Hello Kitty Island Adventure Switch Preview - A Funner Animal Crossing

No other brands come to mind as a better fit for an Animal Crossing-like than Hello Kitty and the whole Sanrio gang. I don't have Apple Arcade, so this was my first time trying Hello Kitty Island Adventure. It was utterly delightful.

I'll be honest with you, I took the appointment to check out Hello Kitty Island Adventure more as a curiosity than anything else. It's not a property I am all that personally close to, nor am I the biggest Animal Crossing person.

But, my mother has collected Hello Kitty related objects since the late 70s, having been based in the Philippines and making trips to Japan. So, Hello Kitty has been ever-present in my periphery my whole life.

I am very happy that I took the time to see what Hello Kitty Island Adventure is all about. 

There's a lot that is appealing about Animal Crossing, but there is so much faff that's not then buoyed by some interesting characters or folks to chat with. They're all pretty one note and the gameplay gets too repetitive too quickly.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure solves all those issues I personally have with Animal Crossing. The characters have more depth, allowing you to get to know them personally a whole lot more. They're often involved in their own little arcs and stories, and they all know each other pretty well and reference one another frequently.

In other words, there's a real communal aspect to the game full of characters that genuinely feel like real friends.

Beyond just the characters, there's quite a bit to do in Hello Kitty Island Adventure as well. You can cook, fish, brew potions, collect critters, give gifts, decorate homes, and all the usual sort of things you'd expect in an Animal Crossing-like game.

However, there's some more "traditional" gameplay to stumble on as well, like puzzles, timed challenges, and so on. An overarching part of the game will see you trying to figure out the mystery of the Island, which will help unlock more areas. New areas have more to explore, new characters to find, and all sorts of secrets.

All around there is a delightful little tale or morsel of gameplay to take part in that goes beyond the normal fetch quest. It is endless charm and delight. So much so that I was only scheduled to play for 30 or so minutes but stayed much longer. 

I didn't have the chance to check it out, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure has multiplayer mode as well. You can invite friends to your island and do whatever you want. They even get their own cabin to decorate as well.

The game was a pretty big hit when it first released on Apple Arcade, so the fact that it remains a good time is not much of a surprise. It's a perfect pairing for the Nintendo Switch, but it wasn't all perfect.

Performance on the Switch was pretty poor. From framerate issues to really long load times, it was definitely not in its final form. However, developer Sunblink has a lot of time to get everything in shape before the game launches on other platforms next year.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Switch Preview | Final Thoughts

Hello Kitty Island Adventure will appeal to Animal Crossing fans, and if you're like me, it may appeal to those that aren't really. It is not just a reskin, either, offering a lot of its own gameplay. If you're at all a fan of Hello Kitty and friends, I think this is one to keep an eye out for (or play now on Apple Arcade).

Hello Kitty Island Adventure will release for PC and Nintendo Switch in 2025. It will come to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 at a later date. If you don't want to wait, you can play it via Apple Arcade right now.

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Hello Kitty Island Adventure was previewed on Switch after about 50 minutes of gameplay at Summer Game Fest.