older sheep. As you can see in the picture below, we had some problems with the tea. It’s not my fault she wasn’t more clear about the ingredients from her garden being safe for cats!
Without giving too much away, there are elements in this game that don’t add much to the experience and feel like missed opportunities. I wish I could form my own team like Grandpaw’s, but the friendships Lily forms don’t seem unbreakable.
Although there are elements that are not used, Petit Island is a well thought out package. I didn’t notice any obvious mistakes (except those I could catch in the net). The interface is quite simple, and lacks some functionality for ease of use. I wish there was a faster way to change tools instead of opening inventory each time to manually equip and unequip.
Petit Island is a beautiful and comfortable experience, and I’m sure I’ll be back again to work on my collection. Also, there are some mysteries surrounding the volcano that I would like to explore. However, although games with a pleasant atmosphere and cute cats are an ideal combination, there is not enough content to make it a complete delight. Still, this was a fun little adventure.
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