Yoku's Island Express

My Video Review is available here: https://youtu.be/2gkFQb7v-Gc Have I enjoyed playing Yoku's Island Express? The answer is positive. At least most of the time. I really like the positive relaxed atmosphere of the game, sense of humor, many original refreshing ideas, variability of the environment, user friendly controls, beautiful graphics, relaxing music and sounds. What I do not like so much are confusing game map which causes tiresome wandering sometimes and creeping stereotype that come sooner or later despite all original ideas in the game due to the simple game mechanics. Maybe some RPG elements would make it more motivating yet. And of course the local co-op would suit the game as well. Relaxed atmosphere makes the game suitable for family playing but as many puzzles are not so trivial and you need to read to know what to do I would only recommend it for school aged kids. Pros: - relaxing atmosphere - sense of humor - refreshing ideas - environment - controls - audiovisuals Cons: - confusing map - creeping stereotype - absence of dubbing Yoku’s Island Express is definitely not a flawless game but as it has many features making it suitable for playing by fellow Gaming Fathers and their families I am giving it Thumbs Up and VideoGaming Father’s Index 7+ out of 10 - recommended with some discount.

Very Beautiful game - in the Rayman and Ori style - that will still requiere some pinball skills. But it's never punishing. Perfect for a first pinball experience or a relaxing pinball time.

Ask yourself 2 questions: Do you like pinball? And do you like metroidvanias? If either answer is yes - get this game. If both - get it right now. It's a beautifully designed game, which I greatly enjoyed. Art, music, gameplay - everything is so charming and relaxing. It's a bit on a short and easy side, but that's ok. You can take your time with it and enjoy yourself for couple of evenings. Shame there's no achievements in GOG version. But I finished the game with 97%, saw every secret and nothing is pressuring me to hunt down every single piece of fruit on the map for it.

Basically it's a plateformer. Where you can't jump but your vertical movement is controlled with pinball flips. And it's on a single map, with a few upgrades and a bunch of secrets, which means it leans toward a metroidcania. With that in mind, it's probably the best game that could be made. The world is nice. Difficulty is just right for the main adventure, with a few harder side secrets. There's a lot of secrets, but not too many that it becomes a chore to find them : it's a game where a reasonnable player can consider going for the 100%. The game adds new gameplay elements regulary, without never breaking the original feel. Controls are efficient (I played with a controler and I can really recommand it, controlling the flips with the side triggers is perfect. Can't vouch for a keyboard control). No real death or fail state, you can always try again. The game is not very long but it's perfect for me, I'm tired of games trying too hard to add stuff and end up boring - it's dense and packed with stuff. A few negative, but I'm really trying to find them now. Backtracking after endgame to find secrets can be a bit confusing and feel empty - but, hey, at this point you're asking for it and it's really minor. One of the late game upgrade controls can be a bit hard to grasp at first. er. I guess some might think it's a bit short ? A bit easy ? That's about it. Nothing that can hinder the joy I had with this game. I was amazed, seeing the credits, that it's a tiny team that made this game, it has the polish and value of the great studios. If you enjoy plateformers, if you're looking for something unique, play this game, it's more than worth your time.

This game is a metroidvania first and a pinball game second. This is a very unusual combination and I think that the developers did a good job combining both genres. Pinball mechanics are used mainly for locomotion and in isolated "minigames" peppered throughout the island. Losing a ball in each of the "pinball machines" is very inconsequential (you lose only a few fruit, the currency of the game), which felt balanced for me, as someone who's not versed in pinball games. The game has its flaws, though; the story feels a bit generic, the only option of fast-travel is not as nearly as widespread as it should be, and I gave up on going for a 100% completion. But it is definitely a game worth checking out.