Islets

This game is amazing. The story is nice and pretty original, the characters are funny and charming, the visuals of the game are really cute and mainly the mechanics are awesome. I really enjoyed exploring in this game, because it was satisfying and the game always rewarded me for my curiousity, just like Sheepo! No...even better than Sheepo! I can't wait for more games from these guys, because they never fail to dissapoint!

I'm near the end and it's one of the best metroidvanias I have played. Great atmosphere, music, gameplay is really good. Boss battles are fun. It's alot of fun to explore. You keep everything when you die too. The game does not waste your time and it's extremely easy to play for several hours in one sitting without getting bored. This is up there with hollow knight as far as indie metroidvanias are concerned.

TL;DR: 8/10 -- Skip if you demand 1hr/dollar, it's a bit short for the price; and a bit easy. Otherwise a very enjoyable experience, and I desperately want more.

Islets is a very solid Metroidvania that does almost everything right. Varied environments and enemies, good boss design, light backtracking to explore with new powers, and above all else UNIQUE TRAVERSAL SKILLS. In lieu of a super jump or super dash, you unlock a Cloud Arrow that creates a temporary platform, letting you "pillar up" or simply run across gaps; and while this does trivialize a small number of late-game platforming challenges, the freshness of this upgrade was phenomenal.

There are only two weaknesses to this game, in my opinion. First, the difficulty was a little low. I died roughly 12 times, and only three or four bosses took more than one attempt. The platforming was largely pretty easy, despite being well-designed and interesting. The handful of truly challenging parts were easily damage-boosted through (mostly by accident, truthfully). Secondly, the game is rather short. A 100% save file with no outside help only took 5.7 hours, which is roughly 40% shorter than the typical Metroidvania experience, and less than half the timeframe of the genre's titans.

Fun game, very visually pleasing, movement is a solid 4/5, but a little on the short side (i.e. I 100% it [in game] in about six hours). I'd still quite recommend it at full price though!

Really cute metroidvania. Lots to explore, tons of fun little puzzles. You might get some screen tearing but it's really not a huge problem. Definitely recommend.

Cute metroidvania type. Some interesting movement mechanics introduced throughout the various levels, and the platforming elements aren't excessively challenging. I also liked that the game included a way for the player to increase health and damage (both ranged/melee) outside of the normal power-up acquisition methods.

The upgrade tokens hidden around the island seemed to have a random selection of upgrades offered each time, though there were several things offered through that system that did not seem to be purchasable through other means (though the game doesn't indicate this in any other way).

All in all, a solid effort. I'd welcome more from this developer!

As a Sunday player, I enjoyed playing Islets. Game was funny, forward-going and playing with a controller worked perfectly without any lag or miss on input.

It's a nice little game to relax with, it just flows forward and you can explore in peace without grinding or hitting your head on a wall. Difficulty seemed a bit easy on normal, but it's adjustable.

Fantastic Metroidvania. Has the nice, isolated feel, similar to Axiom Verge 2. Pretty excellent music as well.

Really enjoyed this game. I put this high on the list of top games for me right up there with Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, and Tunic.

This game has been great so far. It's not too hard, but offers just the right amount of challenge. The story has been pretty good too. I don't know if I would say it's better than Hollow Knight, but it deserves a seat next to it.

Really well done. Charming game that's not too tough but is fun for its entire runtime. Highly recommended.

Very enjoyable metroidvania. Cute characters, fun little story, surprisingly entertaining platforming challenges throughout the islets, and some good secrets. Boss fights were a lot of fun, though a little on the easy side - I did no worse than third-try on all but one boss in hard mode - and there was a bit of imbalanced difficulty with Runaway Plant, which took me probably around a eight to ten tries. I also tried boss rush on easy mode to see how that differed, and I have to say it didn't feel like there was a whole lot of difference between easy and hard mode, at least on those bosses.

Regardless, the experience overall was super enjoyable. It took me about 8 hours to 100% the main game, so if you like a good metroidvania that can be completed in a few sittings, def check out this game.

It's a very fun game, the game play albeit a little simple is very satisfying to use, the story is cute if a little straightforward, not too difficult but provides challenge, especially on hard

I bought this game because i love metroidvania's (thanks to the likes of Ori & blasphemous) and was looking for a short one to play on my day off. As the game is a metroidvania the most important aspect to me is good level design and here the game really shines. The way you gradually unlock the map and find shortcuts is just perfect. I was entertained from start to finish while i 100%'ed the map in 9 hours. Visuals are gorgeous and diverse, while the music makes it really relaxing. Combat is fun and fast paced with easy but entertaining bosses. The game plays super smooth and is polished to a sheen with no lag or bugs whatsoever! This is all the more impressive coming from a sole developer (and his brother as composer) I'd recommend this game to any fan of the genre. It's short but sweet, charming, silky smooth and very well made! 8,5/10

I was torn on writing a negative review due to all the positive feedback the game is getting but the best I can muster is "meh". Islets does indeed check all the boxes of a metroidvania but it does little other than that. The best praise I can offer is that the game ran flawlessly: I hit 0 bugs or performance issues throughout my entire playthrough.

I really wanted to like this game, but the gameplay never really took off for me. None of the upgrades or abilities changed the combat. Most of the bosses and levels felt the same. In some places the game started to introduce new ideas to mix things up (e.g., chase scenes in the garbage dump biome) but they were over too soon.

One of my favorite aspects of metroidvanias is the exploration, which really felt lacking in Islets. Any time I hit a dead end all I had to do is look at the map and try an area that was unexplored previously. For most metroidvania games I keep a notebook of places to revisit, but the game eliminated the need to do that with the upgrade that reveals all of the hidden items throughout the map. The treasure hunt was an opportunity to add some mystery to the world but it also ended abruptly after 2 steps.

Overall, the game took me about 6h to 100% the campaign on hard. There are a few additional achievements to get which may add another hour or so of playtime but I couldn't bring myself to play any longer.

This is a fun and charming Metroidvania. You play as a mouse warrior in a world of splintered flying islands and you are supposed to activate the 5 hidden magnets that will reunite the world. It's a great premise for the genre, and I can highly recommend the game to fans of the genre. I updated my review now that I've finished the game.

The charm and cozy feel of the game and the world is the big draw. There are some interesting world building ideas on display that I won’t spoil, and it’s fun to zip between islands in your tiny borrowed airship. You meet plenty of interesting characters along the way, and they feel like real characters and not the quest givers and merchants with their feet nailed to the ground.

Mechanically the game is solid without doing anything surprising. You have some good platforming challenges, hidden collectibles, and of course power ups and backtracking to reach previously inaccessible areas. The upgrades are all ones I've seen before, but done well. Level design is good, not great. Every location feels like a collection of corridors with different elevations lying around inorganically. There are some stand out sections, like when you go through a big clock with mechanical implements you can interact with, but by and large the areas don't have a clear "feel" to them. It's not bad exactly, but it doesn't have the level of attention of something like Hollow Knight or Ori.

The fractured islands are a nice touch. Once you get a few of the magnets up and running, islands will smash into each other, combining levels and making new areas accessible. It's a great mechanic for Metroidvanias, as separate maps come together and make backtracking easier.

The one issue I have with the game is that enemies aren't particularly difficult, but they also don't drop health. So it can be frustrating to fight your way through an area and die to an enemy not because they were a tough opponent, but because the dozen enemies before them wore you down. And checkpoints are farther apart than I'd like, which means when you get wore down by attrition, you have a long way to backtrack from the last checkpoint. It's not really a deal breaker, but every time I died outside a boss battle, it felt cheap and frustrating. Boss fights were great though. They were all a decent challenge and had a lot of character.

The things that bothered me weren't enough for me to dislike the game. Overall mechanically it was really good if not exceptional, and the charm of the world more than made up for it. I loved spending time in this world and the bonus you get for finding all the power ups is terrific.

If you love Metroidvanias and want a break from dying alien planets where the only life is hostile, then this is the perfect game for you.

Excellent, very charming and passionately made metroidvania
You can buy hints that tell you where you need to go but if you skip this (which I recommend), just check places you haven't been to every time you get a new skill and you'll either find your next objective, a side objective or an upgrade. Exploration is always rewarded
Finished and 100% in two sittings due to pure addiction
Don't skip this

So glad this game popped up on my steam home page randomly, great metroidvania wasn't the hardest game and i was hoping it would be longer but nether-less it was great. I've played basically every metroidvania out and it's getting harder to find something that satisfies me and this did the job for the 10 hours i played it.

The writing in this game is great! It's funny and the characters are wholesome. I have 100% completed this game in 11 hours and played through it in just three sittings.

Wow. Looking at the credits and what this game offered, definitely a hidden gem. Enjoyed very much, thank you.

Playing on steam deck 512. Review subject to change but it’s a solid 8 out of 10 Metroidvania thus far. Jumping feels like a flash game, standing attack pushes you forward. I loved sheepo and give that an 8.5 out of 10. It’s only 20.00.

Definitely worth the play. Best platformer I've played since Ori. My only real critique is that the world and story aren't as fleshed out as I'd have liked.

just completed this great game 100% in about 10 hours or so on normal difficulty. The many bosses here are not easy but luckily also not too tough like in some other good metroidvania games.
=> A must-buy if you are into this kind of games, I am already hoping for Islets 2!

If you like refreshing metroidvanias, this is a good pick. From the cutesy world, to the stylish music, and not too difficult combat, I'm having a blast. There are ways to up the challenge for those looking for it. Really worth it for the fun and interesting world

Incredibly good game! While it emphasizes a calm and tranquil character and music style, the boss fights and jump and run elements provide enough tension to feel a thrill. I highly recommend this game to anyone who just enjoys kicking back with a relaxing video game.

Just a great little Metroidvania - not unlike Hollow Knight. It's a bit easier, though, even though you have no heal. The environments are maybe a bit lackluster, but the combat, exploration, the map (which opens up by being combined!) are all very good. Special mentions to the story and the characters, which are all quite cute and funny - especially Snoot, my favorite character arc of 2022 so far! All in all took me the 8 hours you see here to 100% it. Only complaint I have is that Steam achievments seemed to stop working halfway but that's not game breaking for me.

Surprisingly well made and fun indie metroidvania. First impression upon starting is maybe a little weak but it quickly picks up and doesn't overstay it's welcome, took me about 15 hours to 100%.

Definitely recommended for fans of the genre.

Similar to other negative reviews, I want to like this game. Initially, this was a positive review, but I realized that there were enough things that annoyed me that I couldn't really recommend it. That being said, the game is competent, and if you are looking for an extremely low stakes Metrodivania, this might be up your alley.

I could rant about this for a while, so to save everyone's time, I'll just do pros and cons.

Also, spoiler warning.

Pros:
- Cute art style and enemies
- Decent Music
- Really cool ideas
- Cute characters and story arcs
- The floaty controls can be fun to bounce around with
- Mostly ran well with only a couple, if significant, visual glitches(Steam Deck)

Cons
- Under-delivers on most things, particularly the joining islets mechanic(really really really under-delivers here, and was by far the most frustrating thing for me. It just feels like a HUGE waste of potential)
- 1/2 of the abilities you get(not counting airship ones) are only useful for ability gates checking if you have them, and 2/3 are all but useless in Boss Fights
- Areas are fairly lackluster and repetitive
- The game ends on an anti-climax, to the point that I didn't realize I was fighting the final boss until it was over
- The game is a bit easy(played on hard) and a bit short for the price(~10 hours to 100% the main game)
- The vast majority of the upgrades you get are passive stats increases that don't change gameplay at all
- Running back after death just feels like a chore, with no added tension/forced caution from something like a dark souls esc material retrieval mechanic
- You don't really make any choices that effect your character or the story arc in any meaningful way
- In general, and particularly for a metroidvania, it is extremely linear. Abilities(as far as I can tell), are gotten in chronological order, with only minor detours for occasional stat upgrades and a few spit paths that all lead converge within a few rooms, if not sooner.

I can't recommend this game as a metroidvania. It has all the elements of one, but they are all pretty lackluster, and there are plenty of others I would recommend before this one.. This game is fine, it's not terrible, it's not great, its fine. I really wish Steam allowed a neutral option as I did enjoy playing it at times.

That being said, if you want an easy game to turn off your brain and bounce around in with some cute visuals, this does that pretty well and, while I disagree, I can see why it has so many positive reviews. I just find it to be a bit skin deep as far as game mechanics and level design goes.

I had this on my wishlist before I even noticed it was the same dev as Sheepo, which was one of my favorite recent metroidvanias (weird, charming, non-combat-ish short game, well worth checking out). You can feel the same heart here though, and the same kooky designs, pleasant music / sfx, and platforming that can feel super challenging until suddenly it clicks and you breeze through.

It really embraces the metroidvania feel through-and-through - this is not a "soulsvania", or even worse, a 2D souls game wearing the skin of a poor slain metroidvania and entirely missing the point of the genre (move! explore! fast travel for backtracking!). You get movement upgrades at a pretty good pace and they feel overwhelmingly freeing when you get them, and it's a testament to level design that you still find yourself seeking out that next upgrade too. The movement feels floaty at the start of the game (and it is), but once you get an upgrade or two it starts to make sense and you can practically fly through spiky rooms and loopy obstacles.

I haven't finished yet but progressing nicely, and I've really not had a negative moment. It's relatively non-linear, although obviously you will hit roadblocks without the proper stuff, so YMMV based on how off-track you go. There's no skill tree or equipment to fiddle with at save points, although there are stat upgrades.

The island-reconnecting thing is a neat concept, and can change how and when you revisit and navigate areas, but you could honestly go most of the game playing it like a normal metroidvania with one big map and be fine. The dialogue I find very amusing but I seem to enjoy that specific kind of humor, some may not care for it, but it's relatively short at all turns. The combat isn't anything groundbreaking but it's more enjoyable than the combat in some other games and outside of bosses you can skip past enemies a lot of the time if you want (especially with a few upgrades). Plus there are no bullet-sponges here, the game is all about moving right along.

It's a platforming, movement-focused metroidvania through and through, and really excels at being that. If you are short on money full price might seem like a lot, but personally I'm happy to have paid that and hopefully get more games from the dev because they're 2 for 2 with me in my favorite genre.

Have finished the game in 8 hours, with 100% completion. Would highly recommend it, the world is great, story is nice, game is incredibly cute. My only issue with it being that it is a bit easy compared to other metroidvanias(Hollow Knight as an example). That did not make it a bad experience though, thoroughly enjoyed the time spent, and will probably revisit this game in the future. Have not tried boss rush yet but I'm assuming it's comparable to the pantheons from HK

Fun little Metroidvania with some surprisingly decent mechanics! Good thought out level designs that are good quick fun. Easy boss fights, but that's fine! Kind of tired of the whole Souls-like difficulty everyone seems to be pushing. It doesn't really matter for the devs if I experience their whole game or grow tired of banging my head against the wall trying to defeat the bosses, so I for one am glad they didn't choose the latter...

P.S: Tight controls and the movement flows without issues that piss you off.

I love this game, it’s like a breezier hollow knight. This is one of the only games that I actually wanted to beat 100%

Fantastic and fun game! A lot like Hollow Knight but I actually like the movement a little better. Great for a good quick game if you like things in that vein. Definitely give it a shot!

Quite possibly the best metroidvania I've played in a long time.

Comparatively short, but consistently fun the whole way through. I found this game to be rather hard to stop playing. Playing on normal difficulty, the combat is engaging and though it's not particularly challenging, it isn't too easy either. The large variety of enemies and not infrequent boss fights keep combat interesting. The major upgrades are significant and impactful, offering new ways to fight or to traverse the map, usually both. The characters are well designed, and encountering them in the world is always something to look forward to.

By far the best part of this game is the movement and platforming. Compared to most other metroidvanias, the main character of this game is incredibly fast, and a combination of movement upgrades and a well-designed map allow you to race across the titular islets at ludicrous speeds. Using well-timed dodge rolls and grapple points to fly around the map was something I found deeply satisfying, and the fact that traversing the world is inherently fun makes backtracking feel like much less of a chore than it does in other games like this.

In short, this game is well worth the price and I would highly recommend playing it, especially to fans of the genre.

Fun game, little simple and easy. Turned off my steam deck and went to play it on my living room system. And NO CLOUD SAVES. 20$ 8 hour game with no cloud saves. Are you kidding me? in 2022? Simple feature missing killed any interest in finishing this game. Likely going to refund.

UPDATE: They added cloud saves. Diving back in now.

Yo this game is great, probably one of my favorite Metroidvanias simply because the movement is amazingly speedy, and the pace is swift. Always stand up for a game that values your time, and understands the simple joy of going fast while mashing buttons.

What an amazing game Islets is! I randomly stumbled upon that game while browsing the web one day and what a great choice that was to try it!

First, let me start by saying I fully completed the game at 100% (excluding a few achievements). I had so much fun playing this game I never wanted to stop. It is a classic Metroidvania that I think everyone would have fun playing. Having played many very hard game in that genre and wanting an easier game to relax, it was a change of pace that I appreciated a lot. Don't worry, it's not too easy, I still died quite a few times!

Pros :
- Beautiful art
- Lovable characters
- Interesting and lighthearted story
- Good soundtrack that fits the mood really well
- Controls felt very instinctive to me (Played on a Xbox controller)
- The game is on the easier side but is still very challenging. Very good balance in my opinion
- Funny humor, this game made me laugh many times

Cons :
- Pretty short game to complete, took me about 12 hours to fully complete my first playthrough, finding all collectibles.

I honestly would have loved to have more of this game when I reached the end, that's how good it was for me! I highly recommend this game!

In trying to review Islets, I find myself coming back to the question "is a 6/10 kind of game worth playing?"

For the purposes of streamlining this review I'm just going to start by saying that there were things I loved about this game. It's been a while since I enjoyed sound design and music this much and even longer since I found characters I genuinely loved like I loved the little bird man.

So why is this teetering right on the edge of a thumbs down? Well this could just be my lack of patience, but the amount of wandering around aimlessly was almost a deal breaker for me. In my Haak review, I talked about respecting the player's time enough to put plenty of teleport points and my god did Islets not get that memo.

There's also a recurring issue with LONG sections of difficult platforming without any checkpoints along the way and if you happen to die (which you will because there are no healing items and even with a bunch of health upgrades, your HP bar melts faster than a Twix on a griddle) you get to march your happy ass back about six screen transitions to try it all again.

Islets is difficult in a simple kind of way which is to say the bad kind of way which is to say that all the difficulty settings change is how much damage you do and take and how much damage the enemies do and take.

I find there's still plenty to recommend the experience, so if you like bullet hell shooters, metroidvanias, and have an ungodly amount of patience for bullshit, then give Iselts ago, otherwise go play Haak, it's a lot better mechanically.

Really fun Metroidania! Pretty graphics, catchy soundtrack, fun movement. It's definitely on the easier side but it's also fun to metroidvan without getting frustrated a lot. Recommended to MV fans.

This is a wonderful, kind of laid-back Metroidvania experience. I loved every single second of the game. Highly HIGHLY recommend.

Short but sweet MV that packs a punch and doesn't overstay its welcome. Great atmosphere and sound design, fun boss fights throughout the entire game, and some unique contributions to the genre.

Starting with atmosphere, the art style is pleasant from start to finish and each area has its own ambient soundtrack that is well-matched to the mood. MVs will often have one or two "creepy" areas that I kind of dread going through, but Islets keeps the enjoyment level and mood consistent throughout . The boss soundtracks have a sort of "bouncy" vibe to them that reminds me of Littlebigplanet. The sound design is really great in the sense that navigating menus and performing combat actions felt *weighty* and *tightly* synced to the sound effects.

Each boss fight brought something new to the table and was fun to fight. The bosses generally involved a mixture of combat and careful positioning/platforming (the latter of which is a real treat, since few do it in the genre AND get it right). I played on hard difficulty and found most bosses quite challenging the first time I faced them, but usually overcame them in < 5 tries. They're certainly not pushovers that you can mindlessly beat; you have to learn their moves and be patient for openings (which is exactly how I like bosses to be). The flying/bullet hell bosses were a welcome surprise, with the final one of them being a top 3 boss in the game for me. ALSO: I tried the boss rush on easy mode and was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of them actually have different (or modified) moves! That's great to see, since so many MVs don't offer difficulty options or don't spend much time balancing them if they do. Having seen Islets' bosses at their easiest and at their hardest, I can say with confidence that this is a great reference implementation for difficulty settings in the genre. It's important to note that although the bosses are far more *straightforward* on the easy difficulty, they're still not pushovers and require the player to pay attention to their moves. Because the boss designs are high-quality and feature some attacks that (effectively) require platforming, I think they will be good teachers for genre entrants :)

Another contribution I really liked is the cloud arrow. I'm not gonna spoil the details of what it is, but the important detail is that it's a fun movement ability that I hadn't seen done before.

While I enjoyed my time with Islets, I do see some areas in which it could improve. For starters, I often found myself frustrated that I couldn't zoom in and out of the minimap continuously (why only 2 discrete zoom levels?). Second, ability-gating isn't highlighted on the map in any way, which sometimes make it difficult to know where to backtrack to. That could be mitigated by allowing players to drop custom markers. Third, endgame cleanup is hard since the "reveal all markers" item at the shop doesn't reveal markers for rooms that you haven't visited yet. Fourth, the level design fell short of my expectations in the sense that I often felt an absence of shortcuts. Sometimes I'd have to go through a bunch of rooms just to open a lever in front of the start, and if I died really close to the lever I'd have to do it all over again. That's not a big deal if there are only 2-3 rooms between you and the lever, but sometimes it felt like I'd have to re-traverse like 10 rooms just to get back to where I was when I died, and I couldn't help but feel that for such a snake-like map there could have been a few more interconnections at key pain points. For the same reason, backtracking was sometimes more painful than I felt it should have been, since getting to a room slightly to the side of my current position on the map would sometimes require going up a few rooms, over, then down a few rooms. More frequent save points would've been welcome, and I think it was unnecessary to have separate objects for saving and teleporting. Navigating the teleporters on the map was counterintuitive (would've preferred navigation to be directional, i.e., moving towards the teleporter in the direction your stick's pointing to, rather than only being able to navigate them sequentially). The last thing that comes to mind right now is that the menu feature "return to last save point" (or whatever it's called) sometimes took me to the last *auto-save* point, rather than the last point I had intentionally saved at. I think it would've been way more useful if it always took you back to the last stone thingy that you had intentionally saved at.

Would recommend this to all MV fans, as well as anyone who's interested in breaking into the genre. Although Islets is well-suited to a beginner audience, I also think there's a lot here for veterans of the genre as far as atmosphere and boss design are concerned (remember that the bosses pull out their full bag of moves on the hard difficulty).

Islets is a Metroidvania in which you play as the mouse Iko in a fragmented world. In a small airship, Iko flies through the sky and travels as a brave warrior to the floating islands of his world to reunite them into a single island.

In total, the game offers 5 islands. All islands have an interesting and pretty design and offer several areas with different enemy types and platform challenges. So it's quite exciting to explore each area and find out what each one has to offer because they are well differentiated. Some abilities are also unique for further progression and you may not have seen them before in another Metroidvania.

You are equipped with a sword and bow and arrow. These can be upgraded several times, as well as health and smaller upgrades for the map or the airship. Partly you can buy the upgrades or find them in different places and choose from 3 options.

Switching between the sword and the bow and arrow in the battles was varied, but it was also definitely fun fighting different bosses in the airship. The bosses and some enemies can be assigned to Bullethell, which isn't really my genre normally because I just suck at dodging, but the game wasn't too hard. At the beginning of the game you can also adjust the difficulty from easy to hard. I played through the game on the normal difficulty and would say that this was definitely appropriate. However, I would argue that hard shouldn't be too difficult either, as the boss rush was at least doable on hard.

Two other things that were also wonderful about the game was the music and the individual characters you meet on the adventure. Especially because some characters seem annoying at first glance, but over time you learn to love them too, or at least like them a bit.

In summary, I can only recommend the game and would call it one of the best Metroidvanias I've played so far. I also find it particularly impressive that the game was developed by a solo developer. To develop such a good game on your own deserves every praise.

a pretty solid metroidvania. game is wholesome and lighthearted. movement is flow-y and only builds on from there. by the time i got all the movement upgrades, it felt like i was an airbender. character interactions are fun, and bosses/platforming are not too bad! definitely recommend this game if you're looking for an easy-going game that's not too easy.

Really enjoyed this game! Bit of feedback - if you've played games like Hollow Knight, Cuphead, or Binding of Isaac before, start out on "Hard" mode. I played on normal and felt like a number of bosses could be melted down a bit too quickly.

The game is really fun- with movement that feels fluid, charming dialogue, and bosses with interesting mechanics. It also offers the option to guide you to the next objective, which I absolutely love! If the player can figure it out on their own, by all means, but its always helpful to have a nudge in the right direction if you're lost.

I also want to commend the developers on the best collection of save stations I've ever seen in a game. I know some people love the grind of having to reset a significant amount of progress upon death, but I've always found that overly punitive. Loved the fact that this game had a save station outside each boss / major checkpoint.

I know it’s a good game when I’m smiling from ear to ear at the end. Great exploration, tight controls, and an endearing cast of characters. I especially enjoyed the hub’s flying bosses. 100% complete on hard mode with only 5 achievements left to go. Well done Kyle and Eric!

Islets is super charming and surprisingly complex - this is studio Ghibli's Hollow knight or metroid and its awesome! get this game!

Great little metroidvania to help that Silksong itch

It has a friendly, quirky aesthetic. And so far, it strikes a nice balance in the challenges it offers in platforming and combat. It's not exquisitely difficult, not too easy. And so far, as far as I can see, it's been made by people who love metroidvanias and know what they're suppose to be like.

I know that sounds like what I'm saying is that it's a standard metroidvania. And it is. But it's a good one. If it were ice cream it'd be the type of vanilla with the bean pods in it, pure haagen-daz. It'll definitely scratch the itch for you.

Pretty fun all the way through. It has the same goofy charm that Sheepo had. You have main ability upgrades as well as many other smaller stat/passive upgrades you'll collect along the way that I really enjoyed. I was annoyed by how little information the map gave at first, but it's quickly fixed with some shop purchases. Music and art is great.

I played on hard mode and found the whole game pretty manageable, some of the later bosses seem to get a little easier actually. This could be because I put a lot of stats into melee attacking and was able to spam a bunch of hits in, though.

The island connecting mechanic is pretty cool, but it's mostly the same as unlocking some doors between the areas. The movement upgrades are pretty typical, but by late game it's really fun to zip through the rooms and slash at everything with the explosive passive upgrades.

Everything can be done in one playthrough and getting 100% collectables was pretty straightforward just from normal exploration.

Great game. Simple and pleasing metroidvania.

I have a error when I reach the 2nd island...I can't go further.

Islets is honestly and simply put a great entry in the Metroidvania genre and deserves every praise it gets. It's from the same dev who made Sheepo (which was also pretty good, go play it) and you can really see how much he improved. In Islets you play as the mouse Iko and try to reconnect the Islands of his homeworld by slaying monsters and bosses, solving some puzzles and platforming your way across. Iko's arsenal consists of running, jumping, a dodgeroll, a sword and a bow, so rather on the common side of things.

Islets looks amazing and is filled with charming and cute characterdesigns. While the music felt pretty unusual at first, especially later on I found it very fitting and "vibey" in addition to the sounds of the environment. These environments are beautiful to look at, but they also feel distinct from another, not just in terms of looks but also in focus on different gameplay-mechanics, enemies and some unique features.

On the gameplay-side you get a pretty classic Metroidvania with unlockable abilities but also upgradable stats like HP, melee-damage, number of arrows etc. The aspect which suprised me the most in a positive way was how much the game contains bullet hell as a core mechanic. During bosses you're very often fighting against masses of projectiles - ofc never in the extent of some japanese arcade games or games in the Touhou-franchise - but still pretty challenging at times and therefore rewarding and just fun aswell. The bosses in general are pretty great, charming designs, engaging moves and attackpaterns and the right amount of challenge almost every time. The map is filled with possibilities to explore even though most of the time they include either money or a challenge in exchange for an upgrade-point. These points will give you three options to choose from and reach from a small amount of money, statboosts to small gameplay-changes and little events. I kind of wished there would have been some more optional events, characters, maybe even bosses but I can understand that especially a solodev wouldn't want to hide his hard work behind some breakable walls. Contentwise I got about 9 hours from it for 100% completion with all achievements playing on hard which never felt unfair or too hard to overcome.

After I played the demo earlier this year I was already looking forward to its release, but it turned out way better than I expected and really felt like a great, polished and independent Metroidvania which shouldn't be overlooked by fans of the genre and indiefans in general.

A laid back, enjoyable Metroidvania with a lovely art style. It's not particularly difficult even on Hard mode as mainly you can't heal in-between save points (with some exceptions) but the exploration and gameplay are a lot of fun. It was about 10-11 hours to 100% the game and there are tokens to purchase to highlight all the upgrades for full completion and another NPC that will pinpoint where to go next if you get stuck. There is a boss rush if you 100%'ed the game but not much else afterwards (though I believe the dev mentioned adding more stuff at a later date).

It's also got a very legitimate tour guide for a death tomb that has his business licenses updated even if the tomb itself is not OSHA-compliant. Still 3/5 stars would get lured into boss rooms again.

Definitely worth trying at some point if you like Metroidvanias or want an introduction to the genre.

Here's a Metroidvania to take note of. Movement is lovely, writing is mischievously cute, and there are several cool twists to the formula.

Look, I will be honest with you.

This game is a total charm: a joy to play, smooth to control, not very challenging (even on hardest difficulty), cute yet simple aesthetic, and a concise length.

But this simply is not Hollow Knight; and that is OK.
The reason I say this, it's because I see tons of reviews comparing this game to Hollow Knight, and it simply isn't true nor it isn't fair.
This game was made by one person, and for that alone, this game deserves tons of praise.
However, the quality in the visuals, the lore, the boss mechanics, the world; none of it its to the level of Hollow Knight, not even remotely close.

I know this game is fresh and new, but let's not rush to crazy conclusions saying this is up to par with that game or even better. It is not. Let's not mislead potential buyers; however, that comparison should not have been made in the first place, because I do agree that on its own, this game is a true joyful experience and I really do hope the creator is well awarded and praised for this piece of art he has created!

Do not go into this game expecting competition for HK, in fact, I would advise to buy this game ESPECIALLY if you have never played that game, as this game would be amazing training wheels for that experience.

On its own merits, as I said before, this game is a real joy to play. From start to finish, the game is concise. It respects your time, and makes sure you get a quick and fun 6 hr avg playthrough.

I would not recommend the $20 unless you are a hardcore Metroidvania player or if you really have nothing else to play; otherwise, on a sale, this is an easy recommend.

I cannot wait to see what comes next from this developer!

Loved this game, movement and combat were great. Aesthetics were charming. Characters were loveable and cute. Couldn't ask for anything more. Worth every penny and then some.

Very good metroidvania game. Movement and combat were great. Nice graphics and setting. If you like games like Hallow Knight, this is a game for you.

7.5 out of 10. Recommended.

if you want to play on keyboard just don't do it. maybe i am the only one with this problem but i can't map anything for mouse

Edit: im gonna give this game second chance

A fun and relaxing metroidvania. The controls were well responsive I thought and the progression well planned. The difficulty on normal I thought may be a touch low but still enjoyable and there were a couple of bosses where I definitely still had to run through a couple of times to get the feel of their attacks.

Overall I would definitely recommend this as an add to anyone's collection.

It was pretty good. I 100% it in about 6 hours not including steam achievements. By no means is the game perfect but the high moments of this game are very high and low moments just go to mediocre. By the end of the game you feel like a speed god and this games speed running potential is absolutely insane. Wish it was a bit less linear and the combat a bit more complex but besides that this game is adorable and i wish the developer the best of luck in all their future endeavors. Keep making more games!

This is fantastic! A metroidvania that has cool mechanics (especially movement mechanics), a great atmosphere, fantastic humor, and just the right difficulty both for combat and platforming.

a simple but surprisingly fun metroidvania that brings me back to the days of browsing flash sites looking for more games of the genre. i suck at the bullet hell parts, but the great accessibility features helped.

A wonderful metroidvania with quirky humor. I typically love these games anyway, but I truly wanted to get 100 percent completion. A ton of fun. Can't wait to see what the single developer and music producer come up with next.

Keeping it spoiler free as possible
Clocking in on 8 hours almost to do everything except boss rush, every second spent playing was a wonderful time.
The game is rather beautiful and relaxed for the most part and fun to progress through due to its simplicity and important upgrades able to count on one hand.
The music keeps itself at a calm pace throughout, except boss battles where it picks up a bit.

No annoying backtracking thanks to the typical teleporters, purchasable ability to teleport from save stations but not to them. Alongside the option in the pause screen that spawns you on the recently saved place, including checkpoints which can be a very minimalistic inconvenience in certain situations.
Or you use that option while in the sky area which makes the savefile completely handicapped of teleporting (from save stations, clueless if it affects normal portals,) as it crashes and gives you the crash report doing so- even after quitting the game. Fixed it by leaving an island then going back on it.

Dying makes you lose literally nothing, including progress to my understanding- which makes the game overall a chill time to be had.

Majority if not all sky bosses though are some sort of bullet hell which does get harder the further you progress. It doesn't get anywhere near as crazy like Touhou for example IMO so it shouldn't be a brickwall body-slamming you. The last third of the game do get harder but nothing really unfair as it all boils down to paying attention.

All in all a very lovely metroidvania without too much hassle or head-scratching of where to go that leaves you wanting more.

Very cute metroidvania. It feels too much like they tried to copy Hollow Knight without being as nearly as robust. I 100%'d the game on hard within 12 hours, so I don't think it's worth the price. The combat was fun, but by the time you get most of the upgrades all of the bosses are much too easy. The ending was very serious, but the game wasn't long enough to care about any of the characters.
If you want to play a quick game go for it, but if you're looking for something a little deeper then I would avoid.

Very fun game. Enemies are varied and bosses are unique. Beat the game pretty quickly, and collected every item. Seemed like a breeze on Hard, glad I picked it to start off on. The story remained interesting throughout my play through and kept me entertained. It's a cute game that I recommend to play.

Extremely fun game. I am personally biased to metroidvanias, but this one is amazing.

Movement is really smooth, and you can build a lot of momentum, making early game movement not a pain in the ass.

Bosses are fun and fair, most of the time i felt like i died because of my extreme need to speedrun every boss ever.

The ending is great btw.

The only issues i had with the game were the lack of save points in long sequences and the lack of a easy way to get money. one of the upgrades is VERY expensive and grinding for it is pain

SPOILERS FROM NOW ON

Now, I really wish there were some extra bossfights on the bossrush, godhome styled. I think it would be amazing to fight the 3 great beasts at once, or have GreyBird, Snoot and that guy from the forgotten rots help you in the Grave fight, the Swamp frog and the stone witch respectively. Also a repeatable way to get money would be cool, like quests or something.
The last issue is that there are some LONG sequences without saves and i died in every. single. one.
being more generous with the saves wouldn't hurt you know?

but besides that the game is amazing, I enjoyed most of the moments with it [except the moment which i accidentally deleted my save file cough cough but thats my problem] and the humor is great. I still can't stop laughing from the slightly suspicious tour guide and Snoot's partner [can't believe i forgot his name]

Short but great, probably sub-10 hours. Beautiful art, and I love how the main character looks slightly overwhelmed at all times. Movement feels really good, especially with a couple of upgrades, and you can really zip through space after a little while. Good sense of humor that landed for me. Combat is standard but solid; bosses are pretty bullet hell, and are challenging at first, but have patterns you can learn to handle in fairly short order.

Islet is very simple in what it tries to do, making this a great first entry for anyone new to Metroid style games. It wasn't that challenging, but it did show good progression of difficulty as it moved along. The pacing was good, no running back and forth needlessly to see what your new power could unlock. As each island unites, it creates new pathways, and it has an NPC to give you hints if you need it, so there is very little guesswork. The combat was nothing new, but the "choose your own upgrade" as you grab power ups was inventive I thought. I would liked to have seen more around the ship combat, it seems an overlooked opportunity for a bullet hell level. All in all it was a good title, although very short for the cost. I would recommend it if you need a snack sized metroid-like.

It's a simple straight forward game. Nice artwork, lovely music, good gameplay. It's incredibly forgiving, though can be challenging at times if you aren't quick enough. If I had any complaint, I wish there was more to it.

Cute, short and a good metroidvania. Was enjoyable all the way through.

Its great.

Islets is a charming little metroidvania, that never overstays its welcome and gives you great movement upgrades that let you zoom across its world. Nice artstyle, good music and charming writing resulted in a very enjoyable experience. It's not the next Hollow Knight or Ori, but it's a great metroidvania to spend 6 to 8 hours exploring its different islands.

Super fun relaxing metroidvania. the art work and music fit together nicely. If you wanted to play this style of game this is a great starter with not a large learning curve and plenty of save points and portals.

Very enjoyable little Metroidvania with a cool map progress effect. Starts with independent map islands that connect to each other once the island boss is defeated. Once you progress about 50% of the way, the movement mechanics get super fluid and satisfying. Bosses are bullet H377 for the most part, but are definitely merciful to those that all out try to quick kill them. Not the longest game (took me ~25 hours to 100% it), and the story is pretty nonexistent, but the gameplay and unique map building aspect make Islets a really fun game.

If you're looking for a deep Metroidvania with story and RPG elements and hidden weapons and gameplay variants, this is definitely not the game for you. But if you are looking for a fun, low-stress Metroidvania with a cool art style that is pretty forgiving and extremely fluid to fly through, this is it.

Personally, I totally recommend this game for anyone into 2D platformers or casual Metroidvanias. Not in my top 10 Action Platformers/Metroidvania's but I'm still a big fan. There is also a boss rush mode to help add some replay value as well.

Cute and fun. Not groundbreaking, but a solid metroidvania.

This is a very good game. Movement, abilities, progression, combat, etc. were all solid. I wish all of my metroidvania purchases got me this caliber of game. I also agree with the price point here. $20 for a very enjoyable 6 hours on Normal mode. The quality of the graphics, map design, audio, etc. was also very nice.

Beautiful metroidvania in the style of Ori and Hollow Knight with a lot of originality. Teamed up with a score reminiscent of indie RPG Eastward that wonderfully compliments the game. If you are looking for a something to scratch that exploration itch this is it! I can't believe this is a solo dev, congratulations Kyle.

Great Platform, Smooth controls, Fun Story, And Difficult!

I would recommend to anyone looking for a game similar to Ori, Hollow, Moss