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Sunday, December 24, 2023 8:25:31 PM

Coral Island Review (Telo)


I'd give the game a thumbs up and say it is worth buying but I would give that suggestion with some reserve. The game is now "released" and you need to know it is not a complete game. There is a fair deal in the game that is not finished. No, it is not like the stuff is completed and waiting for a DLC to expand on it. It is flat out incomplete.
For example you can have children in game but they do not grow up. I consider that complete. Them growing up can be a future DLC or patch or something. However things like the merfolk who are in game are incomplete. You meet them, they show up in the list of people you meet, but you can not gain any affinity with them and none of them ever really seem to have anything to say. They really seem to have no purpose in the game (outside of some story line progressing) and there is no real reason for them to even be in the game as it is. This is an incomplete addition to the game and one of many examples where I say the game is still in beta and is not ready to be called a "release" game. Can't have an entire "city" in the game with mostly nothing to do in it and call the game complete.
So with that said, buy the game if you like farming sims, it is still enjoyable as that. But it seems like the game is only 80% finished so understand it is not a complete game in any sense. Buy the game as a beta game and consider it early access, because that is what it is. And being it is only 80% complete I suggest only buying it at 80% price or lower if you can. Pay for what you are getting and not what they are promising you will come later.
Example of things that are incomplete: (maybe the devs will read so they can get some ideas on what needs to be worked on)
Sprinkler attachments: Only works sometimes. Seeds it is better at and gets most of the time but fertilizer, it is 50/50. You always have to check to see if it did what it was supposed to. I have never, repeat never, had it add fertilizer to every patch. I always need to clean up after it.
Auto Chest: Another 50/50 addition to the game. Works awesome 3 or 4 days in a row and then suddenly stops working. Leaves completed items in the machine and you need to fetch them yourself. Does not reload machines when it has materials. Only used 2 of the 4 aging barrels. You get it, they never work completely.
Speech: 3 times I had someone refer to me as "PlayerName". Macy on more then one occasion has told me how much she loves being married to me. While sweet, my actual wife Lily might be upset about that. Lily one morning asked me what she should bring to the fair tomorrow when the fair was next week.
Cut Scenes: Only happened once but still. When the town reached rank A I had the big cut scene to celebrate reaching rank A. About 7 days later I had the same exact cut scene celebrating the town reaching rank A. Didn't we do this already?
Writing: It seems at times it is incomplete or they hired an overly emotional teenager with no real life experience to write the parts. For example in one cut scene Leah professes her love for me and I am given two options to reply. Option one, I feel the same and option two, I don't feel the same. There is no option 3 that there really should have been one for, even more so that when asked this from her I was already married. When I say I only want to be friends she runs off crying. Where is the third option, you know the one that should be in game because I've been married to Lily for 2 seasons. One that says something along the lines of "I really like you but I love my spouse." Now you see why I said a child wrote the options. No adult option to let the person down easy. Not convinced? Many times in cut scenes you are asked things to give your response and the only options you are given are disrespectful answers or smart ass answers. Like one with mark and a dog, your only 2 options are be rude and be really rude, how about one to be supportive of someone trying to help a stray? Only crappy disrespectful answers that a kid trying to sound "cool" would give.
Speaking of writing: Every errand you do gets the responce "Thank you." Seriously? You could not write a few random responses for it and cycle through them? Back to letting the kid write this? Where is the, "I've been looking for this" or the "I can now make the soup I've been craving", "... build the trap to catch that butterfly", "... make the wine", etc, you get the idea. Something instead of a basic and bland "thank you" every single time would be nice.
Basically writing as a whole is incomplete and not completely proofed. Also letting an editor look over it would have told you some responses are just completely lifeless. The writing is basic and incomplete in a great many parts of the game.
NPCs: There are so many that have nothing to say. If they have nothing to say stop with showing me there is something to say. Nothing more annoying them clicking to talk to someone and getting "they have nothing more to say" or "you don't understand what they are saying" If they have nothing to say or I don't understand what they have to say do not give the speech option at all. You are wasting the players time and no one likes that.
Useless areas: The deep forest with the monkey. Outside of finding some scavenables and a lot of hardwood it has no reasons to be there. It is completely unfinished. The peak at the top you can get to somewhat early breaking the boulder. I've run up it at least 30 times. Nothing to pick on the ground, no insects to capture, can't even fish off the edge, why is it there? The dungeons in the ocean? Maybe I just missed something but what the hell is its purpose? Just to collect more trash once you clean up the ocean?
Pet peeve time: We live on an island with the dirtiest most disrespectful of the environment type of people on the face of the earth. I clean the beach, it is dirty the next day. I clean the ocean, the next day it is cluttered with water bottles and tires and all sorts of trash. How the F do these people produce that much garbage every single day? We do no need those ocean dungeons when the pigs on the island will make sure there is always garbage all over the place. Seriously, once you open the otherwise useless ocean dungeons trash should stop appearing in the ocean and on the beach. At least that would give those dungeons some reason to exsist, even if a lame one.
There is more incomplete about the game, but just wanted to point out some of the larger ones I've noticed. But again, as I said, the game is an early access game and not a complete game as advertised, so when you buy it, keep that in mind. And with all that, yes, I still suggest you buy it. It is a good game. Hopefully it will be better when it is finished and actually ready for release.