Developer: Team Gotham
Publisher: Merge Games
Platforms: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Solo: Islands of the Hearts – Review
Solo: Islands of the Heart isn’t like other games. In most games, there’s a goal that will be set in the early minutes of the game. In this game, there’s not really a goal as this game is more about self-exploration with a little bit of puzzle action. Outside of solving puzzles, this game won’t require you to have any great skills as you can walk through the experience easily and more importantly, at your own pace.
Story
Most games have a story that defines the flow of the game and the objectives you need to complete. In Solo: Islands of the Heart, there’s not really a story that will determine the flow of the game, it’s more focused on your own view of love. You will be asked a lot of questions about your personal life, if you’re involved in a relationship at the moment or if you would see it possible to love more than one person. The answers you give will determine the flow of the game. The things NPCs will say to you are dependent on what you’ve answered at the questions asked before. A sort of ghost-like character representing your partner appears at benches or swings and he or she will say things involving your answers to the questions asked before. These questions and the things said by the NPCs on the islands will really make you think and question even yourself (but only if you answer these questions with the truth). After answering these questions at the designated totems, new areas will float up from under the sea, indicating you can continue your journey there.
Graphics
Solo: Islands of the Heart is definitely not the most beautiful game created as everything looks quite simple but also very colorful. The characters on the islands have normal round shapes while the islands and the environment look very blocky. No round shape is found in the environment of this game, but it can still looks just fine. There are many opportunities when you can just sit on a bench and enjoy the view from where you’re sitting. The totems that ask you questions also look very blocky, but they are accompanied with a lot of colors when interacting with them. After interacting with them, wheels will appear on both sides of the totem and you and the ghost-like partner will turn these wheels revealing new islands to explore.
Sound
There’s not a lot to say about the sound in this game, because there isn’t that much of it present in Solo: Islands of the Heart. there’s a constant easy-going melody in the background that really fits the relaxed gameplay of this game. This melody won’t bother you at all and won’t get annoying as well. There’s no voice-acting in the game and besides of the melody in the background and some sound effects, there’s not much more to say about this.
Gameplay
Solo: Islands of the Heart is a puzzle adventure game that questions players to look at themselves and come to terms with how they deal with love and their relationship. The game will be fully personalized from the moment you start playing the game. At first, you’ll be asked to choose a gender and the gender that you are into. For the best experience of the game, you should answer these questions as truthfully as possible as the things that will be said along the way will be adapted to your own answers.
After you have chosen your gender and the gender you like, you’ll start the game and you have to set sail with your ship. After this, you’ll land on the first archipelago. On each island, you first need to reach a small white statue that looks like a lighthouse. When you interact with this, a colorful beam will be sent from this statue to a totem. You need to reach that totem and when you do, you’ll be asked a question about how you think on specific subjects concerning your love life. After answering that question, you’ll receive a yellow square block and a new island will show up from underwater with new puzzles. This will stay the same as you progress, answering more questions will unveil more islands to explore. If you solved all the puzzles on an archipelago, the last island there will show up with a big lighthouse tower. In there, you will place all the block you gathered with the answering of questions and you can light up this lighthouse. After lighting this lighthouse, your boat will appear behind the lighthouse and you can travel to the next archipelago.
The gameplay of this game is fairly simple to handle. You can walk around, you can’t jump but you can climb small heights to get higher. After a while, you’ll also get a parachute that will let you float from one high place to another. Reaching the lighthouse statues and the totems can sometimes be tricky as they are in places you can’t reach by walking. Around the area, boxes are placed that you can move by picking them up and place them where you want. There are also other variants of these boxes like one with a fan in it that will let you float up with your parachute. After you’ve progressed a bit, you’ll acquire a magic wand. This magic wand will let you pick up boxes from a distance and rotate them in the air to place them wherever you want. Some puzzles will require you to reach higher places with some boxes in that area, while others will need you to play a song with a guitar or watering flowers by placing a water cannon block on the right place. These puzzles will get trickier as you progress in the game and will sometimes have you stuck for a moment until you found the solution.
Conclusion
Solo: Islands of the Heart is not your typical puzzle game. With the answering of questions about love, you’ll feel you’re on a path of self-exploration. After answering these questions, the ghost that represents your partner will say things according to the answers you gave, and these can be quite confronting and will make you think about things. The world is quite colorful and looks good. You can go through the game at your own pace and you can even take a break on a bench or swing to gaze upon the sea around you and think. You won’t find any action-packed sequences in this game, and you won’t miss it if you like this type of game. If you are good in solving puzzles, this game will keep you busy for a few hours, but you can take as long as you want as there is no time pressure. If you like a game with a relaxed gameplay while answering questions about love that will really let you think about yourself, then this is a great game to play.
Solo: Islands of the Hearts - Review,
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