The first thing I noticed about Minute of Islands is the game’s protagonist, Mo. Mo is dressed up in what seems like a fairly large raincoat or possibly a sweater. Her arms aren’t shown as they’re presumably inside the coat. Matching yellow rain boots on her feet, you’re put at ease with how familiar and cute she looks. Her surroundings will likely give you pause though, as she wakes up and is immediately tasked with finding out what’s going wrong. There are four brother spirits inhabiting giants, underground, beneath the islands. Those four brothers are the only things keeping the island alive, powering the island, powering the ventilators that protect the island from the poison air. Without these brothers, the islands are doomed, and Mo is the curator of these four giant souls.
Minute of Islands
Developer: Studio Fizbin
Price: $15 (PC) – $20 (Console)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 5(reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a Playstation 5 code for review
Minute of Islands labels itself as a puzzle/platformer but there aren’t very many puzzles throughout the game, at least in the traditional sense. The biggest puzzle you’ll run into is navigation. The islands themselves are quite messy. Often littered with loads of trash, discarded machine parts, carcasses, and dilapidated housing, it’s sometimes difficult to navigate through the trash to find the way through. Finding the correct path may seem difficult on screenshots alone but there are white indicators that show you which pieces of debris you can climb and where you can jump down. Navigation, while initially daunting, is actually quite intuitive.
The primary story thread begins with Mo waking up to find out that the giant spirits she’s supposed to be tending to aren’t, for lack of a better word, operational. Gathering her omni-switch, a scepter looking multi-tool, she sets off to get the ventilators working again and to revitalize the brothers giant. Things don’t look too good. Mo’s voyage from island to island shows her the remains of a civilization that used to be somewhat robust and healthy. Now, it would seem only some of her family members remain and they’re not too thrilled with her. Even in the first island when you meet Mo’s uncle, he drops an indication that Mo bears the weight of the world on her shoulders, which is the most interesting story thread throughout the game.
Environmental storytelling is consequential in Minute of Islands. For me, it was too difficult. I understand what’s going on but not why or how Mo and her family managed to get to the poisonous island. Although the gaseous toxins that permeate the island when the ventilators are inoperable aren’t deadly, they do cause hallucinations. Mo will find herself in a fever dream, chasing after memories to grant her a key to unlock a music box. Once unlocked, she returns to the real world and continues on her adventure.
Throughout the game you’re treated to a disembodied voice that acts as a narrator. Sometimes though, the narrator begins talking to Mo directly. Eventually, the narrator begins primarily talking to Mo and becomes less of a narrator and more a stream of consciousness. Less interested in telling the story, the disembodied voice begins berating Mo, telling her that no one will ever love her and her family is right for hating her. Whether the voice is an actual narrator or Mo herself is unclear.
Something we can all relate to is the level of isolation Mo is experiencing right now. Whether you’re in a home with family or living alone, far away from everyone, we’re all experiencing some level of isolation right now. Isolation coupled with depression and Mo’s feeling of the weight of the world on her shoulders, it’s no wonder this disembodied voice begins to berate her. Minute of Islands surely has something to say about the state of the world, intentional or not.
The Final Word
Minute of Islands is an incredibly stunning game with a timely narrative, minimal gameplay, and small platforming puzzles. Subversive in content, Minute of Islands is fairly different from what’s out there but offers much of the same as its contemporaries.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
